(L) Re:Creators

[magnuskn]

Since I had a bit other wishes to where the show should have gone, I only gave it a 8.5/10, but it definitely was one of the best shows of the last years, with ideas which you see very seldomly explored in media.

BTW, Altair pretty clearly was stronger than Selesia in ep one, when their blades lock you can see that Selesia was struggling while Altair was not even straining herself holding Selesias blade in place.

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

BTW, Altair pretty clearly was stronger than Selesia in ep one, when their blades lock you can see that Selesia was struggling while Altair was not even straining herself holding Selesias blade in place.

Well, Altair may well be stronger there, but my point is that you are not going to infer from that scene that Altair can throw robots with two fingers anytime soon - if that were true she can just "flick" Selesia away.

[magnuskn]

Fair enough.

[Tak]

And I still want the shows depicted in the series to be introduced as individual franchises...

So uh, DO IT.

- Tak

[magnuskn]

At least Vogelchevalier should be a real series.

[Tak]

Its not much, but its a start!

- Tak

[magnuskn]

Aw. Too bad I'm not into collecting anime action figures, Meteora is my favorite.

[Jaden]

I can't believe I missed this show initially...and I can't believe it's not more popular than it is.

Obviously, I haven't been alone with the fantasy of living alongside all my favorite fictional characters. And since that's just a fantasy, thinking that we could at least have an anime like that.

Re:Creators is the answer to why we can't have that, and simultaneously is the closest to that which we can have. It's also an evocative story on its own merit, and produced with great class.

A true sleeper hit, 9/10 from me.

[Dengar]

I think it was reasonably popular. It's just that it's rather difficult to recommend to people without explaining to much. At least, it is for me.

[magnuskn]

Oh, I recommended it all the way through to everybody, to the point where I think I annoyed quite a few of them.

[outlaw97]

It's firmly my pick for best non-sequel series of the year - with that said, I think the lack of buzz around it was due to it being an Amazon exclusive and most people not wanting to go through the double paywall or wading the seven seas to watch it.

I am still hoping that Aniplex will do a home release of this and get it at least some more recognition in the US...

[magnuskn]

You met her at the airport?

Yeah, she is still in the "real world", they even made some sort of manga short with her after the show ended. Her powers will fade, though, but she probably had quite a lot of cash squared away from her time during the series.

[I Was Just Drifting]

Promising for only the first two episodes, here it is; the most witless anime of 2017 that wants to tell you it's the best of the year. Selling its artificial soul every which way for mainstream recognition, Re:Creators is Anime for Dummies sludge, confusing its faint sprinkles of meta-fiction for a provoking commentary on japanimation sub-culture. That Re:Creators is advertised as the brainchild of Ei Aoki and Rei Hiroe means, for once, you know exactly who to blame. Aoki (of Girls Bravo...remember?) cribs Testuro Araki's flair for super-powered explosions, CG-animated titans and an epic Hiroyuki Sawano score, but without Araki's isolationist dabbling, Aoki has no particular targets to aim his shock and awe. Meanwhile, Rei Hiroe (of Black Lagoon) horribly exposes his inexperience in the small screen medium; without the friendly confines of a manga layout, his characters dabble in monologues which feel like 90% of the running time is evaporating from your attention. I correct myself, his character, if you realize one alone is required to drone away the 23 remaining minutes after the 2 minutes of choppy action have broadcast. Aoki and Hiroe are ying and yang in a bad way; the former isn't as smart as you hope, and the latter isn't as fun as you expect.

Re:Creators is this year's Kuromukuro, a terrible anime whose lack of derision is largely due to its distinction for being aggressively indistinct with its science fiction. It radiates this unhealthy obsession with mundane people doing mundane things, the message being that even though you're not piloting a mecha, you're still, you know, special. Shots of 2ch, Niconico Douga, and the like flash up as if the animators wanted to say, “We feel you man, we're topical!” Compare these brief snippets of otaku culture to how, in the original High School DxD, Issei unwittingly pumps himself up for combat after he debates with an otaku about the merits of “Drag So Ball Z”. High School DxD is smart because it knows why we love anime without spewing out the bullet points or telling us the virtues of being normal. Re:Creators thinks it's smart because, for instance, it knows how to parody Pixiv; it's immensely condescending to the point of boring. I saw a shot too of Tokyo Big Sight in an ED, but nothing else came of it; not topical enough, I guess.

