Rewrite Episode #13 Anime Review (Finale)

I wonder...if I had a little more time...could I have made everything better?

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)

So it's come to this -- the end of the world. When we last left off, Sakura and the other leading members of Gaia had begun the 'Song of Destruction', beckoning forth the apocalypse. As the song plays on, Kazamatsuri is swallowed up by vegetation. Monsters begin to run rampant through the streets, annihilating anyone they come across. Kagari, on the other hand, briefly comes back to reality -- albeit a little too late.

The episode kicks off after a short monologue from Kotarou. Shortly after the city spiraled into chaos last week, he and Kotori were able to escape to higher ground, carrying Kagari's body to the top of a skyscraper. As they stare off into the horizon, a colossal monster begins engulfing Kazamatsuri, turning everything in its wake into ash. In the midst of this, Kagari comes to her senses and causes Kotarou to have a mini-heart attack as he welcomes her back into the world. But this isn't the time to rejoice. There's still the matter of stopping the apocalypse before it's too late. The only way to do this, however, is to kill Kagari. And, of course, Kotarou isn't ready to let that happen.

As expected, good ole' Esaka shows up atop the rooftop Kotarou and his pals are taking shelter on. The main problem here is that Esaka's combat ability easily dwarfs Kotarou's, even factoring in the Rewrite ability. So Kotarou, in an effort to save Kagari's life, changes his DNA over and over again, but still can't manage to compete with the leader of Guardian. Eventually, Esaka is able to land what appears to be a decisive blow on our protagonist. But before he can finish the job, Shizuru shows up on a motorcycle and knocks him off the building. The two plunge into an empty space ridden with foliage and crumbling stone. Esaka asks Shizuru if she has any regrets, to which she replies with a predictable, "No" and the two become locked in battle as the camera brings us back to Kotarou -- now on the brink of death due to rewriting himself too much.

As mentioned earlier in the series, rewriting oneself can ultimately lead to a loss of humanity. But one thing that wasn't covered was why Kotarou was able to do this in the first place. As soon as this question is raised, we are taken back to the image of Kotarou's arm being severed by Kagari beneath the world tree. As it turns out, this is actually a memory of Kotarou's and that he was actually murdered by the Key back when he was just a child. Kotori, after finding him, begged Kagari to spare his life and she implanted one of her ribbons within him -- trading away a bit of his humanity for a second chance at existence. After this is established, Kagari decides to remove her ribbon from Kotarou in an effort to bring him back to life, now in present day. The only thing is, Gil and Pani are also bound to the ribbon and removing it would mean sacrificing them. Eventually, the fairies take one for the team and vanish away from the world as Kagari removes the ribbon and gives Kotarou the gift of consciousness yet again. When he comes to, Kotori lies to him and tells him that they've simply run away.

As things begin to look slightly more hopeful than they did five minutes ago, the Song of Destruction kicks off once again and sends not only Kagari into another screaming fit but Kotarou as well. Removing the ribbon didn't work. Kotarou has lost so much of his humanity that there is no plausible shot at him recovering. The song, now playing in full force, begins annihilating essentially everything in the entire world. People are fading away, buildings are being torn apart, and Kagari has started to transform into a tree. Yeah, you heard me. The imagery in this scene is actually rather terrifying as we see both Kagari and Kotarou's limbs morph into branches as they extend upward into the sky. Kotarou, still refusing to let her go, starts clinging to anything he can find -- hoping that he will eventually reach Kagari.

And then he does. It's time for some good, old-fashioned KEY brand sadness.

The world begins to break apart. And with it, so do all of our main characters. In just seconds, we're taken away from an utterly chaotic finale and thrust into an endless river of tears as the heroines we've grown to love over the last few months die and fade away right in front of us. The entire sequence is earth-shattering -- both literally and figuratively. After everyone has had their chance to say their goodbyes (To us, not each other), we're brought back to Kotarou and Kagari once again. After denying the chance to kill her himself and stop the end of the world, Kotarou has accepted that he, too, will perish. And he does. But not until after slowly transforming into a creature beyond recognition.

The credits roll.

