That was beautiful.
Impression
I can’t believe Subaru actually defied despair this episode. It’s a really weird feeling – I genuinely cannot remember the last time we had an episode featuring nothing but victory and happiness for Subaru. A happy Subaru has been all but an oxymoron lately. In fact, I’m so used to all the suffering that my first reaction was not to feel glad for Subaru but instead to wonder whether something extremely terrible was about to happen to him to counter everything good that happened this evening. And then nothing happened – we didn’t even see Betelgeuse. Is this what success tastes like?
You know, I started feeling sorry for the Whale again when it started losing. And then we started getting flashbacks about Wilhelm and Theresia and my sympathy vanished. Good riddance. Killing cute girls is unforgivable. I think the implication was that Wilhelm was never able to say that he loved Theresia out loud whilst she was still alive, and could never bring himself to do so until he had killed the White Whale – we’ve only known this subplot for a couple of episodes, but I was willing him on with all my heart as he got his revenge. I actually can’t decide whether I liked Wilhelm’s final blow better than the adorable Rem scene that followed it – admittedly I got pretty teary-eyed during the former, whilst the Rem scene helped rub fine salt into the wounds that opened during his ‘I love Emilia’ line a few episodes back. They’re still fresh. Rem enjoying the feeling of his head against her boobs and wanting to sniff him are yet more reasons why the #1 and #2 in Subaru’s heart (i.e. his best girl list) should be swapped around – when did she get this lewd again?
Given that everything has gone eerily well, I’m praying for this to be the successful loop (or at least for there to be a save point now that the White Whale has been killed). Neither Wilhelm nor Ricardo ended up dead, and no important casualties even happened at all. I was worried it’d end up killing Crusch or something right before it died. And there weren’t even three of them to begin with – as I suspected, it divided into weaker clones, the truth of which you immediately notice once you realise that each one has the exact same injuries. It’s all really out of character for this series – if you’d told me to work with the plot points featuring: (i) the Hakugei splitting into three; and (ii) Subaru hatching up a plan to bait the main body into targeting him using Satella, I would have responded with the despair-inducing conclusion that the main body is in reality one of the ones on the ground, and that they’d go to all the trouble of felling Flugel’s Tree onto a clone which then vanishes. In the confusion, the real Hakugei then kills everyone. The end. Also, is it just me or is Subaru gradually getting better at withstanding whatever it is that Satella does to his heart whenever he talks about his powers? He was able to fully yell out about Rem’s death and about his trauma instead of losing his voice halfway, although to be fair only the White Whale there to listen.
The other explanation for all the happiness is that something will go very, very wrong during the Betelgeuse raid. Does Subaru have enough people? Will he manage to coordinate them properly without his (understandable) dislike of Julius getting in the way? It’s already quite lucky of him to have gotten help from both Crusch and Ana, given that there’s not much of a rational connection between them fighting the White Whale together and exterminating the KKK as a follow-up – he never mentioned it as part of their original deal, as far as I’m aware. I’m guessing he was just banking on somehow being able to obtain their assistance if their losses weren’t too great – he didn’t know about Theresia and thus the extent of Wilhelm’s gratitude beforehand, and was clearly surprised that Crusch’s opinion of him had improved enough to earn her goodwill. It’s like an unexpected windfall! But back to Betelgeuse – we have no idea just how strong he is other than that he’s able to wipe the floor with Rem, because dying to Puck doesn’t tell us anything about his power level. Wilhelm is probably Subaru’s best bet here, and that’s already assuming that the rest of these forces can hold off the numerous cult members, which I’m not so sure about. We’ll see.
Finally, I’d like to advertise the fact that the full versions of both Paradisus Paradoxum and Stay Alive are out as of the time of writing. I’m not really a fan of the former, but the entire Stay Alive single is absolutely gorgeous. The B-sides are ‘Wishing’, which played during From Zero as Rem became everyone’s best girl, and ‘The Boy’s Dream’, which was the Emilia lap pillow insert song. The latter really reminded me of Chiisana Boukensha from Konosuba, it definitely sounds more like Takahashi Rie’s Megumin voice than her Emilia one. Wishing makes me want to cry and is just incredibly based, as is Minori herself. Post-Symphogear she’s been in basically everything, and I couldn’t be happier (although you’d think her career would have been kickstarted by Chino). Choosing to send Rem back is the best decision Subaru has made all loop. She’s now out of danger and her smile, the most important smile of all, can be protected.
Is it awful that Rem isn’t my best girl? Not liking her as much as everyone else is really starting to make me feel alienated. I just…I mean… she’s a lovely girl! But I found her a lot more interesting before she fell for him! Seeing her be 100% dere all the time is tiring! And I’d rather learn more about Puck and Emilia…!
I’m just going to say I’m team Felt/Reinhard forever and stay away from this shipping wreck…wait, and team Wilhelm/Theresia! Team van Astrea!!
Yes. It’s awful.I think one of the reasons there are far fewer people in the Emilia camp is because she’s had hardly any screen time – it’s through no fault of her own. Aside from being a candidate for the throne, the only role she’s played in the story is that of an ideal that Subaru is going through so much suffering and pain to strive to protect. In contrast, we’ve seen so much of Rem and her role in accompanying and supporting Subaru through all the shit he’s been through this arc – everything she’s done for him and the faith she has in him means that it’s not even a contest when picking a best girl between her and Emilia, at least for me.
But yeah, I’m getting tired of the waifu wars too. By Felt/Reinhard, do you mean… as a ship, or for the throne? Both?
Also, those feels when you realise that Wilhelm’s first time saying ‘I love you’ to his wife was years after her death ;_;
I guess it doesn’t help that I’m looking at it as a parallel. Rem is to Subaru as Subaru is to Emilia – at least, that what I predict we’ll be seeing by the end of the series (the books moreso than anime ofc). Subaru’s outburst of not understanding why Rem loved him so much a few episodes back struck me as very similar to Emilia’s not understanding Subaru’s devotion to her. “The me inside your head must be amazing”. She can’t see the version of herself that Subaru is so enamored with, just like he couldn’t see the hero in Rem’s eyes. I’m looking forward to the moment when Subaru manages to convey his feelings to Emilia properly and convince her that she is amazing, that she is special, but not in the awful way she and the rest of the world seem to think.
But just like how I’m not viewing Rem as a love interest to Subaru, I’m not really viewing Subaru as a love interest to Emilia just yet. I’m happy just seeing them all supporting each other in their times of need. And I guess I’m not bothered by the her lack of screentime because, I’m just so looking forward to the potential developments that lay ahead? Although she’s not on-screen much, I still feel she’s very present, be it in Subaru’s thoughts or in the plot as a whole.
As for Felt/Reinhard…I guess both? I loved Felt’s intense declaration – DESTROY EVERYTHING! But in seriousness, she hates the current status quo, and with the proper guidance she could level the playing field for the rich and poor alike. I’m sure Reinhard wouldn’t provide bad guidance to say the least. But more than anything, it would just be so damn interesting! I also get a huge kick out of their interactions both in the main series and in the Re: Petit mini episodes (have you been watching?) – I’m sure she’s not the type to fall in love so generically, but I’m definitely curious to see where this partnership goes. Besides, she’s surely of marrying age in that world…royal blood…he’s a sword saint…I’m sure no one would object if they did hook up XD
Oh Wilhelm T.T
I was thinking during the entire episode, (1) “How, Subaru, are you not in love with this girl?” Rem has put her life on the line in almost every timeline for this jerk, how can he not realize that she, not Emilia (who has done almost nothing in comparison), is the one he should be with; and (2) I want a spin-off OVA or something of Wilhelm and Theresita’s romance – it looked almost as interesting as the main storyline.
If I remember right, either the WN or LN has a spin-off of Wilhelm x Theresia in full. I remember seeing a young Wilhelm on a Re:Zero novel cover somewhere. With how popular the anime is in Japan, it’s definitely possible (as is a second season).
