First Impressions / Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

「自称騎士と最優の騎士」 (Jijou Kishi to Saiyuu no Kishi)
“The Self-Proclaimed Knight and the Greatest Knight”

After last week’s cliffhanger, Subaru does in fact get a new reset point – as he points out himself in the episode. Thank God, we don’t have to relive the battle against the whale. Unlike the many renditions we’ve run through with Subaru in the past though, this episode shows a huge turning point in Subaru’s personality. He’s taking a lot of what he’s learned in the past and adapting to the needs of his comrades; Emilia and the villagers. He’s still Emilia’s knight (in his own eyes) but he’s starting to depend on others and not trying to do everything himself. This really illustrates to me that he’s growing. He’s using his brain more and actually taking what he knows and applying it to his circumstances. To me, this is different than the second arc which Subaru literally just tries everything in the book to survive because he’s finally trusting others with information, he treats them with respect and not as pawns in this “version” of his life. It’s a subtle difference in some ways, but as someone that’s seen Subaru go through so much, there’s no way that you can’t feel proud of him. He has changed and in doing so, he’s been able to accomplish so much more in this little time. This doesn’t mean he’s perfect now, but at least there’s no more of the “me me me” tantrums and we don’t see him complaining about why everything doesn’t go his way. Subaru has come to realization that there is a time and place for everything and even in this episode (after being away from Emilia for what feels like a long time), he restrains himself to do what’s right. And seeing Subaru right now isn’t what’s best for Emilia.

I’m super happy for Subaru’s progress and it certainly makes the plot progress along nicely. Each episode still manages to give a little bit more information about the Witches’ Cult, Betelgeuse and Subaru himself as well. As much as I like seeing Subaru rally up the troops and convince the villagers to move, is it just me or does Subaru still feel a bit suspicious sometimes? I mean, yes – he’s been telling the truth and you don’t have a real reason to mistrust him, but where has Subaru gotten all this information? Subaru’s this strange boy that doesn’t have a lot of knowledge about your world (in fact, he makes a fool of himself in front of the court) and now he’s sprouting out knowledge about the Witches’ Cult, the White Whale and people just trust and believe in him. This would make me super suspicious of his behavior (and knowledge) if I were a Knight like Reinhard and Julius… but I guess they’re just good people and they give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, like I said, they don’t have a reason to distrust him. Subaru can be a little foolish at times, but he hasn’t done anything to make himself dangerous. Maybe confessing to seeing Betelguese’s hands and being worried that he can possess you, but that’s it.

Small details aside, I mentioned already that I really enjoyed seeing a different side to Subaru and his solution to the Witches’ Cult issue. Instead of taking the same angle, he approaches the problem differently with the new information he has. This includes the fact that Betelgeuse or the Sloth Sin of Bishop can possess all the different Followers. In addition, Subaru attempts to empty out the village before the attacks begins and he sends Wilhelm to tell Emilia about the blank letter ahead of time! Talk about a lot of changes in a single episode but all smart moves in my opinion and it gets Subaru exactly where he needs to be. Not the one actually fighting Betelgeuse but helping Julius fight Betelgeuse. Julius turns out to be quite the hero this episode and he’s quickly turning into my favorite male of the anime (maybe tied with Reinhard). The best line would be the final one about Subaru, but I have a thing for guys with strong resolves and Julius fits the bill. He’s honorable, loyal and knows when to admit to his faults – plus he apologizes to Subaru which I’m sure was hard to do. I can’t wait to see him kick Betelgeuse’s a** in next week’s episode. Please be an epic fight for the finale! The past few weeks have been lacking in quality compared to the beginning of the cour and it makes me wonder if White Fox is just saving it all up.

Besides the final battle against Betelgeuse, there are a few questions that I’d like addressed but there are doubts in my mind that they will. The blank letters from Rem and Crusch are one thing and of course, some closure between Emilia and Subaru would be nice (or being a Rem fan, maybe I rather see more of Rem). Speaking of Emilia and Subaru – when Subaru showed up with Emilia’s cape and explained how it conceals someone’s identity, I was so blown away! WHAT?! There’s magic surrounding that thing?! I never would’ve thought. Anyway, I don’t want to have my expectations too high for next week considering that the story isn’t finished yet and there’s a high chance that there might be a season two. As much as I wish that it’s not going to end on a cliffhanger, it most likely will and it’s going to gnaw at me alive until (and if) the next season comes out. Let’s just hope that it gives us just enough to tie us over and at least a satisfying, somewhat conclusive ending.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Julius is my hero. Seriously – he’s going to pass Reinhard on my list soon =X We’ve come a long way and I’m glad that #Rezero is ending on a high (for once). Let’s just hope there aren’t anymore surprise cliffhangers. Hopefully they manage to kill Betelgeuse for good. But in the grander scheme of things #Rezero is far from over.

