Re:ZERO Vol. 1 Group Read

[Selena]

Subaru Natsuki was just trying to get to the convenience store but wound up summoned to another world. He encounters the usual things--life-threatening situations, silver haired beauties, cat fairies--you know, normal stuff. All that would be bad enough, but he's also gained the most inconvenient magical ability of all--time travel, but he's got to die to use it. How do you repay someone who saved your life when all you can do is die?

Discuss Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Volume 1 Here!

Reading Schedule
4/9-4/22 Prologue & Chapter 1
4/23-4/29 Chapter 2
4/30-5/13 Chapter 3 & 4
5/14-5/27 Chapter 5 & Epilogue

[Terrence]

It'll be fun to watch the reactions to this one. I've watched the show. There's a character the fan base just loves, and it'll be interesting to see what you guys reading blind think of them. =]

[Terrence]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "Terrence wrote: "It'll be fun to watch the reactions to this one. I've watched the show. There's a character the fan base just loves, and it'll be interesting to see what you guys reading blind thi..."

It's decent. I like to tone down expectations. I think it's one of those series that may surprise early on, but then become a bit old hat later, so I think that's why you see some negative reaction later on in its run (it's also popular, so...). There's one really amazing episode mid run that is sandwiched between some just ok stuff, so I'm hoping for more of that later in the books if I read them (I actually jumped into the series by watching those mid season EPs, then going back). The opening moments are definitely hooking though.

The protagonist is an idiot though (and unfortunately not in the "ha ha, funny" way, but the "why did you do that you baka!, make the right choice" way). xC

[Selena]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "Well, I've always read the light novels for stuff I've already seen, so this will be the first time (in a reaaallly looong time, if not, ever) that I'll be checking out the novel before the anime!"

Same here, but really, it'll be the first light novel I'll have read in a little while. ;) I'm looking forward to it. I've already got it from the library and everything. :)

[Selena]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "My copy came in today! I flipped through it and it doesn't look like it has a crazy-ton of fragmented sentences like most light novels (which is usually what makes me lose interest in LNs)."

I think it depends which light novels you read. :) I don't remember Book Girl or Kieli having a lot of fragmented sentences.

I'm looking forward to reading this one. There are cat fairies. I need to see what this is about.

[Mike]

Hoping to join in on this, as it's one of the (many) LNs sitting on my self waiting for me to get around to reading it.

Selena wrote: " I don't remember Book Girl or Kieli having a lot of fragmented sentences.
"

We really have to finish those series sometime. They're both so good.

[Terrence]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "My copy came in today! I flipped through it and it doesn't look like it has a crazy-ton of fragmented sentences like most light novels (which is usually what makes me lose interest in LNs)."

Don't read a J-Novel club translation. xD

I read them with a text to speech program, and every 10 seconds the robot says "quote" when "..." appears because it doesn't know to pause at and then skip the line.

[Selena]

Mike wrote: "We really have to finish those series sometime. They're both so good."

We definitely need to. :-) Maybe after this book.

[Rose]

I picked up the Kindle edition of the book at the weekend so I'm all ready for when we begin the group read. I've got little idea of what to expect outside of the book's blurb - cat fairies sound cute though!

Mike wrote: "We really have to finish those series sometime. They're both so good."

Oh, you really should! Though I can't say much about Book Girl (I've only read the first book), I really enjoyed Kieli and finished the series at the beginning of the year. It can get a little dark and sad in places but it's definitely worthwhile. :)

[James]

I bought the Book Walker edition along with a couple other LNs. After killing one of them, I started this one and I'm probably better than halfway through it. I won't give away anything, but after reading some of the stuff you guys have mentioned, I have to agree. I'm not sure what exactly to think of the main character, other than he's in a strange new place and is still learning things as he goes, but yeah, he can be a bit dense here and there.

[Selena]

I plan to start this one later tonight. Sounds like everyone else has gotten ahead of me. ^^

[Selena]

Just finished the prologue.

Rule #1 of light novels: if someone dies in the prologue, chances are they don't stay dead (lol)

[Terrence]

Selena wrote: "Just finished the prologue.

