why am i not enjoying this as much as s1 and 2?

I also noticed that the most interesting thing about this show, his return-from-death, doesn't really get used as much anymore. The whole stuff about planning what's up ahead is what makes this show interesting. But this season feels more like your usual isekai show instead.

@Gator man did you even watch s2, in s2 he decided to not abuse rbd...he didn't even die for the entirety of part 2.

@Gator man did you even watch s2, in s2 he decided to not abuse rbd...he didn't even die for the entirety of part 2.

@Nogscy when is arc 6?

Because arc 5 ain't Better than S1/S2. But the Next arc is. It'll give off Similar Vibe and Horror as the previous seasons. So worry not.

@Anayan_Kashyap I mean, S2 >> S1 obviously, but have you only read the WN version of Arc 5?

@Laplace_kun yes the translated WN version till arc 7. I wanted to buy the physical copies but it's a long series so it gets expensive.

@Anayan_Kashyap I understand, but LN version of Arc 5 is remarkably superior to the WN version. Most of these issues you state has been fixed.

you’re not crazy, and honestly, i think your feelings are valid. season 3 of re:zero so far does feel... different, and not necessarily in a good way. it’s frustrating because you know the show is capable of delivering those intense, gripping moments that made seasons 1 and 2 so incredible, but this season seems to lack that same spark. you’re not ragebaiting or out of line for pointing this out—it’s okay to not blindly praise something just because it’s popular.

one of the biggest shifts is the pacing and stakes. in the first two seasons, every death carried significant weight. subaru’s isolation and desperation were palpable, and the stakes felt real and personal. now, with this whole “everyone is here” vibe, that core tension seems watered down. subaru isn’t isolated anymore—he’s surrounded by powerhouses—and that makes the narrative feel less about his struggle and more like a typical ensemble cast battle anime. it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s not what made re:zero stand out in the first place.

you’re absolutely right about the deaths feeling less impactful. they used to be these pivotal moments of realization, growth, or emotional devastation. now, it’s like they’re just there because the audience expects them. they’re losing their narrative weight, and that’s a problem for a series that built so much of its identity around the consequences of return by death.

then there’s the character shifts. emilia’s new personality—or lack thereof—is jarring, especially since she’s such an integral part of the story. garfiel going full subaru stan feels out of place too, even if there’s some justification for it. it’s not necessarily bad that these characters are changing, but the lack of buildup or context for these shifts makes it feel like the show expects you to just accept them without question. it’s hard to feel connected to them when they don’t even feel like themselves anymore.

it’s okay to not be head over heels for this season, especially if you’re comparing it to the heights of seasons 1 and 2. it’s not that you’re too attached to the earlier seasons—it’s that those seasons set a standard that this one, so far, isn’t meeting. you’re not crazy for feeling like the direction is off or for wanting more from something you’ve invested so much into. and you’re definitely not alone in feeling this way. the criticisms are valid, and honestly, it’s refreshing to see someone not just blindly call it “peak” because they’re afraid of upsetting the fanbase.

Allow me to break it down for you. You see, our brains are hardwired to seeing longer episodes for Re:ZERO than other anime. The usual anime episode is 23:40. However, the episodes for the first season of Re:ZERO are 24:25, the episodes of Second Season Part 1 are 26-28 minutes, while almost all the episodes of the 2nd Season Part 2 are 29:30 (ALSO WITHOUT THE OP AND ED!!). However, the episodes of the 3rd Season are 23:40. This is something we are not used to, and subconsciously can't accept on a fundamental level. Another thing is that Re:ZERO tends to NOT give the OP and the ED most of the time (unlike other anime). But if you notice carefully, the rate of skipping the OP and ED in the 3rd Season episodes is nearing 0%. There's also the matter of pacing. Re:ZERO episodes were always longer than usual, and so that allowed for a relaxed pace, which is clearly not the case this time, oweing to the fact that (1) the episodes are shorter and (2) this arc is the most shonen-like arc in Re:ZERO so the pacing is naturally fast.

