Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

[KrayZ33]

http://i.imgur.com/zfLUbyj.jpg

Synopsis
Suddenly, high school student Subaru Natsuki has been summoned to another world on the way back from the convenience store. With the biggest crisis of his life being summoned to another world, and with no sign of the one who summoned him, things become even worse when he is attacked. But when he is saved by a mysterious, silver-haired girl with a fairy cat, Subaru cooperates with her to return the favor. When they finally manage to get a clue, Subaru and the girl are attacked and killed by someone. Subaru then awakens in the place he was summoned and notices he gained the ability "Returns by Death" and has become a helpless boy that only has the ability to rewind time by dying. Beyond the despair, can he save the girl from the fate of death?

(Source: jCafe, edited)
http://myanimelist.net/anime/31240/Re_Zero_kara_Hajimeru_Isekai_Seikatsu
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EP1 + 2(?):

First week had a double episode and I liked it alot. I'm just hoping that the production value won't fall off *that* hard because I prefer it when shows end with a big bang (Schwarzes Marken, to some degree) instead of the other way around (Akame ga Kill).

I'm already hyped about the next episode because the setup is already alot different from what it was before he died the first and second time.
So it doesn't feel like we are seeing the same things over and over again when he dies.

The only problem I had was that he seems to be really "slow", he didn't grasp that he's being revived each time he dies. I'm just hoping he does understand it this time around.

[shinta|hikari]

The biggest problem with this story is it fails terribly at suspension of disbelief, and I'm not talking about the supernatural aspect.

How can someone be that dumb? The hero beats up a few punks and bows down to get his ass handed to him for no reason. See a knife? Run away. Why the hell would you bow down? Comedy of this type, especially if it leads to real results (him getting hurt, meeting people, dying in the end because of said meetings), is cringe-worthy.

I don't even want to get started about him not noticing he looped back, or not even trying to confirm the repetitive anomalies around him when it happened. It's not as if he lost his memory FFS.

How do you expect people to believe that this supposedly hikki gamer guy is working out for no reason? Because he said so? His motive is utterly ridiculous. Watching the house in Japan doesn't involve fighting off burglars. Why not make him a martial arts geek who is bad at socializing? Now that makes more sense.

What the hell kind of reaction did he have after he got summoned with his groceries? In Konosuba, a gag story, it actually made sense because someone explained the situation to the hero. In this case, he got warped somewhere randomly, and first thing he wants to do is use magic to save someone, who would've actually died if he failed (and he did. Luckily someone else helped). A little bit of shock, anxiety, and reflection would've made this much more believable.

And the tropes. God, the tropes. And they didn't even try to twist or subvert any of them. Grimgal did much, much better in that sense.

Normally, I wouldn't care about such flaws because they are in about 90% of what's out there, but this show is really annoying because it somehow got a huge budget and a great animation team working on it despite these critical problems. It even had a double episode release! I wish Konosuba had a budget this high, even if I know it doesn't need it.

[KrayZ33]

In this case, he got warped somewhere randomly, and first thing he wants to do is use magic to save someone, who would've actually died if he failed (and he did. Luckily someone else helped). A little bit of shock, anxiety, and reflection would've made this much more believable.

He thinks this is somewhat of a game... maybe even a dream, why would he be shocked.

Him feeling lost was shown pretty well though.
He got his ass kicked from A to B to C and then back to A again and he didn't understand anything of it.
He's completely lost and the half elf is like the only person he can go to now because his surroundings are rather hostile (mostly because he has 0 money)


How do you expect people to believe that this supposedly hikki gamer guy is working out for no reason?

That's somewhat of a weird question, because nowadays, half the population is working out "for no reason" other than wanting to be fit (gamers included)
Most (well maybe not most, but more than just 1/100) streamers are actually fit af' and would beat me to a pulp even though they play 8h/day. Guess he's just one of them.

No need to question every little thing, seriously. Sometimes I wonder if people are even trying to enjoy something, or if they try to be negative on purpose for some weird and twisted reason.

[shinta|hikari]

Because what if it isn't a dream? In dreams, you do stupid shit because you don't have control, but he clearly did. "I thought this was a game or a dream so I did whatever" is a weak excuse. His reaction is more like a dude lost in a foreign city than someone warped to a different world, clearly 2 very different things.

That said, this can be explained by his fantastically low intelligence, which is the most unbelievable thing.

[KrayZ33]

His reaction is like that because he thinks a dream just became reality.... as I said, he thinks it's a game - at least in the beginning.

How's that an excuse? It's just what it is and how it was shown, he basically said so himself when he demanded better starting gear and when he refers to stuff happening as "events".

That's part of the comedy going on, which is why he begged for mercy too instead of running away. He's not supposed to panic like a normal human being because that's not the character he is and not the character this story is about.

[David75]

I also suppose he does not have precise recollection of the pain he felt dying.
If he did, he would start either being afraid and close himself from his surrounding, or become a tad clever and start thinking.

[shinta|hikari]

@Krayz - That's my whole point. He is unbelievably stupid. This comedy (and the story, at least for 2 loops now) you speak of revolves around that premise. If you're fine with that, then good for you. I'm not.

[KrayZ33]

Did you enjoy any movie up to this day?

And yes, it's the exact same thing. There is absolutely no realistic character in 95% of the movies out there, whether they are about action, romance or whatever genre you pick. This doesn't mean 95% of the movies are bad though.... most of them are probably more fun to watch than the other 5% that tries to portray realistic characters.

People should really stop losing their shit just because the main character of a show, that means someone who should be fun to watch, is not reacting like the boring guy next door which noone cares about.

If I wanted him to run away from danger and lose his shit, I'd watch the helmet cam of a soldier in one of the wars going on right on youtube.

edit: just to make it clear, yes he is stupid and he should've realized the loops by now - but that and the comedy stuff going on have nothing to do with each other.

[shinta|hikari]

Did you enjoy any movie up to this day?

Yes. I don't even mind stupid characters, to be honest. I loved Konosuba, for one. The problem is this show's execution is very poor, for reasons I've already stated. It's half-assed. It tries the same comedic style as Konosuba but also wants to deliver a serious story with stratification and deaths. It's annoying to watch a character die repeatedly because he's stupid if the deaths are supposed to be taken seriously.

EDIT: I don't particularly want him to be a boring, cowardly person. He can be a charismatic and analytical guy like Manato. He can be weak and kind like Bell. Heck, he can be an ass like Kazuma. I just don't want slapstick comedy driven by a stupid protagonist wrapped in a high budget "serious" story.

BTW, no one is losing their shit, well, except you. I only listed down and explained my complaints. Relax and enjoy the show without getting too carried away by opinions of other viewers.

[KrayZ33]

BTW, no one is losing their shit, well, except you. I only listed down and explained my complaints. Relax and enjoy the show without getting too carried away by opinions of other viewers.
Haha,
I'd believe you if you weren't so upset about this, see your first post, there is no way that you were "calm" and didn't write yourself into a rage.


It's annoying to watch a character die repeatedly because he's stupid if the deaths are supposed to be taken seriously.

He didn't die 'because' he's stupid... he's stupid "right now" because he STILL didn't realize he's looping. Who knows, maybe we'll actually see him grasping it in the next 10 minutes.
It's not a question about opinions either. It's about people not realizing what they are watching and why things are the way they are.

"Hulk is always angry" because that was funny and a nice joke, not because it's canon and the way it works.
Deadpool is joking around because he's Deadpool, even though that's the reason why the movie didn't end in the first 5 minutes.
etc. etc.
Does it make the MC stupid that he begged for his life instead of running away when he could (thugs scene)? No, it was clearly just comedy.
If they wanted, they could've told the same story with him running away and bumping into each of the girls... but they didn't because it doesn't flipping matter, because it's a comedic scene.

These scenes are there to lighten up the seriousness... why not take them for what they are.
They didn't want to start this show with someone losing his shit for the first 40 minutes. That is all.

[shinta|hikari]

The thing is, Krayz, we're always gonna run into this argument. We've done it for many shows now, and honestly, I'm tired of it.

I admittedly like to pick things apart. I don't feel really strongly about it when I do. You like to defend things you like. It just so happens I like fewer things than you do. The problem is, I always feel the urge to reply when you address my posts, which is honestly starting to wane now. It's like a merry-go-round.

Please, just think that I'm a bit too picky and let things go. I don't particularly enjoy having to explain my opinions when the counter argument is always "I think it's okay because a lot of other things are like this." I just happen to be the person who actually does think that most of these other things suck, and I'm gonna stay that way.

TLDR: I don't wanna do this back and forth again, so please kindly stop quoting and arguing with me for the same reasons. I'll be forced to ignore it like I do for one other poster here in the forum, something I'd rather not do.

[KrayZ33]

......

Don't know why you even started writing your first post then?

I just posted some counter"arguments" (more like offering a different "view") as to why he acts the way he does and about the stuff you had trouble understanding.
If I'm not supposed to, why even bother adding "?" and not just say "I would've prefered if this story was different because I like serious stories with serious characters that are like me / or the person I have in mind"

Not much I could've done then, right?

And then there is the issue I have with you picking things apart because they aren't the way you *believe* they should be - like that "gamers/shut ins" do nothing but gaming and hate sports and working out. I'm just saying that's not how it is and thought you'd start to realize that you were extremely biased.
I had absolutely no problem believing that he worked out... maybe because I actually know alot of people working out in their free time and I was actually glad about the fact that he did, because it always bothered me that every "Nerd"-MC is a freaking low life that can't handle physical shit just because he likes to play videogames.

[shinta|hikari]

Because my first post didn't address yours at all. That's just my opinion of the show, which doesn't affect yours. Neither did I criticize anything you said.

Once you start quoting me and try to explain things that all boil down to opinion, we're going to keep entering this never ending loop, one I'm tired of. The thing is, neither of us have "trouble" understanding anything. It's not even a matter of interpretation. We just like and value different things, and arguing about that is pointless.

I am very particular with execution, for example, while you are quite lenient with it as long as the story delivers entertainment. We will never agree on this. Using the shut-in thing as an example, sure, there may be shut ins in the world that randomly train their bodies. But are they common? Why even make him a shut in? Why not use a more believable excuse for his training, like the one I mentioned? Is it a big deal? No. But I like pointing those out. So unless you get strange enjoyment from hounding my posts, I'd politely ask you to stop.

And please, stop hurling accusations about my preference. I've been very clear as to my complaints, but you like twisting them into this strange image you have of me, like me liking serious stories with serious characters despite knowing how much I love Konosuba... I'm really tired of this, in particular.

EDIT: About the question mark, it's something called a rhetorical question. I was trying to emphasize the absurdity of the elements I pointed out.

[KrayZ33]

I am very particular with execution, for example, while you are quite lenient with it as long as the story delivers entertainment. We will never agree on this. Using the shut-in thing as an example, sure, there may be shut ins in the world that randomly train their bodies. But are they common? Why even make him a shut in? Why not use a more believable excuse for his training, like the one I mentioned? Is it a big deal? No. But I like pointing those out. So unless you get strange enjoyment from hounding my posts, I'd politely ask you to stop.

What the fuck man? You ask QUESTIONS... why shouldn't I answer them? Stop asking questions then.

I can tell you why they (probably) didn't use YOUR example, but am I allowed to now? Because you asked me to stop.
I'll do it anway, because I see no reason why I shouldn't after you ASKED for it.

They didn't use a martial arts fanatic that can't socialize because it would affect the whole story.
Would a martial arts freak be that calm when he enters a new world? No - he'd lose his shit.
Would a gamer that watched anime, manga played games take it more "lightly"? Yes he would
Can a gamer also work on his body? Sure he can.
Is it common in anime? No it's not, does that mean it's stupid, or unlikely? No.
Why does he even have to be "socially awkward" in your world? He has/had no problems running up to people and looking for information. He's obviously not someone who is troubled by talking to someone else.

He's a human being with too much free time on his hands that he didn't spend on gaming 24/7. (in a way "only" 20/7 )


EDIT: About the question mark, it's something called a rhetorical question. I was trying to emphasize the absurdity of the elements I pointed out.

rhetorical questions only work when the answer is obvious, you chose situations that are only obvious in *your* way of thinking... and as you said yourself, in your opinion. That's not the point and time to use rhetorical questions because it will trigger people to comment on it if they disagree.

[shinta|hikari]

Sigh. My (rhetorical) question was, why is he even a hikki in the first place? That was the part I wanted them to change. If they didn't want to, then he should at least be socially awkward, because that's how most hikkis are. They don't interact with people.

I'll answer this myself, because it is a rhetorical question, after all. They made him a hikki to make him identifiable to the audience, a cheap overused tactic which I personally dislike.

See, this is exactly what I'm saying.

You're argument is always gonna be "it's fine the way it is."
Mine is always gonna be "it could've been better."

There's no point trying to resolve this. We can't convince each other, so replying to me is pointless. As I've mentioned in many other threads, I dislike doing pointless things.

This is also derailing the threads for no other reason than you wanting to reply to me. So, I'm honestly out. Probably for all similar discussions.

[KrayZ33]

How is it derailing the thread when we are talking about the characters and the situation they are in....

This isn't really about what you think about this show for me anyway, it's about laying down your opinions about something as "facts" and you are even being offensive about it , ridiculing anyone who thinks otherwise (and that's the problem alot of people on the internet have and what's really sad about it, here too)
If you didn't want to do it, then you should start thinking about how you write it.

and
You're argument is always gonna be "it's fine the way it is."
Mine is always gonna be "it could've been better."

Is not true either, your point is not about "it could've been better" it's about "it could've been the way I preferred it" and that's the only problem I had with your post which is why I, once again, offer a different view on things (that isn't made up on the fly but rather actually something I and maybe someone else thinks)

[shinta|hikari]

What facts? I've always only stated opinions. See, this accusation thing is really getting old. Do I really have to tag every sentence with "I think" to make it acceptable for you?

"Better" is subjective, Krayz. So is "fine." However, "true" isn't subjective. At the very least, it pretends it isn't.

It is derailing the thread because I'm not interested in discussing this anymore. I'm honestly asking you to stop hounding me. Please just say that you will and get the final word in. I welcome it.

Can't we even agree to disagree? Please agree to at least this.

[KrayZ33]

What facts? I've always only stated opinions. See, this accusation thing is really getting old. Do I really have to tag every sentence with "I think" to make it acceptable for you?

Yes, because if you honestly believe your first post was about "opinions" than I don't know what to say anymore other than that you are lying to yourself. I'm accusing you because you are doing these things, not because you are not. If you didn't - I wouldn't because why would I? I've got no beef with you.
You are doing it most likely unknowingly, or maybe I just can't express it the way I would like it too.
Maybe you don't realize it because that's the way talking is done on the internet - with no respect towards each other.
Whenever I read you "opinions" though, I feel offended for thinking differently.


Can't we even agree to disagree? Please agree to at least this.

I could, if I knew to what... because if it's only about how we like/dislike the show, then yes.
But that is actually not the only thing I'm trying to point out.

[shinta|hikari]

Another accusation. Honestly, what have I ever done to you?

Every thing I say in this forum is an opinion, unless I say something like a date when an event happened. I don't even know how you interpreted my first post as. Was it supposed to be my attempt at being God and declaring truths?

I don't want to accuse you of anything, but your recent replies are making it seem to me like this is some sort of personal vendetta. I honestly hope that is not the case. I'd rather you not continue, but if you have to, please do it via pm. You yourself admitted in your last post that this isn't even related to the show anymore.

[shinta|hikari]

Episode 2. (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=801811)







----

So it's confirmed that Subaru is an idiot. While I'm not a fan of his character type, I liked almost everything else the 2nd episode presented, particularly Felt. DFC, tube, wakilicious, and a tomboy!? I really felt it with her (pun intended).

