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「狂気の外側」 (Kyouki no Sotogawa)
“The Outside of Madness”
Holy shizzz… prepare for a long post because my mind is just completely blown. This might end up as a very incoherent post because there’s just no ways to describe how I feel anymore.
Just when you think you know what Re: Zero has up its sleeve, you don’t. Seriously, I wouldn’t have believed it if someone told me when I first started this series, but now I know. It’s incredible brutal and tragic and just everything thrown at you at once. Just two weeks ago (or even last week), I was disappointed in Subaru. I was upset that he wasn’t a very “developed” character and he was simply just another teenager that suffers from main character syndrome, thrown into a universe that’s completely outside his understanding and norm. Now, I just feel a lot of pity for him so much so that I can’t fathom what he’s going through. He’s such a broken character now that it’s hard to relate to his situation other than the desire to hold him close and tell him that everything’s going to be alright. Except maybe it won’t and that despair of not being able to do anything is what’s killing me (and Subaru). He’s died twice in one episode and each time, it doesn’t get any prettier (that ending though… so on point!). He’s beaten, both mentally, physically, emotionally – it’s the worst type of torture to relive each day knowing what’s at the end if he goes back to the manor and village. I wasn’t a huge fan of Subaru in the past several weeks but this… he doesn’t deserve this. His ability is a curse that’s created this infinite loop of bad endings that he can’t escape.
Subaru’s mental state is one thing… and the actuality of what’s happening is another. Subaru is literally living in a nightmare right now as his companions and friends are slaughtered each loop. In each loop, Sugaru leaves Felix and Crusch’s care to venture back to Roswaal’s manor. Regardless of what happens to him during this time, the Witch’s Cult end up terrorizing the village and killing everyone (including Ram) in some of the most brutal ways. In the end, we don’t even see what happens to everyone else as everything is frozen over when Subaru arrives and the last thing we see is this giant rat-beast emerging. The only thing we know is that the hooded men are part of the Witch’s Cult (whom I guess, worship the Jealous Witch and do her bidding) and they’re led by this crazy clown-like character named Betelgeuse Romaneeconti (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu). Brilliant performance from Yoshitsugu if I must say so myself – I’ve blogged several shows featuring him as a main/supporting seiyuu now but this act sent chills down my spine. Betelgeuse is one crazy son-of-a-b*tch, but what makes him worse is that he’s dangerous even unprovoked. I can’t even explain his behavior because even if he has a motive (which we don’t know of yet), his actions feel so sporadic and he only does what satisfies him. I assume he’s one of the 7 deadly sins as he claims to be the “sloth” and mistakens Subaru to be “pride”. He kills everyone in his path, and torture is no stranger to him either (which is really the worst way to go). The contortionist acts freak the sh*t out of me and when he does it to his victims too? Poor Rem… but seriously, that girl – she is just nothing short of amazing.
Rem might as well be the main character this arc as her performance blows me away every time. And unlike Subaru who was a mindless zombie for half the episode, Rem does what she can to protect her sister, the village and ultimately the man she loves – Subaru. What a sad way to go and I felt my heart go out for Rem as she told Subaru that she loved him. Even though I knew Subaru was going to restart eventually, it’s still the act of finding out under those circumstances that really get to me. Even Betelgeuse called it and I’m surprised that Subaru didn’t realize it sooner. Rem has more than a silly crush on him, she actually loves him and even when her limbs are unusable and she’s dragging her dead body across the floor, she does it because she wants to save Subaru. This simply breaks my heart and it was even harder for me to watch that than seeing Subaru scream for 2 minutes in chains. Rem has done nothing wrong and still gets the short end of the stick – each time. If there’s anyone that Subaru better feel indebted to now, it’s Rem and not Emilia.
So speaking of Emilia, the rest of the Roswaal manor doesn’t show up this episode at all. Other than Ram’s body, and the villagers, we don’t see the other magic-wielders anywhere. Are they dead? Did they also freeze to death? Subaru finds a secret path to the basement at the beginning but we never get to see inside before hell freezes over. Is it something that the Witch’s Cult are hiding or perhaps something they don’t want anyone else to see? What’s worse is that even if Subaru manages to get there alive, he doesn’t even know what he’s looking for or what’s happening. This entire story is told from Subaru’s POV but he’s actually a side character in the universe of Lugnica and he’s trying so hard to place himself in the middle of it – only to get himself killed every time. I don’t know where Emilia and Roswaal are; I imagine that they’re probably not home or else this wouldn’t be happening, but then it doesn’t answer the question of what’s behind that basement door. Beatrice has also failed to make an appearance in weeks (oh how I miss her!) so does that mean she’s also dead or MIA?
So what now? Well the first reset certainly took a toll on Subaru and although Betelgeuse claimed that he was “faking” it, I don’t know just how fake it was. Seeing everyone dead in a gruesome manner, is no walk in the park. Even if Subaru has witnessed it multiple times, this is the first time it’s mass-murder. It’s been shown many times now, but Subaru is human and he does get impacted by everything happening around him. After the second loop though, Subaru has a fire burning inside him to do something about the Witch’s Cult and Betelgeuse. Now he knows what he’s up against and Subaru is determined to change this path. I don’t know what or how, but he’ll have to find a way to live through this arc as well. It’s also awfully convenient for him to get a new save point 😉
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Winter is here… and so is Subaru and Rem’s doom – in the form of a crazy clown that’s worse than Roswaal. Just when you think the brutality and despair couldn’t get any more bleak in #ReZero… I can’t unsee what I’ve seen. HOLY SHIZZZ! That was a crazy episode of #ReZero… I’ve never felt so angry, sad and hopeless for anime. I pity Subaru now more than ever.
Really, the power of love is so strong even with twisted neck,rem was still beautiful…
And at last…the villain that I can genuinely hate, thumbs up for the seiyuu
Indeed, this is a villain we can truly hate 100%. Unlike the previous villains,
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
Too sinfully sexy; the only heroines that is has the appearance, of the same attracting vibe of a good looking villainess, would probably be Overlord’s Albedo and witchblade’s Masane Amaha. It almost makes you wish she will be one of those female villains that will be reformed by the good guys.
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
A little too cute to hate completely. As people say, animals can become beasts yet it is the humans that can become Monsters in the truest sense.
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
Here we have a character we can really HATE without any mercy where he greatly resembles disney’s Claude Frollo. You have to admit, Elsa now seems more likable as compared to Betelgeuse. We recall how Elsa ended things with a nice clean cut, where her victims would usually die immediately. Betelgeuse is a different story as he does an inhuman way of killing someone in a fashion where the victims most likely are alive and awake to feel the pain.
