Re:Creators Anime Review

2017 gave us a lot of memorable anime, some more popular than others. In cases like Re:Creators, it is one of the more under-rated anime of this year. But truthfully, it's one of my favorite anime this year and there are reasons for that.

Re:Creators is an anime about animators, and I like this concept a lot. I believe it is a concept that many animators think about a lot, but never tried to make something out of. Anyway, this anime tells us a story about how "creators" - people who make animes, game, basically as the name suggests, a creator - meets their "creations" when they are brought into the real world.

What do I like about the anime?

I like this anime a lot primarily because it has some sort of connection to me. I used to write novels and fictions but never published any, and I used to aspire to be one but lost passion for it. This anime kind of sparked my interest once more to write stories. When I finished watching the anime I feel deep inside that I want to meet my past creations in real life and it hits me quite emotionally inside.

Another favorite part of this anime is without a doubt the soundtrack. Sawano Hiroyuki is one of my favourite anime composer of all time and he never disappoints. Some people in the anime community criticise this anime as "one with good music but bad plot". I agree with the good music but bad plot? That's questionable.

Also another thing to take note! Re:Creators is an oroginal work by the studio Troyca. It is not based on any previous work, and it is made firstly as an anime. When people are working on something they made originally, there is passion involved, and that passion can be seen throughout the series. 

What do I not like about the anime?

The main character is underwhelmed by the massive cast of the anime. His purpose in the anime is unclear until the very climax of the show. Which kind of destroys the initial impression of the character. 

I also don't particularly like the coherence of this show. Early on, many scenes feel very choppy as it goes straight into the action without much explanation of what's going on. It also goes on and on introducing new characters when I haven't really get the hang of what the current situation is. Another flaw on the coherence can also be seen on the ending of the show which I feel, is kind of forced. It is probably the only part where I feel that the studio lacks passion in.

Judgment

Overall, I am giving this anime a strong A-. I definitely recommend this anime, especially to "creators" out there. Those who animates, writers, and designers will definitely love this anime.

From this point onwards... SPOILER ALERT!

Characters

Re:Creators is another anime with a huge cast of characters. Anime like this has a tendency of not being able to focus their attention on the main characters, which can be somewhat depicted in this anime, unfortunately.

Souta Mizushino

Ever since the first episode, we are already introduced to Souta and he is depicted, definitely as the main character. As the episodes gone by, you begin to wonder why is he the main character because throughout the first half of the series, he has no contribution whatsoever, except for accommodating to Selesia and Meteora (as a host). Souta's story is not developed until the main plot is revealed to the audience around the 12th episodes or something. For me, I was glad that they finally give Souta a purpose to the story, after being incredibly useless and sometimes a nuisance for the first 10 episodes. From then on, Souta begins to play a more pivotal role in the plot, but at this point of time I kind of feel that the attention has been diverted to the "creations" and Altair instead. He is meant to be the main character of the series but he don't really have much opportunity to shine. I feel that his character can be further improved.

Altair

Altair is the primary antagonist of the series and is one of the best antagonist I can ever ask for. Primary reason for this is on how much you can actually emphatise with the character. The series starts off with Altair being mysterious and it explodes to an immense emotional sequences which makes you love the character. Altair's motives is clearly explained and depicted in the anime, it is straightforward, ambitious and representative of her character. She also resembles an overwhelming force for the protagonist due to the nature of her character, being overpowered, and it gives meaning to the struggles made by the protagonists.

I do have to mention that due to the overpowered nature of Altair, it becomes very hard for the protagonist to resolve the problem. Even, I believe, for the viewers it is hard for them to find a way to resolve the entire problem. Which unfortunately, affects the coherence on the final act of the series as they force upon some sort of resolution.

Setsuna Shimazaki

Setsuna is the plot. If I would give an analogy, she is like Archer in Unlimited Blade Works. Setsuna defines the plot of Re:Creators and she fulfill her job. During the events of Re:Creators, Setsuna has already died, and it became the reason why Altair started the whole chaos. Setsuna also became an anchor of emotion for me, and I am pretty sure she is for other authors and animators out there. I really feel that she is a secondary character that feels more developed that the main character himself.

