This Week in Anime
How Emilia Got Her Groove Back
by Monique Thomas & Steve Jones,
Emilia's trial continues with higher emotional stakes and a final revelation that completely recontexualizes one of the series' most memorial villains. Steve and Nicky look at all the twists and turns in the latest season of Re:Zero.
This series is streaming on Crunchyroll
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.
@Lossthief
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@mouse_inhouse
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@NickyEnchilada
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@vestenet
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Steve
Well, Nicky, I didn't think it would ever come to pass, but six weeks in, we finally have the big, tantalizing piece of important information that us Re:Zero die-hards have been dying for all season: an OP.
Well, Nicky, I didn't think it would ever come to pass, but six weeks in, we finally have the big, tantalizing piece of important information that us Re:Zero die-hards have been dying for all season: an OP.
Nicky
I almost thought it would never come in the long stretch of whopping 30-minute episodes in a row but it finally came through! And so do we covering the 2nd cour of the 2nd season!
I almost thought it would never come in the long stretch of whopping 30-minute episodes in a row but it finally came through! And so do we covering the 2nd cour of the 2nd season!
All that chunky runtime, yet still no room for an ED. Baby steps, I suppose. And at this rate, we'll get it by the season finale at the very least!
It's certainly justified though because just like the first cour, every single episode has been absolutely PACKED with information, character development, and world-building. It's been a very rich experience so far.
Speaking of baby steps, we even finally get a good look at some of the mysteries surrounding Emilia's past!!
What a good bean. And yeah, combing through half a season of this feels like collating an entire season of another show. Lots of threads, lots of subthreads, many questions, fewer answers, and additional questions raised in turn by those answers. I doubt we'll have the space or energy to cover everything here, but we can hit the highlights. And what better place to begin than the beginning, where we last left Subaru: getting his ass kicked by Otto.
As it should be.
As it should be.
Look, only a good friend is willing to kick your ass when you're down, and after the turmoil of last season and suffering through many tries, Subaru was pretty much just ready to flop over and give up.
As previously established, Subaru isn't very good at asking for help and when he did, he ended up only asking people who didn't exactly have his best interest in mind. So someone sincerely reaching out to him and willing to talk him through everything is the thing he really needed to put his head on straight and announce a declaration of war against the thing we all despise most: Clowns.
Under no circumstance am I down with this clown. Tho I am down with Subaru peaceing out by straight-up telling Roswaal to Joker-fy himself—that sets one hell of a strong tone for the rest of this arc.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm fully on Team Otto now. Dude went from a scumbag weenie to a scumbag weenie who's also one of the best friends Subaru can ask for. I was very glad to see his backstory as a Disney princess featured here.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm fully on Team Otto now. Dude went from a scumbag weenie to a scumbag weenie who's also one of the best friends Subaru can ask for. I was very glad to see his backstory as a Disney princess featured here.
Otto has actually been one of my growing favorite characters since the first season, so it was really neat to see him evolve into the Heroine wingman we deserve. I'll also note that his backstory as Dr. Doolittle that also disabled him for most of his early childhood was pretty interesting.
He and Subaru absolutely deserve each other.
Subaru's chemistry with guys is actually really amazing, though this doesn't stray him from his goals of trying to impress Emilia. The single-minded romantic, and the new-found boost is his weapon of choice when he goes around setting the record straight and doing the one thing he didn't try before: Actually talking to Emilia about her problems.
Can it be? Subaru is acting humble and acknowledging he can't solve every problem by running max speed face-first into a wall over and over again? And that two-way communication is the best tool any of us have when it comes to understanding and supporting each other? I'm legit proud of this little track-suited dummy.
One of the reasons I'm enjoying this season is, to be honest, that it has less of a focus on Subaru himself. It's good for the story to acknowledge that the people and stakes here are much bigger than him alone. Nevertheless, his material this season has been strong so far, and I like that it's included a huge and long-overdue argument between him and Emilia.
Both these kids had a lot of stuff they needed to get out in the open.
Both these kids had a lot of stuff they needed to get out in the open.
Subaru is just a tiny player in Emilia's story, but he's important because he's also one of the only people that can really sympathize with her properly. The show spends so much time in Subaru's head but while Subaru is allowed to try and fail to figure out his own issues, Emilia is often going through the same thing without the same process or support. It's not until Subaru promises to stay beside her that she can even think of dealing with her trauma again.
