Episode 10
Okay so it does seem like one of my questions was answered in this episode… kind of. Part of it at least. So the “glitching” out part is him turning into supposedly “Subaru Natsuki.” Though at this point it’s pretty clear that isn’t actually him but possibly him getting possessed by someone or something else. I didn’t catch it when I first watched it, but on a rewatch, I realized they used the term “full of flavor” and who do we know uses terms such as that to describe things? At that point, it’s clear to me that one of the Gluttony’s has somehow possessed Subaru and is most likely the reason why he lost his memories in the first place. But that also opens up so many questions as to “Why is Gluttony here?” “How did they get here?” “What do they want?” “Are all of the Gluttony’s here?” “How did they possess Subaru?” I’m sure these will all get answered eventually, but man, so many things are just left dangling in front of me and I’m like UGH. Though I guess that’s what makes this series really grab hold of my interest since now I WANT to continue watching and find out.
I feel like this episode did a good job in making me sympathize for Meili’s situation. Especially finding out that her “mother” was Lust of all people and the trauma and torture she put her through for who knows how long. I was already feeling sad watching her mabeast family get mauled by freaking Elsa, but then witnessing her get tortured by being forcefully turned into different creatures and then struggle to survive in that form for however long just made me REALLY sad. I didn’t think Meili would be that interesting of a character, but ReZero be out here proving me wrong. It’s honestly really interesting to see that she puts on a facade of acting like a “normal” person when she actually doesn’t fully comprehend emotions. Considering her role models were Elsa and Lust of all people, it makes sense why she feels a little “off” at times. Though it also puts into question how she even felt about Elsa. From the 2nd season, it seems like Elsa actually did care about her enough to be distracted by her when she thought she was in trouble. However, it’s hard to tell what Meili felt in return considering their rather terrible first meeting. Looking back at how she is portrayed, she definitely acts and speaks in similar ways to them (hence the licking her lips quirk). To which, she even starts haunting Subaru just like Elsa did to Garfiel after he killed her. I guess people from the Assassin’s organization have a tendency to haunt their killers lol.
But man, the whole scene of “Subaru” “flirting” with Meili was… unsettling to say the least. I feel like I don’t fully understand what he was trying to imply or was even referring to with her. Which made the choking scene all the more horrific. This season has had Subaru choking people to death way too much and it really needs to stop. Especially since as the episode title suggests, “Murder is becoming a habit” and it’s honestly scary to witness as that is his go to now. Despite Meili’s death not truly being “his fault” since someone else had taken hold of his body at the time, the detail of the camera slowly lowering until it focuses on the characters’ necks is really unnerving. It does such a good job conveying what Subaru is thinking in that moment without actually hearing him say or think it and it makes me so uncomfortable as someone who doesn’t like things touching my neck.
Despite Subaru sinking more and more into a compulsive killer, there were still some moments of reprieve he found in a couple of the characters. Ironically, the two he found most suspicious due to not seeing their dead bodies, Beatrice and Emilia. Though for all we know, in the previous time loop, Beatrice could have been killed but because she’s a spirit, she fades away without a trace. So that most likely could have been the case and why Subaru thought she was just “missing.” Sorry if that was obvious, I’m a little slow on the uptake lol. Anyways, both Emilia and Beatrice were able to demonstrate their ways of caring for Subaru, which seemed to allow Subaru to gain a new perspective on them. However, Subaru acts like a wounded animal and may take a little more time for him to fully trust them.
Despite him slowly turning around on some of the characters he didn’t believe he could trust, the stress of the situation with Meili has left him extremely paranoid. To which, how can you blame him when you see yourself murder someone you weren’t even mentally present for. Though it does make the situation all the more stressful since we know who killed Meili but also not since it’s clearly not Subaru himself. But I don’t know how you’d even begin to try and convince the others of the situation since Subaru is just as lost as they are. It just looks bad no matter what is said and done at this point. Especially when he went out of his way to hide the body. So even if has no idea who actually killed Meili, he is still guilty by association due to withholding information and hiding the evidence. And as soon as he asked Shaula to go find Meili’s body, I immediately knew she was going to either hide the body or get rid of it somehow. Judging from the way she was acting, she for sure saw what transpired and because he’s her “master,” of course she wasn’t going to question or have any issues with “helping him.”
