RE: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – 02
Don’t mess with Felt!
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Phew. I’m glad the new season is starting to settle down, I got really busy with the reviews. So what does my top personal pick this season have to offer the second time out? |
Fables of the Reconstruction of the…
Nice image from the OP
If you didn’t know, the underlying thrust of this show is the protagonist’s ability to go back in time. Now this instantly invites a comparison to last season’s ERASED; instead it’s protagonist knew the ins and outs of his ability by the time we caught up to him. In Re: Zero, our protagonist, Subaru has been plunged into the deep end. So all the shock and all the wonder that ERASED more or less skipped over – for the personal value of discovery – is being explored here.
Same plot, new perspective…different plot…
The first step on that particular path might be the protag learning not only how his new ability works, but that he has one in the first place; something that is obvious to us, having read the previews, but not obvious to the hero. We get a great deal of information about seeing how the boy seeing how he deals with it. When we left Subaru, from his vantage point, he is seeing her again, but he was quite confused that Satella treated him as if this was the first time they met; and getting a double whammy on learning that that name isn’t all that it seems. Then Felt enters the scene, and brings him his first clue, one that he doesn’t know the significance of yet; seeing the thievery of the much talked about talisman. Persusing Felt brings us his next set of clues, and his next messy end.
Why don’t we just kill him? Seems to clear his mind pretty well…
Which is handled in rather short order. I’m glad they decided not to stretch the discovery out. I guess it helps having a hikikomori game brain that he can put such odd pieces together and come up with a superpower. But maybe not really, as he revels himself to be not that good at listening to his own instincts sometimes….meeting Elsa last time… But he’s good at some hard self reflection. He knows from past experience that his mobile phone is worth something. So should he sell it and live it up? Or should he remember that there is a girl in trouble out there, a girl that helped him out when he was in trouble when she didn’t really have to…?
Subaru: I promise be a hero of justice! Appa Cart Man: Get a job, you loser….
It’s these moments where Subaru was finding his feet that the story reveals a clue that was quickly buried; the appa cart salesman says “a broke kid like you helped my daughter earlier”; when that was clearly part of another wiped out time line. So is AppaCart, the first person he sees after his Rebirths, in the middle of all this, somehow? The guy that calls out for him to get a job, maybe even breaking this cycle somehow? But before we can answer that, its off to the Three Stooges and it’s also a good time to meet a new ally…
…Reconstruction of the…
Convenient supporting character is convenient…you could practically predict his VA….
I think he recognizes something in himself that he isn’t when meeting Reinhard, our new supporting character. But Subaru won’t abandon his new lease in life. Knowing that he can somehow make a difference for Satella brings the spark of life back into him for real this time. It’s one thing for a hero-protagonist to merely survive, but it’s another thing for a would-be hero-protagonist to “truly live“, right? With that, Subaru has a sense of purpose to guide him. This leads him to finding out where Felt lives so he can re-open the “negotiations” he dealt with during his last failed go-around. Get back that talisman.
Elsa: Yes, be afraid, it flavors your chitlins quite well…
I think he get’s a rather sharp reminder of where his bravery is when he “reacquaints” himself with the Elsa the Gutsplitter. He was so full of heroic vigor he was getting insufferable, but a very well placed gesture and a few cutting words was all it took to ground him again. I could almost think he forgot completely about her, being high on his purpose, and having no real reason to think she’ll return in this new time line could distract him from that. They could have just used Larry, Moe, and Curly for all the danger he could face this episode. Glad to see I wrong, and they played her very well. Short, sharp, shock, which gave us a neat bit of false tension at the end of the episode…
Someone is a fan of Drunken Master
This leads him to discovering that she has her own purpose as well, and one that isn’t so noble as he pretends his might be; is he infatuated with Satella, is he going to try and impress her? Does he really believe he’s just going to “do the right thing” and that is that? Felt is just trying to survive in a pretty crappy place. A place that they’ve taken great attempts to show is very much downhill from the shining city on the hill. From there it’s straight onto that “renegotiation” and the end of the episode…
Felt does not need your validation or headpats, jerkass!
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This was pretty good for what is commonly seen as a “bridge” episode. It links the premiere with what is going to be much larger story. This one was better than I expected, and I like the little wrinkles they find in all the repetition. Felt comes out as a stronger character then we saw that really doesn’t need to the protag to save her is my favorite. We could use stronger female characters such as her. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a very good feeling on this part of the story from when I read the manga. In the source it felt overly repetitive, and I thought that feeling would extend to the adaption. Glad to see I was maybe a bit wrong when I read the manga. It works here, and I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to seeing how all this crazy mixed up business plays out…
“You were expecting a psycho killer?”
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Apparently every time Subaru respawns, he doesn’t reset with a completely clean slate. Pieces of past events manage to remain like the fruit stall seller remembering Subaru finding his lost daughter. Which makes it difficult to understand exactly how the ability works and therefore not setting in stone the benefits and consequences.
After his earlier encounter with Elsa, our lead has to get it in his head that trying to change one outcome gives more chance for a far worse one to be placed instead of a better. So caution is indispensable. One misstep and he could’ve gotten another premature death. Especially with no handle on his emotions.
With the re-runs of trying to recover the insignia and the sentence “You’re with them” thrown around on more than one occasion, I’d very much like to see what factions are out there and what they base themselves on. If Elsa’s anything to by, whatever she’s allied with must be a den of scum and villainy.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It looks like Iron Maw – who commented below – has poked a hole in our theory canoe, it’s taking on water quartermaster!!!!
