(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. We are right in the middle of the Isekai arc and are currently looking at Re:Zero.
(Seras): Last time, we saw our main character make a number of bad choices but learn from them and reach the happy end. However, his latest bad choice might have just caused him big time as his bond with Emilia has been severed and I doubt even killing himself will fix it. Can Subaru bounce back from this bad choice and reach the ultimate happy end, let’s find out.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): The opening for the second half of the anime is “Paradisus-Paradoxum” by MYTH & ROID. A lot of people have said they prefer the first opening over the second but in my opinion I think the second is better and a good follow up to the first. There’s a bit more urgency and despair in this song as bad things just keep happening and no matter what Subaru does nothing seems to be changing. If anything he does more harm than good but he knows he has to do something. I also think the vocals are a lot better here too. It’s the right amount of speed and timing.
(Seras): The ending this time around is “Stay Alive” by Rie Takahashi. This time the ending is sad and sung by our female lead Emilia who takes us into her life and what she’s feeling. She feels like she’s wondering in the darkness with no way out and can’t form a stable thought in all that’s happening around her. In a way the song can be related to Subaru. He’s wondering through the darkness where he can’t find a way out but keeps on moving forward despite everything that’s happened to him. It’s a close call but I think the first opening is better. I like you Rie but I love MYTH & ROID.
Episodes 14-17
(Seras): The second half of the anime starts off with Subaru at Crusch’s mansion getting Felix (the trap cat character. (Nitsuj): Betrayal) to fix his mana gate and being trained in swordsmanship by her butler Wilhelm who used to be quite the scary man back in the day and has taken an interest in Subaru because he can tell Subaru has faced death many times in the past (oh you’ve no idea). We see that Subaru is still upset about what happened between him and Emilia (Nitsuj: You bought it upon yourself you selfish bastard) but still stands up for her when people talk negative about her because of her race and appearance. Crusch and Felix offer him some advice and tells him to patch things up with Emilia by doing what he can do to help her. This brings Subaru back into his old habits where he thinks that all he needs is his ability to help her and nothing else (Nitsuj: Have you seriously learned nothing?). He also gets this idea in his head that he’s the only one who can protect Emilia (yeah, and we all know how well that turned out) and the only person she can trust. After hearing news of dangerous movements happening in Roswaal’s territory Subaru decides to leave (Nitsuj: No! That’s a terrible idea) even though his gate isn’t fully healed yet with Rem and on the way there they stop in a town where Rem puts Subaru to sleep and heads toward the mansion without him, pissing him off (it’s for your own good. (Nitsuj): Yeah, you’re already acting stupid making Crusch your enemy. Let’s not add to the list more). He finds someone to give him a ride back to Roswaal’s territory where he sees a slaughter has taken place and everyone is dead including Rem (scene here: https://youtu.be/YlE_wkBE-sE. Alright, how do you want to die this time?).
In episode 15 Subaru still in a state of shock searches the area hoping to find someone still alive and find out what happened (Nitsuj: Doesn’t really matter now, you got Rem killed again you asshole). He makes his way to the mansion where following a trail of blood, heads down into the basement where he sees people frozen to death and he himself also gets frozen and dies (wow that’s like a Subzero from MK death right there). He returns to the day when he and Rem were in the market shopping where he’s completely gone, his mental state has collapsed on him and he’s now an empty shell of a man (Nitsuj: Well he saw some pretty fucked up shit so that’s understandable). Felix can’t do nothing to fix him (if only he had his magic bag. (Nitsuj): Did you just make a Felix the Cat joke? I mean I appreciate it but are you sure anybody’s gonna get that reference? (Seras): Oh you’d be surprised at who we reach). With nobody there to help him Rem decides the best thing is to take Subaru back to the mansion believing that seeing Emilia will make him feel better (I doubt it, but if you want to sink your own ship be my guest. I just hope you got a lifeboat standing by). As they’re heading back to the mansion they get attacked by cloaked figures known as Witch cultists who are in fact the people who slaughtered the village and everyone last episode (they’re also responsible for destroying Ram’s horn but that’s another arc entirely). One of them manages to capture Subaru and take him in front of their leader Chris (Nitsuj: Wow. Not even going to attempt to remember his name is Betelgeuse. (Seras): Honestly, it’s not worth it). By the way Chris is like tons of fun in this episode. He’s downright crazy, evil, and overtop but he adds a level of fun to an already sadistic and dark anime. Right away Chris can tell Subaru is still sane and is only acting like a broken man and wants to know why (Nitsuj: Have you ever experienced death? (Seras): Yes. (Nitsuj): Not you. Crazy man over there). As he’s questioning Subaru, Rem comes in trying to save him only get killed by Chris who uses his magic to kill her and then twists arms, legs, and head in 180-degree angle (Nitsuj: Oh that’s nasty). Subaru snaps saying he’ll kill him but Chris just laughs and leaves him there chained to the wall. Sometime passes and Rem somehow still alive frees Subaru from his chains and then dies in his arms where she says she loves him. Subaru takes Rem back to the village where it begins to snow, the slaughter happened again (this time the bodies are in different areas) and once he reaches the mansion he sees a giant monster appear out of the palace who freezes him (Nitsuj: Well at least we know how he died the first time) and kills him again (scene here: https://youtu.be/Mt4yR5CV5BU). He returns back to his save point where this time he doesn’t fake his mental breakdown and instead takes Rem’s hand and walks away smiling but his eyes are filled with bloodlust.
