I don’t know what witch contract or magic lamp Tappei Nagatsuki got that managed to get White Fox to give his story so much effort but I hope it’s a sign that they are in this for the long run. Thirty whole minutes for a single episode, I even heard they bought up the time slot in order for the show to get more time. Even with that we still haven’t seen the opening or ending to the show so I honestly have to wonder who it is that is willing to go so far for it. Maybe I can pray that season three is much closer than we think and if so Tappei is going to have to get back to writing the rest of the story. Well after he’s done writing up that script for that new studio Wit show that is apparently airing next season. Not sure what to think about that as Tappei at least still has to prove himself outside of Re:Zero as one of his other works Sigrdrifa wasn’t all that impressive from the episodes I watched. But alas we are here for Re:Zero which remains really damn good.
What we have for this episode is a long intervention to get Garfiel to stop being a pain in the ass antagonist and start working with the good guys. My overall thoughts are a bit mixed as I do like the events of this episode and just the overall positive fun tone, the reasoning for Garfiels actions in previous episodes is a bit shaky. Hell I even question the logic of how Garfiel managed to give himself a perfect cross shaped scar by banging his head against a pillar and his overall feelings towards his mother seem a confused mess of love and hatred. I guess my main problem with his backstory is that a large part of his trauma was fueled by a complete misunderstanding that could have been easily resolved by either his sister or caretaker at any time. So it boils down to the question of why was he never told, the main reason this episode gives is that he was too young when it happened which is fair enough. But I would think that he could have been told at a later date, especially when he came to a damaging misunderstanding about the situation. Perhaps there is greater detail that I missed or that the anime skipped over, that wouldn’t be the first time that happened as it did regarding some things in arc 3, but at the moment it seems more like an excuse to set up this confrontation. The thing that makes this somewhat forgivable is the reveal that Garfiel is only thirteen years old which has a lot of his immaturity suddenly make sense.
So we come to Subaru and let me clarify one thing, the author on twitter did confirm that the light shattering in this episode when Subaru used Shamac was indeed Subaru’s gate. As of now Subaru can never use magic again and Shamac along with any other debuffs he could have learned is off the table. Seemingly in exchange for this he has somehow gained small control over Sloths witch authority and can now manifest one unseen hand. I have mentioned it before but a danger to this story is Subaru gaining too much power and turning this into wish fulfillment but at least in this case use of unseen hand takes a lot out of Subaru so he’s unlikely to become as proficient with it as Betelgeuse. I did really like that he went a bit chuunibyou when naming it which was rather suitable when at that particular moment his head was in the lap of the voice actress of Megumin. But the best lap pillow moment goes to Ram where she makes me laugh every time I see her mercilessly push Garfiel off her lap the minute he wakes up. Actually this episode is the most lighthearted and optimistic I have seen Re:Zero in quite a while and does put aside some of my doubts about this series being able to engage without suffering and losing some of it’s best characters. The dynamic of this bunch makes for some good entertainment and it’s a hope that it can be used to carry the show in it’s less dire moments.
I am a little disappointed that the reason that Subaru broke his promise to Emilia was to scribble encouragement over the tomb walls as it makes their last fight a bit dumber considering that he could have just told her to take a look inside the tomb to find out why he broke his promise. But well it could potentially have started the trail for her so maybe that’s understandable. Dumb but understandable. Ah as a side note, the thing that Garfiel was referring to that made Subaru so embarrassed was the scribbles on the tomb as he took the trail before Emilia and saw them. If I was to pick my favorite moment of the episode it would be the last few minutes between Echidna and Emilia because it could be that finally Emilia is ready to justify her status as main heroine. Echidna is certainly bitter over getting rejected and Subaru kissing someone at her front door but it certainly is interesting seeing the difference in demener compared to how she speaks to Subaru. Which may be a sign that Echidna has been making this trail extra harsh on Emilia out of spite for her apperence. Now this is the most likeable Emilia has been in over fourty episodes and could well be the start of her strengthening her own character and pulling her own wait for once. Before this Emilia has often been all talk and no action to the point that nobody had any real faith in her but if she can start getting some confidence maybe we can start seeing some character traits outside of her usual timid good girl act. After all we have already lost two best girls so we need someone to fill the void…at least until Rem gets back.
aidanak47, I feel that Tappei has planned for a significant portion of his life to write Re:zero, so it’s clear it’s his passion project and would be of higher quality than Warlords of Sigrdrifa, which Aniplex asked him to write a script for an anime that would involve spending a lot of time in the sky on short notice. If Tappei had year of planning for Sigrdrifa, the show probably would have ended up being better than it was.
My impression of the previous episode is that Emilia did not fall for Subaru. She was just emotionally vulnerable and felt abandoned and was in spirit demanding Subaru to give her a reason to trust him given that this was the second time Subaru broke a promise to her, a spirits arts user, for whom promises are very important, and the only way Subaru felt he could prove his “love” and get Emilia to trust him was by kissing her. Even with the pink glow the animators used for the kiss, I am not convinced that this was meant to be seen as some very romantic scene.
Yeah, the scene pleased people who are actively rooting for them to be together, but I sensed a huge power imbalance in that scene with Emilia wondering whether she’d even still be the same person after all her memories come back and with her frantically bawling and asking Subaru why he broke his promise and wouldn’t make her trust him. Subaru also mentioned things in loops that only happened to him, which confused a vulnerable Emilia even more. He also went on a rant about why she can’t be as cute as he wanted her to be, at which Emilia told him not to talk to her as if she was a doll. My takeaway from that scene is that Subaru gave Emilia the strength to move forward, not that it was some amazingly romantic scene, even after considering the use of that pink glow and that Emilia’s eyes reflected Subaru at the end. It was like what Rem did for Subaru in episode 18, only it wasn’t as raw and great given how Subaru refused to tell Emilia what he was doing instead of staying with her after she had asked him to. I know Rem and Subaru’s confessions were very different, but the purpose of their confessions were to give the recipients some strength to move forward instead of running away from things.
Here is my character analysis of Subaru:
At the beginning of Season 1 of Re:zero, Subaru thought of himself as the main character of an isekai story who would no doubt also be rewarded with the affections of a pretty girl. I now propose that to an extent, he still thinks of himself in that way, possibly as a coping mechanism for him to continue living on this world in spite of all the suffering he must experience even though his initial expectations of him being really strong were proven false. I will draw upon things he has said in 4 occasions across both seasons of Re:zero to support my analysis.
First, I will draw upon something he said in the first arc in episode 3. “For all the injuries I got, all the crying I did, all the pain I felt, and all the fighting with my life on the line… my only rewards were her name and a single smile. Jeez, talk about unequal compensation.” Subaru here already thinks he’s entitled to a lot more from Emilia because of what he went through, but it’s my belief that you should never expect something from others when you do something for them. He has made it clear he believes in common isekai tropes before in episode 1, and I believe what he said indicates that he thinks of himself as the main character of an isekai who will no doubt be rewarded with Emilia’s affection. Yes, Subaru took note of how kind Emilia was for being the only one who helped him when he was struggling alone with no benefit to yourself. He also became aware that Emilia helped the appa guy’s daughter on more than one loop even when he wasn’t present, which showed off her saintly behaviour, and this fueled his initial attraction to her, but as of episode 41, I still find that he feels entitled to Emilia’s affection, and I am not liking what I see about this behaviour.
