10 anime to watch for fans of Re: Zero
Re: Zero took the anime community by surprise when it first aired. It started off as your typically light and shallow Isekai anime, but towards the end of episode one, it quickly became a much darker anime. This sudden twist took fans by surprise and the constant cliffhangers after every episode had everyone hooked on the anime.
The protagonist Natsuki Subaru was unexpectedly tossed into this strange world of magic and monsters. Throughout the anime, he has experienced immense physical and mental pain, causing him to always want to give. However, he is determined to find out the secrets of this new world and fix any problems he encounters.
Note: This list follows no particular order, is purely subjective, and reflects the author's opinion. It also contains spoilers for each of the anime series listed.
10 anime series that every Re: Zero fan must watch
1) Steins;Gate
Rintarou Okabe is a science fanatic and a self-proclaimed mad scientist. Alongside his clumsy, yet caring, friend Mayuri Shiina and computer expert roommate Itaru Hashida, he establishes the Future Gadget Laboratory. Okabe's hope is to create the most surprising and unexpected gadget the world has ever seen. The gadget, dubbed the Phone Microwave, is only capable of turning bananas into thick green sludge.
Along the way, Okabe recruits world renowned neuroscientist Kurisu Makise to the Future Gadget Lab. The pair have made a few adjustments to the Phone Microwave and are suddenly able to send text messages into the past. As they celebrated their accomplishments, a secret organization known as SERN became interested in their work. This led to the members of the Future Gadget Lab being in immense danger. Okabe fights hard to save the ones he loves, losing both time and sanity to accomplish his goal.
2) Rising of the Shield Hero
Due to the Waves of Catastrophe that ravaged the the country, Melromarc has been plagued by disaster and destruction for centuries. The Kingdom of Melromarc summoned four ordinary, modern day men from Japan to become the Four Cardinal Heroes and save the country. The Cardinal Heroes are well-respected by everyone and are bestowed with either a sword, bow, spear, or shield.
An otaku and the primary protagonist of the anime, Naofumi Iwatani was summoned to Melromarc and became the Shield Hero. However, after being ridiculed and falsely accused of taking advantage of the Melromarc Princess, Naofumi begins a journey on his own. During his adventure in the anime, he encounters various characters who become lifelong friends while also fighting against the dark forces present in the anime.
3) Higurashi: When They Cry
Having just moved to the small village of Hinamizawa in 1983, Keiichi Maebara became close friends with Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, and Rika Furude. Although daily life in Hinamizawa is idyllic and peaceful on the surface, digging deeper reveals a secret darkness that lies beneath.
As the annual festival approaches, Keiichi learns about the various local urban legends surrounding the event. He discovers that there have been occurrences of people vanishing and getting killed in the village, and scarily enough, they each seem to be connected with the upcoming festival. Keiichi attempts to ask his friends about the unfortunate events but they refuse to give him an answer. As more and more bizarre events come to light, Keiichi begins to lose trust in his friends as they continue to maintain their silence.
4) Summer Time Rendering
Shinpei Ajiro has lived with Mio and Ushio, two daughters of the Kofune family, ever since his parents' deaths. Having left his hometown to pursue higher education in Tokyo, Shinpei returned after Ushio drowned in a failed attempt at saving a small girl. However, during Ushio's funeral, one of Shinpei's best friend told him about the apparent bruises on Ushio's neck.
As he becomes more suspicious of her death, Shinpei decides to think back and reevaluate the events that led to her demise. However, as people begin to disappear and other unexplainable occurrences happen, Mio Kofune recalls an old folktale featuring beings known as Shadows. This folktale states that encountering one's Shadow possibly tells that person how they will die. With this information, Shinpei continues to investigate Ushio's death while vowing to protect Mio.
5) Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Orario is a large, bustling city, making sure Bell Cranel, a new young adventurer who is trying to become the best in the world, never has a dull moment. After a coincidental encounter with Hestia, his goals have a much higher chance of becoming real. With Hestia's help, Bell went on various adventures through Orario's dark, monster-filled catacombs, famously known as the Dungeon.
Although surviving in the Dungeon is incredibly difficult, surviving in this fantasy world is just as hard. Gods and humans work together to fulfill their own selfish desires while also doing whatever they want. Despite this, Bell and Hestia try their hardest to not only survive, but thrive, within the world they live in.
6) Konosuba
In the Konosuba anime, high school student and self-proclaimed NEET, Kazuma Satou's death was incredibly pathetic. As a result, he suddenly appears before Aqua, a goddess of immense beauty and annoyance. Aqua used her godly powers and offered Kazuma two different options. The first was going to heaven and the second was being reincarnated in an actual fantasy world.
He easily chooses reincarnation and is tasked with taking down the Demon King that continuously terrorizes villages. However, as a small gift to him, Aqua decides to give him any item he wants to aid him on his journey. In a sudden twist, Kazuma chooses Aqua due to her continuously making fun of him. Unfortunately, Aqua turns out to be completely useless. Now, Kazuma has to go on his adventures with an extra burden: a useless goddess.
7) No Game, No Life
Tet, the ruler of Disboard and its sixteen sentient races, became the One True God centuries ago. Imanity, Disboard's version of humanity, is the lowest of the sixteen races and lacks an affinity for magic. As a result, humankind has no means to climb the social ladder and get themselves out of their current problems. However, with the arrival of Sora and Shiro, all of that changes.
Siblings Sora and Shiro spend most of their time indoors playing online games. One day, they are challenged to an online game of chess by an anonymous stranger. After beating the challenger, the two are transported to the world of Disboard and meet Tet, who is revealed to be the mysterious challenger. With their arrival on Disboard and subsequent take over of Elkia, Imanity may finally have a chance of being revived.
8) Overlord
Yggdrasil, a popular virtual reality video game, is about to be canceled. As a result, a powerful wizard and leader of the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, Momonga, has decided to spend the game’s final moments logged in. However, even after the clock strikes midnight, indicating that the servers are shutting down, the servers stay active and Momonga is still in his character. At the same time, NPCs have started to develop their own personalities.
Although this situation is incredibly strange, Momonga has no problem with it. He continues to lead the Ainz Ooal Gown guild and commands his loyal subjects to investigate the new world. He hopes to figure out the reason for him staying in the world and if others are in a similar situation.
9) Log Horizon
One day, almost thirty thousand Japanese gamers are taken away from their casual, everyday lives and transported into the fantasy world of the popular MMORPG Elder Tale. What makes it worse is that they cannot log out. One of the many people sent to the game is the anime's primary protagonist, Shiroe. He is a veteran of Elder Tale and immediately decided to go explore the new world.
Learning to live in this world and interacting with NPCs, Shiroe forms strong bonds with many of the other players forced into the world and creates an incredibly powerful guild. He names the guild Log Horizon, the same name as the anime, and consists of players who want to explore the world, support others, and spend their time trapped in Elder Tale as positively as possible.
10) Sword Art Online
The year 2022, with the leaps and bounds virtual reality has made, has introduced one of the most popular games of all time, Sword Art Online. Using NerveGear, players of SAO and games like it, are able to dive into games and control their character using their own thoughts. The anime's protagonist, Kirito, was one of the first people to receive the game and quickly logged into the magical world of Aincrad. In a surprising turn of events, the log-off option has been removed from everybody's action menu.
Kirito must make friends and make up with the other players to successfully go through Aincrad and complete floor 100. Although completing the game is the main goal, there are various foes that Kirito must fight. To make matters worse, when a player dies in-game, they die in real life. This amps the stakes for everyone logged in and forces each player in the anime to be cautious of their every action.
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