Time and Again - How to Write and Understand Time Loops
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- The long awaited Sequel to my I Have A Plan video, we now take a look at Time Loops. You love Time Loops & I love Time Loops. I rewatched Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day and started thinking about the way we structure Time loops, and whether the structure impacts the function...unsurprisingly (given that form and function are almost always in sync) it did! This video looks at those structural differences, how those impact the types of loops not only in terms of plot but also in characters, and make some great categories.
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Music: Experiment - Steins;Gate OST
Anarai's Disciples - Alderamin on the Sky OST
Deeply & Quietly - Log Horizon OST
World Lines - Steins;Gate OST
Another Heaven(orch.) - Steins;Gate OST
Enveloped in Kindness - Octopath Traveler OST
August 13th - Steins;Gate OST
The State of my Life - Psycho-Pass OST
Thumbnail & Logo: Drawplex
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I feel like a channel called Relplay Value has been long over due in talking about time loops.
The first line makes it clear
XD
Anime: Summertime render
yall go watch it its dope
I was writing about a time loop story arc and spit out my drink when I saw this. The TIMING.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of the best anime movies I've ever seen and I'm so glad you're covering it!
It was fantastic... Up until the finale. They sacrificed character and basic logic for fan service, and after sitting through the entirety of the infinite holiday arc, I can't forgive them for botching the payoff.
Tahu Nuva could you explain further
@@toaster6420 Have you seen the movie? Because spoilers inbound: Kyoun is given the choice of staying in the alternate world, where everything is fixed and reality isn't being threatened by Haruhi every few days, or reverting things back to how they were. He chooses the latter, his reasoning being that he liked fun. Which... Is massively selfish when you consider that by doing so, he's putting the entirety of existence at risk, *and* taking away Nagito's sapience. It would be cool if the movie acknowledged this fukkin awful decision, but it doesn't: it treats it like its the best idea in the world, going so far to have Kyoun say that he's *protecting* reality by reverting things to their original state.
And that's because it's not Kyoun talking, it's the writers and the fans who don't give a single toss about a decent story - they're just there for the goddess waifu and the dancing. That's why it's fanservice.
Tahu Nuva i get where you coming from but i dont get how you think this. Im to lazy to write a counterargument of what you said so ill just respect it. Fortunately i loved the movie all the way through.
@@toaster6420 Well, it's... It's not that I think it, it's how the movie plays out :P The only interpretation is in the motive behind *why* it plays out like that.
So...... 1 hour analysis/review of steins;gate when?
Dagon I’d watch it.
as would I. Fantastic stuff. Maybe hit Robotics;Notes too?
Man do I have some great news for all of you.
@@ReplayValue YES PLEASE!!!
Steins gate is trash, change my mind
Now I think a video on time skips would amazing
NO wha- KING CRIMSON-done !!!!
Like you, I always thought endless 8 was very interesting from a narrative standpoint. You covered most of what was interesting for it in your video but I found Endless 8 was there to make us empathize with Yuki and ultimately enhance Disappearance. We had the same ability as Yuki as a viewer, we kept suffering over and over again from the same events that droned on which felt like an eternity but Yuki had it worse with over 600 years. There were always quick and sudden mentions from Kyon in the novels and anime that Yuki was changing and acting differently from Kyon's first introduction of her. Kyoani was perhaps the best studio to adapt Haruhi in this regard, they always great at subtlety and working it in their production from their gesture and, in this case, from a narrative standpoint. I believe, the 600 years in Endless 8 was the biggest factor what finally broke Yuki to cause the events in Disappearance. The time between first day of school and christmas and Disappearance is about 3/4 of a year, not much time really but 600 year can probably drag on to a being with longevity, especially when its the same 2 weeks doing the same things. Thinking about it, Yuki was suffering magnitudes more than the conclusion of Disappearance let on at an initial glance. Yuki was the biggest villain the SOS Brigade has ever faced but was a member of the Brigade who befell in inconceivable circumstance of the time loop and, to stress my point, went crazy and delete the world as we know it. You should hate villains but nobody, the characters and viewers, cant come to hate Yuki, if anything everyone comes to the conclusion her actions were justified no matter what problems in caused people. To better understand Disappearance and the fall of Yuki Nagato, you must recognize the Endless 8 created, by far the biggest factor leading to Yuki's fall from grace, the stress of going through the same events for 600 years. You, the viewer, got annoyed watching endless but it was a nice narrative flare to help us even begin to empathize with Yuki.