As for what Subaru needs to do to get his desired aim? Change stuff as much as he can. It’s insanity to do the same thing, or roughly the same thing, and expect a different result. So maybe booking it to Old Man Rom’s place, getting the Holy Gold, then getting to Felt and bribing her not to steal the insignia…or…will that just draw Elsa to him and Satella sooner? Ah! No way out!!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Quantum respawn is not perfect.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
The appa saleman is actually referring to Satella in this case It seems she helps finds and returns his daughter even without Subaru’s help. You can even see the same flower pinned on her dress from episode 1 on her when she arrives at the Loot house.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…yes, that flower is right there in my last image. I look so closely, but I lose a detail. Thanks for pointing that out. I’m a bit sad that I lose Appa Man the Nexus of Subaru’s Reality…
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
No sweat! You’re not only one who missed that. Hahaha 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
That was what I thought he meant when that came up. It doesn’t seem like a show where Subaru exists as other copies, more that he just resets back to a particular time. But it was “Satella” who wanted to help the kid, so I thought that’s what she did.
Of course, it completely screws up any timeline, since they did that some time after meeting, some time after she helps him with the three thugs in the alley, who he then meets *after* that in this sequence. So it feels like they’re playing fast and loose with the integrity of the time sequences.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ve never really bothered to break down how the time sequences are interconnected from one reset to the next. This is mostly because I don’t feel it effects my enjoyment of what the characters are saying of doing. It’s close enough for a riff, but probably falls apart upon closer inspection. YMMV on which fork you want to follow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hey, I’m nothing if not nitpicky. It just depends on how much the story depends on the details whether the inconsistencies are minor disturbances or humongous plot holes. So far, these are minor “wait a second” ones.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ve not seen a big old plot hole as of yet. As for “wait a second” ones? Well, I don’t notice what Iron Maw pointed out, so I’m not exactly shopping the value bin for nits. But I’m sure there’ll be coupons some time soon….
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Can I be honest and say everytime Elsa appears or is hinted to appear soon my gut just churns like butter? I everything feels off and sinister (and I feel like everyone is immediately completely F*cked). They did a good job of making Elsa a nasty piece of work (and making sure you know its not good when she appears). e.g. When ‘Satella’ knocks on the door at the end, I was creeped out. In other news, there’s a lot of familiar sounds for me in this show and it turns out this is why. Subaru – Yūsuke Kobayashi -Arlsan
‘Satella’ – Rei Takahashi – Megumin
Felt – Chinatsu Akasaki – Chiwawa
Elsa – Mamiko Noto – Imagawa
Reinhard – Yūichi Nakamura – Guren Ichinose
Puck – Yumi Uchiyama – Etoile
“STYX HELIX” by MYTH&ROID is the ending, those of you who have seen Overlord will instantly recognise her style from “L.L.L” which is the ending of Overlord also by her
I was really happy to recognise so many voices but I wanted to point out Felt’s seiyuu in particular because I’ve been waiting to hear Chinatsu Akasaki doing a similar role to her role as Chiwawa from OreShura for ages. She just sounds too cute in that role XD.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, they use Elsa extremely well. And it’s no problem for your tummy to churn, I think it it supposed to.
When I did the First Impression, I did have a chance to look up all the voices, and didn’t really say much of anything. Mostly because there wasn’t anything all that remarkable. Which is not saying they aren’t doing a great job, quite the opposite. They fit incredibly well into those roles. I mention Reinhard’s VA, because, well…look at the character! Casting Nakamura is so bloody obvious that it really did stick out.
…and I am right there with you for Chinatsu Akasaki. Chiwa was Best Girl in OreShura, no doubt!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Oh, there’s plenty of doubt whenever Yukari Tamura is another choice…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Team Silver NEVER!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
*makes L fingers on forehead for skylion…*
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::holds up my fabulous mirror::
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s the feel when you acknowledge that character as a valid threat. Someone you, yourself, wouldn’t dare mess with.
Depending on the voice, it’s easy to tell who’s voicing a role. I immediately recognized Yūichi Nakamura and Mamiko Noto. Nakamura? Obviously the voice behind Guren Ichinose (Seraph of the End/Owari no Seraph) and Kojirou Shinomiya (Shokugeki no Soma) and after hearing Elsa for a while, my thoughts ran to Hinako Inui (Shokugeki no Soma).
The odd ones out were Yūsuke Kobayashi and Chinatsu Akasaki due to a difference in range. Kobayashi played Arslan (Arslan Senki) and Su-won (Akatsuki no Yona) while Akasaki played Alice Nakiri (Shokugeki no Soma) and Akira Aoi (WIXOSS).
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Mamiko Noto is one of my favorite voice actors for the way she can use that singsong voice in so many ways. Depending on the character it’s playful (like Barbara in Grimgar), soothing (Shimako from Maria-sama), or menacing (like Elsa here).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and there are some instances she can be quite strange….and adorable…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I thought the episode was a pretty good follow up. It was hilarious how Subaru died once again in the very first few minutes of the episode. However, I like how he keeps learning more and more during each life, and puts it to use in each subsequent life.
I can forgive Subaru’s frustration, I mean, if you remember, he was about to go home after having been up all day gaming and now he’s suddenly been thrust into this world, running around, falling into rivers, and then killed three times. The guy needs some sleep, not die, sleep.
I liked both the OP and the ED as well, let’s see if they change as the show goes on.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I love how in the OP he always has his combini bag. That corn pottage, that ramen….always there, unchanging, two silent observers…