Elsa is freaking scary. She is like a boss character that the protagonist meets at the very start of an RPG. It doesn't help that none of the name characters so far seem to be anywhere near her level, with the possible exception of Sakamoto, I mean, Reinhard. Fortunately, she didn't dig too deeply about his reaction and "let it go."

I wonder if there's a limit to his looping ability? If there isn't, he can just gather info for now and pick the best possible ending. History can in fact be changed, proven by his encounter with Reinhard.

His first step in the next episode should be convincing "Satella" to trust him. While a tsundere, she seems to be the most reasonable of the lot. With his lack of communication and negotiation skills, it'd be impossible for him to persuade Felt, a born street rat and an ambitious thief. Good intentions are meaningless to her type.

Looking at the opening, Subaru is eventually gonna get a harem. I wonder if his reset ability will ever get nullified? The OP suggests that the looping will last throughout the cour. If so, is it really gonna be a harem? Or will he have to lose his previous conquests when going for a new one in a new loop, much like Keima?

[Edort4]

So the MC seems to be a bit dense. Maybe it is a side effect of the reset. Somehow like in edge of tomorrow it took 3-4 times to sink in. I dont understand why or how he keeps meeting the thugs trio. I guess it must have something to do with the "comic relief" (all writers must read the same old "101 to writing book") but I fail to grasp how that overused situation, in only 2 episodes (must be a record), could please the public. If its just an excuse to meet the elf in the 1st episode and the knight in the 2nd I would call that lazy storyboarding.

I find Elsa to be amazing. Words fail to describe her awesomeness. Thus far is my favourite character and I hope we see lots of her. Actually this 2nd episode felt short so I guess thats good. Will keep watching even thou I dont actually like harem shows with lolis.

[shinta|hikari]

I think the trio encounter is to show that history has some kind of magnetic force that tries to pull itself into its original path.

I wonder if Elsa will be part of his harem later. The conquest would certainly be interesting.

[KrayZ33]

I'm glad MC realized what's going on around him, I liked the 2nd up not only but also because of that.

And since no one mentioned it, the ending theme is actually pretty amazing, compared to the opening at least.
Gets you pumped up for what is about to happen, reminds me of how Gundam handled it (Unicorn)

[MFauli]

Just saw episode A and B. I like it now after seeing those first two episodes. What I didn´t like was that the hero calls himself a hikkikomori, yet is perfectly fine with being outside, is even super confident and eloquent in front of strangers. They should have dropped that hikkikomori line, would have been better. Oh, and "Oh, I was probably transferred to a parallel world" line was so underhyped, lol.

Will watch episode 02 later. I wonder how they´ll handle the dying from here on. It´d kinda suck, if he has to go through all the same shit again and again to reach a certain point. Maybe he´ll get checkpoints? Maa, I´ll wait and see.

Although I´m not sure yet if this a serious or a comedic anime. The kills are very gruesome and serious, but everything besides that feels relatively shallow, as if it was a gag anime.

[KrayZ33]

The way he "relives" what has happened is actually pretty enjoyable.

Shinta's statement

I think the trio encounter is to show that history has some kind of magnetic force that tries to pull itself into its original path.
I think the trio encounter is to show that history has some kind of magnetic force that tries to pull itself into its original path.

Seems to be somewhat true, but at the same time, there are all these differences that might lead to a different result, what we don't know however is what result is temporary or what is then going to happen "eventually", no matter what he tries to do!

Right now, he is always ending up at the loot house for example.

I might overthink this a little here, but if I assume this is some kind of a "game" scenario maybe it's not a "time loop", but a game mechanic

Return by Death = Respawn (obviously)
Apple Vendor = Savepoint
Thugs = an event that "respawns" (or more like, it's part of the story and will always happen) and will yield either different rewards or different story progression (or branch of in a bad end, visual novel style)
Elsa = Boss battle
Loot House = Main Story Quest location
Half Elf = Main Story Character, you can't advance the story unless you talk with her and she joins you.
Swordsman = Optional party Character
Felt = Optional Party Character

Everything that happens on the way to the Loothouse are basically side quests that might help him to defeat the boss, which is Elsa.
If he fails to do so, he'll respawn at his last checkpoint/savepoint.

It would be funny if he manages to defeat Elsa somewhat soon and die against something else a day or two later. When he does die, he'll now respawn at the Loot House after he defeated Elsa however and he has to slowly advance to new "savepoints" until the Main Story Quest is solved.

[David75]

It is possible that each day is a passing point. So he has to get through everything that might kill him on that first day, spend the night sleeping so that everything he lived that day gets granted.
Then his new starting point is that new day. So by then felt, the silver princess, Reinhard, the Appa seller, dangerously desirable Elsa and everyone he met the first day will remember him.

[shinta|hikari]

I definitely prefer the save point idea compared to always starting from Zero... but then we have the title...

@Mfauli - I totally agree with you about the hikkikomori part. He can love MMOs without being one, after all. It was unnecessary. It's not a deal breaker or anything, but omitting it would make his setting more natural.

[MFauli]

episode 3 is out
----------------------


That was close!
Will be interesting to see if the checkpoint theory pans out. It kinda has to. Would be too much trouble and work to repeat THAT scene all the time.

Sucks, though, that the killer woman got away. Honestly, I think it´s because a fatal, wrong mentality in character design these days. With so many anime or shows or games or whatever, you always have stories where enemies just won´t die. Why? Because the makers think "hm, I put so much effort into creating this character, it´d be a waste to have him/her killed already". And that´s why we´ve got these frustrating situations, where villains stay alive until very late in the story. You know what would be the proper solution? CREATE MORE GOOD VILLAINS. Really, stories these days lack good villain writing.

Reinhart was kinda overkill. I wonder: When he said he usually only fights monsters ... did he literally mean monsters such as giant dragons, trolls and kraken and stuff? Because that´d make sense :D

Last but not least, and I feel bad for mentioning it again: Wtf was Subaru doing there at the end? His posing, his "ok" stuff, wtf. It wouldn´t be that bad, if it wasn´t for the "he´s a hikkikomori" origin. NO hikkikomori in existence behaves like that. :/

[shinta|hikari]

Maybe one that likes disco?

Anyway, I agree that Subaru can get annoying, especially because he's dumb as bricks. However, that's the only thing I don't like about this show. The fights, animation, magic, swordplay, and non-Subaru characters are all great. Emilia lost her fake tsundere persona from episode 1, Felt got fleshed out (I can only wish it happens literally :( ), Elsa's psychopathic motivations were elucidated, and Reinhard's chivalry was emphasized.

While I agree with you about the annoying trope of enemies escaping, it actually makes sense that Elsa survives. She's too pro to fight an impossible battle, so the fact that she held on that long means she had a chance, and when it disappeared, she devoted her all into running.

What did Reinhard see when Felt was handing over the insignia? It's not the trinket itself that bothered him because he handed it over to Emilia at the end. He also asked Felt's age. Maybe that insignia can only be held by elves or royalty, and Felt is an abandoned heir to the previous evil emperor (cough, Chaika, cough) or something.

[KrayZ33]

Elsa had some really amazing scenes in EP3.

They really did not slack on the job and made her look gorgeous throughout the whole fight.
Small details like when she threw her knife at Felt when she was about the leave the room make the show so worth it.
I love that kind of stuff.
Let's hope they keep it up.

I even chuckled a bit when Subaru managed to block that knife by kicking something in it's flightpath and realized "Fuck man, I'm nailing it right now" - It really felt like it was one of the moments when you clearly know you can't do something specific, but the stars were aligned properly and you somehow stumbled your way to victory.

Howeer, his pose at the end was really over the top .. and I wish they wouldn't overdo it as much in the future. He didn't seem like a character that would fool around after a situation like this *that* much.
Some, less annoying "jokes", to lighten up the situation would've been so much better. Emilia's laugh was really cute though! She even tries to hide it , so no one can see her smile, (as if there was anything to be ashamed off) awwwww yiiisssss!


Btw, did anyone understand why Elsa was throwing her knife at the end? I thought it would circle around and slash someones gut open when nobody expected it, but it seems like Subaru had his belly opened up the whole time.

edit: or was it deflected by Reinhard's "spirit shield" or something?

edit2: another thing I'd like to add

Emilia's sense of "doing the right thing" is so much better than Emiya Shirou's.
When she's acting like that, it seems much, much less immature. Not sure if people even consider them comparable, but the "sacrificing yourself/your gains to help someone else" - theme is there.

And is anyone of you playing LoL? When Rom was about to die and they finished the fight, I remembered this little video here


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEpp9lkfxA

I kept on thinking about how he should "rewind" it again for the perfect score. Turned out he didn't have to.

[KrayZ33]

Watched Episode 4 right now.

Seems like it's truely build up similiar to a game with certain savepoints/autosaves. Did the Mansion owner seriously kill him in his sleep, that's extremely spooky and it must be even more spooky for Subaru, knowing that you died without actually seeing/feeling it must feel extremely awkward.

If the Mansion owner wanted to be on the safe side, I wonder what he said to Emilia afterwards. Not that it matters, because that "timeline" does basically not exist.
It's kinda sad that his relationship status with Emilia is "down" again and I wonder how he'll build it up again.
We might even see him getting tired of it or something like that. That would be an interesting twist, I can imagine him getting grumpy after doing it over and over again, which will eventually lead to an attitude that will never allow them to get close.

[shinta|hikari]

That's a twist usually reserved towards seinen stories like Steins;Gate. I don't think this loop will go on enough for Subaru to get jaded and lose interest in Emilia-tan.

[MFauli]

Rather lame episode, though. I hope this "let´s put the only significant plot progression in a 10 second clip at the end of the episode" style doesn´t keep recurring.

[David75]

Beatrice did not reset. That will prove useful in the future.
Now as for how Barusu died, well the first night I thought poisoning, and that's what happened. But it seems the killer was lurking just in case. I wonder if they kill everyone in the mansion after that, or just clean Barusu's remains... Because with all that blood, that's a bit of a tedious work to clean.

Also, I thought the owner and even the maids were quite powerful, even Emilia is. So I guess we once again have quite a powerfull assassin, with over the top skills.

Then the question is why target Barusu. It's probably related to Emilia's King candidate status. But we don't know for sure.

Back to the poisoning, feels like it's the mutt's bite, they really insisted on the bite marks. Is the mutt the compact version of a larger beast ?

[shinta|hikari]

Beatrice reset. She only remembered him because the save point was his 2nd awakening AFTER getting pawned by Beatrice the first time.

[KrayZ33]

Watched Ep5 right now:

Not sure what happened to the twins, maybe Subaru learned enough during his time as a butler that they started to respect him "enough", or they were honestly worried about him and couldn't believe that he was a spy this time around?

Did the blue one fall for him? That was kinda cute. I guess it was hinted that they aren't truely human during the Angel vs. Demon talk. Talking about cute, this show puts alot of effort into making the girls look good, especially Emilia looks better and better every episode. The clothing, the movements, I enjoy it to watch her, too bad Subaru himself is so goofy, while I like his statements and enjoy his attitude from time to time (he's able tp brush some things away and doesn't hesitate to "shoot back"), there are just as many times where it's uncalled for. (especially when he changes into disco stu-mode... or whatever he's trying to do there when his voice changes and all that)

I can't say I enjoyed the pacing this time around... it's not like they wasted a lot of time, it's just that this episode was pretty much useless on it's own. I actually liked what I saw, but it felt similiar to Haruhi's Endless 8. It's very thrilling to see what is different, what is the same and whether he will or will not be able to change stuff, but at the same time, it's really frustrating to see him failing at the exact same moment again even though the outcome itself is perfectly acceptable for me.

It's more of an "I wish I could watch another 3-4 episodes already" issue.


Also, I thought the owner and even the maids were quite powerful, even Emilia is. So I guess we once again have quite a powerfull assassin, with over the top skills.

Ep.6? I know I'm behind but didn't EP6 only air today/yesterday? Did we see the maids fighting or doing something awesome already, or are you talking about the impact of their characters and how much you enjoyed them.

[MFauli]

it was a shit episode, truth to be told. once again nothing happens in 20 minutes, then something happens in the last 10 seconds. meh

also, i reeeeally hope Rem is killed. Would be absolute bullcrap if Subaru forgave her killing him once/attempting to do so a second time, just because she´s a cute girl with a sister.

[shinta|hikari]

You don't forgive cute evil girls. You enslave them.

[KrayZ33]

When did we stop writing down the episode number when it wasn't mentioned before :(?

I don't need a fat "episode X" at the beginning with a link, but it's a pretty huge deal for a show like this.
I'm actually able to refrain from reading a comment about an episode I didn't watch yet, but only if I know what episode that person is talking about.

[shinta|hikari]

I wasn't even sure what episode I watched, to be honest.

[MFauli]

xD @shinta

Well, Kray mentioned episode 5, so I thought that´d be the notification.

[KrayZ33]

You confused me enough to believe that you were actually not talking about episode 6.

Eh... whatever.

[MFauli]

Oh wait, episode 6 is the latest? Then that´s what I was talking about xD

[MFauli]

episode 7 is out
---------------------


fuck this shit!
Subaru is the most masochist character I´ve ever seen. This is such bullshit that he tries to help those psycho bitch sisters. If it weren´t for Subaru´s skill/curse, he´d be DEAD ... by the hand´s of Rem!!1
When stupid Ram was kneeling next to Rem´s bed, glaring at Subaru, I so hoped he´d yell at her "you dumbfucking cunt-sister deserves all this and worse!".

At least, relatively lots happened this episode, so even if it angered me, it was better than the last two slice of life-style episodes.

[shinta|hikari]

At least Subaru finally got his shit together. I can only endure emoness for so long.

It's good they have an excuse for not being able to reveal the looping. That's what BokuMachi severely lacked.

Rem definitely deserved to die. At least Ram wanted to listen even though Subaru was acting incredibly suspicious. I don't really give a shit how much those two suffered because of the witch. Torturing and killing an innocent man means you don't get to complain when he returns that favor tenfold.

Subaru is such a tragic character, but it's pretty much the same tragedy as every single time looping protagonist. No one will ever understand how hard he worked to save people.

Loli mage is so awesome. She's always been consistent with how she treated Subaru. Those maids and that noble are fucking nuts and deserve to get killed.

[MFauli]

Speaking of the loli mage: I wonder if the contract between her an Subaru keeps up for the next loop, too. Since Subaru probably didn´t hit a another checkpoint, I´m curious which "law" is stronger: The law of the curse, or the law of a contract.

[Edort4]

This episode was strange but hinted some plot reveal/development and seems that Subaru has finally made his mind of using this "power" with some brains and guts.

First night he died of a curse. The second and 3rd night was killed by Rem (2nd night was curse affected). I think 1st an 2nd night difference with the rest was that he voluntered as a servant. 3th and 4th is a guest. 4th night Rem was killed by curse. Im guessing it has something to do with the lord. He says to be helping Emilia but I feel that he is just trying to control her somehow.

Also seems pretty clear that he is there thanks to the witch. He is her tool somehow so I guess the mansion lord isnt with the witch cause makes no sense to dispose of her tool. Maybe a 3rd party from one of those aiming for the kingdom. Dunno why he would curse rem 4th tho... I think im making this all up but I like that he series have me thinking.

[shinta|hikari]

Thinking back, wasn't the invisible cutter thing Ram's ability? Or was it shared between the twins?

Well, they did say that Rem could do everything Ram can do, only better.

[Edort4]

Yeah maybe it was Ram the one that cut his throat, being kind and not wanting him to be tortured by Rem, or maybe both of then can use that. First I thought it just a fast "flail" movement that Rem did but know that you mention it could be a skill both or only Ram has, some kind of wind wave or Rem uses flail only and was Ram the one doing those cuts.

I said wind cause emilia seems to control ice so I went with elemental powers. Lord has the power of "rainbow balls".

