「勇気の意味」 (Yuuki no Imi)
“The Meaning of Courage”

There’s very few opportunities for me to say this (because I’m usually so bad at predicting anime) so let me just get this off my chest – It’s the dog!! I knew it!! *phew.
When that dog showed up and actually got some decent screen time, I just knew it. It’s a bit of a stretch in all honesty because the it’s not like the dog appeared for more than 30 seconds in the first two loops but I guess it’s enough to foreshadow the events to come. Any more time and it might’ve been too big of a giveaway. I think I’m more proud of my predictions than I was excited to see what actually happened this week. Even when Rem transformed into a full fletched ogre, I was more impressed by how well the story dropped hints earlier on. It made the scene a lot less shocking and a lot more, ”Oh I see. I get it now!”; which is still a good reaction in my opinion.

However, even with all the “surprising” revelations, I still felt that the episode lacked some impact on me. I was building up all this anticipation for this loop to be the last one Subaru would have to live through and it wasn’t. I got more questions than answers when the story takes a turn by exploring the villagers and children rather than focusing on the household. I understand that a lot of things that are happening to Subaru are probably a result of things happening outside the house, but now it feels like we’re looking at a whole new pool of suspects and there’s endless possibilities there. I would’ve liked to get some closure on what’s going on inside the house before you look outside it. Evidently, there’s not much going on inside the house… but! Roswaal is still a closed book to me; not to mention Emilia who has somehow gone unquestioned this entire time. Is she really as uninvolved and clueless as she seems? Considering how much trust Subaru has built up with Emilia, couldn’t he ask her all these questions about the Witch? It just seems fishy to me that Roswaal decides to leave the mansion on this critical night that Subaru hasn’t done anything different than the first two loops except ask ALL the villagers to touch him.

Anyway, like I said – a lot happened, but asides from the dog being revealed as the “shaman” (if he is indeed a dog, which I somehow doubt), and Rem unleashing her horn, nothing satisfied my hunger for answers. I still think Subaru behaves very questionably. He’s calling all the shots by asking to visit the village again and he commands Rem around like he KNOWS what’s going to happen and what’s going on without actually knowing. I guess Rem and Ram trust Subaru enough to separate and protect Subaru but I personally would be more skeptical. Then there’s the missing children fiasco which was a bit lost to me because I felt no sense of urgency. Am I that heartless? Perhaps but I had little empathy towards Subaru’s situation. When he started spewing out all the children’s dreams and hopes, I couldn’t help but feel no connection to the characters. I was actually hoping the Mabeasts would show up sooner so I could understand what they wanted! Yes – they were being commanded by a small puppy (which is another reason why I don’t believe it’s an actual puppy) but what did they want? Were the village children its original target? Does it sap the energy away from the kids to build up its own powers? Maybe Subaru and Rem were just at the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s why Rem & Subaru keep dying each loop. If they never went into the village and Subaru behaved normally… maybe all would be well in the mansion.

The last bit of the episode which featured Rem and her demon outrage was supposed to be this week’s climax and although it was quite certainly exciting; it was shortlived. As soon as Rem went on her rampage killing Mabeasts, Subaru jumped in to save her life and in the midst of that – dies (or assumed to be dead). But why? She’s clearly able to handle the situation on her own and there’s no way that both of them could survive so why would you ruin this opportunity? Does Subaru think that resetting this loop could result in a better ending? Possibly. But there has to be some repercussions of him dying all the time. Like that smell on him. And hey, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the same result each time you try and relive the same scenario.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I KNEW IT! I hate to say I told you so… but there are very few times that I get the triumphant feeling of making the right call XD Other than that, the episode wasn’t entirely surprising. It poses more questions than answers now that the villagers are involved. Maybe because I saw it coming, Rem’s transformation and the Mabeasts weren’t all that satisfying. My expectations must be too high #Rezero

49 Comments

  1. Think why Subaru saving her is just his natural reaction from him, body moved before his brain. But it should be a correct judgement, given from what we learnt that these dogs might instill curses that does mana drain. If Rem got bitten she might have lost mana quickly and the table would be turned?

    Idk, just a guess.

