Rewrite Episode #17 Anime Review

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

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, in the week-long gap between episode sixteen and seventeen, Kotarou has joined the army. Don't be too concerned, though, because he's only in the army for one scene at the beginning of the episode and then again in the new opening theme. After that, he's simply just normal Kotarou in a slightly different timeline. Everyone that existed in the 'real' timeline (If you can even call it that?) is still present, just...they're children now. And Kotarou winds up babysitting two of them -- Akane and Kotori. In addition to his new found power of being the most mediocre babysitter in Kazamatsuri, Kotarou has also figured out how to control his blood and fly. And, in other news, I have no idea what's going on anymore.

Apparently, Kotarou's parents are part of the Martel Group (That sketchy organization about preserving the environment). Kotarou, however, doesn't exactly see eye-to-eye with said organization and winds up just doing whatever the hell he wants day in and day out. That, of course, includes killing weird looking monsters because this is Rewrite and there has to be at least one of them in each episode. Using his Beyond The Boundary blood-power, Kotarou winds up beating up a few dinosaurs before being mauled to near-death yet again. But just before he passes out, along comes Esaka and the other hunters who go on to predictably save his life. Since this timeline takes place before the original one, Esaka is, of course, a lot younger and a lot more handsome. Oh, and he still has that cool monocle -- don't worry.

After being scolded about his late night walks in the forest by young Esaka, Kotarou encounters the Kotori of this world. Surprisingly, Kotori was a huge bitch when she was little and immediately forms a toxic, hate-fueled relationship with our protagonist. What these two do have in common, however, is their disposition toward the Martel Group. Kotori eventually coerces her mother into severing ties with said group while Kotarou is left needing to oblige by his parents' will. Even though the two are no longer connected by the position their parents are in, they wound up being brought together yet again by the first normal-looking animal of the series -- a dog named Pero (Totally not a play on the Spanish word for 'dog'). Kotori apparently took the dog in after his previous owners abused him and has since been trying to get him to like people again. Pero has other things in mind, though, and winds up running away. But don't worry, Kotarou conveniently finds the dog in the forest and puts him in a bag before giving him back to mini Kotori.

After Pero is rescued, he dies anyway and everyone is sad. The audience, however, is still left questioning what the hell is going on in this series. Why is Kotarou's personality so different? Why is everyone else a child? Why is Kotori's mom so hot? These are the questions that will hopefully be answered in the coming episode(s).

In Summary:

Uhh...Yeah, so some things happen that may or may not be related to the rest of the series. Kotarou joins the army for four minutes and becomes Mirai Kuriyama. Everyone else transforms into a baby and stops remembering what their personality is supposed to be like. The world is ending yet again, but this time no one is really aware of it. Kotarou also gets a cool new sweatshirt. I think that pretty much sums it up. I guess it was kind of interesting, though, so I'm not going to complain.

Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll