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Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- (TV) (all seasons).


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Galap
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Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 3:26 pm Reply with quote
I read it as either:

a.) Rem and the other cart driver are somehow being Erased from Time completely, and they in fact never existed and the past changes to reflect that (for example, Ram says that she and Subaru were the ones to deal with the dog attack, so things went differently there), but Subaru retains the memories because he is already under the influence of some kind of time manipulation magic himself.

b.) Whenever Subaru dies, he comes back to life not in his exact past but in a parallel reality. The changes who exists and does not may represent some other kind of reality shift that's happening for other reasons, perhaps caused by the white whale. Maybe the whale lives in the fog, but the fog is what allows people to inadvertently cross into other realities. Or it's subaru who is shifting again and he can because of the magic he's already influenced by.


On another note, it's pretty disturbing that the Witch or whoever controlled the dark hands is able to instantenously kill someone remotely (Emilia) without them getting any warning or ability to defend themself.
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Morry



Joined: 26 Jun 2016
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:46 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
But...no matter how injured he got, he just wouldn't die! He didn't even *want* to die! What's up with that? I'm sure I wasn't the only one watching this episode thinking: "Die, Subaru! Die already! What are you waiting for? You're making things worse! KILL YOURSELF!" Laughing I'm as heartless as Beatrice!

I'm still at the stage of asking "How are you going to get out of this?" rather than "How painful will you die this time?"Laughing
Agent355 wrote:
Anyone killed by the white whale disappears from everybody's memories, except Subaru's (although, how did Otto know that the First Swordsman had been killed by the white whale, if that's the case?)

I'm not convinced it's the White Whale, since you'd think such a power would be well known considering everyone knows about the danger it poses. That implies the extent of the damage and causalities.
Agent355 wrote:
--Beatrice is purposefully very vague, and probably knows more than she lets on. I wish Subaru was in the state of mind to question her directly. He should have went straight to Beatrice for information (especially about the white whale, how its powers work and how to defeat it) than to Emilia. But he still felt his main priority was to convince Emilia to run away to avoid the cultists attack. Understandable, too bad he was completely incoherent.
Based on her dialogue, I get the feeling Roswaal is somehow behind this situation. It's too convenient he's out when a cult happens to be preparing to kill Emilia, especially after that suspicious grin he gave Subaru way back during the candidate assembly. Plus he's supposedly okay with "pain, suffering, fear" and the like so long as he benefits? He's only getting shadier to me.
Agent355 wrote:
--Betelgeuse also has shadowy hand things, which he seems to control. He got very upset when he realized Subaru could see them.

Betelgeuse used them to kill Rem last time but Subaru seemingly couldn't see them. It's possible Subaru's "love" is getting more powerful with each reset (and/or attempt to reveal the resetting), allowing him to now see the Unseen Hands. The idea the Authority of Pride could be near, at, or above the Authority of Sloth might be too much for Betelgeuse.
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:44 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
But...no matter how injured he got, he just wouldn't die! He didn't even *want* to die! What's up with that?

I think that's a measure of how traumatizing his deaths have been for him. At an animal-brain level, faced with the terror of the White Whale, his instinct was, "I don't want to die!" Deliberately choosing death, as when he jumped off the cliff or asked Betty to kill him, was completely different.

There might also have been a fear that if the whale killed him, his existence might also be erased as Rem's was, so this time he felt like he was facing death for good and all.

I really loved the expression on the ground dragon's face when Subaru fainted. Very Happy Hmm, maybe it was just happy to get a break, but I wonder what it knows, being a dragon and all....
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:23 am Reply with quote
Is there anything sadder than Ram not even remembering her sister? And the shock that him forcing the reveal of truth instead killed Subaru, as if showing there is worse things the witch can do to stop it than just hurt him. The witch has her fingers in everything, both the whale and cultists, it does seem likely why Subaru could remember, and there was some sort of "level up" where now Subaru can see Betelgeuse's unseen hands. He freaked out because it meant someone was matching him in "devotion" to the witch.