In Summary:

This episode was both physically and emotionally taxing. It felt like KEY was working at max potential again. The only downset is that half of this damn series was worth literally nothing. And when you take those boring parts and compare it side-by-side to a finale like this, everything just seems so much more insignificant. It's common knowledge in the VN scene that Rewrite has one of the most intricate and endearing stories on the market, but taking that and trying to cram it into just thirteen episodes is nothing short of a travesty. I get that there are budget constraints and other factors the studio could not take full responsibility for (IE: Networking/Distribution/Etc.) but the fact of the matter is that the series did not receive the love it deserved. And honestly, if it had, it would have been remarkable. The themes of this episode come across so hard that they're basically tangible. And even if you couldn't find it in yourself to empathize with any of the show's characters, seeing them vanish still remains just as impactful as ever. Even the scriptwriting was top-tier in this episode as it pushed line after heartbreaking line at you. The end of the world is perhaps the biggest possible thing you can throw into the finale of a series, and episode thirteen of Rewrite was executed flawlessly. I just wish the rest of the series was as well.

A second season may or may not be happening. It would definitely make sense given the post-credits scene. I'm keeping my hopes up -- all thanks to this finale.

Episode Grade: A+

Series Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Rewrite Episode #12 Anime Review

I couldn't find any...Good memories involving mankind.

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)

In this episode of Jurassic Park...err, Rewrite...the blonde guy with the snaggletooth and the red hoodie has traded in his dogs for a cool new dinosaur that he plans on killing essentially all of the main characters with. That being said, as soon as this penultimate installment of the series kicks off, we're immediately thrust into a situation where no one has any idea what the hell is going on. Almost immediately after things begin, Kotori's druidic realm in invaded and she is forced to utilize every single one of her monsters to just temporarily fend off the dinosaur. In addition to her monsters, however, she also uses...her parents -- which we discover are actually just their corpses reanimated with the help of Kotori's magic. Weird. One thing I want to mention about this scene is that, on paper, it would have been phenomenal. Hell, even the initial "Mom! Dad" shot when Kotori begins to cry out is mesmerizing. But it's all over too quickly. I'm sure this is a lot more impactful in the visual novel, but it feels like it was just casually tossed into the mixture for the animated series and, honestly, I'm a little disappointed.

Okay, moving right along, the battle with the dinosaur winds up coming to an anticlimactic close as several members of Guardian show up and essentially take the thing down I guess? I'm not really sure how this battle ends to be completely honest. As soon as the monster is about to eat some guy with a battle-axe, the scene just freeze-frames and the dinosaur controllers is just like, "...So this is the end of the line, huh?" and then his arm disappears and he vanishes. This is a completely normal way to die and affects millions of Americans each year.

All while the dinosaur is slowly being subdued, Kagari is beginning to lose her grip on humanity. It's apparent that her consciousness is fading away and that she's becoming more of an object than an actual person. Even with this, though, Kotarou does not give up hope -- talking to her as if she were the same way she normally is. This all stops, however, when Kagari speaks her only words in this week's episode, "I couldn't find any..." Of course, that's extremely cryptic and no one understands what she means. So when Kotarou retorts and asks, "Couldn't find any what?" she says, with tears welling up in her eyes, "Good memories of humanity." Just seconds later, she erupts into an emotional screaming fit and throws up a barrier of her ribbons around her as everyone sits back and tries to figure out what the Hell is happening.

Meanwhile, back at Gaia's headquarters, Akane's adoptive mother (Sakura Kashima) is inching closer to death every minute. Following another exchange between our isolated heroine and the apparent antagonist of the series, Sakura decides that it's time to visit "The sanctuary." As she proceeds toward a helicopter with Akane and several guards, one more member of Gaia shows up and proclaims that Obachan has lost her mind as he accuses her of trying to end the world. Of course, she doesn't let this fly and sics a raptor on him from literally out of nowhere. This is also a completely normal way to die that affects millions of Americans every year. Immediately after the man is torn to shreds, Sakura summons a portal in the sky that tears Kotarou and the others out of their new alternate-realm, which is actually a Gaia summoning pit. They are sent straightaway back to Kazamatsuri where a colossal tree has sprouted right in the middle of town. How the hell are they going to explain this?

In Summary:

While things actually happen in this episode for the first time in a while, there still seems to be something missing. The most emotionally provocative moment of the installment (Kotori's parents sacrificing themselves) is incredibly underwhelming while it could have gone on to be reminiscent of the good old KEY feels-train we all boarded back when Air was a thing. Apart from that, though, we do get a decent amount of screen time for essentially all of the characters, with Kotori and Kotarou once again being the primarily highlighted ones. Akane continues to become even more interesting as she becomes locked in a mental bout between her and the spirit of the "Saint," clinging to the little control she has left over her body. With only one episode to go, something big is almost certain to happen. What I'm worried about, however, is that the series finale won't be big enough. Needless to say, a lot of time has been wasted in Rewrite. The question now is whether or not that can be rewritten.

