Discussion topic for Episode 1 of the Rewrite anime, which premiered on the 2nd of July, 2016. All references to outside works and to future episodes must be tagged with a [spoiler] tag.
You can view the series on:
Crunchyroll in North America and Australia
Daisuki in most of Europe
Akibapass in Germany
What would you rate this episode?
0 voters
Solid first episode! People are gonna have concerns over all the changes, but I feel like they’re very aware of what they’re trying to accomplish here by capturing the attention of first time viewers. Maybe it doesn’t have the suspense that was built up over 5-10 hours in the VN, but that’s fine, we have the hook here. Lots of very mysterious and exciting stuff happening, but it hasn’t broken from Kotarou’s daily life yet since it was all a dream?
I really like how they kept Kotarou’s answer to the survey ambiguous. I can’t wait to see how that plays out.
Finally, episode one is finally out.
The episode was amazing, to be honest it was better than I expected.
The animation wasn’t that great for some parts but overall it was awesome.
And the way they handled the story was the safest way in my opinion. Starting with moon opens a lot of possibilities for the next episodes. I agree with the fact that the supernatural part of rewrite was used widely in this episode, I was afraid that people who are new to Rewrite will find it random, but thinking about it again, if they took their time introducing everything we will need more than 13 episodes so I think that was a good move by the director.
I also liked how they animated some parts that they knew the fans would like to see animated.
So yea, this was a good start for Rewrite anime, I hope they’ll keep up the good work.
Note: watched the episode with @Pepe , it was fun!
Oh my gosh that was freaking crazy good, I am so hyped for it after that first episode. They really made it into an action anime. I hope they sort of keep it where they have normal everyday parts and then action parts mixed in. Like I don’t think the anime will give you a full visual novel experience, but rather a condensed action packed anime version. What happens to too many anime is they stick way to close to the source. This feels really refreshing tbh. The only downside is you might not see your favorite part from the vn, But I think it will get people into rewrite overall, it was a really good first episode. I can’t wait to see what they do, so many amazing anime moments that could only happen in an anime so to speak. It feels different enough to feel new and fresh, but at the same time it feels like good ol vn rewrite is still here and there.
Like I could sit here and list the scenes I really liked but the list would be way too long… Probably my favorites though were the ones with Kagari in it. From the bed time scene to the coffee scene, there seemed to be a lot of well executed parts regarding her. It really seemed those parts really gave a lot of development to her. I am sure if you haven’t read rewrite yet you are wondering more about Kagari.
Overall I was really impressed, from the story telling to the animation, it seems like a really good anime so far,
Well, much waiting has resulted in this moment!
It was really interesting how they handled this episode. Starting with Moon was a good idea on their part, as well as how they made Moon seem like a “dream”, I think it’ll do very well in keeping anime-only viewers interested!
Also, showing small bits from the end of each heroine route felt like a great nod to VN viewers, it’s great to see they’ve kept us in mind!
The comedy felt very well done and definitely lived up to expectations and, at least for me, well surpassed them.
The only real issue I have about the episode itself was the rapid last few minutes, although I don’t really see how they could’ve avoided it.
On the subject of animation, I gotta say, I’m impressed with quite a bit of it. And while some of it did get very iffy, it feels very “alive” to me, the colors are very vibrant, as well. The CG, while not bad, felt out of place at times, but still worked out well enough.
Anyway, I’m in no way disappointed! I really enjoyed this episode, and I’m incredibly excited for the second and seeing where they take the anime :kgoha:
(I apologize for my likely incoherent thoughts, I’m sleep deprived and my mind is blurred by hype)
4.5/5 Needs Opening animation.
Jokes aside, I really enjoyed it, I think that they did good to start and I found several changes that they made to help the show flow better (like introduce Lucia and Nishikujou early), since time is more limited at anime version.
I can’t wait to see what do the next episodes brings.
13:26 has a Kanon easter egg 
But ye I definitely liked it, it’s definitely gonna have a different path from the VN routes after what happened. The animation was good, and the characters were spot on, it’d be interesting to see what will happen later on ^^
The fight with Krivoy Rog was so epic.
I don’t know why but somehow it always feels to me like more recent VN adaptations have absolutely horrendous flow and direction. Scenes play out and characters react in ways that make little to no sense in this context. It especially always feel like characters overreact, pause and blush to every miniscule thing, and not in a way that feels natural to anime. I can’t complain too much, but it just makes the whole episode feel really strange and awkward to watch.
That being said, I’m very curious to see where they’ll take this adaptation! It’s very hard for me to make predictions of any sort at this point. And I’m also curious to see how anime-only viewers will interpret the story (so far). At the moment I wouldn’t even be surprised if (General Rewrite Spoilers) anime-only viewers believe Kotarou to be an unreliable narrator with an overactive imagination. Especially if the Kotarou-Akane-meeting next episode plays out similar to the VN.
5/5 because they have Key coffee 
I loved this episode ! I couldn’t help but laugh at all the scenes, like the scene where Chihaya fell down. Making her a Chibi made it better too 
And then when Shizuru appeared, I had to drop everything and replay it. The moment Carnation played, it brought back so many memories of Shizuru
Best part was probably Kagari. I loved how she was still drinking the coffee, even after being pushed by Kotarou.
Oh, and we have the Kotarou x Yoshino ship, and Kotori’s dirty mind that made it all too funny :kurumu:
But the episode itself, it was very enjoyable. 5/5 for me. Great comedic moments, and maybe it’s just me, but I was very happy with Kotarou taking Chihaya out to town. It made her character more appealing, so anime-only watchers wouldn’t think of her as an unlikable tsundere. I loved the scene when Kotarou and Shizuru made a pinky promise. Gave me feels from a previous Key-work that was referenced in this episode too.
The scream when they were looking for Akane had me laughing ! Their expressions, especially Kotori’s, made it all better.
And the action scenes and mystery was also very enjoyable.
This is a great start to the Rewrite anime ! It’ll keep anime-only’s invested in the show with all the events shown (plus comedy too), and it gives a new outlook to VN-readers. Only thing I’d complain about is making some of the BGM’s too quiet.
I’ll start with what I didn’t like. Some of the exposition felt really unnatural and existed solely to introduce characters and their basic personalities. I always hated it whenever characters said things like “I, as your class representative, Konohana Lucia will not stand idly by!” People don’t talk like that. Obviously compared to the VN the art is pretty “meh” but the animation is smooth and as long as the don’t use to much CG it should be fine.
I am looking forward to the new content, and it looks like there won’t be any big issues with mixing plots if they keep going the direction they have been.
Also, I can’t make gifs but I had to try when I saw this.
Lucia is pretty much like that tho
Woohoo that was a nice episode~
For me as someone who already read Rewrite though.
As for Anime-only viewer, i think their big interest would only be placed on 2 things.
I said big okay, there must be others who are interested in other things as well, haha.
And oh boy they really put every “Basic” character that needs to be introduced in one hour (48 minutes to be exact)
Well on a high note, i am really hyped and still laughed all the way in this episode.
I am very-excitedly waiting for the next week, because i suspected that other characters besides Kagari will be shown more of their personality, though it is just my baseless assumptions.
To end this hype-rant of mine, here, have some “When you are over leveled and went into a boss fight in a lower level area”
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.
First impressions: it’s okay.
I mean, there were a lot of changes that ranged from slightly odd to completely unfaithful to the VN it’s based on, but my impression is that they’re doing some of it on purpose. Since a lot of the VN’s plot is choice-dependent and it’s hard to fit everything into a single linear plot without taking away or changing stuff, I shouldn’t be expecting everything that made Rewrite great, either. This episode needed to cover a lot of ground and do so in an unbiased way, and I think this episode did it just fine.
I felt there was a good dose of fanservice to people who not only followed Rewrite, but Key stuff in general. The passing mention of a guy named Aizawa going out with a girl in another class named Tsukimiya made me shriek with joy, especially since the Kanon Bookclub just happened. Key coffee was also a thing too, and I was surprised how it fit into Kagari’s love of coffee from Harvest Festa (trust me when I say that’s one of the only two things I know about HF ).
As much as I noticed how plain and bleached-out it looked, I didn’t mind the animation in this episode. Sure, it’s not the most detailed or colorful, but the animation certainly had its moments. They seemed to place focus on fluid movement rather than detail, which should bother me, but after seeing some of the Little Busters anime, I can live with it. I also loved the usage of the VN’s background music in this episode as well. It was certainly a treat to hear some of my favorite tunes again~ :3
I’ll definitely be following this series for each week, even if the quality starts degrading as the show gradually loses its budget. Maybe there’ll be some laughs from how bad it is, or maybe the new story content will earn its place in Rewrite’s lore. Who knows? 
I think the episode was good. Even if the pace can seem fast, it was likely necessary to bring the kind of atmosphere that follows to new watchers.
I liked how they have introduces clues to other routes (especially Terra) and to other works of Key.
And several secondary elements of the common route was there .The presence of Suzuki, for example, was a plus for me. This was someone what I wished to see. I liked this scene in the VN.
The art and animation is correct, I believe. They thought to correct a mistake which was in the first PV with the hand of Kotori and the monsters seems correct. It was fun to watch.