“he was simply just another teenager that suffers from main character syndrome”
Notably, in you look at another way, Suburu’s incompetence is the reason he is compensated with an almighty power of time traveling; though I find it sad he can’t choose his “save point,” would have preferred him to go back further so he can listen to Felt’s speech and maybe prevent his own humiliation. Anyway, if someone like Inaho Kaizuka (ALDNOAH.ZERO) or Basara Tōjō (The Testament of Sister New Devil) was gifted with such a power then they probably would’ve been invincible. But Suburu is the character that needs this power the most because we know he can be able to learn from his mistakes.
Elsa is alot more like Shaltear than Albedo
Going by the seiyuu it seems that giant monster was supposed to be Puck. So I guess he went berserk after Emilia died.
Mayor props in making people really care about a character that seemed to be a stereotypical snarky maid. I know its pointless to ask but I don’t want to see Rem suffer anymore.
My poor Rem 🙁
Death is cheap in Re:Zero. But still, it was painful seeing Beetlejuice twisted Rem’s neck.
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Poor Rem 🙁
Rewatching that scene is especially painful when you know that she’s still alive, and that she feels every single extremity (plus her neck) getting slowly twisted.
Yeah, death really is cheap. Poor Rem.
Well the interesting thing about this show is that the looping nature lets us get to know people in the same environment but from different angles. Like playing a NG+ file that opens new dialogue and choice options.
something different happened this time though. we’ve seen emilia dead before without it becoming a winterpocalypse. those cultists had to have done SOMETHING in order to make puck go fucking berserk
@brownie: The other time Emilia died, Puck wasn’t around though (used up his time limit). That’s my guess as to the difference.
Well, the other time Emilia died, Subaru was dying as well (episode 1), so we still don’t know what would’ve happened after that.
Also, in episode 3, during the fight with Elsa, Puck said something along the lines of “If anything happens to you, I’ll follow my contract”, so maybe that’s what really happens when Emilia dies and Puck is angry. I suppose we’ll see in future episodes
Show Spoiler ▼
I’m pretty sure that’s Puck and not just because the Seiyuu is listed as the same but more because of what was said before Subaru got frozen over. The line went something like “.. join my daughter in eternal sleep” or something like that and we all know that Puck calls Emelia his daughter and he uses ice element magic so it’s not too difficult to put 2 and 2 together.
That was….hard to watch. They certainly pull no punches in making sure you hate the enemy while simultaneously transferring some of the hate many were probably feeling for Subaru these past weeks.
Hopefully having a clear enemy to focus on and desire (even if it’s pure, unadulterated hatred right now) will pull Subaru out of this “rut” and put him back on track.
P.S. I had a momentary WTF freakout with the ending and credit scroll until I remembered this was a two-cour show.
Surely you didn’t freaked out as well seeing the Fruit Peddler as the checkpoint?
he is relieved in having a new savepoint after freezing to death loop after loop.
That is his first sub-mission accomplished. He got out of the nightmare.
I think that monster is Puck! Look at the earring!
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
Ya berserk form Puck T~T. He’s the only one who calls Emilia my Daughter
There is actually a part 2 episodes back during the introduction sequence in the royal court where that comes up.. but they cut it from the anime.
it also explained how special (?) Puck really is.
Yeah, obviously Puck.
He mentioned having a different/real form IIRC and a few eps ago he showed his giant teeths.
Though I don’t ever remember him ever calling Emilia his daughter. Did the anime director mess up by forgetting to include it in earlier eps or did I forgot about it (which episode?)?
Stuff from the 3rd arc manga (which I assume happened in the LN as well) but which hasn’t been shown in the anime and we’re past it now with where the reset point is.
Show Spoiler ▼
Its still guessable who it is at the end, but having that little tidbit before the scene at the end came up had a bigger impact to me once I realized who it was. I’d thought it was a dragon at first and was confused until the “daughter” line.
The whole court scene is confusing to me. How come they changed/cut out so many things? The thing with Al, the thing with Roswaal, the thing with Puck, so many things! I thought that Subaru’s save point would be the day before court and that they were simply changing up the order of things… But to cut out so much and then just move on with the story, what’s up with that?
(Note that I have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m an anime-only viewer but I’ve read the manga chapters covering the episodes that are already out and the anime just seems to leave out SO much O.o)
@boingman
I think in the 2nd arc when Subaru and Puck were teasing Emilia and Subaru was asking him for his Daughter and Puck refusing 😕
It didn’t feel as possessive as the bit that should’ve happened in ep 13, or the line at the end of this episode.
I was eating while watching this episode.
What the fuck happened to RE: Zero this week.
Subaru found Emilia’s bloody rose before finding the secret entrance, and the creature-that-is-clearly-Puck (he creates ice and you can see the earring if you look closely enough) kind of says that Emilia is dead. So I’m pretty sure that she is not away and that her death makes Puck start freezing everything around him.
Anyway, Subaru at the end has the eyes of a villain. I’ve this strange feeling that his personality will get even darker.
Hate is a powerful motivator.
The prior episodes Subaru had nothing to focus on, now that Bishop of sloth appeared and is the one responsible for the massacre it now gives Subaru something to focus on.
Only if he manages to stay calm though. Raging like a madman won’t help him (re)gaining the trust of the ppl that he need help from.
One of the many things i like about this anime, is how the combination of excelently animated facial expression and body languaje, and the outstanding work of the seiyuus conveys so wonderfully the emotions of the characters…
Things learned from this episode:
– Don’t mess with Puck.
– Creepy Clown is creepier than expected.
– Seriously… Don’t mess with Puck!
You forgot something
– Dont mess with a person with a messed up mind because he will make you life messier. Judging from Subaru’s face, Betelgeuse is about to experience one.
They killed Rem…. *rage* Kill the bastard!!! Skin him alive, crush each of his bones, cover his body with nukes and blast him to damn space to freeze and suffocate to death. Damm I know its a fictional character but hell… Rem!!!!
Seriously, after I saw Rem’s dedication and true love, I hope Subaru would ditch Emilia in the end of this story (as a whole). She is not worthy at all.
And that face of Subaru in the end, that’s the face of a person who is about to start the next extinction. Total anger and rage.
Too weak of a punishment… Call asuna to give Betelgeuse a serious beating. After all his seiyuu is Kirito’s seiyuu LOL
This episode’s events are the central appeal of the webnovel in a nutshell.
