Finally finished Rewrite. I’m going to sit and absorb the albums for a while before doing my Rewrite Music review, but I wanted to jump in on some of my thoughts overall.
I have to admit that Rewrite didn’t grab me as much as other Key stories I’ve read. There are two niggling problems that I can’t quite get past: there’s no cohesive theme and the magic of the world follows inconsistent rules.
The distinct themes of Key games are really what make them shine to me. Kanon was about childhood friendships, Clannad was about family, Little Busters was about nostalgia and youth. Rewrite is about…dissatisfaction with the world, I guess? Based on where the power for summoners and super people comes from, I assume that’s supposed to be the focus. Shizuru was originally dissatisfied with the problems that being poor caused her family, Kotori was lonely and suffered the loss of her parents, Akane was born disabled, Lucia’s power isolated her from the world, Chihaya’s parents died to save her.
While all of those are tragic, I feel like they don’t all fit with the idea of dissatisfaction. Chihaya doesn’t seem to curse the world for her parent’s death…she seems to have come to terms with her loss. Akane seems frustrated with her responsibilities, but I don’t feel like she has a strong resentment for them. Lucia’s case is rather confusing…if your powers come from being dissatisfied, and your power is what makes you unhappy, where did the power come from in the first place?
That brings me to my other problem, the magic in the world is inconsistent. The most obvious example is the discrepancy between salvations in the timelines, but even the way Rewrite itself works seems to vary between the stories. This isn’t such a big deal in a VN like Clannad, where the magic is meant to be vague and mysterious, but it makes a big difference in Rewrite, because the magic is a central to the plot and it supposedly operates according to some specific rules.
I feel like Rewrite could have been stronger by just hewing a little closer to its core. Establishing better theming and more consistent rules from the get-go would have helped a lot.
Also, to what extent is self-sacrifice a core theme? It shows up in Moon/Terra, and in the backstory for a few of the girls, but I’m not sure where else.
Overall, Rewrite was very enjoyable, and I feel like it was time well spent. But I don’t think it’s quite the masterpiece that I’ve come to expect from Key. It’s something a little more middling.
