About

Re:Zero ‒Starting Life in Another World‒ (Japanese: Re：ゼロから始める異世界生活 / Ri:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is a Japanese light novel, manga and anime series by Tappei Nagatsuki, which takes place in a magical fantasy realm populated by mystical creatures and ruled by royal kingdoms.

Premise

Re:Zero is an example of the "Isekai" or "Other World" genre of light novels, similar to series such as Sword Art Online or Konosuba.

In the series, the protagonist Natsuki Subaru is transported to an alternate reality while walking home from a convenience store, where he meets and falls in love with a half-elf girl named Emilia. Subaru subsequently discovers his ability to return from death and travel back in time, allowing him to save himself and companions. Subaru continues on his adventures in the fantasy realm, where he frequently uses his "Return by Death" super power.

History

On April 20th, 2012, writer Tappei Nagatsuki launched Re:Zero as a web novel on the Japanese novel publishing site Shōsetsuka ni Narō,^[1] where six novels and two side stories were published over the next four years. On January 24th, 2014, the Japanese publisher Media Factory released the first light novel volume in the series, illustrated by artist Shinichirou Otsuka. Over the next three years, eight volumes, two side stories and two short story collections were published in the series. In August, a manga adaptation was released by Media Factory. In July 2015, A 25-episode anime adaptation was announced, which premiered on April 4th, 2016 on TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi and AT-X. Additionally, the anime is available for streaming in several regions on Crunchyroll.^[2]

Re:Zero Break Time and Re:Petit

Aside from the main series, a series of shorts featuring altered variations of the characters were produced by Studio Puyukai titled Re:Zero Break Time. Additionally, the side series Re:Petit follows Subaru as he finds himself in an alternate world with the same characters from the main story, only the setting has changed from a fantasy land to the real world.

Main Characters

Natsuki Subaru is the protagonist of the series who has a power he calls "Return from Death," which transports him back in time upon dying, allowing him to save himself and others from being killed.

Emilia is the female half-elf protagonist with silver hair and purple eyes who is endowed with various magical abilities. She is over 100-years-old and is originally from an area known as the Frozen Forest.

Puck is Emilia's cat familiar who protects her using his own magical powers, including the ability to read people's minds.

Reception

Re:Zero has been praised for its approach to the fantasy genre, specifically for its strong character development. For the Spring 2016 season, the series was voted "best anime" in a Japanese poll.^[4] As of July 2016 on MyAnimeList,^[5] the series is ranked #29 and has a a score of 8.78.

Online Presence

On February 24th, 2015, the Re:Zero Wiki^[6] was created.On July 13th, a Facebook^[11] page for the series was launched, gathering upwards of 37,000 likes over the next year. On April 4th, 2016, the /r/Re_Zero^[8] subreddit was created for discussions about the series. On April 24th, a Re:Zero TV Tropes^[7] page was launched.

Fandom

Fan art has sprung up across the internet following the series' popularity. As of July 2016, Pixiv^[9] yields over 9,000 results for the Japanese series title tag and DeviantArt^[10] returns more than 185 results for "#re_zero".

For artist names and sources, click on an image to view its page in the gallery.

Related Memes

Victory Man

Victory Man refers to a series of image edits featuring a still image of Subaru with his arm raised in the air in a sort of victory pose. It is often juxtaposed with the series' dark nature by photoshopping the pose into grim or absurd situations.

Suffering

Being Subaru is Suffering or simply Suffering is a phrase used to describe the grim happenings in Re:Zero in online discussion. It seems to have its roots as a snowclone of similar anime meme, Being Meguka is Suffering, from the similarly dark Puella Magi Madoka Magica. "Being Subaru is Suffering" was referenced in a post by the Facebook group Anime Trending on 16th May 2016.^[12]

An example of an edit combining Victory Man, "Suffering" and Dat Boi all in one image.

Search Interest

References