“I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter” — In the End by Linkin Park
“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare
Grief, trauma, sacrifice, burden, despair, depersonalization, and perseverance. This is what the dark and harsh reality of Re: Zero calls to wake Subaru up from his blind confidence and optimism before the light of hope and darkness of despair. It is a charm of suffering with a vicious substance in the depth of loneliness. The world with shine and gloom bestows one’s fate to realize before his eyes and crawl through the walls of fear. The horror of solitude craves him to curb his fancy by the answer of truth. With answers and consequences, what fate will judge Subaru according to his deeds?
With his weak yet “immortal’’ ability called Return By Death, Subaru must determine if his hope will either remain him standing or cripple him out till the corner of despair. Lost in the new world, he found his hope to grasp away from the solitude and build up with his smiles and plays as Emilia and others share the bond together. He truly wants to save his friends and comrades to stay away or fight through it, but his fanciful determination will result either in miracle or collapse. His ability considers as a reset button to move forward through a solitary phenomenon for altering his fate and judgment; however, the price of it, such as others’ forgetfulness because of dimensional hopping and the restriction to expose his truth behind the curtain by himself, is intensely flawed — delivering the chance for an alternative resolution within the plot as if he acquitted himself for cleansing his own sins.
Tappei did an outstanding job at applying the Law of Equivalent Exchange to his ability, especially his weak physicality — making it a simple yet intense thrill to catch the audience away from its boredom of perfection. The suspense is masterful and consistent based on every context, which makes Re:Zero intriguing to let more fans craft more theories and questions as a layer of curious engagement. Moreover, his character means to be morally gray as he doesn’t look at the other side easily, which means he can be once a foolish and casual person like us to aggress somebody to those who might threaten him or not. He has his own priority, flaws, pride, ways of resolve, and love for Emilia as his “knight in shining armor” personality drives him to be whoever he is. He can cry as a wimpy bastard or a try-hard hero of himself, but his determination grasps it ever since he had been gradually developing by chasing his grit even further with alternative resolution. Through his behavioral process, he manages to stay casual without forcing himself to be an uninvited guest in front of a pillar of society. That’s what makes Subaru a human person and a true knight — not his own heroic and fanciful delusions which most people like Ram, Priscilla, and Julius despised him for his amateur overconfidence by his self-importance back from the prequel of this anime adaptation.
He manages his personality to be uptight and miserable; however, Rem volunteers to be as one whom Subaru will vent out his drastic feeling that flows within him as the time of Episode 18 snaps him out despite resulting in an expected rejection. His vulnerability strikes him to grasp his confidence, but his lack of self-esteem asserts the reason for his failure. For now, he frequently realizes that the world itself doesn’t fulfill his fanciful wishes to become reality at all, which fate matters based on the context he made in the first place. It only works if the ethical standard has been met, and then Subaru will come for the rest. Hence, he is a well-written character. He consistently had gone through the process of Dunning-Kruger effect in a psychological sense based on his character from the midway of Season 1, and right now, we’re still looking forward to its next level…. I mean, this second season.
From the reference of Dunning-Kruger effect to the extent of Subaru’s Peak of Stupidity till his Valley of Despair in the first season, the second season projects more about his Slope of Enlightenment through the Trial of Sanctuary by Echidna’s lost soul. It tackles more about the diversity of its gloomy atmosphere. The mechanism of reality with unawareness of difference is crucially perilous. Without facing it, there will be no point to gain the courage against others with dreadful courage and competence.
Compared to most isekai series, Re:Zero subverts the common trope into its substantial value for achieving the unique message and formulating the setting to an authentic extent. The overarching plot has been connected, and the premise of this series becomes more lucid. Most characters are compelling to provide their own ideals based on the contextual background, and there are little to no nonsensical tropes to be presented in a big picture.
There are also new characters being set up to their motive, creating its thickness of plot development, and some side characters are well-reserved for their own plot progression. Most of them aren’t just here to boost Subaru’s morale, they usually have their own priority which provides the importance of their livelihood as the role of themselves and society. Sometimes can be friendly, and sometimes can be contradictory. The “power of friendship” trope is well done with proper foundation of each other’s relationship as if most students are sometimes doubting each other for some tentative reasons. They have their own stories which affect how they have been nurtured ever since behind Subaru’s back, making them relevant in most cases. With proper consistency, it is understandable for audiences to pique their curiosity and craft more hypotheses based on the observation throughout every significant scene.
The slow pacing of this season did a great job of building up more worldbuilding, character interaction, and lore for serving the premise to its promising level as the plot thickens further with multiple ways to ensure and stabilize the core theme of the story into a complex understanding of every fundamentals in a gradual manner; however there are some scenes that are rushed yet sensible to assert its foundation.
The story is written in Third-Limited narrative style, which Subaru always owns the spotlight of Re: Zero’s main storyline, and the narrative standpoint matches it up to deliver both contextual factors of shock and suspense. The plot follows in dimensional-hopping theory which most audiences think this is a time-travelling series; hence, it laughs me off whenever I mostly hear of its misconceptions. It fleshes out the message of the story and the concept of Subaru’s purpose and development for living in another world, especially Episode 4, which it also fills the space for making its premise to be more purposeful and adds the mystery or any substantial details on why Subaru was sent to this world to begin with. It also molds Subaru’s self-reflection during the time in his original world for projecting more leniency and understanding about his own character. The poignancy within Season 2 encapsulates and expands all the underlying feelings Subaru had before.
There are a lot of minor details that have foreshadowed for the future occurrence within a big picture, and there will be more twists to come if you pay close attention to every little detail. These perceptible details throughout the series significantly matter the most for the plot progression to be understandable, and connecting each plot point with sensible pictures is worth engaging to liven the audiences up in a mindblowing extent. Moreover, the story puts so many obstacles and chilling aura as Subaru will face against the odds for his objective to pass the trial and deactivate the barrier of the Sanctuary.
As a LN reader, I really hope this Arc 4 will give a proper and consistent adaptation since this is the best arc among the rest, and it did; however, there are some slight chances which disappoints me for a bit. Particularly, the animation quality and cut contents clouds me to clench my fist for a while; however, I don’t care about it since I’m all up for this beautiful and eerie story of a psychological drama and thrill in a visual manner because the rollercoaster is on the way. It also reminds me that they might cut some LN contents to avoid an excessive level of exposition dumps, and instead the anime adaptation prioritizes more into “Show, don’t tell” rule… or in other cases, “Show and tell” rule.
There are also some episodes with dialogue-heavy standards, but it is essential and relevant to its case for building up more consistency and adding the layers of intensity and progression with more directional questions as the anime provides more exploration with subtle explanation.
I wonder if some people say that the dialogues within Re:Zero are “systematically” jarring, then I totally disagree. First of all, dialogues are the key element to establish the characterization which provides what and how the characters are sharing and communicating in a way to create the social understanding between each other. If we say that the conversation is kinda “boring”, then have you tried chatting with others in serious times or listening to other people’s serious chat?
If we often ignore the conversation from other people, then it doesn’t build up the social exposure to the point that we have to understand each other’s perception. That’s also the similar case to how Re:Zero achieved its dialogue system. It is systematically consistent to the point that every character has to articulate before it will become otherwise. Whether in hypothetical or moral sense, every human being is an inconsistent creature with limited thought process and biased morality/ideology, and with distinctions, there’s a serving purpose of your need to communicate. That’s why you need something to vent out your thoughts and feelings.
If some audiences have reacted with their thoughts about the dialogue being “jarring, then that’s just a matter of your first subjective impression through how communication works.
Anyway, the orchestral music hits the thespian or gloomy vibes with a phenomenal melody which enthralls more transverse atmosphere as it pleases our ears to render its theme with consistency. The symbolizing beats are presented well with contextual deliverance. It signals perfectly to every character’s tone as it builds up more aura and meaningfulness around them. Each scene comprises its suitable meaning, which it brings more vigor to express the stimulation between fear and courage. However, I despise that they mostly haven’t provided the time for opening and ending song to present within every episode, yet it also exchanges with more lengthy minutes to catch up the writing size into an essential and almost absolute extent for recognizing the plot progression into a comprehensible standard. Length-wise, it is appreciative to offer each episode with significant impact by providing more projection to adapt.
In regards to the character section, please be aware of spoilers because I might go detailed for this.
**WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT**
At first, Frederica is introduced to be a new… or rather a recurring maid, as she formerly served Roswaal before the time of Ram’s duty. Her gentle personality has shown and explained about her professional experience of being Roswaal’s former and latter maid, so it suits her to be a person with decent help as a maid herself. Since there is an effect to forget someone’s existence, it also affects Roswaal to hire two maids, especially Petra. She also establishes a significance about her own character as she trains Petra to be a proper maid and also swear herself by the letter that she only got in her own hands as a hidden background about her — which we will get to know more about her later in the second cour. The twist of events is clear and connected between Rem’s occurrence and the purpose of their introduction; hence, it’s understandable.
However, one problem in dialogue-wise, for example, is Petra’s inappropriate response which triggers something abrupt to progress the story in a silly way. Whenever I see her, I always cringe when she often baffles me and other compelling characters with awkward moments throughout every scene; nevertheless, I don’t hate her since she is a kid with potential.
There is also another new character being introduced with relation to Frederica called Garfiel. Compared to Frederica, his older sibling, Garfiel appears to be a barbarous yet friendly character with strong finesse to begin with. At first, he remains intact and rational to the fact that he slightly cares for other people, especially Arlam Refugees, to have their sojourn. However, because of many loops from Subaru’s deeds, he alters his behavior to assault Subaru (and his other supporters/Arlam Refugees) because he senses an outgrown miasma throughout Subaru’s aura — dictating that he will protect the Sanctuary at all cost. He surely has his own deeds and priority with Ryuzu Shima’s help to establish his significance as a side character who will put himself as an obstacle against Subaru’s odds, making himself relevant to this case.
On the other hand, Otto has the support for Subaru, Emilia, and the rest of Arlam Refugees. He has the role to provide them with transportation, but it’s not just for that. He also has more responsibility to build more wholesome interaction with Subaru and Garfiel, ensuring himself that he will be in a great place for them — especially Otto saves and impresses Subaru with his timid humor and personality. However, Otto’s wholesome development has been wasted and paid by Subaru’s death loops to alter his destiny for a greater cause, but it doesn’t mean for him to be just a neglected accessory to Subaru’s eyes since Subaru himself wants to hide his burden and lift it up by himself. For now, he has a good potential to be a prominent character, and I hope the second cour will give him more screentime to showcase his significant greatness by helping Subaru out and determining himself to develop out of his comfort zone of timidity.
Roswaal has revealed his importance and plot progression for serving his purpose with the Gospel which also has it with Beatrice, uncovering their agency behind them. Surely, they have a long-time relationship between both of them since they have been residing within the mansion for a long time, and the context makes sense as it is according to the plan. Beatrice, however, has some share of problems with Subaru about her supposed role which clouds her from being isolated. How she conveys her emotional confrontation with Subaru grasps her outstanding chance to vent out her feeling of solitude within her own comfort zone, conserving it to build up more layers about her for the potential development. Beatrice also represents herself as a hermit which makes her an intriguing and realistic symbol of an isolated persona. Similar to Otto’s case of development, she can be a suitable candidate for that as well — looking forward to getting out of her comfort zone.
Echidna is also introduced as the Witch of Greed and a transcendental character by letting Subaru enter the Castle of Dreams. Her cold yet charm-provoking personality shines her gloomy aura to be a likeable and knowledgeable character as if she perceives logic through emotions just as she provides Subaru to confront his own past through his memories for his self-reflection. Her mild support to Subaru by his reminiscence helps the audience to know more about his character and build up a connection between the fantasy and the reality, which makes Episode 4 so special to our own eyes. However, Echidna knows her own goal behind Subaru’s back and stabs it as she teases his intuition with her plan. Her sham and manipulative exaggeration hits the bullseye towards Subaru’s heart which surprises me by her deceiving plan, as her black-hearted aura impresses me more. Her greed and love for knowledge is intelligible. Her sense of hatred and dark humor conveys well, and we’ll see more about it. Thus, I really love her pride and competence of being the Witch of Greed which gives an impact of her neutral strength. Hence, she’s my favorite character.
The rest of Witches have their unique characteristic based on their respective symbols. However, one of them doesn’t properly present their substance, such as Minerva’s obnoxious personality, and yet the charm of it is still there. The message delivers well to show how Subaru is judged by his own flawed nature and deeds, especially Typhon who projects Subaru’s sin within the depth of his inner core as being a “good” guy doesn’t mean to be truly a sinner. Each of their metaphors are simply considerable with their perceptible charm. Furthermore, we get to know more about Satella who isn’t entirely a “villain” character whom we thought to be, and her self-conflict is a minor point to recognize the value behind something we can’t see more about her.
