Honestly speaking I was happy to see this finally in motion and some genuine 8-Bit produced footage… Buuuuut…
I apologise in advance if it seems like I’m pooping on the parade but I don’t feel like the actual content of the PV did the series any favours for getting people excited for the show outside of the VN readers.
I’ve spoken to a few people and some friends who were interested in watching the series in summer based on stuff I told them, and the general feeling I have is that a lot of people think it looks like a random harem show with loli girls.
And after watching the PV a few times I kind of see where people are coming from. Its a bit misleading as to the actual premise of the series, and it doesn’t help that a character like Shizuru (who If I remember correctly is supposed to be 18 years old) now looks even younger than she already did in the VN.
Tl;Dr the PV frames the series in a misleading way, I assume its to surprise people with the later tone shifts… Buut… I digress.
The problem being, non-VN readers I’ve spoken to honestly think it looks like some generic show. And for a first animated PV, that’s a bit worrying.
I agree though about it looking like a harem show but one could probably argue it is. Plus watch this CLANNAD PV (for English DVD but only one I could find) or Kanon 2006 (same as CLANNAD) and they both seem like harem shows (and again, arguably are).
I’m not sure what they could have done to avoid that as showing the non-common bits could spoil the show depending on how they do this.
Yeah that’s the feeling that you would get from literally every Key work. But those who are too close-minded to bother checking it out simply from those connotations are just losing out from enjoying a wonderful piece of work
But the initial announcement used the VN Moon OP clips, which was 110% spoilers, so I was assuming they would frame the premise in this animated PV.
The difference is that Rewrite is an environmental conflict and pursues different genres to all other Key VNs. I don’t feel like this particular PV was appropriate. Whereas past works had PVs that fit their premise.
It might be that the PV was composed of clips from the episodes they have produced so far, which is why the lack of post-common route clips.
I thought that the PV is just fine as it is, and even if they try showing Kotarou’s powers (his Rewriting powers, which was revealed pretty early in the story anyway), people will still think it’s a generic harem school anime without the slice-of-life because of the number of heroines as compared to, like, Kotarou and Yoshino.
Just showing parts of the common bit wouldn’t be good at all. For whoever’s new to Rewrite and watching the PV, they might just think “Oh, wow, another show with dumb comedy and cliche characters in a harem” while they also showed the darker and mysterious side to Rewrite, which would give newcomers something to look forward to.
Well, the whole point of Rewrite was that it was marketted as a generic galge, and later caught everyone off guard with its sudden twists. At least this PV does display the more mysterious half of the story in the second half. There’s a clear contrast between the school life and the mystery in the PV. A ghost crawling out of the protag’s bed? That’s bound to generate some interest.
Maybe they could’ve dangled a little more bait for the uninitiated, like Kotarou getting chased by one of the dogs, but eh, they only have so much animated to work with.
Yeah. Like if you expected the supernatural elements, how would the November incident hit so hard? I want them to keep that hidden during the anime as well
Ok, so i just finished Rewrite yesterday; I’ll have to go post my thoughts on it overall in a little bit.
Anyway, I had been thinking about how I might do it if I were adapting it. This fits with the “new development” part, but the actual descriptions in the interviews and what not make it seem a bit less likely. Oh well, I’ll share it anyway:
[spoiler]So the hard-to-adapt part of Rewrite is the fact that the majority of the VN is all just simulation, right? Welllllllllll, what if that was explained at the very beginning, instead of near the end, to make it make more sense? Here’s what Im thinking: Put the first half or so of Moon at the very beginning. Dont have to give away much of the actual meat of the story, just show Kotarou’s original struggle with Kagari, show him figuring out that the Earth is in trouble, and that Kagari seems to be looking at all the possibilities.
Then present the routes as said possibilities. Show each route failing to save the Earth. Each time, it seems like things could work out, but as we know, they all end in a dead end. Show them as flashbacks if that makes more sense. Or show Kotarou being sent back to the hill every time to confirm that it failed. Cut some out or combine some if needed to save time.
After the routes, go back and finish the rest of Moon. And lastly, of course do Terra.[/spoiler]
Well, like I said, this seems really unlikely. And I understand, this might present the whole thing with a slightly different mood. But ultimately the exact same themes and goal are accomplished., and I think it could feel really cool.
I’ve just realized something
(P.s. Character designs are on the official Rewrite anime page, under the “character” tab. Link http://www.rewrite-anime.tv/character/ )
The art for the character designs reminds me about the art for Charlotte when it was around December 2014-March 2015 when we were given info on Yu, Nao, Misa, and Yusa.
I really hope that this is the same case for Rewrite. Charlotte’s animation turned out gorgeous when we actually got to episode 1. Hopefully Rewrite goes through the same phase. Not to mention the difference is that Charlotte had a month to prepare for the PV (since Shirobako ended in March) well, maybe less than a month, while Rewrite’s PV was all messy because 8-Bit’s also in production for Shounen Maid, which is airing sometime this/next week.
But animation aside, with the new concept change, is there any news from Tanaka stating if Moon/Terra will still be animated ? I’m actually hoping they are, since they are my favorite routes.
With the new “change,” I hope it still goes into the routes some how. I think each route would be very enjoyable to see in anime form. Especially in Shizuru’s route, during the last few parts when they’re doing the Saying Goodbye scene, diary scene, and the Tree Kotarou scene
The anime should just use Moon as a plot device, such as how CLANNAD did theirs, with the main story, and the other world story.
You have to keep in mind that not only do animation studios pretty much always outsource at least some of the work, as mentioned before, but also its possible that a completely different animation team from 8-bit is working on Rewrite than is working on Shounen Maid (I wouldnt know, I havent looked into the latter at all).
Ahhh, oh well. I have no complaints about the animation (other than how choppy it is).
Let’s just hope the anime adapters are good at music placement and Shake It Now Baby Now
The stuff we saw was probably only from episode 1 anyway. So it’s not that bad. And of course, the common route stuff isn’t going to look as ‘pretty’ as we might want it to be. I have faith that the important stuff in the heroine routes and Moon/Terra will look great
Episode 1 ? Really ? I don’t remember that Kagari scene until like 8 hours in. Plus, didn’t he meet Akane after Shizuru ? Akane’s appearance should be at episode 2 in the earliest.
Generally in PVs, they only show stuff from the first couple episodes. I remember for Charlotte and Little Busters, the majority of the stuff shown was from Episode 1 respectively, and some from episode 2.
Lol. Charlotte’s PV… Those were the days… When we actually THOUGHT that the things happening in the PV were serious. In reality, it was just a joke.
Oh, and yes, I remember they showed Yusa (who didn’t appear until episode 3) So I’d hope we’d get Akane by then. She’s the highlight of personalities in Rewrite. She’s like a wise-dark-Yuri (from Angel Beats).
As long as they showcase the great comedy and story of Rewrite, I won’t look down on the animation if it’s not the best.
