Re:CREATORS – Episode 22 [Re:CREATORS] [Final Impression]

No you’re not reading that wrong, it really is the episode title.

With Altair and Souta’s Setsuna-creation now in their own world (and apparently dead according to Shou?), Souta receives praise from the other creators for coming up with the idea to re-create Setsuna. One can wonder if it was really just a creation, or if maybe some of Setsuna’s spirit came into being as well. For someone born of “lost memories”, she sure seemed like the real thing, right down to her personality. (More on this in a minute)

Anyways Takashi is still having a hard time accepting that Selesia is dead, but Meteora points out that as long as he continues to write her story, she will continue to exist. Meteora also asks him to keep his promise to Selesia – to give her world “stories and coffee”, and Takashi says that he will keep his word.

As you might have gathered by now, Re:CREATORS‘ last episode focuses on wrapping up the series. This of course means that everyone has some sad or sappy goodbyes to share.

Meteora gathers all the creations together a few weeks later to tell them that she must send them back within a few days time because her magic is weakening, and once it leaves her they will be stuck in the human world permanently. She urges her fellow creations to say anything they’ve wanted to tell their creators, and to tie up all their loose ends.

Yūya and Shou take their creator, Ryō Yatōji, on a devlish motorcycle ride to the beach. There the two creations renew their bond to each other, and tell Ryō that they’ve decided to return their world. Ryō asks how he’s supposed to keep writing now that Yūya and Ryō have leaked so many spoilers, and they nonchalantly tell him that they believe in him to create something interesting.

Yūya and Ryō also give Ryō some advice: if he secretly likes characters like Hikayu, then that’s the kind of manga he should try creating next. But Ryō specifies that he only likes reading that kind of manga not writing it.

Elsewhere in the city Marine, Masaaki and Nishio have had a fun day shopping with Rui and Hikayu. Rui’s bought a lot of things that he wants to take back to his world, and Masaaki says it should be ok as long as the things he buys get written into his world. Marine asks if Rui and Hikayu would still want to go back to their world if there was a chance that it might not work, and both creations say that they would still want to try. Nishio says that he’s writing a side story for Hikayu’s world because the side story in the festival was so popular, and Hikayu is upset that he’s going to make her wear a small outfit again. As the creation chases away her creator, Marine says that Masaaki should do a swimsuit episode so she can see Rui’s bare legs. #equalopportunityfanservice

Lastly Meteora and Souta visit Setsuna’s grave. Souta admits that he feels disappointed because he cheated (via using Magane’s ability) in order to create Setsuna, but Meteora says that Souta’s skill is what brought the Setsuna-creation into being; Magane’s ability just manipulated the audience’s acceptance levels.  Meteora starts to say that the thinks that maybe the spirit of the real Setsuna is what was summoned, but doesn’t finish her thought. Then the two leave the cemetery.

Not long after, Meteora summons the gate which will send all the characters back to their respective worlds. All of the creators have shown up except for Aliceteria’s creator, Gai Takarada, who has said he won’t be there because it’s too painful for him to remember Aliceteria.

Rui goes first, and he passes through the gate in his mecha. Next to go are Yūya and Ryō, and they tell their creator to have a reward waiting for them once they kill the “final boss.” After them is Hikayu, and she has some stern words for her childish creator. Hikayu says she can learn to live with whatever tiny costume he has planned for her, but she wants him to please do “the thing” with her and Masayuki (it’s not specified what she’s referring to). Then Hikayu thanks Nishio for allowing her to meet Masayuki, whispers something not audible in his ear, and walks through the gate.

Blitz and Erina are next, and Blitz refuses to be grateful for anything. Shunma tells Erina that she is indeed a “bad god” because she might kill her again, or even Blitz. Shunma suggests that Blitz and Erina stay in her world, but Blitz says he doesn’t want to live in the same world as her. As the two walk through the gate, Shunma says that she will continue to do bad things to them and their world, so they should try their best to overcome them.

The last creation to leave the world of the gods is Meteora, and it’s clear Souta doesn’t want her to go. Re:CREATORS has never come right out and shown that there’s something between the two, but I definitely feel that there’s some kind of connection. Meteora reveals that she’s actually not leaving – she can’t go back. In order to cast the spell, someone had to be on its “outside”. To try to send herself back would be like trying to throw herself. Meteora however is happy that she can’t go back because she loves the human world, and eventually she wants to try being a creator too. As the gate finally flickers and fades away, the last of Meteora’s spells vanish from her book of magic; she’s a normal human now. Kikuchihara has a surprise of her own – she’s leaving the government and… is now involved in the manga industry? o.O

Takashi and Gai meet up at the same manga event where Takashi bumps into Kikuchihara. Gai has won an award, and he tells Takashi that he pushes himself hard because of some words Aliceteria told him. Takashi shares that he feels the same sometimes, and that he knows they must keep writing their respective stories so they can continue moving forward. The two creators agree to work together at some point in the future.

In an empty stadium, Masaaki tells Nishio that he feels a little hurt and disappointed that all the work that he and the other creators put into the overall story plot for the festival wasn’t enough to break Altair. In the end it was Souta’s idea of creating Setsuna that did Altair in. Nishop asks Masaaki if he will stop creating due to this hurt, and Masaaki says that of course he won’t stop.