The best character in Re:Creators, for the longest duration, is the swordswoman Selestia, who benefits immensely by the fact that she's the creation with the least desire for monologue and the most need for action sequences. When she isn't putting her sword through villains or windows, she's getting her driver's license, teases her beauty at a young boy, and ponders a mug of coffee. In short, she's an actual character and rarely ever a slave to the plot…until way late in the show when the animators remind us she has a fake boyfriend.

Meteora, on the other hand, is a cute fraud, everything this show shouldn't stand for and does. The walking, talking instruction manual of why reality and fiction have collided easily tops everyone else in monologue, and preventing the plot from nudging along. Her best moment is the only one with a spark of sublime, when she and Selestia check for onlookers, then float right over a gate to check out a temple. The scene would play a lot better of course if Meteora's monotonous narration wasn't joining forces with the music score to snuff the charm out. Meteora is a straight-faced Scrappy Doo, the character obviously smarter than everyone else, and the one everyone stops to listen to, because the series rarely allows anybody to do their own thing. We should be grateful that no one thought Re:Creators was going to be the next Dragonball, or the stupor of this girl may never end.

And she's indicative of this show's direction; Re:Creators claims it's smarter than you, because it alleges to discuss, drum roll please, real life. This means that despite the good action sequences with flying girls trying to blow each other away, much more time is spent on the people whose characters are brought to life. This bogs the excitement factor of the enterprise when a battle with a mecha pilot comes screeching to a halt, as a ministry figure flips her badge and then leads everyone into resolving the attack of anime creations through committee meetings galore because apparently that's how the actual Japanese handle every affair, politics or anime. Re:Creators then becomes not so much fantasy or adventure, but, of all possibilities, a procedural. Its decisive conceit, that a bunch of vaunted artists and writers in the anime/manga industry can work together to save the day, is rendered ever more cynical by the real-life murmurs that this series was originally conceived as a crossover event for actual, top-selling anime franchises, until disagreements amongst their creators undid the plan.

Whatever Re:Creators was intended to be, it should not be this boring. It shields its lack of nuance by alleging to be in the know of the anime/manga industry, helpfully informing us that writers and illustrators do sit around tables and talk. A lot. Oh sure, because Aoki and Hiroe are veterans of their respective industries, they must be authentic in their portrayal, so give them a pass. The people who gave us the superior Shirobako also were in the know, but at least they showed us the hassles, the absurdities and the minor victories accrued by the industry's worker bees, complete with chase sequences over a parking spot (Re:Creators even steals Shirobako's trope of a voluptuous girl next door as a weary artist). More importantly, Shirobako wasn't very happy with the industry and let us know that. Because Re:Creators drowns in so much talk, we get arguments, we get people walking out the door, and we get a few scribbles and crumpled papers, but the scope of what the industry is feels restricted, dare I say guarded. Consider the jarring addition of a buck-toothed geek who created a cute heroine come to life. The problem isn't that he's a pervert and thereby he's out of tone with the rest of the cast. The problem is if Aoki and Hiroe know such people exist, even flourish in the industry, what do they think of them? Sadly, the answer they cared to provide is the stuff of shopworn scripts; he is a pervert, but deep down inside he's a noble guy who cares for...oh, whatever.

The show's indecisiveness reaches its nadir in the teenage protagonist Souta, an amateur artist but not a professional. His lack of perspective in the field means he's on the outside, lower than tertiary next to nearly every industrial figure in the blabber queue, and his deep, dark secret, the one he unhelpfully hides until halfway through the series, is tangential not so much to the plot, but to the intentions of this production. Is Re:Creators about a departed's avatar of vengeance, or a behind-the-scenes look at how the anime industry saves Japan? If the answer is both, then one of Re:Creators's greatest failings is to glue these tonal dissonances together with soporific dialogue/monologue and a lead who sometimes appears with neither action nor dialogue just to remind us he's there. Much of Re:Creators's plot twists operate on time delay; you get the nagging sense the plot saves material in its pockets because the animators need to stretch it out for 22 episodes, but are unsure what to supply in the meantime. By the end of the series, we learn two more things about Souta. One, he is capable of creating a great character as long as she's one-dimensional and somebody has a weakness for said character. Two, he draws lousy pictures on Pixiv.