At this point, I just hope Rem will be waiting for him after Puck has his way with Subaru. Things have got bad, and it is taking restraint to avoid wanting to look information of what may happen.

This series really needs to have something not painful to happen soon. I think that I might check out the shorts that have been on the Kadokawa YouTube channel and finally got subbed on Crunchyroll.
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Galap
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:30 am Reply with quote
The one thing I found unreasonable in this episode was the fact that Subaru didn't say the reason he wanted Emilia to leave was that there was going to be an attack. He told Rem and Cruche about it before, so I see no reason for him to be like that. Especially since they didn't part ways the last time on good terms. Did he really think she'd take 'because I said so' as a justification. There's no reason for it. I know he's been an idiot before but I really don't buy this one. Minor speed bump though.
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Treeborn



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:51 pm Reply with quote
Yea, I couldn't help but roll my eyes during his talk with Emilia. All he had to do was say there are bad people on their way RIGHT now. Let's go, I'll explain everything later. But nope. He stopped in there "I'm right and you're wrong. Im right and you're wrong. Let's go because I'm right and you're wrong. I'm super serial! Why doesn't anybody understand how right I am!?"

Seems he would rather have his ego satisfied than save Emilia, which goes back to what Crusche told him in the previous episode, and what Emilia told him the last time they spoke. He's in it for himself. Not anyone else. He just doesn't want to believe it.[/list]
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stilldemented



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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:04 am Reply with quote
I've been rewatching the show with my niece recently, and it's pretty wild what gets forgotten when not on a marathon.

Like how Rem has always been self-sacrificing in nature. She's always looking for a moment to lay down her life for someone else.

Subaru actually knows his faults in character very well and has said as much. He tells them to Rem straight up in episode 11. He straight up says he can be pretty selfish and dense. In episode 4, Subaru gets hired to work at the mansion and Emilia tells him that he could have just asked to be a house guest. That blew Subaru's mind because he didn't even think of something so simple. Also, Subaru has negotiated with Beako and Emilia and a couple of others to get what he wants before by making it about them.

It really just set up that Subaru's biggest issue is that he's just frazzled to the point that he's bulldozing ahead recklessly which inadvertently engineers all of his suffering.

It's also noteworthy that Subaru has actually attempted to repeat the exact same actions to try and get the same interactions and responses, but everything went differently anyway.

Thought it was neat.
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Vaisaga



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 1:54 pm Reply with quote
So yeah, after this episode I'm having a hard time trying to think of reasons why Subaru should be picking Emillia...

It's always a testament of skill when the staff can make nothing but 20 minutes of people standing around and talking be so compelling.
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Treeborn



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:17 pm Reply with quote
Lol this episode is the definition of overhyped Anime hyper It was decent, but not the "huge game changing" episode I kept seeing people write. Honestly, it felt more like a recap episode to me than anything else. And it once again forces me to ask - why is Subaru (and a lot of Rezero fans) so infatuated with Emilia? From everything I've seen, she's just nice. That's it. Can't think of a single amazing thing she's done.
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JohnnySake



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 3:27 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
It's always a testament of skill when the staff can make nothing but 20 minutes of people standing around and talking be so compelling.


I am right on board with you there. Very Happy

If anyone with knowledge of psychology who has been following this show could explain to me Subaru's turnaround (with Ram's help) throughout the course of the conversation, I would appreciate hearing it. (I'm just curious) Is it something as simple as once you reach rock bottom, all you can do is go up?

As much as I would like to see Subaru be with Ram, at least his feelings for Emilia remained consistent throughout the course of this show. He has that going for him if nothing else.

Once again, I am left having to be patient for another seven days till the next episode to see how he is going to start from "zero". Can't wait! Smile
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FenixFiesta



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 3:59 pm Reply with quote
As some posters have mentioned before, Subaru and Rem share HUGE self esteem issues, this is the part of the reason why Rem wants Subaru to keep fighting (aside from of course not knowing the living hell Subaru has went through, I think even Rem would have also agreed to concede by this point)
The other part of this episode long moment of self confessions is that the show is indirectly talking to audience once again, this time it is focusing on a message of why even if the viewer thinks they themselves are complete procrastinating scum that there is always a chance to start life again even from Zero.
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Vaisaga



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 6:18 pm Reply with quote
JohnnySake wrote:
If anyone with knowledge of psychology who has been following this show could explain to me Subaru's turnaround (with Ram's help) throughout the course of the conversation, I would appreciate hearing it. (I'm just curious) Is it something as simple as once you reach rock bottom, all you can do is go up?


Not quite. We're taught that if we believe in ourselves we can do anything, that we shouldn't care what anyone else says about us, that we assign our own value. But in truth such thoughts are only baseless confidence if we're not validated by others. Subaru had believed that he was needed, that he had the power to save everyone, but here he admits that he's pathetic and can't do anything.

Yet Rem loves him despite all that. Having just one person acknowledge you, to says "yes, there are good things about you" can be enough to save you. Either because they confirmed what you believe already, assuring you that it wasn't just your delusion, or they point out things you had never considered. Even if you don't believe them it might inspire you to make an effort to live up to their expectations.

Subaru spent the last few episodes having others shit all over his character, so Rem's unwavering faith in him is just what he needed. And it was clear her feelings were genuine too rather than just empty lip service. It's easy to handwave stuff like that with a "oh you're just saying that to make me feel better."
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Key
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Treeborn wrote:
And it once again forces me to ask - why is Subaru (and a lot of Rezero fans) so infatuated with Emilia? From everything I've seen, she's just nice. That's it. Can't think of a single amazing thing she's done.

She's a damn fine-looking young woman. Don't think you can underestimate the impact of that combined with her being nice.

That being said, Rem definitely pitched her case hard in this episode. She's already vastly more popular in fan art than Emilia is (at least from what I've seen, anyway); in fact, I can't think of any character from the past couple of seasons that I've seen even close to as frequently as her.
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Raftina



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 6:43 pm Reply with quote
Treeborn wrote:
Lol this episode is the definition of overhyped Anime hyper It was decent, but not the "huge game changing" episode I kept seeing people write.

What I have typically seen from the other comments is that this series was the web novel's author's rage against common failings of alternate world series. Given that reputation, I would have expected this episode to be a false hope spot: That Subaru fail again. We will see if he perseveres. Personally, I would find it rather odd if becomes the determinator that he would need to be to die repeatedly and find a solution to this loop because of the talk this episode.
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Vaisaga



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 7:52 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
That being said, Rem definitely pitched her case hard in this episode. She's already vastly more popular in fan art than Emilia is (at least from what I've seen, anyway); in fact, I can't think of any character from the past couple of seasons that I've seen even close to as frequently as her.


I suppose that's true now that I think about it, but she's still nowhere near Hestia's level so I wouldn't say she hit fad levels (that english teacher was the most recent, but she didn't last very long).

Rem, Ram, and even Beatrice have more in the fanart/doujinshi department than Emillia does. In general it might be because Emillia really doesn't have much screentime. The series is mostly about what Subaru does behind the scenes to help her so she doesn't really get a chance to make that big an impact. Personally, even though I like her as a character, I've found myself not particularly enticed by fanart of her.

Rem's popularity over Emillia is easier to explain, though not particularly flattering for anyone involved. Otaku simply prefer a girl who will be wholly devoted to them, who will do whatever they want, forgive any wrong doing, etc. Rem fits that bill, while Emillia has other things like the selection dividing her attention and she calls out Subaru for his behaviour and doesn't forgive him unconditionally. You might wonder why textbook tsunderes are popular when they violently punish a guy's accidental/intentional wrongdoings, but with them there's an understanding that the girl isn't actually mad, just acting that way to hide her true feelings. It's obvious that Emillia is legitimately upset at him and Subaru will have to put in some real effort into patching things up with her. For people who have hard enough time maintaining what social relationships they do have, that's not something they want in their escapist entertainment.
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