I want to make one thing clear–clear as crystal. Gil and Pani are my favorite characters in Rewrite. I mean this completely seriously and with no hyperbole. Rewrite is a story about friendship and belonging. It’s about how valuable normalcy is and how precious the everyday is. Gil and Pani, particularly in the context of Chihaya’s route, are perfectly emblematic of this. Gil and Pani are made of trash and are born to be exploited. Their only desire is to be of use to Kotarou, to find something to give their lives meaning. This manifests itself in their friendship with Kotarou, in Gil and Pani’s willingness to help their friend.
Gil and Pani find, for the first time in their lives, someone to accept them. They find in Kotarou someone who didn’t treat them as trash, or to otherwise torture them. Rewrite at its best is showing how the normalcy of the occult club was special to every member therein. Just as characters like Lucia and even Kotarou himself are moved by the friends they make Gil and Pani are moved by the kindness that Kotarou shows them. It’s nothing groundbreaking, nothing dramatic, but that’s the point. The simple act of normalcy is all it takes. That’s all that ever mattered.
And I can’t talk about these two without talking about their hallmark moment. Gil and Pani’s sacrifice in Chihaya’s route is historically the only moment in Rewrite that has ever made me cry. Pani leaves with a smile, not sad for her own loss, but happy that she was able to help Kotarou. Much the same can be said about Gil, who–knowing that Kotarou has accepted them and respects all they’ve done for him–goes out with a smile.
“Goodbye, partner.”
Is such a silly phrase, but one that draws so much out of me. Key has, time and time again, astounded me by how they can transform my impressions of their characters. And just like with Makoto in Kanon, Gil worked his way into my heart.
In the big climax of the route when Gil and Pani return to fight once and for the last time for the friends they came to love I can’t help but smile.
Rewrite is a bit of a hot mess with lots of flaws and patches, but there are parts that truly shine. Gil and Pani are more than mascots and it is a crime that they are limited to the Tonokawa routes. I love it.
Stay Golden,
-Bread
I’m more excited to see their size, since Tanaka even stated that he wasn’t even sure about their size.