Re:CREATORS

Episode 19

In just about any series involving epic struggles for the fate of the world, there are bound to be casualties as the battles approach the climax. So with only three more episodes to go, getting some character deaths in Re:CREATORS is hardly a surprise, nor is the identity of the first one to fall. But one of the next casualties as someone I least expected to go at this point in the story and the one that I would most miss.

First, let's consider the first defeat. Ever since Alicetaria decided to turn against Altair, she was every bit as much a Dead Woman Walking as poor Mamika back in episode 8. The only questions were the exact timing and how it would happen. Though Alicetaria put up a good fight at first, her death ultimately feels much more pathetic than Mamika's, because she went into the battle fully braced to take Altair down yet failed miserably. But as Altair brutally points out, she's not the main character of this story, so the Protagonist Plot Armor she has in her own world doesn't apply here.

As much of a waste as her death may seem, it allows for one crucial scene: her Creator's anguish at her defeat. As a long-time tabletop RPG player, I can completely understand how one can become so attached to a character you've created. Even adults are often driven to tears by the death of a beloved character, and there are accounts of authors crying over having to kill a beloved character as well. In none of those cases was the character a living, breathing person that we had actually met in person, so it would have been disappointing if Alicetaria's Creator had not reacted in such a manner.

The much more impactful demise was Selesia deciding that the only way to get her beloved Charon out of the way was to play the “I'll take you down with me” card. This definitely wasn't inevitable from the start, but with her actions hampering Rui into a disadvantage against Charon, and the episode making it clear both that Charon was intractable in his stance and that she couldn't keep up with him in a one-on-one fight, she wasn't left with much choice. In retrospect, as much as Selesia has seemed like a strong warrior-woman, she's never been quite as physically strong as the other Creations; she's taken her lumps against Mamika, Alicetaria, and Altair, after all, so she's kinda become this series' Krillin. That seems to ultimately make her disposable, even though she was the first Creation to appear and has always made a strong impression. She's been my favorite character for this whole series, so I'm depressed to see her go even though she wasn't likely to survive this in the first place. At least she went out with much more dignity than Alicetaria, and both her meaning-laden comment about “this is how my story goes” (a clear statement of self-determinism under the circumstances) and her final words being to Matsuraba rather than Charon were fitting.

Almost lost in the death scenes is Hikayu getting a couple more opportunities to show off her new super-powered-martial-artist powers (she seems to really be taking the role to heart!) and being pretty damn cool in the process, or the well-choreographed action scene where Yuya, Sho, Blitz, and Hikayu all take on Altair. In fact, the action scenes in this episode are executed so splendidly that I'd easily mark this as one of the series' best-looking episodes. Altair's address to the audience and later words to Hikayu about how her transformation might please fans but isn't enough to base a story on are clearly addressed to the audience from the writer, but they come across more as sidelights than the main point this week. The main focus of this episode is the action, and in that regard it works beautifully.

Rating: A-

Re:CREATORS is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.