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Subaru Natsuki: The Best and Worst Thing About Re:Zero


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WeNTuS



Joined: 09 Nov 2015
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 1:16 pm Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:
Australian JRPG Gamer wrote:
I wonder if he will ever realize he actually has a lot of physical strength.

I remember him beating up those 3 thugs in one of the earlier episodes.


He also got his ass kicked by that knight and Wilhelm so he isn't that strong. Plus he was killed by those same thugs in at least one of the loops so he wasn't that much stronger than them.

You should rewatch it because your last sentence does not make any sense. He wasn't killed by thugs because he is weak but because one randomly hit him with knife.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 1:26 pm Reply with quote
WeNTuS wrote:
zrnzle500 wrote:
Australian JRPG Gamer wrote:
I wonder if he will ever realize he actually has a lot of physical strength.

I remember him beating up those 3 thugs in one of the earlier episodes.


He also got his ass kicked by that knight and Wilhelm so he isn't that strong. Plus he was killed by those same thugs in at least one of the loops so he wasn't that much stronger than them.

You should rewatch it because your last sentence does not make any sense. He wasn't killed by thugs because he is weak but because one randomly hit him with knife.


I never said he was weak. Just that beating up some thugs he didn't even beat up every time does not make him "actually [have] a lot of physical strength"
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 1:38 pm Reply with quote
lesterf1020 wrote:
I like this column a lot. It says a lot about what I like about the show. However, I have to disagree with Jacob Hope Chapman on what was necessary in ep 18. Subaru's problem was not that he believed he was the hero of the story and needed to be disabused of that notion so that "He would just be one complex person in a world full of complex people: not the best or worst of anything. "

Subaru actually is the hero of the story. The problem is that he believed that the entire world already knew that and that all he needed to do was show up and everyone would accept his hero status and do what he wanted and he would be showered with great powers and rewards. As a result he didn't need to consider the situations of other people or negotiate with anyone. After all he was the hero.

What he realized in ep18 is that while he is the hero, nobody else (except Rem) sees him like that and so he will have to work at it and earn that status from others. If he wants someone to be his love interest he can't just save them and expect they will fall into his arms. (Rem excepted)


I will agree.

Personally, I found the episode took time to digest in my head days later. Rem thinks highly of Subaru because she actively chose to assign him value greater than what could be rated on the surface. Everyone else in the world has better, or greater surface value.

Subaru is at his best when he's had experience with others and genuinely earns their favor. Sure he has the advantage of retries, but that's when we enjoy seeing him grow. Subaru is at his worst when he becomes selfish. I think this comes to be the point when he organizes the events of ep19 and 20. If he helps people first, then he can possibly ask favors.
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Amuris



Joined: 05 Apr 2016
Posts: 69
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:04 pm Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:
WeNTuS wrote:
zrnzle500 wrote:
Australian JRPG Gamer wrote:
I wonder if he will ever realize he actually has a lot of physical strength.

I remember him beating up those 3 thugs in one of the earlier episodes.


He also got his ass kicked by that knight and Wilhelm so he isn't that strong. Plus he was killed by those same thugs in at least one of the loops so he wasn't that much stronger than them.

You should rewatch it because your last sentence does not make any sense. He wasn't killed by thugs because he is weak but because one randomly hit him with knife.


I never said he was weak. Just that beating up some thugs he didn't even beat up every time does not make him "actually [have] a lot of physical strength"


Subaru has more physical strength than he did in his own world. He mentioned that on, like, the first or second episode. The problem is just the standard. Even if he's stronger, he's still surrounded by unusually powerful and gifted people. Some of the blessings the gods hand out in that world are more broken than any cheat you've ever seen.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:13 pm Reply with quote
Exactly. He is relatively strong compared to the average person in our world, but compared to professional soldier/mercenaries in this world (and in general really), he is not very strong. For those who saw today's episode spoiler[Crusch says he is the weakest of all the people assembled to kill the whale, and not baselessly] He's doing the best he can with what he has been given, eventually at least.
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iliumwicked



Joined: 22 Aug 2016
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 7:05 am Reply with quote
Episode 18 is unbearable to watch. Subaru is stubborn. Rem is stupid. You want to self-loathe? Do it by yourself! If you are aware of the problem about yourself, if I am there, then talk about it CALMLY and ask for advices. I will give them, packed with SYMPATHY.

E.18 is epitome to show why today's anime (Japanese animation) is so weak to penetrate the main stream entertainment consume culture to generate real revenue and devoting fans.