    Takurannyan
  2. Really you seem to be making the assumption that he is dead this time around but that ending seemed pretty open to me. After the dogs pull back he looks fairly intact, no grievous wounds showing or anything. If you said he’d die due to mana drain later i’d say sure but so far idk if that’d be enough to kill him. It just seems that if he’d die they’d make it more gruesome/impactful like the did other times.

    FallenRock
    1. Plus Subaru usually dies when he unknowingly gets into a predicament and has to solve gather clues. With this episode showing how Subaru finally found out who cursed him and giving more reasons for Rem to try to trust Subaru, he’s probably going to survive.

      Dualash
    2. Taken from reddit, talking about the LN version of the ending scene:

      the hand that subaru pushes rem away with was crushed at the wrist by the bite..

      letting out a loud shriek.. my right leg, left side and back were impaled by sharp teeth, my eyesight was dyed a bloody red. Already going nub from the pain, ankle broken, flesh was torn from the stomache, blood and insides splattering out, what a shame… those were all part of my body…

      “subaru..!!”

      even though i want to tilt my head towards the direction of the voice.. my body can’t move freely and i am starting to lose my balance. One ankle crushed and the other torn off.. the wounds aren’t looking good.. my body starts falling towards the ground, jaws opened wide awaits me. As the sharp teeth nears my throat a huge ball of steel knocks it away and smashes it to a pulp.. i couldn’t tell if those were my blood or not..

      my conscious is fading.. my life slowly withering… what a stupid thing i have done.. this makes this life meaningless.. the pain and depression is slowly drifting away.. i can’t see, can’t hear, life leaving my body from the hole on my side, like sand spilling from a broken hourglass.. everything is disappearing.. ending.. including me..

      “don’t die.. don’t die… don’t die…”

      Trap Master
  3. not to mention Emilia who has somehow gone unquestioned this entire time. Is she really as uninvolved and clueless as she seems? Considering how much trust Subaru has built up with Emilia, couldn’t he ask her all these questions about the Witch? It just seems fishy to me that Roswaal decides to leave the mansion on this critical night that Subaru hasn’t done anything different than the first two loops except ask ALL the villagers to touch him.

    Because Emilia least likely suspect in the arc out of sheer logic. She gains no benefit from trying to harm Subaru. And far Satella connection is concerned, Subaru had already reasoned last week it was her attempt scare him off so he wouldn’t get involved her problems hence why she used the name. The actual Satella far anyone knows was sealed centuries ago according to Beako.

    Then there’s the missing children fiasco which was a bit lost to me because I felt no sense of urgency. Am I that heartless? Perhaps but I had little empathy towards Subaru’s situation. When he started spewing out all the children’s dreams and hopes, I couldn’t help but feel no connection to the characters

    I see this same statement often any story that similar situation like this happening.

    That’s because it’s usually not about how you the viewer personal connect to those characters, but understanding why Subaru himself would. I mean in my case if there were a kid I hung from time to time conversing, trading jokes, then if he were suddenly in trouble I would do what I can to help him or her. So the author isn’t expecting you feel for those kids (though you certainly can) but empathize a bit with Subaru himself.

    But why? She’s clearly able to handle the situation on her own and there’s no way that both of them could survive so why would you ruin this opportunity

    Because there were too many and some of the beasts where attacking outside of her blind spot. Her berserk state was killing her sense of awareness and she would of died if nobody hadn’t been watching her back with her swinging wildly. Besides there is no guarantee he would have been able make it back on his own with when he too was surrounded.

    Iron Maw
    1. “I see this same statement often any story that similar situation like this happening.

      That’s because it’s usually not about how you the viewer personal connect to those characters, but understanding why Subaru himself would. ”

      I see people use this as a defense a lot when it comes to these kind of situations and i dont buy it. If that was the case, you can literally apply it to almost any kind of situation. “oh, you’re not supposed to really sympathize for character B (even tho their interactions with character A has been poorly written), you’re just supposed to care that character A cares about character B because character A is well fleshed out”. Sure the story has made you come to care about subaru at this point (well, not really in my opinion but im the minority in this viewpoint), but just because you can sympathize with one character doesnt mean you care about all of his goals. A viewer should and will question “why should i care?” That is a major question that should be answered by any story and for that to happen, especially when referring to people in some kind of narrative, their character dynamics should be fleshed out and should have impact; that is not what we see here with subaru and the kids.