Rule #1 of light novels: if someone dies in the prologue, chances are they don't stay dead (lol)"

Unless they were a red shirt. Seen at least one LN and anime with the "lone survivor". If you're named after a color, you are already deceased. 😇

[Rose]

I started a bit late but I read the prologue and chapter 1 this morning so I should be all caught up now. :)

Spoiler for the ending of chapter 1: (view spoiler)[I like how the end of the chapter ties neatly into the prologue. The prologue opens with a mysterious couple of deaths and now we discover that it was the naive protagonist and heroine who died all along. With little known about the killer or their motives, this sets up a big mystery to solve. Could the killings be related to Satella's badge? (hide spoiler)]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "So far, I like how the novel's poking fun at the current, popular tropes that follow fantasies and being transported to different realms, and how it's being used in the plot specifically. While I'm enjoying it now, I hope it doesn't get old or tedious down the road. :o"

Agreed. I think it's a fun way of upending reader expectations and introducing the setting but I hope that as Subaru comes to understand his situation a little better, he will start to ease away from it.

[Rose]

As of the first chapter, I'd say she's the more interesting character between herself and Subaru. She is a very kind character but she's not so soft that she won't be blunt about Subaru's odd (overly anime-ish) behavior and she certainly doesn't trust him straight away. There's still a lot of mystery about her and I hope that we will find out a bit more about her in later chapters.

Interestingly, while Satella has been directly informing Subaru about various elements of the world, her reactions have been dropping hints about the setting as well. For instance, we can tell that (view spoiler)[she was expecting a bigger reaction regarding her name and the fact that she's a half-elf (hide spoiler)] so we can assume that these things are actually bigger deals than Subaru is aware of. It will be interesting to see how people from within the setting react to the same bits of information.

Edit: I couldn't help myself so I read ahead, haha. I won't discuss future chapters until the group gets there though.

[Selena]

Looks like I'm the slow on in the group as usual lol

I really like how self-aware this one is. Subaru always saying "if this were anime" makes me think of all the actual anime that do this trope. XD The series MAR especially.

[Selena]

I have about 20 pages left to chapter one.

Is it just me, or has a whole lot of nothing been accomplished so far? It works for now because we're learning a bit more about the world and the characters, but if they keep not getting anything done, I'll probably get frustrated. ^^;;;

[Terrence]

In terms of self-awareness, the Monogatari series is pretty good at that (Kizu even mentions how the content means it'll be a challenge to get animated; sure enough, had to become a movie instead of a TV show; In Bake, Senjogahara mentions something about voice acting).

[Rose]

Selena wrote: "Is it just me, or has a whole lot of nothing been accomplished so far?"

The first chapter is mostly there to establish the setting, the characters and their goals and I agree with Nek0 - the end of the chapter is where things begin to pick up. However, if you've read the book's blurb then you might begin to get a little frustrated going forwards... (view spoiler)[as everything that’s been accomplished so far is reset and the only one aware of this is you, the reader. (hide spoiler)]

[Selena]

I actually did not read the blurb too thoroughly. So this is going to be a black-comedy fantasy-world version of Groundhog Day? That could be interesting.

[Mike]

Read the prologue and a few pages of chap 1 so far. Honestly the writing style (whether due to the original text or the translation) is already kind of annoying me. Already too much belaboring of points and awkward phrasing.

I looked over the color pages at the front too and I feel like there's a rather large spoiler in the character descriptions, which is odd since for another character they wouldn't even give a name. I specifically avoided the blurb so I could at least start clean and the first thing I see is a sentence explaining the entire plot concept. (view spoiler)[ "The only power Subaru Natsuki gets when he's summoned to another world is time travel via his own death. But to save her, he'll die as many times as it takes." (hide spoiler)] Granted it's not a huge shock after that prologue, but it still seems a bit much to reveal in the "dramatis personae" section.

I'm interested, but my first impression here isn't the greatest.

[Mike]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "... because I feel like it would have had a much better effect, and the events that occur onwards wouldn't have felt so... I dunno, tedious, maybe?"

I understand / agree, and tedious is totally the right word. The writing/translation doesn't help. I'm now halfway through chapter 1 and the constant repetition of everything and awkward phrasing is killing me.

[Fanta]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "My copy came in today! I flipped through it and it doesn't look like it has a crazy-ton of fragmented sentences like most light novels (which is usually what makes me lose interest in LNs)."

I know it's too late to ask, though, does "fragmented sentences" mean incomplete sentences like sentences without verb? Or does it mean just a very short sentence?

[Rose]

Has anyone else finished Chapter 2? I ended up finishing the book a while back and I'm interested to see how people feel about this one.


Mike wrote: "I specifically avoided the blurb so I could at least start clean and the first thing I see is a sentence explaining the entire plot concept."

It's odd because the book itself is somewhat coy about this (major!) plot point and only explicitly states it about two-thirds in but the blurb and character bios list it plainly as if it's not a big deal at all. I wonder whether the Japanese edition also spoils this reveal in its blurb/bio section?

I agree that revealing this plot point from the outset lowers the effectiveness of the novel and makes reading some sections of the book frustrating but I don't think we should discuss this further until the group read is at a point where we can all talk about it without using spoilers or being indirect. :)

[Rose]

Did you feel surprised at all about the content of the second chapter?

I was expecting Subaru to (view spoiler)[go after Satella and have a similar-but-different day (hide spoiler)] so I was pleasantly surprised that instead he took an entirely different path (view spoiler)[and we were introduced to Felt's side of the story and the book's villain (hide spoiler)]. I wasn't expecting (view spoiler)[not to see Satella at all in this chapter, considering how important she seemed to be in the first one, and I thought at the very least she'd turn up at the end in time to die but she didn't show up at all (hide spoiler)].

[Selena]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "What do you think of the villain?"

I haven't met the villain yet, but I'm assuming it's the scantily clad woman in the black dress with a cape? She screams villain to me. Like, only way it'd be more obvious is if she had literally had the word "evil" printed on her chest.

[Selena]

I also find it very interesting that her costume was almost the exact opposite of Satella's. Satella wears white robes with the short layered white skirt and has silver hair. Obvious villain wears a long black dress and a cape and has dark hair.

I wonder if this was done to contrast the characters on purpose, or if the author was going with a Star Wars world-view (bad guys wear black, good guys wear white)

[Rose]

You're right, Satella and the villain are clearly meant to contrast each other (white vs black, good vs evil, sexy vs pure), with Felt being the neutral character between them.

The villain doesn't do much for me honestly. We understand that she is doing the deal with Felt on behalf of someone and that the badge is her priority but I don't think anyone would have been fooled by her introduction into thinking she's anything but the villain and then she turns murderous a few pages later. It's a quick and obvious reveal.

On a different subject, Chapter 3 - it's pretty short! (view spoiler)[And it's a humiliation special. "Satella" turns out to be a special name after all, Subaru finally gets killed by the alleyway thugs and finally, after 3 chapters, realises the premise of the story just in time to begin Chapter 4.

For me, the only interesting thing here was the name. We knew previously from the girl in white's reaction that Satella was in some way an embarrassing name but Subaru didn't pick up on it. I like that she was playing it safe and gave him an obviously false/incendiary name - was she testing him to see how he reacted? I think at this point you're probably supposed to question whether the girl in white is actually as good a person as Chapter 1 made her out to be but I took it more as a hint that she's a more complicated character than first expected and liked her better after this point. :V (hide spoiler)]

[Selena]

It seems to me that whoever wants the badge isn't after the badge itself, but instead wants to keep it away from the girl-formerly-known-as-Satella. Villain lady didn't seem too worried about not getting the badge until Suburu said he was returning it.

I wonder what that badge actually is? And why villain lady (and/or her employer) would turn to murder to play keep away?

[Rose]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "I have an inherent love for villains, so I rather liked her a lot. I'm sure I'm probably alone in that, LOL. I'm definitely curious as to who she's working for though."

It's not to say that she's a bad villain but she's not a stand-out character to me. I'll definitely come back to chatting about her when the group hits chapter 5 since I keep trying to write future spoilers, haha. I'm also curious about her backers and how they're connected with not-Satella - it's a decent sequel hook. :)

[Selena]

I just met Master Swordsman dude (blanking on his name, it was something somewhat pretentious sounding).

I'm enjoying the book enough that, so long as nothing happens to really screw it up for me, that I'll probably read the next book in the series. :)

[Selena]

I like the swordsman too, and totally agree that cat fairy needs more screen time. :-) Swordsman dude still has a super fancy name. Reinhardt or something, wasn't it?

[Rose]

I kind of wish the swordsman was introduced a little earlier in the novel, even if only as a background character. Both he and the cat fairy could do with some more screen time, I think. :)

[Rose]

Ooh, I see the group read is now on the final part of the novel! I'll put my comments under a spoiler for those that haven't finished yet but just assume spoilers for the whole novel here.

So, going back to things that we were previously discussing:

(view spoiler)[There's still a lot of mystery about ["Satella"/Emelia] and I hope that we will find out a bit more about her in later chapters.

Well, I was right about the clues in the first chapter that "Satella" was an embarrassing name, since we find out it's not only a lie but also a name you absolutely don't speak. Being a half-elf is also confirmed to be some kind of big deal in the bar fight but it isn't explicitly explained so I guess it's one of the mysteries that will carry on to the sequel. I'm glad that Emilia didn't just simply trust Subaru - her (sensible) caution makes her a bit more interesting. The ending of the story adds one new mystery to her character and that is "what does the shining badge represent?", since it ties Emilia to Felt and is clearly important enough that Reinhard has to change his stance and take Felt away. It's a decent sequel hook. :)

I was definitely shocked that after being such a major character in the first chapter, Emilia disappeared for the majority of the novel. I was somewhat cynically expecting Subaru, upon time resetting, to have the same rough itinerary (with Emilia each time because how else would they fall generically in love?) but with him attempting to do it more efficiently and effectively. Other novels I've read with time loop premise focused more the repetition and the desperation to break out of it so I was expecting something similar here. Re:Zero pleasantly surprised me on this front by having Subaru taking different paths through the day, each time meeting new characters and getting a different angle on the same situation. It was one of the positive parts of the novel and helped to keep the story fresh.

Talking of fresh...

... revealing [the time reversal] plot point from the outset lowers the effectiveness of the novel and makes reading some sections of the book frustrating.

Subaru's one ability is that when he dies, time resets. The book itself promotes this fact in the blurb and character biography like it isn't a big deal at all but then the story itself treats this plot point as if it is a huge revelation. This leads to a frustrating couple of chapters where there is a large mismatch between the main character's knowledge and actions and the readers' knowledge and expectations. It makes Subaru come across as painfully oblivious and slow-witted, which I don't think is quite how we are meant to feel about him.

I can't tell whether this is an issue that relates specifically to the English release (where they would expect most readers of the light novel to have seen the anime and know the premise) or whether it is also an issue with the Japanese light novel (as the story started out as a web novel and, again, they might expect most people to have already read that). Either way, it ruins the flow of the story and makes what should have been a big twist fall pretty flat. The best I can say for all this is at least they didn't drag Subaru being clueless out for the whole novel and put it to rest by the end of Chapter 3. If only that didn't feel like at least a chapter too late... :V

It's not to say that she's a bad villain but she's not a stand-out character to me.

To go back to this point, I had to go back to the biography page to remember her name. It's Elsa, apparently...

To me Elsa isn't a particularly interesting villain but she's still fairly fun. She's a typical sexy-and-powerful-equals-BAD female villain which to be honest I'm never a big fan of but her psychotic side and her determination does make the big bar fight more interesting. For me, her best moment was losing the sole of her foot, only to use the ice to make an impromptu replacement - it was pretty badass but also pretty crazy and it showed that she would keep going regardless of what happened to her. I wish she had stronger motivations to back that deterministic attitude up though. Does she love killing so much that she would die over a contract killing..?

I kind of wish the swordsman was introduced a little earlier in the novel, even if only as a background character.

I feel kind of bad for Reinhard. He's introduced in Chapter 4 at the beginning of the story's final loop and he doesn't really get much time there beyond being established as helpful and the most powerful swordsman. And then he fights Elsa and hits her with his strongest hit after she's been worn down in a long fight and she isn't taken out. I guess it's done this way to give Elsa the chance to turn up in a sequel and so that Reinhard doesn't upstage Subaru too hard but I feel like it somewhat undermines his character. On the upside, he's clearly tied in to the sequel hook with Emelia and Felt so perhaps he'll be given more time to shine in the sequel? (hide spoiler)]

[Selena]

Rose wrote: "I can't tell whether this is an issue that relates specifically to the English release (where they would expect most readers of the light novel to have seen the anime and know the premise) or whether it is also an issue with the Japanese light novel (as the story started out as a web novel and, again, they might expect most people to have already read that). "

My guess is that it comes from the Japanese release of the novel. Yen Press usually does a pretty good job translating what's there and not embellishing too much, especially at the character description pages. Otherwise, they'd have spoiled Elsa too, you know?

Rose wrote: "I wish she had stronger motivations to back that deterministic attitude up though. (view spoiler)[Does she love killing so much that she would die over a contract killing..? (hide spoiler)]"

A part of me doesn't think what's in that spoiler tag really happened. (view spoiler)[No body, no proof she's dead. (hide spoiler)] And if that really is the case, then it's probably (view spoiler)[she was just that determined to kill Reinhard as the ultimate notch in her belt? (hide spoiler)]

On an unrelated note, I'd be curious to know how much thought Nagatsuki-sensei put into the effects of Suburu's actions. Like, did he only think about how it would affect the named characters, or did he consider how it would change for others in the city as side effects?

Edit to my one spoiler tagged comment: Apparently, I wasn't quite far enough yet. :p Just ignore that bit lol. I was right though, which is why I'm leaving it. ;)

[Rose]

Selena wrote: "On an unrelated note, I'd be curious to know how much thought Nagatsuki-sensei put into the effects of Suburu's actions. Like, did he only think about how it would affect the named characters, or did he consider how it would change for others in the city as side effects?"

