Kagari-chan a cute!
Impression
I-I’m strangely excited. I’ve forgotten how exhilarating it is to not know exactly what will happen next in a route of Rewrite. We are now officially into anime-only territory (at least until the full version of the Kagari route in Rewrite+ is localised or fan-translated) and it’s pretty bizarre to say the least. It’s a little sad to be honest, because all we have to work with is less than half a season – and this could potentially be a really informative and interesting route for existing fans of the game. Now that I’ve seen this, I’m definitely going to be playing through Rewrite+ when I get my hands on it – meaning that Key and Romeo have achieved their main objective with this adaptation.
Kagari-chan is talking! Holy shit! I kind of understand how Romeo plans to give Kagari some character development now. Kagari-chan was always the Key heroine that never was, and this route is apparently supposed to change that (although there’s only so much they can do given that she’s destined to never have a happy ending in every timeline). Giving her a personality is a good start, although Moon Kagari making her Earth counterpart amnesiac was quite a clunky way to go about it – it came out of the blue precisely because it’s never happened in any of the other routes. I actually thought Kotarou would get to know this iteration of Earth Kagari through similar methods to what he did during Moon, and that he’d slowly teach her things and bond with her that way. Maybe even over coffee. Instead, she seems to have become a very smug and spoiled Creamy Kagarin and is now living in his house of her own accord, sleeping with him and playing with turtles in her spare time. It’s actually really cute. The inside jokes are as on point as ever – she tells him she doesn’t know how to find herself, and he replies ‘Go on a journey or something’. Heh. It almost felt like an abridged series at times, even.
It was obvious what the first scene was meant to be – we’re exploring a single branch of the complex blueprint being studied by Moon Kagari that represents all the parallel timelines. In other words, it’s a route. And I have my suspicions that this route is one of the solutions thought up by Moon Kagari which she later abandoned – sending a rock down could be her attempt to have Kotarou bond with Earth Kagari so that the latter would be able to collect good memories. It’s super cute that they’re casually living together, it’s going to be the Kagari-chan romance we never got! I don’t see any other reason why Kagari would suddenly be able to communicate with humans and have everyone see her other than if that rock was loaded with lots of information enabling her to (sort of) function within society. From a story-telling perspective, it’s impossible to do a Kagari route in any real sense if she can’t talk. And it’d be really awkward doing horrible reproductive acts with her as well, although I hear that Rewrite+ will be no less PG than the original Rewrite was. Speaking of which, I’d wipe Kotori’s sweat off for her any day.
Apart from the Kagari scenes, the rest of the episode felt purely preparatory – it set the scene for the future Gaia-Guardian conflict over the Key, and introduced all the major players on each side. It’s at this point that Kotarou usually ends up following whichever girl he grew the closest to during the common route, but nothing really happened this time other than Shizuru momentarily coming back to say goodbye to him (it’s a little strange that Lucia never appeared, given all that he’s done for her). I guess this is how you would enter the Kagari route during the game, although it sounds like a thin line separates that and a common route bad end. Anyway, Guardian is comprised of many characters we’ve already been introduced to, from Esaka to Nishikujou and Imamiya. They’re generally a close, efficient and cooperative organisation, although by no means monolithic. Getting to see Gaia must have been an interesting experience for secondaries, if there are even any left – it was actually much the same for me, because this is the first time many of the Gaians have gotten proper character designs. They were primarily silhouettes in the game, which was an intentional attempt to present them as being detached and bitter individuals that you had to imagine for yourself (and with that in mind, both Suzaki and Takasago were depicted in the anime pretty generously). Apart from the main characters, the main exception was Shimako – the cute but silent loli who is yet untainted by the twisted world-view possessed by Gaia.
