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EP. REVIEW: Rewrite


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Selipse



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
Posts: 216
PostPosted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 11:40 am Reply with quote
While watching, I was thinking... could this be a good episode?! Then Ribbon Girl appeared...

The episode itself was actually quite good. The summarized quests were nice. This should've actually been episode 4. It could've given us more time to get attached to Shizuru and Lucia before throwing us their backstories. Of course, that last part with Inoue would've had to get put off until later. I'm sad that Yoshino's hilarious video was reduced to only transitions, but they were really funny. What's also funny is that they just went all "lol idk" on Lucia's attachment to Kotarou. They literally just wrote it off as if nothing happened. Can't have them get romantically involved when it's not her route, after all.

Now, as for Ribbon Girl. There's nothing wrong with her appearance. The problem were those visions. They didn't ruin the episode or anything yet, but they're a bad sign for the future of the series.

VN Spoilers?: spoiler[So... that was definitely Terra. If they're seriously thinking about "adapting" it into this season, any hope for the anime is lost.]

Next episode will finally get to the end of the main route. Seems like we're not going through Lucia's as I thought (not that it won't have elements from it, anyways). There's not much left, so I guess half of the episode will finally be the new route. Let's see how it goes.
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RaylenCypher



Joined: 03 Mar 2015
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 1:07 pm Reply with quote
Theron Martin wrote:
She isn't the only person getting attention either. Reporter Girl pops up again, now missing for days at the end of the episode in that same forest with the polluted stream (yeah, that's totally innocuous), and Ribbon Girl also makes an appearance in that forest. These scenes suggest that Kotarou's dreams about being killed by her ribbons might actually be from a fateful encounter in his childhood that nearly killed him, but those dreams also showed a young Kotori was also present. That definitely means that she knows more about the situation than she has let on so far.


I feel the need to point out the other young girl in Kotarou's arms has the same hair color and ribbon in her hair as Akane. As well as, the difference in physical age between Kotarou and young Kotori.

Ribbon girl always bites Kotarou's right arm for some reason. In the Opening (which has been updated yet again by the clock at the end), a few frames show Kotarou's right arm (finger placement) supposedly/implied to be cut off in the past and somehow reattached if the frame of the hospital room is any clue.

Quote:
So instead of focusing on any one girl, the overall plot thickens. I consider this a positive turn of events. The series may not be satisfying those who were looking for a closer adaptation of the source material, but viewed as a standalone, the story seems to be moving along just fine at this point.


I'm definitely satisfied with the show.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 4:58 am Reply with quote
The character interactions feel shallow, the plot seem rushed and incoherent, and the pacing does a greater job at nullifying a scene rather than help build it.

Giving a long VN a one-cour treatment, even if it is an original story (which I have my doubts about that statement, but I digress), is a bad idea that has been repeated numerous times in the past.
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Selipse



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
Posts: 216
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 2:13 pm Reply with quote
Weird CG monsters aside, this was another fine episode. Now I know how the Leaf Dragon's body works.

Now that the main route is finally over, it's time to see that so-called "new route". Only 6 episodes left and most likely not all of them will be completely new material. Let's see how it goes.

Also, I find it funny that the anime hammered home the sadness about the dismissal of their group better than the visual novel, even though it didn't even try making it feel like an actually connected group.
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Key
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:03 pm Reply with quote
So does the end of this episode mark the end of the main route of the VN, then? If not, then at what point does that happen?
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Selipse



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
Posts: 216
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:10 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
So does the end of this episode mark the end of the main route of the VN, then? If not, then at what point does that happen?


The main route ends when Ribbon Girl gets rid of the Leaf Dragon. Shizuru and Lucia exchange menacing looks with Chihaya and Akane and run away. Kotarou didn't really know about the organizations at this point, but both pairs did realize they were enemies. The heroine routes start when Kotarou returns to school. Except for Lucia's. This encounter doesn't happen there.
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Key
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Hmmm. So apparently the ultimate direction that the series is going requires that Kotarou knows up front about the conflicting organizations.

Or it could be a case where Key realized that they should have made that clearer earlier than they did in the VN. Frankly, I don't think that the story would make anywhere near as much sense at this point if we didn't know that.
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Selipse



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:47 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Hmmm. So apparently the ultimate direction that the series is going requires that Kotarou knows up front about the conflicting organizations.

Or it could be a case where Key realized that they should have made that clearer earlier than they did in the VN. Frankly, I don't think that the story would make anywhere near as much sense at this point if we didn't know that.


It does make the most sense for him to know about them like this if this route really is about Ribbon Girl. During the heroine routes, it meant aligning with the organization the girl is with. Although this time around he does have more of a connection to Guardian, he isn't really part of them, so it'll allow for a bit more neutrality.

It does make sense during the VN, though. Of course you don't know about how everything works even after finishing one or two heroine routes, but it's much more of an underlying mystery than "what is even going on". Though I understand it wouldn't really work in a linear series format. Most of the cryptic content in the anime doesn't even happen (yet) in the VN, anyways. Remember that the main route in the VN is mostly fun times with some foreshadowing and setup. Nothing REALLY big happens until this part.
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Key
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:02 pm Reply with quote
Selipse wrote:
Remember that the main route in the VN is mostly fun times with some foreshadowing and setup. Nothing REALLY big happens until this part.

Yeah, I've played through a few other VNs which were structured like this, and always found that to be the most tedious part of the story. That's part of the reason why I have no problem with this anime streamlining and tailoring it. (And boy, I really need to remember to comment on this in the review next week!)

I also, of course, agree in the alterations made better setting up for a (probable) focus on Ribbon Girl. Assuming that's what the series does, I will be very curious to see how the reader ratings go starting with next episode, as I get the sense that the series' poor performance so far in the ratings is substantially due to people being disappointed by the adapting decisions.
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Selipse



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:16 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Yeah, I've played through a few other VNs which were structured like this, and always found that to be the most tedious part of the story. That's part of the reason why I have no problem with this anime streamlining and tailoring it. (And boy, I really need to remember to comment on this in the review next week!)


It's funny, I've seen people say they prefer the main route. I can understand what you say, but to tell the truth, the main route is really good and funny. And, well, as I've said, you can't expect the main parts to have the proper impact without the needed setup. You can't be expected to cry for characters you don't know, after all. I'm not saying you need the entirety of the (admittedly pretty long) main route, but around two episodes of just the Occult Club having fun would've gone a long way.
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RaylenCypher



Joined: 03 Mar 2015
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:43 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
I also, of course, agree in the alterations made better setting up for a (probable) focus on Ribbon Girl. Assuming that's what the series does, I will be very curious to see how the reader ratings go starting with next episode, as I get the sense that the series' poor performance so far in the ratings is substantially due to people being disappointed by the adapting decisions.


That's my train of thought concerning why the ratings were bad. I don't care since I'm greatly enjoying the anime so far. And boy, what an episode. I agree with Selipse that the breakup of the group was portrayed better here than in the VN. I love the subtle details they did for Kotarou everytime he rewrites himself. Running faster than the train, jumping high, crushing the ground from the strength of his footing, etc. It's a great example of "show, don't tell" that many shows trip over.
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maxwell3094



Joined: 28 Mar 2014
Posts: 148
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Yeah, I've played through a few other VNs which were structured like this, and always found that to be the most tedious part of the story. That's part of the reason why I have no problem with this anime streamlining and tailoring it. (And boy, I really need to remember to comment on this in the review next week!)


Honestly that was probably my 2nd largest complaint with the VN itself. It had one of the longest common routes I've ever played through and as others have said it was mostly just daily life stuff. All the supernatural things were more like subtle mysterious happenings and they were few and far between. Granted I did enjoy some of it (like most of the Yoshino stuff for instance) but it really did start to drag before long so I'm happy to see the anime substantially speed things up for the common route. I might be nervous about them doing an anime original route but I'm enjoying the show well enough so far.
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RaylenCypher



Joined: 03 Mar 2015
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:27 pm Reply with quote
maxwell3094 wrote:
Key wrote:
Yeah, I've played through a few other VNs which were structured like this, and always found that to be the most tedious part of the story. That's part of the reason why I have no problem with this anime streamlining and tailoring it. (And boy, I really need to remember to comment on this in the review next week!)


Honestly that was probably my 2nd largest complaint with the VN itself. It had one of the longest common routes I've ever played through and as others have said it was mostly just daily life stuff. All the supernatural things were more like subtle mysterious happenings and they were few and far between. Granted I did enjoy some of it (like most of the Yoshino stuff for instance) but it really did start to drag before long so I'm happy to see the anime substantially speed things up for the common route. I might be nervous about them doing an anime original route but I'm enjoying the show well enough so far.


Trivia: The Common Route for Rewrite is nearly x4 the length of each of the five heroine's routes, including the final route of the VN.

Below is the line-count for those curious.
spoiler[Common: 38699
Kotori: 8905
Chihaya:11308
Lucia: 8919
Shizuru: 7662
Akane: 10440
Moon: 4044
Terra: 11033
Total: 101010
Estimated word count: 757k
65 hours.]
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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:05 am Reply with quote
It works well in the anime, but in the game it's fun to piece together what the hell is going on by doing each route. This episode story wise was pretty good, animation, not so much. So now I assume focus will be on Chihaya next.
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Key
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 1:54 am Reply with quote
To be clear, my previous comments about the common route in VNs was meant to be for VNs in general, not this one specifically (which I haven't played).
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