Rewrite Anime - Episode 2 "The Place Where Youth Begins"

Key Discussion
#4

So…(VN spoilers)oppai route confirmed?

Anyway, I liked this episode’s storyboarding more than the last one but it still has the same scene transitioning problems that plagued last ep and all of Grisaia’s first season, so I don’t see this problem being fixed. I wish the pacing was slower because between that and the lack of good transitioning, they are blazing through the common route which makes me feel like it really won’t get a 2nd season. The OP was pretty great…the ED was, I’m not sure how to feel about a certain thing they showed but I liked the way heroines were interchanged.

All that said I don’t think I can really judge this objectively. I’m so happy every time I see a VN scene get animated. Seeing Akane being Akane while voiced by KitaEri, Lucia with her punches (a bit sad Kotarou didn’t taste the ceiling), Shizuru being adorable (haha they included the ringtone), and Kotori’s reactions to everything…I love Rewrite way too much to actually complain about most stuff other than I want more common route scenes animated. Like, they really need to SHAKE IT NOW BABY NOW.

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#5

OK. So just finished it a while ago. Lets see… I’d say pretty decent so far.
The OP and ED was great in my opinion. I like how they showed more of the(VN Spoilers) common routes first and slowly went to Terra near the ending. ED… Uhhhmm… To be perfectly honest, I do not remember AT ALL it was from the VN. Was it from the VN? But I’d say it was pretty interesting.

Though I guess it was pretty past-paced. I’d really like to see more of Nishikujou-sensei with Shizuru scenes. Seeing how this is going, I am assuming that the next episode is gonna be more exposition-ish. From the way I see it this may not explain much of their relationship. BUTT. Again this was supposed to be about a new route. [really minor spoiler]And we didn’t really see much of the importance of their relationship in other routes other than Shizuru’s as well. What’s with the battle scenes and whatnot. Still silently hoping they’ll be animating that as well. And that’ll have to go too deep into every character route, maybe going to take too much time; something Which is not abundant, considering they only planned for like 13 episodes.
(I just like Shizuru as a character and want to see more of her, okay. Shaddap, don’t judge me.)

I agree with @Kaze … I really wish they had animated Kotarou tasting the ceiling XD. But apart from that, I am pretty much ok with how they portrayed Lucia. I don’t really have much to complain too.

Akane being Akane made me relieved. I really think that the slightest change in her character would have been super sinful. Though, how she would act in the future could be debatable. since all we can do for,is assume things(pretty much anything besides common; but then again, those weren’t that accurate either. BOTH in a good and bad way)

And Kotori… @Kaze SHAKE IT NOW BABY NOW.

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#6

The wild high-speed ride isn’t going to slow down for nobody. Embrace the speed guys!

No complaints about this episode. As predicted, it focused the most on daily life stuff and developing the characters of Akane, Shizuru and Lucia. What I didn’t expect is that they managed to get the occult club together already! At first I was quite alarmed that they weren’t going to draw attention over how much Kotarou cares about forming the club since it all came together so haphazardly, but my issue was addressed soon after with Kotarou giving us his feelings on the group’s existence. Really cool.

This episode got shit done! From after Episode 1 where viewers are left with no idea what Rewrite is about, now the formation of the occult club and a vague goal of ‘proving the existence of the supernatural’ has given the viewers ground to stand on. We have a setting, a basis, and direction! Now people can have a significantly more informed opinion on what Rewrite is all about before deciding to drop it or continue.

But that’s not all it got done, we also had that sweet sweet common route comedy! Sure, it was fast, but the comedy here was top notch, I was in stitches the entire time. Turning the ribbon girl scenes into a comedic routine was a bit of a chance of pace from the VN, but seeing how it is now I’m not minding it so far. Time will tell how they plan to handle her character in the future.

Okay, time for Aspi’s wild speculations! Mass VN spoilers from here on out.

[spoiler]* Episode 3 is going to focus more on establishing the setting, specifically the greater Kazamatsuri city outside of the school. We’re going to see the introduction of characters like Esaka, Imamiya, maybe even Gen-san and The Monthly Terra.

  • The hook of this episode will be Kotarou ending up inside the city of stone, and being forced to use his ‘accelerator’ to confront one of the dogs. Maybe we’ll even get some more Chibimoth here.
  • Episodes 4 and 5 will continue the adventures of the Occult Club. At the end of Episode 5 (maybe 6, gonna go with 5 for now), we’ll have a the big event marking the end of the common route. Considering what we’ve already seen, they’re going to have to up their game if they want to impact the audience as heavily as the VN did. Expect a big conflict between the two forces.
  • The remaining episodes will tell the 6th route. It’ll have to incorporate all the girls in some way, but I guess Kagari will be the focus somehow.
  • Kotori route stuff will etiher be right at the first episode, or sprinkled throughout.
  • Chihaya route stuff will probably play into this lots, if they wanna keep an upbeat feeling. Expect lots of Sakuya.
  • Lucia’s story with the poison could work it’s way in somehow, but won’t be the focus.
  • Shizuru’s story is gonna get completely shafted. Sorry guys!
  • Akane’s story will be quite heavily alluded to. I believe Akane will be portrayed as the main villain for most of the story, causing salvation to happen and killing lots of people before they get her to atone. This part might be wishful thinking, but considering how Shimako has been confirmed, the Holy Woman story has to tie in somehow. I expect lots of Akane stuff, but more than anything realise that this is gonna focus on a conflict between Guardian and Gaia. I can see Kotarou falling on the side of Guardian here.
  • And then, they’ll save Moon and Terra for season 2! With all this foreshadowing so far, there is NO way they’re not gonna do Moon and Terra. Mark my words, this baby is gonna be 26 episodes.[/spoiler]

Hope you enjoyed that guys, please tell me what you think and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more predictions!

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#7

This was an awesome episode! It was by no means perfect but it hit all the major scenes in the VN and did so with great delivery. Akane turning around her PC revealing she was playing an FPS was priceless. Kotarou asking Akane to let her fondle his breasts - and her reaction to it - was priceless. Shizuru parroting Kotarou’s lines over the phone was priceless. I almost forgot how wonderful Shizuru is during common route. All in all I just really enjoyed myself watching this episode.

The one main thing I’d criticize is that the nightly Kagari scenes feel really weird. The cuts to and from those scenes are sickeningly abrupt, they’re cringeworthy and it’s almost impossible to tell what the hell’s actually going on. Actually more than just that, Kagari in general makes no sense so far, and unlike in the VN she actually has a sprite here already so it just feels off.

But compared to how much I simply enjoyed watching the episode this is something I’ll gladly overlook for now.

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#8

Don’t forget; the Tomoko vs Kagari scene did in fact happen in the VN! It was a bonus scene after you beat the game.

The fart scene, however, is anime original :stuck_out_tongue:

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#9

I was grinning like an idiot as I watched the opening.
As it turns out, the video structure is the opposite of what I expected it to be.

(Isn’t that first bit way too obvious, though? Do they not mind Anime-only viewers knowing that much already?)

I’m not sure how to feel about the pacing. It seems awfully fast, but on the other hand, they did show what needed to be shown. I guess I’ll just have to see how the next episode plays out…

I hope they’re not done showing Kotarou’s reasons for… everything he does. My favorite Yoshino corridor scene would really show how serious a matter it is, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll bother animating that one.
Speaking of reasons: “I hope I can become a somebody.” This line didn’t seem to be a more of a flashback than an actual thought. I don’t quite remember where it originated from…

So, how many common route episodes will we get until the Kagari route begins? The pacing suggests it could start as soon as next episode. However, in this episode, the Kagari parts were the only supernatural ones. The opening, too, is mostly focused on the common route, so a half - half distribution doesn’t seem out of the question just yet. I’m torn between wanting to see as many common route scenes as possible and expecting the new parts to not be rushed.

Haaah. I’m already worring way more than I intended to back when the anime was announced…

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#10

I woke up very early to watch this, and oh man, it was worth it!

Before I go into the episode itself, I have to bring up the OP. I seriously was not expecting an OP that good. I already adored Philosophyz and the anime ver. that was shown a few weeks back, but the way they animated and directed the intro seriously could not have been much better, at least to my eyes. So many hints and little things I noticed makes the opening (likely) my favorite anime opening I’ve seen. Of course, not everyones sees it this way, but it definitely blew me away.

Anyway, on to the episode itself. I was cracking up nearly the entire time, the way they handled the jokes might not have been perfect, but it was more than enough to make me cackle like an idiot. I also feel as if they did a good job at portraying the 5 original heroines and their respective personalities. Sure, they all felt a little different, but nothing quite as different as I’ve seen in other adaptations, which is relieving.

Now, that last bit doesn’t really apply to Kagari. As much as the night scenes with her are funny, (although maybe a bit too funny for what those scenes were originally) we still haven’t seen enough of her “new” personality for me to form an opinion on that just yet. The way these scenes have been handled so far could maybe play more into her personality rather than just for the sake of being cute instead of creepy/scary.

Also, I think it’s maybe a bit too early to make any real predictions yet, but so far I think what @Aspirety has is definitely a possibility, and it makes sense.

In any case, we’ll have to see over the coming weeks! Bring on episode 3 :kgoha:

Side note: I have a whole new appreciation for Sasayaka na Hajimari after seeing that ED, it fits much better than I thought originally!

EDIT: Is it just me, or was the animation a bit more consistent this time around?

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#11

I’d say that given the fast pace of the anime, making him grow more feelings for the club after it was formed, would feel more natural. Since the point that he was trying to live his youth wasn’t presented in a direct way, other than a few scenes; which if those kind of scenes actually DID appear more often, (IMO) I think that is going to only make him look like a whiny kid instead. At least to the people watching the anime without playing the game first, this kind of approach would feel more natural and welcoming for the newcomers to the series.

the other two paragraphs… nothing to add-on sounds ok to me.

now, regarding the speculation. I’m just gonna touch on the eps 3 cuz I can’t be arsed to think of the others until the episode 3 actually comes out… Just gonna put spoiler tag just for safety’s sake… :wink:

*to be honest, I was really surprised that they didn’t put the part where Kotarou took the job of writing for the magazine. Assuming that they do they could include the scene with the dog and the grey city as well. I’m guessing this way the mystery element would increase as well…? Though I’m doubting how they’ll cram this up in a single eps…

BTW, listening to the opening sooooooo many times already and still am…( as of 10/7/'16 - 0339)

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#12

still in prologue and fast scene (for the beginner who haven’t playing the vn) but we get some good point

  1. several scenes in opening give you GOOD spoiler that can make you can’t wait the point especially when kagari cut kotarou’s right arm and when kotarou seeing his phone and smile and then sad again with ruined city as background
  2. kotarou meet the witch and want the solution of his supernatural problems. of course we get the scene where tomoko have her character in human form
  3. ghost scene : the ghost eat first shikigami and vomit it, the second shikigami can’t defend kotarou but kotarou give counter attack (farting) to the ghost. when all of his shikigami is run out, he grope and fondle ghost’s breast (in his dream, he grope and fondle akane’s breast)
  4. lucia punch kotarou in canteen because he eat her half eaten parfait. lucia punch kotarou again when she know shizuru in danger (this is a joke). and then lucia punch kotarou again when shizuru’s breast being targeted by kotarou (this is a misunderstand)
  5. occult research club have all the heroine

  6. and we(who have playing Rewrite) get some hint about the ending(useful or not this is just my opinion): (1)we meet kagari from moon route again, but when she get dead end branch (JUST OPINION). (2)we get the scene where kotori (maybe yes or not) look straight into kagari from terra route (if we look from kagari as viewpoint) (3) i can feel we will watch kotori ending(yes, in vn route) in episode 3 (the possibility is 20%)

  7. the song of ending is good and yes it is really good BUT it look they have short amount of frame from my perspective. and again we get some spoiler from all heroine’s ending (example: ruined city, sunflower field, wheat field, chihaya’s hometown, kotori’s forest area) except kagari of course
#13

THAT OP AHHHHHHH

I actually think “that much” was perfect at this point. Right now, with that first Moon scene, and with all the “oh Kotarou, youre just dreaming” stuff, I think the Terra stuff they’ve shown us fits right in with the amount of other “mystery” that they’ve shown so far.