Now on to the part about the story and characters. Up until now, we've always seen Subaru always hitting Rock Bottom and then rise up slowly. But due to his maturity from 2nd Season Part 2, he doesn't hit rock bottom that easily now. He also doesn't use RbD, and keeps it only as a last resort. That changes the vibe of the story and it's execution drastically (tho in a positive way, don't get me wrong). Then the most important thing that I think is that some people among us are not liking Emilia that much, and that's also making the show have a "different" vibe than usual. We all know that Emilia is more childlike and positive than the usual person, oweing to the fact that she spent her whole adolescence being frozen like Captain America. But now that all other royal selection candidates are here and we get to see their demeanors as contrast to Emilia, that makes her seem even more childlike and makes her speech patterns the slightest bit "annoying" (?).

I think that these might be the reasons why you're not feeling the typical Re:ZERO hype this time around. But I think Arc 6 will take us back to those hype feels we had back then! Hope my explanation helped. 😸😸

you’re not crazy, and honestly, i think your feelings are valid. season 3 of re:zero so far does feel... different, and not necessarily in a good way. it’s frustrating because you know the show is capable of delivering those intense, gripping moments that made seasons 1 and 2 so incredible, but this season seems to lack that same spark. you’re not ragebaiting or out of line for pointing this out—it’s okay to not blindly praise something just because it’s popular.

one of the biggest shifts is the pacing and stakes. in the first two seasons, every death carried significant weight. subaru’s isolation and desperation were palpable, and the stakes felt real and personal. now, with this whole “everyone is here” vibe, that core tension seems watered down. subaru isn’t isolated anymore—he’s surrounded by powerhouses—and that makes the narrative feel less about his struggle and more like a typical ensemble cast battle anime. it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s not what made re:zero stand out in the first place.

you’re absolutely right about the deaths feeling less impactful. they used to be these pivotal moments of realization, growth, or emotional devastation. now, it’s like they’re just there because the audience expects them. they’re losing their narrative weight, and that’s a problem for a series that built so much of its identity around the consequences of return by death.

then there’s the character shifts. emilia’s new personality—or lack thereof—is jarring, especially since she’s such an integral part of the story. garfiel going full subaru stan feels out of place too, even if there’s some justification for it. it’s not necessarily bad that these characters are changing, but the lack of buildup or context for these shifts makes it feel like the show expects you to just accept them without question. it’s hard to feel connected to them when they don’t even feel like themselves anymore.

it’s okay to not be head over heels for this season, especially if you’re comparing it to the heights of seasons 1 and 2. it’s not that you’re too attached to the earlier seasons—it’s that those seasons set a standard that this one, so far, isn’t meeting. you’re not crazy for feeling like the direction is off or for wanting more from something you’ve invested so much into. and you’re definitely not alone in feeling this way. the criticisms are valid, and honestly, it’s refreshing to see someone not just blindly call it “peak” because they’re afraid of upsetting the fanbase.

Everytime a new season arrives, someone is going to create a thread saying the previous season was better. It happen with every series before, its going to happen again. Before you created your account in 2023, many people were complaining in 2020/2021 about not enjoying S2 unlike S1. Can't wait for S4 to air so the circle continues lol.

@Anzenc I actually don't like any fanbase even if I'm a big re zero fan since 2016. When S2 was done in 2021, a re zero account for example was trashing the studio and the producers since they claimed S2 was "the worst adaptation ever made" -and a lot harassing other who disagree in the comments- despite they decide to give several episodes a longer duration which not many studios do. While I think some fanbases are better or worse than others especially taking criticism, people being mean/toxic are common in all fanbases. For example, the last time I argued with a fanboy from the Fruits Basket fanbase months ago, she was so salty to the point she called me stupid since I said the antagonist resolution being poorly written. I care very little about what other think of a show -unless to give advice which I generally don't do or made a general comment- as long they are not insulting or harassing others especially me over their/my opinion, I won't say much.