Meanwhile, Elsa has reappeared once again to achieve her goal by putting herself before Subaru and his friends as their obstacle, making herself as a well-reserved antagonist. From the prequel, we can understand that her goal failed to achieve Emilia’s badge as she retreated from Reinhard’s abrupt help; however, this second season made a reservation for her to reveal her Plan B in a hidden manner. We really don’t know her motives behind the curtain yet, but the second cour will open the curtain for more explanation in a suitable time. Meili Potroute is also reintroduced as a hostile character alongside Elsa, and a minor detail from Season 1 makes a plot twist understandable when you pay close attention to it. Her introduction in scene-wise, however, feels boring yet equitable to play her own part.
It’s grueling for Subaru to learn from his mistakes and face against the odds as he needs a harsh and gradual realization for his endurance against his obstacles before his eyes. “I know hell” is what creates his words for him to act, and that “hell” is a laudable metaphor to describe his clasp of strength for shouldering the burden and moving forward despite its vicious outcome. The heavy impact throughout his experiences is understandable, which in return, most audiences can connect their empathy with Subaru — conveying more concerns regarding his own concerns. He has a lot of aims to set and stand by himself up for persevering through many ways to alter his fate against itself. He plays the puzzles in which one or multiple moves will tear him down into pieces if he stumbles on the wrong floor, welcoming him to the pit of despair. If not, then there will be a light of hope awaiting towards the end of Sanctuary. Because in the end, the only way for Subaru to fix the situation is to fix himself.
Meanwhile, Emilia will also face the trial by facing her tragic past that is still behind the curtains yet. For this season, we finally see her worthwhile flaw from being a “perfect” girl. Its twisted helplessness cripples her pragmatic mind in a discordant extent from bearing what comes before her as if she has been taking a lot of Math exams and being overly preoccupied by her restless yet twisted cloud of effort. Her uncontrolled state gives the impact to pull her away from blind of kindness.
There is no world where we can escape that loneliness without changing the core.
***SPOILERS END***
In regards to animation, there are some episodes, especially Episode 6 and 12, which have rigid proportions and movements as if some animators have a hard time rendering the sketches due to some bit of miscommunication amid the quarantine period. This is one of a problematic category which slightly baffles me to enjoy less than the quality in Season 1. Some erroneous frames and CGI renditions can be noticeable for most audiences to identify its upsetting quality. Whenever I rewatch these scenes, I’d rather grab my dumbbells and do the squats to sweat out my frustration, and I’m not also the type who will just cross my eyes and say “Fine!”. Nonetheless, it’s still fine if the adaptation is faithfully well-done which it is truly as it is.
Overall, this anime adaptation has exceptional results to capture its aesthetic value to a further extent. As Season 1 delivers some weak conclusions within the second half, the first cour of Season 2 provides a high slope of twist to let the audience rise for an engaging rollercoaster ride. Oh, boy! It punches right through the feels with sensible foundation as this show serves like a dark chocolate with 25% of sweetness. The worldbuilding here is excellent as it builds up more atmosphere into a thematic balance between light and dark. Re: Zero is packed with epitome of suffering, perseverance for truth and doubts, horror of loneliness, and substantial depth of self-reflection through the mastery of melodrama with contextual deliverance. Forcing Subaru to confront the consequences of his many deaths is a masterstroke for the series, even before you consider the terrifying and heart wrenching way in which it was delivered. While Re:Zero is great at genuine horror and gore, it is in the psychological terror that this show truly shines. I can safely say that it deserves more acclaim because this season fills up more layers from what it lacks in Season 1, and it has fulfilled the promise. All I do right now is to sit back and relax to enjoy my smiles and frowns while connecting myself through its excellent narration with indulgence of an outstanding cliffhanger. If there will be a single teaser for Season 3 adaptation, I will moan and cry for it. Hence, it’s my all-time favorite anime. This show is highly recommendable if you already have watched Season 1.
As the first cour offers more questions, will the second cour answer them?
To be continued in Winter 2021!