So in episode 16 filled with bloodlust and the desire to slaughter his enemies (I’ve been there before) Subaru goes to Crusch for help practically begging her for assistance but she says no. Why? Because there’s no worth for her in this task (keep in my mind we’re in a different world, the rules and mindset of everyone is different) plus in her eyes Emilia is fated to lose the race for the throne anyway because of her background (Nitsuj: Anyone with political knowledge could see that). She also questions how Subaru got this information anyway and even accuses him of being a part of the Witch’s Cult (with the way he’s acting and his mindset I don’t blame her for thinking that) which Rem (of all people) rebukes that accusation (Nitsuj: Aren’t you the girl who accused him of this like 9 episodes ago?). While Crusch can see that Subaru isn’t lying about the Witch’s Cult she can tell that Subaru cares more about killing them than saving the villagers and Emilia. She even says that the only reason Subaru got close to Emilia was so he could kill the Witch’s Cult (Nitsuj: Yikes! She just basically said that everything Subaru did up until this point was just to feed his own ego. All the deaths, struggles, and torture he went through to get this far was all for him and no one else). Subaru of course doesn’t take kindly to this and it was hinted that he was about to assault her but got stopped by Wilhelm stepping in between them (Nitsuj: Smart man, cause he was about to go off). He and Rem leave and wonder if Reinhardt could help but he’s away on business as is Roswaal who’s meeting with other people and won’t be back at the mansion for a few days. The next day Subaru goes to ask Priscilla for help (oh yeah because she looks like the kind of girl who be more than happy to help others in need) thinking that she’ll help because he helped her out before (no you dumb fuck that’s not how life works! Stop using that mindset! That’s like me expecting a dollar after I help an old lady grab a bottle of Sprite at the grocery store she couldn’t reach. It’s not gonna happen. She’s just gonna thank me and continue on with her day as will I). Priscilla hears his request but will only help him if he agrees to crawl on the floor and lick her foot (Nitsuj: He wouldn’t sully his dignity like this. I know you want these guys dead but no amount of killing is worth your dignity as a man) and the bastard was actually going to do it, the mad bastard was actually going to give up his dignity just to kill a bunch of people (Nitsuj: This coming from the woman who got possessed by an unknown being folks. (Seras): Okay I admit I let some destructible creature possess my body in the name of vengeance but that was different. I didn’t lose my dignity, I was just slowly losing my mind). Just before Subaru can lick her she kicks him calling him disgusting and a beast who’s lower than a pig (she is spot on). She beats him up a little more and throws him out. He then bumps into Anastasia and Mimi her second in command and asks her for help which she amazingly agrees to do but first she wants to chat with him. She talks about how someone is buying up all the iron and carriages in the capital and this prompts Subaru to remember a meeting between Crusch and Russel the treasurer of the capital which is the information Anastasia was trying to get (in short, Subaru got played. (Nitsuj): Hard). Yeah, as you can tell Subaru’s ideals, morals, and personality are pretty much getting shat on in this episode. Again, this is a different world with a different mindset from our world. Subaru came from a somewhat peaceful world, she comes from a world where you use whatever you can to crush your enemies and make a name for yourself). So after getting this information Anastasia than begins to talk about how whatever Subaru does the past won’t change (Nitsuj: Oh the irony of that statement). She takes her leave but not before telling him that the key to negotiating is how prepared you are beforehand, knowing what the other party wants, and dangle it in front of them (like a carrot in front of a rabbit. (Nitsuj): Or an erotic photo in front of the Jack Bros.). With no more options and being played for a fool by everyone (Nitsuj: They really didn’t have to do anything. He showed up and gave them what they wanted. Like an idiot) he decides the only choice they have is to return to the mansion and try to save as many people as they can and run away (and you don’t think the cult won’t become suspicious of a bunch of people leaving?), the only problem is how they plan to transport everyone out of there. Their answer comes in the form of a bunch of peddlers where Subaru strikes a deal to pay them all if they help transport everyone and they agree. As they ride they pass a great tree, one of the peddlers disappears on them, and a giant whale appears to end the episode.