I have to say I hate these threads that pop up that straight up don't acknowledge what Subaru decided to do at the end of s2 and also say there have been weird character shifts when everything was built up in s2 and the one year skip (and there are stories that show what happened there) naturally progress the characters to their current point

The most annoying thing has to be "oh I don't like it as much now watch all the stans get mad at me" like this happens every season lmao. This same thread was made a million times when s2 was airing. If you don't like the show as much now, idk, wait for the next arc which gets back to the roots. I don't understand what purpose this thread serves anyway, how are we supposed to tell you how you feel about the show. I will say cour 1 is super slow and even I don't think it has the best moments of the series but it's all buildup to what should hopefully be a bombastic cour 2 provided White Fox puts their all into it

I would agree this season is worse than the others, which is weird because I remember liking this arc when I read the light novels.
There are a few things I feel kind of iffy on so far.

One would be the pacing. It's like they are spending more time on characters just standing around talking so they don't have to animate as much action etc. ie in episode 7, we have 10 minutes of Subaru and friends just standing in the same place with very little going on in terms of animation, discussing who is going to speak on the microphone. Even if you are someone who thought the speech was great, surely you would agree the stuff leading up to it could've been trimmed back a bit.

Second would be direction. Overall, it feels poorly directed compared to the first two seasons. Which makes sense when you consider season 3 isn't being directed by the person who did seasons 1 and 2. I'm not an expert in the field or anything so it is hard to explain specifically why it is worse, I just know that I don't like it as much. I would maybe compare episode 7 here and episode 18 in season 1, as they are both kind of just talking giving a speech episodes (if that makes sense). Episode 18, almost the entire episode is just Rem and Subaru talking to each other, and yet it flew by so fast. None of the lines felt unnecessary or wasted. Everything had meaning, was well acted, and shot well. You even have an insert song sung by Rem's CV in the episode. Episode 7 in S3 though felt like it was just dragging on forever. The episode could've probably been cut down to 8 minutes and you wouldn't lose much.

Third would be animation. I'm not sure what is going on here, but there is a noticeable drop in animation quality. There are parts that look good, like the bit with Lust, but a lot of other stuff just looks kind of off. Maybe they've spent too much money funding unsuccessful rezero mobile games and had to cut the budget for this season lol.

Fourth would be Emilia. This is obviously going to be a personal preference, but for me, the relationship between Emilia and Subaru has always been unbearable. I find the best parts of the series to be the parts without Emilia. The author seems to always want to make her a damsel in distress, but also a girl boss, but also the perfect innocent waifu. Whenever Subaru is around her or talking about her his cringe levels shoot up. They don't even have any real chemistry together.

Anyways, just my thoughts. Hopefully the next arc is directed by someone else and has a higher budget, because it is one of my favourite arcs.

Also, as a side note to the people criticising those who complain about Subaru's lack of dying. While it is true by the end of season 2, Subaru decided to treasure his life more etc, that is more about him choosing not to abuse his power. So yes, while you shouldn't be saying "Subaru should just kill himself and try again lol", because then you clearly missed the point of season 2, I don't think it is wrong to want to see the return by death used more. For example he could've died when facing Lust in the tower, and that wouldn't really contradict his resolve in season 2, just like him dying against Wrath in the beginning of this season didn't. In fact, Subaru never really abused his power that much to begin with. In the first arc and second arc, and even the third arc, he typically was trying to live and was dying due to circumstances that were not his fault. It was mainly after the events with Rem that he was starting to see his life as more expendable and stuff.
So there isn't really any reason the author couldn't have utilised return by death more in this arc.

Sorry for the long post.

I would agree this season is worse than the others, which is weird because I remember liking this arc when I read the light novels.
There are a few things I feel kind of iffy on so far.

One would be the pacing. It's like they are spending more time on characters just standing around talking so they don't have to animate as much action etc. ie in episode 7, we have 10 minutes of Subaru and friends just standing in the same place with very little going on in terms of animation, discussing who is going to speak on the microphone. Even if you are someone who thought the speech was great, surely you would agree the stuff leading up to it could've been trimmed back a bit.