      I get where you’re coming from: that in this case the character’s motivation to help these kids should resonate with us because it’s the character we’ve come to love and not the kids. This can work sometimes for other things but not when characters relationships are involved. The author partly expects you to sympathize with Subaru’s plight because of the sheer fact that they’re kids (and also likes to create artificial drama) and well, that’s kind of cheap in the writing department.

      sonicsenryaku
      1. Then that’s just your problem. The point of this standard writing tactic was never for you feel theses minor characters to begin with. Not every single character needs in the needs 300 page biography to be shove face just they appeared on screen and interacted with MC. Bit parts has been a literary establish element for hundreds of years.

        Iron Maw
      2. Now for me I cared about the kids more so it worked. But to get others to care it seams a large chunk of a episode or more has to be committed to really get you a full introduction to each child and full interactions so that you can feel for the kids. And of course most others would be going why spend this horrible amount of time on slice of life when we have a mystery to solve.

        RedRocket
  4. I kind of want to say that although a lot of us predicted the dog to have cursed Subaru, its still kind of surprising since usually when you associate magic its the spells that humans use. But like in a fantasy game where monsters can inflict status debuffs, its interesting to learn that the witch Satella has these mabeasts at her disposal.

    Prior to the questions, definitely agreeing with you Cherrie since I have all sort of questions to these characters and their world, but so far the story has done the great job at answering the questions when they’re vital to the main arc’s conflict so I haven’t really been bothered by them. Rather, I’ve loved these episodes consistently because of the growth and the suspense that comes from the story.

    And lastly, I have to say, the title combined with the emphasis towards Subaru’s actions really made an impression on me. How they focused on his hand shaking and knowing beforehand how he doesn’t want to go off into danger and experience anymore trauma, yet he’s still going to save those kids and at the last moments of the episode, save Rem from that last minute ambush. It really shows that classic trait that is exemplified in heroes ( especially when in they’re afraid and knowing the stakes ahead, they’re putting themselves at risk). I’m really loving the dynamic development that Subaru is having in this story (it feels like a nice breath of fresh air).

    Dualash
  5. Cherrie/

    “When he started spewing out all the children’s dreams and hopes, I couldn’t help but feel no connection to the characters”

    Here are what I know and think about the scene.

    (1) It’s probably an anime-original scene because the Japanese web novel does not have that scene (and in my view, it’s also unlikely that the published version has it)

    (2) The scene (where Subaru starting spewing out all the children’s dreams and hopes) is utterly silly and ridiculous because the situation was too urgent to waste time – at least, the situation was very urgent in Subaru’s thought -. Even though there is no time to waste, even 1 second is valuable, Subaru still wastes time spewing out all the children’s dreams and hopes.

    It’s the sort of scene what I call “cheap and cheesy Japanese anime-ish humanism forced, nonsense scene”

    Its intention is pretty obvious. It’s like saying to the audience, “Hey, how emotional moving it is that Subaru is so much concerned about those kids, their dreams!!! He is such a good and cool guy! So like him! ”

    But it fails miserably to any audience who recognizes how silly and absurd it is from him to waste time with spewing out each kid’s dreams while he firmly believes the situation is so urgent so much even 1 second is very valuable.

    fripsidelover9111
    1. Addition: If the creators really wanted to insert some emotionally moving Japanese anime-ish forced humanism scene in that moment, they should have made it as a flash-back scene (where Subaru recalls his interactions with the kids, what they told him about their dreams).

      I still don’t like the idea of adding emotionally moving scene at the moment.

      But flash-back version of it would have made it much less bad.

      fripsidelover9111
      1. Flash back makes it take even longer. And with out any comments on why he cares about the kids there would be comments of why is Subaru going so far out of his way and willing to sacrifice his life to save kids he does not even know.

        RedRocket
      2. Adding to what Red Rocket is saying, Subaru has to persuade Rem to help him. Granted, that there’s an urgency to find the kids, the fact that he remembered and knew the kids so well (and the shaking hand) was how Rem decided to help him instead of going back to the mansion to reinforce security.

        Dualash
      3. As far as I remember, he decided to go into the wood alone even if she would not go along with him in the web novel.