I dont remember exactly either. Which is unfortunate because it either comes from Moon, which would be more evidence for my theory, or it comes from early-Terra, which like the OP, kinda proves nothing for me >.<

That whole scene in general actually… it felt a lot stronger here than how the same kind of feeling was presented in the VN. Like, there was definitely a ton of emotion surrounding the club and how it was giving him meaning in his life or whatever… but I dont know, its like the put this in bold this time, like there was extra emphasis or something. I have to wonder if this is part of “making Rewrite more clear” or whatever. I dont know, just an opinion.

Animation was a bit more consistent this time around! Some of the keyframes are still incredibly derp-y though, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to that.

The pace was still extremely fast in some places, which was off-putting, but they did also slow down a bit. I think it definitely benefited from not being an hour long this time.

@Aspirety regarding speculation: [spoiler]I dont know, I think common might not even go all the way into 5. I think ep. 3, more Kazamatsuri city and characters, some goofing around, then we go to finding the rainbow stream, ending with that maybe. Then ep 4., we get the stuff with Inoue and then the rest of the common route stuff. It just seems way too fast paced at this point to wait around just goofing off like VN common did.

As for the rest of the show, I think if @HeliosAlpha isnt right about the “3rd faction” stuff, then he absolutely wont be on Gaia’s side. That only really happens in Akane’s route anyway, and even then Gaia still seems like the enemy.

As for how this affects my theory I posted right before this episode airs… Im not sure it really confirms or denies anything. While we got some surprising Terra shots from both the OP and ED… those really could have happened whether my “this cour is Terra” theory is correct or not. Although, being optimistic, the fact that they’re in this cour at all… could be a sign. But not convincingly.[/spoiler]

Im also guessing the “big common route ending” from the VN is gonna be a ton more about Kotarou’s power than the Leaf Dragon and the conflict itself. And if thats true, than it makes me reaaaally mad that they were so unsubtle about his superpower, unlike how extremely subtle they were in the last episode

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#14

Rant on Rewrite second ep:
Music conjunction to respective scene: Double Down
Art Gradient: Down
Art Depth: Down
Art Consistency: Stagnant
Story: Triple Down
Verdict: This put Rewrite down from barely watchable in first episode to No longer watchable. The scenes were not in rush level anymore, they were completely disjointed. Killing of Judas when Jesus had not even visit Bethlehem would impress no one “Key”.
Rating: A level below LitBus! adaptation and half level below Grisaia adaptation.

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#15

In regards to the opening sequence, I really enjoy the work put into it. The OP feels energizing with how some scenes allude to future situations with Kotarou x “the girl”.
It helps keep viewers, especially anime only, curious by giving the incentive to look forward to future episodes instead of expecting silly SoL up until the end.

#16

I’m disappointed. It felt too rushed. The first episode felt rushed too but not as much as this one. And what’s with Akane’s appearance? How she was presented was too rushed too, one can barely have an insight on her personality. It felt like :“Konnichiwa! My name is Senri Akane. I’m the super rich with lots of money and power president of the Oka-ken who doesn’t believe in supernatural phenomena. I’m the witch and the b***h who pretty much forced Tennouji Kotarou to join my club… to make fun of and harrass him with my Boobs of course. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu~” … That’s pretty much it during the Common route in the VN but still!!! Uuuu… And all those comedy scenes that were either removed or felt not funny at all… And what’s up with Kotarou’s personality? I didn’t mind in the first episode but here, it doesn’t feel like the Tennouji Kotarou of the Common route I know at all!! The perverted side of him felt… kinda out of place in this episode… Okay, I know I’m complainning a lot but I just can’t help it.
The only thing that healed me during this episode was Shizuru’s moe-ness. Arigatou Shizuru-chan!! But… TOMOKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I didn’t like the opening nor the ending but… Maybe that’s because I’m not used to them. I’ll try not to “judge” them until I actually get used to them. (CommonRouteSpoilers)Oh right, the Opening was full of hints, at least, that’s how it felt to me since I’m a VN reader. Did I see a Terra/Akane-ish Kotarou in the OP?
Oh right, I wanna see (CommonRouteSpoilers)my Sakuyaaa!! He showed up in the Opening but his eyes were closed! Closed!! (picture below) His Ikemen side doesn’t really show up without his eyes fully open.

