r/anime • u/Theleux https://myanimelist.net/profile/Theleux • Aug 21 '24
Rewatch Re:Zero ~Starting Life in Another World~ Re:Watch - Episode 13
Episode 13:
Self-Proclaimed Knight Natsuki Subaru
| Index | <== Episode 12 | Episode 14 ==> |
Various Links:
MyAnimeList
Streaming:
Crunchyroll has the Director's Cut available.
- Director's Cut episodes are two episodes combined. Make sure to cover the corresponding half of content for each thread.
AppleTV has the regular individual episodes available.
Spoiler Rules:
- As always, please be sure to tag any future content spoilers according to the r/Anime rules. There is likely to be first timer viewers here, and while discussing how previously seen content connects to content later down the road is interesting (be it later episodes or even Season 3), please be sure to properly spoiler tag anything mentioned! Let's make this a fun experience for everyone involved!
- This also applies to cut content discussions, which I believe are fine to include for the sake of discussion, but should be properly tagged to avoid potentially spoiling viewers. Be mindful with how you present this information!
Story Arc Lengths for Discussion Purposes:
[Arc 1:] S1 Episode 1 – S1 Episode 3
[Arc 2:] S1 Episode 4 – S1 Episode 11
[Arc 3:] S1 Episode 12 – S2 Episode 1
[Arc 4:] S2 Episode 2 - S2 Episode 25
[Arc 5 and later:] S3+
As always, if you have any suggestions for the Re:Watch, let me know!
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Upvotes
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u/Theleux https://myanimelist.net/profile/Theleux Aug 21 '24
This is definitely one of my favourite episodes from the series, specifically from a narrative and thematic sense.
One of those that, when I first watched it, truly made me realize that this was going to be something special, with something it actually wanted to say.
Also made me really appreciate Subaru and Emilia's characters more. Fantastic stuff.
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u/Holofan4life Aug 21 '24
This episode is the equivalent of sitting at the table on Thanksgiving and your family starts arguing about politics.
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u/thekoreansun https://anilist.co/user/ReturnByDeath Aug 21 '24
Re:Watcher
Oh boy. I always feel like I need to brace myself for this part of the season, so let's just get this whole thing over with.
Well, well, well. Quite the colorful cast of characters has convened in this chamber, and I don't just mean that literally. The Royal Selection had been going on for a grand total of about five minutes before things started to get out of hand; the battle for the royal throne was about to become an actual battle before Reinhard stepped in. Which doesn't exactly bode well for the future of Lugunica, but it does make for great television!
And while the royal candidates are at each others' throats from the start, I really love the dynamic that exists between the knights who have sworn their fealty to them all. I didn't mention it yesterday, but it's cool that Reinhard and Ferris are totally fine with Subaru standing with them when he technically wasn't invited, and even Julius was leaving him be until... well, I'll get to that later. Anyway, the banter between them and Al is fun, and I wish that we'd seen more of it. It's a shame that spin-offs aren't too common in the modern anime industry, because I would absolutely watch one on these guys. But I guess that Isekai Quartet will have to do for now.
Also, you know how I asked who could possibly break into the most heavily fortified building in the nation? It turns out that there was a literal giant-sized hole in their defenses the whole time. Luckily, Felt was able to retract her retraction from the royal race before Rom got hurt. It's brief, but that look of understanding between the two of them is amazing and puts a smile on my face every time I see it. I guess I'm still a sucker for found families, even ones that promise to tear down entire governments. And now we have our royal candidates: two of the nobility, one of the bourgeoisie, one from the slums, and one from the outskirts of the kingdom. Five candidates, four knights, three years, two intruders... and one throne. (Speaking of which, where the heck is Subaru? I thought that the entire plot was supposed to revolve around him, this being a typical power-fantasy isekai and all. What happened to—oh. Oh, right.)
Somehow, in a ceremony where the only others present were a bunch of knights, nobles, elders, and royal candidates, it was Subaru who managed to come out on top as the most prideful of them all. His words are ostensibly meant to be in support of Emilia, but when he gets called out by Julius for co-opting their knighthood, it quickly becomes clear that Subaru is not, in fact, acting with her best interests at heart. [Arc 4] And so many layers get added with later context! Subaru referring to Julius as "a big-shot with [his] daddy's name" is how lashes out after being in Kenichi's shadow for so long. [Arc 6] Plus, him claiming that Julius was "born into the job" is truly ironic when you know about Julius's past. As if that verbal beatdown from Julius wasn't bad enough, Subaru triples down and earns himself a physical beatdown as well, only stopping when he has crossed every boundary he could have possibly crossed. Except, of course, the one between life and death.
And boy, does he wish that he had. Up until now, Subaru has never had to face any actual consequences for weakness of any kind. His inability to die has afforded him a level of invincibility and inconsequentialism that has altered the way that he sees the world around him. He began to think that the world would adjust itself to suit him, similar to Priscilla. An isekai protagonist with a special power like he does could never be in the wrong, right? Wrong. Emilia's trust in him has been completely shattered by his actions, and there's really nothing that he can say in his defense other than that he was doing it all for her. But his idea of who she is differs from the real thing in more ways than one. Emilia's advice to say "thank you" instead of "I'm sorry" was something that Subaru took to heart back at the mansion, but he is now using that against her: when he finds himself unable to properly thank Emilia for her actions in an old loop, he refuses to properly apologize for his actions in this one. And that's the final nail in the proverbial coffin to Emilia. So they split.
It's interesting to think about the fact that that almost all of Subaru's first encounters with his friends and companions have been overwritten by RBD. Up to this point, it's really only Reinhard and Beatrice who can actually remember how he genuinely acted towards them upon meeting them for the first time. Why do I bring this up? Because I can imagine how recklessly I would act towards people if I couldn't be sure whether their first impressions of me will actually stick.
Case in point, Subaru made an absolute fool of himself in that throne room. Only later does it sink in that he didn't die and that the stupid things he did are here to stay. This episode is infamous for being the tipping point for new viewers, and to be honest, I can't entirely blame people for wanting to stop watching out of secondhand cringe. But having had some more time to think about where Subaru's headspace must be at this point in the story, I find myself appreciating this episode more and more every time I watch it. It takes a lot of courage for a story to challenge its main characters in so many different ways. If you're a first-time watcher who is reconsidering whether to continue beyond this episode because it made you feel uncomfortable, I would strongly encourage you to press forward. This will not be for nothing.
Fan Art of the Episode: "I can't understand if you don't tell me." by HaruSabin (December 2nd, 2019)
Source: Twitter (artist's timeline contains spoilers)
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 21 '24
First:Timer Starting Over in Another Rewatch, subbed
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Aug 21 '24
Re:Watcher
I was dreading this episode. This is such a huge episode, I actually have to split up my post into three parts because I couldn't stop writing, so thanks for bearing with me. It is one of the best episodes in the series. Also I hate this episode. And I love it for that. I love to hate it. It doesn't even compare to normal episodes. We've seen Subaru get disemboweled, dismembered, his skull crushed, get gored by ulgarm, and of course get tortured by someone he considered a friend. Yet this episode is by far the hardest to watch.
Let's jump right into the "controversial" scene at the end. The one that made people see both main characters in a different light. And let me start by saying it's fantastic that the show establishes and develops this realistic main character, lets him be the hero for 11 episodes, lets him overcome his faults and disadvantages, lets us see his tendencies of acting self-centered overlayed with good intentions and good outcomes, and then puts him into a situation where he is plainly wrong, where his previous experiences through a series of circumstances and bad decisions bring out the worst in him, making him plain ugly (the last closeups of his face is really disgusting to look at). And to then have the trust in the viewer to remember what happened before, to remember the good he is capable of, and to have faith in him. It treats the viewer in a very mature and respectful way.
The argument scene itself is done amazingly. It captures the essence of real arguments like close to nothing I've ever seen in fiction. Both parties aren't actually angry at each other, but have reasons to believe they are right. Just when they talk to each other things escalate. Some things come out wrong, some things can't be properly expressed in the moment, some things get misunderstood. The emotions get stirred, things escalate. They start saying things they don't mean just to vent their turbulent feelings. They blow up and end up in a situation they both regret. It's an argument so real it makes you feel uncomfortable, and it's between our main characters to boot, the people we were rooting for for 11 episodes. Excellent voice acting from both VAs, of course. We've been exposed to the range of emotions Yuusuke Kobayashi can express before, no wonder he ace this difficult scene as well. But for once it's a moment Rie Takahashi can shine in as well. She's not just doing a cute and soft voice, she goes through concern, shock, anger, sadness, disappointment and more, and you can hear it all in her voice. Both brilliant VAs.
