Okaaaaaay!
This episode was almost too long, haha. I cant gather all my thoughts on it.
The animation: it was very bad in some places, and very good in others. I’ll give it an overall “good enough.”
Sound direction was pretty much as expected, although sometimes it sounded a tad bit off, as if the BGM started too late for the scene, or it was just a bit loud or something. Not a biggie. Oh and random Sasayaka no Hajimari instrumental was very immersion breaking, although that is probably due in part to the fact that I was 100% expecting Soft Windflower to start playing.
The opening scene was not at all what I was expecting, and yet I rather liked it, especially the very cinematic last 20 seconds (like 1:05-1:25 or something).
So the “Moon at the beginning thing” did not go exactly how I had planned, but I still kinda like it the way they did it. My prediction now is that Kotarou will continue to see “dreams” of Moon in the future episodes, hopefully leading him to some “conclusion” before something big happens in the “real world.”
Interesting that Nishikujou is now their homeroom teacher, but I think that was a very good choice. The other teacher had a pretty minor role anyway, and its a good way to make Nishikujou’s presence known from the start.
Oh hey I felt that way too. However, I felt that way about the beginning of the VN as well. Rewrite has always had this very weird pacing in the beginning for me. I’ve never been able to put my finger on it, but the flow has always felt off. Its just kinda all over the place, never explaining everything like I feel it should. But it eventually went away in the VN, so Im hoping for the same thing to happen here.
Final thing, and probably the most surprising: Kotarou’s power is only merely hinted at! This was an odd choice, in my opinion, since that was a defining characteristic of the VN for me. We didnt have much of any idea what was going on around Kotarou, but… I dont know, his superpower was something we could be sure off.
It’ll be very interesting to see in what direction this goes. At this point, I feel like all we can be sure of is that it’s a different direction. I cant say for sure whether that will end up being interesting or disappointing, but it sure is compelling. One thing that was for sure better at this point is that the anime actively tries to hook you, which the VN did not do as much. Can’t wait for the next episode, especially to see an animated OP/ED.