So Facebook reminded me that it’s been 3 years since I finished Rewrite and making a post about it! I actually had a pretty good review of it, so I thought I’d come and share it over here:
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Do you remember what scenes that’s referring to?
I was rereading it, and I honestly wish I did, but it seems that I’ve mostly forgotten about it. I think it might be about how Kotarou had gained the choice to not attack Kagari specifically because he attacked Kagari on other timelines, but it doesn’t seem to fit too well
I’m really in the mood to talk about the thing I like the most about Rewrite as a whole. It’s a bit hard to explain, but I guess I’d call it the mentality behind it. Like the stance on how emotions are handled. It’s weird mix between human empathy and pragmatic thinking. It’s represented very well in Moon when Kotarou is expanding his understanding, and he finds a small piece of love, but he never reaches the whole part of it. Another good one is what’s written in the memory about the garden:
“This isn’t something Kagari planned, but an inherent property of aurora. There’s no love or anything in it, but it’s still quite forgiving.”
That quote hits the spot. I really like the idea of this primal pragmatism that ends up being gentle and caring out of coincidence basically. It really throws things for a loop and makes things feel really unique.
This is what makes Kagari really cool to me. She’s an ascended existence with knowledge beyond human comprehension. But looking at what she does from a human’s perspective, she is a great, caring mother ready to let her children out into the world. There’s a similar conundrum with Moon Kagari specifically. Why would she use the garden to help her sister instead of keeping the aurora to herself? The empathetic view would say it’s because she’s a loving sister. The pragmatic view would say it’s because the Moon can only delay the inevitable while the Earth has a chance of creating more good memories.
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Yeah, I really dig this as well, something Rewrite handles differently from all of Key’s other stuff. It’s why I really strongly recommend Rewrite to people battling depression and nihilism. It’s a refreshing look at the world.
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I had just finished Terra route last night and I have to say that the ending was just as beautiful but I would agree that the ending did feel rushed after the fact that the Earth Dragon was defeated and Kashima and her summoners were already dead despite all that Kotarou had to accomplish in saving the planet. When I read about how Kotarou and Akane had left the city of stone and found out that the three people that had pushed them outside the gate, I could not hold my tears back knowing that they stayed behind and wanted them to survive outside that time. The ending sequence was amazingly breath-taking. I almost didn’t realize that Midou and Tenjin were in the Middle East back in the beginning with Jasmine, but now that I think about it, I think it had to have been them because I remembered in Chihaya’s route that Midou and Tenjin had suffered post-traumatic events in their pasts though this time it was already altered by Moon (Kagari). This route was very long but I don’t know how else it could have been wrapped up but I really loved this route.
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You’re forgetting something with the idea of the “possibilities” though. The possibilities don’t look for an outcome in which the Earth survives. It’s all about creating a possibility that the life which exists on the Earth (Humanity) is given the chance to continue living beyond the end of the Earth.
The Earth is done for. The whole while Kagari is laboring away, the Earth doesn’t have enough Aurora left to successfully “reboot” life. If a reboot happens, all life dies. This is what Kagari is trying to prevent; this is what the possibility she strives for creates. A possibility for humanity to pursue another future, a new home, where they can continue to thrive and prosper. Somewhere that they can continue to live, love, create, destroy, and all of the other things that make life wonderful.
<15511> The ideal memory for Kagari...
<15512> Wouldn't that be the will and the power to carve out a new future?
<15513> Something humanity gave up on.
<15514> Something the people lost sight of when they started caring for the planet.
<15515> Even if it means devouring our Mother Earth...
<15516> We have to expand.
<15517> Because...
<15518> Kagari's expression is so kind.
<15519> Because...she looks like a mother watching her children go off into the world.
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An overall disappointing end to a phenomenal VN.
This route had some small good bits; Esaka being Esaka is always a treat, I liked how Imamiya finally was moderately useful after being a background character for the entire game, it was interesting to see how characters had such different lives in this alternate timeline, and it has some Sakuya which helps, but these are islands in a sea of mediocrity.
We already knew that KotarouKazamatsuri Bond wasn’t always his goofy self but it was jarring and disillusioning to see him so confidant at the beginning of the route, and even after he developed he was still pessimistic. We already saw him behave logically yet cruelly in Akane’s route so that’s not a surprise but when you don’t like the narrator any story is tough to read, and I could not bring myself to like this KotarouPochi.
And it was long. This route really should have been a brief footnote at the end of moon.
Hmm reading that entry again, that seems like it might just be valid but… Are you implying that the garden no longer exists during the time of Rewrite (say, while the heroines were still children)?
Im sorry, Im confused about what time you’re specifying? ^^; Like, the 5 heroine routes are actually taking place concurrently with Moon because they’re the simulations, yeah? And then the entirety of Terra exists explicitly after Moon (route), after the aurora left the Moon (celestial body).
Well, I was specifying the time of Terra… Well, more specifically, the time before Terra, where Kotarou still did not join guardian
Pretty sure where this will lead, but yes there is no significant amount of Aurora on the Moon during Terra route.
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That scene got retconned in R+ btw. It’s still basically the same, but Sakuya’s involvement is cut. I guess Tanaka thought that plot hole was worth filling.
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Hello! I recently finished Rewrite (the visual novel, not the manga version) and it’s quickly becoming my favorite Key series. But I had some questions about the plot that are really hindering my ability to enjoy Rewrite to the fullest. These questions pertain to very late game spoilers and should probably only be answered by people who beat the game already. Thanks a bunch!
[spoiler]1: I don’t get why there are two of Kagari. How did that happen? Are they completely separate or do they have a shared mind? Which one decides if Earth needs Salvation or not? Do both of them decide together? Do they interact with each other at all?
2: Why does Salvation occur? I understand what qualifies for good memories (IE all of humanity joining together to work towards new innovations/a new future), but what makes a world bad enough to need a Salvation? Does Kagari dislike having to resort to Salvation or not? In Moon she seemed blase about it, yet in Terra she was very reluctant.[/spoiler]
Thank you so much! I’d really appreciate it if you took the time to answer me, If not, I understand. One quick non-spoiler question: what’s the difference between the two Rewrite mangas, and is there anywhere I can read all of them online? Thanks a million!
Long live the Key empire!
1: I don’t get why there are two of Kagari. How did that happen? Are they completely separate or do they have a shared mind?
That’s pretty much up to your interpretation if they’re separate entities or not.
2: Why does Salvation occur? I understand what qualifies for good memories (IE all of humanity joining together to work towards new innovations/a new future), but what makes a world bad enough to need a Salvation? Does Kagari dislike having to resort to Salvation or not? In Moon she seemed blase about it, yet in Terra she was very reluctant.
Good memories is anything that leads to the survival and spread of Aurora(see the Moon topic for more information). Salvation is originally a fail safe but it consumes so much energy that it’s actually a bad thing for the Earth in the current situation. Therefore, any time Salvation is triggered means the Earth and humanity is doomed. Salvation is an automatic event that is triggered when the key fails to see any chances of good memories happening.
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I see, thanks for replying! So you’re saying that Kagari has no say in if Salvation occurs, it’s just a sort of reflex of the Earth that happens regardless of Kagari’s feelings. And about the two Kagaris thing, we don’t know very much about it. Is that about the gist of it?
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Yeah, Kagari or the key has no real choice in the matter of Salvation. It just makes calculations based on what it sees. Gaia abuses that by capturing the key and only showing it bad stuff. Kagari herself is made to be vague. Probably because it makes Tanaka’s job a lot easier.
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That makes a lot more sense. As for it being interpretation if they are separate Kagaris, they probably are, considering their personalities, views on Salvation, and ultimate ends (one becomes a tree on Earth, the other a sapling on the moon) are so different. Thanks for all your help! It’s really impressive how fast you responded to my post. This community is amazing!
Personalities
It’s shown that the Key’s mentality is heavily dependent on its experiences in life. If given the infinite knowledge Kagari displays during Moon, there’s a high chance they would all act the same as she does.
Views on Salvation
I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean
Ultimate ends
Kotarou is the one who turns into a tree. The environment in Moon is all an illusion/lower existence, so Kagari doesn’t necessarily have a corporeal form. It’s arguable that she was the plant the whole time. It seems like a very arbitrary thing to use as evidence.
I meant “views on salvation” as what I mentioned earlier, where Kagari is blase about worlds ending/salvation in Moon but desperately wants to prevent it in Terra. As for it being Kotarou who turns into a tree, thanks for clearing that up! I guess it really is meant to be purposefully ambiguous about the whole two of Kagari thing. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even realized that there were two if it wasn’t for Kotarou himself saying “did Kagari have a twin” at the end of the Moon route.
