The day the Earth is beyond saving isn't all that far away.
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)
Okay, remember how last week Kotarou was all like, "Yo, Lucia, cook me a bento wearing a maid outfit!" and we all laughed and had a good time and stuff? Alright, well, that happens. In fact, that's how the episode starts. But even though this week's Rewrite started off on a bright and joyous, albeit fanservice-y first scene, the episode slowly transitions into something a lot more serious with an actual hard-hitting message. But before we get into that, we get a bunch more fun stuff!
After an adorable Kotarou x Lucia scene, all of our Occult Research Club members are reunited once again. Following an exchange of apologies from Chihaya and Lucia, the club decides to check their blog for whatever mysteries students around the campus have been reporting as of late. Apparently, a lot of weird stuff is happening...but what else is new? I'm sure all of these "crazy, paranormal anomalies" will be defused momentarily. And they are. From a 'sword in the stone' scenario all the way to an ogre taking shelter in the school at night, each paranormal investigation wraps up quickly and neatly. That is until our good ole' research club begins to investigate the forest.
Right off the bat, we know things are going to get weird because Kotori brought her pink mammoth dog thing that still doesn't make any sense. Tossing that aside, things in the forest aren't all that out-of-the-ordinary at first. The overwhelming force of greenery gives the scene a memorable glow -- it's actually rather beautiful. But, eventually, that beauty becomes tainted.
Now, you'd expect that stumbling upon a rainbow river in the middle of a lush forest would be a sight for sore eyes, right? Well, normally it would be. But, when our research club discovers it, they also discover that said rainbow river is toxic to the point of killing anything it touches and even causing birth defects to the animals in the area (Which potentially explains the mammoth dog). The idea of something so beautiful annihilating anything it touches really paints this disturbing image about what the world of Kazamatsuri may be like. We know that there are groups fighting to preserve humanity -- but we've also uncovered that humans have essentially destroyed the same exact world to begin with. Everything we've seen so far is nothing more than a well-crafted, colossal band-aid for nature itself. This becomes even more evident in the following scenes.
Instead of photographing the river like he would normally do, Kotarou instead turns away and deems the problem "out of his hands." In the scene following, he meets Akane in the clubroom in the middle of the night, just moments before she breaks off into a rant about how humans are essentially ignoring the end of the world or, as she deems it, 'the point of no return'. Kotarou seems to grasp the situation and ultimately empathizes with Akane. The episode then tails off into an even more hopeless situation -- the disappearance of the Newspaper Club's Inoue.
In Summary:
Beginning on a bright note and slowly transitioning into something much darker, the sixth episode of Rewrite boasts an impressive ability to manipulate viewers and relentlessly force its message across. Fans of Lucia will get to see several adorable, character-building moments for her (Which may have solidified her as 'best-girl' in my book). The imagery toward the end of the episode is not only heartbreaking but thought-provoking and intense. Also, remember to recycle or everything ever will die and a weird girl with a red ribbon will murder you. That is all.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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