The Creations

The creations comprises of characters from anime and games that came into the real world due to the chaos created by Altair. It comprises of many memorable characters such as Selesia Uptiria, Meteora Osterreich, Mamika Kirameki, Yuya Mirokuji, Alicetaria February, Blitz Talker, Rui Kanoya, and more.

What I could say about the creations is that initially, I thought that they are the highlight, especially Selesia and Meteora who were the first two to fight Altair. I really thought that this was just going to be another of typical shounen anime where the creations fight each other and all that. I didn't understand the concept of the anime back then, but they managed to properly build the story and that was when I realised that the creations are not the main characters.

These people obviously has varying abilities, depending on how they are written in their respective stories. It is fun to see how the characters from different genres of anime can interact with each other and how they can fight against each other. All of them of course has different motives and reasons to fight for or against Altair, and each will be explained throughout the story. It is also important to take notice on how these characters interact with their creators, because it defines who they are. Sometimes it can make you cry as well.

The Creators

They are the true highlight of the series. The creators are artists, animators, authors, game makers, people who create the creations. They are the "god" of each of the creation's world. The anime emphasise on how the creators work together to help their creations return to their world, and defeat the source of the chaos that is Altair. As I said, it is very touching on how the creators and their creations interact with one another. I especially like Selesia and Matsubara's interaction as it is the most apparent in terms of being "developed". In the final act of the anime, it is possible for you to get very emotional on some of the characters (for me it's Selesia and Matsubara), due to this relationship. It is also exceptional on how the anime shifts the attention of the viewers from the creations to the creators in the final stretch of the series.

Plot

Alright, overall I have to say that Re:Creators have a concrete plot. I feel that they are trying to insert some kind of a plot twist in the middle of the series but it is not really a twist, rather it is a revelation of the plot. It is a simple plot that is understandable, act one, being the protagonist trying to discover what is going on, act two being the revelation and the final act being the resolution. Overall, I believe it is a well shaped plot curve, without anything to flashy and at the same time it is not something to dull either. Which makes me wonder why some critics hate it for its plot, because I don't find it bad and it meet my expectations.

Coherence

There is however a lack of coherence in this anime, mainly due to the main protagonist and the main antagonist.

The main protagonist feels useless in the beginning of the series, which makes it feel rather boring and slowly paced. His lack of contribution makes the early part of the series to feel rather boring. They do try to make it somewhat entertaining by introducing even more creations and more of their fights, but that worsen the fact that the main character is getting even further overshadowed.

The main antagonist is super overpowered, which makes resolution of the problem very hard to handle. It makes the final battle feels forced, and choppy in many instances. The final decision on how Souta uses one of the creation's power to reverse casualty feels oversimplified which makes the final stretch of the anime lacks umph in overall.

Effects

In this aspect, I guess it is fine. The animation is smooth and good, the fights are well-animated and it is clear for the viewers. It is not hard to catch some epic moments and you can enjoy the fights even to the smallest details. The characters are also drawn well, Selesia might be a waifu material to some people. 

The music and soundtrack is unchallenged. There are no anime in 2017, I believe that can be on par with Sawano Hiroyuki's work on Re:Creators. I know there is also Attack on Titan Season 2, but I really prefer Re:Creators soundtracks over theirs. Hiroyuki brought vocals into the soundtrack and the battle feels even more hyped up and exciting. My personal favorite is titled "Layers" with Aimee Blackschleger providing her powerful voice for the composition.

Emotions

As I said earlier, this anime provides situational emotions for the viewers. I can guarantee that people who had ever feel love towards a character they made or drawn before, will most probably cry in some sequence. I feel some of this emotions, especially during the final act when the creators and creations has bonded so much, it pains them to watch their own creations getting hurt. One scene that is powerful in this aspect is how Matsubara promises Selesia to create coffee and stories for her world, and how she brought it up once again in her final moment. It is a saddening and powerful emotional scene.