        Moreover, even in the anime, it sounded like “I have a really good reason to care about the kids, so please just let me go”, rather than “it’s why you and I have go together to rescue the kids”.

        fripsidelover9111
      4. RedRocket// I think the reason why he is so concerned about the kids has been explained already.

        From the beginning, He has been consistently described to be the kind of person who cares so much about anyone he has some bonds with, committing himself even at the cost of his life.

        fripsidelover9111
      5. I also had the impression that he would’ve went into the woods alone if Rem didn’t go with him. I don’t think he was trying to “convince her to join him” as much as he was trying to explain why he felt so connected with the kids. Rem went with him because she knew it was dangerous for him to go alone.
        With all that said, if Subaru just told Rem “Hey, I’m going in to save the kids” and Rem just went with him – I think I would’ve bought that story a little easier. I get that kids are in danger and Subaru feels a sense of obligation to do something about it. It doesn’t need to be explained WHY he feels an obligation. Plus, we all know that the dog was the shaman so Subaru’s other reason could be “Hey! I want to find out more about this shaman dog that bit me and now’s the chance to do that.”.

      6. True, but he also could have just gone off without reasoning Rem why he had to go. Plus he did say he trusted Rem to find him when the the villagers would look after the kids. In hindsight, I think Subaru is aware enough that he knows he can’t do it alone (but he’s willing to take the chance if Rem still refuses) because he can’t fight and he had no idea what kind of mabeasts besides the puppy were in the forest.

        Dualash
      7. Actually, let me rephrase it, he’s physically fit and intelligent enough to defend himself, just not well equipped or trained to use magic or a weapon masterly. (Though I haven’t read the web novel, that’s how I interpreted Subaru’s actions and circumstances)

        Dualash
    2. @Cherrie

      Perhaps this wasn’t clear in the episode but Rem stopped him from going, as he not allowed to leave her sight, because she still highly suspicious of him. She would let good without a convincing answer she could buy.

      Iron Maw
  6. Subaru saving Rem might work to his benefit only if he survives. Sure Subaru talked to her and she “says” she trusts him, but the previous loops he really thought he had built enough trust but he was wrong. He probably has to do something so drastic like pushing her out of the way to save her in order for trust to really build. In one of the previous loops it was clear she was putting on an “act” when they revealed it was Rem who killed him.

    Actions speak louder than words in some cases. Hopefully Rem will actually trust him now that he risked his life for her.

    Subaru in this loop was trying too hard to savor the time as Rem questioned how he knew where the flowers were, and Rem, Ram, and Emilia all could tell he was putting on an act. It’s hard to fake getting nearly killed to save someone so I hope he doesn’t start over and Rem won’t want to kill him anymore after this.

  7. The white witch probably wants either subaru or satella or even both to fall madly in love with each other and then take it away from them so a new witch is born or so other people will feel the pain she felt.

    Kyonchan
  8. >Considering how much trust Subaru has built up with Emilia, couldn’t he ask her all these questions about the Witch?
    But she’s only known him for like 4 days, from her perspective. And really, I think it’s just Subaru’s personality to put all his trust in people and never question it. If it turns out Emilia is the Big Bad somehow, it’s going to make his crying jag when Rem turned on him the other loop look like nothing.

    I do agree that I’d rather just focus on the mansion; the strength of the revive mechanic is getting to see these same characters from different angles through the loops, I think. The repeated, slightly different exposure lends to a deeper understanding of the characters. that’s largely wasted when you expand the roster and suddenly everything is about magic beasts hunting village children.

    Guile
    1. I don’t see it, because simply a plot point. The village itself is not important in the narrative, it’s just a backdrop where the situation is happening because the Shaman who has been inflicting curse from very beginning of this arc is there. Subaru and co are still very much the focus. Even the main trust of this episode was Subaru and Rem building a sense trust and working together to solve the crisis that came as an effect of this action in confronting the Shaman.

      Iron Maw
  9. Subaru need to read more fantasy fiction some things don’t convey well in games when dealing with fantasy settings normally. If your in a mansion that is a target for dangerous elements (a player in the Game of Thrones qualifies) if you don’t see any really tough guards then the two staffers you do see are the supper dangerous guards.