You say she became the villain; wasn't she the hero? The original world was constantly under threat of destruction from a bored teenager. Yuki removed that threat - at what cost? Some dude had a cold. That's it. The movie tries really hard to make it out that the newer world is a horrible place, but looked with an objective eye, it's a thousand times better than the lovecraftian-level nightmare of the previous world.
Honestly i thought the disc was broken and just repeating the episode again, it confused me, so I skipped it then found that the chapter IDs showed different values and it was the same episode again, took a little while to realise what was happening 😂
That's why by the end of the movie it's really hurt, as we the audience and kyon realize that deep down yuki too wanted that normal shcool life without haruhi constant mood swing horror but we were forced to watch her kill herself(reset) and we can do nothing about it.
Fully agree, starter
Anime: Summertime render
yall go watch it its dope
It's an interesting breakdown. I would also suggest a subtype of time loop stories with permanence that aren't mentioned here: The post-time loop story. In which a character who either lives through a time loop or lived through one before in life is now struggling with the grief from all the loss they've endured, or with the trauma of their own actions.
I really like the narrative flourish of tying the end back to the beginning, both with the phrasing and the visuals. Great vid!
A rare example of a non-persistent memory and no causal control that ISN'T the final loop is CLANNAD, where all except the last episode of the second season involve the penultimate time loop, which presents the series as a Jumper's Dilemma for the character outside the main universe, which represents the player of the game solving all of the game routes to unlock the true end "final loop".
There is amazing webnovel called "Mother of Learning", with a time loop in a fantasy setting. It has very good worldbuilding and plot, and focuses heavilly on main character's growth. I recommend it to anyone who likes time travel stories and rational fiction.
Or high fantasy. Plenty of fantasy concepts are introduced and developed in interesting directions over the course of the story. And the time loop doesn't get remotely stale, partly because of things that change permanently (whether because of new skills Zorian learns or...other stuff), but because the time loop has so many wrinkles that Zorian discovers, many of which drastically change his goals, available tools, or both.
Nerdier stuff: Themes! Zorian starts out withdrawn and antisocial, but needs to reach out to basically everyone to actually make it through the loop, from selfish old hags and ominous psychics to his own siblings. (Well, two of them, Fortov ends up being about as useful as Benisek.) That's a damn solid central theme.
Morning MORNING MORNING
Thank you for pointing how goddamn important endless eight is for the disappearance. While I'm often quoted as saying the effect could have been perfectly achieved in 4 episodes without causing half as much backlash, watching the full 8 makes the disappearance a much, much more valuable experience, even if watching it without watching melancholy at all is still witnessing a masterpiece.
The endless eight is a masterpiece in character development and time loops yet it only worked while it aired.
Imagine 8 episode. 8 weeks. Waiting for the next episode where all 8 are the exact same (despite cosmetic differences here and there). It is a bona fide time loop delivered in real life over a 3 month period broken into weekly time resets. And it is the only anime to bring a time loop to the real world. I remember people were pissed off, upset, and cursed the series during the airing time yet they still went to watch each episode every week just in case something different happened in each episode.
Now with the power to skip episodes after its release nobody in their right mind would casually sit down an watch all 8 (nearly 3 hours) of the exact same thing over and over. So they skip it. Even if they watch them all they watch them back to back or within a couple days. To truly understand you have to watch 1 episode every week, but I doubt anyone has done that since the release.
The Red Bard video on it it's a great chronicle of that event
I think people would have been more forgiving of endless 8 if it hadn't taken up a large chunk of that season after waiting a few years for a second season.
Is anyone else disappointed at the lack of Stargate-SG1 "Window of Opportunity"?
Best time loop episode ever!
Shows mentioned:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
Steins;Gate
Groundhog Day (live action movie)
Primer (live action movie)
Mushishi
The Tatami Galaxy
Erased
The Promised Neverland
Revue Starlight
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Edge of Tomorrow (live action movie)
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode: Cause And Effect
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Few of these I didn't know
Some of these I didn't know had Time Loops!
O_o
I don’t really know if The Girl Who Leaped Through Time counts but I loved that one 🤗❣️
it counts and it's akin to a fairy tale
Oh good thanks 😁👍
I never thought i would appreciate the endless loop in haruhi suzumiya until a certain genius explained its value
I'm so glad you included Starlight! It's one of my favorite animes and it deserves more recognition!
Dude I'd pay money to see you do an hour long steins gate video
well . . . he do have patreon.
3 category Infinity Conundrum, one good example is a RPG Maker game named Cat in the Box
The fact that the game is a time loop is actually a huge spoiler... so... sorry if you wanted to play blind...
The main character is trapped in a time loop, but in a sense that from time to time a new copy of them will appear, meaning that multiple copies of the loop happen at the same time
The copies have no idea about the loop and they can't control it
The multiple bodies and piles of bones you find are actually all the main character, but this is basically the whole mystery that is only really revealed in the end, which makes replaying the game really fun
i wish more stories used time loops as effectively as anime like steins gate did.
Time loops stories can be incredible when done right! This was a constructive essay, I learned from it.
The original Steins;Gate completely changed how I view narrative structure in any video media, whether anime or live shows/movies. It’s truly a masterpiece in both its anime adaptation and novel (Visual novel).
Rant inc:
Unfortunately I have not enjoyed time travel stories as much since I discovered Steins;Gate. The execution in its effects on the characters was amazing to watch and the time travel mechanics itself even more so. There’s simply nothing (that I found so far) that can even compare. A lot of stories simply has little to no explanation of its time travels, like Boku dake ga Inai Machi or Madoka Magica where the latter is simply ‘magic’. Or even worse with Orange where the explanation is so unimpressive that it should’ve been left out.
I’m not sure what my point is but I wish I could get as entranced by a story like Steins;Gate did when I first watched and read. I end up comparing shows to it all the time. Disappointed that S;G0 did not scratch that itch.
I'm with you on your rant. Ever since I watched Steins;Gate it has become harder to appreciate other time travel based stories because of how well the characters, writing, and most of all the time travel mechanic itself were executed. It's because it applies scientific theory to time travel in the story that it feels more real. It's because of that scientific theory that its mechanics can be explained but make sense. Other shows that still go with a sci-fi approach end up relying on made up science specifically for the show in order to create plot convenience. I will say that while Re:Zero doesn't have any scientific approach it does manage to make the time loop mechanic interesting because of how it's utilized to break down Subaru just as it has with Okabe in S;G.
Acoha definitely check out When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). Not technically a time travel story like Steins;Gate, but if you liked the time travel elements you'll love the setup of Higurashi.
orangeandblack5 I’ve thought about it actually. I’m conflicted though; should I read the VN or watch the anime? Maybe the answer is both haha
Acoha I cannot speak to the VN, but I can say definitively that the anime is cheaper and is definitely amazing (my personal favorite TV show of any kind). Definitely would recommend.
So pleased to see Starlight in there, I was screaming at my screen at the end of ep 7 hahah
Amazing as always, I feel like I learn a lot from you, thank you so very much. Your channel is a gold mine for not only finding animes to watch, but also a good way to reflect on what really happens on screen
Pleeeeeease do an episode on Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or Umineko no Naku Koro ni (but mostly higurashi). You've done episodes on both time loops and horror now. I'd love to see your opinions and analysis on two of my favorite anime.
Same
I can't recommend Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency enough, it's basically Stein's Gate + Sherlock + Baccano on crack. It's an amazing show!
haaaa that last bit ending just like the beginning is so satisfying
Higurashi was robbed :(
Now just do a whole video on Higurashi to compensate ;)
I will join the petition for Higurashi since it is an especially unique and interesting take on the idea of time loops
I will second this. I can see why it wasn't mentioned since it does not fit cleanly into any if the categories. It is a no to both, yet is a jumpers dilemma, with YOU as the subject.
Higurashi is the only anime I have ever dropped. Nearly finished it but personally it was really boring to me.
Great video and more steins gate praising is definitely always welcome ^^ no Madoka though ? Madoka is great
Most recommendations I agree on (extra points on just mentioning Steins;Gate), but can't help but to feel disappointed Doctor Who episode "Heaven Sent" isn't on the list. It's in my opinion the best use of a loop-but-doesn't-remember plot out there, hands down. If you haven't watched it, I can't recommend it enough, to you and any time loop fans out there.
With Higurashi back, I'm glad for this to be recommended to me!
No mention of Higurashi through the whole video? Yeah, others already mentioned it, but still!
(Echoing a hundred other comments) Would love to see a breakdown of Higurashi
I came here literally to find at least something about a "certain magical girl anime". You are the best who can do it. Please!
Me too, Homura deserves it
Endless eight legit makes the viewers feel the torture of being stuck in a loop
this was an absolutely genius video my goodness.
