MiNiSoTaNs Re:Zero Season 2 Review 200https://i.ur.com/dTSqF3Y.jpg 185https://i.ur.com/4NzKxkp.jpg THIS WILL BE A REVIEW FOR ALL OF SEASON 2 Introduction:Hello. My name is Neill or MiNi. This will be my in depth review of Re:Zero Season 2 the 2020 anime adaption of Tappei Nagatsukis brilliant light novel series. With all my reviews I will score the anime discussed based upon 5 categories that include: Story Characters Art Music and Personal Enjoyment. Each category will be given a score between 0 and 10. The ending score will be what I determine the show deserves overall. Keep in mind I will be talking about spoilers that occurred during the anime along with spoilers of the light novels that proceed after. Although this review is written under the season 2 part 2 webpage I will be talking about and discussing all elements from the second season of Re:Zero since its original intent was to be a continuous single cour run. Now without further ado lets get into this. STORY 9/10: 220https://i.ur.com/ZfUuoZ2.png The only department I believe Re:Zero lacks in compared to its 2016 entry is its overarching story arc. The premise of these 25 episodes is much harder to summarize and understand. Even as a veteran web novel reader such as my self the end goal of arc 4 is somewhat difficult to keep track of. Contrasting this story to that of season 1 and there are much easier digestible narratives. Arc 1: Stop Elsa from killing Emilia. Arc 2: Find out who is killing Subaru at the mansion. Arc 3: Kill the white whale and stop the witch cult. The best summary I can give to arc 4 is to save the sanctuary. Now the whole what and why of this plot does not really reveal itself until almost the very end. It seems that the characters with all the knowledge pulling the strings behind the scenes dont even know what the sanctuary is themselves. Is this this to say the story is bad? Absolutely not. In fact many web novel and light novel reader agree this is one of if not the best arc so far in the story. There are definitely elements of this plot I love and prefer to that of season 1. Although the story is more convoluted and mysterious does not make it bad. The very beginning is what hits hardest. Subaru losing Rem puts him at his lowest yet. This is an element that I love. Compare the end of season 1: 220https://i.ur.com/dOiYjuy.png To the beginning of season 2: 220https://i.ur.com/4Lu6Oyf.jpg The parallels are extremely prevalent. The ending of season 1 is joyful happy feels like the work has finally paid off. Then everything is immediately taken away at the beginning of season 2. Right back to square one. Right back to zero Im sorry. In all seriousness though this is a great element for storytelling and subverting expectations which is brought up a number of times throughout this season. Other examples include us being introduced to Roswaal in full body bandages the first time we see him. Subarus parents being extremely supportive of him etc. These are parts of the story that you dont expect. You dont expect such a powerful figure such as Roswaal to greet Subaru in a full body cast. You dont expect a NEET like Subaru to have an athletic and outgoing dad along with a caring and loving mother. There are dozens of other great forms of expectation subversion in this arc which is what kept me coming back for more. I also really enjoyed the trials of the sanctuary. It was an amazing idea to tie them in with the whole what if part of Re:Zero. The dealing with your past what could have been and what could become is a subtle but ingenious nod at the return by death factor. I was a lot more engrossed in the first of both Subaru and Emilias trials compared to both of their second and third ones however. They just didnt feel as developed. Along with the trials there is a a great deal of this arc expanding on the lore of the world of Re:Zero which in my opinion is one of its strongest elements. Tappei has really fleshed out the history and background of the world magic characters and mythos. We got glimpses and hits of such aspects in season 1 but season 2 cranks it up twofold. Seeing new monsters learning about new technology and meeting new characters is what keeps viewers interested. Season 2 also contains some of my favorite episodes of the whole series. Season 2 has some of the strongest continuing streaks of just incredible episodes I was thoroughly impressed on just how good the episodes continued to be. Part 2 especially started on the right foot incredibly well. Some of the best episodes in the entire series are shown within Season 2 which I did not expect. Overall season 2 definitely sets itself to be ambitious and expand on the scope of the Re:Zero story. Although more sophisticated it has continued to deliver some of the greatest fiction in current anime. Characters 9/10: 220https://i.ur.com/0myHKBI.jpg Natsuki Subaru: Comparing Subaru from the beginning of season 1 the beginning of season 2 is incredible. He has grown so much throughout the story. The story of season 1 showed us how he overcame his selfish tendencies. Season 2 shows us how he becomes a leader. He takes initiative of the his opportunities and does his best to help everyone. Is he perfect? Absolutely not he still makes mistakes which cost his own and other peoples lives. But he is much more of someone youd strive to be like in this season. I am excited to see him on screen in the future because he will only keep improving. Echidna: I somewhat figured the anime community would go crazy of Echdina but didnt foresee the extent of her popularity. She is terrific. Not necessarily the antagonist of the season but definitely not someone youre exactly rooting for either. Her development builds up slowly throughout the two parts but the second cour gets most of the meat from her backstory and motivation established. I greatly enjoyed her interactions with Subaru and the other witches as well she definitely carried herself as the most sophisticated and pleasant of all of them. Overall a fine edition to the series who Im excited to see more of in season to come. Emilia: Emilia is easily the most improved character from season 1. Her screen time is easily doubled from her previous 25 episode inclusion. If season 1 was the Rem show season 2 is the Emilia