Its few attempts at humor are self-mocking, to its detriment. When Meteora recaps the first half of the series (like a production this smothered in dialogue needs a recap) as a buxom, tanned likeness of herself, it's intended as a fourth wall moment a la that South Park episode in which the kids, stuck in a school bus, tack on incongruous happy endings to their recollections. The problem is apart from bodily upgrades, the moment Meteora alters is still played too straight for incongruity; Altair is not just defeated, but killed. Cue the cymbals. The comedy falls flat because we don't doubt at all that Meteora, tanned or otherwise, is incapable of killing Altair; this alteration doesn't veer from the norm, but conforms to it. The sexy Meteora then isn't so much titillation as it is desperation, and while it may serve the meta-textual task of asking how much better a central source of exposition would look sporting cleavage and a butt crack, I don't see how admitting your own lost potential is supposed to absolve all the time you waste in the process.

Not helped by its flimsy humor, Re:Creators employs wildly inconsistent logic. A creation leaves a pool of blood on the floor, then vanishes into a cloud of pixelated cubes, while the blood remains. A far wittier course would allow the creation to bleed and then sink into shades of ink, leaving behind, to the horror of her witness, the colorful demarcation of a corpse laid against the walkway. But no, Re:Creators not only lacks the courage inherent in its concepts, it must conceal its dimness behind snazzy digital and sound effects, because, I don't know, 2-D animation always looks cooler when combined with CG. Remember when the effects juggernaut Who Framed Roger Rabbit? not only explained, but established what can kill a 'toon? No matter how much mumbo jumbo is put to use, Re:Creators is more about the technos than the pathos. The spinning swords were pretty cool though.

And for all it claims to be about art and imagination, its heart is pumping yen for blood cells. One of the story's most moronic sequences occurs when a creator guilt-trips her creation into joining the good guys after taking a bullet to the midsection, and then revealing, with blood running down her chin, she brought the creation's “daughter” back to life. The security guards then escort the hobbling creator, who shows her now-reformed creation that all along she was wearing a bulletproof vest, because, as the creator, she knew full well he could never shoot her in the head, because, gee, I don't know, she never wrote that he would? And how did she know the blunt force trauma from that Hellboy-sized gun was good enough to draw only a little blood, or that her insides weren't irreparably damaged? You'd think as his creator that she could dial his cell phone number and just tell him it's a girl.

The underlying message of Re:Creators cowardly holds the expression of art in disdain, that imagination is a very wonderful thing...so long as it gives everybody what they want. None of the Japanese citizens suffer the bulk of the creations' damage to the public streets, because in this realistic world they're all anime fans smart enough to safely confine themselves either at home or in a big dome, enjoying the Elimination Chamber live event in which Bray Wyatt..oops, wrong network. The show's all-too manufactured happy ending requires that some creators be crushed with grief to see their creations die, but all's well and good because they are set for promising careers ahead and their series are signed up for new seasons. The ending also necessitates that the most anarchic creation, the one who murders in cold blood, steals a hero's weapon, does absolutely nothing onscreen with it, and gives it back without any repercussions, then does further service to Souta and friends by walking away before the final two episodes, because consequences...what consequences? Let's not forget, too, how the villainous Altair, she of unspeakable, unrelenting power, is essentially bribed into wimping out because of Souta's specially forged idol, one of the biggest cosmic jokes in anime history, in which a crucial tragedy saves the day through, get this, its reenactment. By arguing that Japan's beloved subculture best appeases idiots, Re:Creators unintentionally makes a good case for why the anime/manga industry deserves to die.