After the second arc, in which Subaru succeeded in foiling a mabeast tamer’s attack, which resulted in him killing a single Ulgarm and even fighting a huge Ulgarm which he landed blows on, Subaru became way in over his head, thinking he was some big shot. When Emilia was met with derision by the Council of Wise men as well as other nobles and Priscilla, Subaru went and forcibly tried to make a case for her, culminating in him declaring himself to be Emilia’s knight partly because he felt that what Reinhard and Julius felt for Felt and Anastasia was no less than what he felt for Emilia. After Subaru felt belittled and humiliated by Julius, he lashed out, saying that knight’s are just born into the job and that it’s not a big deal to be a knight. After this outburst, Emilia and Subaru had a talk in the room Crusch had provided to him, and he told her what he really felt deep down from the ugliest depths of his mind after failing to justify his actions, which was that Emilia should have a greater debt to him than she could ever repay. Episode 3 already showed Subaru’s sense of entitlement around Emilia, and the end of episode 13 was the ugliest example of that.
Then fast forward to episode 25, Subaru says, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s written in stone that you’ll give me an answer, and it’ll be a positive one at that.” Now, this may seem like an innocent remark, but I’ll tell why when I saw Subaru say this that I reacted with anger and was fuming for a few hours after I finished watching the episode. When I consider how to interpret dialogue, I consider a holistic approach that draws upon everything that had happened so far, and given Re:zero’s penchant for including foreshadowing in even the most unlikely places, I interpreted that as Subaru feeling that as the main character of an isekai story that Emilia would no doubt return his feelings even possibly thinking that it was destined to happen. I know this interpretation of that line will be very unpopular as most people will see it as just Subaru being confident, but considering Subaru says something very possessive and entitled in episode 40 during the second season, I believe it lends credence to my interpretation. With episode 25’s scene, I feel Subaru has merely gotten better at hiding that he feels entitled to Emilia rather than him no longer feeling entitled to Emilia.
Now, here’s the final piece of text I draw on to support my analysis from episode 40. After a long exchange in which Emilia refuses to believe Subaru when he says that he loves her because he broke his promise to her, Subaru says, “All I think about is how to look good in front of you. I’m suffering for you here! At least try to look as cute as I hoped you would!” That last part demanding Emilia act as cute as he hoped she would shows that Subaru thought Emilia would take his confession much better than what actually occurred in reality. He had fully expected her to react in the way he had expected her to in his mind when he planned this all out and believed that she should act the way he wanted because Emilia would no doubt do what he the main character of an isekai story would want to since she’s the heroine. It was another moment in which he felt entitled and possessive about Emilia. Viewers were meant to take Emilia’s side on the matter considering she demanded that he not talk to her as if she were some doll.
After saying all of that, I do want to clarify that I don’t consider Subaru to be a bad person. He’s just a guy with his own issues just like everybody else who is struggling to make his way through the world. However, I do think that Tappei included moments in the dialogue when Subaru reveals himself to be possessive and entitled because this is the stage Subaru is at right now. I personally believe that in true love that there is no sense of entitlement and that as long as Subaru has this sense of entitlement, regardless of whether it may be a coping mechanism to continue living in this world, I will not acknowledge his feelings for Emilia as being true love and will root for him to fail if he enters a relationship with her. I do want to note that I believe Subaru will get past this stage of entitlement by the end of the story, so it’s not that I wish him eternal despair. I just believe that when Subaru isn’t wallowing in despair, he thinks of himself as the main character as a coping mechanism to keep him going since the suffering and pain take a toll on him mentally.
I appreciate this type of (constructive) comment. My brain – trembles!
While I agree that Subaru is possessive and entitled (and almost sick in the head to be doing all that chuuni crap), I always felt that he is not out of his place to have attitudes/demands (including S1E13) – all these idiots keep exploiting him in some way (whether intentionally or not) and he never gets anything back. In a span of single episode, Subaru takes more action than Emilia has in the entirety of the show so far – and he is the entitled one? Pls. All these damsels in distress, psycho-murderers, puppeteers, cold-blooded schemers and goody two-shoes knights that do nothing unless raging Subaru-kun needs a lecture. Right… Just my 2 c.
And that is what I like about ReZero (besides Betelgeus) – its a battle of Subaru’s righteousness and capacity to adapt to circumstances and the weight of the world on his soul. All this power fantasy witch harem crap, Otto-crap selling us heart-warming story, Garfield-crap and Roswaal crap and so on – is boring waste of time. I havent liked a single episode since S1 ended and I felt like the story trailed off into something utterly useless.
