Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-

Re:ZERO began as a web novel. Writer Tappei Nagatsuki first posted it online in 2012, on the Japanese site Shosetsuka ni Naro, where fans can share their own stories. It later became a light novel series (a kind of short novel with anime-style pictures) from Media Factory, with art by Shinichirou Otsuka. Studio White Fox turned it into this anime. The first season aired from April to September 2016 and has 25 episodes. The very first episode is about twice as long as a normal one.

The hero is Subaru Natsuki. Back in Japan, he is a NEET. This word means a young person who is not in school, not working, and not in training. He spends most of his time at home. One night, with no warning, he finds himself standing in a strange fantasy city full of magic, swords, and creatures he has never seen. He has no special skills and no idea how he got there.

In this new world, Subaru meets Emilia, a kind half-elf girl with silver hair. She travels with Puck, a small cat-like spirit. Emilia is one of the people who want to become the next ruler of the Kingdom of Lugunica. Many people fear and dislike her because she is a half-elf. Subaru wants to help her, even though he is weak. Soon he ends up working as a servant, called a butler, in the large house of Roswaal L. Mathers, a strange and powerful noble who supports Emilia. There he lives and works beside the twin maids Rem and Ram, and he often argues with Beatrice, a sharp-tongued girl who lives in the house.

The twist of the show is what happens when Subaru dies. Each time he is killed, he wakes up again at an earlier moment, alive. Everyone else forgets what happened, but he remembers it all. So he can try again and change his choices. This sounds like a great gift, but the show treats it as a heavy curse. Subaru feels real pain and real fear each time. He also has to face dangers like murders, curses, and a group of dangerous people called the Witch Cult, mostly on his own, because no one else remembers what he has been through.

This is why Re:ZERO stands apart from many isekai shows. Isekai means "another world" stories, where a person from our world ends up in a fantasy land. In many of them, the hero becomes strong very fast. Here, Subaru stays weak, makes mistakes, and must learn from them. The show looks at hope, loss, guilt, and what it means to keep going when things go wrong again and again. Some scenes are violent and dark, so it is not for very young viewers. There is also humor, romance, and warm moments at the mansion.

The season was a big hit. It placed first in a fan poll by the Japanese site Anime! Anime! for spring 2016, and it was Crunchyroll's most-watched series of that year. It also won Best Anime at the 2017 Sugoi Japan Awards. The maid Rem won Best Girl at the first Crunchyroll Anime Awards, and Subaru, Rem, and Puck all won character awards from the magazine Newtype. The music is by Kenichiro Suehiro, and the director is Masaharu Watanabe. If you like dark fantasy with a hero who has to grow the hard way, this first season is the place to start.