    I would think the events outside the mansion are causing all the problems in the mansion if none of the mansion residents are involved. The village has been part of our mystery area from the very first episode. I think key world building is going on that could not be done in the mansion as well. I think expecting a only in the mansion mystery is dragging a few expectations.

    On other chats the last scene blew people away and episode got rated very highly with very few complaints compared to normal. Even though they can be screwed I like seeing episode polls as people complain way more than they praise. (back in letter writing days it was said you get 7 complaints for every one letter of praise when clearly a vast majority likes it, yes I’m old this from early 80’s for me)

    The last scene really impacted me and boy Suburu is truly nasty cursed. The surge of relief and victory when he thinks week old him finally saved the day and will live by killing the dog being torn apart by noticing the pack and knowing he is going to die. Thinking Rem is saving them and then seemingly seeing her killed right in front of him and realizing he going to die again. Then the final push to save Rem knowing it going to hurt bad and probably die again. So even when Suburu does not die he keeps being torn down over and over. Not a book reader so no idea if Suburu dies this time but many other have pointed out he does not completely die this time before the credits roll so he may or may not be saved. This time Suburu might be only mostly dead.

    RedRocket
    1. I think this was the first episode which I haven’t rained praise on the series and it’s not because I think it’s taken a turn for the worst, I just have a lot of questions that weren’t answered. And the answers that were provided, weren’t all that surprising so the revelations under-performed.
      I agree that a lot of people will often voice criticism before they voice praise and it’s not uncommon on RC as well. You’ll normally find really great series that have little to no discussion in the comments and it’s not because people don’t like it – it might be because they just don’t speak up. There’s only so ways you can say “That was awesome!!”. It’s only shows like Re: Zero that get a lot of positive feedback in written form because there’s probably something to say and discuss later.

  10. This episode actually made me even more interested and invested in the series. For me it gives you the notion that there is a larger web of narrative. We don’t know to what extent this “dog” plays a factor in the grand scheme of unraveling the plot, but it is nice to show that things move on outside of the viewer’s perception. For all intents and purposes, the village and the mabeasts were ALWAYS involved, but the story was focusing on the fact that Subaru died in his sleep and didn’t know why. He had to move blindly and gather evidence to establish that the source of this problem is at the village. The first loop arc was fairly straightforward: “I got gutted by an extremely sexy deranged and deadly woman. How can I stop this?” This time it was “Oh wow! I died sometime ‘last night’, but who, what, when, how and why?” This leads to him going further and further out of the mansion and talking more and more to Beatrice to get answers. This leads us to the village as they are they only others he’s interacted with for anything. He pulls a clever way to detect the curse and then finds out that the kids are in trouble. For us, they don’t mean much of anything, but he’s been seeing them for who knows how many subjective days/weeks at this point. They don’t get screen time because lingering on the village would have played this arc’s plot’s hand too soon. So Subaru now has this rapport with the villagers (somewhat odd since he’s billed as a hikkikomori yet has a very peculiar charisma to him) and explains to Rem (and us) why it’s important to him to help out these kids. Saving Rem was also necessary. I don’t think he did it to gain trust, but rather because it looked like she was on the last bits of her HP and that berserk ogre mode gave her extreme tunnel vision. Maybe she would have dodged, maybe she could have tanked it, but I’m glad Subaru tried to do something to help. This puts him in a position where it looks like he’s going to die, but I don’t think they would do that. Subaru would try to speedrun everything and it would all become an even larger more unpredictable mess. From a story stand point, it would slow and muddle everything way more than necessary. We are all probably very eager to see this conclude, but so far I’m going to continue trusting that the episode direction is for the best. I don’t feel led astray thus far.

    The Walker
  11. I think most of your questions Cherrie have already been answered by the comments above, but for me, I’ll input my own answer as to why Subaru jumped in at the end to save Rem.

    Because these minion dogs can also transfer the lethal curse just like the puppy.