Holy shit what an episode. This is like Madoka all over again (and again and again and again). Theory time!
Tagged for specuation:
Show Spoiler ▼
Instead of an act of mercy, it felt like a “kill them all” attitude to me.
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As The Bishop of Sloth, Beetlejuice sure have lots of energy in him.
i think they are anti-sins. he’s bishop of sloth so he punished slothful people.
This episode threw my ass for a loop, no pun intended. I was yelling. Especially with puck. Like… What the fuck is going on??? When puck says sleep, he means Die, so that implies that Emilia is also dead. Which makes me wonder if puck automatically assumes that form after death. Nothing is never what it appears to be with this show and I’m loving every second of it. My question is, with every loop does the witches strength get stronger or dies it have something to do with his negative emotions..? This was a terrible episode in the best way possible. I need a movie.
I know this has been said but it bears saying again. Rem is truly THE Best Girl. Get your head out of your rear sphincter Subaru. How could you turn down a girl that adorable that also has the fortitude and love to literally spit in the face of the Reaper, crawl through the valley of death and then ensure that you are free as her final act even when her body is held together by nothing short of willpower at that point? This is a girl who crawled on broken limbs and a twisted neck to save you. Let’s see Emilia top that.
Also, the voice work in this series has never been short of superb and the newest villain does not disappoint. I think Noto Mamiko did a bang up job as the sexily malicious assassin in the first arc and our Bishop of Sloth is nothing short of Mark Hamil’s Joker as a villainous performance.
I wonder though if saying his name three times will summon him like a certain ghost who shares his name. XD
I agree to that.. When Subaru needs some emotional help, only Rem was there. When Subaru needs protection while insane, only Rem is there. Rem faithfully protected, cared, loved Subaru, no questions asked. Where is Emilia? No where. during the time that Subaru is insane, I think she is preparing for the royal selection like no fck has happen. Does she even care maybe yes, but not now because she has her selfish priorities. I hope Subaru would kill Emilia in the end (and end up with Rem) GIVEN that there are indications already that Emilia might be or becomes the Jealous Witch.
*sigh*
1. Emilia is not a servant who has nothing better to do than serve as someone’s bodyguard and servant. She is not a waifu, she is her own character with her own ambitions and her own goals. Saying that she should live only and only for Subaru is like saying that a wife needs no other life than to take care of her husband and that she should tolerate and understand everything about him while the husband does not need to do any of that. She already gave him a better treatment than he deserved anyway and there is no denying that Subaru is acting like a crazy creep towards Emilia (which, granted, is probably thanks to the Witch)
2. Where was Rem when Subaru was suffering during the 2nd arc? Ah yeah, she was tearing his body into tiny pieces just because he smelled funny and even ignored the fact that Roswald, Puck and Beatrice (aka the actual experts) did not mind it. What a nice girl, she will murder you for some lame reason unless you save her and her sister’s life, a true role model. More people should be like that! (of course, she had good reason but the fact remains that what she did was by every mean an evil, unprovoked and cruel deed)
Seriously, can’t you guys ship without acting like pricks?
Hmmm about number 2 as rebuttal, that won’t work because Rem doesnt know Subaru that much during that specific repeat. So saying where is Rem during that time is weak counter argument as against to Emilia who has been with Subaru the most but you cant find her during the time Subaru is down.
So yeah you cant protect your Emilia like that. Emilia is a prick. All hail Rem. I really hope Subaru kills Emilia and go with Rem.
Please be civil. Rem definitely best girl but Emilia certainly doesn’t deserve to die. Don’t forget it is she who gave Subaru his first lap pillow when he needed it the most and opening Rem’s mind to Subaru’s good side.
We all know Rem is a sweet, badass oni, but don’t conveniently overlook the kind heart Emilia has either. (See Ep 1 for more details.)
@Nayrael
Thanks, you saved me the trouble of replying. Some people viewing this arc far too much in a vacuum. Rem is only with him because she only Subaru hasn’t bridges with. The problems with his relationships all of his own fault and it’s up to him repair that. Rem herself has merely her devotion from her sister to him.
Rem is best girl, but the Subaru she loves is the one who will hold steadfast in protecting others, and Emilia is the one he has to remain steadfast with in order to keep the world from going to hell (possibly literally). As painful as it is, he can’t love Rem for as long as this goes on, because that would immediately tear him away from being where he needs to be.
When this is all over, he can finally turn to Rem, who will still be there for him. But until then, he can only be allowed to pursue Emilia.
If they ever animate Arc 4, you will see Emilia in a different light. It’s all about perspective. You are being about as immature as Subaru was at the start of this arc. (arc3)
@Rinsako
It’s selling pretty well, so I would expect another season.
Well it a few point deduction for Rem for you know having ripped off Subaru’s Arm with a spiked ball and then crushing his head. Also for torture/healing him on the 2nd time he respawned at the mansion.
Although I still like Rem, I’d feel Emilia won Subaru over for being nice on the get go.
Hehehehe… Looks like we have a Rem faction vs Emilia faction here
Just wondering how much of this is actually Roswaal’s plan.
I mean, he and Beatrice are the only characters we did not get any clues about. While Bea-tan is already proven as a good guy (good loli?), Ros-chi is still somewhat of an enigma. All we know about him is that he has some grand goal, he’s pretty smart and pragmatic. I can hardly believe that he couldn’t see this coming.
And about Bea-tan… Well, she’s already bound by some kind of pact, who knows, maybe staying out of this is part of that.
By the way, Subaru as the apostle of pride? That’s way too fitting.
You’re the second person to call it a rat. It’s obviously a cat and it’s Puck. His name was in the credits and that was definitely his voice.
In the first loop, Subaru arrived earlier in time to be Puck’s first victim. In the second loop he arrived later.
We can trust Betelgeuse’s diagnosis. He’s an authority on the subject as you’ve seen.
Nah. he isn’t the first victim during the first death. There are actually several frozen Cultists around the door.
Question.. If the jealous witch ate all the other witches does that mean Beetlejuicy whateverthefuck is a disciple of a dead witch or..
It reminds me of how their are the Knights assigned to the “king” of their choosing.
Also, I can totally see Subaru becoming a villain after all is said than done.
Nah, they would say “Sloth Witch Cultists” if that was the case (as the Witch is currently synonimous with the Envy Witch and they wouldn’t want that) and he would not spare Subaru just because he had the (Envy) Witch’s smell.
If I had to guess, Satella stole the powers of other Witches and then gave them to her cultists.