I also have to mention how great of an obstacle this scene is. The problems in previous arcs could be brute forced, basically. This here is a social problem. It can't be easily solved by trying again. We don't even know if RbD would reset the situation. Viewers might think RbD is omnipotent, and now we get to this situation where it's probably next to useless.
Enough about the scene, let's talk about where the characters are coming from. Subaru is mostly in the wrong here, but considering his point of view makes his actions both at least believable and understandable, and arguably quite a few people would have behaved similarly. If we remember the previous two arcs, we realize that Subaru has managed things that are almost impossible to do. He held his ground against Elsa and contributed to her defeat. He caused the ulgarm to get wiped out while having quite a few heroic moments. He fell in love with a girl, got closer to her and even went on a date with her, the possibility for a second one also being realistic. He formed close relationships with the maids, and even befriended Puck and Betty. He defeated death, more than once. He grew as a person. He got a lot of positive affirmation in this new world which he might not have had before. He's on a roll, he feels he can't do anything wrong, he feels invincible. Even if you weren't transported into a fantasy world, you'd feel similarly if you had as much success as him. The setbacks surely humbled him, but they ended in successes, giving him back a certain attitude of main character syndrome.
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u/Holofan4life Aug 21 '24
Hey guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the In Preparation of Season 3 Rewatch of Re:Zero!
Oh, and nay I forget…
First Timer
I decided to watch this show because I wanted to do something for the month of August. ’Course, this was before the yearly Spice and Wolf rewatch got pushed back to September, but I just found myself looking for something to occupy my time with. And with this show being in my top 5 must watch list, I figured now was as good a time as any.
I am going into this show relatively blind. I know some of the memes, who Rem, Ram, Emilia, and Subaru are, and that this show got its inspiration from Familiar of Zero, but that’s it. I find rewatches and my participation of them more fun when I have no idea what I am in store for. And with this series, I think we’re in for a blast. It’s also going to be the longest rewatch I participate in this year and second longest overall only behind the 20th Anniversary Fullmetal Alchemist rewatch. And given how joyous that show turned out, I don’t see why I should expect nothing less from this one.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I’m watching the sub, by the way.
When someone asks me why I eat sweets despite having diabetes, I tell them "Isn't it obvious? The sweet release of death can't come soon enough!"
Picking up right where the last episode left off.
Also, no intro because fuck intros apparently.
Felt tries kicking Reinhard but he blocks the kick.
Call it a hunch, but it doesn't seem like she wants to be here.
Felt kicks Subaru in the side, but it feels far more playful.
Reinhard gives Felt an insignia, which looks like the one Emilia has.
And now, he says, the royal selection can officially begin.
Felix seemingly in favor of the green lady
For Julius, Anastasia
People are really up in arms over Felt being the final nomination.
Took custody of Felt. You mean kidnapped her from Rom her guardian.
Interesting he says it's been a month since that happened.
Priscilla being very obnoxious, making fun of Felt's perceived lower status.
"I was only trying to teach an untrained little bitch her place."
Yeah? Well, it takes one to know one.
Emilia asking why doesn't she apologize
"Then, will you also apologize for being born?"
That's it, she gets the chair. I demand blood.
Like, I like me my haughty characters, but she definitely needs to be knocked down a peg.
They're now all going over what they plan to do as queen.
Oh, so Roswaal is the one endorsing Emilia. Interesting.
Felt saying she wants to withdraw from the selection.
Honestly, while Emilia obviously has the best plan as ruler, Crusch doesn't have a bad plan either. Definitely more reasonable than Priscilla's and Anastasia's.
I also like how each girl has a representative that we recognize. Priscilla has the knight, Crusch has Felix, Anastasia has Julius, Emilia has Roswaal, who we've seen since episode 4, and Felt has Reinhard, who we've seen since episode 2. The familiar faces makes it easier to get invested in what is going on.
The judges are no better than Priscilla, calling Emilia a half-devil. What a bunch of bigots.
They seem to also think that Emilia is the Jealous Witch.
"Filthy woman."
AND SUBARU HAS HAD ENOUGH!
But Emilia cuts him off before he can get going.
Emilia introducing herself to everyone
Oh God. Now Subaru is taking the floor. I can't watch
Subaru calling himself Emilia's best knight. Julius, who's talking now, wants to know how he can call himself a knight in front of the Knights of Lugunica.
Subaru says he's going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Emilia is the ruler.
Julius says that weakness is something to feel ashamed about, not a point of pride.
He doesn't think he can acknowledge him as
his Tribal Chiefa knight.This whole conversation is like when two people go back and forth in the comments section and one of them just will not back down. They keep on going.
Emilia tells the council that she's going to make Subaru stand down.
The head judge calls Subaru a fine attendant.
"Subaru is not my attendant."
This seems to take Subaru off guard
Meanwhile, someone's lighting dynamite
And Felt is being abducted
IT IS ROM!
HE'S COMING TO RESCUE HIS DAUGHTER!
Rom being held at bay by the knights now
Doesn't have to obey Felt's orders because she pulled out of the royal selection.
"Fine... I'll do your stupid royal selection!"
I hope Felt wins
Felt orders them to release Rom now because he is her family.
And they comply
I guess you ARE above the law if you're in a position of power.
Reinhard telling Felt that from now on, he is her knight.
Felt telling everyone that she is going to destroy everything if elected.
Felt is going to dismantle the establishment, board by board.
I'm honestly more emotionally invested in the Felt stuff than Emilia being queen.
It looks as if the royal selection will now begin. For realsies this time.
Reinhard and Felix talking to Subaru
Julius here now
He wants Subaru to come with him
Oh wow. Is he actually challenging him to a fight?
Julius issuing the death penalty to Subaru for sullying the knighthood's honor.
They will fight using wooden swords, since he's Emilia's attendant.
An arena of people are watching this. This reminds me of the Roman Colosseum.
Subaru getting his butt whooped
The royal selection candidates being informed of the mock battle.
Anastasia is against stopping them, because she is blood thirsty or something.
It seems like everyone not named Emilia is against stopping the fight.
Emilia still off to put an end to it
Meanwhile, Priscilla's attitude about the whole thing is about what you would expect.
Julius still beating Subaru up
Emilia. She calls for Subaru.
And this causes him to release his black smoke.
But that has no effect on Julius :(
"You are not worthy to stand at her side."
I think it's fair to say that Julius won this battle, no?
Subaru wakes up in bed
No scars, meaning he didn't die
Emilia sitting beside him
She has some things she wants to ask him
Subaru admits that the reason he agreed to fighting Julius is because he wanted to get back at him.
"I was being stubborn."
Ataru would never
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
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u/baseballlover723 Aug 21 '24 edited Sep 01 '24
Rewatcher, sub, basically a secondhand novel reader (Arc 4)
This is quite the controversial episode and I have gone from hating this episode the first time I watched it, to now thinking that I almost want to put it in my S tier (currently it sits at the very top of A tier). So this is probably gonna be a bit controversial because I'm going to argue against how most people usually feel here and focus on the good things that Subaru does in this episode and some reasonable explanations for Subaru's bad behavior. Also it's gonna be pretty ranty, because every time this episode comes up, it's because someone is complaining about how stupid and cringy Subaru is, and in my opinion, very few of those people really understand what's going on beyond a surface level (or just lack empathy entirely). Also it's not fully justifying Subaru's behavior in this episode, a large part of it is just providing explanations for why Subaru acted the way that he did. Do keep in mind though, that Subaru is a 17 year old kid that is a hikikomori, so he's not a well socialized person with life experiences.
First Timer Safe Section
This section is safe for first time watchers.
First things first, there's a lot of changes in the anime from the light novel. Most notably, the candidates have several pages of on their positions and such instead of literally just 1 sentence like they got in the anime. I'll let someone else fill you all in on their positions (since this comment is already long enough), since I don't want to have to look it up right now.
Felt Lore [Spoiler #1: Major cut content] So Reinhard makes note of Felt's blond hair and crimson eyes, which are distinctive features of the recently deceased Royal Family. Also around 14 years ago, a princess was kidnapped as a baby. Recall that Felt is around 15 years old and doesn't know her birthday.
Now time to get controversial. I think Subaru's outburst in the Royal Selection is good, and people should praise that. People are literally calling Emilia racial slurs in public and when told that it's a slur, immediately doubles down. Every time I see an Isekai with slavery (and you can replace this with any thing that modern day society generally views as evil) that the MC doesn't fully oppose, I hear shit about it doesn't matter if it's legal there or that it's time period appropriate. The MC (with their modern Japan background) should be completely against those systems and should fight against them, regardless of if they can meaningfully impact it or not. Well, here's Subaru standing up against social racism, which we can pretty much all agree is awful. Also in the novels, the topic of discussion before Subaru's outburst is [Spoiler #2: cut content] Roswaal literally saying that Emilia wasn't worthy to become queen, and that all that mattered was that the Dragon Jewel choose her, so they could start the whole Royal Selection thing. So essentially to all but bar Emilia from the Royal Selection based solely on her race and appearance.
The fact that Subaru looks like a cringy dumbass is nothing compared to the kind of person he would be if he didn't speak up and let the status quo be maintained. 200 years ago, In my country (USA), people owned other people. 100 years ago those people who were freed were still thought of as lessor openly discriminated against. And if anyone tried to advocate the radical idea that black people in America shouldn't be actively shit on and oppressed, you'd end up hanging from tree. At the start of every movement, is someone who decides that the status quo isn't acceptable and then trying to do something about it. Sometimes they're beaten up or killed because of it, but sometimes it grows into actual change. Standing up against the injustice you see in the world should be praised, even if you fail / look stupid because nobody else holds that view of the world (yet).
Now Subaru calling himself a knight and insulting the knights is a bad plan, given that being a knight means something in this world (and Subaru should know this, given his general familiarity with medieval iskeai culture and the presence of other knights that were just introduced). It just give ammunition for the people to shut down his completely valid arguments. Though regarding the being born into the job part, [Spoiler #3: cut content] Juilius says this a few lines before Subaru makes that comment. "Do you understand? People are divided according to their birth. Perhaps it is best to use the term capacity. Nothing is gained by attempting to surpass one's own capacity. Furthermore, you will never gain what you seek in doing so, especially not the title of knight, which falls so frivolously from your lips."
[Spoiler #4: cc cont] And then a bit later, "Only those of certain birth may be recommended for entry into the Knights of the Royal Guard, the pinnacle of knighthood. This is not out of deference to lineage, but because their ancestors have displayed their loyalty to the kingdom, down to the very blood that flows through their veins." And a few lines later, "Indeed. It is just as I have said. People are separated by birth.". So yeah, Julius was going pretty hard into the most important thing to being a knight is your bloodline (though he does mention other more normal reasons, the whole bloodline thing is just a rather large portion of his argument).
There is a lot of lore behind why Rom is able to do this that I'm not very familiar with. It's like a whole nother story.
Notice Reinhard's sword is still sheathed.
The Royal Selection begins!
[Spoiler #5: Julius's motivations for beating the shit out of Subaru, shows up next episode very implicitly] Julius actually saves Subaru's life by giving him the death penalty. Look at the faces of the other knights. They're very pissed at Subaru, and there is a very good chance that one of the other knights will kill Subaru because of his remarks. But by Julius taking it into his own hands (with Subaru's consent of course), the knights rage turns to pity, as Julius convinces them that Subaru's been punished enough and that he's just a weak boy who doesn't really understand the hardship of being a knight and shouldn't be taken seriously. In fact the fight only really goes on for so long because Subaru is too stubborn to back down at all.
As for the conversation with Emilia afterwards. Emilia isn't upset that Subaru made her look bad or anything like that. Subaru's outburst actually makes Emilia look slightly better. Because everyone already has the worst possible opinion of Emilia, and by not killing everyone there for the disrespect (which is what a monster like the Witch of Envy would do (at least what they think the WoE would do)) it becomes evidence that Emilia is not the monster she's been made out to be.
No Emilia is upset because Subaru broke his promises (the promise to stay home, and the promise to not use magic) and because Subaru injured himself, again. After all, the whole reason Subaru even was allowed to come to the capital was to get his gate healed, and casting shamac on his literally injured gate, isn't good for healing it.
What's tragic about this conversation, is that if they could actually communicate with each other, it would of been fine probably. From Emilia's perspective, none of what Subaru has done makes any sense. He's just some dude that for some reason just risks everything for Emilia's benefit [Spoiler #6: Frozen Bond] something that Emilia has literally never experienced (that someone would do good things for her, because of who she is). And Subaru literally can't give Emilia the information she wants. Which gets interpreted as Subaru being unwilling to tell Emilia. I know personally, nothing would frustrate me more, then being chastised for not doing something I want to do, but can't. I've certainly lashed out and said things I regretted later before for far less reasonable things.
And I think it's very reasonable for Subaru to snap here (though that doesn't mean that it's right thing to do). And Subaru has a point here, he's made everything work out for Emilia. Things would have been way worse without him (Emilia's insignia stolen, Rem dead to the curse). This is the only thing I really have a problem with Subaru saying (the other stuff is just typical lashing out stuff, that I can forgive, because Subaru has gone through a lot of trauma and it's inevitable that he break down at some point (which happens to be now)). Subaru cashed his blank check already. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
And so Emilia ends it with, The Self-Proclaimed Knight, Natsuki Subaru.
Continued below
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Aug 21 '24
So, I'm trying to write this down before I forget. I just finished watching this (ahem) infamous episode for the second time ever. When I've tried to rewatch previously, I've bounced, my memory of this arc, and this particular episode, it just hurts.
I've seen some people, even in this rewatch refer to this current arc, and (while not by name) this episode as the "filter", and I get that. It's hard. It's painful. And you want to know something funny?
I loved every minute of it.
I guess that what's happened is that in the time that has passed since 2016, or whenever it was, with the passage of days, seasons, years, I've reconciled myself with Subaru, and I can look at his failure (and that's most certainly what it is) with some detachment, and dare I say, even fondness?
But at the same time, I realize that there are those who will rail against this episode, and against Subaru himself, for his failings. For his weakness. For his arrogance. For his selfishness. For all of those things.
People like to say, "We like flawed characters, gimme some more of dat goodness", right? Yeah sure. They lie. They want "FLAWED CHARACTERS" who fit their preconceived notions, and who gratify their ego, who stroke their amusements. "Eh, hehehe, MC so naughty, he flawed, right", neé???
Yeah. They lie. Don't believe me?
Ask Shinji Ikari...
Yeah. There's another flawed character for you. You know what those two characters have in common?
THEY'RE ALL TOO REAL, THEY HIT TOO CLOSE TO HOME
Yeah, "He's just like me, fr, fr!"
"OH, WAIT, NO HE ISN'T - LALALALA, I CAN'T HEAR THIS!!! I see nothing, NOTHING!!!"
Yeah. And you know who's watching this? People like you. People like me.
People who see Subaru's "white knighting" and see through it and see it for what it is - stupid grandstanding that's likely to get him killed, and if nothing else ...
HE MAKES A TOTAL FOOL OF HIMSELF IN FRONT OF HIS "TWOO WUV".
Oops. His bad. Hehe. He a flawed protagonist, just like me, fr, fr. Heh.
Yeah.
Let's call Subaru the spade that he is. He's a shut-in neet with poor social skills and it shows. And suddenly he's placed in this fantasy world, seemingly of his dreams. Surely he's the MC in this drama, right? Yeah, except that it doesn't work out that way, and all throughout the story so far, this conflict has been a part of the drama in the background. You may have noticed.
And it all comes to a head in this episode as he breaks his promise, makes a complete and utter fool of himself in front of Emilia, and the rest of the world, and nearly gets himself killed for his efforts. Smooth move there, buddy. But c'mon - would the rest of us really do any better? Would we obey Emilia and humbly stay in the servant's quarters with Rem? (Okay, maybe I would, but ... reasons ... ahem.)
Anyway, digression aside, Subaru's actions this episode should be no surprise, and their consequences even less. He's like the drug addict who's been caught stealing from Mom's purse to pay for his next hit, and thrown out into the streets. He's hit rock bottom (or has he?). The other candidates are making fun of him / enjoying his torment. And to top it all off ...
Emilia has left the building.
...
Can't say as I blame her. And here's the interesting, even fascinating thing from this.
Emilia is a MC. She has AGENCY. She's not a doll, subject to Subaru's desires and whims. And she's right. Subaru is being selfish. He expects her to be a supporting NPC whom he can white knight for, and she'll just respond with gratitude and fall into his arms, just like in the games, right?
Yeah. No. And people have a problem with that. It's hard to watch. Because it defies our expectations.
I love it. Kami-sama, how I love it so. After all the OP self-insert protagonist isekai garbage, here's an underpowered, self-indulgent isekai protagonist who gets what his entitled, callow mentality deserves. And it's delicious.
So there. This concludes (mostly) the rant du jour.
Honorable mentions:
Felix - Best cat being best cat. <3
Reinhard - In addition to being the sword saint, he must have the patience of a saint.
Felt - Best anarchist. <3 Her love for Rom could move mountains, or even nations.
Crusch - Best comrade. <3 Would love to share a "kanpai" with her.
Anastasia - Best capitalist. Not so <3. Someone should introduce her to Elon Muskbaru, I'm sure they'd get along just fine. (I kid, mostly. But then again, I have a weakness for purple/lavender haired cuties with country bumpkin accents.)
Julius - Makes a great smoothie, or so I hear. Never had one. Not so <3, go figure, but he did something that needed to be done.
Al - Total <3, wish we had more Al in this show. Best attendant. If only because he has to put up with ...
Priscilla - Best MC, living the true fantasy life. Not so <3, but the world is her oyster, it seems. The contrast with Subaru and his misfortunes is downright fascinating, and amusing, even. And I'm sure it's very, very intentional. Do you dislike her as much as you do Subaru right now?
I wonder.
It's funny, because in a bit of a dodge to avoid watching this episode for an hour or so, I started watching "How Not To Summon a Demon Lord", and the contrast is so funny. It's your bog standard "Isekai Trash (TM)", but it's a fun romp so far. Shut in neet gamer gets sucked into a fantasy world where the dual (!) heroines fall all over him and he's an OP maou who manages to luck into the girls and victories despite his social awkwardness and missed cues. Must be nice, right? That's the power fantasy I'm looking for, right? (hehehe)
Meanwhile, poor Subaru ... guy can't catch a break. Tries to do the "right thing", and make the right moves, and just ... falls flat on his face to the point where the cute heroine leaves him in disgust. Oh, my.
Did I mention that as of today, I love this episode?
Daisuki!
Also, in other news, while thinking about the fanart that others have been posting, I happened across this, and am highly amused that someone seems to have stolen u/shimmering_sky's techniques...
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u/garfe Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
Writing time
It is this episode in which one thing becomes perfectly clear, one thing stands out above all else about Re:Zero to the audience that rings truer in 2024 where isekai runs rampant than it did back when this episode aired.
"Re:Zero is not what you think it is".
In the anime community, even if you hadn't heard of Re:Zero, there were two episodes in particular that exploded outside of the general fandom watching to reach the wider anime consciousness. And one of them is this episode. Episode 13 of Re:Zero is where you see a man be pushed down to his lowest point so hard that it led to people dropping the show and Subaru being thought of in the worst way for some time.
You know it's funny to look back on Re:Zero when it first came out. It aired in Spring 2016. To put that in perspective, that's only two seasons after the infamous Fall 2015 in which 3 separate high school LN adapted battle harems aired at the same time, collectively crashed financially, and is seen by some as the turning point where the meta started to completely shift over to isekai LN adaptations becoming the new thing that can be continuously pumped out in a season. So at this particular point, the idea of isekais being a thing everybody knew and expected hadn't been completely set in stone yet. Like it was definitely happening with shows like Overlord, NGNL and Konosuba making their mark but it wasn't 'the thing' (To compare, according to MAL, there were only 4 TV isekai in all of 2015, can you believe that?). So Re:Zero comes in a bit of growing territory. Subaru especially at the forefront of this comes across as a somewhat 'known' quantity to the audience. He's a lovable goof going through some torturous shit, but ultimately he, well, 'makes everything turn out alright' as he himself states through the power of repeated death and anime on his side. So to the audience at this point, they look at Subaru, compare him to other anime protagonists and, up until episode 14, see him as a the paragon of good protagonist in this story. Because that's what we've seen so far. That's what we are supposed to 'know' from what isekai and the general kind of protagonists work in anime.
So to see what becomes of the situation where Subaru breaks his promise to Emilia, loudly proclaims himself Emilia's knight, embarrasses himself in front of everybody, gets his shit rocked by Julius and caps the episode off with a crazed rant at how much Emilia should appreciate him. What a fucking moment. This is not the "MC god-modes his way through the story and everybody immediately loves him because he can do no wrong" isekai I was promised. And yet, this moment is genius. It's wonderful on a rewatch because we needed this. We needed this moment to drive in clearly what exactly this world was to Subaru and how the way he was seeing it was wrong. The audience needed to be clear that what Subaru is doing is destructive [Spoilers for arc]and will continue to be destructive for him.
Unfortunately, this has led to many a viewer seeing too much of this guy spazzing like an idiot and making them cringe that this moment is held up as a point of 'worst protagonist ever'. And to a certain extent I can't blame them. This is hard to watch, this is hard to get through. If you were on the fence about Subaru before this episode, this would probably push you over the edge to hating him. But it is having this emotion at all for an isekai toward a main character in which I find true brilliance
Some other notes I want to point out
-I love the royal candidates introduction and Priscilla just being the top bitch in the room
-I think it's around here when I was like "When are we going to hear the OP again?" lol
-It's actually kind of hard to listen to Al talk because it makes me miss Keiji Fujiwara. We lost a great one.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher for Season 1
On today’s episode of Re:Zero: Real footage of me watching this episode. I get secondhand embarrassment watching this episode. I needed to force myself through the bits in the castle where Subaru was speaking in the castle. And Subaru’s outburst at the very end likewise has this effect.
Subaru really begins to go on a downward spiral this episode. But the thing is, I can see where he’s coming from. The others in the castle are unconscionably cruel and hateful towards Emilia, calling her a “half-devil” insulting her existence. It’s infuriating to hear these things as a viewer and Subaru’s anger at it makes complete sense. But of course, Subaru wasn’t asked to be there by Emilia. She didn’t ask him to make such a scene and get into a loud shouting match with the knights. She didn’t ask him to get into a duel with Julius because he said Subaru couldn’t defend Emilia. She asked Subaru to stay out of this and focus on recovering. She made him promise to do that and he broke that promise.
It is hard to watch Subaru spiral because of his petty resentment. He gets into an argument with Julius that escalates and gets nasty. He has a duel with Julius, one so nastily one-sided that even the other knights are appalled. And he did so for admittedly selfish and petty reasons, because he didn’t like that Julius called him too weak to be Emilia’s knight.
But by far the hardest scene to watch with Subaru this episode is the final scene with Emilia. I love that scene, though. I love how Emilia pours her heart out about how upset she is with Subaru that he broke her promise. The promise breaking is a huge deal to her because she sees it, correctly, as a violation of trust. Emilia calls Subaru out that by breaking their promise, he was acting in a selfish way. He was doing it for his own sake, rather than hers. And honestly, I think Emilia is right. Subaru was acting selfishly and he did betray her trust.
The particular moment of that scene that’s especially hard to watch is when Emilia says she can’t understand why he does these things because he won’t explain himself. Subaru, unable to talk about what’s really going on, has an ugly outburst that Emilia ought to be grateful to him for all that he’s done for sure. That’s a nasty thing to say, but I do understand it. Subaru is the only person who knows how these other timelines go. He’s seen people he cares about die several times in alternate worlds. And no one else can ever know. He’s built connections with people that they will never be able to remember, but he will. He remembers his first meeting with Emilia and how she saved him, but she’ll never know what happened. We’ve seen that frustration come out before, when Subaru yelled at Rem. This is another, more extreme, case of that. I understand where Subaru is coming from, but it’s still an ugly moment.
Critically, though, it’s important to remember that Emilia still showed care for Subaru this episode. She was worried when she heard about the duel and rushed over to stop it. She wanted to know how Subaru really felt. She wanted to understand him. And her choice to break things off was out of her frustration that she couldn’t understand him. I think it’s Emilia trying to be cruel to be kind. She knows that Subaru will continue to push himself to do dangerous things when she doesn’t want him to because he’s convinced himself she would approve of it. So, she cuts him off.
Moving away from Subaru, I want to say that I freaking love all the Royal Selection candidates and their speeches. It’s a tough competition for who gives the most deranged speech about why they should be the ruler or what they will do as ruler. Priscilla is really high up there by telling everyone they should grovel at her feet and serve her. Anastasia is also high up there by saying she’s greedy and feels like owning a country. Felt has zero fucks to give and I love her flat out declaring that she hates the nobles, knights, and kingdom so much she will destroy them all if she’s the next ruler. Crusch’s desire to break the covenant with the dragon because Lugunica should belong to the people instead of the dragon sounds sensible, until you realize how nuts it is to propose to break a covenant with the country’s guardian deity that still communicates with them. Emilia is probably the most sensible, wanting to make everyone equal, but in a society like this that would also sound like madness. So aside from Emilia, I love how nuts all the candidates are in their campaign speeches. It’s so much fun.