I think the biggest surprise for me this episode was Ram catching Subaru going back to check on the body. In hindsight, it should have been obvious, but in the moment, I was not even thinking about her ability of clarvoiance to see through Patrasche’s eyes. Even going as far as to reveal she had seen everything by mimicking what Subaru motioned to Patrasche when he was sneaking off. When that happened I literally covered my mouth and was like: Oh my gosh I forgot she could do that.
Episode 11
You know an episode means business when the OP doesn’t play. Granted Rezero has a habit of skipping the OP A LOT lol. But you get what I mean. I knew Ram wasn’t going to let Subaru attack her so easily but I was surprised to find that she had set up a trap for him in advance with Emilia. To which, feeling absolutely cornered, Subaru reveals he lost his memory and Ram reacts accordingly and blows him into unconsciousness. However, after he wakes back up, more questions surface and all chaos is ensuing. Did the other Subaru come out and hurt anyone? Where did Ram and Emilia go? Why are the centaur monsters in the tower? Where is Shaula? Why did Reid come down from his post? Why does the miasma pour in? What is that scorpion? Why does Satella randomly come out? There are so many questions and pieces we’re missing that I am really eager to see why specific things happen or what even causes them to happen. Since for the past several episodes, we just see things happen but we don’t know why.
If the previous episode was Subaru slowly realizing that the people he is accompanying are actually good people, this is the episode where he finally lets down his walls around them and his suspicions. He finally saw them for who they were (maybe aside from Ram lol) and may finally start seeing them as allies rather than potential murderer suspects. He could have just let Julius die and then read his death book like the Phantom Meili suggests, but instead he warns him and abides by his wishes to help keep Echida and Anastasia’s body safe. Which indicates that Julius is fully expecting to die in this moment against Reid. Seeing first hand how self-sacrificing and understanding everyone in the group can be, I think Subaru finally understood he didn’t need to fear these people. But I really wish that he was able to have this conversation with them in a less stressful environment. When they all started talking about their memories and perception of him, I was like: WE SHOULD HAVE HAD THIS CONVERSATION SOONER. In previous loops, y’all couldn’t even spare a moment to really fill him in on these things? He may not have had to lose his mind at times if they’d just TALK to him.
The biggest breakthrough had to be with his conversation with Emilia. And here is my obligatory I LOVE EMILIA section. Emilia hasn’t quite been in the spotlight all that much this season so seeing her finally step up and remind me why I love her so much was just MMM. I had just recently went through another series where it highlighted another character being able to continue remembering for others when they couldn’t, so this episode definitely hit me pretty hard. While it seemed like it still hurt that Subaru didn’t remember, both Beatrice and Emilia still treasured those memories with him and would hold onto them forever. And while Subaru’s breakdown does feel like repetition since he’s already had similar breakdowns in the past seasons of how little he views himself, the circumstances still allow me to feel sympathy for him. It also just highlights just how far he has come where his past self can’t even recognize himself. All the things he went through, all the people he’s met in this new world has helped shape him to become a better more confident person.
I also love several callbacks they included in this scene with Emilia introducing herself to Subaru like she did back at the start of season 1 and also reflecting the person they love in their eyes that was introduced in season 2. I absolutely love how gentle Emilia was during this part. Not once did she raise her voice and was able to really convey to him just how much Subaru meant to her. And while it is really sweet that she finally admitted in a not fully direct manner that she loves him back, I couldn’t help but be like: When did this happen lol. I hope we get to see the build up to this confession in the “canon” route and more of what lead to this conclusion since this timeline is too far gone. And just like I said in a previous post, Emilia truly was the one to really ground Subaru during his first time in the new world. This scene essentially affirms that Emilia was literally Subaru’s anchor. If not for her, Subaru could have easily slipped down into the psychotic mess that he’s been for the past few episodes and I’m happy to see that she is still able to become that anchor despite different circumstances.
It feels like at that moment, the new Subaru had a “starting over” moment for himself. After floundering around for the first few episodes since he lost his memories, he was finally able to find his “reason” and “purpose” all thanks to Emilia and being able to see the good in the others. He wants to genuinely help them out of this situation. So hopefully now we can start getting answers to why chaos erupts and what causes those things to happen. And can we finally get confirmation as to who is pushing him down the stairs???? Either way, I feel like the ones who are high on Subaru’s suspicion list at the moment are Ram and Meili since he hasn’t had any good interactions with those two yet in his current state. It’s hard to say at this point whether or not he actually got his memories back or he is just saying the phrase he typically says when he resets. But considering his hair is still like that, I’m going to assume this is still “missing his memories” Subaru.