Second would be direction. Overall, it feels poorly directed compared to the first two seasons. Which makes sense when you consider season 3 isn't being directed by the person who did seasons 1 and 2. I'm not an expert in the field or anything so it is hard to explain specifically why it is worse, I just know that I don't like it as much. I would maybe compare episode 7 here and episode 18 in season 1, as they are both kind of just talking giving a speech episodes (if that makes sense). Episode 18, almost the entire episode is just Rem and Subaru talking to each other, and yet it flew by so fast. None of the lines felt unnecessary or wasted. Everything had meaning, was well acted, and shot well. You even have an insert song sung by Rem's CV in the episode. Episode 7 in S3 though felt like it was just dragging on forever. The episode could've probably been cut down to 8 minutes and you wouldn't lose much.

Third would be animation. I'm not sure what is going on here, but there is a noticeable drop in animation quality. There are parts that look good, like the bit with Lust, but a lot of other stuff just looks kind of off. Maybe they've spent too much money funding unsuccessful rezero mobile games and had to cut the budget for this season lol.

Fourth would be Emilia. This is obviously going to be a personal preference, but for me, the relationship between Emilia and Subaru has always been unbearable. I find the best parts of the series to be the parts without Emilia. The author seems to always want to make her a damsel in distress, but also a girl boss, but also the perfect innocent waifu. Whenever Subaru is around her or talking about her his cringe levels shoot up. They don't even have any real chemistry together.

Anyways, just my thoughts. Hopefully the next arc is directed by someone else and has a higher budget, because it is one of my favourite arcs.

Also, as a side note to the people criticising those who complain about Subaru's lack of dying. While it is true by the end of season 2, Subaru decided to treasure his life more etc, that is more about him choosing not to abuse his power. So yes, while you shouldn't be saying "Subaru should just kill himself and try again lol", because then you clearly missed the point of season 2, I don't think it is wrong to want to see the return by death used more. For example he could've died when facing Lust in the tower, and that wouldn't really contradict his resolve in season 2, just like him dying against Wrath in the beginning of this season didn't. In fact, Subaru never really abused his power that much to begin with. In the first arc and second arc, and even the third arc, he typically was trying to live and was dying due to circumstances that were not his fault. It was mainly after the events with Rem that he was starting to see his life as more expendable and stuff.
So there isn't really any reason the author couldn't have utilised return by death more in this arc.

Sorry for the long post.

@Saku_k i totally agree with everything here (aside from the emilia and subaru bit lol).

episode 18 of s1 is probably my favorite episode of any anime because of how genuine and raw it feels. it quite literally is just two people talking, but it flows so impeccably it feels almost like an action scene with subaru trying to destroy himself and rem being stubbornly obsessed, fighting both for and against him. the emotion of the scene gets through to you so unbelievably well and i think that's where rezero shines. (i won't lie, i was depressed for like 2 weeks after watching this episode for the first time).

in comparison to episode 7, it is basically the same thing but different in every way imaginable. the yap session prior to subaru's speech is meaningless (i actually don't remember a single thing they said), the animation is dull compared to the gorgeous shots in s1 ep18, and the speech itself i honestly found to be quite cringe. i get that subaru was trying to relate with the villagers, but the amount of self-deprecation was actually unbearable (i was legitimately yelling at my phone while watching it).

@Saku_k I hate when people talk about animation so confidently wrong. This season has had incredibly consistent AD work, mentioning budget is annoying because that's rarely ever a factor, and has good character animation. People still trying to act like it's a downgrade is silly especially considering how awful s2 was animation wise. It hasn't hit the peaks of s1 yet but it's been consistently good (seriously, this is just an unjust and easily wrong take).

Also the talk before the speech was vital and heroic reveries is an important part of Subaru's character arc

@Hdjwsiisiaooaoox
wait, they are doing a second part? if you've got some definitive info please dump it cause i've been lost

also yeah what i said about emilia and garf was lazy; i explain myself more in my other comments