The unfortunate woman finally finds her worth.
"The reason why I'm not good... Is that even though I can't do anything well, I always keep trying anyway. Even when I decide to give up, I end up regretting it and keep trying again. After all, I can't do anything right. It's better if I just don't try at all."
— Miranda Lotto
Coverage: Chapters 019-026; Episodes 009-013
Short Summary
After discovering that Komui's assistant and sister, Lenalee, is an Exorcist, Allen is sent with her to a mission in a certain town in Germany, where a strange phenomenon suspected to be Innocence in which the town has been unable to be accessed from the exterior has been happening for a while. Meanwhile, a resident from the town, a dark, depressing woman named Miranda Lotto has been tormented by another weird event: she keeps experiencing the same day again and again, but no one in the town seems aware about that but herself. In the middle of this, the Earl decides to sent one of his strongest enforcers to the town, in an event that will shake Allen's world forever.Main Summary
The Rewinding Town Arc has the following tropes:
- Back-to-Back Badasses: After destroying the Akuma with the scream ability, Allen and Lenalee emerge out of Miranda's time barrier covering each other's backs to confront Road and the remaining two Akuma.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Lulu Bell appears very briefly in the manga at the end of chapter 18 when the Noah gather to receive the instructions of the Earl. This scene wasn't kept in the anime, though there she would have her own Early-Bird Cameo in the Order in Crisis arc.
- Foreshadowing: The reveal that Lenalee was forcefully separated from her brother when she was a child after she was found as compatible with the Innocence and then abused by its members until Komui reunited with her is the first showcase that the Order may not be as ideal or benevolent as it appears to be.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: The main plot of the arc is to find the reason behind the continous repeat of the 28th of October in Miranda's town, that affects the entire town but not the entire world (as the Order finds about the phenomenon thanks to the phone call of an innkeeper asking for wine all the days thanks to being trapped in the loop), with only Miranda, Allen, Lenalee and Road being aware that the day keeps happening again and again. Eventually, it is revealed that the loop was happening because Miranda activated an Innocence in her grandfather clock that reacted to her feelings of not wanting to see another day when she was fired from her 100th job.
- Groundhog Peggy Sue: Miranda turns out to be the cause behind the loop after she activated the Innocence stored in her grandfather clock in a drunk sorrow after being fired from her job number 100. After she decides to use her Innocence to help Allen against Road and her Akuma in a fit of determination, this promptly ends the loop.
- The Heavy: While Road is the main antagonist of the arc, her three Akuma are the ones who do the dirty work for her through the arc, usually confronting the Exorcists while she watches the fight.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Lenalee spends the entire last fight against Road's Akuma trio wearing the gothic dress the Noah put on her after being kidnapped and left unconscious by the Akuma, managing to remain a skilled fighter even with clothes not suited for battle.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Road's Akuma trio are a bit more fleshed out than the average Akuma in the series, with an unique ability to each one, a preferred method to kill people and a childish, at times comedic personality. The three of them are all destroyed by the end of the arc.
- Time Loop Fatigue: Miranda gets so stressed and driven mad by the loop (by the time she's introduced she's living the same day for the 30th time) that she almost contemplated suicide before meeting Allen and Lenalee.
