Rewrite Episode #19 Anime Review

You can't grow stronger without confidence. 

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)

Now that Kotarou and his squad have been given their first assignment, it's time for them to prove themselves. However, that's a bit easier said than done considering the team has been essentially placed on look-out duty, leaving Mikuni's gang to do all the fun stuff. And, in adherence to the new standards of Rewrite, we are greeted, once again, with a loli-fied heroine -- Akane Senri. This, being Akane's second loli appearance, is basically a huge repeat of the first. After Akane somehow wanders away from the adoption center, Kotarou comes across her and calls the number provided on her cool little necklace in order to send her back home. Being on an undercover mission, Kotarou is incapable of revealing himself to orphanage aid (The same woman that asked him to babysit Akane what is presumably a year or two ago at this point) and simply carries on with his business. That is until some weird alarm that only Guardian can hear goes off and beckons everyone to the woods.

After his team leaves him behind to go follow their own desire for heroism, Kotarou embarks on a journey through the forest on his own and, what do you know, comes across Akane again. I want to say this girl is a genius escape artist or something like that, but these disappearances can really all be chalked up to bad parenting. I know she's an orphan and all that jazz, but this really is the most inefficient orphanage of all time. Apart from encountering Akane again, Kotarou also encounters what is probably the biggest dinosaur this season (Yes, there have been enough to start ranking them). After it ravages the corpses of some of his classmates, Kotarou decides to chill out for a little and go check out some glowing light off in the distance. Blinded by curiosity, Kotarou stuffs Akane's unconscious body into a tree and sets off for the light, only to find that it's Kagari. Hooray! She isn't gone.

Of course, Kotarou has no memory of Kagari. Apparently, the world lines have gotten messed up enough for that to finally be the case. But...maybe he does remember her after all? I mean, it's the only thing that can explain why he literally just walks away from her when Guardian's mission is kill her by any means necessary. In fact, he even goes as far as lying about even seeing Kagari to begin with. Being utterly gullible, Guardian simply says, "Okay!" and gives Kotarou a slap on the wrist before telling him not to do bad things anymore and stick to his assignments. Oh yeah, Kotori was in the forest too or something. I don't know. She's only shown for maybe like two seconds.

Other than that...nothing really happens.

In Summary:

This episode slows things down yet again with only minimal advancement of the plot. All of the scenes with Akane, though very cute, don't really serve any purpose apart from giving her character more time to be in the frame. And it sucks because, even when she's there, she's doing literally nothing. Kotarou's team-mates show a bit more of their self-interest in leaving him behind to follow a moment of potential heroism, which once again highlights how much of an outcast Kotarou is in this universe. He doesn't really get along with anyone. And...you know what? Maybe that's what the whole Akane thing is about. I think I just figured it out. She's just taking to Kotarou because both of them are misfits. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this arc will be ending soon. I just hope the idea behind it becomes a little more evident in the coming weeks.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll