Ah that’s right, this show has an opening doesn’t it? It’s very easy to forget when it’s barely used though that is by no means a complaint. More content trumps replaying the opening any day. So for today’s episode many are calling it Re:Zero’s best episode yet, even though it seems that every new episode is Re:Zero’s best episode to date. I do agree that this was a pretty great episode but I am not sure if I would put it on the level of previous greats. It may require a rewatch or perhaps my knowledge of the web novel dulled the impact it would have had but I feel it didn’t hit the same highs as previous standouts. Indeed I would even say that there were a couple of points during the forest scene that I found a bit jarring. The quick cut between the forest and Subaru being teleported to his previous place of confinement being a rather confusing shift. Though that may be intentional or the result of Nagatsuki shortening the length of arc 4 for the light novel adaption.
I don’t have that much to say on Roswaals conversation as it’s only further cementing that Roswaal is untrustworthy and that he knows more about the situation than he lets on. We did at least get confirmation that Beatrix isn’t a witch cultist and some lore around the gospels. In Roswaals words there are two copies of a book of wisdom, one of which is in Beatrix’s possession. The gospels that the witch cultists have appear to be defective copies. Garfiel has revealed his beast form and it is a very large orange cat….look at this point it’s got to be an intentional reference. Just have it eat lasagna and hate mondays and boom…it’s Tony the Tiger. Well if there’s anything to take out of this scene it’s the dramatic irony of it. Otto sacrificing himself is a full redemption for his earlier action of sacrificing Subaru to save himself. But the thing that really gets me about this scene and makes it remarkably crueler is how all these people are sacrificing themselves to save Subaru against his will while unknowingly ensuing that Subaru will die in the worst way possible.
We have Subaru’s most gruesome death in the show to date and that’s death by…bunny rabbits. It truly does sound absurd when you say it out loud and perhaps it’s that absurdity that makes the death so messed up. Getting killed by a bunny rabbit is such a joke that many have been making the obligatory Monty Python references but here is the concept being played straight to a horrifying degree. A horde of rabbits slowly eating Subaru alive, even forcing their way inside him to eat him from the inside. Honestly the scene shown was horrific to a degree that I wonder how they could manage to show it though the description in the novel made the death sound much much worse.. Short story is that Subaru didn’t die until the rabbits managed to crack open his skull and begin eating the brain, which he was well devoured by that point. That’s what makes this death stand out so much, that the concept is so silly that people no doubt laughed when the first rabbit attacked. But when the death is taken to a extreme degree of torture it stops being funny. Like a pack of land piranha’s, I say I would take fighting zombies, vampires or wolves over them. At least that way the death might be faster and less painful.
I would be screaming and losing my mind after that myself so it’s safe to say that Echidona literally did save Subaru from going completely insane. I don’t think I need to go into detail how important it is for Subaru to be able to finally talk with someone about Return by Death and the emotional catharsis of finally having someone know what he’s been though who understands. Though I will take this point to talk about something I may have mentioned before but cannot recall. But it is the importance of contrast for dark storytelling. A common fault in anime with dark themes is to go all dark all the time which just makes darkness the norm so it loses all impact. Or you have series like Mahou Shoujo Site, which go so dark they become absurdist comedy. But Re:Zero in these subsequent episodes has shown that you need to keep a tightrope between hope and despair in order for a story like this to keep its impact. It’s no coincidence that we have been having Subaru’s emotional moments interlaced with moments of pure despair. Subaru must suffer but in order to keep suffering he must regain hope, thus leads him to suffer more. The seesaw between the two while retaining his sanity is one draw to the series while the emotional development is heightened by just how much Subaru goes to achieve it. Dark Souls is often compared jokingly to Re:Zero(Relax, I am not going to say that this is the Dark Souls of anime) though there is a degree of truth to it. In Dark Souls the defeat of a tough boss only opens the road to the next tough boss, often with the story turning for the worse. Personal advancement is often what keeps people going through the gauntlet, with the belief that the man that finishes the journey is wiser than the one who started it. This is and always has been Subaru’s journey to become a better person, no matter how much blood and tears need to be shed to reach his final conclusion.
There is a lot to be speculated about this episode. Even though this was the shortest episode of the season, I think it raised the most questions of any episode.
Even though Subaru was not wearing Frederica’s crystal, the crystal somehow teleported itself to Subaru when Patrasche threw him past the barrier, and then it teleported Subaru away and disappeared as it was no longer on Subaru when he woke up. The crystal wasn’t on his body after he finally woke up when it was winter, so it appears the crystal can selectively make its way to him in particular. What kind of magic is this?
Subaru seemed to be teleported not only spatially but also through time, which is why it became winter when he woke up. Perhaps Emilia passed all three trials and freed the Sanctuary’s residents by then, and everybody just up and left before Subaru’s body returned to the world. This poses a major question though: Where was Subaru’s body if he disappeared for months/years? Was it lost in spacetime during that entire time? Are we heading into sci-fi territory now too? Given that Frederica does not know of this teleporting function, it begs the question, “Just what kinds of things can this crystal do?”
Could Roswaal have tampered with the crystal since Frederica was not wearing the crystal when she greeted Emilia and Subaru in episode 2 of this season? Maybe that is why it teleported Subaru to someplace within the barrier but not quite at the testing site the first time. Is it a sense of distress or another emotion that causes it to activate the teleportation? Subaru thought the crystal was dangerous the first time, so he did feel some distress or an impending sense of doom about the crystal. The second time, he was about to be mauled by an enormous tiger, so he was feeling distress or an impending sense of doom. Given that the crystal’s normal function is to react to the barrier, glowing in the process, I don’t think there’s anything inherently suspicious about the crystal glowing when someone reaches the barrier, but teleporting should not be a normal function of the crystal if Frederica is to be believed.
I see three possibilities here. 1. The crystal was tampered with. 2. Someone is actively controlling the crystal, and it might be Echidna since the crystal reacts to the barrier of the Sanctuary, which I assume was made by her. 3. The crystal actually has a mind of its own, and I believe the first possibility to be more likely. But if Echidna is controlling the crystal, why would she want Subaru to get killed by rabbit mabeasts? That’s why I don’t think the second possibility is all that likely. An inanimate object having a mind of its own is improbable although I grant that it’s still possible given that Re:zero has yet to show us all this fantasy world has to offer.
Subaru really is kind of dumb. Up until this episode, he had seen three different types of mabeasts, the Ulgarm, the White Whale, and the mabeast that attacked the mansion that was in the Frozen Bonds OVA that I can’t remember the name of. All of them had one horn on their heads, so the lone horn on the top of the head should have clued Subaru in to that rabbit-like creature actually being a mabeast, but he stupidly touched it instead of running away.
Also, I saw a mark on the rabbit mabeasts and wonder if the mark means that they have an owner. The mark is located on the right side of the rabbit mabeasts close to the rear end. I remember the White Whale had a strange halo above it, and I don’t know whether the halo is the same as the mark on the rabbit mabeasts (I’ll have to go back and check out episodes 20 and 21, but maybe a mabeast having a distinct mark means someone owns it. I think Lye Batenkaitos, the Sin Archbishop of Greed, said that the White Whale was his pet in episode 1 of this season, and maybe the halo was a mark that indicates that it had an owner.
Roswaal is still highly suspicious. He wants Subaru to ask Beatrice, “Roswaal said you are to ask the question” and said Subaru needs to respond to her question with “I am that person.” How does Roswaal know that Beatrice will help Subaru if that is the case? Did Roswaal and Beatrice roleplay this out before or something? Or does Roswaal know this will work because this is what the not-quite-Tome of Wisdom said would happen, and he has the second copy of the book? Given that Elsa knew the exact day Subaru was returning to the mansion in the first loop, whoever Elsa hired has something that allows for you to get a glimpse of the future whether it be a defective Witch Cult Gospel or the not-quite-Tome of Wisdom. I think she’s more likely to be acting on the information gleaned from a Witch Cult Gospel since she expected Subaru to return to the mansion at the same time in the second loop even though he didn’t, meaning whoever hired her knows of the future but not in a precise way, which makes that person highly likely to have a Gospel.
I wonder if Subaru will have a new save point after this since he has been invited to yet another witch’s tea party. Subaru appeared to have literally gone insane this episode as he was smashing his head on the ground violently as opposed to that time he faked insanity as Petelgeuse told viewers in season 1, but it seems Echidna has somehow taken a liking to him and stopped him from killing himself. I wonder what is the qualification for being invited to a witch’s tea party given that Subaru met the qualification. Does getting getting teleported by the crystal give you the qualification? Subaru was invited to a witch’s tea party shortly after both times he got teleported by the crystal. Or is it something trivial like you can meet the witch if you’re in the right place, and she wants you to meet with you? That would make witch’s tea parties merely plot conveniences if that was the case, and hinging the qualification on being the whim of the witch would not be a good way to tell the story, so I hope that’s not what is happening.
I mistook Lye for being the Sin Archbishop of Greed when he’s actually the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony.
So I’m probably way off base, but I kind of assumed that Subaru was teleported and got time skipped forward – from there, Emilia was killed and Puck destroyed the world. That’s my best guess but I’m probably way off.
Man, Subaru finally being able to tell someone was intense. Echidna is a true hommie – she’s really living up to the name Sanctuary, especially for Subaru. As viewers, we’ve suffered alongside our tracksuit MC for one and a half seasons now – it just feels like finally someone joins to reduce the pain and wow, it’s such a relief. Subaru and the viewers needed that headpat – especially after those rabbits, yikes.
Also, it’s kind of explained with his dad, but man – Subaru got game. Downright lifesaving game.
I know its clear by the shoutbox posts Aidan, but I think your reviews are instilled with magical powers that got me to give the series another go.
Still a pity that it wasn’t really your thing but well what can you do.
After this episode I think it’s clear rezero is a horror first and foremost. I just wonder if I’m the last person to realize this because looking back at previous episodes it’s kinda obvious. Also, if it stays on this dark horror path (which Im starting to hope it does, since the anime is amazing) it makes me wonder how it will end, with a bad ending more likely.
The dark souls comparison is also kind of obvious (another thing in probably the last person to realize even though I’ve played that game). But not just because of the repeated deaths but because most of the people in the game eventually go mad from the repeated deaths.
Oh and it looks like Garfiel is another psycho Subaru has crossed paths with. What a surprise. I won’t lie, it would be very satisfying to see this turn into a revenge power fantasy but re zero is far superior to that type of show.
I think it doesn’t quite fit the usual aspects of a horror story as while they can be taken as a bit of a morality play, they more focus on demonizing human flaws and punishing hubris. Subaru does face horror when he fails but the majority of the series is more a fantasy.
There is a rumor going around of the author confirming that Re:Zero will not have a happy ending though there isn’t much evidence for it. At most it seems that the author suggested that the ending will not sunshine and roses.
So its a bit of a stretch to call re zero a horror but if you assume that it will end badly, which I’m starting to lean towards, it could be a horror masquerading as a fantasy. Just taking it at face value it would probably be more accurate to call it a dark fantasy. But I’m not trying to nitpick here. It’s just so hard to categorize re-zero and while I don’t know if its a sign of a good piece of fiction, it works really well for re-zero.
I didn’t know about that rumor but I can definitely see it playing out like that. Part of me thinks that the way the story has played out so far has kind of made a bad ending the most fitting conclusion. Either way it will be great to see how this plays out
Petelgeuse’s remark about the Witch Cult’s goal being to find out if Emilia’s body is a good vessel for the Witch is probably a hint to how Re:zero will end. Satella will possess Emilia’s body, and since Emilia’s body isn’t immortal, it will be killable and the Witch of Envy can finally be killed at last.
I still don’t think Subaru will end up with Emilia. I think he’ll end up in the human world after Emilia is killed, and Re:zero will have an open ending with a callback to how he first met Priscilla, in an alleyway. Only this time, it’ll be Priscilla with no powers.
I could see it play out like that but wouldn’t puck kill subaru and then subaru would have another go. Unless they all decide that is what it takes to kill the witch, which could fit since I think even Reinhardt would get stomped by the witch. Either way that would be super dark but fit. I just wonder how the fanbase would take it.