(Nitsuj): In the opening moments of episode 17 Subaru’s carriage gets attacked by the creature called the White Whale (Seras: They were running out of a creativity here. (Nitsuj): Apparently) which is a mabeast being drawn to Subaru’s scent (so once again Subaru’s presence puts people in danger). Rem sacrifices herself in order to save Subaru but that plan doesn’t work as the White Whale kills her and then continues to go after Subaru’s carriage until Subaru finally realizes the beast is drawn to him so the peddler kicks him off and leaves Subaru to die (nothing personal. Just life). For some reason the whale chases Subaru a little and then just vanishes into thin air. Subaru finds a carriage and arrives back in the village beaten and bruised but everyone is still alive (Seras: Well that’s one good sign. (Nitsuj): It doesn’t matter, Rem’s dead! This story is automatically a bad end). He passes out and wakes back up in the manor healed where Ram is there to greet him but something strange is happening, she doesn’t remember who Rem is (how do you forget your own sister? (Seras): The same way a man forgets to put down the toilet seat. They don’t care). Rem’s whole presence has been erased and for the life of Seras I have no idea why (Seras: Up yours). But Subaru will have to worry about that later as he tries to get Emilia out of the mansion in desperate fashion which she doesn’t understand at all. Even when Subaru goes as far as trying to insult her and say she’ll never rule she can tell he doesn’t mean anything of it and keeps asking why (Seras: Why this? Why that? Who cares, just go). Subaru finally has enough and decides to tell Emilia about his power even if it means getting himself killed but to his shock instead of him getting killed Emilia is the who dies right in front of him and everything (oh boy he’s gonna snap now). Emilia’s death pretty much destroys Subaru that he actually begs Betty to kill him which she refuses to do and just transports him to another location where Chris shows up and is about to desecrate the body of Emilia right in front of Subaru but stops when Puck shows up in a very pissed off mood.
Episodes 18-21
In the opening moments of episode 18 Puck kills the witch cult in one swoop where we see he was the beast that killed Subaru in episode 15 (okay where was this in the other walkthroughs?). He then sets his sights on Subaru and kills him for not keeping his promise with Emilia (Seras: He truly doesn’t understand the value of a promise), ignoring Emilia’s wishes and returning, and finally letting her die. With Emilia gone Puck says he’s going to destroy the world now (there’s no Rem no Emilia. What’s the point of living?) and freezes Subaru once again killing him. Once Subaru returns to his save point he decides that this time he’s not going to do anything (Seras: Interesting strategy. (Nitsuj): Well every time he tries to do something it ends in disaster so maybe he’s onto something). Instead, he’s going to run away from all of it and he wants Rem to join him. What follows after that is just one episode of Subaru and Rem standing in front of each other and talking to each other. No action, no distractions, just two characters talking to each other and it’s one of the most captivating conversations put into an anime. While Rem likes the idea of having Subaru to herself (hell, she’s actually planned their whole life out together and everything. Do all girls do this? (Seras): Only those who have fallen for an idiot) she can’t go with him because that would mean she’ll be leaving behind the Subaru she fell in love with. She says that Subaru isn’t the kind of guy to give up and knows that something is troubling him and wants to help but he says it’s impossible, there’s nothing he or she can do (Seras: Yeah it seems like that way doesn’t it?). As the conversation continues he openly admits he has no character. Everything he has done was all to feed his ego when in truth deep down he knows he’s useless. He’s not strong or smart yet he put up a front to fool everybody into thinking he was something when really he’s not. He’s just a guy who did nothing with his life when he had the opportunity to do something (wow, Chris was right. He is slothful. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with the left-over insanity of Lady in the Water but it’s true). He finally admits that he hates himself but Rem talks about how much she loves everything about him and that to her he will always be a hero because he saved her and restarted her life from zero (scene here: https://youtu.be/05v_wzCAyRo). She finishes up with saying she doesn’t know what he’s going through or what he’s seen but whatever it is she offers her assistance (best girl. No competition). Subaru begins to cry a little and Rem hugs and kisses him to let him know he’s not alone. He gets back to his feet and rejects Rem’s confession saying he loves Emilia (fuck you. (Seras): Fuck you. (Nitsuj): Not you, him. (Seras): Oh him. Yeah, fuck him) and that he needs her help in order to make a future where everyone is smiling and she agrees to help.