    That’s the reason Subaru jumped in to save Rem (because a single bite would be life threatening if not treated). That’s the reason Subaru covered his arm with his jacket when one of the minion dogs attacked him. And it’s also the same reason why he probably died quickly in the end, because if a single cursed bite can end his life after a certain time period, then a multitude of cursed bites would surely speed up the process. And the dogs weren’t biting him in vital spots, but on the sides, and given how Subaru is physically buffed up and accustomed to pain, he couldn’t have possibly feinted that fast if the dogs couldn’t transfer the curse. And even if Subaru wasn’t aware of that, he was at least aware of the puppy, so he must have also assumed that any hostile dog would be capable of the same. He just didn’t have a monologue about it. That is the most logical answer I can come up with.

    Now anyone can chalk it up to Subaru simply caring for the lives of whomever he interacts with and it wouldn’t be wrong, but if my understanding is correct, it’s also a sign that Subaru is really picking up on how this world works and coming up with his own ways to interact with it at the spur of the moment, what with how he is striving towards gaining answers by asking around and collecting info. In other wards, he is no longer the naive NEET with a heart of gold like how he started. At least that’s how it seems to me.

    1. That’s the reason Subaru jumped in to save Rem (because a single bite would be life threatening if not treated). That’s the reason Subaru covered his arm with his jacket when one of the minion dogs attacked him. And it’s also the same reason why he probably died quickly in the end, because if a single cursed bite can end his life after a certain time period, then a multitude of cursed bites would surely speed up the process. And the dogs weren’t biting him in vital spots, but on the sides, and given how Subaru is physically buffed up and accustomed to pain, he couldn’t have possibly feinted that fast if the dogs couldn’t transfer the curse. And even if Subaru wasn’t aware of that, he was at least aware of the puppy, so he must have also assumed that any hostile dog would be capable of the same. He just didn’t have a monologue about it. That is the most logical answer I can come up with.

      Well addition to all this there is also fact Rem is mere behaving on instinct in her berserk state so she isn’t aware of everything happening around her. I said before she was about get mauled because of it:

      See these screens for the sequence:
      http://i.imgur.com/5yD75as.png
      http://i.imgur.com/PFwUEPY.png
      http://i.imgur.com/WH4PJxq.png
      http://i.imgur.com/odcUw5o.png
      http://i.imgur.com/16ninpL.png
      http://i.imgur.com/FLnciXY.png

      As you can she was momentary distracted by Shaman/Boss Magic Beast that she didn’t notice the threat outside her view, but Subaru was directly look at.

      Iron Maw
  12. Is there someone else suspecting the braids girl?

    She made Subaru touch the dog, she was apart from the other kids, to trap them, also she had no visible injuries. Even if she had, it must be easy to her to rid her own curse, if she was the shaman.

    It must be possible to someone with expertise to make a “puppet” pretends to be the controller of the other dogs

    Random Guy
    1. I thought of the child as well because he couldn’t even recall her name and only called her “The girl with braids”. Plus, she was isolated from the other kids for some reason which isn’t explained yet. She might have been controlling the dog? o_O

  13. My problems with this ep:
    1. Yeah, sudden scope expansion is not good. While I do get that village will just become a stepping point for sth larger, the whole village is always out of the arc’s scope. Especially since there’s no connection whatsoever between the Mansion (in this case: Ram Rem) and Village. Would be great if Rem actually shown interacting with kids in 2nd loop, especially showing that she would be the one that talking and get bitten by the dogs if Subaru is not there. (Assuming that Rem’s death in 4th loop was caused by the same curse). This is also the reasoning for my dislike to dog theory previously.

    2. While White Fox is adapting this spectacularly in other aspects, I find their adaptation in more actionish scenes to be not as engaging as I hoped. Subaru’s rescue jump will look less idiotic if they made the immediate situation more urgent:
    a. The dog’s ambush could be portrayed when Rem is indeed shown occupied with something else and can’t react quickly (e.g holding of barrage of dogs/had her steel balls stuck/occupied on the front rather than just simply her walking to the enemy)
    b. Subaru know/mentioned about the negative effect of the bites (curse/mana drain?) rather than he was simply lucky that his decision to jump is (or will be) the correct one.

    zeroyuki92
    1. To argue point 1, I believe that the village was always in the arc’s scope. We just didn’t go to in depth until now because that would have given too much away. There is potentially a strong connection between the village and the mansion. One could assume that village is where they usually go to restock, and if nothing else, it is the direct cause of this arc loop. The questions I want to know that can be answered this arc are: What is the deal with the ‘dog’? How is Braids-chan related to the mabeasts? (She was singled out from the ring of children. Don’t know why. I’d be disappointed if it was just to mine for drama and character suffering.) How did Rem get in contact with the ‘dog’? Did it take a different form? We can only wait to see what happens.

