Would you change anything, absolutely anything in your past you’ve regretted? Perhaps have made certain decisions a tad differently, or lived on a different course? Like pressing the reset button until you achieve the desired result. It’s something I rack my brain with from time to time. Numerous choices I would have altered, and paid closer attention to signs that I considered insignificant first go around. I’m not wracked with regrets, but I would be a liar not to admit certain things I would have handled differently and consider to this day. Just unfortunate ithoughts I constantly wrestle with.
“I coined it as the Looper genre, anime whereas the protagonist is caught in a time loop of a day, week, or month.”
And this appears to be a theme and genre ever growing in popularity currently in anime. I coined it as the Looper genre, anime whereas the MC is caught in a time loop of a day, week, or month. I considered musing about this before. Animes like “When They Cry”, “Erased”, “Summertime Renderer”, “ReZero”, and “Tokyo Revengers” entertained me because of the possibilities and the decisions made to achieve the desired result. But I didn’t bite yet. I’m glad I waited. I completed “Summertime Renderer” a ways back, and damn was it a satisfying conclusion to a superb series. It ended up winning my anime of 2022, so I was eager to include it. I rewatched a significant portion of Erased and was reminded how good it is. But what got me to finally bite was my excitement for ReZero Season 3.
It’s interesting to see what solutions are chosen and how each thread pans out. The “What if…?” hypothetical threads can often lead to other fantastic, heart wrenching, and intriguing substories. And the anime using this theme have been quite imaginative with their stories. These range in different genres and tones. There are psychological horror, supernatural, romance, fantasy, and action fantasy loopers. The subgenre versatility and vastness is just mind-boggling and for this reason, I’ve become a huge fan of this creative phenomena. So I want to share out some of my standouts over the years in my opinion…
Endlessly They Die… Endlessly They Cry… Higurashi…
I recall the first time I saw this series, I was a wee lad in his freshman years of college. I graduated from a rookie of anime fan of a very narrow selection of genres to an anime and manga, and grew into a hungry to expand his horizons. And I have seen untold amounts of anime and manga. But this was one of the ones that stuck and left an immense impression on me. I am so glad it was remade properly with all its gory glory!!! Truly depraved and sick of a person I was for enjoying this so much…
The hapless hero of this series, Keiichi Maebara, moves from Tokyo to Hinawa, a rural village with a horrendous legend. He is the assumed hero for a majority of the anime. And the anime focuses heavily on him and his group of friends, Rika, Shion, Mion, Satoko, and Rena. But the actual Looper is Rika Furude, a priestess groomed to conduct the village’s sacred ritual of Watanagashi. Their village holds an annual harvest ritual that sacrifices outsiders to the God Oyashiro for continued prosperity and good harvest. That’s the rumor at least to ward away any ill behavior, outsiders, and maintain order of the quiet settlement. A grim premise looms of each loop spread across 4-5 episodes. And each loop is days before the festival. A loop that leads inevitably to murder. I recall only one loop having a “good ending”. But unfortunately, the loops continued because conditions weren’t met.
Murders throughout each loop involve each character of the main group, either as murderers or victims. And my lord is this show brutal. Seeing children murdered so sadistically made my mouth drop and stomach churn. But the intrigue of seeing how each loop plays out carries the viewer through the sheer chaos. Because the ever present questions lingers: “What is causing these characters to go insane?” “Is it really Oyashiro’s curse?” These questions are slowly answered or unraveled. And each loop concludes with Rika discovering answers and befalling a gruesome demise. I nominate her for a character that has suffered the most of any I have seen. Maybe even more than Gutts of “Berserk” fame
“Seeing children murdered so sadistically made my mouth drop and stomach churn…”
It’s a very interesting series in my opinion and has incredible character development of Rika and explores her mental state. She’s been in this loop for a century and has been trying to escape it. So that is a fascinating aspect of both the old series and new continuation. I feel like it’s an attribute I’ve come to love with newer Loopers, especially this and ReZero. Because it can be likened to being trapped to be tormented in Purgatory and does a fairly convincing job portraying the soul shattering and exhausting effect it has on the protagonist’s spirit and psyche. I am hugely into how the characters are handled in the stories and often the cast is what grabs me earliest and clenches my attention in various stories. Calwu may not vibe, but it is one of my favorites in recent memory. The main knock I’d give the continuation is that it’s ending themes aren’t as good as the original releases…
A Man Who Began His Loops in His Isekai Adventure. Again and Again From Zero…
“ReZero is actually an Isekai Looper and Subaru is the unlucky protagonist transported to this fantasy world. However, unlike most Isekai that carry the main character into by a plot device, death, or dear ol’ Truck kun…”
I adore the run of this anime. This is another Calwu isn’t a fan of, but I’ve been enamored with, and eagerly look forward to season 3. And like I mentioned earlier, various Loopers can do a genre fusion dance, stirring various genres into something that can turn into a fabulous piece of fiction. ReZero is actually an Isekai Looper and Subaru is the unlucky protagonist transported to this fantasy world. However, unlike most Isekai that carry the main character into its world by a plot device, death, or dear ol’ Truck kun, he is just brought to a fantastical world in an eye’s blink stepping out of his neighborhood convenience store. Subaru finds himself in a bazaar surrounded by folks with pointy wolf ears and reptilian faces. And there he meets Emilia and Puck, who would be the heroine to Subaru’s story. And with their meeting, Subaru’s Isekai fantasy had begun. However, it would not go so smoothly as he hoped. Soon after their meeting, he, Emilia, and Puck are killed by a hunter named Elsa. And with his last gasp, and a blink, he finds himself in the same bazaar, same scene, and meets Emilia… again. So begins the numerous deaths and routes of Subaru. And man, this presents another character to be psychologically mangled. And my lord do they put Subaru through absolute hell. So begins arguably my favorite Looper.
Here lies a character A man tormented like Rika in “When They Cry”, with the agony of dying again and again, and exhaustion of the spirit from reliving loops again and again. I think this anime has incredible character growth for Subaru as he suffers the torment in silence and no one to confide in, yet builds thick walls of mental fortitude only to backslide when the hill often feels too steep to climb.
It is an absolute trip in my opinion, because it really drives so many feelings about Subaru. Ranging from him seeming to be a pathetic coward to being a dependable person. He reminds me of a cooler Shinji from “Evangelion” in that you don’t like him at times because of his cowardice and whininess. But he’s just a kid who got forced to play in incredible circumstances beyond him. He’s very human-like in that regard. Similarly Subaru has moments where he acts cool for his growing party, but it’s often just an act. He has to build courage to overcome, and sometimes doesn’t have it. And sometimes he’s afraid and desperate. And it perfectly contrasts the other members of the roster because they are often courageous, strong, principled no matter the circumstance. So his humanity stands out even more. They are very well done and have motivations worthwhile that ultimately leave quite the impression on both viewers and Subaru.
“He reminds me of a cooler Shinji from “Evangelion” in that you don’t like him at times because of his cowardice and whininess.”
Those characters are fleshed out through the loops by layers. More layers peeled away, the more you are also treated with nice character development as the character motivations are exposed and fleshed out by nature of the loops. And there is a decent layer of political intrigue to sprinkle as well as one of the character plots. Minor flaws aside with the pacing for particular loops, I thoroughly enjoy the show and really anticipate the new season this October. Especially because Subaru actually discovered who summoned him to that world and cursed him to endure this hell in Season 2. It’s incredibly satisfying because it addresses a primary complaint I have with most Looper anime. They often just happen with for no rhyme or reason. ReZero refreshing in that regard. If you’re curious to get started, you have plenty of time to binge S1 and S2.
Sooooo…
What are your thoughts thus far? Have these two slipped under your radar? Have you been compelled? Due to the length of this musing I want to go about differently by experimenting and breaking this into halves. I think this will make my lengthier musings more digestible. Chime ya thoughts below…
But in the meantime…
