Rewrite – 04

As bubble series go, Rewrite is at a point now which I rarely go past without making a decision one way or the other.  But in truth I’m still very torn on whether to continue blogging it, because while there are obviously some problems with the series, there are most definitely elements here I like a lot.  It’s a mess, but an interesting mess – and there’s just something about it I really like.

I think the decision to adapt Rewrite in 12 episodes pretty much closed the door on winning over fans of the VN (which could be argued to be pretty unwise, given they’re the likely candidates to buy the Blu-rays).  Rewrite is reportedly a big, complicated story, and those fans are never going to get the adaptation they want in a single cour.  But the truth is that there are challenges for the new viewer in this approach too, because the end result feels pretty disjointed at times.  There’s a lot that’s being introduced here, and sometimes it seems as if it’s being done out of logical sequence.

Tanaka-senseitachi have been smart here, I think, in incorporating that dizzying rush of material as a selling point.  The sheer energy Rewrite brings to the table is appealing, but at some point there have to be some explanations and they have to make sense.  That may be why this episode, which covered the backstory of Shizuru, seemed to work a little better than the last couple.  I’m sure Shizuru’s backstory was rushed, but it was effectively laid out just the same – it had a structure to it that held up to observation.  Plus it had some genuine pathos to it – it’s a sad story that makes sense in context of the larger one.

As for the rest of the ep, there’s some interesting stuff as always, but it is a mishmash (and the segue into Konohara’s route at the end is pretty random).  The strange creatures which destroyed Shizuru’s house, the antiques dealer from the ramen stand, Esaka Sougen (Touichi Hiroki), the “Wolves” who declare Koutarou one of their own.  It’s a jumble, I admit it, and as much as anything Rewrite gives one a sense of what’s lurking under the surface in a much bigger mythology than we’re going to see.  But I still find it interesting and entertaining and I still like most of the characters, which is why I’m still on the fence about whether to blog it.  We’ll see.