Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 4th Season Episode 13

Hmmm, not gonna lie, maybe I’m just not fully feeling this season, but I didn’t really get much out of this episode. Maybe because there are still so many things that have gone on unanswered for so long, but a lot of the emotional beats either felt repetitive to me or they did not land for me personally. It could be because I was expecting them to explore one aspect, only for them to go a completely different direction all together. But whatever, it all feels like build up at the moment so I hope it all pays off in the end.

I feel like they kind of ran through the Julius issue a bit too fast, like they wanted to speedrun their reconciliation. Though I do wish they hadn’t immediately had a falling out right after it seemed like the two were getting closer only for their friendship to stumble over itself. That whole situation I feel they could have paced it out better like letting their friendship sit for a while before the situation with Echidna came up. So I don’t feel satisfied with how things are going with them at the moment. Maybe there will be more once the real Subaru comes back but I guess at the very least they’ll at least be civil with each other again and not have this weird tension or feelings of betrayal between them. Still a sweet sentiment that Subaru views him as their most powerful ally and someone he can trust to win. I do look forward to how Julius handles his encounter with Reid next time.

The real meat of the episode comes in the form of Gluttony making their anticipated appearance. It was only a matter of time before they showed up considering their appearance in the opening. Though, without the opening, I’m sure the Gluttony appearance would have been a lot more surprising. But I won’t lie, I am still a bit bummed we didn’t actually go into Reid’s book to see his past. Not to mention, I’m wondering if it’s specifically Reid’s book that causes Subaru to go to this weird subspace or if there’s some sort of catch with reading different books. But if that’s the case, why didn’t it happen with the Witch of Pride or with Meili in the alternate timeline? And maybe the original Subaru actually found Reid’s book and was also thrown into the subspace where he met with Gluttony the first time. And while all that is going on, chaos erupts in the tower yet again. Hopefully we also find out why the heck this even happens and why Gluttony is even here to begin with. You could just feel the unbridled rage that was building within Ram as soon as she saw Gluttony. Considering this is the monster that stole a piece of her, it definitely makes sense.

The confrontation between Subaru and Gluttony was… weird. Maybe it’s because we didn’t really get a lot of information of what Gluttony was trying to do and there are still so many questions surrounding what their true aim is. Despite me scratching my head at their conversation, I do find the topic of how the real Subaru thinks pretty interesting. Laid out like that, it sounds… pretty bad. I don’t think it’s a lie that the real Subaru actually does have thoughts like that from time to time. However, I do also think that he’s able to work past those thoughts to form genuine bonds with the others. We all have intrusive thoughts like that, but I think if we are able to acknowledge them but don’t act on them, we are able to become stronger emotionally and mentally. In previous episodes, the new Subaru acted on his intrusive thoughts so many times because he was very weak in those aspects. And while it seemed like he was going to give into Gluttony’s goading, we get a surprising appearance from Rem.

Now, I’m sure the fandom exploded into happiness when Rem showed up… I was probably part of the 2% that didn’t. I understand the importance of Subaru’s bond with Rem… I just don’t really care much for it or her feelings for him. I feel like if her feelings were 100% platonic for him and the two were purely friends, maybe I would have cared a little more for it. Her feelings being romantic for Subaru kind of muddies her character for me, especially since it makes things a lot more complicated than it should be. Though I did appreciate how she was able to bring him out of his confusion in this moment and despite not remembering her, still felt a pang of longing to see her again. That part was good.

While I can understand Subaru’s conflict of disappearing once the original Subaru comes back, pacing-wise, it felt a little weird to me to see him start breaking down after finally gaining confidence and determination in his current situation. I think in general the pacing of the season feels… off. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s been feeling weird to me for a while. Like even in the first season with Subaru facing all of these terrible things one after another, it’s never felt this disjointed to me. So much is constantly happening where it feels like we hardly have any time to really breathe. Maybe it’s also because it feels like we aren’t making any progress in what was their initial plan and things just keep happening outside of that and just throws off the expected linear story which often just leaves me mildly tilted. It’s still interesting and I want to see how everything pays off, but the road to get there feels… a little disjointed. I’ll just have to wait and see how things progress from here.