[Work in progress]
This entry contains spoilers concerning its subject matter.
About
Re:Zero ‒Starting Life in Another World‒ (Japanese: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 / Ri:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is a Japanese light novel by Tappei Nagatsuki and takes place in an alternate world where magic, mystical creatures and kingdoms exist. The world also has connections to the seven deadly sins.
Premise
Re:Zero is about a young man named Natsuki Subaru, who is sent to another world; in this world he meets and falls in love with a half-elf lady named Emilia. Following their meeting, he tries to help her find a royal object which leads to both Emilia and Subaru’s unfortunate deaths. However, after Subaru’s apparent death he realizes he was given the power to return from death, and retains memories from his past life, which he also finds a resolve to help Emilia survive her apparent death. Subaru continues to work his way through his life in another world, each time retaining his prior knowledge after death and using it to try and work towards the next “checkpoint”.
History
Re:Zero started out as web novel serialized by Tappei Nagatsuki from April 20th 2012, on the user-generated content site Shōsetsuka ni Narō, which is available to read in its original language. The light novel was first published on January 24, 2014, after being acquired for publication by Media Factory, with Shinichirou Otsuka working on the light novel illustrations.
There are currently eight light novel volumes, along with a manga adaptation done by Media Factory for arcs 1 and 3, and the seinen Square Enix magazine working on arc 2, and later an anime adaptation by the studio White Fox, lasting 25 episodes. The anime is available for streaming in several regions on Crunchyroll , and the light novels are in the process of being translated into English by Yen Press, with volume 1 available from 19th July 2016.
Characters
Natsuki Subaru
He was sent to another world. Subaru has a power he calls “Return from death” the power activates when he dies, however his mental health usually suffers from the power as he remembers how he dies. He’s usually cheery and happy and easy going, unless he dies where he usually feels shock and panic.
Emilia
The main heroine. Emilia is half elf which shows her immense beauty has silver hair and purple eyes. she also has the ability of using magic, she seems to perfer ice magic. she is very kind hearted and keeps her promises.
Puck
A spirit that Emilia is contracted with. He has a cute or adorable apperance. He helps protect Emilia by using his own magic and is a father like figure to Emilia, calling her his daughter.
Ram
One of that maids in Roswall household. She looks nearly identical to her sister Rem, but has pink hair and her eye is red and hair covers her left eye. She is a oni, that has lost her horn which leads to her losing the ability to absorb mana effectively, but can use highly damaging wind magic. She is very well mannered and is friendly terms with subaru.
Rem
One of the maids in Roswall household. She looks nearly identical to her sister Ram, but has blue hair and her eye is blue and her hair covers her right eye. She is an oni, unlike her sister she has her horn still, which increases her magic power and physical capabilities. She feels inferior to her sister, due to the accident
Re:Zero Break time/Re:Petit
Aside from the main series, a series of shorts featuring cute and simpler versions of the characters was produced along side the main one by Studio Puyukai, airing a few days after the main episodes, and then streamed on the main website of the anime.
Break time offered short character interactions, mostly following a more comedic and silly approach that continued after what happened in each episode. Re:Petit follows Subaru as he finds himself in an alternate world with the same characters from the main story, only the setting has changed from a fantasy land to the real world, and everyone acts accordingly, with only Subaru being aware of knowing them from the fantasy world.
Anime Adaptation
The anime adaptation, has 25 episodes, with the first episode airing on April 03, 2016 being a 50 minute special. The anime adaptation covers the first 3 arcs of the story, adapting the light novel from volumes 1 to 8, with 9 being the end of the third arc, but still not published.
Reception
The series has been well-received following the anime’s airing. Although it is the next in a long line of “trapped in a fantasy world” series such as Sword Art Online, Re:Zero has been praised for its dark breakdown of and pragmatic approach to the popular genre, becoming known for its strong character development. Amanda Whalen of the Anime News Network noted that a Japanese poll had voted the series the best anime of the Spring 2016 season.
On MyAnimeList, the series is the #29 overall ranked series as of 18/07/2016, and has as of the same date has a good score of 8.78 from amalgamated user reviews.
Online Relevance
A wikia site for the series has been created, as has a TV Tropes page. A subreddit also exists at r/re_zero.
Fandom
Fan art has sprung up across the internet following the series’ popularity. As of 18/07/2016, Safebooru contains over 1,000 results for the series, while Pixiv returns over 9,000 results for the Japanese series title tag, “Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活”. DeviantArt returns around 185 results for “#re_zero”.
Search Interest
Search interest roughly coincides with the anime’s premiere and has increased during the spring and summer of 2016.
References