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「水面に映る幸せ」 (Minamo ni Utsuru Shiawase)
“Happiness Reflected on the Water’s Surface”
And so the battle begins. There should be no major surprises right now that Re: Zero will be indulging in Sanctuary’s endgame for all it’s worth, but it’s certainly eye opening just how much the show is benefitting from White Fox’s smart use of time. With so much to feature who doesn’t love a good thirty-minute episode – especially when it’s accompanied by several more in reserve.
While the focus this week was deservedly on Beatrice and Subaru in preparation for explaining how the party escapes the situation created by failed countermeasures, Emilia was arguably the one who stole the show. This was the first real point where we’ve seen just how far the girl has come: in the face of a present she was desperately yearning for, she accepted its impossibility and chose instead to embrace the reality before her. It seems like a small thing, but when Emilia has been plagued by feelings of inferiority, insecurity, and perpetual doubt, the willingness to look the totality of those feelings in the eye and accept them for what they are is pretty damn impressive. It was never her fault for being coddled so much and being unable to really think for herself after awakening from her icy slumber, but it sure would’ve been if she refused to act after discovering the truth of her situation.
Emilia’s second trial too goes a good way to explaining why Echidna loathes her so much. In effect Echidna sees herself in Emilia: she sees the girl desperate to hold onto and prosper with her self-made family all the while circumstances try and rend it asunder. The difference of course is that Emilia has accepted her past; Echidna is still living with the guilt of what happened to Ryuzu and whatever transpired with Roswaal. It was easy to forget such things when able to taunt, criticize, and laugh at Emilia when the girl was incapable of looking at her past, but now Echidna has convenient foil to paper over her regrets – and I guarantee it absolutely eats at her. There’s a reason after all that one is the Witch of Greed, and the other has never become a Witch except through mistaken identity.
As for the mansion battle itself, we’ll get to that next week when I imagine the full force of Beatrice’s current situation and Subaru’s solution for it makes itself felt. With everyone else growing into their own it just wouldn’t be fair to leave the little librarian without her own bit of development, and given the magical nature of the threat before the group, we’ve got the perfect opportunity for it.
There might only be three episodes of Re: Zero’s latest arc to go, but you can be damn sure they’re going to be one hell of an entertaining three week ride.
I know it’s not relevant to the episode, but I feel Emilia has a sixth sense of sorts.
In episode 28, Emilia asks Roswaal, “What is this place?” in reference to the Sanctuary. She said that ever since they made contact with the Sanctuary barrier that she’s had this anxious feeling in her chest that keeps her from being able to relax. She said it didn’t feel like a Sanctuary but more like a… …Witch’s Graveyard as Roswaal attempted to complete her thought.
This season, it is revealed that Emilia knew Petelgeuse when she was younger, and it shines a light on some of the things that happened in Season 1.
When Emilia killed the final finger after staring at him for a while, she started crying. Even though her memories had been sealed, she might have subconsciously had a reaction to ending Petelgeuse’s life in that particular finger.
Then after Julius killed Subaru/Petelgeuse after Petelgeuse had taken control of Subaru’s body, Emilia looked in the direction of where Subaru had been even though she should have no idea where in the forest Subaru had gone to. I believe that instance showed that Emilia felt Subaru and Petelgeuse passing away from the world since they had been slain.
I think Emilia feeling uneasy about the Sanctuary shows that she can subconsciously feel that the Sanctuary serves as the resting place of multiple dead Witches of Sin whose souls are trapped there.
Whether this quality of Emilia’s, provided that she does indeed possess such a quality, will have more story relevance remains to be seen, but I personally believe it’s a safe bet that it will.
Or we can just label it as something akin to plot armour or sly plot foreshadowing and call it a day 😛
Emilia’s voice actress has done a great job. Despite apparently being the same age in this trial, unlike the last, she still sounded more childish and carefree, brighter, but still not the same as when she was a child. Emilia usually has a hint some stiffness and a sense of ‘holding it together’ firmness, always on her guard due to her Satella-like looks, wanting to project an air of confidence and respectability that was entirely lacking in the perfect world version.
Takahashi Rie really deserves all the kudos she gets and then some for her voice acting, her range and emotive capabilities are frankly quite impressive, with Emilia as you highlight being case in point.
I agree with the both of you. Good run for the voice actress.
Funny thing is that anime characters already sound childish and so it is a feat to sound even more so. That said, the other day, the news was interviewing a 17 aged girl. She looked and sounded like a 7 year old. It is weird that it isn’t odd in anime but odd in real life. It is true that some women are the opposite with very deep voices as well. Anyway, the world is a big place.
I wonder if Garf has plot armour. Can he take on the soft spoken big breasted lady gut assassin when everyone else seems to not be able to do so? What do you think?
That lady from the flashback is the same. Doesn’t die at all, just re-spawns.