That being said, the scene with Akane, Chihaya and Sakuya felt really warm and homely. I’m also pretty sure it’s the same room that Kotarou and Akane lived in during her route, going by the wallpaper and the fact that it’s connected to the occult club room by a hidden passageway. It’s super ironic, because Kashima Sakura or Akane herself might well be the last boss if the OP is any indication – all those scenes from the Akane route are hinting that it’ll be her (the latest in a long line of holy women) who tries to trigger salvation on behalf of Gaia. Also, did anyone else feel like that OP just appeared out of nowhere?! To start with, it’s not Rewrite of the Life, but I don’t think anyone was expecting that. It’s better saved for a Moon and Terra adaptation (if ever) and it’s absence implies that that’s still a possibility sometime in the future. What’s most concerning is that it features lots of events from the various non-Kagari routes, from Sakuya sacrificing himself to Yoshino fighting familiars. Are they going to be able to include everything they’ve teased in the OP, not least of all the (presumed) Kagari route-exclusive scenes like Lucia vs Midou? They still haven’t delivered on Bond. As for why it’s titled ‘End of the World’, the intention is probably to remind us that the world is eventually doomed in every timeline except that of Terra’s – and as we all know, this is not Terra. Even the ED depicts a Kagari cradling an Earth that eventually dies out and becomes a ball of light, joining the numerous other lights floating towards the sky.
Finally, Inoue was super cute! I want to protect her smile.
I thought the episode would more somber and serious, I end up was laughing so much.
I appreciated the parallel of meteor falling to earth and starting changes with information packed moon rock? falling to kagari’s head and starting changes in a branch of theory. Unfortunately kagari got overloaded and forgot a lot of things or is this part of moon kagari plan too? Also in this version of Nov 13 after math, Koutarou wasn’t as lost as in the VN. He know where Lucia, Shizuru, Akane and Chihaya is. Here he only worried about Kotori and able to continue his life. He wasn’t miserable enough to piss Yoshio off.
The highlight of in this episode is of course kagari. Her scenes are hilarious, kagari exploring the house (weird magazine!), kagari weird ribbon’s usages (I remember in Akane route, she was creating spider webs and walking on those), Kagari on the internet (lol, I need a spin off), Kagari in School (Harvest Festa!). Kagari-chan what are you doing to the poor turtles, your dislike of horrible reproductive acts is showing. Kagari can see human’s heart too, that one is something I don’t know. Anyway the most important things is Kagari is talking, that alone will make things very interesting with Kotori, Gaia or Guardian.
The best thing about anime is I could see what is happening to other characters and unfolding events. In Gaia, Suzaki is pretty much leading now, Akane is planing something, Sakuya is also acting. Chiahaya is still the same as ever. Guardian are kicking ass and preparing. Kotori is doing something too. I am worried for kotori now, she is going to end up attracting all the attention with the way things are going. The key is hiding in plain view, neither Gaia nor Guardian would ever think that the key is freeloading in a boy house, reading web comics and wandering without being invisible. Good work Moon Kagari, a perfect counter to ‘eye’ type hunters and many other problems.
Moon Kagari probably thinks that Earth Kagari can best collect good memories without the weight of the truth dragging her down. If she knew absolutely everything, it’d be a lot easier for her to become the disillusioned version of her who thinks that salvation and the world’s death are inevitable and that Gaia, Guardian and Kotori are all trying for nothing.
Is this where Yoshino was supposed to get really pissed off about Kotarou seemingly not caring about Kotori? I’d forgotten that that was a route-specific event.
I liked Kagari-chan and the turtles the best. Were they performing horrible reproductive acts? Is that what she was stopping them from doing? Given that Shizuru was just in school, and that there’s a hidden passageway connecting Gaia HQ to the club room, it’s pretty risky for Kagari to have gone to school even though no-one except Kotori is likely to know exactly what the Key looks like. Kotarou needs to meet up with Kotori and have a nice, long (PG) chat with her. Maybe train with Chibimoth a bit too.
I only remember that Yoshino is generally pissed off if kotarou continue his life with a false smile. He only get really pissed off in Kotori route though.
Gaia agents most likely have abandon the school due to Guardian presence, so I doubt it would be risky compare to her wonderings.
It is rather sad that kagari could only be happy and silly like this when she forgot everything else.
It’s for the best that Yoshino never got involved in it all, at least until Moon. Makes me sad to think about his unrequited love for Kotori and watching her from afar with Kotarou.
Oh right, Gaia now knows about Lucia and Shizuru being in the school. And Krivoy Rog was killed recently too, so that’s their combat effectiveness reduced even further. I guess they have other closed spaces around Kazamatsuri to work with.