[shinta|hikari]

Hey, the lord looks like he loves his balls. Don't judge him by putting his power in quotes!

[neflight86]

It shouldn't have, but Subaru's death confession before his first death this episode got to me a little (and the ending one, now that I think about it). The voice acting came off as genuine rather than emo, so I could buy in a bit. That plus further intrigue and clues makes this the best episode so far.

[shinta|hikari]

It was a powerful scene. The entire episode felt emotionally charged. My only problem with it is how much of a pussy he is being, but that ended with this episode (I hope).

[KrayZ33]

I feel bad for Subaru, I knew that it would get to him at some point, didn't expect it so early and I hoped for Emilia to be the trigger.

Never have a seen a more badass suicide btw. The situation he's in must feel *horrible*. He now knows that something sinister is going on and all of a sudden, it must feel extremely awkward to rely on "return by death".. it's like a gift that can be taken away at any moment, every life/rewind could be the last.

I'm quite interested in the curse he's "suffering" from. That scene where the hand was about to rip him apart was spooky.

Rams act of mercy at the beginning was really cool too.

[MFauli]

episode 8 is out
------------------

While it FEELS like the plot progresses, I simply cannot overlook that Ram or Rem killed Subaru. It is inexcusable. Seriously. If it weren´t for his special curse/ability, he´d be gone. Forever. Because some shitty loli killed him. It feels so wrong that he forgives that. Fuck. I won´t be satisfied until Rem or Ram are killed, preferably in a gruesome way.

Also, damn, did his behavior get worse?! I mentioned in the beginning of the series that he is nothing like a shut-in otaku, but his behavior in this episode was utterly unbearable. And please, shinta, dont give me that "well, he was stressed out from the suicide, even Emilia noticed something" excuse. Wow, was that bad.

I wonder what it is with this Satella witch. I assume it was Emilia´s real identity, but now it seems like Emilia used the name of the witch for unknown reasons. If so, was it her using the witch´s name that cursed Subaru? Hm.

[shinta|hikari]

Huh? Why are you calling me out? I've always hated Subaru's nonsensical behavior. I was the first person to complain about it. Maybe you're thinking about Krayz.

Ram and Rem killed him in the timeline where he became a guest instead of a worker and tried his best not to interact with the maids. He was killed because his body exuded the witch's fragrance, triggering the twins' trauma and distrust. I do agree that killing him was overkill, though. They could've, uh, tried talking first.

EDIT: Why couldn't they zoom out just a little bit in this scene?
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g310/shinta617/ReZero-Episode8-Omake-3_zpsihf24dc4.gif
Just a few inches lower and it would've been golden.

[KrayZ33]

You like your (new) .gif making tool don't you :D

[shinta|hikari]

I didn't make those gifs. I just copied them from Sankaku.

[Edort4]

Didnt like this episode. I suppose that mental fatigue and death by "friends" shock could be foreseable but the whole goofy attitude and the clown like behaviour was just complete nonsense. Lets see what happens next episode and who that shaman turns to be. Anyways the novelty of the show is banishing fast for me and I dont like all this harem building and mentally retarded behaviour. If it wasnt for the "gore" deaths this could be a show for 10yo.

Im a bit dissapointed and I know its my fault cause the OP leaves clear what kind of show this was gonna be but those first 4-5 episodes were really good and not so heavy on the stupid romantic/conquest harem building and the lets confort him and let him touch our thigs "uuuh ecchi!".

If I was the writer I would make him go to town, meet a girl that tries to sell something strangely cheap and when fail she tries to seduce him, due to the boner accumulation that all those girls in short costumes he is tempeted, turns out she is a hooker. MC decides that hooker isnt being disloyal to emilia and pays her to do it but just then finds she is the shaman (sent by the lord to get rid of him, but he has no proof) and then he kills her choking her after a struggle. For example :D

[shinta|hikari]

Ep 12:






What did Reinhard see when Felt was handing over the insignia? It's not the trinket itself that bothered him because he handed it over to Emilia at the end. He also asked Felt's age. Maybe that insignia can only be held by elves or royalty, and Felt is an abandoned heir to the previous evil emperor (cough, Chaika, cough) or something.

So, uh, I predicted this whole Felt is a princess development since the end of the first arc. I'm not trying to brag. It's just that this story is a little too cliche and predictable.

That said, the characters are cute and adorable. It doesn't matter that their personalities are mostly cookie cutter and just as predictable as the plot. Cuteness = Justice.

[Buffalobiian]

I've been fairly bored with the latest series of eps because I frankly don't give a shit about Ram or Rem. Damn psychos. Library girl shits all over them.

At least now we're done with them and we can finally get back on track with characters from the first arc.

[shinta|hikari]

Library Girl? You mean Drilloli?

[Buffalobiian]

Library Girl? You mean Drilloli?

yes. her.

[KrayZ33]

Maybe it's just me but I have no fucking clue what Subaru is trying to say sometimes.
He keeps talking and talking and uses up about 5 minutes to cheer someone up and all he ever said was basically "cheer up, please laugh/keep smiling."
It's somewhat annoying. It isn't a rare situation in anime per se, it always feels like the author want's to be extra "deep" or something, but man... it's feels so poorly written, or.."forced" and Rem kept repeating herself as if Subara didn't adress her worries at all.
I don't know how it could've been better, but this seemed to be a moment where you could make the viewer *think* about stuff and thus make him sympathise. Instead, he made Subara say something every normal human being would say, but it took him 5 minutes instead of 30seconds.
I really do not like his constant fooling around btw. It gets frustrating. "Can't you talk to her like a normal human being and not your *uguuuu* your so cute emilia tan - voice?!"

Watched ep 11, btw.

[shinta|hikari]

Ep 12:







Man, that was hard to watch. It was written well enough, but I personally hate it when main characters act in a pathetic manner. If I wanted to watch pathetic people, I'd just turn on the news.

I also really hate stupid miscommunication as a drama trope. How about telling Emilia that he can't explain even if he wanted to? The restriction on his info leak is only restricted to revealing about his ability to revive and that he was trapped in a loop. Saying that he has a reason, one not of his choosing, for not being able to tell Emilia about it should certainly be doable based on his ranting about being the hero who saved everyone.

Subaru is tragic here because the Emilia he is talking to barely knows him, at least not as much as he knows her. However, that doesn't excuse him being stupid and lashing out at her. His ability/curse to loop back should've given him some maturity. He died enough times for that, but unfortunately, he's still a dumb kid.

I honestly think a smarter, less silly main character would've made this story far better. That, and a main character design that doesn't look like thug C.

[KrayZ33]

Yup, I agree.
He's ruining it a bit. I can't stand it when he starts fooling around like a retard.
Isn't he supposed to be a shut in anyway? Why does he talk so much....

[MFauli]

I hate his nonsensical, overbearing behavior, it is SO cringeworthy. When he started defending Emilia in the throne room by loudly shouting, I felt SO embarrassed for Subaru, ugh. He is NOT important to this ceremony, yet he makes it all about himself. You know, when Emilia later at the end accused him that he´s doing all this stuff only for himself, she was wrong. But that behavior in the throne room, in front of hundreds of people? Totally egocentric behavior. Sigh.

The end, however, had me feel for Subaru. Damn, what a scene. If I were Subaru, I would have told Emilia, "you know ... I love you". Then stand up, run out of the room before she can reply anything. Then I´d go on a 5 year journey where I´d train my sword skills and magic spells. Afterwards, I´d return to town when Emilia is long queen. I´d defeat the evil dragon, then half-dead return to Emilia and say "I really always did it all just for you", before fainting. I´d then wake up in a nice bed, and Emilia would sit next to me. We´d stare each other in the eye for minutes, silently, when I say "Will you marry me?", and Emilia would simply nod and smile. THE END.

Ok, sorry for the fanfiction, but that ending scene triggered me.

[David75]

Go away doing your selfish thing for 5 years and Emilia is married with 5 children...
As painful as this episode looked like, it did point at relationship truths I experienced as a teenager.
Even if the delivery isn't the best, that anime tries to point at other behavior and relations.

[neflight86]

That whole selection council, or whatever, was a bit of a circus...

Subaru did perish this episode in a new and even more revolting (to the viewership) way than ever before. He dies socially to all of his relationships and everything he's built up so far in this world, except Rem, I guess... One arrogant speech at the wrong time followed by a pathetic battle, followed by a super painful conversation with Emilia where he went from "I'm doing this to repay you for saving my life" to "You owe me more than you could every pay for the things I've fixed for you!" when she wouldn't buy it. Given the options available, I can appreciate that he was disappointed he didn't die. This isn't the kind of mess you can clean up (within the scope of a 2 cour anime) without a magical reset, which Subaru actually has. Good luck kid, you're gonna need it and a couple of respawns. Color me surprised if he manages without them.

I don't mind him making a fool of himself. I just wish it were a little more subtle, the mistakes he makes. Actually, could this be a satire of saccharine anime platitudes, like world jumping protagonists converting entire cultures to their 'progressive' viewpoints? File that under 'too much credit given'?

For how frustrating it was to watch, one thing is guaranteed. I'm sticking around to see what happens next.

[Buffalobiian]

You can actually do as MFauli described, but kill yourself at the end of every day for 5 years. That way you're useful to her now, and she won't have kids.

[MFauli]

I wonder if the solution to this current dilemma will be as simple as the upcoming auto-loop. Remember, Subaru doesn´t have to die to initiate a jump-back-in-time. It´d be kinda lame, because as neflight said, this isn´t a situation you can easily resolve without freaking magic. Which is why I felt like going on a lonely, self-finding journey, lol (I also happened to rewatch Berserk, Gutsjust became independent).

If, and that´s a big if, all of what´s currently happening is intended that way by the author, then maybe we will finally find out just how much of a "otaku" and shut-in Subaru truly is. Remember, myself and many other´s here thought it was silly how Subaru claimed to be a shut-in, yet acted with so much bravado from episode 1 onwards. It never made sense. Adding this with his "you owe me more than you can ever repay1"-outburst sounds a lot like classical "niceguy syndrome". Expecting Emilia to owe him, when she never asked for it. And even if she did, it´s still Subaru´s decision to do so. But you don´t have a right to get anything in return.

Obviously, I´m setting up myself for disappointment, but it would be kinda great if Subaru turned out to be a really nasty otaku after all. Being all confident and happy so far only because he never accepted it as "real". Now things don´t go his way and maybe his true nature starts showing. Would do for some nice introspective, him reverting back to his real otaku-self, while still being in this fantasy world. Then he could become more humble and start working towards bettering himself.

[shinta|hikari]

That's be inconsistent with what's been shown so far. Surprise traumas don't make sense.

I find Emilia's response funny, though. She says she wants to return the favor to Subaru (and cut of their relationship), but she can never do that. Doing so requires for her to die a few times for his sake, something only he, ironically, can do. I wonder how these girls would feel after learning just how hard and how much pain Subaru had to go through for their sakes?

[David75]

As hard as the scene was, I do not think it is that difficult for Emilia and Subaru to reconciliate.
They are both trapped into their needs and lack of understanding. But they have yet to trully understand and accept each other.
Subaru's dark ego coming out was a reaction to Emilia cutting ties.
Anything magical or the likes reconciliating them would be pointless, as they need to accept each other and act on their relationship as any couple of friends or lovers would do.
Or they can just separate for good and that wasn't much

[NeoCybercoin]

Ep 14 is out!

Oh boy....

[shinta|hikari]

They could've cut all the emo crap to half and skipped to the killing part so we didn't have to suffer through Subaru's strange decline to patheticness.

We all know we're gonna get a reset at this point. I do wish it wasn't Subaru's fault that everyone died, which seems likely after the ninja cultists bowed to him in gratitude before leaving. That would be more dramatic, but I'm sick and tired of his immaturity and weakness at this point. Can't the author give him one other useful ability aside from resetting?

I'm in the Rem camp right now. In fact, I think she's the only character I like in the story.

[NeoCybercoin]

Kinda makes sense Subaru isn't all there. I mean he has died a few times. I think it would be almost impossible to remain 'normal' after that. He thinks he can solve everything as long as he is there and dies to prevent it. The dude doesn't even value his own life if you look at it like that.

[shinta|hikari]

Being insane is different from being pathetic. If he changed to become a cold-blooded bastard that could actually get things done, not get insulted by everyone and their mother, and not get beaten up every episode, I'd be celebrating right now.

Just imagine if he abused his reset ability to train for decades and became as strong and insane as Hisoka from HxH? That'd be a masterpiece.

The thing is, this story is clearly designed to be long. This is the pathetic phase, and that will eventually change. Unfortunately, the anime will supposedly end at the end of this arc, so I'm not sure if we will ever get to the payout phase of this pitifest.

[MFauli]

Good episode. Also screw Emilia, Rem is best girl and Subaru is dumb if he doesn´t realize it at some point.

I´pretty sure I´ve figured out the current scenario: Obviously, Subaru is about to die. I´d say he commits suicide because he actively decides to keep Rem from dying. Although maybe he also runs into the murderer and is killed. Whatever. What´s going to follow is this: He will instantly ask for Reinhard´s help, sending him to Emilia´s place. Subaru follows, obviously a lot slower. This results in ... no change at all, except he´ll find Reinhard´s corpse, stabbed, too. THAT SHOCK! At that point Subaru might try to ask the asshole that fought him for help. But he might fail at getting that help. Which leaves him but one choice: Keep training with the horse guy! You mention above that he could train, reset, train, reset, and so on for a looong time. I think that´s exactly what´s going to happen. Subaru trains for a couple days, then kills himself, rinse and repeat. All of that will result in him becoming a quite capable sword fighter. At some point, the horse guy will tell Subaru that has nothing left to teach him. That´s the day when Subaru returns to Emilia´s place ... TOGETHER with the asshole guy, who is now intrigued by Subaru´s "sudden" rise in power/ability. Subaru, asshole guy, Reinhard and Rem arrive together at Emilia´s place and finally manage to change their fate. Although I assume that somebody WILL die, making it a very bitter victory (and it´s no use re-doing it, because Subaru realizes that this was their best and only chance).

But seriously, Subaru, go for Rem. She better than Emilia in every conceivable way. First and foremost, she´s no filthy half-elf!!1

[shinta|hikari]

Why do you keep writing cliched and abrupt alternate scenarios all the time in your posts? I'm not criticizing you. I'm just curious.

I completely agree that Subaru should go for Rem, but that'll never happen because this is anime.

Subaru needs more than sword skills to become useful. He needs an OP skill, which he won't get because the title of the story is "From Zero."

Is Subaru enough of a loser now for you to relate to him? Again, this is not meant to offend you. I'm genuinely curious.

This is completely unrelated, but do you have a job? Please don't answer if you don't want to.

[MFauli]

Why do you keep writing cliched and abrupt alternate scenarios all the time in your posts? I'm not criticizing you. I'm just curious.

I completely agree that Subaru should go for Rem, but that'll never happen because this is anime.

Subaru needs more than sword skills to become useful. He needs an OP skill, which he won't get because the title of the story is "From Zero."

Is Subaru enough of a loser now for you to relate to him? Again, this is not meant to offend you. I'm genuinely curious.

This is completely unrelated, but do you have a job? Please don't answer if you don't want to.


lol, where´s that coming from? No, I don´t have a job, I´m focusing on studying at the moment ... right this moment, semesters finals start on Wednesday :/

And I don´t see how you can reasonably attack my "clichee" scenarios. Re Zero is full of clichees, so why wouldn´t another one be a possibility? Matter of the fact is that he needs to become stronger, dependable upon beyond mere words. Otherwise he cannot be much more than Emilia´s "fanboy". Since we ALREADY had him seen learn the local language by resetting time, it makes sense to use that method again for learning something else, in the case sword fighting.

[Buffalobiian]

In short: Subaru is too low level. He needs to grind more.