performance we get to know so much more about her motivations struggles and insecurities. She by no means has been pictured as the damsel in distress in the series but she also didnt seem that much more capable than that of Rem or Ram to defend herself. Her timid persona grew out of her shell with the help of the trials and becoming a leader to the people of sanctuary. Her backstory was one of the highlights of the entire series seeing child Emilia along with a preinsane Petelgeuse was extremely satisfying. To me Emilia has been best girl since the beginning but I think season 2 really showed how greatly written a character she really is. Garfiel: Another fantastic addition to our main cast. He was the character I was probably most excited to seen on screen from reading the Web Novel and I think they nailed him perfectly. His persona and short fused personality was captured perfectly. Garfiels backstory as well was very adapted. Nothing much more to be said other than he is a great ally to the Emilia camp. Otto: From watching season 1 I thought Otto would be a one off character that wouldnt be seen again after season 1 but Im glad they didnt because he was a delight to watch on screen and compliments Subaru well. Although it is interesting to learn and get to meet the extra ordinaries of the Re:Zero world the regular people can be just as alluring as well. Granted he can speak to animals due to his divine protection but hes about as grounded as it gets when youre apart of Subarus team. Otto was definitely a captivating member of this season and I am anticipating more of him. Beatrice: Beatrice was also a greatly improved character form season 1. She doesnt see the limelight that much but when she has the audiences attention you know theres bound to be something funny happening I suppose. Her finally accepting Subaru even though he wasnt that person was gratifying. She plays a lot larger role in later arcs and her relationship with Subaru is one of my favorites of the entire series so I cant wait for future content featuring our favorite magical loli. Roswaal: Roswaals motivation was left as a mystery in season 1. We get to learn more about his relationship with Echidna and how he became the person he is today and his tie in with the whole story. If there were any antagonist in this season it would probably be him. I was still left a bit by some of the decisions he decided to make and his place in the story but he wasnt awful. I still think he is a great part of the season and hope we get to see more of him in the future. Art 8/10: 220https://i.ur.com/PAaEDzG.jpg Although I dont think Re:Zero is doing anything exceptionally different compared to its peers in the anime industry its animation is nothing to scoff at. White Foxs level of detail is as good if not better than it was in season 1. I know there were some strange complaints of of the animation during the beginning of part 1 but I didnt notice anything out of the ordinary. The animation overall is great I think the action was very stratifying to watch and they nailed what Tappei was trying to show in his writing. My favorite scene was easily the battle between Garfiel and Elsa outside the burning mansion you could tell quite a bit of the budget was put in to make it look especially nice and it was noticeable. Re:Zeros art isnt something industry defining but it doesnt need to be as long as it keep you engaged and isnt distracting it does its job perfectly. Music 8/10: 220https://i.ur.com/RM0eQ42.jpg Although I prefer the season 1 OST season 2s is still done exceptionally well. Realize was easily my favorite OP of the season and Believe in you was my favorite ED. The insert songs were a particular highlight of this season. I tend to not focus too much on the music besides the OP and ED but a lot of the voice over music really caught my ear and made me enjoy the season quite a bit. As stated with the Art section as long as it isnt distracting and takes you out of the element then its fine. Very few anime I think can redefine how the music is used in anime and I dont think Re:Zero is one of them but it isnt a bad thing. Re:Zeros soundtrack is commendable for its great work in season 2. Although it doesnt mean much I REALLY hope the composers at White Fox continue to feature these songs starting with re. Redo and Realize are both great. Season 3 perhaps could feature Redemption or Remember? I have plenty more suggestions for them if theyd like. Personal Enjoyment 10/10: 220https://i.ur.com/xR5Dnz6.jpg Its no surprise that Re:Zero is my favorite anime series of all time. Season 2 definitely impressed me with how genuinely perfect some episodes were. Some of the strongest points across the board came from season 2. I fell in love with the story from the very start and I havent given up on that love since. Season 2 strengthened that love even further and Im more that excited to see so many others find out how great this show is. There is so much to love about season 2 of Re:Zero it truly was a great continuation to my beloved anime. If you have not already done so please watch season 1 and immediately follow it up with season 2 some of the best fantasy isekai in all of anime. I really enjoyed the follow up to the 2016 hit season. I just pray we dont dont have to wait another 4 years for a third season. Final Thoughts and Score:Thank you all for reading please make sure to follow for more reviews. Favorite Episodes Episode 1: Each Ones Promise Episode 2: The Next Location Episode 3: The LongAwaited Reunion Episode 4: Parent and Child Episode 7: Friend Episode 8: The Value of Life Episode 10: I Know Hell Episode 11: The Taste of Death Episode 12: The Witches Tea Party Episode 13: The Sounds That Make You Want to Cry Episode 14: STRAIGHT BET Episode 15: Otto Suwen / A Reason to Believe Episode 16: Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone Episode 17: A Journey Through Memories Episode 18: The Day Betelgeuse Laughed Episode 23: Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts Episode 24: Choose Me Episode 25: Under the Moon A Crazy Step Official Scores Story: 9/10 Characters: 9/10 Art: 9/10 Music: 8/10 Personal Enjoyment: 10/10 FINAL SCORE: 9/10 AMAZING MiNiSoTaN Did you really read the review or are you just looking at the score?