(Seras): So in episode 19 Subaru goes to negotiate with Crusch, not to help him protect Emilia but instead to defeat the White Whale. Apparently, the White Whale has been a huge threat to the kingdom for centuries and they would like nothing more than to get rid of it (plus taking down such a beast would win you over big time in your campaign to be the next ruler). Since Subaru knows when and where the White Whale will appear he forms a partnership with Crusch (Nitsuj: This is key right here. He’s forming a partnership with her. It’s not a plead for help, it’s a partnership. He’s learning) to take it down as well as give her mining rights in Roswaal’s domain. He also brings in Anastasia since the whale is detrimental to her business (Nitsuj: Woah detrimental? (Seras): I know terms. (Nitsuj): Alright, I see you). Wilhelm wouldn’t be happier if Crusch accepted this offer seeing as how his wife was killed by the whale in the past and he has dedicated his life to finding the whale and avenging her death (he’s gone captain Ahab on us). Even though Crusch still has her doubts and questions about Subaru’s intel she can sense no lie in his words and agrees to the partnership along with Anastasia. The next day they all head out to the Flugal tree where the whale arrives at night and Rem is the first person to throw the first strike (alright! *Seras takes out her scythe and Nitsuj takes his sword* Let’s do this! (Nitsuj): Let’s go son! Tonight, we’re having whale meat).
The fight against the whale begins in episode 20 where they start off hitting it with their best moves trying to ground it. While they don’t ground it they do manage to damage it quite a bit (but let’s be honest a few sword slashes and a few fireball shots are like pebbles to this thing. You really wanna cause some serious damage to this thing? Give me a harpoon that’s 50 feet long, thick as hell, and explodes on 3 seconds after contact). After taking many shots the whale traps everyone in its fog where we discover that if you die in the fog you don’t just die your entire life vanishes with you. And by that I mean everyone having memories of you and the fact that you exist all vanish from people (Nitsuj: So if that’s the case why didn’t Subaru forget Rem when he died? (Seras): Probably has something to do with mana. Since Subaru isn’t from this world and doesn’t have natural mana like everyone else thus it didn’t affect him). Once the fog hits the whale begins taking people out and some begin losing their mind because of the fog so Subaru uses himself as a distraction to buy everyone time to recover. He meets up with Wilhelm who takes the fight to the whale but in the process gets swallowed by it and we end the episode with a very shocking conclusion. There’s two more white whales (Nitsuj: You’re kidding?! You mean to tell me we gotta take down three of these bastards?).
Picking up where episode 20 left off, episode 21 continues the whales hunt (Nitsuj: Die! You son of a bitch) with everyone falling into despair over the thought of fighting three whales. However, despite the odds completely stacked up against them Subaru doesn’t give up and continues fighting (man who knew Subaru of all people would stick around and fight?) trying to save Wilhelm with the help of Rem and a few others. Through their efforts they manage to save Wilhelm and Subaru figures out that while there are three whales it’s still the same whale they’ve been fighting this whole time. It turns out the whale just divided itself (like a shadow clone only a lot cooler) meaning the real one is regenerating in the sky while the other two are distracting everyone else (Nitsuj: That’s actually quite brilliant. Everyone’s too distracted by the other two and trying to stay alive to think straight). Subaru hatches a plan that’s so crazy and desperate that even Crusch isn’t sure if this plan will work but she decides to put her trust in Subaru. As Crusch rallies the troops Subaru gets launched into the sky onto the whale (the real one) where he jumps off it and lures it down to the ground with his witch stench (Nitsuj: Hmm~ that’s some good dark magic). He lures the whale under the tree and the troops chop it down making the tree land directly on the whale trapping it (Nitsuj: Oh shit they got this). After receiving healing magic Wilhelm goes to face the whale where he kills it avenging his wife and everything. Once the whale is defeated Crusch approaches Subaru to show her respect to him and decides to hand over all the credit of the whale’s defeat to him (scene here: https://youtu.be/wfbWNgzkVIY). They take the head of the whale and head back to the capital with the injured with Rem being one of them. Crusch gives Subaru a few of the remaining troops to help him fight the witch’s cult and as the episode end the other half of the mercenary courtesy of Anastasia arrives and accompany them with Julius (now Subaru, you play nice you hear).