Grade: B+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Black Bullet Vol. #04 Manga Review (Series Finale)

This world is overflowing with absurdity.

Creative Staff:

Art: Morinohon

Original Story: Shiden Kanzaki

Character Design: Saki Ukai

Translation: Sheldon Drzka

Lettering: Abigail Blackman

What They Say:

Humanity continues to fight for its right to a future. Rentaro's enemy is the sinister Kagetane Hiruko, but there's another threat-a gigantic Stage Five Gastrea that threatens to destroy everything Rentaro has worked to protect. Overwhelming odds demand unthinkable sacrifice, and even that may not be enough. Sometimes, when all is said and done, what you really need is a very large gun...

In humanity's continuing fight for its right to a future. Rentaro's enemy is the sinister Kagetane Hiruko, but there's another threat-a gigantic Stage Five Gastrea that threatens to destroy everything Rentaro has worked to protect. Overwhelming odds demand unthinkable sacrifices, but sometimes even that may not be enough...

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

So, during the end of our last encounter with Black Bullet, we discovered that Rentaro has become some sort of cyborg crime-fighting badass. Enju, on the other hand...well, she's still a ten-year-old girl. But despite that, this duo is ready to take down Kagetane Hiruko once and for all before he can summon a stage-five gastrea in order to plunge the world into never-ending war. And, of course, this means we get to see how the new and improved Robo-Rentaro fights in comparison to our masked, gunslinging antagonist. Surprisingly enough, he actually puts up a good fight. For a bit.

After he's finally touched for the first time, Kagetane decides he needs to step it up a bit and show Rentaro just who he's really messing with. From this point on, the fight slowly shifts from Rentaro's favor back to Kagetane's and ultimately culminates in the villain unleashing a devastating blow that lops off a good 30% of Rentaro's stomach, leaving him lying in a pool of blood on the floor with his initiator weeping over his body. This is where the volume gets interesting.

Initially after this blast, we're designed to think Rentaro is actually dead. (I mean, I'm sure none of us really thought that. But that was the plan). After passing out, Rentaro wakes up in another realm, greeted by a younger version of himself that goes over his feelings on the death of his parents and Enju's entire persona and role in the world of Black Bullet. The narrative switches to a sort of epilogue of what succeeded Rentaro's death. Kisara and the other Civ-sec officers had been relocated to Osaka, leaving Enju behind to endlessly search for a means of proving Rentaro is still alive. Flooded by emotions brought on by the assumed sadness of his initiator, Rentaro is able to break through the wall separating him from life and death and rejoins Enju on the battlefield, completely healed. This was all made possible through his perseverance and a new serum developed by the doctor. Here's the catch, that serum essentially chipped away some of Rentaro's humanity and briefly turned him into a gastrea. But don't worry, that's all over now and Rentaro is able to kick Hiruko's ass all the way into the water.

But it's not over yet. Somehow, Hiruko was still able to summon the stage-five gastrea, Scorpio -- who looks really 'effing cool.

With the introduction of this super evil gastrea, you would assume that the manga is about to take a turn for the worse, right? That's where you're wrong. In just a single chapter, it is revealed that there is a colossal railgun named "Stairway to Heaven" designed to take out stage-fives and that Rentaro must climb to the top of it and activate in under an hour. The thing is, this railgun has never actually been used before and no one knows if it's even going to work or not. Of course, there is another chapter after this one so it's safe to assume that it will. So, before Scorpio has a chance to do anything cool, Rentaro and Enju climb up the Stairway to Heaven and use his arm as a varanium bullet to blow it to smithereens in perhaps the most anticlimactic final duel I have seen this year. And, hooray! All is well.

The last chapter of the series winds up being equal parts celebration and cliffhanger buildup. Kisara's grandfather (Who I think was like a prime minister or something along those lines) turns out to be the bad guy! In a final [verbal] showdown between him and Rentaro's gang of good guys, it is revealed that Kikunojou Tendo is the one who essentially summoned Scorpio. It is ALSO revealed, that Kagetane isn't even dead. In fact, he talks to everyone over the phone as if nothing even happened before breaking off and saying, "Oh, by the way...Next time you're dead, Rentaro!" and then hangs up. As if that wasn't enough, Rentaro storms off, electing to not kill perhaps the most evil man in Tokyo and, instead is just like, "See you next time...father..."