Unlike Subaru, though, there was also something holding her back, namely Puck.
Yeah, Puck's conspicuous absence finally comes to a head as he severs his contract with Emilia entirely. It's rough to watch, and naturally he doesn't have time to explain anything (because Re:Zero is not one to squander an opportunity to leave the audience hanging for answers). However, symbolically, it's clear that Puck was a kind of security blanket for Emilia, and he needed to go away for her to properly confront her past trauma once and for all.
Oh and also he was tied up to her magically sealed memories in some way. That part's pretty important too.
Oh and also he was tied up to her magically sealed memories in some way. That part's pretty important too.
This is the point where I highly recommend people watch the roughly one-hour-long prequel OAV "The Frozen Bond" for more context. It's not answers but it does give a little more clues on how Puck might play a role in Emilia's life and what her life was like before the series. Plus, it has A TERMINATOR HORSE.
Also the show 100% expects that you've watched it.
Without Puck's protection, Emilia's memories flood back to her. She runs off having felt abandoned by everyone and Subaru finds her within the temple while Otto and Ram deal with Furry Bakugo in order to buy him some time. Ram gets a pretty cool fight scene here.
I love two things: watching Ram punch stuff, and hearing Ram tell off boys. And let's just say I've been pleased with this cour so far.
Tell 'em, girl. Also, I hope you like BUGS!
Don't worry, they're friends.
Don't worry, they're friends.
God it rules that Otto's ace up his sleeve is being able to command a bug army. What a wonderful weirdo.
Just bring down one of the Seven plagues of Egypt on a chuuni-lad. That'll show 'em who to mess with.
Oh yeah, this single revelation is probably the one that makes the most retrospective sense in all of Re:Zero.
Literally explains every single thing about his character, from the shouty mommy issues down to his incessantly esoteric quotes.
Literally explains every single thing about his character, from the shouty mommy issues down to his incessantly esoteric quotes.
Honestly, it was the most shocking revelation this season even after we go through all the stuff with Emilia. Speaking of: Subaru finds Emilia practically at her lowest and tries to give her a pep-talk, and while she's still upset at how he "broke his promise" by sneaking away into the night, she also subsequently starts revealing a bit of what might actually be bothering her.
Yep, it makes total sense given what we (and Emilia) now know about her past. It also makes sense that Subaru still kind of sucks at giving pep talks, and this whole scene only starts moving forward once he drops all pretense and starts being honest about his frustrations, alongside Emilia.
And it's only then that his confession starts coming through and feeling sincere. Dealing with someone else's baggage is sometimes even more frustrating than dealing with your own, but it's because we love other people that we continue to deal with them and all their faults. Emilia's self-worth is soooooo low she has a really hard time accepting that someone could truly love her, warts and all, but Subaru proves it with the kind advice of his Mother Dearest and seals it with a (consensual) kiss.
That's Subaru "Woman Respecter" Natsuki right there!
But jokes aside I thought the scene was cathartic and very sweet.
But jokes aside I thought the scene was cathartic and very sweet.
It's really nice to see them come around after all this time. Because they're so similar, Emilia and Subaru's relationship can actually be a really big time-bomb of toxicity—something Subaru learned through some wicked witches in the first cour. So the transparency here is really the first leap to avoiding all of that and push Emilia forward on her journey to becoming Queen.
And the first thing she does is tell Garf off.
Ah yes, the dueling T-poses.
Emilia has the power to sense the Momma Issues off a catboy from a mile away.
Garf, also not unlike Subaru, is stubborn enough to need both his ass and his emotions thoroughly kicked before mending his ways. And Subaru is happy to oblige the former with a gift from a dear old friend.
I like too that this continues the tension of Subaru entwining himself further in the whole witch cult thing. It's dangerous! But it's also an opportunity for him to prove that he can be a strong enough person to wield this power responsibly. Maybe.
I like too that this continues the tension of Subaru entwining himself further in the whole witch cult thing. It's dangerous! But it's also an opportunity for him to prove that he can be a strong enough person to wield this power responsibly. Maybe.
The stuff we learn about Garf is also pretty good. Not only is he just a scared little boy, he wants to keep everyone trapped in the sanctuary in order to keep them stagnant, and therefore unable to surpass him—who never completed his own trial—and unable to get hurt. All because his mother left him and his sister as a child in order to find opportunity and promptly died.
Subaru's response to this tantrum is pretty on-the-nose as always.
