Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Episode 6: The Sound of Chains

The jig is up. 

Impression

How does he keep doing it? How does Subaru keep adapting so quickly to the start of each new loop? After the initial shock, it took him only a few seconds of transition before he started acting cheerful again. I suppose it’s precisely because he had to act cheerful at that point – it might have set a terrible foundation for the loop if he left a bad first impression on Ram and Rem, and clearly they’re the key characters for this arc. He was still shaking up until the scene in Betty’s library. It’s still pretty amazing how functional he is though, it feels like it’d be really easy to get caught up in thinking about the previous loop and what went wrong instead of looking forward and strategizing about how to approach this loop. Maybe he’s gotten used to it all.

It’s interesting that Subaru’s first conclusion was that someone external was targeting him – and that therefore the rest of the mansion inhabitants might be in danger too. That option didn’t even cross my mind, and not just because I think that all the major players of the arc have already been introduced. It speaks volumes about what he thinks of these people – not even for a second did he suspect it might have been an inside job, which made it all the more shocking for him when he discovered his killer was actually Rem. Even when he heard Roswaal’s chains, he went and jotted down in his notebook that Roswaal wore chains and that it was misleading. In comparison, my first (and only) reaction was to immediately start suspecting Roswaal a lot more. Given that Ram or Rem are unlikely to have acted on their own, the ultimate fault can probably be traced back to Roswaal anyway. It might even have been him in the first loop, given that we know nothing about how he died other than that it was in his sleep. In the end, Subaru might not have actually found out what he was really looking for from Betty. He only ever asked her who within the mansion was capable of using mana drain. It might very well have been the shaman curse he was hit by instead, and we don’t know whether any of them can use that.

By choosing to live as a house guest instead of working in the mansion, Subaru’s experiences changed a whole lot. What I think he quickly realized was that his choice at that stage, when Roswaal asked him how he wanted to be rewarded, would become a pivotal part of the loop. It essentially determines his relationship with the rest of the mansion inhabitants and alters the potential character dynamics between them, which in turn affects the sort of information he’ll be able to gather. Ram and Rem immediately kept their distance this time, for example – he’s stayed a guest instead of being a fellow employee, and by doing that he’s locked himself out of the Ram and Rem routes because they’re simply not on equal footing with him any more. With the extra time he has from not having to work, he can do things like visit Betty. I’m actually oddly calmed by each interaction he has with Betty. She probably treats him the worst, but it’s because she doesn’t mince her words that it feels like she has no underlying agenda or motive. I can enjoy her scenes safe in the knowledge that she’s probably the most unlikely non-Emilia person to want to kill him. Could he possibly live out the fourth night by camping in her library? Not that she’d be particularly happy about it.

Regardless of how he chooses to spend his time, an undeniable fact is that the more effort he puts towards escaping the loop, the less strong his relationships are with the people around him. He didn’t even seem as close with Emilia-tan as he was in previous loops for example – and similarly, back during the successful loop of the first arc he only technically ‘met’ her once at the pawn shop.

Another constant seems to be that, no matter how well he befriends different people in different loops, he still gets killed on the fourth night. Or rather, at some point during the fourth day. Rem went out of her way to kill him even though he left the mansion – her (or their) target is definitely him in particular. I have no idea whether she decided to eliminate him after discovering he was still hanging around the vicinity and looking down on the mansion from a suspicious vantage point, or whether that was the point when he moved from being a guest to being a threat. Did Roswaal place a tracking device of some sort in whatever he gifted Subaru when he left? Rem killed him in the previous loop too – and that was the loop with the super cute smile, by the way. Being able to kill him in cold blood after smiling like that… how brutal. He (and we) desperately need to know why he’s being targeted each time, as well as why on a particular day – if he doesn’t come to understand those two things (which may be connected) he’s got terribly slim chances of avoiding death.

I’m not too sure what all this has to do with the Red Oni Blue Oni story. I know it’s vital somehow, but I’m just not sure how. It’s a common folk tale which has been directly referenced in various other series (most recently Ore Monogatari I think). It’s also a spell card in Touhou PCB. The question is whether, and if so to what extent, the two onis are analogous to Ram and Rem. Are they actually not human? Did Ram break off her horns and enter human society? What is the self-sacrifice supposed to be in this situation – taking it upon themselves to kill Subaru? I know Subaru got closer to Rem in the first loop – did Ram thus choose to kill him to make it easier on Rem, and is that why the modus operandi for his death was different? It’s been chains twice now, and in both of those loops he got closer to Ram (who was surprisingly also willing to engage with him even as a guest). I hope they turn out to be good girls, I really do. They’re so cute. But right now we don’t know anything about them beyond their housekeeping abilities and maybe a hint into their back story (which is in no way Subaru’s fault, he’s known them for a few days and they’ve mostly kept at arm’s length from him). I want to believe, but I don’t really have the confidence to do so right now. I’m sure Subaru wants to believe too.