Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-

Plot

Subaru Natsuki is a NEET who is suddenly summoned to a fantasy-like world. Just after arriving, he is killed while trying to help a young half-elf he befriends, Emilia, who is a candidate to become the next ruler of the Kingdom of Lugunica, only to revive some hours in the past. After dying a few times, Subaru realizes that he has the power to turn back time after his death. After successfully helping Emilia, Subaru starts living in one of the Mansions of Roswaal L. Mathers as a butler. Out of gratitude and affection for Emilia, Subaru makes use of his newfound ability to protect her and help on her ambition to be successfully appointed as the next queen, also providing assistance …

Production

In the late 2000s, the light novel series The Familiar of Zero (Zero no Tsukaima) spawned a number of fan fiction on the website Shōsetsuka ni Narō ("Let's Become Novelists"), also known as Narō. Tappei Nagatsuki initially began writing The Familiar of Zero fan fiction on Narō, before building on its isekai ("other world") concept to write his own original web novel series on Narō, called Re:Zero, which began serialization in 2012.

The series' editor at MF Bunko J, Masahito Ikemoto, first became aware of the web novel in April 2013, when it began to appear on his Twitter feed. He was immediately impressed by the series' use of Return by Death, and how it was a "depressing, y…

Manga

A manga adaptation by Daichi Matsue, titled Re:ZERO: -Starting Life in Another World- Chapter 1: A Day in the Capital (Ｒｅ：ゼロから始める異世界生活 第一章 王都の一日編, Ri: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Dai-Ichi-Shō: Ōto no Ichinichi-hen), began serialization in the August 2014 issue of Media Factory's seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive on June 27, 2014. The final volume was released on March 23, 2015. On December 2, 2015, Yen Press announced that they had licensed the series.

A second manga, titled Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 2: One Week at the Mansion (Re：ゼロから始める異世界生活 第二章 屋敷の一週間編, Ri: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Dai-Ni-Shō: Yashiki no Ishūkan-hen), with art b…

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced by Kadokawa in July 2015. The series is directed by Masaharu Watanabe and written by Masahiro Yokotani, with animation by the studio White Fox. Kyuta Sakai is serving as both character designer and as chief animation director. Music for the series is composed by Kenichiro Suehiro. Kentaro Minegishi is the series' director of photography, and Yoshito Takamine serves as art director. Jin Aketagawa handled sound direction for the anime, and sound effects were produced by Yuji Furuya. Other staff members include Hitomi Sudo (editing), Yu Karube (3D director), Saaya Kinjō (art configuration), Izumi Sakamoto (color design), and Noritak…

Light novels

Following the web novel's publication, Media Factory acquired the series for print publication. The first light novel volume, with illustrations by Shin'ichirō Ōtsuka, was published on January 24, 2014, under their MF Bunko J imprint. As of March 2026, 44 volumes have been published, as well as six side story volumes and thirteen short story collections. Nagatsuki and Otsuka began publishing a series of short side-stories focusing on characters from the series in Monthly Comic Alive, starting with the character Elsa in August 2016. It was followed with one focused on Petra Leyte on November 26, 2016, and one featuring Ram and Rem on January 27, 2017. The light novels are pu…

Video games

Cover art for the PlayStation 4 release of the first visual novel In August 2016, game developer 5pb. announced that they were developing a visual novel based on the series, titled Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World: Death or Kiss (Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 -DEATH OR KISS-, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu -Death or Kiss-). The game follows an original story that differs from the light novel and the anime, and allows the player to choose between routes featuring Emilia, Rem, Ram, Felt, Beatrice, Crusch, Priscilla, or Anastasia. A DLC allows players who pre-ordered the game to replace the character's costumes with swimsuits. The opening theme, "yell! magic starts with a kiss…

Other media

Kadokawa published a 272-page guide to the series' first three arcs, titled Re:zeropedia, alongside the 10th volume of the novels on October 24, 2016. An official dōjinshi art book was published at Comiket, with art by Ponkan 8 (Shirobako and My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected), Yuka Nakajima (Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!, Amagi Brilliant Park), and TakayaKi (Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou). A crossover with Natsume Akatsuki's light novel series KonoSuba, titled Re:Starting Life Blessing This World was published on December 21, 2016. The book featured interviews with each series' authors and illustrators, as well as the principal voice actors in…

Reception

According to Japanese light novel news website LN News, the series had 1 million copies in print by June 2016; over 2 million by September of the same year; and over 3.1 million by May 2017. It had over 11 million copies in circulation by January 2022. The overall series (light novel and manga adaptations volumes) had over 13 million copies in circulation by March 2023 (including digital versions). The light novel series was the tenth best-selling light novel series in Japan between November 2015 and May 2016, selling 263,357 copies. During that period, the first and second volumes were the 35th and 48th best-selling light novel volumes, selling 49,194 and 41,617 copies, respe…