I'm getting pretty sick of this show being about Rem and Subaru. Bring back the disemboweling lady already. She was the most interesting thing about this show. And Puck.

[shinta|hikari]

@Mfauli - I'm not attacking you or comparing your ideas to this show. It's just a general observation of your posting habits. I actually thought you were intentionally writing cliche stuff to make a point or something.

I apologize if you were offended. Curiosity got the better of me.

@Buff - What's wrong with Rem? She's like the only nice girl in the show now after Emilia abandoned Subaru.

[David75]

I have a question:
Why is Subaru so involved ?
I mean, he started as a shut-in player. He thought that was a nice game.
But now, he's so involved he's borderline -or already- crazy.

Emilia/Rem aren't sufficient explanation.
I thought it could be the death and associated pain experiences. I also understand he tries his best to get out of each loop.
But really his attitude is incredibly far from the one he had at first.

[shinta|hikari]

He's clearly in love with Emilia. How is that not sufficient?

If you're asking why he is so pathetic right now, I blame the author for forcing drama into the story.

[David75]

For some reason I can't accept love as an excuse, because I'm not sure he really loves her and he knows what love is.
Last week's ep even hinted at some kind of egoïstical problem, even if maybe just an exagerated reaction to Emilia's harsh words.
Some of the reactions I read here also pointed to some kind of insanity.
But he might just be on edge, or near breaking, after experiencing death so many times, and in many forms.
I'm still wondering wether I do not like those eps is because the delivery is bad, or because the subject is so negative I'd rather watch something else... Like fanservice :)

[shinta|hikari]

Well, he was humiliated, spurned, and then abandoned too. Even without the deaths, his character breakdown is reasonable. That doesn't mean I like it.

[David75]

I agree.
Seems like we are still waiting for a lighter anime, when in fact it was pretty heavy from the start with the bowel psycho.
Then, it might be it's not my cup of tea after all.

[shinta|hikari]

Oh I'm fine with darkness. In fact, I love it. What I don't like is a pitiful protagonist (in the sense that he himself acts in dumb, emo, immature ways), and those two don't need to go together at all.

[MFauli]

@Mfauli - I'm not attacking you or comparing your ideas to this show. It's just a general observation of your posting habits. I actually thought you were intentionally writing cliche stuff to make a point or something.

I apologize if you were offended. Curiosity got the better of me.

My whole "go on a journey to become stronger" fanfic is certainly clichee. I´m not so much offended as I am irritated. Of course, I could come up with dozens of non-clichee scenarios, but that´s not exactly a feat, either, is it. We have a fixed catalogue of situations that keep occurring in anime. Each of these situations has another fixed catalogue of possible reactions/consequences. In the case of Subaru and seeing how weak he is, finding a way to get stronger is both clicheed as it is reasonable to expect. If I started creating routes that diverge too much from that catalogue, it might be a fun fanfic, but in 99% of all cases I´d waste my time, because nobody is interest in reading random fanfic.

As for what David is touching upon, I agree. I don´t know if it was earlier in this thread or elsewhere that I mentioned that maybe Subaru isn´t that great, nice guy who´s out there to help everybody for their sake. It´s always been weird that he was introduced as a hikkikomori. Maybe there´s a darker side to his personality.

[shinta|hikari]

If so, I find it strange that it's only showing up now. It's like the author thought that Silly Subaru was too shallow and one dimensional, so he introduced a dark past (assuming there is one), which affects him in the current arc (only) all of a sudden.

[neflight86]

I think this show maintains its tension best when the audience doesn't know when or if there will be a reset. Events this episode force either there to be a reset, or the main character becoming essentially a stalker or villain. While the later would probably be more entertaining to watch, it would be less satisfying and break convention to the point of being... alienating to the audience itself, since we have been given so much time to see the redeeming qualities of Subaru for the first 10 episodes, and thus highly unlikely.

My point is that I feel there is a precarious balance between the intrigue of Subaru's next reset and the reality of the scope of this story being improbable to explore, in depth, those types of machinations. That's not a bad thing, just a different direction than I would have preferred the show to go in.

[Buffalobiian]

Buff - What's wrong with Rem? She's like the only nice girl in the show now after Emilia abandoned Subaru.

She's a psycho and is out to kill you just because you didn't die a few times to earn her trust.

I also think her design is boring. I would like this show better if that arc was skipped entirely and went from "Rescue in the Slums" straight to "The competition to be King" arc here.

[shinta|hikari]

Eh? And miss the maid wakiness that took place? Rem is intentionally boring, being a dandere. Ram is the plain boring one. And don't forget Subaru has the witch's magic all over him, and he shut himself off from interacting with anyone. From the maids' perspective, he's as suspicious as hell, so they tried to interrogate him to protect Emilia. It's brutal and cruel, but not meaningless.

[Edort4]

I dont really like how "extreme" Subarus feelings are. Its like he is bipolar and he can only experience joy and grief in peaks. maybe it s something intended but for the watcher, if its a rational human being, it becomes just cringe.

Said that I like how Subaru started thinking, and to some point he still does, about this fantasy world as a "fairy tale". Actually its a mix of a quite brutal world with ludicrous morals and customs.

He is a nobody but gets shelter and helped, something that in our society even if someone gave you a hand you wouldnt probably do, but at the same time he gets target/murdered for "free". We would think about interrogation, incarceration, to know if he is a witch tool but here they just directly watch you for a few days and if you dont actually work your "reputation" you directly get chopped.

Also you are in the streets of the capital in broad daylight and you get murdered by bandits as easy as you get saved by a knight. Or you make friends total strangers in a town and the whole town gets murdered in the blink of an eye. Or you get helped to heal by using exclusive services of one of the best healers for free as you get threatened, in a serious tone, as a rivals peon.

Im not explaining it to well but this show gives me the feeling of mixing fantasy idealism (magic, maids, elves, knights) with crude and gore (dying over nothing, high chance of getting in crossfires with no regard for life, customs of supreme courtesy and 5 seconds later they spill your guts out).

[shinta|hikari]

How do you feel about that mix? That's the main thing I didn't get about your post.

I agree with you about bipolar Subaru. He seems like a caricature instead of a real person.

[MFauli]

What I´d like to ask everyone: How would you feel about Subaru if his weird/changing behavior is just that, no deeper meaning, and is never explained? Would you criticize that? Or, in other words: Do you EXPECT there to be some sort of important twist regarding to Subaru´s person? Whatever that twist might be.

I cannot get over the fact that he was introduced as a hikkikomori but never showed any of the typical signs, quite the opposite. Except for 2 episodes before, when he lashed out at Emilia in the most egocentric, like you would expect a fedora-wearing "nice guy" to behave once he learns that he doesnt get what he "deserves".

[shinta|hikari]

The meaning is bad writing.

[shinta|hikari]

Beako. (https://www.reddit.com/r/LightNovels/comments/4rwf1p/beatrice_beako_by_amane_mafuyu_rezero_kara/)

I love this comment on reddit:
"Heh, she is not retarded like all other female characters in re:zero."

This person is so right.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Beako is great. I hope she shows up in this coming arc.
Satomi Arai needs more voice roles.

[MFauli]

episode 15 is out
-----------------

wtf ... was that an episode or part of a movie? Insane quality in all areas ...

Lost some tears during Rem´s "death" in front of Betelgeuse.

If this series doesn´t give some STRONG, compelling arguments for SubaruaXEmilia, anything but SubaruXRem will feel wrong. Wow. This was pretty much a modern recreation of "that scene" in BERSERK.

Rem is such an awesome character. She goes ways beyond the clichee of the loli. She´s genuinely awesome, not merely "I´m shinta and shes a waki-showing loli"-awesome.

This episode guaranteed that I´ll be buying a figure of her whenever a good one is released over at amiami.com. Need to give her that kind of nod.

Fuck.

What an episode.

[David75]

Subaru seems to be cursed by the witch.
A very strong,,yet almost undetectable curse with failsafe: he can't tell about his revival curse.

Then at the end of the ep, we have that massive beast, female voice, that seems to speak of Emilia as her daughter. Such massive power has you think she could be the witch.

But then: why choose Subaru for the curse. He was a nobody in the begining.
Why would the witch worshippers kill Emilia

[shinta|hikari]

The giant beast is Puck, right? It used ice just like Emilia did when tapping into his power. Puck killed Subaru twice for being late in trying to save Emilia, who is now dead.

That was an excellent episode. I hope Subaru is now a lot more driven with revenge in his heart. It may not be logical, but it sure as hell beats his pathetic loser mode. I've always liked avengers. Now we have one.

Bullshit how Rem could move after her neck got all twisted like that, but okay.

I love Rem, so I should hate the crazy guy more, but I really don't. He accused Subaru of "acting" insane, but he is the most guilty of that. Has there ever been a more forced insane character in a show? Yes, the wrench guy in Baccano, but this guy comes in as a close second. It was just cringe worthy. "Look at me, I'm an insane villain! Whoopdeedoo." Umm, kay.

What happened to Beako? If they had show her being mauled by those cultists, then I would've flipped my top.

This was (and still is) my phone wallpaper before I watched this episode:
http://i.imgur.com/TRG8fsN.png

Rest in peace.

Oh wait, you're alive again. No problem then.

[MFauli]

I didn´t mind Betelgeuse´s over-the-top craziness, because what he said about Subaru was spot on: Subaru hadn´t really gone insane. He experienced something that depressed him and he felt the need to express that depression by not-caring-about-the-world. It´s a state of being spiteful to everything, because you feel like everything goes against you. But it´s not real insanity, which Subaru was sort-of pretending to have entered. Betelgeuse basically gave Subaru a very needed real-talk, that was necessary ever since his embarrassing behavior at the candidate meeting-hall and the following outlashing against Emilia. Betelguise made it clear to Subaru that being "like that" won´t help him any bit. And in the end it worked out in Subaru´s favor, as we could witness.

I didn´t think of Puck. Might be him, yeah. Would make it even better. Although why would he refer to Emilia as "daughter"? Maybe it´s a similar spirit like Puck, but nit exactly him.

My biggest complaint right now remains that it feels we could easily go 50 episodes right now. Subaru still has to find out what really happened inside the mansion. We know that there are members for every deadly sin, akin to Fullmetal Alchemist. And there´s still the overarching plot, the priestess choice and the mystery behind Subaru. How are 10 episodes enough to conclude all that? Wah!

[shinta|hikari]

They are gonna rush through it a bit. I think there are 5 novels for this 3rd arc, so I guess 4 more in the remaining ten episodes.

[MasterOfMoogles]

After Rem crawled over to him, I half expected Beetlegeuse to pop out of the shadows and laugh at him as he just puppeteered her over there.

I'm pretty sure that was Puck. Sounded like Puck for both for the first death "You're too late" and the last bit at the end, and makes sense.

[NeoCybercoin]

Puck is a great spirit as Emilia described it one that said she would freeze everything should something happen to Emilia. Puck treats her like a daughter. Besides...look at her ear. Same earring Puck has.

[shinta|hikari]

After Rem crawled over to him, I half expected Beetlegeuse to pop out of the shadows and laugh at him as he just puppeteered her over there.

I would've written it that way, so I half-expected that too lol.

[Buffalobiian]

Rem won some serious points this episode. I'm pro-Rem now too.

She's so much more enjoyable when she's applying herself. Previously she was either "I hate Subaru" to "I deserve no happiness, I must BESERKER!"

Let this be the final "Subaru the Loser" episode for some time to come now. I need some of the better stuff we had earlier.

[shinta|hikari]

Hasn't Subaru always been a loser? He's weak as shit. I mean, he's much worse recently, but I don't want him to revert to his originally crappy self. I want an avenger who's willing to die 1000x to get powerful and to pawn his enemy for the sake of, well, nothing really, because everyone is alive and well again.

[David75]

So giant Puck can get out at night too ?

[shinta|hikari]

Maybe the reason Puck falls asleep at night is to prevent his true form from pawning everything.

[David75]

Oh, dark Puck at night ? Why not.

[MFauli]

Then I demand a real good explanation why "Dark Puck" didn´t save Emilia in the beginning, when an assassin tried to murder her.

[shinta|hikari]

Because he was asleep?

Maybe Puck went berserk after, but Subaru was too dead to see it.

[KrayZ33]

Ep 14 and 15 were pretty good, I like the fact that Sloth called him Pride, because in episode 14 (and 13), you could clearly see that pride is his most important feeling.

I *literally* said to myself: "Fuck man, your pride is seriously eating you alive right now" during episode 14, so I can at least say that the author did a good job in visualizing this. His breakdown seemed extremely realistic to me too. Not really talking about what happened in episode 15, because that was mindbreaking and disgusting shit, no normal person could remain calm and sane after this and I have absolutely no clue what to make out of this weird stuff.

However, Subaru's situation is completely fucked up right now... it's always easy to forget this, especially because manga/LN authors forget to mention it as frequently as they should, but he is *lost* in a world he knows nothing about. He dedicated his entire presence to Emilia, because the world itself had clearly no place for him. He wasn't the MC he hoped to be, he didn't have the powers he needed and he's experiencing stuff over and over again that most normal persons are afraid of even if they know it's coming - death. (and most of these deaths are connected with betrayal and complete desperation)

When Emilia tried to cut ties with him, Subaru's situation got even more dire and that was shown pretty darn well when he broke down in both anger and fear. Plus, his pride literally stopped him from accepting it too - so he kept walking into more shit.

I really hope that they can capitalize on this and make Subaru somewhat useful now (otherwise it would get depressing). That spooky monster at the end, which looked like some kind of ratman to me tbh, made me all jumpy too.

Whatever it was, the world he's in just became even more alien to him (and us). Since he himself remained pretty much a "weak human" after all this, it's starting to get really difficult to believe that he can change anything.
So, as mentioned above, they really need to make Subura awesome now.


Then I demand a real good explanation why "Dark Puck" didn´t save Emilia in the beginning, when an assassin tried to murder her.

For the same reason he (if it's "Dark Puck") didn't save her this time.

edit: rewatched it, it most certainly *is* Puck.

He looks like Master Splinter/The White Rat to me, but his silhouette had Pucks earring too and it makes sense if we consider what Puck has said before.
It actually became a really sad ending scene because of that. His actions confirm that Emilia is dead or just died at that point and Puck basically says that Subaru is "worthy" of sleeping by her side (in death).

[shinta|hikari]

He needs to abuse his resurrection to learn as much as he can about swordsmanship and magic. Even if his body reverts, his knowledge, experience, and honed intuition won't. Just do that about 74.234 times after killing himself each time Emilia dies (just to make sure he doesn't exceed the time limit or something) and he'll be OP eventually.

Or... he's like a Grimgar character who's gonna be weak ass no matter what.

Then I'll drop this.

[KrayZ33]

I have no doubts that he'll make use of his "dark powers" inside him at one point. But instead of training and dying 75k times, I'd actually prefer it if he can somehow outwit his enemies instead.
The "mc trained a lot"-approach will often end up in brute-forcing every single encounter.

"I can beat him, I didn't train and endure it, just to give up now" - yada yada etc. etc.
I hope they can somehow turn him around and make him awesome without going 100% shounen.
Heck, he doesn't have to win most of his fights. As long as he isn't freaking stupid and starts to learn from them, I'm totally fine with him dying every 2 episodes.

He's been the underdog who fights dirty since the very beginning, I'd like it if they can keep that in mind. Owning people who are stronger than him by playing dirty is awesome in it's own way. :)

edit: And since I want to cross my fingers too: I want him to become the devil himself and kill everything and everyone that made him suffer.
MGS:TTP style. Pretty please?

[shinta|hikari]

But Krayz, Subaru is stupid. He can't outwit anyone except maybe himself.

Also, more experience and skill doesn't equal brute force wins. In fact, those should allow him to handle more situations in better ways, just because he's experienced them before. More magic means more options. It isn't necessarily going to be nuke spells.

I'm fine with underdogs, but not whipped dogs. He's the latter right now.

[Buffalobiian]

Training to boost his stats is one way.

Using all the predictions to go Edge of Tomorrow style is another.

Too bad there's no other option really.

[MFauli]

Subaru doesn´t have the physical skill to "go Edge of Tomorrow style". He wouldn´t be able to doge a single attack of Betelgeuse´s. Maybe a big one, but then it´d be followed up with some quick attack and game over again.

"Boosting his stats", as I had recommended, too, isn´t that great, either. He´d have to find something that relies on knowledge/experience, rather than "stats", because he can never grow muscles, gain flexibility and such. Therefore learning magic might be his best path towards victory.

Of course, maybe it´s all in the arrangement. As I´ve mentioned repeatedly: At the beginning of this current cycle, we saw that his rival with Emily, Reinhardt, the horse guy and the transgender cat are all there. Maybe there´s a puzzle-like way to put each of them against a certain enemy to rescue Emilia without any downsides. Obviously, Reinhardt would have to fight Betelgeuse.
But I´m not sure if I´d be satisfied with that option, either. I kinda WANT Subaru to achieve something on his own, not just use the curse as a cheat tool and the only thing he sacrifices is hit life, oh-so-tragic. meh.

[NeoCybercoin]

We don't even know if there is a limit to his resurrection or the side effects of it. So far the only thing that is getting worse is the miasma of the witch which demon's and cultists can sense.

[shinta|hikari]

He doesn't know either, but what other choice does he have? He has to abuse his power to amount to something.

[NeoCybercoin]

New ep is out!

Subaru will be Subaru I guess. Got a lot to learn.

[MFauli]

It really is strange how his persona has changed SO much ever since that big meeting ceremony with all the canidates and knights and whatever. Ever since than and what happened shortly thereafter, it´s like we have a different hero. To be frank: If that is supposed to be "character development", it´s super bad. Way too abrupt, too rushed, too extreme. If a girl gives you a "no", you don´t change THAT much, come on.
I´m still hopeful that this is meant to be insight into the "real" Subaru, and that the Subaru of the first 13 episodes was fake in nature, as in him thinking "cool, I´m in a fantasy world! I don´t care about anything! This is what I always wanted, me, a hikkikomori! Whatever happens, I´ll just try to have the most fun!". Now we´re seeing the real Subaru, somebody who´s struggling with people and social situations.

Besides that, I´m really scared that there aren´t enough episodes left to tell a proper story. This episode really didn´t drive things forward, it was simply an episode telling us "you cannot change what´s about to happen by making some pre-emptive move". That´s what this episode told us. Subaru HAS TO deal with the cult, he has to find a way here. And it´s rather obvious that way will consist of finding out exactly what the 3 girls want to have, so they grant him their support. Then Subaru will also make sure to ask for Reinhard´s help on the very first day of the cycle.
But that´s at least another episode of fullfilling that. Then we have to get to fighting the cult. Then whe have to save Emilia. Then we have to find out about the witch. Then we have to find out about Subaru. And then there´s those Fullmetal Alchemist-esque special cult members named after the biblical deadly sins, that we have to find out about.
Seriously, there´s a 50 episode story to be told, but we only have less than 10 episodes left ...

Also (pardon the repetition): If Subaru doesn´t end up with Rem, fuck him. She´s so great. I rewatched ep 15. She´s got the aura of a main character already. She´s gorgeous, she´s cute, she´s loli, she´s got boobs, she´s strong, she´s devoted to her love, she´s strong-willed, and so on. Emilia´s got NOTHING on her.

[shinta|hikari]

This show is ending at the LN's 3rd arc. The LN is much longer than that, I think, so this won't solve all mysteries. It will only end this new save point cycle.

Subaru is absolutely pathetic, but all those other royal candidates are scum. I found the animal girl's scene hilarious. She actually said that you can't change the past, lol! That's the one thing Subaru can do. Talk about a shameflag. She'll get whooped by Subaru before this show ends, I'm sure.

Subaru really should become OP through the witch's time magic and pawn all of them to make Emilia top dog and then marry Rem.

[neflight86]

This show brings out the most excruciating frustration I have ever felt (that I can bring to mind) at watching a person make poor decisions and mistakes. It reminds me of the court hearing scene in the movie Southpaw; I just roll my eyes at a man-child screaming to get his way when the reality of the situation isn't so stiff that a better goal couldn't be achieved with a level head. I guess because I don't typically explode like that I cannot relate to it and don't really find it 'realistic', leading to a disconnect. Subaru is almost getting worse at reading atmosphere and thinking logically even though its the last option he's forced to try, since every other kind of temper tantrum has failed his cause. I am now officially at saturation and want Subaru to show some kind of growth or I'm certain my frustration will become annoyance and overpower my enjoyment of Re Zero.

All that even overshadows the mist dragon development for me.

[KrayZ33]

Also (pardon the repetition): If Subaru doesn´t end up with Rem, fuck him. She´s so great. I rewatched ep 15. She´s got the aura of a main character already. She´s gorgeous, she´s cute, she´s loli, she´s got boobs, she´s strong, she´s devoted to her love, she´s strong-willed, and so on. Emilia´s got NOTHING on her.

Didn't you want him to kill her?

[MFauli]

Didn't you want him to kill her?

Yes. And now she developed in a way that made me forget about that. Great, isn´t it? Or did you think you discovered a "gotcha!" moment? lol

[KrayZ33]

also, i reeeeally hope Rem is killed. Would be absolute bullcrap if Subaru forgave her killing him once/attempting to do so a second time, just because she´s a cute girl with a sister.

....

fuck this shit!
Subaru is the most masochist character I´ve ever seen. This is such bullshit that he tries to help those psycho bitch sisters. If it weren´t for Subaru´s skill/curse, he´d be DEAD ... by the hand´s of Rem!!1
When stupid Ram was kneeling next to Rem´s bed, glaring at Subaru, I so hoped he´d yell at her "you dumbfucking cunt-sister deserves all this and worse!".

.....

While it FEELS like the plot progresses, I simply cannot overlook that Ram or Rem killed Subaru. It is inexcusable. Seriously. If it weren´t for his special curse/ability, he´d be gone. Forever. Because some shitty loli killed him. It feels so wrong that he forgives that. Fuck. I won´t be satisfied until Rem or Ram are killed, preferably in a gruesome way

Triggered?

What exactly happened, for you to make a 180° with a backflip on top of it? I didn't really "think" I discovered a "gotcha!" moment as you put it, I'm just calling you out on your tantrums and how worthless your older statements seem to be.
You became what you hated, Subaru.

Rem didn't even have any kind of significant character development that somehow justifies her alternative-timeline behavior. She was mad in one ep, and super-kawaii in the next for no real reason. Even cute AND batshit crazy in one of them.
Even Subaru pretty much stayed the same throughout all the timelines that "made her change" - I always wondered why they decided not to kill him this time around.

The sisters were alot nicer during the third attempt for no reason imho, but since I liked them anyway, I was actually glad about that.

[shinta|hikari]

I disagree. The evil Rem loop was because Subaru did not interact with the maids at all. He chose to be a guest and locked himself in his room, and then chose to leave the mansion after.

They were nicer in the succeeding loops because Subaru already knew their quirks and how to handle them. He was also better at his job and therefore more useful.

Rem is only batshit crazy when she's in battle mode. That's a logical divide, I think.

Changing one's opinion on a character is normal, especially in a show like this where they really do change significantly. Rem fell in love with Subaru and became super devoted, a big change from her old cold self.

Heck, I used to like Emilia, but after her fight with Subaru, I honestly don't give a fuck about her anymore.

[MFauli]

Here´s the deciding difference, Kray:

Rem is now in love with Subaru.

That single fact changes EVERYTHING. I couldn´t forgive her the murder on Subaru before, as she got to live on without any repercussions from Subaru´s side. He had all the reason to be mad, but her simply ignored that that loli girl murdered him. But that changed. This loli girl now is absolutely devoted to him. It´s not just the "i love you"-scene from episode 15. Even before, she was there for him, kept supporting him, head on lap, smiling, all that stuff. There´s nothing cheap about their relationship, she honestly loves Subaru. And that has me forgiving her. Seeing her follow through her affection towards Subaru by going full-Guts and coming to save him only cemented that feeling. She´s genuine, not some stereotypical moe-loli character type that she was before that.

[KrayZ33]

I disagree. The evil Rem loop was because Subaru did not interact with the maids at all. He chose to be a guest and locked himself in his room, and then chose to leave the mansion after.

They were nicer in the succeeding loops because Subaru already knew their quirks and how to handle them. He was also better at his job and therefore more useful.

Changing one's opinion on a character is normal, especially in a show like this where they really do change significantly. Rem fell in love with Subaru and became super devoted, a big change from her old cold self.

Heck, I used to like Emilia, but after her fight with Subaru, I honestly don't give a fuck about her anymore.

I might confuse episodes here and I'm pretty sure he was a butler twice and a guest once.
He got killed by them/her in all 3 timelines (and he survived the 4th? or did he survive the third already, I can't remember. Edit oh yeah, the third time was when he locked himself up @ loli library, that one was fair game.)

When he was a butler, he interacted with them just as much as he did later, but he wasn't as good at his work.
He went to town with Rem, playing with children and made her smile, the viewer at this point most likely thought that she fell for him (when he came up with this demonically possesed talk).
Didn't matter, he would've died from the curse, yet it was Rem who finished him but certainly not out of mercy.

He was *barely* more useful during the time he survived, in fact he seemed to be much more useless to me, he was ill, he couldn't work because he overworked, he made *a lot* of mistakes and troubled them more than anything.

I really think that they did a poor job in developing them. You'd think the time where he went to town with Rem (and got unknowlingly cursed) or the talk with Ram (blue/red ogre story) was just as impactful as his "dedication to work" later on. We have to keep in mind that the battle in the forest happened AFTER the day they went to town together (so he would've been dead before the fight where he proved himself worthy in all other timelines), unless they went 1 day early in what is now the current timeline?


Rem is only batshit crazy when she's in battle mode. That's a logical divide, I think.

When he was a guest, I thought he handled Rem quite well and what triggered her was his "witch aura", which he never lost/did not have in any of the other timelines. I consider her behavior when he killed Subaru in that timeline crazy. I wasn't refering to her loss of control when she goes berserk.

[shinta|hikari]

His witch aura is like a default kill stamp on him. The twins were attacked and orphaned by witch cultists as children, so they hate those who belong to that group with a passion. It was on Subaru to prove himself trustworthy. That only happened when he fought with Rem and for the children.

[Buffalobiian]

That pissed me off to no end.

"You have a witch aura and you're freeloading. You're fucking dead."

-_-

[shinta|hikari]

It's like finding a spy in your home base. Kill it with fire.

[KrayZ33]

It feels more like finding a "Spy" in TF2.. shoot everyone, if it takes damage, it's a spy! :D

[shinta|hikari]

I'm pretty sure without the witch aura, the maids wouldn't have hurt him. That childhood event traumatized them a lot.

Better safe than sorry. It's not a logical or praiseworthy attitude, but it's definitely plausible and understandable, especially in a world where touching someone can put a curse on them. Rem, in fact, died from a curse in one of the iterations. They're just afraid of that happening.

IIRC, the curse was supposed to be irreversible after getting activated. How did the children survive..?

EDIT:
I keep hoping Subaru will be the next Slaine, only not get NTRd twice. Shoot my girl, I become the next Lelouch!

Instead, we get the hulk, only without the powers and all the stupidity and rage.

[MFauli]

episode 17 is out
--------------------


that was ... tortue porn. Seriously wtf.

Since I just finished playing Steins;Gate for PSVita, I had some MAJOR Steins;Gate flash when the coachmen asked "who is Rem?" Serious chills. It´s obvious that this is linked to the Hakugei. It´s probably something like "whoever gets eaten by the White Wale ceases to exist". Similiar to dying while being dead in Dragon Ball. My BIG fear now is: Subaru´s reset won´t fix that. It´s pure speculation, but I have feeling that Rem is now removed from all planes of existence, so jumping back in time won´t fix anything. It cannot end like that, so I guess we´ll see some wale hunting action soon.

And then there´s Betelgeuse. I googled and indeed, it´s Kirito´s voice actor. Why that matters: Betelgeuse gives me the impression of not being a genuine villain ,but that of a fallen hero; in which case choosing Kirito´s voice actor would make a lot of sense. When Betelgeuse got angry because Subaru could see his invisible hands, I actually thought to myself "huh, maybe Betelgeuse IS Subaru". Again, coming from the Steins;Gate flash from earlier, I´d imagine that this is a Subaru who has died 1000s of times already, thus having descended into darkness. Like when Okabe in Steins;Gate at some point thinks "hm, I could rape Suzuha for fun and it wouldn´t matter, because by jumping back in time everything would be okay". Losing himself. It´d also fit Subaru´s shadow magic, which those hands appear to be of familiar origin. Again, that´s all speculation and just something that came to my mind. A friend of mine said that maybe Betelgeuse is another candidate from reality. Or that Betelgeuse represents one of Subaru´s inner weaknesses. I guess we´ll have to wait and find out.

What I´m not sure about: The general that got killed by the wale, as the coachmen told Subaru, was that supposed to be Reinhard?

[Edort4]

I dont know this series makes no sense to me no more. Writer has a list with numbered situations and he goes rolling a dice to tell whats going to happen next.

Its like reading those books about choosing your own path, that send you to different pages depending on the choices you make, just straight from page 1 to the end not giving a f.. to the instructions.

[shinta|hikari]

And a lot of it makes little sense to move the plot. This episode revealed absolutely nothing new, just presented random bad events to make us feel "bad" for Subaru, which we don't because it's been overdone now, and we STILL know the reset will fix all this.

The very concept of a reset cheapens the concept of tragedy. It's like watching The Edge of Tomorrow knowing the bullshit hollywood ending.

The funniest part was, instead of Subaru explaining that the Cult is coming after Emilia, he decides to risk his own life to explain his resurrection powers (which are by FAR harder to believe than some anonymous tip of an attack). Well, obviously, that didn't end well.

EDIT:
Things on any person's checklist to do after experiencing all these resets:
1) Learn of a way to mask the witch's aura to avoid getting hunted by anything and everything. (Optional)
2) Go straight to animal eared noble to get a dragon carriage on the first day. Who cares if she brags like a bitch. Just smirk because you already knew she would lol.
3) Hurry back to Emilia without passing through the sandstorm.
4) Get to the village and evacuate everyone. Lie about the reason if necessary.
5) Stop being a pussy about it and talk to Emilia properly. Explain what you can without touching on the witch's reset ability. According to the rules, he can talk about everything he's seen in the previous cycles, just not the power itself. In that case, the info he gained, such as puck becoming a giant mofo and calling Emilia his daughter is proof enough that he "knows" stuff mysteriously.

This is the simple way. But I'm sure the anime will take the more roundabout way of him getting help from the other nobles through negotiation, get some real power for himself, and pawn crazy clown guy in the last episode.

[MFauli]

A lot of what you complain about can be explained with a lacking personality/unrest state of mind. Subaru has been clearly following a path of misery for many episodes now. It´s not too hard to believe that he doesn´t realize certain situations.

Also, as I mentioned above, I´m doubtful that a new reset will fix "everything" this time. And even if it does, it also doesn´t negatve tragicness. Did it do that for your in Steins;Gate?

[shinta|hikari]

Yes, because I'm a very logical person. That doesn't mean I don't feel emotions, but I always think before I act, and part of that thinking process is making sure emotion isn't clouding my judgment. If it does, then I'll reevaluate if I'm fine with that outcome. If not, repeat the process until it resolves.

The problem with Subaru right now is he isn't thinking calmly despite given many chances to do so. Most people can only screw up once. He has done so for many times now. Learn from your mistakes, dammit. Gather information, make calm decisions, seek advice from the right people, stop ranting and raving like a maniac/child.