I dont think any ReZero season will ever manage to capture its good momentum of 2nd half of S1. That itself was a small miracle.
Probably not the kind of reply you were hoping for, sry. I think the series as a whole does not deserve the kind of analysis you did (but it was interesting so I felt the need to reply).
I’m glad you replied to my post at all as I feel that this type of comment is often met with derision from source readers of the light novel who’ve internalized what Subaru feels for Emilia themselves and feel it must be real love, taking such an analysis as a personal attack.
Yeah, I guess Subaru does deserve a break for all the crap that he does endure. I don’t deny that I myself would not be pleased if I were in Subaru’s position.
I know you’re not happy with things this season, but maybe things will start to change later in this season or in future arcs if you’re still around then. I hear from the source readers that Arc 5, which would be what Season 3 would depict, involves many players, so it could involve a lot of hustling and jostling by Subaru, which could be more to your liking.
I also appreciated the second half of Re:zero Season 1 very much. The emotions Subaru felt were so raw, and we really could see how he was affected by the circumstances placed upon him for deciding to back Emilia in the Royal Selections. I think there’s less of that this season because of how much story Arc 4 contained and because the author is trying to push Subaru to learn to rely on others as well as develop the Emilia camp. Subaru also doesn’t have the God complex that he had after the mansion arc, so it can be hard to keep things fresh with a different take.
I understand you feel Re:zero does not warrant the kind of analysis I did, but I feel with Re:zero running through considerably more content than most anime per episode shows that that in and of itself shows that there’s more to analyze in Re:zero than is the case with many other shows.
Np.
I’m not sure about real love – first, such thing may not even exist, and second, these characters are too young to throw around big words like love. So I feel it is silly to discuss such matter. Depending on the context, investment and disbelief, some of the dialogue may come off as cringe worthy – like in some of the recent Subaru-Emilia scenes. All in all, I do not think this series can tackle romance effectively, because the characters have warped idea of what love is. Subaru is generic BETA self-insert that puts (any woman that likes him) on a goddess lvl pedestal and Emilia does not even have personality. No, sob-story nor annoying soft-spoken voice do not equal personality. She is also classic woman-opportunist – takes a highest bidder man for granted and roll with that until better option comes up. Of course the series will not show a better option to avoid that part and the fact that Emilia ‘falls in love’ with Subaru after he becomes a superman is also convenient coincidence. Meh. Its sickening.
It does seem that we are gonna get back on track to where S1 left off, with the cultists from S2EP1 finally showing up. But its painful and rigged with flashbacks that I’m not interested in at all – it is bad padding that slows down the already ridiculously slow pacing. I never understood why modern series need to always put everything down our throats, as if it is not enough to see Emilia’s torment from her past – why give us the story first-hand? It does not even need to be explained. Let’s just move on, no?
Yeah S1EP13 really set a good flow, because everything connected nicely. What we have now is the exact opposite of that situation – everything seems out of place and unneeded.
I didnt mean to say that your analysis was moot or that ReZero is too stupid to even discuss – but ultimately the series is very narrow-minded and childish – as is most isekai shows. I do believe there are couple interesting issues to discuss, namely the matter with Subaru’s stubborness. But I suspect Subaru in S2 ‘grew’ as a person, in a bad kind of way – I’m afraid ReZero is one of those series where character’s development happens in discrete amounts, after major events, which is usually sign of bad writing. Even worse, S2 suffers from MC-does-everything-itis – not only are other characters reduced to static props, MC’s role also changes to a story conduit, that keeps explaining everything to character by character, resolving issues simply by existing (and serving as information channel between stupid characters that would normally not meet because reasons) , but worst, the characters themselves become text bubbles informing the viewer of everything and lose all of their personality – they only act mechanically as immediate circumstances demand. It’s an annoying model that makes me quickly disinterested.