NEET? Otaku? Why can not god damn Subaru wait and see what happens next when he holds his RUSH-CHARGE! back? All those brokenness of his are waste.
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rejer



Joined: 16 Mar 2011
Posts: 52
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:46 am Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:

And I agree that it would be better if Rem presented herself as an equal and not as a servant or on a pedestal. But I don't think she has even met anyone she would call her equal. I don't remember seeing any children her age in the oni village, and the villagers wanted them killed due to superstitous reasons, so they're out. In her immediate family, Her parents obviously not but even for her twin sister Ram, she had an inferiority complex until the witch cultists came around and cut off the source of her talent, after killing everyone in the village, after which she switched to devotion/dependence fueled by guilt over having enjoyed seeing her only family taken down a peg. And as a servant, she obviously didn't see herself as equal to her master and his guests. Even with Subaru, she sees him as someone to die for, not someone to live with, even though she very much would have enjoyed it, as her domestic fantasy showed (and in that I do think she thought of her own feelings, both in the fantasy and her ultimate rejection of that fantasy). It would be better for her if she saw herself as an equal and someone who deserved more than to be a sacrifice, but it would be out of character for her at this point for her to think so yet. I hope that changes (I'm on Team Rem myself) but she isn't there yet.

I agree with this so much. Rem doesn't see herself as an equal to anything. She never dropped her servitude attitude even after her talk with Subaru in Ep 11.
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dark_magic



Joined: 19 Oct 2016
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:56 pm Reply with quote
I think the article does not give a correct understanding of Subaru along Arc 3: The crisis is not that he demanded to be rewarded for his heroism; but his inability to cope with the way people around him (Emilia, Julius, ...) treats him as well as his inability to realize that it is partially his fault all along. If I remember correctly, Subaru never asked for any significant reward in previous arcs; just for Emilia's name and for a butler position in Roswaal household after he saved her. (I don't think he asked for any reward from the villagers after the mabeast incident.) Jacob did not mention any examples of ``he wanted from the world and never received''.

Quote:
In this moment of vulnerability, Subaru most needs to accept that his overwhelming desire to be the strong, capable, beloved protagonist of his own world does not mean those things are owed to him, but neither does that make him trash or a failure, just one human of many in the world struggling to get through a life that's hard to live.


Subaru KNOWS that he is the hero. He KNOWS that without his painstaking effort in previous Arcs, Emilia, Felt, Old man Rom, Rem, the kids from the village would not be alive at the moment. He KNOWS that he has the special ability to fix things right. Think about it this way: If you have the ability to fly and superhuman strength on Earth that no one possesses, would you automatically deem yourself a hero (assuming that you want to help people)? Subaru he knows what is going to happen and want to save the people from their demise. But nobody listens and whatever solo effort he made does not change the outcome. (This reminds me of the story of Noah and the ark; but I digress.) There is NOTHING wrong desiring to be a hero if you have the power to do that. There is NOTHING wrong to feel injustice by the way people treat Emilia and desire to defend her. But of course, the way Subaru did it is way too immature and full of arrogance; leading to his strain relationship with Emilia, beating by the Julius, the reason that nobody listens to him and all subsequent events.

I think the so call
Quote:
Subaru's assessment of himself as a NEET is brutal, revealing, and honest

mentioned by Jacob is a wrong assessment that Subaru gave himself. The futile efforts and the ordeal he went through enforces and makes him believe in the idea which people in this world have been telling him that he is not trustworthy (which is wrong; as he really care for others: he told Emilia in the end that he really did all that for her; not for himself as she previously believed) and arrogant (which is true; from the way he ridicules the knights). Subaru's emotional outburst
Quote:
I hate myself! All I do is talk a big game and make myself sound like a big shot, when I can't do anything! It's amazing that I can live like this and not feel ashamed! Before I came here...do you know what I did? I did nothing. I had all that time, all that freedom...I could have done anything, but I never did a thing. And this is the result! What I am now is the result! At heart, I'm just a small, cowardly, filthy piece of trash who's always worried about how others see me. And nothing about me has changed!

has nothing to do with the event in this world but his life on Earth (according to the accompanying flash back animation). (I have no idea why the author decided to bring it to the dialog since Rem would not understand Subaru's previous life anyway.)

To sum up, what Subaru needs to realize is the fact that he is indeed a hero at heart even if he fails (being a hero does not mean you can save everyone), that he should not give up even if he has to go through all those inexplicable pain because it is not his character and that he needs to fix his arrogant way. And that's precisely what Rem helped him to.
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Gab Web



Joined: 01 Jan 2020
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 6:23 pm Reply with quote
But he does love Rem. I think the article is wrong to suggest that. He was giving up but he's shown plenty of times that he cares for her. It might be 'settling' but he knows he could have a happy life with her.
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
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Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 9:30 pm Reply with quote
This thread is over 3 years old. Locking.
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