MeinMMO-Demon Cortyn raves about an anime that has been running for 10 years. It rightfully deserves the title “King of Isekai”.
Isekai is that one anime genre that pretty much everyone has an opinion on. The idea of a hero crossing over into a fantasy world and experiencing adventures there is nothing new to anime – it has existed in literature for a long time, such as “Alice in Wonderland” or “The Neverending Story”. It is the kind of narrative that keeps cropping up, whose elements resemble one another, and yet one can never get enough of.
At least, that’s what I thought for a long time.
But then they really overdid it in the anime space. The last “modern” wave of isekai began with Sword Art Online, and its success has certainly contributed to the ensuing flood of isekai series. There have, of course, been some highlights like Konosuba or Mushoku Tensei over time, but there have also been a ton of absurdities:
- I gained a cheat ability in another world, and now I’m unbeatable in real life
- Reborn from a vending machine, I now traverse the dungeon
- After getting a grain of sand in my eye on a school trip, God appeared in my bathroom and made me an S-rank adventurer
The names are surely so absurd, and at the same time, one has gotten so used to them that you may not even know at first glance which one of the three I made up.
But 10 years after the first episode and 4 seasons later, there remains an undefeated king of the isekai genre. One that encompasses everything I expect from such a series:
A coherent, believable world. Exciting fights with significance. Multi-dimensional characters who grow on you. A main character who has flaws and undergoes development. The courage to depict atrocities. Side characters that have background and, above all, reasons for their actions.
All of this is present in Re:Zero.
You can watch the trailer for the current 4th season here:
A hero who can’t do it all and is desperate
That Natsuki Subaru differs from other isekai protagonists becomes clear quickly. Because where the average hero of an isekai story is completely overpowered and usually in a good mood, Subaru also starts off with a positive attitude. He is excited about the transition into a fantasy world and is practically waiting for his secret superpower to be revealed and for him to be surrounded by beautiful women – as one knows from isekai series.
But that doesn’t happen. Subaru has no superpower, and on the very first day in the new world, he and his new acquaintances are brutally attacked. He bleeds, he suffers, he desperately clings to his life and dies. Only to be reborn and relive the same day again, just like in the “Groundhog Day” scenario.
Subaru’s “superpower” is at first glance just as overpowered as those of all his isekai colleagues. He can’t really die. Whenever he finds death, he is revived at a previous point in time. Almost like a save point in a game that simply reloads, allowing him to try again.
However, this power comes with some downsides:
- Subaru can remember everything that has happened. For the rest of the world, this is not the case. They revert back to their previous state of knowledge, forgetting all encounters since then.
- Subaru feels the pain and suffering of each individual death, which increasingly takes a toll on his psyche. No mind is made to endure the cruelest deaths multiple times.
- He does not know when his “save point” will be overwritten and reset. Mistakes he makes could be irreversible. Once-dead characters may never return.
An intense, merciless story
I find it particularly fascinating how intensively Re:Zero tells its story. There are both very emotional, profound episodes in which feelings and emotions are explored in depth, as well as a lot of cruelty. Especially the various murder sequences are often a gruesome display of gore, with guts, bones, and severed limbs flying across the screen, making even Subaru’s stomach turn.
Equally fascinating is the fact that Re:Zero succeeds in maintaining suspense and drama. One would think that eventually the thought creeps in: “Oh, if something goes wrong, he just dies and tries again.”
But that does not happen. For death often comes so cruelly and suddenly that one is startled and stares at the screen in disbelief.
But not always. Sometimes it is painfully obvious that Subaru has already taken a path on which he will fail. And worse than the spontaneous deaths of him or his allies are only those that are prolonged. Especially one scene in Season 1 has burned itself into my mind forever.
Subaru falls into the hands of a witch cult and pretends to have lost his mind – simply because he is overwhelmed by the situation. However, the leader of the witch cult recognizes Subaru’s madness as a lie and wants to show him how true madness is triggered. Using telekinetic powers, he lifts one of Subaru’s allies (and a clear love interest) from the ground and begins to slowly twist her limbs. Arms and legs are rotated 360°, and ultimately so is her head. While doing this, the leader of the cult gleefully imitates the death screams of the young woman.
This scene was so disgusting, so uncomfortably invasive, and so merciless – but at the same time so incredibly good. It ends with one of the best pieces of music I’ve ever heard in anime. You need the visuals from the episode to go with it, but once you’ve seen and heard this in combination, that song will always bring you an unsettling unease:
I just re-listened to the song while writing the article, and tears came to my eyes again. I watched the accompanying scene 10 years ago. The visuals and the story that this anime tells are so powerful.
The latest season excites without pause
Especially the last episodes of the current season I want to highlight, without spoiling too much. They are intense like hardly any anime experience before. I have already written about Season 4 Episode 8 being one of the best anime episodes of all time. However, the quality has remained high, which can easily be seen in the ratings on IMDb:
- Episode 8 has a rating of 9.9 / 10.
- Episode 9 stands at 9.8 / 10.
- Episode 10 also has 9.8 / 10.
The episodes not only have a few dozen votes but many thousands. The last episodes turn Re:Zero into a horror-thriller with psychological and physical cruelty, exploring the depths of the mind while completely dismantling the main character and what he is made of.
Therefore, I sincerely mean: If you haven’t watched Re:Zero yet and have been put off by the “isekai” label – give the series a chance. It will only take a few episodes for the world and the characters to draw you in. And then it will be an adventurous, painful journey, where you’ll keep thinking: It’s incredible that an anime can make me feel such emotions.
For me, Re:Zero is the king of isekai and one of the best anime of all time. No matter how they will bring this story to an end, this assessment can hardly be shaken. Therefore, I also recommend it as one of the must-watch anime that every fan of isekai – or anime in general – should see.
What do you think of Re:Zero as a work as a whole, especially the last episodes? Does the anime excite you too, and can you understand why I believe that hardly any other isekai series comes close? Or do you think that Re:Zero is being overhyped and the ratings of the last episodes are flawed?
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