When I finished the first season of Re:Zero, I ended my review on a certain assumption that a second season was on the way. What I didn’t know was that the second season would take four years to get here but was the wait worth it? Now that the final episode has aired I would say yes and I very much look forward to a third season I pray is sooner than the second was. This was the season to change a lot of people’s minds on Re:Zero and have them thinking better of it which I of course called in the first season which people considered more polarizing. When it comes to second seasons in anime you often have cases where a second season spends too much time laying down setup for a third season which may not come to pass. Or simply running though the same beats of the first season and expecting it to have the same impact. In comparison Re:Zero season 2 doesn’t just continue the story but manages to make it’s previous season even better in retrospect as it brings new things to the table.
Pacing is the ultimate enemy of the second season as it’s adapting the longest arc of the source material which is evident when the first season covered three story Arcs and this season only covers one. As such it takes about three episodes to get started but once it does it’s a pure roller coaster. I say this sincerely when I say that if I was basing my rating purely on episodes 4-13 then my rating would be a 95/100. Each episode was better than the last with it’s own memorable moment and even recontextualising moments from the first season to give them even more meaning. However it may be the quality of these episodes which makes the remaining episodes seem lacking in comparison. This isn’t to say that those episodes are bad as they are still good but they are a step down from what came before. To put it into perspective, the first cour of this season felt like it was amping up to a big climax but at the point where it should start moving towards the finale, the pacing instead slows down immensely and switches to a different scene. Quite a number of episodes in this season’s second cour are devoted to flashbacks which serve to flesh out characters as well as set down seeds to flourish in later seasons. While these episodes make for interesting food for thought and much overdue character development for the main heroine, they have the unfortunate side effect of completely sidelining the main plot in order for them to get this information across. It is akin to watching a movie and then someone pausing that movie in order to read you part of the novel it’s based on to make the conclusion more meaningful. The information is needed but it’s placement within the narrative is unfortunately to the stories detriment.
The art of Re:Zero may have taken a small dip but the production is pure witchcraft as while this is a 25 episode season, in truth there is 32.5 episodes of content. White Fox skipped openings and endings so many times that the second opening was only played twice in the second cour. The first cours episodes had a length of 26 minutes while the second cour had episodes which were 29 minutes in length. This is also coupled with the three minute break time shorts as a companion piece that is actually beneficial to check out as well. White Fox went above and beyond to give Re:Zero all the time it needed to tell it’s story which indeed could also be a factor to this season’s pacing problems. The source of this arc actually was cut down when it was adapted from Web novel to light novel and even with the extra time White fox had to cut it down further. Indeed this season may be rather bloated and perhaps could have benefited from taking the knife to it further but I still look at the level of love White Fox gave it and it fills me with joy. Music is also pretty great with voice performances following suit from the quality of the first season. Echidna is the newly introduced character who practically steals the show for the first cour of the series below Emilia takes back her main heroine label. As a matter of fact Emilia finally begins to pull herself out of the shadow of every best girl Re:Zero has to offer and truly begins to show just why she is put on the front cover. Subaru’s journey throughout this season is more captivating as he gets backstory and development that pushes the main themes of self improvement in Re:Zero even further forward.
This show is a captivating watch that can magically turn thirty minutes into mere moments and future viewers have the pleasure of an uninterrupted ride from start to finish. Re:Zero continues to prove itself one of the best, if not the best modern isekai series. I truly cannot get enough of this series and I want White Fox to animate all of it right up to the very end and have every blu-ray on my shelf. It’s a message about the importance of loving oneself before others disguised as a wish fulfillment power fantasy and I want to see every step Subaru takes to this story’s conclusion. If you are reading this you either agree or are bitterly disappointed that I am not ripping this show to shreds to justify your dislike of it. I do not claim this show to be flawless as it does veer dangerously into becoming the standard junk food that Isekai has become but it’s merits most certainly make it worthy of being considered levels above the lazier efforts of the genre. You may say that’s still a low bar but for a tired old fool like me this is one of the few shows that gets me this excited and dare say it will take a lot for another to stand on the same level. (That said if the Chainsawman adaption can live up to the manga that could be a solid contender.) I eagerly await a continuation but for now I slip back into my retirement so I can catch up on last season’s anime and finally make a dent in my various backlogs.
Yes Re Zero is definitely up there as one of the best isekai. I’d say maybe only saga of Tanya gives it any competition.
As for the season. I thought it was a great season. The first half had me thinking it was full on horror before the second half went more on the fantasy route. The only bad thing for me is that the dark parts kinda get cheapened when everything is tied up so nicely. Makes me wonder what the need was in the first place, for them being so dark.
There are A LOT of things in season 1 that doesn’t make sense unless you watch/read season 2. With season 2 over, now we have almost all the information to understand why the characters are as they are, specially the 2 protagonists.
The lenght of every episode is an impressive feat by White Fox. I wish more animation studios get more flexible with the duration of the episodes. It can only benefit the watchers.