What?

After the showdown ends, we're greeted with one of those cryptic endings where everything seems totally fine -- until Rentaro's PTSD kicks in and it is revealed that he completely murdered that girl Kayo (Shougen's initiator) like two volumes ago. But that's totally fine because he and Enju are about to bring ice cream to their graves! All is forgiven. No, but in all seriousness, these last few pages shine some light on the seriousness that is the world of Black Bullet. Kayo was killed to prevent her from turning into a Gastrea after becoming gravely wounded. It just...feels a little out of place and could have been thrown anywhere else and still maintained the same purpose. It basically lures you into believing that there will be more of the manga series when this is, in fact, the finale. Regardless, it's good to see Rentaro and Enju back together, no matter how many lives were lost in the process.

In Summary:

Plain and simple, the last volume of Black Bullet seems rushed. Despite having a solid foundation in its first chapter, the succeeding ones tail off and try to cram so damn much into so little space. There are far too many revelations, cliffhangers, and attempted backstory/exposition material that even the final battle wound up being cut short -- literally killing the ultimate enemy in the series with the press of a button. That being said, though, this final volume works wonders in terms of art design as it is laden with thought-provoking and heart-wrenching images of the cursed childrens' struggle. Plus, and I know I mentioned it before, Scorpio just looks so damn cool. Unfortunately, sheer art design can not make up for what was lost in the process of ending this series -- closure. Even though this is the finale, it feels like nothing was really accomplished in the long run. All of the pre-exisiting bad guys still exist. So what was the point of this all? You could go on to say that this ending does well in mimicking the overall hopelessness of the Black Bullet universe...but honestly, I feel like that would just be a cop-out. The final volume of Black Bullet is essentially no more than an advertisement for the light novel series. And while I enjoyed the journey overall, I'm sad to say that this cryptic ending was a bit of a let down.

Series Content Grade: B

Volume Content Grade: B-

Art Grade: A

Packaging Grade: A

Text/Translation Grade: A-

Age Rating: 13+

Released By: Yen Press

Release Date: June 21, 2016

MSRP: $12.99

Real Account Vol. #03 Manga Review

Go forth and discover the bonds that connect you as followers.

Creative Staff:

Art: Shizumu Watanabe

Story: Okushou

Translation: Claire Hallmark

Lettering: Evan Hayden and Jennifer Skarupa

Editing: Ajani Oloye

Kodansha Cover Design: Phil Balsman

What They Say:

After his victory in the Dark History Trials, survivor Ataru Kashiwagi sees a familiar face in the Real Account rankings. But this person shouldn't exist, so how can he be seeing him alive and in the game? For now, the spotlight changes to this new protagonist, but the deadly contest continues! This time, Marble will brutally decimate Real Account players with a new set of games including a bonus round that will prove to be quite...revealing.

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

When we last left off, we had discovered that Ataru's brother, Yuuma (Who is actually Ataru himself?) is still alive and is also a new resident of the Real Account virtual world. This time around, however, the narrative deviates from Ataru's perspective and shifts to the point-of-view of the newly revealed Yuma Mukai, who we had presumed to be dead up to this point in time. Now, we have two protagonists who look exactly the same and claim to be the same exact person. What the hell is going to happen when these two finally meet up again?

In the beginning of the third volume, we get a glimpse into the daily life of Yuma 2, who appears to be in an entirely different city than his brother(?), Ataru. Much like Ataru, Yuma has hidden his obsession with Real Account from his friends at school -- only revealing it to his girlfriend, Nanako. In yet another relatable turn of events, Yuma is sucked out of his body and tossed into RA just as he's about to totally get it on with Nanako for the first time. From this point on, we get to reread the entire "You can unfollow anyone for three minutes" that we read back in the first volume. This time around, though, Yuma is dropped by his girlfriend and is left with no followers. In a quick, desperate attempt to save his life, Yuma commands that a girl near him (Who is in an extremely similar predicament) follow him in exchange for a follow-back. The boisterous young tsundere reluctantly accepts and the two begin their currently-platonic relationship together.