41 Comments

  1. Felis has been stealing the show for me these last two weeks….. Best boy stole the show in the first 30 seconds. That is usually pretty hard to do. This is a trap that I am willing to walk into.

    Art of Traps
    Reply

  2. When dealing with time travel stories one of the most difficult things for the time traveler to do is to find convincing justification for his knowledge of future events in order to persuade the people around them to act. I feel like in this show they completely gloss over that part and the others just take Subaru’s word for it.

    How did he suddenly get new information about the sloth bishop being able to possess people (even himself)? How did he know about the spy? How did he justify the blank letter…and by the way walking with that board saying “It was my fault” looked ridiculous. How did he justify knowing they would be attacked by Ram, so he had to carry that board around? Even after proving himself with the white whale, those actions and knowledge should have looked very suspicious to others.

    I’m sorry but things like these really break the suspension of disbelief.

    Darklord
    Reply

    1. “I’m sorry but things like these really break the suspension of disbelief.”

      i have to disagree you, it not hard to judge when you’re on the outside looking in with the option to sit back an judge freely all things an mater as they come. it then becomes easy to nit pick an call B.S.

      for the characters themselves they only know info their giving an their personas to judge with they already shown mistrust an doubt an refused to work with him. he has proven even with questionable info that a) he on their side b) he want the witch cult dead c) even if his methods are unorthodox nothing he has done has led them astray.

      so yes, if he tell them they have to run in a circle for a hour they will do it. after his tactics proven to kill the whale, ( that nobody before could stop ) their going to listen. as i would even if i question were he got his info or why were doing this.

      jimmywolf
      Reply

    2. Crush questioned him and basically told her forces she trusted him by sending them on the whale mission. Subaru was right about the location of the whale. Subaru was brave in the battle with the whale so there is now a bond of battle comrades between Subaru and the rest. As Crush has trusted Subaru, Subaru coming up with additional intelligence when it is needed is nothing unusual.

      Even if not formally a principle yet, Need to Know, goes way back. So I have no problem with the troops accepting the fact that Subaru is only filling them in on stuff when they are going to act on it not before. Yes there would be more than one in the know but the troops would assume that is Crush and as she delegated them to work with Subaru that is only thing they need to know.

      (Need to Know is where secrets are only told to who needs to know them when they need to know them and works way better than a anyone with right ranking can know the secret system. Still has the flaw of people with pieces of a situation do not share the information. So Need to Know works only best with completely known secrets like a plan but often fails when forming intelligence.)

      Other way to state it is why would the group start distrusting Subaru after the whale fight when he proved right on that. Those that know the most know Subaru went though Crush’s lie detector so Subaru has known flaws but not in the trust department.

      RedRocket
      Reply

    3. Definitely wasn’t glossed over. That ish was literally the entire issue people had with him from the get go. He had all this information for no reason that could qualify as a justifiable explanation because the real reason he can’t actually say.
      So he worked around it. Now everyones aware he just knows shit, but because he’s been able to get results they don’t question it.
      Kind of like those mysterious all powerful mages n ish that come into a hero’s life and just tell them to do things without any reason. They just take their word and usually everything works out. So Subaru has become that and they trust him for his results.

      Kabble
      Reply

  3. To be honest, I think that by killing the White Whale to begin with, especially with his practically suicidal strategy of using HIMSELF as bait, pretty much raised everyone’s respect for him.
    I mean, they might still think he’s got some screws loose, but he DID stop a monster that was terrorizing the world for 400 years that no one really had any idea to find or actually fight, like when it did the copy trick and everyone pretty much gave up except him, the ‘weakling’.
    It also helps that everyone believes the whale is a mabeast the Witch of Envy made, therefore something part of the Witch Cult. (Granted, from how the mabeasts wanted to eat Subaru, and how they DID eat lady Sloth, that might not be the case, but who cares.)
    Plus, it was established that the Witch Cult loves to falsify information, something Subaru found out in an earlier loop when he asked for help. (From the knights, I think)
    It wouldn’t have been a stretch to explain that his letter might have been intercepted because of them.

    Reinhard’s suffering from the Emilia Syndrome; reduced screen time. XD
    Then again, he’s more or less invincible, so it might be good he doesn’t show up, cause Subaru needs to screw up somehow in order to reset.

    That said, it’s nice to actually hear Emilia’s views for once.
    She actually reminded me of Subaru for a moment, especially with Puck reassuring her he’d always be on her side.
    Makes me think of how Rem was telling Subaru more or less the same thing when he had that breakdown over himself.

    Well...
    Reply

    2. As much as it pains me to say… I would have to agree… My only issue with this is, if that is true wouldn’t other people be effected by this.

      I still stand by my thoughts that this series is not going to have a happy conclusion (you taught me well Re:Zero)… this series NEEDS a season 2! So many question left unanswered…

      SoulCaster
      Reply

  7. if the issue is subaru paying back his debt to emilia this early episodes, i could say subaru is already paid and has actually OVERPAID emilia. i dont really know if emilia deserves more love and attention from subaru this time seeing how subaru do something to raise emilia’s stocks in the royal selection and die many times just for that. and another i cant see the gratefulness of emilia to what subaru did for her. there’s appreciation yes, but it stops there.

    i think now i understand why emilia would become the witch vessel as per this episode reveal… i can see in the future that subaru would get fed up with “doing everything and sacrificing himself not to mention die many times should he fail” just for emilia then not even getting something equal in return. then, assuming all rumors about rem is true, subaru after saving rem would just focus his attention only to rem (who returns the love) then jealousy builds up to emilia then boom. birth of witch of jealousy.

    magano
    Reply

    2. Tell yourself that as much as you want, but Emilia was always very appreciative, trusting and understanding of this stranger that smelt awfully like a high-ranked Witch cultist. Heck, her understanding of him is to the point that when she got the blank letter, she immediately concluded that it must have been something so bad that the villagers should evacuate. She could have come up with thousand scenarios on what Subaru could mean with the hastily sent letter, including stuff like wanting her attention or fooling around, but she correctly guessed that this was an important warning. Subaru may have acted like a madman the last time they met, but she still trusted him without hesitation.

      And that’s not to mention that Emilia never expected Subaru to pay her back in any way… unlike Rem who was the shittiest person in the mansion towards him until she “god paid” by Subaru. Subaru never did anything to earn her trust and love, but he had to die several times to earn Rem’s trust and love.

      In other words, claiming that Rem was nicer to Subaru then Emilia is a big bunch of bull and amnesia.

      Lord Nayrael
      Reply

      1. I think you missed someting. Emilia doesnt know that it was subaru who thought of sending a letter to notify them but the one who wrote was more likely rem and crusch who sends it which is why wilhelm is asking forgiveness for his master mistake. And also, she cant smell the witch scent of subaru. And yeah subaru died indeed many times for rem and died also via rem BUT HE DO GET PAID BACK for all of his sacrifices. Emilia what? He died and all he get is damn appreciation not even gratefulness nor love. I hope she gets grateful towards subaru this time. So i am not surprised why subaru ranted the last time they met. He did this and that but he is not receiving any equal return for his efforts. Emilia doesnt know due to return by death? Fck that. That is why i am saying its possible that subaru gets fed up in sacrificing himself for emilia and emilia only.

        Magano
        Reply

    3. as a LN reader, you will regret saying that emilia is ungrateful for what subaru is doing for her.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      ooops did i exaggerated the LN events a bit?

      Jeffers
      Reply

  8. i am officially shipping juliusXsubaru who’s riding with me. 😀 good episode seriously. that moment when julius calls subaru his friend, i’m all smile. cant wait for the 1 hour episode coming this week.

    Jeffers
    Reply

  9. I don’t understand why Wilhelm can see the unseen hands but others except Subaru cannot. It’s been shown that he can see them multiple times. He managed to cut or dodge the hands when he saved those little twins and fought the fingers.

    Also, why do they need Julius to fight him this time? Why don’t they just get Wilhelm to just cut Betelgeuse down from behind in 1 strike like last time?

