Now that Sakura executed her plan to start salvation, will Kotarou make it in time to save the world?
As expected from last time, it seems that Imamiya and Touka catches Kotarou. They didn’t like how Kotarou betrays them despite being a misunderstanding. Thankfully, he was able to escape so he can get to the big tree to stop the salvation. Eventually, he had to help rescue Imamiya and Touka. He was able to resolve any misunderstandings and entrust them to find and take care of Kotori.
After arriving to the tree, Sakura’s plan failed as Kagari hanged on. He is shocked to find out that Iko participated. After Iko gave her last words where Akane was, she died. In short, Kotarou found Akane and tells her to find a safe place to take shelter.
Shortly after, it seems that Kotarou has run out of time as he becomes unable to move. Kagari eventually comes and reveals that she found her fond memories, but it was too late. While she does ensure her that Kotarou did fine, Kotarou has to kill her. Sure, this will upset him as he killed and betrayed many people. Thankfully, Kagari calms him down saying that he found her fond memories and kissed him. Shortly after, Kotarou ceased being a human.
The epilogue shows that the world faced a new ice age, but life still intact. Eventually, Touka raises Kotori, Shizuru, Lucia, Akane and Chihaya. When they reached high school, they summon Kotarou as a familiar. It’s funny how he shows up in butler clothing and the girls order him around. Either way, the Occult Club finally reunites as Kotarou takes them to the moon.
Final Short Impressions
Overall, while I can’t say too much regarding how close the anime adaptation is to the source material, I can say this. The adaptation overall was alright, although it’s definitely not perfect. I felt that the anime while interesting felt rushed. It’s just sad that Akane and Chihaya didn’t get the same treatment compared to Shizuru and Lucia who received their own episodes. Yes, there is a Guardian bias here. However, it’s not surprising since this organization play a significant role in the Terra arc.
I guess the pacing didn’t do it justice. It doesn’t help when the adaptation throw a lot of information that is crucial to the plot. A viewer who haven’t played the visual novel will have a hard time understanding how it’s important to the story. Of course, the ending from the first season didn’t do it justice. Either way, it’s not a perfect Key adaptation, but it’s still managed to be enjoyable and interesting. To me, it would have been better if it had more episodes to work with.
Rewrite is one among many examples where the structure only works well within the VN format. The pacing, expositions and character bias are issues I have come to expect from the adaption. I feel they really tried their best and it IS a decent adaption, though more of a “barebone” version of the story.
It’s not so surprising given that the story has role playing elements along with three different parts with the main arc, moon and terra. To me, Rewrite is probably not as a straight forward visual novel to adapt compared to previous works from Keys.
Given that there is a full translation for Rewrite, maybe I will cover it someday.