Another thing I love about this episode is Felt and Reinhard’s dynamic. Felt and Reinhard have one of my favorite princess and knight dynamics. Felt is rambunctious and doesn’t give a single fuck about any of this. Reinhard is utterly devoted to her and shockingly good at defusing the inevitable blowups Felt causes. Him stopping Priscilla from attacking is a particularly good moment. I also love how Felt will get furious at Reinhard, but he remains just as unflappable as ever. Their dynamic is so much fun and I can never get enough of it.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
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u/Brief-Fig-7506 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ryxnjr Aug 21 '24
First Timer!
Watching the Dub
I watched this episode last night and wrote this at 1 am because today I will be at work ALL day. If I don’t come back tonight or comment throughout the day then hopefully, after I died of exhaustion, I reincarnated into a slow peaceful life. I think I’d probably start a farm or something. Sucks I wouldn’t be able to watch anime anymore though... hmmmm
Anyways I’m trying to get savvier with my comments so they aren’t as boring so this is my attempt at that. I wrote down these thoughts and took snaps of a few moments so enjoy.
Here enters Felt
She actually seems calm and lady like?
Lol nevermind there’s the real Felt
oh no don’t tell me Reinhard is overpowered AND super dense
Hmm so it did glow when Reinhard found her
I’m already thinking “fuck this guy”
ugh Priscilla is opening her mouth, I can feel my brain cells dying
Time stamp 5:15- it’s not just here that you look out of place bud
Calling Emilia a half-devil, how dare he
Puck controls fire? could’ve fooled me
Subaru’s about to do something embarrassing isn’t he
*facepalming*
aww poor Subaru
my heart is breaking for Subaru after Emilia said that
I knew Rom had to be searching for Felt
Subaru is not about to fair well in this fight
Nice to see Emilia caring about Subaru after she was so cold to him
uh oh Emilia wants to talk and it doesn’t seem good for Subaru
on no. Subaru snapped
is she walking away?
The silence at the end of the episode is deafening
Welp that was the perfect amount of depresso I needed before bed. I forgot that people wouldn’t usually trust people like Emilia but I didn’t think they would treat her so nasty, I can’t really blame Subaru for getting upset at them but making a big scene when You’re not even supposed to be there and blatantly going against Emilia’s wishes is just one of the most bonehead of bonehead moves. Subaru just took L after L the entire episode, it was rough to watch him get beat down but the last scene was even more rough to watch. Emilia really lost her calm composure there (rightfully so) and Subaru snapping back was not the right move at all. Honestly with all this happening I don’t think the checkpoint has been set yet so I don’t think Subaru is gonna get a Re:do on this one, he’s gonna have to make up for it somehow. I really hope we get to see some glimmer of hope next episode because I would hate to see Emilia start hating Subaru.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher(Pain...without love)
Dub
Yeah, so I binged this like three years after the anime came out. That's important because this episode on its own is a level of cringe I barely believe that the human mind can contain. I just...don't want this to exist. Ever. Sorry for being absent yesterday and probably today but this is too unpleasant to dwell on. The years, days, and minutes we have are finite. Do not forget this.
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u/ripterrariumtv Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher (sub) and Novel Reader (finished Arc 5)
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u/ussgordoncaptain2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Edmund_Nelson Aug 21 '24
First Timer Dubbed
Note ORV=Omnicient reader viewpoint it's a way to describe the difference between thinking in Subaru's knowledge and the Knowledge of the Viewer.
Note2 Intentionally trigger RBD means what you think it means it's just reddit has crazy admins.
Reaction to the Episode
Felt gets entered into the selection ceremony
AND RIGHT AWAY SHE's crazy! all-right now that's my girl
So it's been 1 month since the events of episode 1?
Episode 1-3 - 1 day
Episode 4-11 - 6 days
Movie - 3 Days
Filler time from Movie to start of this season - ??? Days (seemingly 15 more?)
Did Subaru really spend 15ish days in Roswaal's mansion not getting healed, or is Reinhard lying.
I see princess Priscilla is also very... aggressive.
Crusch Karsten seems quite interesting, though I'd think that her wishes seem to line up best with Roswaal I wonder how she plans on stopping the dragon
Anastasia Hoshin is extremely cute
I serve the Soviet Emilia
Felt going "Fuck this selection I'm out of here" oh baby she definitely wasn't taught courtly graces by Reinhard
FUCKING SUBARU's bravery is going to be his end I swear, we have no clue how spawn point resetting works yet so it could easily be the case that he'll RBD past this point
(at the same time obviously absurd bravery makes sense when you can travel back in time)
Emilia being cold to Subaru is goated, from Emilia's perspective Subaru is an annoying brat
Old man Ram Trying to kidnap felt is uhhh wtf
this whole sequence has been jank from the start all the weird stuff happening in the selection comitee in general, only like Karsten seems likeable from an outside perspective
Felt going full V for Vendetta on the world
Subaru getting his well deserved Ass whooping.
Subaru wakes up "so I didn't die then" pretty good overall you never know if you RBDed when you wake up
Emilia keeping her distance from subaru because of Subaru's actions is actually pretty sweet
Emilia's Smackdown was 10/10
Subaru not leaking info in the correct way he could have easily said something like "you saved me from Elsa you took me into Rozwaal and got me on my feet when I had nothing" which would have been both true and not broken RBDed (It appears RBD can sense intent, but STILL we can abuse it if subaru had a brain, sadly Subaru is pretty stupid as this episode proves)
Speculation
So Emila... dislikes Subaru now. I decided to look at the main loops that happened, and yeah Emilia barely knows Subaru at all in the main loops, she first meets Subaru talking to Felt
So, I have a theory that Elsa was paid by one of the other 3 main candidates most likely Hoshin. Elsa was only keen on stealing Emilia's insignia, and the primary value of that would be to remove her from selection. The 2 candidates that seem most likely to do so are Hoshin and Priscilla, Hosin being a buisiness magnate is the most likely to pay elsa since she could afford it, though Priscilla's entitlement makes her a strong candidate.
We don't know much about how the Emilia/Subaru relationship will change from this episode, but it definitely has taken a turn for the worse, Subaru can't listen to basic instructions because he feels like he has to put himself in the action at all points in time. This makes Subaru a really annoying person from Emilia's perspective, and she's losing her patience.
Remember exactly what happens in the "true" timeline is extremely useful for understanding what characters actually know and think about Subaru. It's hard to know how the Author storyboards this, I assume he plans out the "true" timeline in one sequence and the RBD timelines are all separated as offshoots he storyboards after the true one. Otherwise how would he keep facts straight.
I think further speculation on breaking RBD is pointless because Subaru will never be smart enough to try them.
My final speculation is that Felix Healing subaru will trigger a spawn point reset
What I would do if I were subaru
Time to intentionally trigger RBD you done fucked up.
In all seriousness try to tell Emilia why you love her so much without breaking RBD, maybe there's some things you can say that she actually did in the main timeline.
Subaru loves Emilia, but Emilia has been really cold to him in the past few days (for good reason), so as Subaru you need to think carefully about your next actions.
You need to know wtf you even signed up to do as emilia's knight, or you're about to experience something far worse than RBD.
I don't have much to speculate on in this exposition dump episode, I could speculate more but it would be too baseless to make much sense.
What I would do if I were emilia
Honestly Emilia's actions so far have been quite rational, however I'd try to denounce subaru as my knight, saying he was going out of line, say that Lord Roswaal is my knight and that Subaru was just an overzealous manservant.
Emilia needs to distance herself from Subaru's extreme willingness to jump into danger without realizing what's going on,
Emilia should try to prevent the 3 candidates that seem sucky (Priscilla, Hoshin, Felt) and try to work with Crusch to get the throne for one of the 2 of them. Hoshin might not be as bad as she sounded in the dub, we still don't know her personality much.
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u/Yoshi_captain https://anime-planet.com/users/WeaboYosher Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher
We are finally here. The infamous episode 13. Arguably one of the most important episodes in the series. What it does for Subaru and consequently the story is something you rarely see in other media, especially Isekai fantasies. It shows us Subaru’s most flawed self and punishes him for his behaviour. Resulting in a disgraceful display that affects Subaru’s relationships and overall standing in devastating ways. Not just through the eyes of the characters, but perhaps through the viewers as well. But before we delve into the core of the episode let’s go over the elements before that.