This is where things start to get different. Kind of. Like, very slightly different. The first game that Yuma and Ayame (Tsundere girl) are thrown into is a game of like/dislike -- where random images from their phones are posted to the viewers and they must predict whether said photos will be liked or disliked by the majority. This is essentially the less stressful version of Ataru and Koyori's game where they had to guess whether people thought they were cute or unattractive. In the end, Yuma shows off that he is also one to bend the rules of Marble's games and winds trying to cheat the system by taking hundreds of bad selfies. Unfortunately, even with the new plethora of unglamorous close-ups, Yuma's chosen picture is a bushel of bananas. Nice. Regardless, he winds up nearly passing by when he discovers the third option -- whatever. Then he spews this whole thing about how the daily-life pictures that people post on the internet really only matter to those involved with them. And he's right. This is actually a pretty hard-hitting revelation for those that don't understand the world doesn't revolve around them.

It is also revealed at this point that Ayame grows moss as a hobby. Okay.

The next game is the cool one -- RA Live. A large portion of the remaining contestants are split into groups of two's and told that they must host their own livestreaming show for thirty minutes. If they have less than 100 viewers by the end of the stream, they will immediately die. However, for every follower over 100, they will earn a solid 100 yen -- much like Ataru's re-tweet game from volume one. And, in yet another similarity between the two story lines, we see a mass of people just start having sex and broadcasting it to everyone. I mean, it's a good strategy. As demonstrated here, humans have this immense obsession with sex and easily gravitate toward it even if these specific acts are matters of life and death. It's yet another intense revelation brought on by the world of Real Account. Oh, and then some girl totally explodes while getting slammed because her husband unfollowed her. Awesome.

Yuma and Ayame wind up surviving this round after using a picture Ayame had taken of Marble (As well as a voice changer app) and essentially narrating a fake plan to destroy civilization. Being well disguised by a quick shielding of the camera, their plan fools nearly everyone and they amass an insane amount of viewers in the last five minutes of the stream -- putting them on top of everyone. As the game comes to a close, we are brought back to Nanako's perspective as she watches over her [ex?]boyfriend's unconscious body. And, much like Ataru's situation, Marble shows up and steals it. However, it as at this point that we discover that there are like seven hundred Marbles and they're all going around successfully stealing unconscious people out of their homes. I call shenanigans.

In Summary:

The third volume of Real Account is decent, but it's a lot more of what we've already read from the pilot. I mean, it's essentially a re-telling of the entire volume, and what distracts from that even more is the fact that our two protagonists are twin brothers (Probably?) who are not only identical in physical appearance but in mental capabilities as well. The addition of Ayame is great for tsundere fans like me but, truth be told, she's incredibly transparent and really not all that special at this point. Maybe things will change, maybe they won't. Who knows? Regardless, it's hard to give a solid grade to an issue that we've basically read already. One thing we do get from this, however, is a variety of doors and pathways that can be traversed on the way to a rather interesting and overall confusing tale of two twin brothers (Probably?) finding each other once again, all mixed with an interestingly gory social commentary.

Content Grade: C

Art Grade: B+

Packaging Grade: B-

Text/Translation Grade: A-

Age Rating: 16+

Released By: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: July 26, 2016

MSRP: $10.99

Rewrite Episode #11 Anime Review

Playtime is over, humans.

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)

So even after falling off a cliff and being slashed through her stomach, Lucia is okay. And while she might not be dead, it's still safe to say that she might be out of commission for a bit. After being sent by Akane to go meet up with Sakuya and the others, Chihaya comes across Lucia's body and quickly breaks into a panic because, well, her friend is essentially bleeding out right in front of her. Luckily, Kotarou and Kotori quickly show up and Chihaya is suddenly alleviated from all of her responsibilities in one fell swoop. The current problem (AKA Lucia) is still quite the issue, however. Kotarou and the others elect to bring her back to the druidic realm and attempt to use magic to heal her. When magic doesn't do much in terms of healing her wound, Kagari steps in and decides to use her ribbons to cover the gash. In the end, Lucia is healed but is still not going to be operating at full potential for quite some time. It is at that point where the difference in Gaia and Guardian is finally put out in the open.

While Gaia wants to preserve or 'shelter' the key, Guardian wants to destroy it. Kagari, being Kagari, accepts this immediately and attributes the alleged attempts on her life as just "her being too popular." Even though Lucia flat-out admits that her organization wants Kagari dead, she goes on to state that she will no longer try to kill her, seeing as she just saved her life and whatnot. Cool. Now Kagari just needs to save everyone else in Guardian's life in order to not be killed by anyone. Or does she?