    Theshiningnova
    Reply

    1. Wilhelm can’t actually see the hands, he’s just been using clever tricks to be able to tell where they are. For example in episode 22, he first used force on the lake to cause the water to spray everywhere, allowing him to see how the water’s movement was displaced by the hands moving about.

      Doro
      Reply

  11. Does anyone have a clue about how much of the original web novel has been adapted into the light novel series?

    Considering the anime has already started covering material the light novel won’t touch until next week it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting a second season any time soon unless there’s a load more material in the web novel and they decide to make the light novel take a back seat.

    qwert
    Reply

  13. I think one of the best parts was actually the very beginning, where Subaru is quickly back on his feet and ready to do things again while taking in what happened before without having to go through some sort of huge bout of confusion, depression, etc. before someone has to knock some sense into him.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  15. Very enjoyable episode. Good villagers lived, bad no one saw Emilia powers or willing to defend them.

    I know the villagers had a big case of “not in my backyard” syndrome with Emilia being at the mansion. Still would liked to know some dialog of why they rejected her warning to leave though. There is the bad feelings about half-elfs but why reject a warning to leave as one of the reason for hating her was that she brought danger to them. Try to linch her and then leave I can see, but the refusal to leave when one of their primary hates was the danger she brought I did not get. Probably could get if stated.

    RedRocket
    Reply

    1. I think it’s more of a general mistrust of Emilia and people’s tendency to interpret things in a way that’s most convenient for them. She says there’s some threat and they need to leave, but there’s no other proof of that. Maybe she’s just trying to drive them all from their homes and she’s going to do something with the village itself, or she’s plotting some kind of ambush on the road for them once they leave. Responding to an “imaginary” danger isn’t without cost, even if it might be smart to do so (Evacuating a building for a bomb threat costs the business/school/etc., but most/all will do so even if the threat isn’t that credible). If they don’t want to leave, they can come up with some reason to ignore the warning by coming up with some bad intent on Emilia’s part, since they don’t trust her anyway.

      SK
      Reply

  18. Idt its so unbelievable Julius and the rest of the crew with Subaru are following him with little question. All of them are following him on merit of their master’s order & If their masters express trust in Subaru & his mission why wouldn’t they? And even if some do/did harbor some unexpressed reservation (not unlikely) they have physicial proof of the reliability of Subaru’s info in the form of the white whale’s defeat in addition to their master approval of him.

    fatalblue
    Reply

  19. https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    Face expression is priceless.

    I would wonder what Felis meant by “Tora, Tora, Tora.” If I remember correctly, Tora is Japanese for Tiger, I think.

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu/Re%20Zero%20Kara%20Hajimeru%20Isekai%20Seikatsu%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
    and Lol, I did feel sorry for this guy. Am curious if he solved his oil problem.

    L002
    Reply

  20. Guys i have a theory regarding the issue of why a blank letter was sent to roswaal mansion and how the blank letter came into being.
    Unless we were specifically shown who wrote the letter laterwards, lets say a mob character, say Knight A wrote the letter to explaint the situation to the people of the roswaal mansion. Upon delivering the letter, Knight A went to participate in the subjugation of the White Whale. And during the raid, Knight A was killed by the White Whale’s fog.
    Now we all know that whoever dies by the White Whale’s fog gets his/her presence and existence erased. Everything related to the victim, people, memories and even objects and belongings related to them disappear completely. An example of that is Rem killed by the fog, when Subaru reached the mansion, nobody remembers her, infact there weren’t even traces of Rem’s belongings either.
    Keeping that in mind, my guess is that when Knight A died by the fog, the letter turned blank, in other words, the writings in the letter by Knight A disappeared, resulting in the letter turn blank when it reached the roswaal mansion and thus the confusion. Crusch and the others didnt even seem to know who wrote the letter so that may very well be the case.
    Thats about it for my theory. Please do let me know what you think of it or share your theories too.

    Atsu
    Reply

    1. I went back to episode 19 (Subaru’s successfully negotiation with Crusch) looking for references to the letter, and the first I see is at the beginning of episode 22, after the whale was defeated: “And a messenger from Crusch-san’s household is headed for the mansion with a handwritten letter.” The second reference is in episode 23 at 4:55: Subaru tells Ram that he wrote her a letter, and Ram says the letter was blank. It doesn’t appear that Subaru was erased by the whale, so that isn’t the problem.

      Speculation: Show Spoiler ▼

      proper1420
      Reply

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