As a reader of the LN, Show Spoiler ▼
Guess Kaneki Ken can finally reserve that table for 2 at Chez La Torture
Rem is the greatest Best Girl of all time…
This was one of the heaviest episodes yet. The way Subaru operates has really shown it’s flaws as of late. He’s basically playing a Kaizo Trap game where he memorizes all the death points and opens the way for someone to kill the main thing causing the issue. It was the wrong approach for this Royal Candidate exchange it tore him to shreds. The main issue here is that he is both right and wrong. He is right that he is needed and people will die without his intervention, as evidenced in all these loops, but his approach is blunt and his attitude has been going precipitously down hill. Emilia has more than likely died in each of today’s loops and from there we can assume that Puck either does some sort of final “contract” fulfillment or goes berserk. It is interesting on how we all commented to one degree or another Subaru’s pride and we have Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!!) calling him the archbishop of such. And yes. Rem is quite possibly the best girl. At first I thought it was some sort of horrible troll moment where Betelgeuse or some evil…thing… took control of her body, but no. It was all Rem. All for love. My questions are where are Roswaal and Beatrice? He always seems conspicuously absent for these key events. Beatrice may or may not stick around. She seems to have purely contractual obligations outside of her fondness of Puck. Also, is there a breaking point for this stench/aura/miasma of the witch that hangs over Subaru? Is it slowly altering his mind? Will he wind up like Beteguese eventually? Will he get a new ability? Time will tell.
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What the Puck?! Even winter is coming in Re:Zero.
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Matsuoka is good with voicing characters we love to hate.
yeah …groundhog day all over again but with a horrible twist.
and mistakes Subaru to be “pride”.
Did he? Let’s take the introduction of “Sloth” and assume for the moment that the witch empowers 7 apostles based on the 7 Deadly Sins. Can you think of a better apostle of Pride than Subaru?
Also, remember how in the first episode of the arc the surviving Witch Cultists appeared in front of him and just wandered off instead of killing him. Then in this episode they take him away. One could argue that they detect the stench of the witch and identify him as one of their own.
This is exactly how I’m interpreting it. I don’t think it was a mistake at all.
@Dave. Agree. Had the same thought as well. We still don’t know WHY Subaru was summoned to this world, what role JW has in mind for him, etc.
I feel like last episode the cultists bow to Subaru then leave him alone because he’s showing up after the whole situation at the mansion is over and they’re leaving. The only reason they capture him this loop is because they don’t want him interfering with their plan. It’s also entirely possible he ran into a different faction of the Witch Cultists. There seem to be separate cultists under different leaders since Betelgeuse mentioned meeting up with the others.
I liked how the reset this time didn’t undo some of Subaru’s putting mouth in foot with Emilia.. at least this time has to earn his way out if he does so by the end of the arc (presumably where the anime will end).
IMO it should be clear at that the Witch Cult attacked Roswaal domain after word of Emilia’s existence got out thanks to royal election. Whether they looking to test her or using her as host Satella is the main question though. Betelgeuse did mention something called the Day of Ordeal.
Also there mostly 6 or 7 Archbishops if take the implications of Betel calling Subaru Pride and they probably get-off Witch’s scent and can sense it others. That said, Subaru probably isn’t the Bishop of Pride because doesn’t posse a Gospel like Betel does.
Dear Nagatsuki Tappei,
thanks for writing this amazing story, now could you PLEASE stop killing Rem already ?
Let’s see what you did here, you took a stereotype and made it in one of the most lovable character I can remember:
– she is kind and sweet (and cutest maid ever), and is good at everything;
– she is a strong fighter but also emotionally frail, so she needs to be loved;
– she’s always there when one needs help, or support;
– she accepts her secondary role in the life of the man she loves, yet she put her love before her own life;
then you murder her multiple times in worse and worse ways, so that when the time is reset we now fear it instead of being relieved, thinking about how she will be brutalized the next time … good job japanese version of George R. R. Martin (at least he kills the most loved protagonists only once, and in less horrible ways).
Since Rem is clearly not the main girl, she doesn’t have an indestructible plot armor, so I’m afraid of what may happen. You better find a way to make her happy at the end, ok ? Don’t disappoint me.
I feel sorry for you for when you watch the final episode.
Nice spoiler?
The scene in front of the castle/Puck with the music and red credits…perfect.
Brutal episode, but wonderfully directed.
It’s been a while that an anime episode left me in such a shocked state as this.
At least it shouldn’t get worse than that for Subaru. Time to save the day, once again.
A really intense episode full of poignant moments which left me starring in silence in the end…and right after seeing Subaru’s last expression at the very end of the episode, the fleeing thought “he has lost it…” cross my mind, and the title of the episode “The outside of Madness” appeared on the screen. What a brilliant title, indeed, that partially summarize this episode!
Subaru acted in a very hectic way the past 2 eps, to the point that I was wondering if the writer wasn’t going too far in destroying his own hero: after all, even if he redeems himself later, our memories are not so short that we would forget his total jerk moments…but it’s really amazing how a turn of events makes your feelings turn into a completely different direction which you didn’t imagine the week before…Now, he seems broken, battered by all the deaths his witnessed and all the deaths he suffered…
The Subaru in the last minutes who talked ‘normally’ was…scary. I watched him in fascination as he walked next to Rem hand in hand, he is BEYOND mad an BEYOND angry at this point, he’s out for blood, that’s for sure, but HOW? It’s not the sort of series in which powers will just befall on you in 3sec: his many deaths showed us more than enough that he is everything but invincible.
And now, the best character in this episode: REM.
Much love to Rem this episode, she really needs a big hug!
Her beginnings weren’t good (what with murdering Subaru…) nonetheless she more than redeemed herself since (and the ‘versions’ of events in which she kills him are overwritten after all), and her back story made it clear that the cruel circumstances of her life since birth made her act so suspicious of people; Subaru ‘saved’ her from being the shadow of her genius sister, and it’s nice to see her finally begin to make her own choices independently for her sis…which is to die for the one she loves most… *cries*
Grand moments with Rem this episode, the most intense being, of course, when she dragged herself to Subaru, torn in pieces and dying, to break him free and confess in her last breath. Now, he clearly knows how precious he is to Rem and how far she would go for his sake, and we can tell that she is also very important to him.
Honestly, I never understood his fixation toward Emilia: of course, she is beautiful and she is also the first one he met at the very beginning, and she is a good girl with issues of her own who welcomed him into her home, but all in all, looking back at the past 15 episodes, Rem is clearly the one he is the most connected to emotionally, for better or for worst…
the question now being: where is this going? All in all, Rem has been given a lot of screen time and character development, she is pretty much the main girl as she has been shown, but we can still tell that she is not: Emilia is.