Episodes 22-24
Episode 22 is build-up for another storm coming (Nitsuj: Really? Because everything seems to be going well for them. They killed a whale). Subaru and Julius actually make up with each other even though it’s clear as day they hate each other’s guts but at the same time still respect each other (you can hate each other but still respect each other). Julius does respect Subaru for bringing down the whale which is something he as well as the other knights have been wanting to do for some time and thanks to Subaru their wish has come true. They arrive at the forest where the Witch’s Cult is hiding and Subaru manages to find their cave where he’s greeted by Chris (Nitsuj: And give Subaru credit here, he maintains his cool when facing him. Despite everything this guy has done to him in the past Subaru stays calm and sticks to the plan. I would have attacked this crazy fucker for what he did to Rem) where Subaru stalls him long enough while Wilhelm and the others get into position and kill him even blowing the body to pieces to make sure he doesn’t come back to life (Nitsuj: It could happen. (Seras): Yes in an anime like this it wouldn’t surprise me). So with Chris dead the group begins to focus their attention looking for the other members of the cult and Subaru takes Chris’s gospel which is like the Bible of the Witch’s Cult. Only those blessed by the witch can read it and everyone who can’t is pretty much terrified of the thing. They meet back up with the rest of the group where they get attacked by member of the Witch’s Cult who captures Subaru and seems to be just as crazy as Chris and shows the same mannerisms as him (Nitsuj: Man I have never seen Japanese VAs go over the top. It’s kind of interesting to say the least). The new Chris accuses Subaru of being the Archbishop of Pride seeing as how that’s the only position still open (I’m sure the archbishops of lust are the Jack Bros.) but Subaru denies this and gets saved by Wilhelm. After reuniting with the group and seeing a few of his dead comrades Subaru blames himself for not being able to save them and allowing them to die so easily but Wilhelm tells him to keep on fighting no matter what. This seems to work on Subaru and the group comes to the conclusion that there’s a possibility that all the members of the cult might have Chris’s subconscious in them (creepy). They decide to stick to the plan and evacuate the village so they don’t get involved in the crossfire and Felix tells Subaru to really make-up with Julius as he may not get another chance. He begrudging decides to follows Felix’s advice but before he can talk to him he gets transported to an alternate plain of existence.
Picking up where episode 22 left off, episode 23 starts with Subaru trapped in an illusion where he manages to escape by destroying a flower. Once he’s out he’s greeted by Julius who also escaped and uses his spirits to free everyone else by combining Subaru’s subconscious with their subconscious to tell them how to escape (I don’t get it either but it works). During all this a hooded figure swoops in and snatches up Subaru but Wilhelm stops the hooded figure who turns out to be Ram who believes that Subaru has turned traitor and joined forces with another candidate for the throne. Apparently there was some sort of mistake when he sent a letter to Emilia informing them about the situation. For some reason the letter sent was a blank letter which in this world is considered a big insult and can be considered an act of war (Nitsuj: I can understand that). Subaru tells her this isn’t true, she believes him (he’s not clever enough to plan a betrayal in the first place), and they continue with their plan to evacuate the villagers. The villagers are reluctant at first believing that Emilia is the reason they’ve come to their region and rather than get mad at them Subaru remains calm and tells them to just trust him for the time being and do what he says (Nitsuj: Get to the carriage). While investigating a carriage with Felis one of the merchants come in and Felis attacks him saying he’s a member of the cult. Sure enough he is a member of the cult and self-destructs blowing up the carriage trying to kill Subaru and Felis. They both survive and once Subaru wakes up he sees that the village has become a war zone (Nitsuj: Burn the cultists). They fight against the cultist killing all the fingers who happen to be Chris until only one is left standing and he gets taken out by none other than Emilia who has come to help protect the village. Once she defeats the last finger everyone takes a sigh of relief for their victory except for Subaru who runs away because he’s been possessed by Chris (oh fuck me! *Corbin comes running in* (Corbin): Finally! *Jumps in the air towards Seras* Banzai! *Seras does a high heel kick to Corbin which sends him flying out the window* (Seras): I meant that figuratively not literally). Subaru tells Julius and Felis to kill him but Julius is hesitant to do it (you just became friends) until Subaru’s pleading finally reaches him and he prepares his sword to kill him (scene here: https://youtu.be/nDoR6JQL-NI).
So in episode 24 Subaru dies and returns to a new checkpoint which is him talking with everyone before heading off to face the Witch’s Cult (Nitsuj: Alright, we’re getting somewhere). Before heading out he tells them about Chris’s possession technique and that there’s a possibility he too might become possessed by Chris and wants to know what he should do (kill yourself). We then cut to Emilia waking up feeling sad because the previous day she tried to get the villagers to leave but they wouldn’t listen to her because she’s a half elf. Once up Wilhelm enters the mansion with Ram where he tells her situation and how they’re going to evacuate the village as well as the mansion. Ram will hide the sanctuary with some of the villagers while Emilia will evacuate to the capital with the rest. At first she’s hesitant to travel with anyone because of her lineage but a cloaked Subaru tells her not to assume people are afraid of her and the kids ask her to ride with them which she accepts. When the village safely evacuated they then turn their attention to the traitor in their ranks, catch him, and take his map showing them the location of the Witch’s Cult (now that’s how you use your powers correctly Subaru). With this map they take out the fingers and then Subaru goes to face Chris where he lures him to the valley of sharp rocks (ah~, memories) and Julius shows up to face him where Julius and Subaru share their senses with each other so now Julius can see Chris’s evil hands and fight him (scene here: https://youtu.be/1gA7bmGliTU).
(Nitsuj): In the final episode we start with Julius defeating Chris and him once again possessing Subaru only this time Subaru is ready for him and uses the witch’s presence inside of him to make Chris leave. Chris thinking he’ll receive the love of the witch once they come face to face instead gets rejected by her (yep, word of advice Chris, she can be a real bitch sometimes). He’s so shocked by this rejection that he returns to his already damaged body weeping and crying (he gave up after one try? Wimp! (Seras): Girls hate guys who are too persistent) and then gets smashed by a rock (say it! (Seras): No! (Nitsuj): Say it! You lost the bet! (Seras): Ugh~, fine! It was a big rock). After this Subaru and Julius return to the village where Felis tells them the carriage carrying the fire stones (you know, the one that exploded in the last playthrough?) couldn’t be found and putting two and two gather they realize that the carriage is with the evacuation carriages and the people on that carriage are Emilia and the children (Seras: Of course they are). With time of the essence Subaru hitches a ride with Otto the peddler they saved from the witch’s cult who has the ability to hear the thoughts of animals (what is this the Wild Thornberrys?) so he knows a shortcut through the forest and to the roads. As they’re travelling they get chased by a monster and that monster is none other than Chris (Seras: This bastard just won’t die). After being rejected by the one he dedicated his life to Chris went a little mad (Seras: You mean he wasn’t mad enough already) and now he’s practically begging the witch to accept his love (in a way it’s kind of like Subaru with Emilia in the past. We saw how Subaru was practically begging Emilia to accept his love without question and she couldn’t understand what he was talking about. Here, it’s almost the same thing. Chris is in love with the witch but she has rejected him and he can’t move on). Using Chris’s Gospel, Subaru writes something in the book using his own blood which causes Chris to finally give up and die (scene here: https://youtu.be/MzxOD-VRgWk, I have no idea what he wrote or how he knew that would destroy him but good work Subaru you finally killed the man you wanted to kill). After passing by Wilhelm taking out the remaining members of the witch’s cult Subaru reaches Emilia’s carriage, takes the bag of fire stones, tells Emilia he loves her, and then goes to throw those stones into some sort of cave by the world tree where they explode and Subaru gets caught in the blast a little and passes out. He wakes up about an hour later in the lap of Emilia where everyone has gathered and he apologizes to her for his past behavior saying that she was right about everything she said about him (damn straight) but there was one thing was wrong about and that is love. Once again Subaru confesses to Emilia saying that he wants to be with her always and wants to protect and help her no matter what. Even if the whole rejects her existence because of her heritage Subaru will be there to for her. If she names ten things about herself that are bad, he’ll be there to name two thousand things that are wonderful about her. This causes Emilia to tear up because of the joy she feels from someone accepting her for the first time in the world and even though she doesn’t have an answer for Subaru at the moment he says that he’ll wait for her and until than he’ll become a man that’ll make her swoon over him no matter what (than you’ve got a long way to go my friend). We end the season with them gazing at each other and Emilia thanking Subaru for everything (scene here: https://youtu.be/1eVvw3EKIZI).