      The Waker
  14. narratively we dont see how subaru interacts with the villagers but he does interact and bond with them for 3 (repeating) days. he a (foolish) white knight but that the way he is and with Return by death he doesn’t much care for his life above the others. sadly the story is tell on a cut pov of him (we dont really wanna see all of his interactions but we do see glimpse of it).

    regarding the dog bites i found this translation on it:
    the hand that subaru pushes rem away with was crushed at the wrist by the bite..
    letting out a loud shriek.. my right leg, left side and back were impaled by sharp teeth, my eyesight was dyed a bloody red. Already going nub from the pain, ankle broken, flesh was torn from the stomache, blood and insides splattering out, what a shame… those were all part of my body…
    “subaru..!!”
    even though i want to tilt my head towards the direction of the voice.. my body can’t move freely and i am starting to lose my balance. One ankle crushed and the other torn off.. the wounds aren’t looking good.. my body starts falling towards the ground, jaws opened wide awaits me. As the sharp teeth nears my throat a huge ball of steel knocks it away and smashes it to a pulp.. i couldn’t tell if those were my blood or not..
    my conscious is fading.. my life slowly withering… what a stupid thing i have done.. this makes this life meaningless.. the pain and depression is slowly drifting away.. i can’t see, can’t hear, life leaving my body from the hole on my side, like sand spilling from a broken hourglass.. everything is disappearing.. ending.. including me..
    “don’t die.. don’t die… don’t die…”. p/s they kind if censored it here

    FVA
  15. You called it alright. I remember when I first read your theory about the dog, I didn’t even know there was a dog (must not have been paying attention during those scenes). Then I rewatched some episodes, saw it, didn’t think much of it. Aaand then throughout the entire village scene I couldn’t help but think “It’s the dog! The dog! It’s gotta be the dog!!”

    I’d say the dog is definitely being controlled rather than just being some random wild beast.

    JayDrink
  16. So Satella is the Witch of Envy, she killed all the other Witches of Sin and destroy half of that world but you know whta really rose my attention? Beatrice said the Witch is a Half-Elf girls with silver hair! That can´t be a coincidence! Sunaru is summon to another world, gets an incredible magic to turn back time and meet a beautiful silver haired, half-elven girl! I´m not saying Emilia is Satella in desguise but they must be connected somehow.

    P.S.: Are Mabeast a creation of the Witch of Envy or were they created for some of the old witches? Somebody knows?.

    haseo0408
  17. So it was the “puppy” after all. Props to the show for foreshadowing that sufficiently. The first time Subaru was bitten certainly stood out with all that blood. Still, just hard for me to think that “it was the puppy all along!” was the answer = unduly discounted what the show was trying to tell me. Didn’t have my fantasy RPG hat on because magic/fantastic creatures + it may only look like a puppy = need to have broader outlook.

    I am confused about a potential in-universe inconsistency. I thought that once triggered/set/applied a curse could not be broken, but we see Subaru getting cured a time after he was bitten. Beatrice handles it no problemo. So… the curse takes time to set after one is touched? O.o Kind of confused here.

    Like Cherrie, I have to say there’s definitely some suspension of disbelief required with Subaru & the rest of the cast. Radio exercises? Really? Whole village just goes along with that. Isn’t this “Day 4”? How many times has he visited the village? More than once? Guy’s just so charismatic they go “OK, we’ll stop our daily lives and do what the stranger says”? On the same theme, Subaru has gained a whole bunch of trust/credit with Rem/Ram to act like he does and they go just go along with. It’s not a huge deal, but not exactly the tightest written stuff either IMO.

    Supposedly, next episode finishes up this “arc”. I’m ready for that and looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

    daikama
    1. I’m pretty sure that Beatrice said applying a curse is different from triggering it. There was no way to avoid the effects of the curse once triggered, but she could deal with an untriggered curse that had been applied. I guess it’s sorta like a trap? As long as it doesn’t go off, you can remove it with the right tools.

      SK

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