Ascension by depression, so edgy xD
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Between you, BlackHayate02, and Aspirety, you guys wrap up the final holes in the simulation argument, yep. Sakura, Sakuya, Kotarouâs appearance, two Kagaris have all been accounted for by now, making the simulation argument completely possible.
Seems like it really does become a grab bag of just picking one of the three theories you outlined earlier. All of them have proof in the visual novel, either straightforward or implied, itâs just that some of the theories are simpler or more plausible. Itâs not that any of the theories are wrong, itâs that we donât know which one is the âcorrectâ or âcannonâ one.
And yeah, I agree about Rewriteâs depth. The other Key works are all pretty straight forward. Even their endings that can be baffling are mostly explained by âdatâs the power of love for ya,â yet in Rewrite itâs about a bajillion times more complicated than that. I really like Rewrite for it.
Also, itâs sad that the Sakuya scene at the end of Terra was changed. I donât know the changes, and while I was confused as to how Sakuya could talk to Kotarou at the time (you cleared it up nicely), I really liked the scene as one last bro to bro moment between Sakuya and Kotarou, showing that theyâd transcended being rivals and moved on to being friends.
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Oh thanks! I just wanted to be extra careful.
Iâll leave off spoiler tags in the future here, then.
This is essentially the reason Terra stuck in my mind for longer than most of Rewrite, and the more I think about it the more I like what it is. Doesnât mean itâs particularly fun to read like, say, Lucia route, but I really, really appreciate what Terra represents.
The world is on the brink of destruction. Saving it is no easy task. In fact, the only way is to take Kotarou, who as weâve seen can have many different potential happy futures, and force him upon a path that takes everything from him and leaves him with nothing - to top it all off he even has the obligation of killing the one being heâs doing all of this for, and he is not allowed to refuse. Because ultimately, even if Moon Kagari is sympathetic towards what he has to go for, the happiness of a single person - and probably many other peopleâs just as well - is something sheâs willing to sacrifice if it means saving the world.
Thatâs also why I loved that one scene in the 16th episode (timestamp 10:50) of the anime so much: Just before Kagari cocoons up, she tears up. She knows that she is literally writing all of his happy futures out of existence if she walks this path, but she still has to do it. It was a devastating scene for me, now that I understand all the implications.
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I also like the message that even when a person sacrifices so much, s/he can still be able to pursue happiness later on. Kotarou may have lost just about everything when he was still alive, but he may still be able to find happiness later, though as a familiar, with the heroines. However, that happiness can only be guaranteed in an ideal world, and Terra is much about what it takes to create that ideal world, which, as has been said, is no easy task.
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Is there only one Possibility for saving the Earth ?
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Technically there are a few others that can save Earth, but Terra is the only one that saves life itself and spreads it across the universe. (Not counting Oppai, which also saves life)
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At an overall it was a really good route with the introduction of some new characters as well as explaining the back story of some characters such as Midou. It also managed to give a clearer idea about some minor details like the Gaian internal conflict ( Kashima Sakura and Suzaki ) as well as the importance and role Esaka has as a member of Guardian. In the ending scene, I got an impression that the girls were repaying Koutarou with their life energy since he used up his life energy to rewrite the fate of the characters as well as the world. Finally, I felt the route explained Koutarouâs serious side better as well. ( The one where he didnât suffer a brain damage by being attacked by Kagari )
The next target of my crusade against all the perceived plot-holes in Rewrite is the big one.
In the Moon route:
yet in the Terra route:
This is probably the biggest and most obvious (alleged) plot-hole in the entire story, and also the only one Iâve heard of that I myself felt was a genuine plot-hole the first time I read it.
I know that it this scene was removed in Rewrite+ because it apparently didnât make any sense, and I donât know that Romeo Tanaka himself had to say about it, but I donât think it should have been removed, because there is an in-narrative explanation for it that I find to be beautifully subtle and perfectly foreshadowed, and I honestly think of myself as a bit of an idiot for not getting it immediately on the first read-through.
The answer is this thing:
As far as I can tell, there are three points in the Terra route where this thing affects him in a truly substantial way. Obviously itâs the flame guiding him through all his decisions, but Iâm talking about three times that simply would never have gone down the same way if it wasnât there.
The first time is this:
The second and most obvious time, the very reason for itâs existence is of course this:
And the third time is Kotarouâs conversation with âSakuyaâ. Itâs no coincidence that Kotarou finds this in his soul while heâs talking to âSakuya.â That was implanted in him by a Kotarou who had memories of Sakuya and a connection with him as successor and predecessor. The proof can be found in Chihayaâs route, with this scene, when heâs pondering rewriting himself to fight Krivory Rog:
Itâs almost exactly the same situation. In that scene itâs his own voice he hears, but due to the foreign object in his soul in the Terra route, which contains the sentiment of a Kotarou who has a connection with Sakuya, he hears Sakuya embodying his instincts as a rewriter rather than his own voice. Of course itâs not really Sakuya, he doesnât even exist, but:
These two lines in the Moon route have more significance than they first appear. Even though âthisâ Kotarou dies (or is destroyed or however you want to put it), he had already left something of himself behind, and that something still contained memories of Sakuya. Kotarou did remember Sakuya, just like he said he would.
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I very much enjoyed Terra, and reading through all the posts here leaves me with a bit of regret that I canât offer anything much by the way of new or interesting analysis to what has already been written. I think it would take me another playthrough to really take it all in ( bring on Steamâs Rewrite+ release!). I had a lack of understanding about why nearly all the âchoicesâ werenât actually choices but that was answered on Discord. It was interesting to see familiar characters through a different perspective and a bit heartbreaking at times as Kotarou makes hard choices and âbetrayalsâ leaving him ever more isolated in his task to clear the route to his goal.
It did feel like a suitably âbittersweetâ ending, no simple RPG style; kill the bosses, take the loot, save the world, get mighty rewards, elope with dream woman ending here, and on to the next great adventure. Perhaps that was at least partly the point of the RPG feel to this VN, that the real world isnât a game with fixed rules or hard and fast right vs wrong. Real world problems are not black and white with solutions where nobody gets hurt. Saving the world begs the question whose world? And might mean losing yourself in the process.
Iâve only played about VNs but this is definitely in my Top 10.
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Since I read Rewrite a long time, I have to ask: Was Esakaâs power ever revealed ? The only thing I remember is thatâs he was embarrassed of it?
I Really enjoyed reading it, it really bring a new side of the game showing that sometimes sacrifices are need to be done to achieve someting, and sometimes in that process a person can lose either himself or the people around him, but ultimately find happiness in the goals that you persue and find amazing people on the path. In a way the bittersweet ending really suits the arc, making the ending more memorable and something that the reader can never forget.
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i wish esaka never fight kotarou 
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