It’s not really a time loop but the different worlds that Touma goes through with Othinus in A Certain Magical Index NT volume 9 is a good “Learn Your Lesson” story
I'd honestly be very interested in hearing your opinions on Higurashi since it executes the idea of a time loop in a pretty unique way. It's my favorite anime and one of my favorite works of fiction, (just behind Umineko which is an entirely different monstrosity that makes Higurashi's complexity look paper thin). So... Yeah, just thought I'd ask that.
Same
Great video, and a very clever touch there at the end ;^)
here is replay value speaking about time loops, but forgets one of the best time loop stories of all: KILLER QUEEN DIASAN NO BAKUDO NO BITES ZA DUSTO.
Jojo memes aside, I've been really enjoying your videos recently and I am impressed by your analysis of one of my favorite tropes. Keep up the good work!
I love time loops so much! I’m interested to see steins;gate here, I haven’t watched it at this current time. But I’ve recently heard about it from Outer Wilds (a time loop game that you’ve likely heard of, if you haven’t I would recommend playing (and go in as blind as possible)) who added a steins;gate Easter egg as their likely final update.
Very great analysis!!! (And you baited me so well about :re zero! Ahah)
There is also higurashi.
It's a "final loop" category for most of the show, but isn't actually at the final loop.
I recommend the film Triangle it is the most incredible time loop film I’ve ever seen
I personally feel like I'm living in a time loop right now (and not a good one). While the feeling isn't as intense as it was when I didn't have a diagnosis, knowing I'm having partial seizures from my car accident years ago has been strange. It doesn't help that I'm obsessed with time loops and Quantum Mechanics, so I basically gave myself an existential crisis. I enjoyed your video and saw a few anime I put off watching because they came out around the time of my accident and I was mourning my dad while also learning to walk again. Now, I want to check them out. I'm a subbie now. :)
This is a really well done video!! Good job.
I'm surprised that the granddaddy of all time travel stories, The Time Machine, didn't even get a honorable mention.
My favorite time loop is the game Outer Wilds. An amazing game
I'm so glad that I skipped the Steisgate section of the video, watched the series and came back to watch the section now
The infamous endless eight.
Steins;Gate is a must watch for ANYBODY who enjoys good storytelling. Also, if you haven't heard about it, I think you'll like the TV Show 12 Monkeys (not the movie). I would go so far to say that it is a paragon of good storytelling (and time travel narratives). Awesome vids! Only discovered your channel recently.
HA, I see what you did there near the en....start of the video.
I really liked the categories you've made for each type of story and it has totally wet my appetite for more information. Maybe we can get a video on stories that are told asynchronous?
Looper is a good time travel movie
kinda sad re: zero's time loop structure wasn't talked about
Same, I really loved Re:Zero's approach to the concept. It shifts away from mastering skills or simply acquiring information and instead on how one grapples with loneliness, loss, and despair. Return by Death cannot be explained or mentioned to anyone, or else Subaru suffers intense pain or worse. As a result, he is completely alone in his grief over his friends' repeated deaths. He doesn't get used to dying, he still feels agonizing pain and fears for his life every time he loses it. Even on doomed timelines where it's all gone to shit, where the most logical course of action would be to get himself killed as soon as possible, he runs away in fear because he's only human. It all feeds back on character development.
It's a series of "lesson learned" loops, right?
Eeh-EEH eeeee...!
THAT MUSIC
Best loop ever: defifnitely suite life of zack and cody ship episode. Ez
Very interesting. Thank you man.
Great video as always man ❤️
Can you do a steins gate analysis?? Please!!!!
The entire series of Tatami Galaxy is a time loop !
The name gave me the visual idea for a card game
Rewinding Deckbuilder
Hereandnowhereandnow...
andnowherehereandnowhere...
as soon as I clicked the video, the sleeping Kyon gave me PTSD.
KYON-KUN DENWA
I've been stuck in an endless time loop that starts when I start this video and ends when it ends. I've seen this video thousands of times, and I still haven't learned my lesson.
Damn the fact that Bunny Girl Senpai aired in 2018 is actually kinda surprising. It's one of the only anime I've actually watched from the day it was aired during its season, but it really doesn't feel like it's been over a year since I first watched it.
Subscribed😊
steins gate, re:zero- yes persistent, yes causal
groundhog day- yes persistent, no causal (learn lesson)
star trek, haruki suzumiya- no persistent, no causal
starlight- no persistent main, yes causal control
i love this video
I know you did your best to give a spoiler-free review but at least I would really appreciate it if you list down the anime you'll be reviewing as it caught me surprise on the last anime that you reviewed
Surprised that Higurashi never got a mention. It doesn't seem to fit into any of these categories perfectly.