Is Rem really destined to suffer all along while the heroine Emilia ‘wins’ in the end…?
This is were you are mistaken. Subaru never connected with Rem emotionally, she did with him. She idolizes him as her savoir and her love him is driven by that fact. While to Subaru she is only just a friend and fellow co-worker. This not dissimilar to Suabru and Emilia’s relationship. It’s why he treates her no different than now.
Furthermore you should not be talking about this as if this is the end of story. You have no idea the direction where Rem’s relationship could go. In the next couple arcs she could turn into a enemy fro all you know. It’s too early to claim winner of anything especially with Subaru’s circumstances at the moment.
I think there are all kinds of love in this world, and while I get your idea of her being a loyal follower as a result of his actions resulting into her “salvation”, but I personally think she genuinely fell in love with him, yes, due to him being her hero, but so what? You can begin loving someone because of many different reasons!
Rem showed her genuine feelings through her actions, till her last breath.
Subaru also dies many times, but it was never exclusively for Emilia or for her love, he did it mostly to save his own life or re-arrange a catastrophic turn of events. And sincerely, after his show of “pride” in eps 13-14, about how she owes him more than she could imagine, that she can’t do anything without him etc.. I’m doubting his ‘pure’ love for her.
For me at the moment, the situation is : Subaru and Emilia are only friends (who are now in a fight…), Rem is in love with Subaru, Subaru knows Rem loves him and he likes her as a friend.
On another note, I accidently spoiled myself: I went on wikipedia to learn more about the series, and started reading Rem’s character description not imagining that those 4 little lines about Rem contained such a huge spoiler, well, my fault, I looked for it after all : and so, I do have an idea of what is going to happen to Rem, [warning spoilers] [warning spoilers] Show Spoiler ▼
@sherry
Never look at a wiki and expect no spoilers, especially if the source material is further along than what you want to know. Important twists at a given moment may be treated as obvious later on, such as Yoruichi’s identity in Bleach, or the genre shift in Muv-luv.
The look he had at the end was pure focused rage that screams “I will kill you no matter how many time I have to die to make it so” I like it! 😀
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
Okay, be honest
How would you react if Subaru resets back to the very first episode checkpoint?
I mean, why must it be the Appa guy again?
maybe he’s the summoner, or appas sets a checkpoint.
not even the first checkpoint -.-
Not really a spoiler since it’s happened already, but the anime already omitted one loop that Subaru goes through. Apparently, in the novels Subaru convinces Rem to go back to the mansion as soon as possible after the first massacre, but it ends up the same way, but with more torture porn (more of Rem dying). Meeting the bishop of sloth was actually the 3rd loop, but I much prefer that the anime skipped over the second loop (needless torture porn doesn’t develop the story further, and would just make me cry even more for Rem..>).
And gosh, absolutely phenomenal episode. Betelgeuse’s voice actor was terrifying, and what a stellar performance that was. I can hardly believe he was the voice of Kirito from Sword Art Online. What amazing talent that seiyuu has, I swear. The end where Subaru’s head silently falls from his head as Puck rampages in the background in the falling snow and the part where Rem struggled to reach out for Subaru with her broken, dismembered limbs. Freaking bone chilling stuff. As if Re:Zero wasn’t entertaining enough, this episode just broke the charts. I’m really looking forward to see how Subaru will satiate his new found rage for Betelgeuse, hopefully by recruiting the help of Reinhardt and friends.
That never happened to begin with. Those were fake spoilers.
Have you read the novels? I’m not too sure actually, i just read from some comments from novel readers that there was a lot more torture loop(s) that occurred before Subaru became this determined. But hey, you might be right that it never did (if it didn’t, then better)
They actually skipped like 15 other loops where Subaru and Rem where constantly getting captured and brutally tortured, in the WN of re:zero it was one of these loops which caused Subaru to just go insane.
I’m glad they decided to skip all that because some of the loops were down right disgusting; Betelgeuse tearing Rem limb from limb along with other horrible things right in front of Subaru.
Also I loved Betelgeuse just calling out Subaru on his so called insanity. Yes he was broken mentally by the previous loop but again Subaru was just playing the victim card so he could get Emilia to pity him. Like Rem said “Seeing Emilia could be the thing he needs.”
And finally Rem, poor sweet Rem, the best girl. Her dedication to Subaru is just amazing and I love her for it. Plus it helps that she tries her best with listening Subaru unlike Emilia who just didn’t UNDERSTAND.
To be fair to Emilia, it’s really not her fault that she couldn’t understand what Subaru is going through. He couldn’t explain anything to her because of his curse, especially when she had asked him several times. She even stated “there’s no way I could understand if you don’t tell me anything…”. She’s already been very nice to Subaru, and remember she was the first to trust in him and consoled him in the previous arc.
I still think Rem is the better girl, and she deserves Subaru’s affection when the poor girl has tried so hard in this arc to save him. But, her affection stems from the fact that she’s seen what Subaru has done first hand. She’s seen all of his selfless acts of good like risking his life to save children he barely met, not to mention her when she was about to be stabbed by some demon dog. She saw him risk his life again to save both Rem and Ram and confront the boss dog before Roswaal came to save him.
And wow, I don’t think I could handle reading 15 loops of torture porn…I think the author went a little trigger happy in his web novel where he could get away with everything, aha.
@xxvan: Interesting. While I’m glad the anime skipped the repeated WN (LN also?) torture scenes, that would definitely make a difference in my impression regarding Subaru’s mind-break. That being said, 15 times (if you mean that number literally) is excessive IMO.
The anime is adapting the light novel, not the web novel.
Those 15+ torture loops were only in the web novel, the light novel removed them.
So the anime didn’t actually skip anything
They did it well then. It’s absurd thinking that Subaru would voluntarily guide Rem 15 times to a place just to get tortured and killed together in horrible ways. It’s more plausible like this.
WOW. Yeah, a LOT to digest leaving me with a number of question. First of all, YAY! for good reset point. After last episode, I started to worry that maybe there would be this big grim-dark twist and reset was after Rem & the village destroyed. Fully admit, what happened did NOT go as I expected. I wrongfully thought Ram, Emilia & Roswaal (mostly due to Roswaal) would be able to hold out at the mansion. Nope. Not even close. Anyway, Subaru got a good enough, if not ideal, reset point. Would really like to know the mechanics there, but have a feeling it may not be explained.
– Regarding Emilia, eh, IDK. Not like she hasn’t died before, but still watched too much anime so no body = remain doubtful of actual death. Her dying would better explain Puck going berserk. Even if she is dead, eh, reset. Just save her along with the rest.
Ques. #1 = Struggling with the timeline here quite a bit. Based upon when Rem gets her “telepathy warning” from Ram, I would think they arrive earlier in 1st Reset than before he died (last episode). 1st Reset she gets it when they are well on the way to the mansion. Last ep. she gets when they are still at Crusch’s, and they take bit of time to leave after that (including a stop during the night). Then again, uh, where’s all the snow (if not giant cat/evidently Puck) if they arrived later in the last episode? Also, if the voice at the end “sleep with my daughter” is Puck’s, then I should assume that “you’re too late” in the beginning is Puck as well? They sound similar, but not sure. Even then, there are differences in what occurs which don’t make sense to me.
Ques #2: Trying to understand some of the differences here. Maybe I’m mistaken as to this time warp bit, but I would think that things only change depending upon what Subaru does or doesn’t do. Yet, what occurs doesn’t seem to match up with that. (1) WHY is he kidnapped by the witch cult in the 1st Reset vs. them bowing and leaving last episode? This makes no sense to me. He’s all alone, just waiting to be kidnapped last episode so… (2) Before he dies, he finds Ram dead inside the mansion. 1st Reset, he finds her dead outside. I can’t think of anything due to what he does or doesn’t do differently that would change that.
– Where the f**k is Roswaal in all of this? That’s what I want to know. I mean the guy essentially snaps his fingers and turns a bunch of ma-beast to ash, he was able to “rescue” (starting to wonder about that) Rem & Ram from the witch cult before, and I thought is this “hax/op” type mage. Was he just not around or something else? We now have another clown mage. OK, a very crazy/evil one, but still. Maybe just coincidence. Maybe looking like a clown is a mage thing in general. Don’t know, but my suspicion of him is raised markedly at this point.
– Subaru’s JW stench. Been thinking about this for a while, but I do wonder if there’s some unknown repercussion to that increasing every time he dies. He doesn’t seem to give that an iota of thought, but I’d be worried about it (and how the reset timing works).
– I’m in the Rem = best girl camp. Yes, in one loop she killed the suspicious guy who stunk of the Jealous Witch whose cult slaughtered her parents, entire village, maimed her beloved sister and probably would have killed her and Ram if not for Roswaal’s intervention (starting wonder about that part), but we avoided that when Subaru got that loop right. She’s been just amazing this arc and particularly this episode. IMO dude has not appreciated her enough. Maybe he will now.
– I found in interesting that Sloth thought Subaru might be “Pride” since “pride” has certainly been a big factor in Subaru’s actions lately. As for other Subaru comments, putting in spoiler below due to long post already.
Show Spoiler ▼
I have no problem with the mood swings, he got the accumulated effect of the other deaths multiplied many times over so he broke again. He already broke first time when he got the lap pillow and mental damage can build up and have episodes when triggered. Mental disorders do not function in a constant way, people with them swing from normal or other moods back into the mental condition often based on stimuli but not every time. I remember a women with post pregnancy psychosis and she was totally normal some days, needing to be strapped down completely out of her mind other days.
@Cherrie:
Um, you did see that trail of frozen witch-cult corpses in the hallway, right? I don’t think they’re hiding anything there.
@Cherrie:
There was that trail of blood and parts of Emilia’s costume that Subaru followed in order to find the secret passage. I think it’s pretty easy to imagine what happened to Emilia.
@daikama:
From what others have said above, apparently in the novel there were multiple additional loops before Subaru officially snapped, but those were dropped in the anime, for obvious time reasons. I think you’ll just have to treat that as an adaptation quirk. Pretty sure no one wants to sit through an episode of repeated failures and violent Rem deaths just to prove how edgy the author can be.
@daikama:
I’m going to guess that Betelgeuse is the same tier mage as Roswaal, and that the clown motif somehow is a mark to show it. As such, Roswaal vs Betelgeuse is going to be like a Gandalf fight — offscreen and outside of the scope of our little mortal main characters’ sights.
I’m also thinking that ties in to how things play out in the timings.
Loop 1: Ram was killed inside the mansion. Probably caught by surprise, but let out a warning to the others, which allowed Roswaal to fight Betelgeuse, and Emilia to try to fight the attackers off in a desperate defense. This is a long fight (multiple days, for Rem to get there), and Rem only met with the remnants that managed to escape, at the end. Emilia found a safe spot in the hidden basement, where none of the cultists could reach her, but eventually bled out. She died shortly before Subaru arrived, where Puck said, “You’re too late”.
Loop 2: Ram was killed out near the mansion walls. She didn’t have a chance to warn the others, so Emilia and Roswaal were caught by surprise. This difference happened because Rem and Subaru were racing to get to the mansion, causing the cultists to trip their trap early when they saw someone approaching. Betelgeuse delayed his attack in order to torture Rem and Subaru, so Roswaal helped push the attack back, making them feel like they were in a stronger position than they actually were, and then when Betelgeuse arrived and took the fight to Roswaal, Emilia didn’t fight as desperately as she might have, allowing them to kill her quicker. Thus, Puck already started growing to giant form and freezing the land as Subaru arrives.
Anyway, that’s my guesses as to how that all played out, with the obvious unknown of how Beatrice factored into the fights.
@David: Agree, on the first point regarding effect of adaptation changes as I noted in my reply to xxvan’s post above. It’s a dual edged sword here IMO. On the one hand, I for one would certainly NOT want to go through multiple torture loops. On the other hand, IMO those do make the complete mind-break and feeling of hopelessness (he’s failing a lot more than ever in the past) much more credible. Ultimately, as you say, simply acknowledge and move on.
As for your second point, I agree that it’s possible that him getting kidnapped and interrogated/tortured by Sloth may have altered the assault on the mansion. It’s the only variable I can think of right now. It’s hard to get a clear picture of things as they are presented since we only see the aftermath. Makes sense that Sloth would take part in the battle, but possible he played “general” and just observed. Clearly something changed to account for the differences (Giant Puck & blizzard, Ram outside vs. inside). This isn’t a big deal. Just something that I noted/crossed my mind.
As for the kidnapping, eh, IDK. Maybe as you suggest though the change still seems a bit plot convenient to me. Maybe it’s better explained in the LN. Meh. Almost wish this was like one of those military type anime where you get a “Day xyz, Hour abc” flashed on the screen so it’s easy to figure out the timeline.