#17

Akane is perfect. Exactly like I had imagined her.

The ED animation was really wonky.

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#18

Not really all too impressive for me, but as always I’ll sit through to the end of a series before making a full judgement. Just loose comments below.

I kind of like to avoid episode-by-episode discussions. There is usually too much hoo-hah and excitement after an episode airs that a lot of people (myself included) are too pumped up with adrenaline to really assess things rationally.

A lot of nods to VN readers, with some clean shots (much better than episode 1) to spruce up some otherwise VN typical harem’esqe comedy. Disguises some of the series upcoming undertones and themes with fluffiness for maximum impact later on.

Not a lot else to I found noteworthy. I can see a lot of casual viewers dropping the series after this episode, to which I’ve heard some already have, but that will be their loss.
Aside from that, I’m not someone who really gives half a damn about OP and ED anymore, was alright I guess.

tl;dr fun and games for VN readers, potential drop for casual watchers. Shame… but all good things to those who wait.

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#19

Even with this episode, I still cannot figure out what this anime will be about. SoL? Mystery? Horror? Romance? Comedy? The pacing doesn’t help at all either, because as soon as the scene is focused on one character, it suddenly switches to a different character without any to bare minimum explanation. I haven’t read the VN and been avoiding spoilers so perhaps it’s meant to be told this way to keep it mysterious?

Anyway, for the episode itself it looks like the quality in animation dropped and felt very inconsistent throughout the show. Plot itself seemed to slowed down to “understandable” level compared to ep1 where they literally threw everything at the viewer without second thought.
.

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#20

Even the VN feels fairly inconsistent genre-wise. The VN is long enough that you can get used to this before the plot really takes off but with how much they have to cut and cram for the anime whiplash doesn’t sound unlikely. Things even out a bit more once the character routes start.

One thing that bugged me was the lack of good transitions. Like you said they will switch from one scene to another without proper build up. As for the animation, the school scenes seem pretty mediocre but judging from the opening of episode one and the action scenes quality will be stepped up when it matters, not that that excuses having poor quality in the first place.

Cramming shit together is always an issue with VN adaptations, so let’s see if Rewrite will get better in later episodes. Overall I’m still feeling pretty hopeful.

#21

That ED was beautiful.

I’m enjoying the adaption so far. I’ve gotten over their decision to not adapt the routes (VN) although the ED still gives me hope and am looking forward to what they plan to do.

(VN) That foreshadowing at the end though. H O P E B O Y Z

#22

I feel, after fully accepting the small inconsistencies that the first episode had, I was able to relax and fully enjoy the ride the second episode offered. This episode is faster-paced since there’s less time allotted, but it felt more like the Rewrite episode I wanted from the beginning. I didn’t mind the increased speed of recruitment of the club members, and I think I’m not alone when I say that the scene with Tomoko was great. (Why did she have to die~?! ;; )

Speaking of which, I also like the scenes they gave Kagari in this episode. They don’t make her as ominous and threatening as she initially is in the VN, choosing instead to set up her character like they did in the first episode. I certainly approve of this, and I can’t wait to see what this development leads to in future episodes.

Not much else to say, really. Can’t wait for episode 3! :smiley:

#23

I’m quite enjoying the adaptation so far. The first two episodes bas been super rushed expecially with the instant occult club recruitment, but its still a really good watch. This episode was a lot of fun, it kept me laughing throughout the whole episode. I can definitly see a 2nd season coming along and an oppai ova. I really hope though that they don’t rush to the main plot too quickly though.