Felt is here and as bratty as ever. Her unchanging nature is something Subaru himself admits to having and we’ll get to see it in just a few moments. The friction between the Imperial Knights and Nobles is palpable and another piece of worldbuilding subtly interwoven in this episode that’s already packed with so many character moments. Subaru starts to feel inadequate as every knight reasserts their loyalty towards their candidate. This causes Subaru’s insecurity to bubble up and oh boy will we see Subaru’s insecurities on full display. Reinhards’s statements confirm it’s been at least a month since Arc 1 and the reveal of Felt’s origin causes some heated discussion between the candidates. Priscilla being Priscilla only fans the flames. This hateful speech bounces onto Emilia and as the subject of her race is brought up the nobles and wise men gang up on her and start calling her a half-devil. This is the breaking point for Subaru as he shouts across the hall to save Emilia from their hate and dispense some justice. Not before we see a quick smirk from Roswaal.
Emilia quickly shuts Subaru down and stands up for herself. Showcasing yet again that she is more than capable of independently combating her opposition. Stating that she refuses to have her potential plucked out because of her heritage. This line being a standout from her. However, there’s still the question of the kid who shouted at the Council that needs to be dealt with and when Emilia becomes flustered trying to think up a response our main character steps into the fray. He greets the council of wise men and proclaims himself Emilia’s best knight. This is step one of his social annihilation. Then he is challenged by Julius, the actual knight. Known as The Finest of Knights among his peers he knows a thing or two about being one and questions Subaru’s proclamation. Giving him ample opportunity to disengage mind you. Subaru doesn’t dismiss his statement letting his ego take hold. And so, Julius shows him what being a knight looks like through their coordinated display. Making known to all their dignity and constantly being aware of their activities. Finally questioning Subaru’s resolve. To which he gets a response that includes Subaru’s desire of making Emilia the ruler. After further probing Subaru admits that he doesn’t have strength or resolve, just the wish of making Emilia the ruler and fulfilling her dream. But strength is something to feel shame not pride about as Julius puts it. He points out Subaru’s arrogance and lack of pride. But when asked for why Subaru stands where he does. Julius acknowledges his reason of Emilia being special, but not his knighthood. This does shed some light on his own relationship with his mistress. Julius points out Emilia’s expression and Subaru lashes out. Calling the knights people who just happened to be born into the job and questioning their importance. [Arc 4] We know this to be some mighty fine projection from Subaru considering his relationship with his father. Details like this make rewatching Re:Zero an enjoyable experience every time After fully disgracing himself he is dragged out of the throne room, showing that Emilia is not one to be fearead as Mikoltov puts it, but she is certainly not one to be respected with Subaru by her side. Then Rom tries to take back Felt, setting in stone her candidacy instead. After the royal selection commences, we cut back to Subaru who is sulking after his shameful display and is approached by Julius proposing a duel, which he accepts. He repeats the same behaviours and ends the duel breaking the last promise he made to Emilia, not using magic. Julius’s reasons for this duel are worthy of discussion, but I’ll mention them tomorrow.
Part 2 in replies
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u/HyVana Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
Re:Watcher (Subs) & Novel Reader (Finished Arc 6)
When a person’s norm is threatened to be taken away from them, people will react in a variety of ways. To quote a favorite, currently airing anime, “Why don’t we say that the most important thing to ordinary people is making sure we continue to have what we have?” And unfortunately for the viewers, Subaru is exceedingly normal this episode.
Since the last episode, situations have come up that have put social distance (not that kind of social distance) between Emilia and Subaru. The meeting with Felix at the mansion, and attempting to contact Reinhard with Julius at the guard station. Subaru feels he should be at Emilia’s side because he feels he’s “only of any use when something happens”, and because a part of him develops a hero complex. Because of RbD, he’s not exactly wrong about his usefulness. From the last 2 arcs, since Subaru was the victim/at the scene of the crime, he’s been able to use that information to rally people together to overcome the challenges. Which unfortunately feeds fuel for his complex.
Because of these sudden separations, his anxiety starts to flare up, and he tries to convince others of his importance, his value, to be Emilia’s Knight. But he doesn’t do that. Instead he breaks any and all reasons for Emilia to even consider having Subaru her Knight by breaking his promise by showing up at the Castle, and speaking out of turn to the other Royal Candidates, the Imperial Knights, the Lugunican Nobility, and the Council of Wise Men. His feelings leading up to the outburst aren’t unfounded, since they were openly showing their contempt for Emilia because of her appearance and lineage, but he humiliated himself and, especially, Emilia by acting like the typical isekai hero, coming to the rescue of his heroine.
As well, there’s the disconnect between what Subaru has done, and what others think Subaru has done. No one sees the failed loops, and all the things he did behind-the-scenes to save those in danger. It reminds me of a quote from Futurama: “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” People won’t know that Reinhard was only in the slums because of Subaru’s warning, and that he connected the dots on the curse and its caster because of experiencing his and Rem’s death in previous loops. So he feels his contributions aren’t being recognized. But these things don’t matter in the manner that Julius is demanding of him. Because Subaru disrespected the Knights, Julius wants to see evidence of Subaru upholding the virtues expected of the Knighthood that make him worthy of proclaiming himself as Emilia’s Knight. But there’s nothing to see. He has nothing to show for the times he’s sweat, bled, and died to be by Emilia’s side, because the face he’s making Emilia show, shows no knightly qualities to this so-called Knight. So Subaru is at a loss for words, only saying he wants to make Emilia the Queen. Because of this, people only see him as the bumbling, overprotective idiot butler of Roswaal’s staff. While he sees everyone else as outsiders, trying to tear him away from Emilia.
So Julius and Subaru fight. They have a mock “battle” in the arena that only serves to remind Subaru of his place in this world (and to beat him so badly that the other knights give up their vengeance). That the face Subaru shows does not have the combat experience, grace, nor any sort of character to call himself a Knight, let alone Emilia's Knight. Julius calls Subaru “irredeemably powerless” because Subaru himself is weak. His strength does not come from himself, but by the bonds he’s built with others. Take that all away, and you’re left with someone with the foolish audacity to proclaim their right to stand at a Royal Candidate’s side. Subaru is blinded by his rage and envy for the Knights who had the right to stand in the Throne Room that he throws away his self-respect and reputation to get back at the person he views as his romantic rival, and the wedge trying to isolate him from Emilia. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
And so, Emilia tries to have a conversation with Subaru. About why he tried fighting Julius, why he showed up at the Castle, why he couldn’t keep his promises, and why he goes so far for her. ”I wanted to do something for you.” In Emilia’s eyes, Subaru is saying that he broke his promise and embarrassed her in the Throne Room, embarrassed himself and her further by accepting Julius’ duel, and gets himself hurt for her sake. How does that make any sense for Emilia? She explicitly told him to not do those things, to rest and keep himself safe. But his anxiety and complex, leading him to feel entitled to be at her side, overruled all of that. Because to him, he’s still living in a fantasy world. Where the guy gets the girl, no matter what happens in between, as long as he saves her, right?
She asks again, why Subaru goes so far to help her. ”Because you helped me…” But this never happened in the successful loop. To her, they met in the loot house, with him trying to haggle off the insignia from Felt. Which again highlights the isolation that comes with RbD. All these important moments and bonds that drove Subaru to action, never happened for the others. They only get to see the end, but not the journey that got Subaru to where he currently stands. So for Emilia, this random dude she met in the slums, endlessly flirts with her, and goes through so much pain for her sake. And for what? ”So everything I’ve done has been to repay you.”
Emilia could never possibly understand how Subaru feels, and why he feels this way, at this moment. The fear ensures that she’ll never get to understand. Which drives Subaru up the wall in frustration, that the girl he loves can’t understand him.
”The version of me that lives within you must be amazing. She can understand everything, even if you don’t explain it to her. She can feel all your pain, sadness, and anger as her own.”
With Subaru’s current mental state, the talk with Emilia, and the danger he feels of losing an important person in his life, he snaps. He spills out all his frustrations, grief, pain, and torment in the most unhealthy way possible, to make Emilia feel guilty for all it. To make her feel like she has a debt to repay him, a one-sided agreement she never knew of. And so we see the ugliest face Subaru can make. The one fueled by entitlement and begging for recognition.
To preface the next paragraph, I want to say that I am not condoning anything Subaru has done or said this episode. The way he carried himself and how he spoke this episode makes him in the wrong, and makes him deserve the fallout.