It's the last sort, a loop that is controlled by a secondary non-pov character.
But I'm also surprised it didn't get mentioned, it should have!
l feel as if Sakurada Reset is underated.
VERY
The better way to recomend S;G is to show Kristina comp.
back in the day, one used to be able to have annotations that would create a time-loop in the video. :(
Didn’t you spoil “Revue Starlight” Here? Is the show still enjoyable with what you’ve shared?
I can't suggest Life is strange and Oxenfree enough
i only have one thing to say:
15532
May I please know what you are referencing?
If you know you know if you don't you don't.
haruhi
Genuine question: isn't the phrase supposed to be "time and time again"?
I used the title of a time travel book I read when I was younger - though it's not a time loop story, it has stuck with me.
@@ReplayValue would read
So no Madoka Magica epsiode 10? *breaks soul gem*
Nevermind I'm sorry
I hate endless 8.
Lol you should read Mother of Learning, best time loop story ever.
I really need to rewatch Steins;Gate
I seriously thought you were gonna talk about Punch Line in the last section . . .
Kyon-kun, denwa
Wait, dèja vu... i sense i saw this. Did you time correct yourself? Or did i travel into the past? Welp only tomorrow we could know.
whats the song used in the ending outro
Same song that started the video, Experiment from Steins;Gate
@@ReplayValue It just seemed so different in the ED thanks for replying so quickly. great job wiith the hyouka series. I really liked it.
Imagine putting off your homework for 500 years. I have a 12 year old at home, I can kind of see it.
We need more women-focused, BIPOC, queer+ time loop stories
no lets NOT bring sjw politics into anime or any animated media.
The lack of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Bites the Dust Arc here is disappointing
To clarify, I'm not complaining, I'd just like it to be here
I finished Phantom Blood literally two days ago, and had everyone on my twitter account inform me that I had to keep going (didn't think it was great, Battle Tendency is apparently better?) so if I wind up making it to that point, I'll keep this in mind and make an addendum if needed.
@@ReplayValue Okay, thanks! Also, it gets a lot better in Part 2; Part 3 is alright and Part 4 and Part 5 so far are the best animated parts (in my opinion)
@@ReplayValue yeah, JoJo is an experience that gets better and better. Part 2 is great, but from part 3 and onward is where JoJo starts clearly becoming it's own unique and brilliant creation with the addition of Stands.
@7:14 If ye had the chance ta change yer fate.......
Was about to bring up a certain magical girl series in the comments when you brought up the 4th category.
I feel slightly called out.
Ah, time loop animes, great time. Also the best time loop franchise is Fate Stay Night. Why, because Archer is getting over his depression and embracing his ideals by Ayalia. Also, each time line is a what if he did made another choice, like turn left instead of right etc. But that's just a theory, a game theory, wrong part of RUclips.
I think Fate/SN wouldn't fall under Time Loop - in the case of Archer it's proper Time Travel and for the routes it's full on Parallel Universes. But I think Archer is a really interesting example of Time Travel (especially in UBW unsurprisingly) - and I might be taking a look at in it in the future.
You misunderstand Fate and Archer is a little off, Archer is not quite in a traditional time loop as you think it is. To paraphrase, EMIYA, at some point, gave up his humanity, freedom, individuality, etc, to some higher power to gain some power to save a few people in his life. After he died, because of the compensation to gain some power, he was placed out of timelines and such as a Counter Guardian to sort out and end events that would end humanity. He thought he would be good to do that and save people but the most optimal thing to do to end humanity ending cataclysms would be to kill everyone involved. He grew to hate that, hating to kill and kill while all he wanted to do was save people. After a long time, he thought of a way to get out of it and eventually, some how, he was selected to participate in the Holy Grail War and take advantage of a possible time paradox and hope to kill his past self and prevent his suffering. However, during the events in the VN, he noted killing himself most likely wouldnt prevent him from becoming a Counter Guardian, he would try anyway since their is, however small, a chance. The thing about Fate Stay Night, there are 3 story lines in its entirety. Yes, there seems to be a strait forward time look in UBW but there are two other routes of the Fate Route and the Heaven's Feel route to consider. We know TYPEMOON likes to play around with timelines and parallel universes, thanks to routes in VNs of Tsukihime, FSN, and the mess that is FGO but there is one character, you havent seen yet that puts the timeline parallel universe concept front a center stage. His name was dropped in the 2nd Heavens Feel movie, Zeltretch, and his one of the most powerful characters in the TYPEMOON universe and one of 5 to perform true magic in the nasuverse. Possible spoilers here but his magical abilities, to keep it simple, is related to multiple dimensions and access to them, where in the 3rd and currently not released 3rd Heaven's Feel movie will go into depth about that type of magic and you might actually see Zeltretch in the movie. Wow i went a little too indepth into this and skewed of track. Well hope you, RP, and others learn something from this.
BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN
KIRA KWEEEN!
higurashi was one of the best time loops :/
Sakurada (Sagrada) Reset anyone?
Nice Title!
It not a 'big deal' but I think you fundamentally miscategorized Re:Zero and Edge of Tomorrow according to how you defined your labels.
In universe there is something/someone stated to be controlling their loops outside of themself. (The mimics for Cage, and presumably Satella for Subaru)
Choice to loop is something you mentioned as defining category 1, and if we take Steins Gate: Okabe, if he really didn't want to continue, could chose a to let Mayuri go, or opt for a rather final exit for himself. They're not good or pretty choices, but he has choices and he doesn't have to loop.
You put Groundhog day in Category 2 specifically because Phil has no causal control of the loop and can't stop it even though he can reset it faster by dying. But the same is true for Cage and Subaru, because their death is the mechanism that resets the loop, they can reset but they can't escape-- to such a degree that unlike Okabe, they can't even take the ultimate way out (well Cage maybe could eventually, but Subaru is totally trapped.)
For this reason I think they should be in the same category as Bunny Senpai and Groundhog day, since they can affect the loop indirectly, but they can't choose to stop the loop. Opting to intentionally to reset the loop, while meaningful to their plot, does not grant them control over it.
Even if they "solve" the puzzle, they don't know for sure that it will stop the loops. (We the audience can assume such a thing because of genre savviness and a need for a story to be satisfying, but they the character can't know it to be true.)
Anyway, it's a pretty good way of categorizing time travel, I do like it-- Probably why I'm bothered tbh. XD
So I struggled with this point for the exact reason you stated - in universe someone else has mastery of the loop in Re:Zero and Edge of Tomorrow.
That's why it's specifically labeled Causal Control. If Subaru and Cage were able to prevent themselves from dying in a situation (like Subaru does in the alternate story where he chooses to run away with Rem instead of trying to save Emilia) they would not loop. It's not really about choice, they have a totally different amount of control than Okabe but they still have a type of control. It just so happens that we never see the timeline in which Cage is able to desert without getting shot in the head (because there's no movie if that happens). Cage eventually buys into the mission and chooses to keep looping even though he could totally run away at points, Subaru debates running away multiple times but keeps at it (and again, there's the alt storyline where he does indeed run away). Edge of Tomorrow makes it impossible for Cage to escape until he's already had his character development that will have him keep going, but they still have control.
Phil is completely trapped, sure he can "reset the loop faster" (that's likely him just not being conscious until the timer hits 6am as opposed to him literally speeding up the process) but there is literally no circumstance where he doesn't loop until the puzzle is solved - there is no clear out. Same with Sakuta, he's never going to be able to get out of the loop until he figures out how to get Tomoe to stop - which isn't clear either. They have no semblance of control over the loop in that they can't even trigger the key mechanism - they actually have no idea what they have to do to stop looping, Subaru and Cage know they have to stop dying.
It isn't a perfect system, but from a story structure perspective (which is what this categorization is fundamentally focused on) Re:Zero has a lot more in common with Steins;Gate than it does with Groundhog Day. In part that's because Causal Control Loops give their characters very clear "win conditions" and Learn Your Lesson does not - the goals are amorphous at best and uncertain.
You need someone to know the loop otherwise it just seems all normal to them and it wouldn't be different that watching a normal episode.
Like this comment if you wrote a story with a time loop, but can’t find a way out😢
Endless Eight was a smart adaptation in script, but it was bad in terms of a show. Imagine an anime produced to make people boring & feels the suffer.
Time is a flat circle, man.
I heard it was a Cube...
It’s cute how you keep suggesting people should watch Steins Gate…no, they should PLAY Steins Gate. You are promoting greatness but ignoring the masterpiece this story has proven itself to be.
To me this Time Lop reveal is what ruined Revue Starlight, it felt so out of nowhere and lame and irrelevant to what the show was mainly about.
It's aboslutly how NOT to do what Maodka did right, and so nothing annoys me more then you choosing to discus it over Madoka which may be discussed to death but not so much the specifics of it as a Time Travel story.
This is your 756th time reading this comment, you just don't realize it