Original timeline there was the day they went out in the town and visited the Appa stand. This is where the save point is. Then they went back and some time passed that they were staying at Crusch’s where he was healing. The one morning Rem has her feeling from Ram and they spend time talking about if they’re going to go and then they leave. They have to go the long way around because of some fog or something they mention (Said it would take 3 days or something) but they push the ground dragon anyway but have to stay at the village where Rem then leaves in the middle of the night. Subaru then gets another ground dragon the next day and follows Rem. Ends up having to walk part way after the ground dragon won’t go further. As far as I can tell Subaru is only getting to the mansion on the day of the “ordeal” in this timeline and imo the witch cultists he sees are leaving from the scene after having already finished (killing everyone I presume?). Subaru gets there and finds the secret room that is starting to freeze. Yes it’s Puck telling him he’s too late and effectively killing him.
In the second loop he starts back on the earlier day at the Appa stand but due to his broken personality they end up leaving Crusch’s sooner rather than waiting for Rem’s feeling or w/e from Ram. It’s not clear if this means that they don’t have the whole fog thing or if they just have enough time to go the other way. They run into the witch cultist’s BEFORE the day of the ordeal and (imo) this is why they attack them. They don’t want to let them to the town/mansion to interfere with the upcoming plan. Subaru is caught and it’s not entirely clear how long he’s held captive (at least part of a day). After he escapes he rushes to the mansion (but this is on foot for who knows how far) and he once again is too late. This time however Puck has gone full berserk crazy huge mode and is creating the giant blizzard/ice storm that kills him.
As for Ram being outside, the children were in the shed it seemed and in the second loop Ram was protecting them since Rem wasn’t there to do so like she was in the first loop since she didn’t separate from Subaru and go ahead. It’s easy for little things like leaving slightly earlier, going a different path, Rem and Subaru splitting up to have huge differences in the total events. I also suspect that Subaru showed up considerably later the second time around and he had just shown up before Puck went berserk the first time while he didn’t the second time. It seems like Emelia died in both loops (first loop Puck says Subaru is too late, second he says to sleep like his daughter, referring to Emelia).
@Karma: Thanks. My impression was that he arrived later the first time (before he died) / earlier the 1st Reset. Given all the travels & detours, my original thought is that first time (before death) is Subaru arrives at least next day after warning given the longer route, time to stop at night, etc. Even that might be quick because of the detour, etc. 1st Reset they are actually fairly close to the mansion when it happens. Not sure about the route for 1st Reset. I figured that they left early enough to account for having to take the longer way (assume same problem as before), but doesn’t matter if using Ram’s warning as your time marker.
You’d think Ram’s warning would be a constant time marker. Not sure if this is correct, but I thought that warning represented when the witch cult attack started. To me that would be the most obvious reason for it, and offhand, I can’t think of a reason otherwise for her to be in danger. Assuming that’s correct, then they arrive just as the battle starts for 1st Reset. After that, some amount of time is spent dealing with Sloth, then not sure how long it takes for Subaru to get to the mansion. Enough for the battle to be over with Berserk Puck.
IDK, given the late start combined with Ram warning timing, seems to me that he’d arrive later the first time than with the 1st Reset, but perhaps more time than I thought was spend screwing around with Sloth. Maybe also had to walk further to the mansion from Sloth’s hideout.
In your first scenario, if the cultist are just leaving the scene (i.e. battle over) there is the option to just avoid Subaru altogether and escape unnoticed. Doesn’t help advance the plot, but it’s there. Jobs done so why bother unless he’s a known or highly suspicious target (JW “stink”?). If so, then why not kidnap him anyway?
Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if this is a bit of a rabbit hole. Are you an LN (or WN) reader? Just wondering. Thinking maybe I’m best served reading the LN on this for the details.
Nice catch about where Rem was the first time around. That would account for the change in Ram’s location.
Agree about Emilia. Given that’s Puck’s voice both times and he’s pissed off enough to kill Subaru, sure seems like Emilia’s dead both times.
Great but horrible episode could you imagine it ending with the credits over the snow. Just glad this waited till after Game of Thrones was over as GOT episode 10 would have made this overwhelming and 9 even worse, a Red Wedding type episode would have been draw a warm bath and get the razor.
Roswaal was probably not there at a minimum I would imagine that the inside of the mansion would have been gutted with explosion and fire damage and the second time when Ram died out side I would think there would be craters all over the yard. Only way Roswaal there without damage is treachery or if the cult had a way to shut him down at range without a fight, I assume he was away and that the reason the cult attacked.
Beatrice was to guard the hidden library which only Suburu can find easily, she probably defended the library until Puck froze it solid. There probably was no time for Emilia or anyone else to find and get into the library before Beatrice had to bar the door. The library has secrets that no enemy should have so there probably is a understanding that protecting the library comes first.
On other site someone said there are no consequences as everything is reset. NO! This is worse for Subaru as he is dying very painfully again and again, seeing people die horribly over and over many he cares for or even loves, and Subaru is being driven mad by it, basically so far a fate that could be worse than death.
Well that ep was brutal but the point that stood out the most for me was Betelgeuse calling Subaru “Pride” as much of Subaru’s behavior and actions esp in the last two eps has been of a prideful in natire
My current theory/speculation is that Subaru was chosen and brought this world by the witch to serve as the archbishop of Pride and all the resets are meant to break and mold him into such by chipping away at his sanity.
The end credits made it look like it was a homage to an american horror movie.
Pretty much everyone else said what I was thinking.
(Though after reading some comments here and elsewhere, to be fair and not to sound like I’m hating on Rem as I adore her too, but nobody “deserves” anyone else. People and their affection aren’t trophies after all, so if people think Rem “deserves” Subaru’s affection, then they would also have to acknowledge that Subaru “deserves” Emilia’s affection since he did plenty to help her too even if she herself doesn’t know/remember it. One can’t support one and denounce the other without looking like a hypocrite.
Still, the way Rem is going about her feelings is what makes her better compared to Subaru and how he went about his – Rem acknowledges her own feelings and does what she can to help Subaru, but she isn’t trying to force herself onto Subaru to be by his side 24/7 nor does she think she’s the “only” one who can. Basically, she’s not suffocating him with her presence for all the wrong reasons. She’s happy as long as he’s happy.)
Random note: Am I the only one who just can’t help but think “Beetlejuice” when seeing the name, “Betelgeuse”? XD
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
…I mean, the guy even looks similarly insane like Beetlejuice, and can sound somewhat normal one second and then be totally manic the next.