Final Thoughts
(Seras): Now this is how you start off the Isekai arc. Re:Zero is a fantastic and well done anime that changes the way we view isekai anime and shows us that isekais don’t always have to be bright and colorful, they can be dark, cruel, and still tell a great story.
(Nitsuj): Agreed. While I don’t consider Re:Zero a masterpiece there’s no denying that this anime is a great watch from beginning to end. The driving force of this anime is Subaru as you really come to emphasize with this character after everything he’s been through. He’s a flawed character who thinks he knows what he’s doing and puts on a façade to fool everyone but in truth he’s in over his head, scared, and is constantly making mistakes that requires him to be saved by other people.
(Seras): Rather than his power being seen as a blessing it’s a curse that has driven him insane a number of times and who could blame him, he’s experienced death more times than anyone should so of course his mind is gonna break a little. Near the end he does start to learn to use his powers to his advantage but for a majority of the anime these powers are seen as a curse and probably will be the entirety of the series. You would think his walkthroughs would get boring but no, each one adds something new and shows Subaru’s mess up in a whole new way with you hoping that he learns from it and get a perfect walkthrough to reach the end.
(Nitsuj): While the rest of the characters don’t have major roles in the series as of yet they each have their own personality and backstory that makes them stand out. The two characters that really stand out are Emilia and Rem. Emilia is kind of like this dark horse in the race to be ruler. Nobody trusts her because of her heritage but she doesn’t let it get her down. She’s a kind girl who really does care for the kingdom and wants to help them in anyway possible. She is Subaru’s main reason for living and the one thing that keeps him going in the darkest of situations. His loyalty and passion for her shows us that in our world he didn’t really have that many meaningful relationships with others and since Emilia was the first person who helped him out and cared for him, he can think of no better way to repay her than by loving her and helping her achieve her dreams.
(Seras): Rem was hands down the best girl in this series. If Subaru is madly in love with Emilia than Rem is madly in love with Subaru. Her loyalty and love for him is just so adorable. Her whole life she believed that she was unneeded in the world because she was constantly comparing herself to her sister but Subaru shows her that she doesn’t have to do that, all she had to do is be herself and live life the way she believes it should be lived. Her confession to Subaru was wonderful which is why it pisses me off that he turned her down for Emilia when Rem is obviously the better choice. Another character that also deserves a good mentioning is Chris. That guy was a man you came to love and hate. You love him because he’s so hysterical and over the top for such a dark series and you hate him for what he did to Rem. He was probably the most entertaining character of the bunch.
(Nitsuj): The animation is alright. Nothing too major or creative but it does look good. The music is great throughout this anime. We have insert songs and a great soundtrack which fits perfectly with each scene. While the fights are nothing to write home about, I do think the whale fight was great and the level of gore they use in the anime is great as well as it never shies away from the source material and reminds us that this is a dark series.
Final Score
(Seras): My final score for this anime should come as no surprise, 10/10. It’s a great anime that has revolutionized the way we view isekai anime.
(Nitsuj): I have to give the anime an 8.5/10. It’s a great anime but it does make a few mistakes here and there and leaves out a few details about their world.
(Seras): So our combined scores bring it to a 18.5/20 and if we average this score out we end with a 9.25/10 which going by our system translates to a 9/10.
(Nitsuj): With a must watch stamp of approval. If you want to see a dark isekai anime with great characters and story than check this series out, you will be impressed. Thanks for reading and thank you Seras for helping me get this arc back on the right foot.
(Seras): My pleasure. There’s been no word of a second season as yet. But an OVA is coming out in October so hopefully that’s a sign that something is in the works.
(Nitsuj): We can only hope. Until then, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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