Akane seems to be losing her grip on reality. As her grandmother begins to lose what little time she has remaining in life, Akane begins to inherit her consciousness, so to speak. And along with that comes a certain loss of her overall humanity. That blonde guy who messed up Lucia last week makes another appearance and this time even goes as far as threatening to kill Akane. However, the poison from Lucia's blade is slowly taking its toll on him. After a brief negotiation, Akane says that she can save his life -- but only if he takes on the responsibility of controlling that huge dinosaur from a few episodes ago. Needless the say, dogman accepts her conditions and becomes the new father of the "Earth dragon" or whatever they called it.

Meanwhile, something is happening to Kagari. After being visited by Kotarou in the middle of the night, she briefly loses consciousness and the light fades from her eyes. Though it does return just second later, it's absolutely clear that she might be regaining images of her past. That's even more apparent when the only words she's able to mutter are, "good memories." This loss of consciousness occurs one more time at the end of the episode, essentially signifying that something interesting is going to happen soon -- which is definitely a good thing after these last few episodes.

In Summary:

With only two episodes left after this one, Rewrite has a lot of picking up to do if it's going to come to a satisfactory ending. There is still a lot we're unsure of at this point in time, and even with all of the added time for exposition, something still seems amiss. That being said, I haven't necessarily lost hope for this series and am really hoping we'll get to see something past the next two episodes. This time around, however, we don't receive much apart from a fan-servicey hot spring scene and some more Kagari highlights. 

Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Rewrite Episode #10 Anime Review

The place where I finally fit in slipped through my fingers all too easily.

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)

With an all-out Gaia/Guardian war on the horizon, it's time for Kotarou and his counterparts to get serious. The only problem is that Kotarou isn't necessarily the most well-versed character in terms of actual combat. In fact, apart from his cool handblade thing and his uncanny ability to escape trouble a good 99% of the time, he's basically useless when it comes to fighting. But that all changes (Kind of) when Sakuya shows up inside Kotori's realm one day.

Somehow capable of forcing his way through the barrier with nothing but brute force, Kotarou and the others initially believe that Sakuya has come to claim Kagari and take her back to Gaia. However, he quickly reveals that he has come at the behest of Chihaya and Akane and that he has been tasked with becoming their new 'butler'. Of course, no one turns down a free butler and Sakuya quickly becomes a pillar for life in the druid realm. Along with normal butler tasks, however, he winds up using his spare time to train Kotarou in terms of combat. After all, no one's really sure how the future is going to pan out, so the best course of action is to be prepared for anything.

After going into the city one day, Kotarou winds up reuniting with Akane. Instead of fearing for his life or trying to defend himself, he instead goes back to that whole, "Let me touch your boobs," thing from way back when in the series. I mean of course there's other dialogue before that, but it can really all be paraphrased with 'Akane isn't a total bitch and is still kind of a cool person'. As they depart, Akane tells Kotarou that this is the last time the two of them will meet, signifying that something big is about to happen. She's probably just talking about that dinosaur her friends were sacrificing themselves to make from the end of last week's episode.

Meanwhile, Guardian realizes that it's time to make some moves as well. Thanks to their surveillance equipment literally all over Kazamatsuri, they are able to identify Kotori's continued appearance in the forest. Considering her appearances are coinciding with an area of the map they are unable to fully uncover, they decide that it is in their best interest to keep constant eyes on her. With this, Lucia winds up heading out to scout the area. The thing is, Gaia has a few scouts of their own out there -- and one of them is that mean blonde guy with the dogs. 

Lucia and dog-man inadvertently run into each other and their meeting breaks out into a huge battle that I am not going to spoil the end of. Just go watch the damn episode. It was decent.

In Summary:

The tenth episode of Rewrite is slightly underwhelming considering its overall place in the series. We've already had a 'calm before the storm' episode in last week's installment, so this attempted secondary plot build-up seems to go against its purpose and actually distract from the war looming on the horizon. That being said, it was still nice seeing Akane and Kotarou reunite for a brief moment of fanservicey goodness. The only flaw (albeit a big one) in this episode is that Rewrite is making it harder for us to care about everything that's about to happen in the following episodes. That is slightly numbed, however, by an exciting ending to this week's chapter.

Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll