Common Name: Re:Creators
Score: 8/10, 3/5
Length: 22 Episodes
Genre: Action, Magic, Isekai, Drama, Sci-fi, Magical Girl, Mecha, Shounen, Grimdark, Mystery, Supernatural, Super Powers
Summary: It has always been an understood truism that all creators, meaning authors, artists, and the like, essentially function as the god of their creations. It is up to the creator who lives and dies in their narratives, whether the hero finds peace or yet more strife, and if the hero's journey will ever end. What would happen if our creations had the chance to meet us, face to face? Would they understand the plight of the starving artist who drove their world to madness, or would they rebel against us? Born from the death of her creator, the enigmatic "Military Uniform Princess" has chosen the latter. But her arrival in our world has given humanity a chance to survive, assuming we can make peace with the heroes and villains from our favorite anime and manga, prisoners to the whims of their creators and the audiences who decide the fate of a story. At least we can always count on generic heroes like Selesia Upitiria and support NPCs like Meteora Österreich to have humanity's back.
Review: While the concept of the creations of humanity rebelling against their flawed creators is nothing new--just look at every sci-fi story with androids and AI--Re:Creators offers something of a different perspective to the old concept in that it focuses on our media and people's fickle attachments to that media. More specifically, Re:Creators is an anime about anime. What kind of anime it is though seems to be up for debate. Between the solid action sequences and thought-provoking metanarrative, a kind of ludonarrative dissonance (a conflict between narrative and gameplay in video games) is born when these two key aspects fail to form a unified whole. Here's the thing though, with any other show I'd simply say the show tried to do too much and recommend that it should have compromised, focused on only one of those aspects, and have done with it. But in Re:Creator's case I think the show would lose a great deal of its power and impact if it tried to underplay the action or the intellectual narrative. So, I can't help wondering where things went wrong and what could have been done differently to make this the 10/10 show I initially expected.
Believe it or not, this one image basically sums up the conflict between Re:Creators as an action title and Re:Creators the intellectual marvel.
So, to start things off, I'll outright say that Re:Creators is easily one of the better character action stories I've seen in a while. Each and every one of the creations, barring one or two, who fuel the magically boosted action portion of the anime gets the right amount of attention they need for character establishment and growth, making them both engaging and iconic. In a way, they're meant to be surrogates for the standard character tropes we know and love, yet they all start out as pretty well fleshed out characters from the start. Selesia, for example, is ripped straight from the anime adaptation of her story. While she primarily serves the role of action hero in Re:Creator's story, it seems likely that she might not be the best suited for that position when you consider the role she would have likely played. Though we do see tiny glimpses at that inadequacy and longing for her story's actual hero, she blazes on regardless because that is what is expected of her. Yet as the story goes on and we get action sequence after glorious action sequence with her, we learn that coming to this world has freed her from the limitations written into her character profile, letting her grow into a bonafide hero character. In fact, that revelation in of itself allows for a special brand of character development that hints at the character choosing to grow a certain way, rather than letting change just happen to them. This brand of growth, in turn, makes the characters all the more likable since it gives them agency in the story.
It's almost like she's always had the life experience necessary for growth, but has never had the chance to step out of her hero's shadow.
Keep in mind, though, that Selesia is only one of many creations given this opportunity for growth but not all of them are as willing to grow as Selesia. Depending on the kind of character they started as, some of the show's characters are, instead, more inclined blatantly ignore the chance to grow because they were too jaded to care or too devoted to a cause to see. Again, this kind of growth allows for the added layer of agency and the inherent difference in people that makes the story of these characters and their fights all the more compelling. Yet it's not the characters alone that make their story so fun to watch. Sure, the fights are frankly spectacular in every sense of the word but there's also a kind of thought and reality transposed onto the fight scenes we expect of a good action title. As one of the most impactful moments of the show, we're given a blanket reminder of the situation this show's characters have found themselves in. During one particular scene, we see the characters acting like action characters: fighting each other with style and destructive force. Yet when one of them gets hurt, there's a sudden reminder that little Dorothy isn't in Kansas anymore. Instead of having the power to shoot off a glitter bomb powered by friendship that won't actually hurt anyone, they realize this world has turned their usually just and harmless powers into nuclear weapons capable of killing hundreds of people with just a thought. Seeing how little realizations like that drive and change the characters make this show stand out as a possible modern masterpiece.
I know I am.
However, I think it's that same kind of thoughtful and thought-provoking attitude that ultimately make and great this show. When used well, the show takes its fundamental concept of fictional heroes doing battle over the fate of our world and turns it into a fantastic way to allow for character revelations and development. At the same time, though, it seems preoccupied with the metanarrative of this story being representative of the movement of stories in general. There is conversation after conversation where the characters theorize why they came into being and are able to use their powers in our world that point toward the Jungian idea of the Collective Conscious. Yet the show puts little investment into proving how that Collective Conscious idea actually works, deciding instead to just roll with it for the sake of the action. What's stranger, and I think far more egregious than that omission though, is that the show eventually has the characters use the flow of a standard action/ mystery/ shounen/ mecha/ etc. story to predict the actions and motivations of the enemy. Rather than running on the assumption their opponents are strong and independent individuals, just as aware of their freedom as they are, they instead decide to build a story within a story within the story we're watching, a story tailored just for capturing and defeating the enemy.
Let just say it gets a little too obsessed with the idea that these events in
the "real world" might just be someone else's story.
While that might sound interesting on a thought-exercise kind of level, I'm generally unconvinced that relying so heavily on the concept of metanarration does anything more for the show than turn everything good it built into little more than a contrived mess. So, I guess it's ultimately the show's obsession with the creator perspective and the connection between creator and consumer that ruins the show's chance at greatness. Sure it's interesting watching a bunch of writers try to think up a plot twist good enough to surprise the show's villain, but trying to boil down the use of a plot twist to a science kills the actual thrill of watching a plot twist. It kills the pacing and anticipation that builds in the heat of battle, waiting for just the right moment to spring the trap.
There is, however, one last problem with this show that puts the last nail in the coffin for me, and that is the show's interactions with its main villain--the Military Uniform Princess, Altair. On top of generally not giving her much screen time, character growth, or actual impact on the show other than "she's so strong and evil," Altair exists as something of a focal point for/culmination of all the show's problems because she just doesn't fit into the story all that well. In terms of a being a creation, she was created and functions as something of a vengeful nonentity who exists just to be an antagonist. Since she never had a character profile to begin with, she has nothing to work with in terms of growth and thus has nothing to add to the story. At the same time, however, she somehow grows into a creator, becoming the grand designer for the greatest calamity the world has seen yet, toward the end of the show. Yet her approach to acting as a creator is very different from the creators who made Selesia, Meteora, and the others. Rather than using character flaws and motivations to move pieces in the way she desires, she instead plays with the whims and hopes of the masses--killing off characters and crippling others until the audience has no one to cheer for but the villain--assuming her role as the most overpowered character in all of creation.
It also doesn't help her case that there's just something REALLY annoying
about a villain who mocks the player while they kill off your characters.
Had Altair's character been given more time to develop or, you know, actually been a key character in the show, I probably would have liked the show's end results far more. Heck, I might have even grown to like Altair as a character, which was clearly what the show wanted to happen, if only she had been given an episode outlining her story, her desires, her weaknesses. Instead, all we got was an enigmatic and over-powered nobody who somehow managed to steal the show from its actual characters. Again, that's a pretty interesting thought exercise but it does not make for a good story. I get how that might be the point--having the villain of a story ruin the actual story being told--but that justification doesn't add anything good meaningful to the anime. Rather, it's almost insulting, having a show grab your interest and then destroy in front of you because that was the author's grand plan. That doesn't make the author some kind of metanarrative genius. It just makes them an ass.
Dear, sweet Meteora, save me from the bullshit of your evil counterpart and whoever thought she was a good idea.
In the end, I can't deny that I like Re:Creators. It was a new and interesting kind of story that had a lot to say and, in the beginning, said it pretty damn well. Unfortunately, it fell to pieces when the action sequences started to feel rushed and felt contrived from all the bullshit heaped onto it from the over-analysis of the metanarrative that made the show's characters all the more engaging. It had a lot to offer but tried to do too much and, based on the fact that there were several weeks where the show just didn't air, either didn't have the budget or enough of a story to make all that it wanted to be a reality. So, rather than a masterpiece, I'm left with a pretty OK series with some amazing character action, awe-inspiring music, and enough depth to make it noteworthy at the very least. Would I recommend it? Strangely, no. Maybe it's because I don't want people to see and judge the thing I like in spite of its glaring imperfections, but part of me feels like this show just isn't worth the recommendation. Granted, I can't help but wonder how other people would see and engage with the show's use of metanarrative. So, give it a shot if my ramblings haven't driven you away, but I wanna hear what you think when you finish it.