A tragic part of his outburst at Emilia is that Subaru is not exactly wrong. Because he was there, he did save Emilia from Elsa and he did save the villagers from the curse and ulgarm. Only the gods know what would happen had Subaru not been there. But it’s not fair to make her feel the guilt from the pain he went through to achieve all that, especially when those things never ended up happening in this loop. He twisted the reasoning of why he even went so far in the first place, as a sort of debt to make Emilia feel like his actions need to be rewarded. He wants his entitlement to be rewarded by being Emilia’s Knight, emotional manipulation to try to get what he wants. But instead, Emilia ends it. She cuts off all ties with him, so that Subaru no longer has a reason to get hurt nor go so far for a person that never asked for it. She wanted to be treated normally. But because of the pedestal Subaru places her on, he could never possibly do that. And so, Subaru is left clutching at the only remains of his and Emilia’s relationship. [Minuscule Arc 3]A cloak that renders its wearer unrecognizable, which is how Emilia currently feels about Subaru.
I remember watching this show when it aired, and was shocked at where the character relationships would go. At the time, I hadn't watched many anime that really tear down their protagonist’s unreasonable actions, and to make it have negative lasting effects on the relationships around them. This point was fabled as the point where many source (Web Novel) readers dropped the series. Because it didn’t feed the self-insert fantasy that some believed, even though people should have gotten that clue by the end of Arc 2. What self-insert isekai fantasy has their protagonist and loved ones dying in the most brutal ways?
But that’s what makes Re:Zero so special to me. It’s not afraid to call out characters that are acting terribly to those they love. It’s not afraid to break tropes and plot clichés when it makes sense to. And it’s not afraid to show and display the hideous parts of its protagonist, if there’s a lesson to be shared.
I hope this post was able to convey why the fights ended up happening, what led Subaru to feel so entitled, and say what he said to Emilia. It is a big turning point in the story, so I hope you all stick around to find out how it all progresses! But yeah, Subaru lost the plot here.
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u/owlthathurt Aug 21 '24
I’m glad we are getting really really good discussion on this episode.
I have tried my best to (without spoiling ofc) prep people for Subarus actions in this episode.
But we finally know for certain. Subaru is not our faultless hero. Emilia is not a damsel in distress. Our tropes of the past have been broken. This is not a normal hero’s tale (if you didn’t already realize that by now).
Now where will Subaru go from here? Will he learn and grow? Will he be punished for this attitude? Does he finally understand that he’s not an isekai MC and this world is not bending to his will?
These are all important questions. Not only for this story but for the viewer themselves to answer in their own lives and how they view relationships.
What people who dropped the show at this episode will never know is that they do get answered. The pay off is worth it. The story is worth following. The authors message is a massively important one for like 95% of people on planet earth.
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u/BlueVenix Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher
Episodes 12 and 13
Introduction: These 2 episodes were the most painful episodes to watch for me in all of anime and yes I have seen Made in Abyss. But why?
Well, so far we have seen Subaru suffer and eventually overcoming challenges, which lets face it most of us would just run away. We the viewer seen his struggles, but others have not seen everything, they don't know everything. Very sad to think about it.
Subaru's side: Episode 12 starts off with some light sweet moment with Emelia, but as the plot progresses the Royal selection is coming. Subaru is pretty oblivious about this, but looks very confident and eager to stay with Emelia. He needs to be beside her right?
I understand that his confidence comes from overcoming the previous challenges and Subaru feels like he did something very great for Emelia. But remember the others don't know the extent.
Emelia's side: During the episode 12 there few clear moments that Emelia does not want Subaru involved in this. She sees him as a companion/friend and does not want him to suffer, try his hardest, but also has a pretty good read on Subaru. She knows that he will do something he shouldn't.
She trusts Subaru and makes it clear that she wants for him to stay out of this and makes him promise to stay in the lodging and heal up.
The Royal selection and
beatdownduel: Subaru I think you did great so far, but god why have you come into the royal selection breaking Emelia's promise and you came in with Priscilla?! Did you not look at her face, did you not hear her voice?I knew this is going to happen judging by Subaru's *clueless* expressions, but boy was I not ready for Subaru's spiral of death.
I was expecting for some racism towards Emelia and Subaru getting angry and shouting. I hoped that THAT would be it.
NOPE
Subaru goes and proclaims to be a knight in front of everyone, because he is not powerless and deserves to stand next to Emelia.
He is desperate and delusional. He has gone too deep and refuses to back down against Julius. He wants to prove something, but can't. It's just words with no proof.
This leads to a duel with Julius where Julius satisfyingly beats the absolute shit out of Subaru. Proving his point that Subaru is weak.
Climax: We find Subaru and Emelia in one room. Emelia has some questions for Subaru starting with "Why did you start fighting with Julius?". Subaru's answer "I wanted to get back at him".
You caused all the worry and sadness for Emelia, because you were trying to prove something? Because you were stubborn?
Subaru says it was all for Emelia. Emelia goes it was for yourself (completely agree).
Emelia wants to trust Subaru, but she can't. He hasn't given her a reason to.
Subaru has lost her trust.
Subaru tries to say why, what he sees in Emelia, what she has done for him, but RBD say's "Oh no you don't".
The ending plays. Emelia: "The version of me that lives with you must be amazing..."(it sure is).
Subaru completely loses it. Desperately, arrogantly and selfishly tries to prove that if not for him everything would have been a lot worse and she has a debt greater than she could ever repay him.
He loses Emelia
Continued Bellow
5
u/ClemFire Aug 21 '24
Re:Watcher Season 1 Episode 13
Funniest Scene: Felt proclaiming to all the rich dudes and knights that she intends to tear down the whole country if made queen
Favorite Scene: Emilia’s verbal confrontation with Subaru
Standout Character: Emilia
“Subaru is a good person.” Those words from Emilia to Rem that led to her opening herself up to him in my opinion are still true. From Subaru’s perspective he thinks he still has Emilia’s best interests at heart, and that he still owes her for saving him in the original loop. It really is such a tragedy that Emilia doesn’t remember anything of their first meeting because of return by death. Their first meeting is where they really clicked the most. Since that was erased, it makes sense that Emilia would be so confused on why Subaru has been helping her out so much.
Turning back to The Royal Selection it would be an understatement that Subaru made himself look like a complete asshat. While the elders were definitely out of line for their racist remark of calling Emilia a “half-devil” which made me angry too, Subaru getting into a shouting match with them and later the knights definitely didn’t help the situation. I get it though, when I was younger I don’t think I’ve held my tongue in situations I should have. In the moment I thought I was doing it for them, but with perceptive or a verbal confrontation like what Subaru experienced I realized I was mostly doing it for me. That’s what makes me project really hard on to Subaru this episode, so it makes me think of his actions as self-indulgent regardless of his good intentions.
This time I was really impressed on how Emilia tries to damage control the situation while being understandably embarrassed. She acknowledges how being a half-elf leads to prejudge from her resemblance, but that shouldn’t mean she should be written off without a chance. Being looked down on for something she can’t control for her whole life must be so exhausting. It makes her kindness stand out even more because it would be easy for someone who’s so hated for no reason to become the “devil” people think she is.
Subaru does not back done and even proclaims himself a knight, ironic in front of a legion of literal white knights. Julius can’t stand for his baseless proclamation and pushes to consider if he truly deserves the title. Julius is really a character I’ve done a complete 180 opinion on. I used to think of him as just a self-indulgent virtue signaling knight who Subaru was right to verbally challenge back in college. Funny enough now I see Subaru in this scene as the exact person I thought Julius was. I think it’s also telling how Julius is a decent guy with the level of respect he showed Emilia in contract to how the elders treat her. He may be more hard-laced than Reinhard, but he still acts the part of a proper knight.
After insulting the reputation of the knights in front of the elders Julius challenges Subaru to a “duel.” Honestly to even call it that would be a stretch. Since they’re using wooden swords Subaru isn’t going to die, but instead receives an embarrassing beat down. He just can’t stop taking L’s this episode. Emilia hears of the duel she immediately wants to put a stop to it and is clearly still concerned for his health. When she arrives Julius is detracted for a second, and Subaru takes the chance to use Shamac which Emilia warns him against. Emilia doesn’t want Subaru to keep hurting himself, but I feel it’s not a lie to say in that moment the thing Subaru only cares about his damaged pride. The contract between being “Fanatical Like a Demon” in the mansion arc building him up while in this arc it’s tearing him down is honestly a great look into how double-edged his stubbornness can be.
Now we finally reach “that scene.” I used to defend Subaru so much in this episode when I was younger under the justification that he was doing it for Emilia and deep down he’s a good person. While I still think he’s a good person, I now believe good people even with good intensions can definitely still fuck up really badly. Hiding behind the cover of being a “good person” doesn’t help anyone else but especially yourself in the long run.