Back at home, Souta has resumed his art again. His work is still not super popular like Setsuna’s was, but he’s happy with his progress. Souta receives a text message from Meteora, who updates him on the progress of her novel and what she plans to do with it. She is having a hard time coming up with a title though…

Souta messages her back and reveals that he is also planning to submit a piece of his own. He goes on to describe how he can’t stop creating no matter what now, and that he knows how lots of stories have been created because others like him have felt the same way too. His final words to Meteora are that sometimes some stories are life-changing, and in a small way they have the potential to turn people’s lives into something beautiful. From this Meteora comes up with the title for her novel: Re:Creators.

*cue the first theme song, “Gravity Wall”, as the credits roll*

My Thoughts: Wow, I can’t believe Re:CREATORS is finally over. I’m really, really glad I was able to get past my hesitation in the first few episodes and stick with this series! ^_^v

I don’t have many complaints, if anything. I think if I had to come up with something, and this is a bit of a stretch, it would be the large cast. As I’ve mentioned before in other reviews, larger casts means many of the supporting characters get a lot less screen time, thus often reducing their roles or importance in the overall story. But in a sense the show took care of that issue on its own, to a small degree.

On that note, I do appreciate that the show didn’t shy away from killing off its characters. Over the course of two seasons we lost four creations, and three of those losses were in the final battle. (If you want to get technical you can include Setsuna’s death in the first episode for five series deaths.) The only other split-cour show I’ve covered has so far been Endride, which also had a large cast, but the differences between that show and Re:CREATORS are like night and day (in a good way).

And actually now that i think about it, I do have one more complaint: that essentially Setsuna had to die in order for Souta to get over his fear of creating. I get why it had to happen of course, but still… kinda shitty Souta, just sayin’.

Also, did anyone else notice that Magane never went back through the portal? Hmmm… maybe we’ll get a sequel in the future? ;D

Final Impression

 

Story: Re:CREATORS has been a breath of fresh air in an industry which often recycles the same themes and tropes from year to year. While it’s possible that a show similar to Re:CREATORS is out there, I have yet to see it, and thus this title was a new experience for me.

Suspend reality for a minute and pretend that the characters from your favourite anime came to life one day. What would happen? How would the public react? The government? The creations themselves? Could real life follow the events of Re:CREATORS? I think it’s a really neat concept that’s certainly fun to play with.

I also want to thank those of you who have followed my reviews and were adding notes in the comments about how the plot was used to convey the writers’ thoughts on the creation process and the like. That’s not something I initially picked up on, but once it was pointed out to me I definitely started to see some of the allusions and references to it. The story gets an A+ from me.

Characters: Amongst the creations there were many unique characters from many different genres. We had a badass tough guy, a martial artist (actually two if you include Hikayu’s fan disk form), a magical girl, a heroic knight, a few mecha pilots, a mage and a guy with a gun. Oh and a psychopath who can twist reality with her words. Definitely not a lot of same-old same-old there, eh? That’s not to say that there weren’t some stereotypes mixed in. No character is perfect and some had more flaws than others.

I’d also like to comment on Souta and his role in Setsuna’s death. Keep in mind that he’s a sixteen year old kid, and the kind of grief and guilt he was experiencing would be something I feel like most adults would have a hard time keeping their head straight over, let alone someone as young as him. I think what Souta did to Setsuna was horrible and real and gut-wrenching, and he should have suffered for his actions – which he did. I can also appreciate that he was able to come to terms with what he did and start to heal, so he could learn from his mistakes and become a better person.

Speaking about the lack of a ship, as much as I am a diehard romantic I think I am glad that there wasn’t a main pairing.  I think the closest we got to anyone dating/hooking up was the beginning of a bond between Meteora and Souta, but I can appreciate that nothing happened during this season because I feel that at the end of the day such a relationship would have taken away from the story. I feel that how their relationship ended at the end of the final episode was a good end for them.

Music & Animation: I will definitely be looking for this soundtrack. I really enjoyed the first two opening themes and the first ending theme, but I didn’t love the second end track. There were lots of supplemental tracks played during important moments, and probably some character themes I didn’t pick up on, but I adored all of the music in this series aside from the one ending song. The music gets a big A+ from me.

As for the animation, I also have nothing bad to say about it. Re:CREATORS included a fair amount of CG between all of the mecha, magical abilities, Meteora’s spells and so on, but nothing looked tacky or out of place to me. (Then again I learned from Alice to Zouroku that I might just have really low standards, so hey what do I know? xD )  It’s very clear that this show was given a good budget, and it was properly utilized.

Overall Thoughts: Re:CREATORS is a title which stands out from its peers thanks to its smart writing, unique plot and vibrant characters. If you’re looking for something very different to watch, I recommend giving Re:CREATORS a try!

 

Final Score: 10/10

 

Author’s Note: Bahhh, I really wanted this review to be on time but work sucked this week and I just didn’t have the time. I figured I could rush the review but then I wouldn’t be giving Re:CREATORS the final impression it deserved, so I waited until I could sit down for a few hours and properly organize my thoughts. For the last time (for this title anyways), thank you very much for those who take the time to read my reviews and/or comment on them. *bows*   Your support is always very much appreciated. <3