The real shame here is that Aoki and Hiroe have to be connected to this morass when you know they're capable of spinning straw into gold. Hiroe's Black Lagoon is best when it's a shameless pulp ode with gun-toting maids, cross-dressing killer tykes, and a Chow Yun-Fat wannabe. I loved Aoki's Girls Bravo then and I still do (and watch how he mutated Mario Kaneda's original slop into subversive glee for the ecchi harem genre) and of course realize Re:Creators can't compare to the director's previous work Ga-Rei Zero, a braver effort with half the length, thrice the grit and blood, and no Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack to provide cover. Sawano makes everything on the screen look better than it is; so much so, you wish his score made the only sounds in this series. The series's final gesture is the one that makes complete and total sense. When Meteora sets to becoming a writer herself, we learn that Aoki and Hiroe couldn't intend a more suitable candidate to pass the buck. Her career is doomed.

Rating: 1/10

[Nivek von Beldo]

I Was Just Drifting a shame here there is not like as you deserved one thousand of those, the best comentary here, i only endure till chapter 5 but seems the series just got as expected a failure in every level.

[magnuskn]

Eh, in retrospect it clearly was the best anime of the year for me. But whatever floats your boat.

[Tenzen12]

Yeah, while I can't say it was definitely best anime of year, it's certainly most memorable one and also one that I will most likely rewatch. It's was nice show and I have no regrets to watch it now or in future.

[Marcus H.]

Eh, in retrospect it clearly was the best anime of the year for me. But whatever floats your boat.

It's not even the best anime concept of the year. Not when Seikaisuru Kado (with its disappointment of an ending) exists.
Also, Uchouten Kazoku S2 or Made in Abyss would easily demolish Re:Creators as anime of the year.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Also, Uchouten Kazoku S2 or Made in Abyss would easily demolish Re:Creators as anime of the year.

Yeah, I quite like R:C but I agree that Uchouten 2 & Abyss are more refined and have better writing and visuals overall (all three have their visual ups and downs). There's also Rakugo S2.

[Lukes YGO & WS on YT]

Spoiler for EP 1 Comments/Feedback:

Badass anime.

That was so good to watch.

Amazing action and very much looking forward to watching more.

Spoiler for EP 2 Comments/Feedback:

That was another great episode, loving this anime.

14:33 A wild Madoka has appeared! She destroyed half the city.

That rival/final boss is one badass character, it looks like it will be a lot of fun with him around.

Very much looking forward to the next episode.

Spoiler for EP 3 Comments/Feedback:

Ajarakamokuren Kyuraisu! .... NOTHING HAPPENED! I thought something awesome would happen but nope, it was kinda funny though.

I like Yuuya's character, I'm gonna go and do my own thing just like he is written.

Good to see they have made another friend plus she has given Meteora * Celestia a place to stay.

I wonder who this Setsuna is that Gunpuku is talking about and what role they will play, still have no idea what she wants to begin with.

Spoiler for EP 4 Comments/Feedback:

Nice to see a lot of character enjoying the food.

I do like a lot of Japanese cuisine myself.

It was funny when Selesia and Meteora had the same stick.

Gunpuku wants to destroy the world, ok fair enough.

Spoiler for EP 5 Comments Feedback:

That was funny when Selesia got rejected, her reaction was great.

It was only a matter of time before the government would contact them, it's not like you can go around and use magic without anyone noticing.

I'm very impressed by the way that Meteora is able to calmly able to deal with whatever sitaution they are put in.

Looks like we might get to learn more about Gunpuku soon, the girl that killed herself at the start of this show was her creator by the looks of it.

Spoiler for EP 6 Comments/Feedback:

Wow an evil schoolgirl, she absolutely wasted the book store owner.

She is also pretty smart, she trash talked Alice and then quietly stepped away and watched everyone else fight.

Meteora will need to thank Mamika later for the save.

Spoiler for EP 7 Comments/Feedback:

That was a pretty exciting battle there while it lasted.

Damn, Makagani wasted her own creator, her following Mamika & Souta around only means more bad things are going to happen, though I wonder what she actually wants other than to kill people.

I think we saw her name was Altair in the previous episode or 2 when Souta found her information?

It would be nice though if he could just spit out the information and make things easier for everyone else.