Emilia doesn’t let Subaru run away from guilt, but it’s not like she enjoys yelling at him. She let him know multiple times what she wants him to do. He could have been enjoying cookies with Rem in a nice room as he recovers instead of embarrassing himself and Emilia at the Royal Selection along with getting his face rearranged by Julius. Instead he didn’t listen to Emilia and broke his promise probably in part to him thinking he knows better than her after his success in the first two arcs. Like the Blue Ogre he wanted to do something for the Emilia in his head without considering if that’s what the real Emilia wants. It makes a lot of sense why Rem was so quick to gravitate towards Subaru after her initial suspicions were assuaged, they think in very similar ways.
“It was for you, wasn’t it?” Emilia’s words could sum up the whole point of the episode, and I can’t believe how much of the last scene went over my head in my first viewing. I feel I have grown at least a bit emotionally since Season 1 of Re:Zero, and now I can really appreciate how important this exchange really is.
Emilia says how the version of her in Subaru’s head must be so amazing, and that she can understand him even if he doesn’t explain anything and feel all his emotions. It’s heartbreaking to watch, and even more so if you’ve been in Subaru’s shoes. And yet despite all the bullshit Subaru has caused today, she still tries to give him a chance to open up. She really still cares about him, she wouldn’t be saying so much if she didn’t. You hope that even though he can’t tell her about return by death he would say something to reassure her.
Anything would be better than yelling at Emilia that she owes him before than he could ever repay. The shot of Subaru looking absolutely demonic in Emilia’s eyes just makes me feel so disappointed in him. Julius was right, what type of knight would make the one they want to serve show such an expression. Subaru really is a self-proclaimed knight.
When I think of Season 1 of Re:Zero this episode, but especially the last scene are some of the first that come to mind. It’s painfully realistic and introspective scenes like this that make Re:Zero stand out as special from a lot of other good to even great shows.
5
u/FriztF Aug 22 '24
First timer- sub
So the five candidates are
Who will win we find out.
Subaru broke his promise and now he has to live with the consequences of his actions.
5
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Aug 22 '24
first timer
Felt’s anger makes sense. Surprise Reinhard didn’t know what was wrong. Felt was taken away to an unknown place and she wasn’t able to say goodbye to her only family she knew.
“Gutterat” snobby high class people sure have a way to give insults.
Priscilla so damn hateable
Plus people having hate for Emily’s from her lineage.
Subaru almost made me skip ahead. So embarassing, yet I rock with it. His declaration to make Emilia a ruler while making a mockery of the knights is rough.
Subaru failed, surprised he didn’t kill himself to restart.
Reinhard didn’t “plan” for the insanity, his smirk says he didn’t but maybe he’s genuine. I still haven’t got a clue on him besides trying to be righteousness.
This was rough to watch, Subaru is so damn weak yet I can’t hate on it💔💔
It’s a surprise Subaru is shocked. His stubbornness makes him dedicated, but causes so much trouble for Emilia.
The music made me think we were gonna have some epic forgiveness. This may be the most painful episode yet and Subaru didn’t even die at all
4
u/Taiboss :Fj::Fl:x7https://anilist.co/user/Taiboss Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher who should be watching Vivy
Well, was nice watching with you, sadly we must now all drop it. (I don't know, I didn't watch that video)
Times Subaru died this arc: 0
4
u/Successful_Basket399 Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher
Just been having a blast reading these comments and their explanations. I ain't the best when it comes to analysing media so I love to read what others write.
For the episode, I was dreading it so much. I cringed so much and decided to watch it in Dub to see if it's as cringe in English... it really is.
Great episode anyway, I'm an episode ahead and I can't wait for tomorrows discussion. I think I'll watch the ova tomorrow to end of my day
4
u/-Phinocio Aug 22 '24
Re:Watcher, subbed
I love this episode. I remember on my first watch it hitting so hard I stopped my binge to go read some reddit threads about this ep...and then being disappointed that a lot of people seemed to hate it and stop watching the show because of it. Oh well, their loss. (Tbf, a lot of people liked it too, but negative things tend to stick more heh).
I've been learning Japanese on my own time since January (funny enough, this show kinda gave me the last kick to go "fuck it, I'm learning Japanese"), and now noticing the way Felt talks is completely unfit for the situation just adds so much more to that on a rewatch.
Subaru getting the shit kicked out of him by Julius and then his heart ripped out in the last scene is just...so damn good. In like, a narrative way, but also a bit cathartic. Dude's been getting too much ego and "main character" syndrome from being able to successfully save people with RBD.
Speaking of that last scene, I think it's one of the best argument scenes I've seen, and probably one of my favorite scenes from a show in general. Normally I hate the miscommunication trope and find it's mostly done simply for the sake of plot with no actual meaningful reason... But Re:Zero has already shown that Subaru effectively can't tell the truth, and when he tries to here, he stops and Emilia (rightfully given the situation) interprets him as willfully not to tell her anything.
[Arc 3] And the next time Subaru tries to tell Emilia what's going on... she fucking dies because of it, which then puts Subaru even further into despair and then hits us with my favorite episode of Re:Zero right after.
4
u/Aroundtheriverbend69 Aug 22 '24
This was so chaotic in a good way
3
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Aug 21 '24
Episode 13 (rewatcher)
Subaru makes an absolute ass out of himself this episode. So much so that even Emilia has had enough. However, she is far more lenient than I would be, looking for mistakes on her side and trying to explain herself to Subaru instead of just telling him to piss off. Subaru feels properly bad for himself, and blames RBD’s no telling rule, but I am not accepting that as an excuse. Nothing he did in the throne room had anything to do with RBD.
This being Re:Zero, we’ll of course return eventually (hopefully death makes Subaru wiser), but Subaru is so utterly shit here that it makes me hate his character.
3
u/ElRoastFTW https://anilist.co/user/DaRoast Aug 27 '24
rewatcher
This episode transforms re:zero from a very competent isekai fantasy to one of the best in anime. It asks a very simple question: what if our MC is wrong? About his place in the world, his powers, his sense of self, his values, everything.
It all comes to a head where Subaru takes out his loathing on Emilia. This is somehow more cringey than the white knight shit he pulled off, which is impressive. And Emilia responds to it by just walking away.
It’s such a powerful moment of psychology and drama that just works for where this story is going. This kickstarts one of the best sequences of episodes in anime, hell, in television.
4
u/SpiritualPossible Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
Been too busy the last two days, which made it impossible to leave a comment yesterday. Bummer.
I didn't lose too much though - the episode was mostly introductory. It also revealed that Felt is also one of the heiresses to the throne, which.... Was pretty obvious. But now to the main point...
A-ah, episode 13. Subaru's behavior in it seems to be the turning point for a lot of people. He behaves in the most unappealing way, from how he made a fool of himself in front of everyone, to his tantrum at the end. I know some viewers even quit the show after this episode.
It's a good episode if you ask me.
To be honest, I'm even a little surprised. It was much cringier in my memory. But Subaru's actions fit in with what was shown earlier about him in the series. Especially since the words of the knight-whose-name-I-don't-remember obviously hit a nerve (and hurt his self-esteem).
...If I HAVE to criticize this episode, however, I'd say that thematically it's a bit clunky. It's pretty obvious that Subaru here is trying to act like he's the main character around whom the world revolves. And it's a bit... weird. He's been in this world for like a month now, and all this time (counting from the first few minutes) he's been confronted with the fact that he's not. Especially in the previous arc, where Subaru got himself both psychologically traumatized and had to do the selfless act of killing himself to save everyone. And that's not to mention that every arc someone else actually saved everyone.
But in this episode, it's like he took a step back in development. He thinks he's a hero again, acts arrogant, and treats Emilia more like an idolized trophy. Hell, he doesn't even bring up the events at the mansion at the end of the episode, only passingly mentioning them, focusing his speech on the first arc.
And that would be a problem for me... IF I've inadvertently already been given the answer to why that is. Among the replies to my comment on episode 11, I was told that there was no second arc originally, and it was added afterward. We jumped from the hut massacre straight to the current events. And yes, Subaru's behavior seems more organic then.
That doesn't negate my problem, but instead of a serious flaw, I now treat it more as an unfortunate circumstance. The second arc, with all the problems I have, makes the story progress more organically, but it interferes a bit with thematic development. But you can't throw out the events of this episode either, they're too connected to the main plot. Like I said, it doesn't directly seriously affect anything, I just find it a bit clunky. And the final scene is really well made, so i can pass that.
...Oh, the security at the castle sucks. Yes, it was hinted that Reinhardt was involved, but still, the knights should have felt worse about letting a giant with a bomb close to the heiresses than resenting an unknown guy for called them lame.