I didn’t think I would be saying this again but here it is, if this was the end of the series then I would consider it a satisfying ending. Sure there would be loose ends left hanging but the level of conclusion to this particular dilemma would leave me content with the series. But this certainly isn’t the end and we have the battle against the witches cult coming up which admittedly were put out of my mind once the whale showed up. Wilhelm turns out to not be dead as the old man cuts himself out of the whale and has likely earned a place in any fan’s top list of badass anime characters. We even got a conclusion to his flashback where he trained to a level to take Theresia’s sword saint rank and confessed his love for her. I for one am surprised at having such an attachment to this small side story for Theresia only showed up last episode and yet this love story hits harder than many anime devoted to the very concept. In words, this was powerful and the image of Wilhelm declaring his love for his wife after taking revenge on the white whale just makes my heart well up with emotions I thought long whittled down from years of anime watching.
I have heard some argue that Wilhelms desire to take the sword from his wife’s hand was somewhat misogynistic but I feel that is greatly misinterpreting his intent. From what I understand it, Theresia never wanted to be a sword Saint but was forced into it because of her family. If anything Wilhelms efforts were to give his wife the opportunity to be what she really wants to be by taking her inherited mantle from her. Quite frankly this episode was a compilation of great moments fighting the whale. From Crushes speech, Subaru’s daring gamble and even him and Rem having a moment after it was all over. Looking over it I can only see it as just satisfying and perhaps this is the relief that after several loops of Subaru failing miserable we are finally at the first success. Thus this looks to be confirmed to be the last loop of the series.
Still to bring up two bothersome aspects I must point out that Subaru’s gamble was more on the ridiculous side. I appreciated the Gainax callout with Subaru doing the pose many would recognise from Gurren Laggan.(Or if you are really savvy, GunBuster) but I really do think that what he did was something an ordinary person couldn’t accomplish on their first try. I mean he jumped on a ice projectile and jumped off and landed perfectly on the whales horn, not affected by wind resistance in the slightest. I know this is really something you should just say anime logic and leave it at this but come on, this is pushing it. The other thing mainly has to do with something that was left out of this episode and was in the original source material. You see apparently in the last scene Rem was supposed to make it out that she was injured with the tree fell and thus it was made out that she was dying. Subaru then starts confessing that he loves her just as much as Emilia and whatnot before Rem reveals that she was pulling his leg. I actually am rather glad this was left out as it does make Subaru’s declaration of loving Emilia somewhat flimsy but also because this seems to suggest that Re:Zero is going for something that a lot of Another world/reincarnation web novels go for.
That being, Polygamy. In the examples I have read the other world aspect is used to justify polygamy which in turn is really just a convenient way of giving the ultimate wish fulfillment. After all, why choose one waifu when you can have all the waifus? The first time I encountered it in a story I was rather fascinated as I hadn’t really see a story deal with it and ultimately it’s better than have the protagonist remain indecisive even till the end for fear of angering the fanbase. However in other stories it really became a means to show off how godlike amazing the main character is and how he doesn’t need to have just one women, a allurement which just makes me want to retch. I say by now it would be folly to claim that I am not a fan of Rem but even so I am not fond of the idea of Subaru gathering a trophy set of wives. I prefer it that girls be more like Crush here, who admits that his actions pulled her strings a bit but ultimately sees him as a comrade. An important factor that this story needs to keep in mind is that Subaru should not obtain the perfect protagonist status that has caused many another world/Reincarnation story to fail. It would make the stories efforts to portray his weaknesses ring insincere and hollow.
I did wonder as to how Subaru was going to deal with the witches cult and my guess that the army would be fairly devastated by the whales attack seemed on point. However it looks like Subaru has gained a large amount of allies with this feat, the most important of which looks to be Wilhelms loyalty which considering his battle prowess is no small matter. Honestly I think that old man could take them all down before Betelgeuses brain has time to tremble.Though after a battle such as this I wonder if the Witches cult can provide a suitable climax to the series.
I agree totally on the Wilhelm thing, it was fairly obvious his wife did not willingly take the mantle of Swordsman (the classic flowers pacifism metaphor, the business like demeanor while saving people) So he was liberating her from it. There’s strong women fighting for their own motives all over this show, so any PC complaints are literally just grasping at straws and totally off base.
I’m afraid that it was me who started the misognystic interpretation, and I retract it. It was caused by a mistranslation in the English version (“With a face like yours you shouldn’t be holding a sword” should have been “Making such a (facial) expression, you shouldn’t be holding a sword”). Sorry for that.
The battle was ridiculous – and required a “Pierce Brosnan Bond-mode” to watch. This is my main gripe with this arc: It was consciously alternating between Subaru ragdoll torture porn and Subaru uber-hero awesomeness, with little effort to reconcile the difference in any credible way. I hope that this trend won’t continue, because in arcs 1+2, this story was a great credible mystery show. This arc was Geass S2 “try to maximize shock value” nonsense.
So let’s see how they clean up the Cultist threat, which Subaru amazingly completely forgets somehow.
-Polygamy huh? Isn’t it how harem shows work anyway?
-Man, I almost felt for the white whale. After all he’s just a being who tries his best to survive the world. Why kill him then? Why making a monster out of him?
-The second half of the episode was just too BRIGHT!!!!!!
Otherwise, I also love how they handle Wilhelm’s backstory.
I’ve actually got some polygamy in my distant family history past. So I’ve read quite a bit about it, purely from a historical interest perspective. From what I’ve seen about it, the harem anime usually has it all wrong – not that this will come as some sort of big shock to readers here.
Harem anime that actually tries for the “harem-ending” generally gathers the harem by virtue of the girls just being so in love with the MC, that they can’t help themselves, and it overcomes all their inhibitions and all their feelings of rivalry with each other. You’ll often see two girls in the harem fighting like cats and dogs, but in the end, they both love the MC too much, and they put up with each other.
This is a stupid fantasy that solely plays to teenage male egos.
“Hah, I’m so freaking awesome that these girls can’t help themselves. My magic MC-musk overcomes all objections!”
It’s the same sort of female dehumanization we get in porn material. All the girl’s personality, values, goals, etc. are overridden by her overwhelming sexual lust for the male object. Harem-ending anime typically pulls some similar violence to the female characters.
And to no thinking person’s surprise – it’s pure bunk.
The key to a polygamous household actually isn’t how much the women love the MC-male. He’s actually a side character in the house. The key is how much the women deeply care for each other.
Polygamy only ever really worked historically (and it obviously did not work in many cases) when the women liked each other and relied on each other, and couldn’t imagine not having each other as friends and support.
In fact, the women don’t even have to be hopelessly in love with the male MC (though there has to be attraction there too). The key is the female-to-female relationships, not the male-female relationships.
But that would mess with the typical juvenile male thinking of “it’s gotta be all about me.” So you never see much of it in harem-anime.