Resets negate the effects of tragedy because it negates all the consequences. Why do people get traumatized when they see their loved ones murdered in front of them? Because those loved ones die. If they are fine again the next day, that's not a tragedy. That's a dream.

That's exactly what Subaru has been experiencing thus far. Dreams. The "tragic reality" always vanishes like nightmares until he gets the happy end. That's happened twice now.

How am I supposed to feel sorry for this guy again? It's one thing if he tries his best and does all the right things and still fails (like Okabe). It's different if he rants like a kid, gets shamed again and again, blames everyone else except himself, does all the wrong things, gets people involved, and STILL doesn't get any results.

He really should get Betty's help. She can teleport shit for crying out loud...

Oh, and the crazy guy with invi hands scene was a repeat from Rem's cycle. It's like the author went Bleach on us with that one.

[Buffalobiian]

What I´m not sure about: The general that got killed by the wale, as the coachmen told Subaru, was that supposed to be Reinhard?

Whoever he is, he's alive. Otherwise, no one would remember him.

[MFauli]

Whoever he is, he's alive. Otherwise, no one would remember him.


good point!

[Edort4]

He could be dead. Just not killed by the whale.

[NeoCybercoin]

Poor Subaru, killing Emilia just because he wanted to tell her the truth.

[KrayZ33]

The amount of cliffhangers are killing me at least as painfully and often as Subaru has died in this show.

[shinta|hikari]

Irrelevant cliffhangers because we all know he's gonna reset.

[KrayZ33]

It never was about whether he does or does not reset for me.

Big suprise, the MC will most likely win at some point.

[shinta|hikari]

The problem is all this "tragedy" and "suffering" is pretty much meaningless. Just die and do over.

That doesn't really work in other stories. People die when they are killed.

[MFauli]

It´s really not meaningless. Seeing loved ones die, over and over again, takes a toll. And no, knowing that it´s not real does not make it better. I can factually tell you that, as I had a nightmare last year, a really shitty one that included something bad happening to family members of mine. I woke up and knew it was a dream. But I felt ill for almost a week after that night. And Subaru isn´t just dreaming. He experiences as if it were real AND he doesn´t WANT to reset! You´re forgetting that Subaru isn´t exactly eager to commit suicide. That actually only happened once, and last episode displayed his desire to stay alive.

Do you think Okabe´s mental worsening in Steins;Gate was unwarranted? Because he should have kown that he can always reset?

[Buffalobiian]

This entire post is Okabe spoiler. Let us know if you haven't seen this show and would like us to stop:

Well Okabe was despairing because nothing was working, but at the same time he was trying everything. He'd let Mayuri die in his runs to learn more about his enemies. He consciously uses his lives to plan ahead.

At the same time though, he doesn't actually die traumatically. He just jumps.

[shinta|hikari]

Buff is right. Okabe was smart about his loops. Subaru isn't.

@Mfauli - But Subaru already killed himself once. That means he can do it again. That suicide jump was relatively painless, so why doesn't he just do it instead of continuing a timeline where Rem isn't there? I don't get that part. So he's so afraid of dying that it's okay for Rem to cease to exist as long as Emilia is saved?

And I'm pretty sure knowing that things will reset DOES make it better. This might sound cruel, but forgive me because I'm just trying to make a point. What if that dream you had wasn't a dream? According to you, it being a dream doesn't make it better. So that means, you'll feel exactly the same if whatever happened in that dream actually happened. I really don't think that's the case.

Also, anecdotal evidence isn't fact.

[MFauli]

Exactly that was the case. The feeling of the dream transferred into my reality and stayed with me for 2-3 days. Was terrible.

Also, buff isn´t agreeing with you, shinta. He´s saying that Subaru has even worse mental stress than Okabe. The latter only had to jump back in time to try again. Subaru has to DIE to accomplish that. It´s on a whole different level. "He can do it again" you say. I guess we´ll have to agree to disagree, because that is nothing anybody can prove or disprove. I stand firm that nobody would get used to dying. Not after a single time, anyway.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm not saying Subaru shouldn't feel anything about the loops, actually. I'm saying WE shouldn't feel anything as viewers. Because we know he's gonna reset.

That said, I'll be the devil's advocate and continue arguing about how much of a pussy Subaru is. There is in fact evidence that he CAN do it again. He's looped several times now, and if it's repeatable, that means it's reliable. "What if it suddenly stops and he dies?" That's like saying what if gravity suddenly stopped and we all die. There is nothing to suggest that the loops are gonna stop so far, so chances are leaning very heavily on the loops continuing. That, and this guy knows about anime and stuff, remember? He knows about stories like this. He even named his ability to loop. He pretty much relied on it several times throughout the story, thinking he can just go back to fix stuff. Now, he suddenly seems to have forgotten all about it.

Fuck Rem! I dun wanna die! Yeah, after that girl sacrificed herself for you so many times. What the fuck.

Also. an ill feeling staying with your for 2-3 days is different from it actually sticking with you forever because the bad events were real and immutable.

Buff was making 2 points, one leaning towards mine about Subaru being a dumbass, and one towards yours, about traumatic deaths. I just agreed with his first point.

[David75]

The only positive fact is that by staying longer, he can grab more details and data about several places, friends and enemies.
But it's only useful if he can somehow get over his mental stress.
One thing to note about his character: he's a shutin teenager. Of course it hurts and its difficult to deal with life and death situations in a violent environnement ruled by powers you don't understand, facing people who have survived this for all their lives...
It's like suddenly living in a country plunged in a civil war when you never ever encountered violence... Even at 40, I'm not sure I would like and tolerate the experience.
And since the reset only heals his body, I can understand why behaves that way.
Doesn't mean I wanted to watch that in my anime list...

[shinta|hikari]

And since the reset only heals his body, I can understand why behaves that way.
Doesn't mean I wanted to watch that in my anime list...

This. Understandable is different from entertaining, or even tolerable.

Just a note, I never said Subaru's condition is unbelievable or unrealistic. It's just fucking annoying.

[MFauli]

I´d say it has become annoying by now, because they spent 3 or more episodes on showing us his "new" pathetic side. Episode 15 was enough. Episode 16 emphasized it, gave it more breadth, okay. But did we really need episode 17? We get it, that´s how Subaru really is or has become or whatever. Now go on, tell a story!

Since David mentions it: I´m still curious, if his shut-in status plays into what´s happening at the moment. It´d be interesting, as it would explain why that was mentioned at all in episode 1, because Subaru NEVER behaved like a shut-in until ep 15. But it´s also difficult to judge, because the current Subaru could easily simply be the result of dying and witnessing death again and again - something that would break most people´s mind.

[KrayZ33]

Subaru's behavior should be perfectly understandable by now (and it's perfectly realistic too). It's time to show us that he can overcome this somehow... or not, if they wants to go for a tragic ending similar to what happened after he got kidnapped by Mr.Sloth. (which is very unlikely of course).

The reason why I'm not bored yet is because the things going on so far are very interesting. And the resets are still exciting and suspenseful, I have no idea why someone would write them off as "he can just start again", because he or we never know at what point he'll be brought back to life. Right now for example, what if his savepoint is @ post white-whale encounter when he woke up next to Ram? Even if he respawns in the capital, it's still interesting to see what Puck will do and how he'll react, how it will influence him and it's also interesting that he can see Sloth's "invisible hands", suggesting that he got a powerup. It might even have to do something with his condition of not being able to tell anyone about his ability... after all, it looked like the "shadow-hands" embraced him this time around, instead of restricting him or squeezing his heart.

The resets tell us so much about what each of the characters think about Subaru and since he remembers that, it's always interesting to watch their next encounter.

[shinta|hikari]

We know he'll reset before the tragedies because it's Re:Zero, not Grimgar. If they were going for a tragic story, they would've permanently killed one important character already.



I have no idea why someone would write them off as "he can just start again", because he or we never know at what point he'll be brought back to life.

But we do. He always goes back to the same save point until he overcomes the trials. That's what the entire first half of this show has hammered into us. I'm more surprised people are actually in suspense that this might randomly change for no real reason.

[KrayZ33]

That's some stupid logic.

On top of that, his reset is after their breakup too, which got him in this mess in the first place.

[shinta|hikari]

Why is it stupid logic? It's been the pattern so far. That's how people learn and progress. They read patterns and use them for prediction. Saying "things might randomly change because we have no absolute proof it won't" seems more illogical to me.

The breakup is hardly a tragedy compared to Rem and everyone else dying. And that breakup has nothing to do with Emilia getting killed by cultists. That said, I'm pretty sure that save point was selected for the drama.

I think the main difference between our views is I'm approaching this story as a story, not immersing myself in it. I can easily predict what will happen because I've read/seen stories like this before. I totally welcome a surprise, but right now, I don't think the possibility is high.

[MFauli]

Okay, then, since you´re calling the story oh so predictable please elaboriate on what´s going to happen, from here towards the end. I´m being serious. Because so far this hasn´t been predictable at all imo. Episode 14 where Subaru suddenly changed his entire behavior. Episode 15 where a whole new group of super villains (deadly sins, akin to Fullmetal Alchemist) was introduced. Episode 17 where a whale monster was introduced that erases those it eats from existence. Subaru crying for his life, instead of instantly killing himself to bring back Rem. None of that was predictable.

Here´s what would be predictable: Puck kills Subaru; Subaru asks Reinhard to kill the whale to bring back Rem; then there´s a big chunk of unpredictable plot; then the witch´s identity is revealed. Then Subaru´s fate is revealed.

THAT is what is predictable. If there´s anything else, please do us the favor and tell us. And no, simply calling certain elements or tropes "predictable" doesn´t count, because you never WHICH trope will happen. Maybe Subaru calls Reinhard for help. Maybe he unites everybody he knows for help. Maybe he decides to train his magic abilities by continuously killing himself to gain time. Maybe ... But simply naming these options doesn´t make them predictable.

Sorry if this posting coms off as too harsh, but I´m tired of such smug attitude, calling a great, exciting anime "predictable", when it´s done everything to stay fresh and surprising. Even at the cost of proper plot progression, it´s not entirely something positive, lol.

[shinta|hikari]

It's predictable in the sense that Subaru is gonna die and Rem's disappearance and Emilia's death are gonna get reset. We can even bet on it.

I'm not saying the entire story is predictable. I'm saying that a looping story is predictable by nature. It's not really dissing this show in particular, nor am I saying the specific events are cliche. It's mainly a response to Krayz saying that we (and Subaru) can't know if his save point is suddenly gonna change for no reason whatsoever. I'm saying we can, based on the pattern so far and the usual development of time looping stories.

You guys need to calm down. My replies have been really congenial despite how tempting it is to not be, so I'd appreciate it if you lay off the attitude. Calling my logic stupid or challenging me to precognition contests aren't exactly what I would call playing nice.

EDIT:
What would be completely unpredictable is if Subaru really did load a new save point. That'll be an awesome surprise, and I'll give props to the author if he can salvage a story without Emilia and Rem. But we all know that's not gonna happen.

BTW, since you're asking for a prediction, I'll go ahead and throw one out there.

I think Subaru will eventually get over his psycho phase and start working to get help to save Emilia. My bet is that he'll use the info he gets from the cycles to manipulate the queen candidates and get their assistance to save Emilia. The loop where he got shamed by those princess bitches suggests as much. He needs to at least get back at them somehow for the story to have a satisfying end.

Being the hero, Subaru will win back everyone's trust and be all cool in the end. I really don't see him becoming a powerful knight or wizard. That would deviate from the theme of the story so far.

I think he'll get help from the knight dude who beat the shit out of him. That's just how anime stories work. The hero always makes up with the secretly kind bully and gets him as an ally.

I'm pretty sure this will end with the entire cast alive and well. But who knows.

That's my 2 cents.

EDIT2:

As I was writing that prediction, I thought it sounded familiar. Then I remembered I made a similar guess a few days ago.



But I'm sure the anime will take the more roundabout way of him getting help from the other nobles through negotiation, get some real power for himself, and pawn crazy clown guy in the last episode.

[MasterOfMoogles]

My current prediction is that Reinhard is the ultimate badguy (or working directly under the ultimate badguy).

There are a few reasons for this:
The ultimate villain should be introduced early, and not just be some random new character.
He's way too nice and way too strong.
He's supporting Felt, who wants to overthrow the kingdom, for somewhat mysterious reasons.
Supposedly he's as good as this Swordmaster guy, and the Swordmaster supposedly died to the whale that erases your existence when you die to it. Yet, we know about the Swordmaster. Reinhard probably is him.
It would be interesting and also present another good tragic/suffering moment for Subaru.

[shinta|hikari]

Reinhardt can't be the ultimate badguy. Why? He's too weak.

Subaru has witch time looping powers. If the witch isn't the ultimate bad guy, Reinhardt is just plain irrelevant.

[MasterOfMoogles]

If Reinhard is the direct accomplice/subordinate for the witch, then that can be worked around.

I will be somewhat disappointed if "mysterious witch we haven't seen" is really the mastermind. If there even is a mastermind. Maybe I'm just giving the story too much credit.

There are a lot of plot threads dangling around: someone had to hire Elsa, Felt's background, Roswal, Emilia's background, the witch cult, the Swordmaster, the Dragon, the Witch, etc. I hope they're all at least somewhat connected and don't end up being random/unanswered.

I will reconsider my stance on mysterious witch if she is at least as good as Rem.
If mysterious witch is Emilia, then I think it'll be pretty stupid.

Mysterious witch being Subaru could be interesting, though I'm not sure how you would explain that.

[Buffalobiian]

So...

.. Subaru was threatenned with death when telling his secret. When he stopped giving a shit about that, the witch decides to kill listeners instead.

If Subaru tells his secret to the witch's servants, who does she kill?

!!!!

[KrayZ33]

The servants most likely, I don't know what the witch is thinking, but they made it pretty clear that the witch "embraces" Subaru for one reason or another in the last episode. (Or Subaru subconsciously embraces the witch's teachings)
I say she made him one of the Sins by now.. a champion of hers, so to say.

If that guy is Sloth, Subaru would clearly be Superbia or Ira. Seeing how they kept talking about his pride and all that, it's probably the first.
And if that is anything to go by, Pride is the 1st (MC) and Sloth is the 7th (first evil boss) on Wikipedia, suggesting a hierarchy :D

[MFauli]

Well, my prediction is that Emilia is the witch, after all. She gave Subaru her core powers to get rid of the smell that now haunts Subaru. But since everybody is convinced that Subaru cannot be the witch and is just some stranger idiot, that doesn´t matter. At the same time, the witch made sure to flirt with Subaru in a way that has made him give it his all to support Emilia. It´s really atypical how Emilia is accepting of Subaru´s constant flirtatious approaches, no matter how cringingly direct he is, she takes it and neither blushes nor gets angry.
My guess is that the witch cannot, for unknown reasons, accomplish something on her own. She needs to become the land´s ruler. Therefore she uses people from our world as her unknowing servants. She infatuates them with herself, then watches as they go through hell to try and make her happy. The time reset makes sure that nothing can truly go wrong, it´s a both a "tool" to use for her servants, as it is also a fail-safe for her.
What happens when she realizes that her servant has failed, can be seen with Betelgeuse, who i suspect to be a former servant of hers. Having gone through hundreds if not thousands resets, that guy has completely lost his mind. And we had the first signs of Subaru losing it, too, in ep 15. There we also saw Emilia reacting in a disappointed manner towards him.

I think the ending will be tragic no matter what. Either the witch wins because nobody suspected Emilia OR Subaru has a final mental breakdown once he realizes he needs to kill Emilia and end her curse to make it all stop.

[shinta|hikari]

If mysterious witch is Emilia, then I think it'll be pretty stupid.