The bowl cut, mix of insane and calm voices, penchant for physical violence against his followers, leadership of a cult, and apparent divorce from reality all remind me more of King Hamdo more than anyone else.
For me, that immediately took away all menace that Betelgeuse might have had. Despite being an important and dangerous character, a perpetrator of sickening brutality, and the one responsible for the dark atmosphere of the anime, it was too difficult to take Hamdo himself seriously because of his demeanor. The same problem applied to Betelgeuse for me.
I guess they really meant Beetlejuice but since it can’t really be spelled out using Katakana and the LN is the original form with the name there, they just copied it over 🙂
Betelgeuse is the name of a star, I doubt there’s any relation to Beetlejuice.
The part where Betelgeuse leaves Subaru chained in the cave was very very scary. Before, I’ve always had the feeling of “it’s ok if he dies, he’ll just respawn”, but this scene.. If Rem hadn’t so epically saved the day, Subaru would probably be stuck in there until his save point would be updated, and he’d just sit there and die from hunger over and over again all the while knowing that Emilia and everyone in the mansion/village is dead. For eternity.
I can’t stop repeating “Beterruguuusuuu..” with Subaru’s voice in my head.
this episode was so good Subaru looked extra pathetic this episode. Whole series has been about the story and the story is sooo much about other characters and their story, Subaru just happens to be their and is useful by dying nothing more
Seriosly, what an episode.
DAMN. This episode was a seiyuu festival. Rem’s seiyuu was awesome, Subaru’s was awesome, and BETELGEUSE’S – holy shit. I liked Matsuoka’s perfomance in Servamp, but this is just abnormal. Seriosly, one of the best that I’ve ever seen.
Betelgeuse is one hell of a scary character. His madness is not portrayed as something funny like it is in most villains. This was scary, senseless, like real madness should be. Jesus Christ, he’s simply terrifying.
An episode’s title was never so frightening like this one. That’s because, although Betelgeuse is straightforwardly insane, I don
Seriously, what an episode.
DAMN. This episode was a seiyuu festival. Rem’s seiyuu was awesome, Subaru’s was awesome, and BETELGEUSE’S – holy shit. I liked Matsuoka’s perfomance in Servamp, but this is just abnormal. Seriously, one of the best that I’ve ever seen.
Betelgeuse is one hell of a scary character. His madness is not portrayed as something funny like it is in most villains. This was scary, senseless, like real madness should be. Jesus Christ, he’s simply terrifying.
An episode’s title was never so frightening like this one. That’s because, although Betelgeuse is straightforwardly insane, I don’t believe the title was only about him. For me, it was more about Subaru than anything. The last close in his face left me terrified – because I know how much he’s been affected, how much his mind is damaged, and I’m scared that he will cross line after line in pursuing Betelgeuse. I want to see this son of a bitch suffer and suffer, but at the same time I have the feeling that pursuing revenge will be worse to Subaru than it will be for the Archbishop. He’s not fine right now – he’s not fine at all. He’s damaged, and revenge can damage him even further, maybe in a irreversible may – if he’s not already irreversibly damaged.
Damn. The Sin Archbishops are no joke. I’ve said since the beginning, Subaru’s torture is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Makes me think what exactly the hell are the Witches of Sin.
The cult must be powerful af if they can take on Beako and Roswal and Emilia and kill them all. Really hoping Subaru will look for help from Reinhard and the other factions soon cause he’s going to need some serious help to take on all those crazy cult members. Really looking forward to see where this is going to go.
Just when you think no one in this show could possibly be more annoying than Subaru in the way they act, the show proves you wrong and introduces someone who is
Could the rat beast looking thing be Puck?!? It has an object on the ear that looks like an earing that Puck has….
I’m glad the reset point is after all of his earlier nonsense back in the capital, when his relationship with Emilia is frayed; having that established in the timeline means he isn’t getting a free pass for everything he’s done, and is necessary to push his growth. Maybe he should go visit that appa stand after every success though; certainly seems like a useful save point.
When Subaru opened that door in the mansion, I was kinda expecting it to lead to Beako, as the twins were the only confirmed killed members of the mansion, though Emilia’s death is heavily implied.
The mindbreak loop was fascinating, especially Rem’s devotion and love for Subaru. What Betelgeuse said to Subaru was interesting on its own: was he actually just pitying himself, and acting broken for sympathy? He’s certainly seen enough to reach a breaking point, but Betelgeuse seemed to be on point when he managed to rouse Subaru by torturing Rem. That scene seemed to be the impetus for his fire in the next loop; this isn’t the time to act like a zombie, unless he wants to keep revisiting that massacre and unable to do anything about it. Hard to say if he broke further and numbed himself, or woke up to actually do something about it, but it seems he finally pulled his head out of his ass.
I’m curious to find out more about this cult; Betelgeuse is Sloth, and refers to Subaru as Pride. Is this mistaken identity, or is Subaru actually Pride? Is this why the Witch pulled him into this world? Subaru’s certainly been caring too much about his pride, and the power is related somehow to the Witch, so maybe his role was to serve the Witch in some way. Jealousy and envy aren’t quite the same, so I assume the sins all serve the Witch, and that she isn’t one of them.
Thought it was pretty clear the freezing and the blizzard was Puck’s doing; he’s supposed to be a powerful spirit who uses ice. The first death, he says that Subaru is too late, indicating Emilia’s already beyond saving (dead, or maybe he put her in cold sleep), and the second death, he mentions something about joining his daughter in sleep (death).
When Betelgeuse mentioned being “Sloth” and asked Subaru if he was “Pride”, I also thought that perhaps there might be some connection through the Jealous Witch, especially when Betelgeuse demonstrated having a unique and powerful ability of his own with his “Unseen Hand”. If there is such a connection, then it makes me wonder what the other “Sins” are capable of, and also if they could possibly know about Subaru’s Rebirth by Death ability and maybe even be immune to its effect because of being other “Sins” (as in remembering what happened before).
wow just wow,
watching this episode somehow recalled some feeling that i have not felt for a long time, the feeling when watching ELFEN LIED.
what actually baffles me the most actually, why Rem call Subaru reason for her death? Rem have been saying her sister Ram as her reason to live; that was pretty much straight forward understandable, but Subaru as her reason to die? why?
God Tier episode indeed.
Rem Best girl and indeed, Betelgeuse is a holy crappy bastard that must die.
Nearly dropped my bowl I was smoking out of my hand by the end of this episode it was brutal been a long time since I held my hand up to the screen and was like: PLEASE STOP PLEASE GOD PLEASE.