Subaru's response to this tantrum is pretty on-the-nose as always.
He has the logic of a wounded child: "this hurt me, so I'm gonna make sure it doesn't hurt any of you." But children are also morons and shouldn't be left to their own devices to spiral like that. Garf really just needed a supportive family to give him some tough love and encourage him to face the truth of the matter. So this, too, is satisfying after a cour of going around in circles.
It's also the most Garf thing ever that, upon seeing a vision of his baby self, his immediate instinct is to punch himself.
It's also the most Garf thing ever that, upon seeing a vision of his baby self, his immediate instinct is to punch himself.
Anyways, the Garf stuff is probably my favorite sole episode of this bunch. Even if it's also the most isolated, it's still a really good companion for the trials to come. Now that Garf had a big-ole can of whoop-ass unleashed upon him and a therapy session, he no longer stands in the way of the goal of getting Emilia to re-take the trial. THAT MEANS AN EVEN BIGGER EXTENDED FLASHBACK!!
A flashback that's occasionally interrupted with other flashbacks! Like, don't get me wrong, I'm glad the conceit of this season revolves around Subaru deliberately not using his time loop powers, but in practice that means this run is padded by backstory after backstory. Still, Emilia's was long overdue.
And there's a lot to dig into here, but first and foremost, let's take a moment to bask in her roundness.
All hail, the glorious baby Emilia. Everyone is in awe of her cuteness.
So rotund is her roundness that witchcraft is the only reasonable explanation.
She's so cute that her entire village decided that the only way to protect her chubby lil face was by making sure it never saw the outside world, lead by her mother-figure, Fortuna, even though she's technically her biological-aunt.
Oh yeah, for all the context this peek in to her past gives us, there are even more secrets and mysteries hinted at. Like, Emilia's actual parents are nowhere to be found, yet they're simultaneously highly-revered by her aunt and the rest of the community. Obviously they're a big part of what makes Emilia herself so important, but much of that context is still shrouded. At least lil Emilia gets an adorable pair of surrogate parents tho!
Hmmm, something about that guy seems familiar...
Hmmm, something about that guy seems familiar...
Really? I can't really see the resemblance.
I guess a lot happens 100 years later. Did I mention that this is waaaaay in the past? Because reasons.
I guess a lot happens 100 years later. Did I mention that this is waaaaay in the past? Because reasons.
If you had told me back in season 1 that we were going to get a pathos-rich tragic backstory for Beetlejuice that involved him being a stand-in father figure for Emilia, I would've laughed like the green man himself. But here we are, and I couldn't be more delighted. I love this freak.
Still lot's of ominous things surrounding juicy-juice here. It's strange that he and his seem quite peaceful but as a member of the witch's cult he obviously has some sort of connection to Emilia that we're still not privy to other than that it's so powerful that he immediately bursts into tears of joy upon meeting her while she was sneaking out.
LIKE YES, I KNOW SHE'S VERY CUTE BUT THAT'S NO REASON TO BE SO UPSET.
LIKE YES, I KNOW SHE'S VERY CUTE BUT THAT'S NO REASON TO BE SO UPSET.
Totally Normal Guy here, doing Normal Guy things.
Also, did I mention that because it's a trial, Echidna is here, and she's like super pissed about something Emilia did (or didn't) do?
It's so good, I can't believe we had to wait so long to see the two of them together. And can you just imagine how Subaru would react if he could see this? It'd be powerful enough to undo all forty-odd episodes of his character development, and he'd be right back on the ground groveling at their feet.
But seeing all these things—Geuse, Fortuna, Echidna's Ire—in order just brings the bigger question bubbling up to the surface of What the heck could a 5-year old Emilia have done that made everything go to shit?
HMM, MAYBE IT HAS TO DO WITH THAT BIG CREEPY DOOR OVER THERE JUST HANGING OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS?
Hey maybe this brand new character knows?
Just after I thought we were done meeting witches!
Right? Here I thought all of our Witch Sins were accounted for, but I guess I was wrong. Here comes Vanity.
Also, this smug mofo who you may recognize from the very beginning of season 2.
Hey, it's the MRA bishop!
Surprisingly, Geuse actually isn't too happy about this despite also being apart of the Witch's Cult. This tells us that the Cult might not actually be a totally Unified Front like we have assumed so far. And He and Fortuna definitely aren't going to let them get their dirty paws on their beloved daughter.
There's obviously a complicated religio-political struggle going on that we're just seeing the surface of here, and that's neat! I'm glad things are more twisty than "Satella bad." I also enjoy that this bro is so thoroughly unlikable that even his new witch ward Pandora gets sick of him after about five minutes.
Also because he tried to kill her I guess.
She got better.
Also because he tried to kill her I guess.
She got better.
and this was AFTER we saw Guese defy orders and go full hog and eat a spooky shadow worm, making him closer, and madder, to the more familiar character we now know. This chick is truly terrifying.
I also won't comment on a character named Pandora trying to unlock the seal on a big ominous gate in the middle of the forest, beyond saying "lol."
We also see Mother Fortuna go all out, and you can really see who Emilia gets it from. But it's still not really enough to protect her only family.
I mean, it's not like Emilia had these memories suppressed because they were too happy.
Eventually, while trying to escape she still manages to make her way to the SPOOKY DOOR, where Pandora eventually catches up to her and gives her a choice to open the door of her own volition and spare her family, even though that means breaking her promise to her mother (and potentially destroying the world). But since Emilia loves her guardian very much, and values her wisdom more than anything, that doesn't shake out so well.
Also, I'm sorry if you dislike looking at a bunch of white, grey, and blue in these shots for three episodes. It's more chilling in motion.
Also, I'm sorry if you dislike looking at a bunch of white, grey, and blue in these shots for three episodes. It's more chilling in motion.
And I believe this is the turning point that Echidna (and the trial) wants Emilia to examine. Would it have been better for Emilia to just open the door? Can whatever it's hiding be worse than the icy fate inflicted on her foster parents and the forest elves? And Emilia, to the credit of her emotional fortitude, concludes that yes, she still made the right decision, because she trusted her real mom (i.e. Fortuna) and kept her promise to her.
Absolutely not an easy conclusion to come to by any means, but it's a strong capstone to a long tragedy that Emilia can finally start to process.
Absolutely not an easy conclusion to come to by any means, but it's a strong capstone to a long tragedy that Emilia can finally start to process.
It also contextualizes why she valued the promise Subaru made to her so much. Which he broke so he could go off to spend all night writing cute messages of encouragement on the whiteboard before Emilia took her test.
But it really clears the air of what we should think about Emilia's character. We were all waiting for her to have done something absolutely irredeemable but really, she was simply a scared child who stuck to her guns in trying to protect everything that she knows and loves, and her goal is to simply do anything in order to get it back. It's simple but it's earnest, which is what I would expect from Emilia.
But it really clears the air of what we should think about Emilia's character. We were all waiting for her to have done something absolutely irredeemable but really, she was simply a scared child who stuck to her guns in trying to protect everything that she knows and loves, and her goal is to simply do anything in order to get it back. It's simple but it's earnest, which is what I would expect from Emilia.
It also broadens the scope of Re:Zero in a necessary way, and makes this world and these characters feel more layered and complex, beyond the facets that Subaru has been privy to. Plus, I'm just glad to have Emilia back in the story. I really missed her presence in the first cour of this season, so I'm very happy she's been the dominant character in this half. She's a good cookie, and I hope she gets more opportunities for some witch chat in the future.
Well we're definitely going to be getting more because turns out Emilia has to take TWO MORE TRIALS!! Woo! It's a testing smorgasbord! Though, even Echidna seems to be confident of her abilities there. Subaru's also got his own battles to face in trying to save both the sanctuary and the mansion, and it feels like we're just barely getting there. I honestly have no idea how he's gonna pull it off, but that's just what I love about a guy who only has, as Ram puts it, "incredibly good timing".
Don't know if this arc had to be quite this long and complex, but now that we're finally in the "good" loop, it's definitely picked up steam in a big way. Can't wait to see our team of gals, fellas, and catboys work together to clown on this clown.
IMO, some of these flashbacks definitely could've been shorter and also paced better. Like, we didn't even have time to go through most of the stuff w/ Ryuzu Meyer since the show hasn't fully deliberated on that yet. It always feels like the show is trying to gamble with all its elements in play, but a high-risk story can also offer some even bigger emotional pay-offs and that's why I'll continue to bet on Re:Zero.
Also, worst case scenario: we're still getting some Elsa content in the near future. And Beetlejuice here takes the words right out of my mouth.
Who knows, maybe we'll even be able to see the opening again before the second season ends? Though, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up, I've fully given up on ever seeing an ED after all.
That's one bet I'm not taking.
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