I think the witch hasn't been introduced yet. The story is far too expansive. I've already mentioned this, but from what I've read on reddit, the anime will end at the 3rd arc of the story. I believe that's not even halfway through the released novels.


If Subaru tells his secret to the witch's servants, who does she kill?

!!!!

Subaru. The only reason the witch killed Emilia was because Subaru valued her life more than his (because he loops).

[NeoCybercoin]

Could it be that Subaru himself killed Emilia instead of the witch? I mean his Miasma gets stronger whenever he dies. Before it couldn't manifest outside of himself. and only squeeze a heart. The closest one. His own. Now he accidentally summoned those hands himself and focused on Emilia. Sure he wanted to tell her but thanks to that he focused on her and this his own Unseen Hands killed her. My crazy little theory anyway.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think the hands come from his body, though. I think they just pop out close to him.

[NeoCybercoin]

But we didn't see what happened did we? The only ones who can actually see the hands are the ones from the cult and Subaru. But we will have to wait until Sunday.

[shinta|hikari]

I wish I had invisible hands like Joker guy. I'm pretty sure he can feel what those hands touch, so that'll be like the most awesome ero ability.

[NeoCybercoin]

New ep is out!

Won't say anything yet.

[MFauli]

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

I´m almost thinking about dropping this show.

WTF


wtf


the fuck ...?!


I wanted to punch him in the face so hard when he said "that". Fuck.

Cant even think about the story-hints we got. That was too much. Subaru is the biggest failure of a main character ever. I´ll take 100 gay Ichikas over this fucking asshole.

Hope he´s caught in an eternal cycle of dying.

[neflight86]

At least it looks like he's finally back on track with a concrete goal, and he didn't even have to die (again) to learn this cycle.

[Edort4]

Believe in the me that believes in you. With this episode the show just touched bottom and is now complete garbage. Wich could be a good thing cause now it can only get better (or stay the same).

Luckly not many eps left so if I endured this shitshow thus far im confident I will see it end. Im not pussy like Subaru.

Puck is OP.

[shinta|hikari]

You guys are nuts.

This episode is one of the best anime episodes ever created.

[MFauli]

You guys are nuts.

This episode is one of the best anime episodes ever created.

Only if you´re a complete psycho.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Going to have to agree with Shinta. Fantastic episode.

Rem is the best.

I can understand the anger at him rejecting Rem, but it wouldn't make sense for him to just drop all of his feelings for Emilia.
Hopefully after this, he'll either:
A) Realize that Rem is the best and get over Emilia
B) Get both. At this point, Rem is in the bag. Might as well grab Emilia too.

[Buffalobiian]

Believe in the me that believes in you. With this episode the show just touched bottom and is now complete garbage. Wich could be a good thing cause now it can only get better.

Re: Zero?

Subaru doesn't deserve Rem, but since she's happy now then what can I say.

Puck also appears to know Satella personally, and at least knows of the White Whale's true identity. We need this backstory before the season finishes.

[Edort4]

I believe Shinta liked this episode cause Subaru denigrated, by word and act, himself even better than Shinta could sparing him the job to do it.

And cause Rem, despite the semi-loli appearence, acted like a mother and thats what u pervs really want in your inner selfs :P

ps. Puck knows about the sins, sloth and gluttony, and Satella. Maybe he was one (servant spirit) of them? Could Elsa be lust?

[MFauli]

I dunno. If somebody like Elsa turns out to be one of the sins, then I´d get the feeling that this whole world is fake. Like, it´s all happening in Subaru´s mind only. It already felt weird that apparently the whale is one of the sin members, too. Like it´s all designed around Subaru.

Btw. I´m not saying the episode itself was bad/badly directed or anything. My anger applies exclusively to Subaru´s fucked up choice. I cannot comprehend it. That is all.

[shinta|hikari]

Are you hating it because he dumped Rem?

If so, there's an IF story series (https://www.reddit.com/r/LightNovels/comments/4pa4fb/disc_rezero_wn_extra_chapter_fortune_roll/) made by the author showing the story if Rem ran away with Subaru. Haven't read it yet, but many have.

I liked the episode because of the powerful emotions and dialog. Also, the direction and music were all spot on. It's very rare for an episode to use the title of the story in its dialog without sounding corny, and they did it perfectly here.

Rem is the best. That needs repeating.


Going to have to agree with Shinta. Fantastic episode.

It's like you don't want to but have no other choice but to agree with me :(

[Buffalobiian]

If so, there's an IF story series made by the author showing the story if Rem ran away with Subaru. Haven't read it yet, but many have.

Rem gave us a breakdown. It sounds mundane but also enviously happy.

[David75]

Rem was some light and comfort after so many eps of depression and negativity.

[NeoCybercoin]

Rem is love, Rem is life.

[David75]

Despite being a one horned demon, she has the same dreams as your average teenage girl from the 70's 80's.
But that was ok, even that was soothing after what we had to endure in the last few episodes.

[Munsu]

Much like this full series, I'm very conflicted about this latest episode.

In any case, I just caught up to this series, and man has it had a lot of up and downs, along with a lot of missed opportunities and wasteful moments. Main character was promising in the beginning then turned to shit, now I don't know where he's going.

As for this latest episode, I thought it was really well done. By the same token, it was the epitome of all my petpeeves. Main character being a complete pussy for no real reason other than being a pussy given that he can keep redoing everything until it works out. Furthermore getting this piece of shit depressed about trying everything when he hasn't tried shit. So fuck that.

Rem was great. At the same time, from a "shippers" standpoint, I've never liked characters like her. So that in the end she was turned down, was good for me, though it did leave a sting that she opened herself so much and get rejected in the manner she did, quite dismissive. I'm not sure if this is the attempt that will work out in the end, but I fear that Subaru will die once again, and it'll be like this never happened. Though I suppose Subaru will remember, so it's just as important. Just Rem will never know how important she became in this process. Maybe for the best since she was rejected.

And continuing with my petpeeves, we got a lot of dialogue in combination with long ass monologues that go in circles, and repeat the same shit over and over but in different ways. That pisses the fuck out of me.

But, just the same it came off very incredible. So hard to balance out those contradicting emotions within.

In all, best part is that we got Subaru finally ready to take some action again, so everything was worth it.

[shinta|hikari]

The best part was when his eyes finally got drawn normally again. His psycho eyebag mode was annoying to see.

[MFauli]

But he´s more of a psycho now that he chose to reject Rem ;/

[shinta|hikari]

It's just the start of the story. Maybe they get together later. After all, Emilia is a bitch.

[MFauli]

"Btw Rem, Emilia turned out to be a witch/bitch. Now I´m free for you. That okay?"

[Munsu]

Not sure why Emilia is a bitch, from my POV, Subaru has been a complete jackass towards her, in fact, completely embarrassing her in front of the succession committee, and somewhere he promised not to go, somewhere he was not invited to go as he had zero standing or reason to be there (other for reasons only he himself is allowed to know).

So I really don't see the point of making Emilia a shit, when from all angles, Subaru has been the biggest shit here and more, particularly with his response when he's called upon it.

So no, Emilia is not a bitch in this.

[shinta|hikari]

Emilia is a bitch because Subaru died several times trying to save her yet she throws him away the moment he acts like a jerk, which he is. Rem is a goddess in comparison. So I guess I'm just rating Emilia a relative bitch, not an objective bitch.

Kidding aside, I think Emilia X Subaru isn't feasible anyway. Emilia is a noble and will probably end up being queen. Subaru is just a nobody with no power or abilities except dying. Rem is perfect for him, he just doesn't know it yet.

And Mfauli, people fall in and out of love all the time. It's not like Subaru is forever tainted after his romance with Emilia fails one way or another. Rem isn't any less of a goddess even if they get together after that.

[Munsu]

I hope that at some point we learn more about how new "Save Points" are coming about, and how they're triggered.

Two times now it has occurred in front of the market stall. Not sure if there's a clue there or not.

[MFauli]

Emilia is a bitch, because ...

1.) as elaborated by shinta, relatively to Rem, she is "bitchier".

2.) I fully expect Emilia to be Satella aka the witch, that has initiated all of this fuckery, forcing Subaru to die again and again, working his ass off to put her on the throne. In that regard, she´s a full-on bitch.




And Mfauli, people fall in and out of love all the time. It's not like Subaru is forever tainted after his romance with Emilia fails one way or another. Rem isn't any less of a goddess even if they get together after that.

People fall out of love because they´re given a reason. Subaru had no reason to fall out of love with Rem.
And ignoring your weird concept of "fallin in/out of love": It is NOT normal to give a guy like Subaru another chance after what he did to Rem. Irl, people usually don´t give second chances when one of the two cheats. Same logic applies here, except it´s even worse than physical cheating imo. She confesses her love in the utmost heart-felt way. And he replies with "I love other girl". That´s his instant reply. Not one second of reluctance. Not even an attempt of softening the blow. You guys keep calling Rem a goddes. If so, I call Subaru a god slayer.

[David75]

Emilia could really be Satela, as it's the first name she presented herself in the first ep.
Then Subaru died and the setting changed.
But Subaru and we remember.
Now that we know how dangerous that world is and how cautious you have to be in everything you do or say, it's a bit strange for a half-elf to use that name.

It could also be she's the next vessel for the witch, so technically not the witch yet.

[shinta|hikari]

God Slayer Subaru has a nice ring to it, actually.

The thing is, Subaru never fell in love with Rem. He's been in love with Emilia from the start though, so this makes sense.

I actually think the way he rejected her was the best way. He didn't pity her and respected her strength and pride. That was nice and also the first sign that Subaru is finally manning up.

[Munsu]

God Slayer Subaru has a nice ring to it, actually.

The thing is, Subaru never fell in love with Rem. He's been in love with Emilia from the start though, so this makes sense.

I actually think the way he rejected her was the best way. He didn't pity her and respected her strength and pride. That was nice and also the first sign that Subaru is finally manning up.

I wouldn't say best way, as I felt he was quite dismissive, but I agree in the context that he did flat out turn her down instead of stringing her along and what not.

[MasterOfMoogles]

It's like you don't want to but have no other choice but to agree with me :(

Not really. My intention with this idiom is just saying I'm disagreeing with the apparent majority from the first few reactions. Perhaps not quite the best usage.

[Buffalobiian]

Emilia could really be Satela, as it's the first name she presented herself in the first ep.
Then Subaru died and the setting changed.
But Subaru and we remember.

I doubt she's Satella when Rem can see witch aura. If she was used to it she wouldn't be killing Subaru over it.

Puck said "You've got bad taste" when Emilia introduced herself as Satella. She cheekily used it to fool around with Subaru.

It would also seem very very odd for the Witch Cult to kill the witch.

[MFauli]

I doubt she's Satella when Rem can see witch aura. If she was used to it she wouldn't be killing Subaru over it.


That´s why Satella/Emilia makes use of her "candidates". She transfers her witch powers over to somebody who she infatuates with herself, so that this candidate or rather servant then does exactly what she wanted him to do: Do everything he can to make he wish come true.

Since she´s a witch, there´s probably a fail safe buil-in, too.

And Betelgeuse shows us what a failed candidate looks like.

[Buffalobiian]

Hi, I'm Satella. I'm a witch, and I made this NEET my candidate. I make sure he's obsessed with me and does whatever I want.

When I tell him to stay put, he crashes my royal party. When I tell him to go away, he claws his way back to my house.

That's why I sent my own cultists to kill me. That way, I get to see if my candidate will save me. If he can't, I die and we reset.

If he tries to tell anyone my secret, I use him to kill myself.

I'm also with this guy called Puck, who will destroy the world if I die. Not that it matters. It'll get reset anyway.

------

Yeah.. I don't get it either.

[shinta|hikari]

Picture. (http://imgur.com/a/6w3rn)

[MFauli]

Yeah.. I don't get it either.

I think Betelgeuse is something like an anomaly. He´s not part of Satella´s/Emilia´s plan.

As for the neet-thing: This anime has made it a point to show how pathetic otaku/neets are. The past couple of episode haven´t just been Subaru being pathetic, they really put it on the nose that his patheticness stemmed from him being an otaku. If we assume that that is a central theme of this show, then I can also see it being important to the election process of Satella´s. Something along the lines of:

"After decades of studying, I´ve found that there is one kind of human that is easier influencable than anybody else. That kind is called 'otaku' or 'hikkikomori', and they are prone to becoming a girl´s servant, as long as she is cute of appearance. Instead of convincing capable fighters to aide me in my mission to lead this country, it proved to be much less of a hassle to simply pick one of these desperate husks of a human being. It hasn´t quite worked out yet, but I´m using the past experience and act differently accordingly. With you, Subaru, I think I´ve finally found the perfect candidate."

" ... what ... are you saying ... EMILIA?!"

"Now die and keep trying your best to put me on the throne."

Anime ends.

[shinta|hikari]

NEET does not equal otaku. I'm an anime otaku but I have a job.

[Edort4]

Why would they "recruit/seduce" someone so unstable/unreliable if it were a rational universe?

Zealots are useful, as fodder cannon, but when you want a sensible job done you purchase profesionals. Being Praetorians, Hassassins, Berserker Vikings, Varangians, Ninjas, Phantasms, Thirds... Even a fake world should also be aware that Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars.

Dont try to rationalize what is nothing more than just the choice pick for the target audience to relate to. I doubt the writers goal is to show how pathetic his target consumers are.

[MFauli]

Why would they "recruit/seduce" someone so unstable/unreliable if it were a rational universe?

Zealots are useful, as fodder cannon, but when you want a sensible job done you purchase profesionals. Being Praetorians, Hassassins, Berserker Vikings, Varangians, Ninjas, Phantasms, Thirds... Even a fake world should also be aware that Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars.

Dont try to rationalize what is nothing more than just the choice pick for the target audience to relate to. I doubt the writers goal is to show how pathetic his target consumers are.

I absolutely believe so. It also doesn´t necessarily have to end on a "otaku are pathetic" note. It could very well be that we were shown super pathetic otaku subaru, only so otaku can feel better about themselves when now Subaru starts his counter move and actually "wins".

@shinta: In terms of societal value, otaku, neet, hikkikomori are basically the same. They´re not the same once you bother looking at definitions, yeah.

[shinta|hikari]

That's not true. Otaku are clearly different from NEETs. Otaku are often rich, for example. They buy hordes of idol CDs and anime figures, after all. I'm pretty sure most girls would prefer men with jobs, whatever their hobby was, than those without one. Otaku also make gigantic industries run, like anime and gaming ones. If you wanna be technical about it, otakus are more like geeks. Some are focused on trains, military, or whatever. All that matters is an abnormal obsession with something.

NEETs are just losers.

If Subaru was an otaku, for example, he wouldn't have considered his time on earth "doing nothing." He might have a job, a hobby he enjoys, and even activities that might better the world somehow. Being a NEET, all we got were flashbacks of him buying from a convenience store LOL.

[MFauli]

Being a NEET, all we got were flashbacks of him buying from a convenience store LOL.

That was super lol. "Buying stuff at convenience store" = Neet. rofl.

I know that differences between otaku and neet, shinta, like i wrote. But when it comes to how society view them, it doesnt matter if youre a neet or anime otaku. both are losers.

[shinta|hikari]

That's my point. That statement simply isn't true. While there are bigots everywhere, society isn't one mass of bigotry. There are many people who don't consider otaku as losers, such as fellow fans and otaku, to mention a few. NEETs are actual losers.

[MFauli]

Disagree. There isn´t one definition for "loser" in that context. An anime otaku who finds 3d girls disusting and buys figurines and only talks about anime is as much a loser to our broader society as is a neet who keeps himself locked up at home, playing games or whatever. Calling out one of the two as the "real loser" reeks of making the other kind feel about themselves.

