Rewrite ~ a life-changing journey

 
A few months ago, I had encountered something absolutely magnificent: Rewrite, a visual novel produced by Key. It was my first time reading a VN, and gosh was it a life-changing journey. It was an experience that literally took my breath away and shook the depths of my soul. Heart-strings were pulled, manly tears were shed, and many-a-time was I left staring blankly into emptiness trying to wrap my mind onto what I had read. It is without a doubt a literary masterpiece, and something that has to be experienced to be appreciated. I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to share my journey here in this blog. 

Rewrite is a very long visual novel and at this point in time I have not finished reading it. Well, technically, I have if you consider reading it from start to a definitive finish. But visuals novels are unique in the fact that it encompasses various stories or routes with different conclusions to each route. To fully complete a visual novel, you will have to read and follow through all the routes and all the choices derived from each one. I won’t be explaining the details on the mechanisms of visual novels so I would recommend reading about it online or even experiencing it first-hand by giving one a try. What I’m trying to say here is that I am a notorious completionist and even if I’m not, I would still complete it to its entirety, as this masterpiece really deserves it.

As this is an introductory post, allow me to elaborate on a few details on the production of the visual novel itself. Rewrite is a production from Key, a well renowned visual novel studio. I knew about Key even before I started reading Rewrite, as the studio had a huge impact on the anime and associated visual novel industry. Air, Kanon, Clannad, and Little-Busters! are some of Key VN’s with anime adaptations that together were enormously successful. And did anyone say Angel Beats! One of my favourite anime series of all time, co-created by Jun Maeda the co-founder and iconic Key member who penned the aforementioned VN’s, is getting a Key VN adaptation soon – I can’t wait! Although he did not have a major role in the development of Rewrite, I have great respect for Maeda-sensei, second only to Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli).

In comparison to most visual novels, Rewrite is unique in the fact that each scenario is penned by different authors. Kudos to these writers for doing such a wonderful job in creating this storytelling spectacle. To be able to interweave different authors penning unique routes into something single and coherent is a great feat from Key, as it is without doubt difficult to achieve, considering the fact that there will definitely be a lot of discrepancy between the multiple penmanship in comparison to a sole author. So if I had to criticise Rewrite if at all, it would be the rare inconsistencies that were undoubtedly present within. But once again, this is minor in comparison to the extraordinary literature itself, and I do not want to abash this work of art for its bold challenge to the norm.

Rewrite follows and is read from the perspective of Tennouji Kotarou, an easy-going, laid-back, silly kind of character. For the majority of the first half of the visual novel, the heroines and important sub-characters are introduced throughout his daily life, with the visual novel being mostly focused on the slice-of-life genre and with bits comedy here and there. Character development is important here as it establishes the five main heroines through his day-to-day interactions. But note that it is not all slice-of-life. We get a glimpse of a few supernatural occurrences that create a sense of foreboding for what is to come. Like all visual novels, the real substance, the core themes and ideas, the revelation of secrets, and the soul-wrenching events that occur become evident as we delve deeper into the plot and into each heroine’s route that occur in the latter half. 

The five main heroines, Kanbe Kotori, Ohtori Chihaya, Nakatsu Shizuru, Konoha Lucia, and Senri Akane are just brilliant in their characterisation, with their scenarios simply amazing, whether it from the foretelling of their emotional back-story and related secrets, or the tear-shedding, heart-breaking conclusions to their route. Although there are five heroines, there are in fact seven routes to complete. The extra two routes, Moon and Terra, are, spoiler alert, focused on a sixth heroine (Kagari) not present in the common routes and are only accessible once the original five routes are completed. In fact, if I were to give any hints about these two extra routes, it would be that they, in combination, form the true route and thus true end to Rewrite. That being said, I personally feel like these extra routes serve as an epilogue to the common routes (and it is) and used to wrap up many of the loose ends seen in the original five. Anyways, enough rambling. This is about all I can mention without spoiling too much of the visual novel in this introductory post. I shall be making a few more posts detailing each of the routes later on so look forward to more of my ramblings then.