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「STRAIGHT BET」
And so we return to everyone’s favourite suffering trip. It’s been one hell of a wait to see where Re:Zero intends on heading next, but we’re here at last, and the results definitely don’t disappoint. If the end of last episode wasn’t enough of a mind twister, just wait until you get a load of this series’ next phase. And oh yes, expect plentiful spoilers from last season and even more assumption of knowledge because I doubt anyone is crazy enough to jump into this season blind.
Building off the major reveals about Roswaal and Echidna last time, this week, besides reinforcing how a season’s delay was originally not in the cards (thanks Corona-chan!), was largely about Emilia and teasing the reasons behind her current state of mind. I think most could’ve guessed something was up with the girl and her inability to pass Sanctuary’s trials, but the reason being from Puck locking her memories away after rescuing her from ice and Roswaal effectively coercing her into running for ruler so she could save her family? Now that’s going places. While there’s a lot left to discern about Emilia’s past – not to mention Puck’s reason for only appearing and breaking their contract now – it’s safe to say that we can Emilia to finally break through her trial quagmire alongside getting some answers as interest. Not enough to truly fill in the blanks of course (have to give a reason to keep this series chugging along), but more than enough to help whet the appetite.
The other biggie delved into this week was of course Subaru, as the kid has now made his first real step towards understanding and accepting that he cannot take on the whole world alone. Although I’m slightly surprised Otto was the one who broke through Subaru’s vainglory and convinced him to actually reach out, it’s undeniably a needed shock considering prior events. Hell, having Subaru half-admit Return by Death to the guy? Betcha didn’t see that one coming. Naturally, however, the major point of this change is getting Roswaal under control by using the disparate pieces of Sanctuary to overcome the challenges Subaru cannot face alone – i.e. breaking Sanctuary’s barrier and saving the mansion. Subaru may not be able to handle these challenges alone, but the combined skills of Otto, Ryuzu (all four of her), Ram, and Garfiel likely are once each of them is properly convinced and utilized. It’s the single most difficult task Subaru has ever undertaken, and you better bet you haven’t seen everything it has to offer just yet.
Best buckle up boys and girls, this season is going to be a ride.
Puck is the definition of a deadbeat dad, he fails to support Emilia when he’s needed the most, then asks the boyfriend to take care of his daughter. Fuck Puck, all my homies hate Puck. XD
I’m not sure if they will adapt the part where it’s explained why he is the way he acts, but it’s there’s a reason for it which is explained.
It’ll likely be explained, this adaptation has been pretty consistent in not cutting out anything important and Puck’s decision is pretty important given the lack of context.
When Subaru said, “Unlike Garfiel, I don’t have to worry about dying”, I wonder if he meant that he had told Otto he was immortal or that if Garfiel tried to get Emilia to open up to him that she might freak out and lose control of her powers, killing him in the process, whereas that wouldn’t happen if Subaru did the same.
Probably the former, the way it was discussed made it appear to me that Subaru used immortality as a workaround to deflect dying when mentioning Return by Death.
That’s not how I understood it as I thought that Subaru meant dealing with Emilia was simply not as dangerous as with hot headed Garfiel.
Could be as well, my impression was Subaru had told Otto part of his secret given how Otto wound up confronting Garfiel at the end, but either way we’ll know soon enough!
I thought of something horrible that could happen to Subaru.
Roswaal seemed to think it’s not a bad idea to lay the groundwork for the next loop, which indicates Roswaal thinks that the bet he and Subaru made will affect Subaru in the next loop, which will be something Subaru has never experienced before, having a consequence from a previous loop directly inconvenience him in the next loop. Roswaal would never lay groundwork for Subaru to beat him in the next loop, so it’s clear Roswaal is indicating he is laying some groundwork for himself.
I’m not sure what kind of bet would be able to transfer over between lives, but I have a theory based off of my theory of souls and soul scents that I have posted about before. As you recall from episode 18 of Re:zero, Petelgeuse indicated that in death, he would be reunited with the Witch, which indicates there’s an afterlife and strongly indicates the presence of souls in Re:zero. Arbiter Melakuera indicated there was reincarnation in Re:zero in the Re:zero OVAs, which is a second instance that suggests that there are souls in Re:zero. Season 2 confirmed that souls are a thing in a Re:zero when Echidna indicated that her soul was trapped in the Witch’s Graveyard in the afterlife. As we all know, the Witch has a very foul smell given what we know of Subaru and Witch cultists, and I speculate that the reason they reek of her scent is because her soul smells horrible considering that her body is very likely sealed and should have no biological function. This suggests that Subaru and Witch cultists have their souls bonded to Satella, the Witch of Envy’s soul, and that is the source of the smell. I’m now getting to my point. I believe that the first step of Return by Death involves resetting time, restoring Subaru’s body and resetting to a previous point in time and that when Subaru dies, his soul goes to the afterlife, and the reason Subaru smells more strongly of the Witch after a death is because of increased exposure to the Witch. This suggests that the soul does not reset with Return by Death, or else he wouldn’t smell more strongly of the Witch after a death. This also suggests the soul is the reason Subaru retains his memories from previous lives since his brain shouldn’t remember anything since it is straight up restored to its previous state, meaning the second step of Return by Death is sending Subaru’s soul back into his restored body. As for why Subaru can’t remember spending time with Satella in the afterlife, remember when Echidna forced Subaru to forget that he had met her after her first tea party with him? That shows that the Witches of Sin have the power to do that and would explain why Subaru wouldn’t remember meeting Satella.
So if Roswaal and Subaru’s bet somehow has a mandatory effect on the soul, then Subaru would be forced to do whatever Roswaal wishes even after a death because Return by Death does not reset the soul. This could have some very huge implications if this is indeed what Roswaal has in mind. I hope Subaru can actually win on this loop, as otherwise, I think he might be in for another mental breakdown if he is forced to choose either the Sanctuary or the mansion in the next loop against his will if he fails during this current loop. I do always want to note that it’d be an interesting way to add tension to the story since Subaru would not be able to kill himself to undo the effect on his soul.
Re:Zero has its strong episodes when some exciting things happen, which makes it engaging to follow. And then it has episodes like this when they just talk and talk endlessly. The latter is kinda meh to me.
To be fair these sorts of episodes are necessary at times to reorient and direct matters, and featuring it right at the start of the season at least gets it done and over with immediately.
Yeah, I guess. The first cour also started slowly but aftеr some preparatory episodes it became really good.
I want this anime lately since a friend recommended this to me. At first it hook me up but after some more episodes, it bores me. I do not know why they like this anime, maybe it is not just my taste.