Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is a 2016 television anime series based on Tappei Nagatsuki’s light novel series of the same name with illustrations by Shinichirou Otsuka. The anime was produced by studio White Fox, and the staff credits include director Masaharu Watanabe, writer Masahiro Yokotani and music composer Kenichiro Suehiro. The anime was first aired in Japan on April 2016 and published by Kadokawa & TV TOKYO.
Note: This post has been updated in May 2023 to reflect the current blog layout and some minor tweaks to the original write-up.
Brief Unboxing Redux Note:
I first acquired Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Part 1 in June 2018, which at the time was unboxed over on my Normanic Vault blog via Blogger. This post is a remaster of that unboxing with better photos, updated information and any added extras. Enjoy!
Background:
“A simple trip to the convenience store turns into a life-changing experience for Subaru Natsuki, as he finds himself inexplicably transported to another world out of the blue. While the structure of this strange land seems to mirror the trappings of the RPGs Subaru knows all too well, unfortunately for him he has been thrust into this dangerous world without any kind of magical powers or overwhelming skills at his disposal… or has he? Unfortunately for this unlikely hero, his sole ability is one that can only be activated by the most dire of circumstances: his death.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, June 2018.
Re:ZERO is an isekai series that I never would have had expected to receive this much attention over the years. Since it first aired in 2018, it became one of many people’s favourite shows and upon watching the anime I can see why – while the main character is debatable, the story and mystery is what makes the series interesting and the rest of the cast of characters are also pretty likeable. Studio White Fox did a great job with the anime and it’s going to get a second season in 2020, as well as a ‘Psycho-Pass: Extended Edition‘ style re-airing for Season 1.
Re:ZERO is also one of the few anime to have a different approach on its presentation. For starters, the first episode is double-length which shows us that the studio probably had a lot of faith in this property and wanted to provide us with a strong first impression. Then we have various episodes where you may not even get the traditional opening and closing sequences because it instead gives you more important dialogue. This is an interesting direction because it offers a way to cover the content without being forced to obey the usual structure and avoid cutting or trimming down specific scenes or moments for numerous reasons.
In terms of licensing, Re:ZERO was first picked up by Crunchyroll which at the time primarily focused on streaming. This had been known for a while as Anime Limited did manage to license a number of Crunchyroll titles during a convention as this show was still airing. Granted it had been a long while before it would eventually see the home video releases on the schedule. Funimation, on behalf of their collaboration with Crunchyroll, sub-licensed the series and released it on home video with an English dub. Anime Limited followed suit not long after, though the video quality on the Funimation discs were not particularly great so both distributors pushed back the release of Part 2 to sort out the discs first.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Anime Limited of course was going to release a collector’s edition for this series, especially as a lot of people had been asking for its home video release date since it was first licensed.
The package is presented as a rigid box with an digipack case to house the discs. Also included with the set is a 52-page Hardcover booklet. The booklet features character designs, background artwork and more from the series.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 2000 units for SRP £59.99. A standard Blu-ray followed suit later down the line.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and Digipack packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 52-page Booklet
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 25th June 2018
The collector’s edition release for Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 1 Part 1 contains episodes 1-12 across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by Funimation with the revised discs done by Madman. As I mentioned at the top of this post, the Blu-ray transfer was a controversial mess. All copies of the collector’s edition Part 1 release and even the United States release have the problem of the video quality being pretty terrible. Thankfully the folks at Anime Limited were able to offer a replacement program for owners of Part 1, however, this had meant that we had to send them our discs in return for the newer ones. Not a problem to be honest.
The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub. The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are restricted to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby True HD 2.0 Japanese Dolby True HD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Re:ZERO -Starting Break Time From Zero- Shorts #1-11
- Textless Opening Song “Redo”
- Textless Closing Song “STYX HELIX”
- Funimation Trailers
Unboxing Photos:
Last but not least, here are photos of the two parts together for the series.
Final Notes:
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom from Anime Limited. The collector’s edition Blu-ray is almost out of print, but a standard edition Blu-ray and DVD release are available to order through Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment