The idea makes more sense the more you think about it.
Summary:
Some fans argue that Re:Zero would make a great visual novel, and they have a point.
Replaying the same thing after a bad end would make sense narratively, as that is basically Subaru’s ability.
You can incorporate the “What If?” stories into the VN.
A Re:Zero VN can’t realistically cover all the slight changes in Subaru’s behavior.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is one of the most popular isekai anime, and for good reason. Praised for its realistic character portrayal — yes, Subaru might not be likable at first, but that’s the point — and a cool time manipulation setup, it’s quite obvious why the series is so beloved.
Some fans, however, feel like the anime (and the light novels) would work better in a different form. Specifically, they argue that Re:Zero would be a great visual novel. And yes, this might sound crazy, but they make really good points.
How do visual novels work?
Visual novels are basically text-based games, combining text narrative and static drawn (or sometimes animated) slides with branching choices. There is more to the medium than just that, but this alone paints a pretty good picture of them — and Re:Zero could work the same way.
Perhaps one of the most popular visual novels out there is Fate/stay night. It’s known for its extremely long story, separated into three major routes. However, within every route, and even before you actually get to them, you have many smaller choices.
With the battle royale setup of the Fate series, this means that sometimes, the choice is going to be bad, and the protagonist is going to die. Fate/stay night has a lot of bad endings of different varieties, and Re:Zero could work in the same way — after all, in the anime, Subaru does experience the same thing over and over.
How would a Re:Zero VN work?
In a theoretical Re:Zero visual novel, the “bad endings” would be narratively meaningful — they would always result in death and Subaru returning to the most recent “checkpoint.” To make things even more true to the actual series, you can even remove the “save” option, as Subaru himself doesn’t really know when his power resets.
This would also be a good way to incorporate the “What if?” scenarios into the series, such as the ones where Subaru chose to run away with Rem instead of helping Emilia, or the one where he joined the Witch Cult.
Funnily enough, there are several Re:Zero visual novels already — but they cover non-canon side stories and not the main plotline. While they are a nice bonus to the fans, they don’t really feel as grand as the anime.
A potential problem
The one issue with a potential visual novel of Re:Zero would be how limited it would actually be. See, most visual novels require you to go over the exact same things if you make the same choices.
In the LN and anime, even Subaru’s thoughts and dialogue change considerably every time he goes back in time, something that would be incredibly hard to cover in a visual novel.
The idea makes more sense the more you think about it.
Summary:
Some fans argue that Re:Zero would make a great visual novel, and they have a point.
Replaying the same thing after a bad end would make sense narratively, as that is basically Subaru’s ability.
You can incorporate the “What If?” stories into the VN.
A Re:Zero VN can’t realistically cover all the slight changes in Subaru’s behavior.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is one of the most popular isekai anime, and for good reason. Praised for its realistic character portrayal — yes, Subaru might not be likable at first, but that’s the point — and a cool time manipulation setup, it’s quite obvious why the series is so beloved.
Some fans, however, feel like the anime (and the light novels) would work better in a different form. Specifically, they argue that Re:Zero would be a great visual novel. And yes, this might sound crazy, but they make really good points.
How do visual novels work?
Visual novels are basically text-based games, combining text narrative and static drawn (or sometimes animated) slides with branching choices. There is more to the medium than just that, but this alone paints a pretty good picture of them — and Re:Zero could work the same way.
Perhaps one of the most popular visual novels out there is Fate/stay night. It’s known for its extremely long story, separated into three major routes. However, within every route, and even before you actually get to them, you have many smaller choices.
With the battle royale setup of the Fate series, this means that sometimes, the choice is going to be bad, and the protagonist is going to die. Fate/stay night has a lot of bad endings of different varieties, and Re:Zero could work in the same way — after all, in the anime, Subaru does experience the same thing over and over.
How would a Re:Zero VN work?
In a theoretical Re:Zero visual novel, the “bad endings” would be narratively meaningful — they would always result in death and Subaru returning to the most recent “checkpoint.” To make things even more true to the actual series, you can even remove the “save” option, as Subaru himself doesn’t really know when his power resets.
This would also be a good way to incorporate the “What if?” scenarios into the series, such as the ones where Subaru chose to run away with Rem instead of helping Emilia, or the one where he joined the Witch Cult.
Funnily enough, there are several Re:Zero visual novels already — but they cover non-canon side stories and not the main plotline. While they are a nice bonus to the fans, they don’t really feel as grand as the anime.
A potential problem
The one issue with a potential visual novel of Re:Zero would be how limited it would actually be. See, most visual novels require you to go over the exact same things if you make the same choices.
In the LN and anime, even Subaru’s thoughts and dialogue change considerably every time he goes back in time, something that would be incredibly hard to cover in a visual novel.
