Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Rewrite Episode #05 Anime Review


There's no world that can accept people as filthy as we are.

What They Say:
Kazamatsuri, a modern, well-developed city renowned for its burgeoning greenery and rich Japanese culture, is home to Kotarou Tennouji, a high schooler least privy to the place's shared values. Content to fill his pockets with frivolity, the proud and nosy boy whiles away his time pestering the self-proclaimed delinquent Haruhiko and indulging in his amorous feelings toward the oddball Kotori.

Equipped with the superhuman ability to permanently rewrite any part of his body to multiply his strength or speed, Kotarou is naturally drawn to the supernatural. One special meeting with the lone member and president of the Occult Research Club, the "Witch" Akane Senri, leads to Kotarou reviving the Occult Club by recruiting Kotori and three other members: the clumsy transfer student Chihaya, the strict class representative Lucia, and the unassuming Shizuru. As Kotarou unveils hidden secrets of each member of the Occult Club through their shared adventures, he will inevitably encounter a fate that only he might be able to rewrite.

The Review:
Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers).
Hooray for backstories! Last week, we got to see a glimpse or two into the past of our beloved Shizuru Nakatsu. With that out of the way, things can't possibly be as dark for our next backstory as well, right? Right? Guys? Wrong. Lucia Konohana is the focal point of this week's installment of Rewrite, and it's just as dark as what we've seen from Shizuru's route.

As it turns out, Lucia also has some weird, supernatural power in which she's sort of a reverse-King Midas and everything she touches withers and dies. The first minute or two shows us a scene in which a little girl (Presumably young Lucia) is all alone in a desolate, monochromatic corn field or something. As she reaches out to touch a leaf (Right after brutally murdering a ladybug), everything in said field turns black and rots away almost instantaneously. The scene then fades back to our beloved occult research club as they receive a letter from an anonymous student about the curse of 'Asahi Haruka'.

Lucia and Shizuru, still out of the picture following last week's altercation, are nowhere to be found at the time of this letter's discovery -- which is pretty lucky, considering the curse of Asahi Haruka is essentially the curse of Konohana Lucia. After some super-sleuth work from Kotarou, the two names are linked and it is revealed that Lucia only wears her gloves to avoid killing everything ever. Unfortunately for her, she winds up accidentally slapping Kotarou somewhere down the road, ultimately inflicting him with a slow-moving poison. Poor guy was just trying to help her out.

Once Lucia realizes that Kotarou has uncovered the secret of her affliction, she begins to distance herself from him, taking shelter in the abandoned orphanage that marks the beginning of Asahi Haruka's curse. However, just as he always does, Kotarou uncovers the site of the orphanage and winds up crossing paths with Lucia once again. Lucia spills the beans about how she can shatter glass and kill puppies and stuff, but Kotarou doesn't really care. Instead, he drops to his knees and pretends that there isn't a life-ending poison coursing through his veins. It is at this point where Lucia realizes she has messed up and starts apologizing profusely. Of course, Kotarou has a supernatural power of his own and reveals that Lucia before rewriting his body into one strong enough to cope with the poison. Then the HAZMAT team shows up, but don't worry, they're all friends with Lucia and everything is okay.

In the end, Kotarou ends up in the hospital alongside the class-rep and that one blue haired teacher that smiles way too much. Last week, it was revealed that said teacher works for some underground organization. This week, it is confirmed that Lucia also has ties to the same group. Obviously, Kotarou keeps getting entangled in this groups doings so sensei and Lucia begin to tell him more about it.

The organization goes by the name "Guardian." Their job -- saving the world.

In Summary:
Backed by a wonderful musical score, episode five or Rewrite flawlessly aids in steering the series away from the first several non-serious episodes. Lucia's character shines as brightly as possible in this episode thanks to some phenomenal voice acting from her seiyuu, Risa Asaki, and a series of excellent directorial choices from Motoki Tanaka. Impressively enough, Lucia's backstory is covered extremely well in just the twenty minute Rewrite was allotted to spend on it. I feel as if the past two weeks are exemplary in showcasing exactly what Rewrite is going to be capable of through the rest of its cours.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

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