[shinta|hikari]

The thing is, they are intrinsically different. NEETs aren't contributing anything to society. In fact, they leech off other people, like relatives or friends. (I know this because I currently semi-support a NEET friend, and I spent thousands of dollars supporting a cousin 11 years older than I am years ago). That's the basis of them being losers. Not how they look or what they like to do. Otaku, by definition, has no relationship with productivity.

As for how other people treat otaku, I think that's dependent on the person. I'm an open otaku, even to other people who don't watch anime or play games at all. I've never been treated as a loser in any way, mainly because I don't act or look like one. Boxing otaku as people who buy figures, can only talk about anime, have the communication skills of a gnat, and find 3d girls disgusting is stereotyping.

I'm sure there are jackasses that would judge you the moment you say you love anime or games, but that's not the whole world. On the other hand, being a NEET with no systemic or health reasons for being one is something actually worth being judged for.

[MFauli]

The thing is, they are intrinsically different. NEETs aren't contributing anything to society. That's the basis of them being losers. Not how they look or what they like to do. Otaku, by definition, has no relationship with productivity.

As for how other people treat otaku, I think that's dependent on the person. I'm an open otaku, even to other people who don't watch anime or play games at all. I've never been treated as a loser in any way, mainly because I don't act or look like one. Boxing otaku as people who buy figures, can only talk about anime, have the communication skills of a gnat, and find 3d girls disgusting is stereotyping.

Mhm .... ;)

[shinta|hikari]

I meant don't look or act like a loser, not an otaku. You misinterpreted that. My point was that otaku don't have a set of actions that they do.

As for what looking or acting like a loser is, that depends on the person, I guess. I for one think that people who say creepy things to me, especially things that ignore basic decency, are losers.

There was also this one time when someone asked me out for lunch, and I politely declined because I didn't want to go. This person then decided to stand behind me while I sat at my desk at work for 5 minutes, hoping that I'll change my mind. Totally creeped out, I just ignored that person and focused on my screen. I think that person was a loser.

Oh, and to keep things on topic somewhat, the way Subaru behaved in the last few episodes was worthy of being called a loser (compared to how he was in the Rem arc).

Most of all, I think people who leech off others are losers.

As for looks, wearing a haircut like Donald Trump is worthy of being called a loser to me.

It's all subjective and relative, it seems. I think they key criteria for me is acting in a way that negatively affects others. And yes, Donald Trump's hair negatively affects my mood lol.

[Edort4]

Are NEETs actually losers? Sometimes when I woke up at 6 am and get back home at 8 pm, to get money to pay taxes for that money (basically the sum of direct an indirect is +70%), I have serious doubts of who or what is being a loser.

Im becoming more anarchist by each passing day and I think that best way to f.. the system is not contributing to it and sucking as much as posible until it implodes in the great national crony socialism the world its turning itself into.

That said a NEET is the last person I would hire to fulfill my criminal mastermind witch-bitch plan.

[shinta|hikari]

Well, unless they are being fed, clothed, and housed by someone, NEETs are gonna be dirt poor. They can't afford anything, even decent food. That sounds like a loser to me.

If they are leeching off someone, they are still losers but for a different reason. Degenerates like that deserve being called a loser perfectly. If you think your pride is fine with doing something like this, by all means.

Me, I'd rather steal (from the rich) or sell weed than leech off people.

Out of topic, but damn your working life sounds harsh. I wake up at 8:15, get to work by 9am, leave at 4pm without doing any real work, then get home at 4:20. No traffic, no hassle. Pay is pretty good too.

[Edort4]

I would rather patreon a NEET for 50% of my income instead of paying taxes. Leeching takes many forms and NEETs arent the worst of them. Not by a long shot.

Also most of the semi-NEETs I know are probably the most efficient ppl I have met. Austerity and perfect management of scarce resources. They cant fall in debt and their ecological impact is way lower than the "useful" flock. Fuck I would rather have NEETs instead of public servitors. Both contribute almost 0 but at least NEETs dont waste resources just for the sake of budget.

The more I think of it the more I like the NEETs. Damn. This world is messed up.

[shinta|hikari]

Semi-NEETs don't exist. You're either one or not.

Well, obviously there are worse people than NEETs. They aren't Hitler...

No one likes taxes. But Death and Taxes.

It's not that you like NEETs. You just, uh, hate a lot of other things more.

[KrayZ33]

Out of topic, but damn your working life sounds harsh. I wake up at 8:15, get to work by 9am, leave at 4pm without doing any real work, then get home at 4:20. No traffic, no hassle. Pay is pretty good too.


32,5h work / week? Say whaaaaaaaaat, what kind of job is that. Do you work 6 days or 5?

[shinta|hikari]

5 days. They are very lax with the time and focus on the results, so I just leave early and no one cares. I can also work from home from time to time.

[KrayZ33]

Well, in Germany 40h+ is the avg. and I've never heard anything below 35h.

Don't you have to be there for the clock or something? I'm probably effectively only working ~28-30h out of my 38 too, but I still need to be there to fill up my weekly threshold.

How does your employer even keep track on how long you work.

[MFauli]

Some things:

1.) Between Otaku and Neets, I believe more people would call Otaku "losers", while feeling sad/empathic for Neets. You could say both are losers, but Otaku decided so for themselves, Neets usually have a psychological issue.

2.) shinta´s whole outrage against people who "leech off others" feels to undifferentiated for my likings. If somebody has no option to earn his own money for whatever reason, that doesn´t make him an asshole leech. Now, somebody who thinks to himself "haha, these fools are paying for me. More time for me to enjoy games and shit!" is a total degenerate loser, indeed.

3.) Are you a girl, shinta?! Are you a super-handsome guy who gets approached by girls? Are you gay? None of that is a problem, I was simply surprised by your wording ;P

4.) On the matter of Neets being useful for Satella, that´s two-fold: One, I believe there is a huge immersion-factor going on in this anime, playing at its audience. The audience here happens to be otaku/neets, so that´s all the justification needed. Secondly, as I mentioned, Neets are likely more and easier influenceable than experienced warriors or whatever else you could think of. Who are those disgusting people that worship their waifus, form fan clubs to go wotegai-ing? Who prefer 2D over 3D? It´s Neets. They´re super lonely, seek out romantic relationships without tackling more pressing issues, and won´t stop fighting for their waifu ever ... on internet forums. Give someone with that state of mind actual ability and you have a devoted servant. And that without raising somebody slowly for years.

5.) Kray is German, too? OMG

[shinta|hikari]

@Krayz - We report our hours at the end of the week through an app. No clocks or anything.

@Mfauli - I qualified the leecher comment in an earlier post. If the NEET is a NEET because of a systemic or health reason, that's not actually his/her fault, and therefore absolves them of blame and my hatred. However, if they just enjoy not working (you gotta admit, it's an awesome way to live) and living off others who actually work hard, then degenerate.

No, I'm not a girl. I just didn't use female pronouns in my statement because I wasn't trying to brag. I was just making a point about how creepy it was. Women seem to like how I look, but since I only care about 2D, it is utterly irrelevant to me.

Did something bad happen to you for being an otaku? I haven't experienced this judgment against otaku you speak of. And I used to have figures (SFW ones) and framed anime girls on my desk at work. Most people I meet generally don't give a shit about one's hobbies and judge your value more on the $$$ you rake in and how nice you are to them.

[MFauli]

Well, I´m morbidly obese and without a proper career to show, so naturally I´m more aware of otaku stereotypes, becaue I´m a "perfect" fit. Which is why I´m not THAT open about my hobby as I´d like to be. Trying not to reinforce the stereotype, you know.

Also, lol, I´m too curious: Are you honestly only interested in 2D girls or is that being hyperbolic? :P

[shinta|hikari]

Right now, it's fact. But things change. I used to like them once upon a time, after all. Preferences shift like waves in the ocean.

I think people who treat you badly because of being fat or not "successful" are just assholes. They would treat anyone who doesn't fit their criteria for a cool guy badly, even if that person isn't an otaku.

I joke about fat people all the time because I was fat as a kid. I think I hit 216lbs once. So I do know the stigma and dealt with it for many many years. Slimming down is doable and very good for your health.

[Edort4]

Out of topic, but damn your working life sounds harsh. I wake up at 8:15, get to work by 9am, leave at 4pm without doing any real work, then get home at 4:20. No traffic, no hassle. Pay is pretty good too.

I missed this. Now I hate you too lol :p

Work is not always like that but I had worse. 45-50 hours a week plus travel times is the norm problem is that eating hour breaks the day. "Good" thing is we can take breaks and stay in the office having some cofee, net browsing, talking, etc. But I would prefer an 8 hour non stop working day.

[Munsu]

Well episode 19 finally out
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=838056

I've been jonesing all week to watch this episode, time to get the series back on track and I think this will be it. Will watch it soon.

[MFauli]

episode 19 is out
-------------------

First of all, fuck Subaru. It was hard to watch this episode, as EVERY SINGLE scene featuring Rem was prove of how big a fool he is. Such a great girl. Also fuck that scene with the riding dragon that made a joke about Rem and her love towards Subaru. Uncalled for.

Ignoring the above: While I hate that this was another preparation episode only, it was nice to see people follow his words. I guess he´s lucky that Crusch is known to have the ability of 100% knowing when somebody is lying. If it wasn´t for that, he´d have to convince someone to trust his crazy story with nothing to back it up.

I still wonder why the can remember the killed wife of the butler guy. I´ve seen the excuse "maybe she wasn´t eaten by the whale" thrown around her, but it feels just like that, an excuse, when we had Rem completely erased from existence. Makes me imagine two possibiities: Rem being erased from existence wasn´t the whale´s fault, or the wife is actually still alive.

The whale itself is cool, albeit it looked a bit small this time. Looks like a doable fight, but who knows.

[NeoCybercoin]

Finally Subaru used the things he knew from his previous lives properly. But I agree on the fact that it is odd that they remember the Master Swordsman. Perhaps only those eaten by the White Whale perish completely. Not the ones who he just belly flops on.

[MFauli]

Finally Subaru used the things he knew from his previous lives properly. But I agree on the fact that it is odd that they remember the Master Swordsman. Perhaps only those eaten by the White Whale perish completely. Not the ones who he just belly flops on.

That was the previous explanation in this thread. But it´d be awfully convenient.

[shinta|hikari]

Or maybe it was a different thing that killed Rem.

[Munsu]

Was disappointed in this episode. Was preparing myself to see Subaru in a battle of wits against all the previous leaders, and outsmarting them as he went through them and what not, and all we got was a shortcut with little impact other than moving the pieces along.

Loved the last scene of the episode though, also I'd imagine Subaru is going to use this opportunity to lead the White Whale towards where Emilia is, and by extension this big army... along the way maybe confronting the Witch Cult as well.

[shinta|hikari]

He doesn't need to lead the white whale anywhere. After/If they defeat it, the whole army is obliged to help Emilia because the trade for the mines and the white whale location info was an equal alliance, not a one time whale busting truce.

It really feels like we missed an episode. The suffering episodes earlier could've been reduced to make room for how Subaru convinced the pink haired bitch.

[Munsu]

He doesn't need to lead the white whale anywhere. After/If they defeat it, the whole army is obliged to help Emilia because the trade for the mines and the white whale location info was an equal alliance, not a one time whale busting truce.

It really feels like we missed an episode. The suffering episodes earlier could've been reduced to make room for how Subaru convinced the pink haired bitch.

We'll see. I don't think that's enough of a guarantee to make them move preemptively after a formidable opponent like the White Whale.

But yeah, what you say might be what occurs regardless.

[shinta|hikari]

This flying white whale might be the most impressive monster I've seen in anime in recent years. It's a rip off of Moldy Dick, but the way it flies around the air like that makes it a thousand times more terrifying to landlubbers.

[Buffalobiian]

This flying white whale might be the most impressive monster I've seen in anime in recent years. It's a rip off of Moldy Dick, but the way it flies around the air like that makes it a thousand times more terrifying to landlubbers.

I googled "Moldy Dick". Thanks heaps.

For everyone else's sake, it's Moby Dick.

[NeoCybercoin]

So......Subaru doesn't actually own those mining rights does he? Or did I forget something that happened in earlier episodes?

[Buffalobiian]

So......Subaru doesn't actually own those mining rights does he? Or did I forget something that happened in earlier episodes?

Subaru doesn't. He's banking on the Alliance saving Emilia/Roswald's ass, then having them agree to this afterwards.

[MFauli]

Subaru doesn't. He's banking on the Alliance saving Emilia/Roswald's ass, then having them agree to this afterwards.

That´s really it? I thought that I had missed something that explained it. So Subaru promises mining rights that only Roswal can really give?

I think I know how the next reset happens, lol.

[NeoCybercoin]

Certainly would be interesting to see the aftermath of that. They'd know they got their asses saved by the Alliance Subaru made for them. They would be in debt to him thus kinda forcing Roswald's hand. But I think Roswald knows a lot more than he let's on. I mean that look he gave when Subaru declared he was Emilia's knight was a bit odd in that place and time.

[MFauli]

Now that you mention it, Roswal´s entire existence is way too weird. I´m now convinced that Roswal and that magic girl that also lives in the house are part of the "sins", they´re also servants of the witch. Which is why they were helping Subaru. The whole show will be revealed to have been seen from the villain´s side, Emilia aka Satella as the mastermind, Subaru as the unknowing servant.

Will also put a nice spin on first encounter with that hot female assassin. She´ll basically be part of the heroes at that point.

[Buffalobiian]

Then why would they save the twins from Magic Cultists?

And why would Rem be so wary of people with Witch auras? I find that pretty unlikely. Roswald also blasted the shit out of the Mabeasts in his forest while Betty defused Subaru's curse.

[MFauli]

It´s all the witch´s plan. Didn´t you know?

[neflight86]

Glad to see Subaru finally contribute and manage to negotiate on more or less equal terms with the candidates. He learned more than enough hard lessons, so seeing him put them to use is satisfying. He's going to be very popular with many folks if they manage to kill this white whale that is so hated it has people coming out of retirement just to get a swing in. Also, Subaru didn't mention the 'erasure' effect of the Whale's victims. Does he not know? I suppose it can't be the only way it kills, because of all these people who want it dead, but it seems odd that that fact didn't manifest itself in Subaru's mind as something worth a mention, at least.

Also, I'm glad that the show didn't go the juvenile 'take that' retribution against the candidates who showed Subaru up in previous loops. It would be too indulgent to jeopardize this alliance with a petty grudge no living being would understand or sympathize with anyway. Shrewed enemies make better allies, in my opinion.

[shinta|hikari]

Based on the info so far, I don't think the whale is the cause of Rem's disappearance from existence. Most of these people had their loved ones killed or eaten or whatever by the whale, yet all of them remember that fact and want to get revenge. Rem is the exception.

We don't see Rem getting eaten by the whale. She just suddenly disappeared from existence soon after engaging it. A large number of things could've happened in that period, like another enemy, possibly a sin, making an appearance. The Rem disappearance feels like a red herring by the author to bait the audience into thinking the whale was the cause when it is actually something completely different.

[KrayZ33]

One thing is really weird about Roswald, he's always going to meetings and other stuff whenever something comes up...

I always thought that someone is forcing these things on him and that someone is probably trying to get Emilia killed. (or to get Subaru going)

He wasn't there when Emilia lost her emblem (not by her side, nor at home at the mansion), he wasn't there when the witchfiends showed up in the forest and he isn't there when the cult is killing everyone.

We already know what he is trying to do, so I doubt they make him a "sin". He might be evil in his own way, but he wants Emilia alive from what we can tell so far.
It's also worth mentioning that he is the only character that somehow didn't do the same thing/or didn't follow the same schedule when Subaru repeats the timeline and I think that is very important (at least I hope it is).

[shinta|hikari]

Yeah, I really hope that wasn't just for plot convenience. Because let's face it, having Roswald in any fight scene would just result in him pawning everything aside from sin enemies.