Just finished watching the first episode and I thought it was pretty nice start to the series. It gives a nice nod to the VN readers in the beginning, by showing the endings of each of the heroine routes and I thought it was a good idea to start the episode with the beginning of Moon, as it will keep the newcomers enticed to continue watching and figure out what’s going on. Plus, it works very well as the scene where Kotarou gives his introduction monologue from the VN. Most of the jokes were genuinely hilarious and the episode established the main characters quite a bit, though I noticed that they put more focus on Chihaya, with the bike scene. Also, I thought it was a nice idea to have Nishikujou as Kotarou’s class teacher, cause I don’t think she was his teacher for anything in the VN. Plus, it helps in giving her a bigger connection to Kotarou and will help make her reveal to be a part of Guardian all the more impactful.
The animation is sadly where the episode suffers a bit. Don’t get me wrong, the animation is great for the most part; very fluid and the colors are vibrant as ever. The problem is that at times, the character frames look kinda weird, most notably during the scene where Kotarou and Chihaya are biking in the agricultural field. Aside from that, the animation is rather nice and the fight scene in the climax was pretty awesome, plus I didn’t mind the CG too much. Lastly, it wouldn’t be a Key series with the self referential nods like Key coffee and the pairing of Aizawa and Tsukimiya; I guess you could say that pairing is canon. 
All in all, the first episode was a pretty good start to the anime and I can’t wait to see more, cause it feels great to see the characters in Rewrite animated and moving. 
PS - I like how they synced the sound of Kagari’s footsteps with the opening notes of “Frozen Soil”.
I’m pretty enjoyed this episode…Now I know the main reason why Yoshino have many grunts against Kotarou…
The animation move+action is superb, environment too~ but for their faces, too many derp face but still can be tolerate…
Honestly I need more Shizuru and Inoue…
I’ll keep it short, because I really want to get a better overview of where all of this is going before I start to over-analyze stuff.
All in all, pretty decent for an introductory episode. Kept true to Rewrite Common in that it’s largely just absolutely silliness, but I really feel as though the pacing during the latter 3rd of the episode hit a point of trying to do far too much in far too short of a timeframe. It just made the whole scene feel awkward and not entirely right; but I realize they’re trying to captivate an audience and key them in on the more supernatural elements early on.
Quality-wise… Not terrible, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
For example, when you’re going to have characters as a still image in a moving background, you really should try to not make the characters look completely… bad
Or another example:
If you have two characters in a hallway and can get by with them being alone in said hallway, that’s significantly preferable to having a lot of still-drawn characters just loitering around motionless for ~2 minutes
Characters all seem to be pretty spot on. Up to and including Kagari being of a completely childish mentality and not really caring about what was going on… until someone smacked away her can of coffee. Which can really either be attributed to her less developed mindset, or to her general lack of reaction to the world around her. It’ll be interesting to see which road the anime takes with that respect
At any rate, I’d give this episode a 4/5. Giving it props for quickly and succinctly filling the viewer in on the characters, and for giving us something to latch onto before the next episode airs. Docking points fall to quality and pacing issues, coupled with the slightly weird use of some of the musical pieces. I look forward to seeing where they take this, and really can’t wait for an animated OP/ED to see how they handle that piece.
Impressions time!
This episode wasn’t the greatest, but it certainly surpassed my expectations. Basically, I think it sacrificed a few things for a greater payoff by the time the show ends.
Even having read the VN, it can be all over the place, so I don’t doubt that for newcomers this first hour wasn’t the most comprehensible.
I think the goal here was to introduce as much as possible within this episode; and I don’t believe that to be a bad choice. It’s not like they can take their sweet time introducing everyone and foreshadowing every plot point, so I want to believe that this will allow the show to move faster and connect all the threads more easily than it would’ve otherwise.
Right now a lot of things might not make much sense, but precisely because those elements are there, it’ll be far easier to connect everything in the future.
I’ve spoken about all of this a bit on twitter, but I’m pretty positive about this first episode in general. I think the original content could lead to a more fulfilling experience for everyone. I personally don’t care for the visual novel comparisons; if I just wanted to experience the VN all over again, I’d go ahead and read it once more. So I’m going into this more with a mindset of “what will this anime show us?” irrespective of what the VN did. The idea that there are new things to look forward to is, for me, far more exciting than a “mere” adaptation. And for newcomers, I’m sure a 1:1 adaptation would’ve been far less complete in terms of how it could’ve displayed Rewrite’s themes, so surely they’ll get more out of it too.
If I were to point out issues I had with the first episode, it’d be the fact that most of the character introductions were shallow. I like the cast of Rewrite a lot, but if I try to put myself in the shoes of a newcomer, it’s hard to see these guys as interesting for now. (Not that much should make sense at this point…)
As a final note, the soundtrack was on point (as always with Rewrite), and the animation I found quite good; the art may be simplistic, but it’s fluid and moves well, which is good enough.
Concluding, I can definitely I was pleased by the episode! Sure, it might not be perfect, and newcomers might be thrown off, but I believe they’re walking down an exciting path with this, and am certainly looking forward to what the show will have to offer in coming weeks.