Emilia camp is definiitely suffering because of the lack of screentime, while rem has the chance to develop her character and relationship.
I think many people have forgotten this but all those episodes until now happen within [2 months] only which isn’t much time and I would be a bit angrier if subaru would change his mind and choose rem (besides the fact that Rem has killed him once/nearly 2 times)
Can someone confirm this? Maybe the way the satella’s curse works depends on what he is saying and to whom
When he was saying he can return by death to no one in particular -> she whispers to him
When he was saying something about Rem and how he suffered because of her loss -> she crushed his heart
When he was about to tell everything to Emilia (1 of only 2 half elfs in existence) -> (near) death
Although it is probably wrong because the curse was working differently at the beginning of the anime
Have been reading around and wow.. prepare yourself for internet breakdown
I’d forgotten that Rem’s killed him, but I think she’s more than made up for that with all the devotion she’s shown. As for the two months thing, equally you could say that in those two months Emilia has had hardly anything to do with him, whereas Rem has been around him the entire time and supported him all the way. Ultimately we need more Emilia screen time, yeah. It’s been heavily skewed in favour of Rem lately, not least of all because the last time Emilia got some proper screen time she had a massive fight with Subaru.
Satella just does what she wants, as far as I know. She won’t kill him or someone else unless he explicitly tells someone about Return by Death, but equally she’s not going to kill whatever’s causing trouble for him at the time. She seems to want him to grow and improve through all the suffering and despair. If she’s really watching over him I think she can adapt as and when it’s necessary – so if he wrote down ‘I can Return by Death’ across two separate pieces of paper and handed it to someone to read, she would most likely kill him. Not sure whether the curse changes anything more than his resistance to mabeasts though.
I-internet breakdown? B-but I thought everyone’s smiles will be protected…
Don’t forget this rule: Everything solely exists to let subaru fall into despair all over again (upupupu)
Emilia was just unlucky that she ended up on a bad note before she was left out for a while. She sold rights of their territory just to cure subaru’s mana problem and is always asking him for something she can give him.
It will break down if we get another season and they want to keep it close to the original (which I think will happen considering they are releasing re:zero visual novel). If it’s ending on anime original than ok.
Y-YAMEROOOOOOOOOOOOOO
She has helped Subaru, but I’m not sure how serious Emilia was during that fight about ‘repaying’ her debt towards him and cutting ties once she’s done so. She seemed more worried than anything when he returned to the mansion all of a sudden.
After all he’s been through, I bet Subaru could breeze through life as a Danganronpa character. Also, by visual novel do you mean the game that’s being produced by 5pb? I don’t remember there being a confirmation of the format, although at the same time I don’t see any other way of doing it other than in VN format. Re:Zero is like the perfect example of a WN striking it big and rapidly expanding into a franchise.
She was worried by him returning because the contract states that he is getting healed but has to stay there. The other is that as a spirit user, trust and promises are everything since that’s how they work and you can see the amount of devotion she must bring up right from the beginning of the show.
Yes Visual novel [Re:zero Death or Kiss] which is going to be released end of march next year for PS4 and Vita (like always). Original story, Ruler Election spin-off into beauty contest, and trying to break the curse from subaru. Candidates for a relationship with Subaru include Emilia, Rem, Ram, Felt, Beatrice, Crusch, Priscilla and Anastasia.
There are already nice pictures rem and emilia in swimsuit + rem in bridal outfit beach version.
A spin-off into a beauty contest? It sounds like that’s more fit to be part of an omake or an episode of Re:Zero Break Time instead of a full-fledged PS4/Vita game. I can, however, see the appeal of being able to wife characters that the story wouldn’t otherwise expand on at all, like Beatrice, Crusch, Priscilla or Ana. For Rem devotees it’ll probably be the ultimate vindication.
Also made a review about this! This is really touching and worth watching episode! GRRR!! I cant wait for the next episode!
I want to see petelgeuse get smash and dead!