I got the impression that the ripple effect of Subaru's actions to the rest of the world was fairly insignificant. At least in the first volume, his actions had no wider impact beyond those he directly interacted with. Depending on the direction the series takes though, that could eventually change.

Talking of Subaru, how did everyone feel about him? He's the main character but we haven't really discussed him yet!

[Mike]

Catching up. Finished chapter 3 and started 4. The writing style is still driving me nuts. Among other things I find the constant repetition of describing everything from Subaru's point of view then summarizing the same thing again in dialog or his thoughts annoying. Add that on top of Subaru's general character and him being incredibly dense and I find him unlikable, which is a problem for my continued interest in the story.

There are some interesting things happening though, and the dramatic moments are pretty well done. A lot of it is a slog for me though. Right now I can't imagine continuing, but we'll see. If I like the story overall at the end but continue to have an issue with the writing I may switch over to the anime.

[Selena]

Suburu started growing on me by the end. It was really that final chapter that sold me on it, when everything comes together. I thought the final battle was pretty well done. :)

[Mike]

Good to hear. I do intend to finish this book so hopefully I'll have a similar reaction.

[Mike]

Finished. Ending was decent, although a couple of things are left open that probably should have been addressed. (view spoiler)[ As of now, there's no indication Subaru's "save point" has changed, so next time he dies he would presumably go all the way back to the beginning again and none of the character development for anyone else matters. That doesn't seem to be the tone of the epilogue, so it would have been nice if they had at least hinted at a change in Subaru's powers. (hide spoiler)]

The epilogue was packed with nearly more plot developments and foreshadowing than the entire rest of the book. I'm interested, but I don't think I can take more of the poor writing (which never got any better). Might switch to the anime at some point.

Full review: https://derailmentsofthought.wordpres...

[Rose]

Mike wrote: "Full review: https://derailmentsofthought.wordpres..."

I think that's a fair assessment. The writing style issues you mentioned seem common amongst light novels - it's hard to say whether that stems from the source material or the translations though.

We're also probably on the same page when it comes to Subaru. I feel like his humour would translate a lot better in animated form - for example, the posing he's always doing is very much a visual gag and it comes across kind of awkwardly when written out - and his cluelessness for half the novel was a bit painful. He improved as the book went on and I'd like to think that he will become more likable and/or interesting in the sequels.

I'd like to continue on with the series but it's not a priority title for me. I'll keep an eye on it for discounts, I think. :)

[Mike]

Thank you. Interesting - I haven't come across it much in other LNs but likely I've just been lucky in what I've read. For example Book Girl and Kieli (two of my favorite series) seemed to have solid translations and be largely free of such problems. I imagine here it's a mixture of both the material and translation.

Great point. Hadn't thought about it in those terms, but Subaru's gags are definitely mostly visual. I'm even more tempted to just go the anime route if I ever decide to continue.

Good plan. :) If you do continue let us know how it goes.

[Selena]

I actually read a really interesting article in Otaku USA. It's a review of the anime, but it actually explained how I felt about Suburu quite well. Here's the article if anyone wants to read it, but it seems to get into stuff from volume two of the novels, so spoilers in there.

The long and short of it is that Suburu is basically trash, but you gotta feel at least a little sorry for him. He keeps trying to change fate, even when it keeps stabbing him in the back (or in the case of most of the first deaths, the stomach), and that also makes him a pretty good protagonist in that sense.

[Nərmin]

Hey, guys.. I know I am pretty late to the party. However I read more than half of the book and going to review it soon.

It is fun most of the time and I loved Subaru and other characters. I am watching the show and reading light novel simultaneously by the way.

Thanks for choosing it ! :)

[Nərmin]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "Nərmin wrote: "Hey, guys.. I know I am pretty late to the party. However I read more than half of the book and going to review it soon.

It is fun most of the time and I loved Subaru and other cha..."

I watch first and read later. Anime doesn't show all the details obviously, so going for details later is better.

I really liked Subaru: he is optimist and funny guy. Too bad he'll go through some horrible things. ( tbh I enjoy it ) Emilia is a nice person too^^

[Nərmin]

Nek0 Neha wrote: "Nərmin wrote: "I watch first and read later. Anime doesn't show all the details obviously, so going for details later is better.

I really liked Subaru: he is optimist and funny guy. Too bad he'll ..."
from the anime, he is likely to suffer. a lot. :\