Spoiler for EP 8 Comments/Feedback:

Some nice bonding moments in this episode.

Meteora helping Sota out.

If he just told them the truth already it would help everyone out a lot.

I already had a feeling that Altair wanted revenge because of her creators death in the first episode.

That was a nice moment between Mamika and Alice.

Damn she was still standing and ready to fight even after being impaled by all those swords.

Magical Splash Explosion is an impressive move.

Very much looking forward to next episode to see the outcome of the ending.

Spoiler for EP 9 Comments/Feedback:

Noooo Mamika died, well I supposed that's to be expected when you get impaled by multiple swords.

Magane is a great villain, laughs at everyone's pain and misery and then causes more by lying to everyone.

Finally Sota is doing the right thing, he should have come cleans ages ago.

Next episode looks like it will be hard on Meteroa, I don't think Alice is going to listen to whatever she says.

Spoiler for EP 10 Comments/Feedback:

Oh no pray for Selesia.

Aliceteria you dumb fool letting Magane easily tricking you like that.

That transformation scene of hers was amazing and the power she showed afterwards, but then back to the way she was before.

Everyone got involved in this episode it was pretty exciting watching all the action.

Looked like Altair was going to get the better of this battle, I was worried for a bit.

All the humans did a good job.

Spoiler for EP 11 Comments/Feedback:

Selesia did well to recover considering she had a big hole through her stomach.

About time Souta explained everything.

Spoiler for EP 12 Comments/Feedback:

Rather interesting plan they are going to start in order to defeat Altair.

It's going to be a lot of hard work though, and probably not that simple.

Altair has basically become a meme and getting stronger because of it.

Spoiler for Episode 14:

I thought the new opening and ending were alright.

I'm really looking forward to see how the story turn out, it's going to be a lot of hard work, it's understandable that there will be a lot of tension in the work place.

Already found a new character, and looks like there is another 1 to come eventually.

Spoiler for Episode 15:

Do have some sympathy for Blitz because of his daughter.

I'm looking forward to seeing Sho in action.

No surprise that creator went love struck for his own creation and the other girls, you could see it coming a mile away the moment you saw what he actually looked like.

I wonder what kinds of powers they can give a dating sim character in order to fight?

Spoiler for Episode 16:

Very nice to be watching this again after that break.

I never expected Selesia to be driving and actually have a license.

I am liking this build up so far, looking forward to the next episode to see what happens next.

Spoiler for Episode 17:

The most exciting episode so far.

That was great fighting, loved all the action.

I think Altair is the real god, she seems to be untouchable.

That was really intense between Blitz & Shunma, and then we had that ending.

Spoiler for Episode 18:

Ah a special bulletproof vest, I was wondering why there was no blood when she was shot.

That was quite the outfit Hoshikawa was wearing, she had some good moves though.

Just when I thought they were about to make some progress against Altair, she has another trick up her sleeve.

Looking forward to watching the next episode.

Spoiler for Episode 19:

Oh damn, we lost Aliceteria & Selesia, not a good episode for out heroes.

On top of that Kanoyo is badly hurt and Altair looks stronger than ever.

Altair's personality in this episode was that of a great villain.

Spoiler for Episode 20:

No surprise that Altair come back after what Sirius did, she was not going to be beaten that easily.

That plot twist at the end, adding her own creator into the story.

Really looking forward to watching next episode.

Spoiler for Episode 21:

Very emotional episode for both Altair & Sota.

Guess that's the end of the war, Altair was pretty much invincible so I guess this was to only way to finish things.

Looking forward to the last episode to see what happens next.

Spoiler for EP 22 & Series Score:

Great anime, enjoyed it from start to finish.

I'm sure that Meteora will enjoy her new life on earth, she has a lot of friends.

That was a nice drawing at the end with the characters all together like that.

Magane never wen through the gate, we did see her at an aiport, I wonder where she went.

9/10

[scififan]

Shirobako is what first came to my mind when watching this show. It is how a group of animators get together and create a story, and hopefully, viewers will appreciate their show.

Moreover, several characters(creation) remind me about generic characters from video games.