RE: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – 22
<Dramatic Chipmunk Prairie Dog Archbishop Music>
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OOO-EEE! This was certainly a return to the type of story and storytelling that I’ve loved the series for all along… |
From Zero to Hero by way of Zero
Subaru has a posse (from the LN illos)
Subaru is a hero now and that needs to be said. I neglected to mention that our last time around, but I had some reasons. I will admit to making my reviews somewhat heavier on what I perceived to be a few episodes that had rather shoddy art direction and less then decent narrative execution; the White Whale arc. That is what I picked up on the most, and I will stick by that perception. This isn’t, however, a very good excuse to miss that one detail, perhaps one of the most important details the story is capable of telling. Subaru has arrived to the status he so clearly wanted to achieve so long ago. He’s climbed to the top of the mountain. But what does he see once he’s up there?
Pearl has already had enough of Tivey…
To be honest, he’s probably seeing that this might not be as big a mountain as he previously thought: let’s face it, he climbed a big hill, no more and no less, with lots of his own baggage in tow. This isn’t to say that facing off against the white whale was easy business, far from it. But his biggest challenge so far has always been fighting Subaru’s Inner Demons; always falling somewhere between somewhat poor to say the least, and appalling and arrogantly stupid to say the most. I won’t go point to point here, as that really isn’t the…ahem….point. He needed to get over or face the issues which informed that behavior, he did, and the story took it’s time to explore the fact that he could have failed that at any time; with Restart adding texture. He was constantly having to own up to his own failure. But now, he’s cleared that path to success and has to face a reminder of that old self of his. and darn it if Julis is so appreciable about it. That almost looks like it can melt some of the ice around him, when it comes to our hero’s guilt complex. Wilhelm took a swing at it, and we almost had it with Julis, but…well more on that later…
Did he make his feelings clear?
You have received the Gospel, haven’t you?
Pride, in the name of love…
First off, did I call this, or is this really the way writers/creators should have/meant to approach this sort of creation? My biggest complaint against Betelgeuse wasn’t one other either tone or texture, but one of screen time mixed with volume. That scene-chewing during his initial appearance took me out of the show, largely speaking, and from then on I was hoping his subsequent appearances would play him more toward a four or five than the 11 we were made to choke on first course.
No, this isn’t the Joker, why do you ask?
I just barely got my five, but that hardly matters. After Barusu admitted to using his “Gospel as a coaster”, It really looks like they played him right this time around as this level of crazy was compelling in it’s own way, and actually informed the story without being an unfocused aspect of obfuscation. If I took second thoughts into a account, and I will, then I’m ready to wager that this is the curve they wanted him on. We know what he can bring already, so seeing a level of restraint actually makes the character pay off in terms of how they use the idea of him as the story goes along.When this part is said, bad first course is done, now we have the palate cleanser…
I bent over backward to get to this high position…
Because I’m grooving on the taste of the idea that Betel’s character is just that, an idea that the Sin Archbishops, themselves, groove on with a taste for craziness and utility. I think that they are dealing with some wonderful cosmic horror/Call of Cthulhu style stuff and they are handling the implications very well. The damned tome, in The Gospel and the “mysterious way” in which it changes hands, is just flat out terrific. But, that is just the tip of the iceberg, as it looks like there is a recurring motif, if you will, a repeating meme of a Sin Archbishop.
Desperation, Condemnation, Isolation, Desolation, LET IT GOOOOOOOO!
So then we have the Finger, these are the damned, who can prove themselves insanely worthy, and are able to push themselves through and into that meme, pulping who and what they are to fit the horrible mold. This one looks to be a bit new at it, and it looks like Subaru, in doing the stupid thing, has pulled out a link in the chain of the damned; which depending on how this story turns out is either wicked subversion or an outright playing straight of the Never Pick Up the Damned Tome trope. As it looks I might be reading more into that, as what Wilhelm has to say suggests a group mind or gestalt mind…but all is not finished yet. For right now, this is a great villain for Subaru to face.
Just one look, that’s all it took…
You know you want to see more…
So, we have a great big old hole, or so it seems. While they, meaning Subaru via Rem, took the time to explain that both the Margrave and Emilia were aware of and in support of evacuating the villagers while also seeing a punitive force of cultist hunters, composed mostly of rivals, they didn’t much spend time with any of those three characters. Emilia and Puck are both exhausted it seems, but with what? Just shoring up defenses? Uh, no….Puck freezes the world when he’s a bit pouty, mending fences doesn’t tucker him nor Emilia out by any suggestion. We haven’t seen Rem, and we worry about her post-Whale. Also we’ve not seen any hide nor hair of Ram in quite some time, and when we do…
…WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!!!!!!!
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: 400-499 with 445 comments
I like the idea of betelgeuse being this force that affects those that are suitably susceptible to his sort of thinking. It kinda changes (not completely) my feelings about betelgeuse being this shitty villain because now it’s not focused on one screaming schizophrenic joker knock-off, but the idea that you can be susceptible to this “infection”. It puts a horror spin on the whole thing and i gotta give props where props is due
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh, doesn’t it just, and if you give it a nudge and a wink, the Schizo Joker becomes an effective routine. Subaru figured the best way to one up him was to try to play along, at least to distract. But it looks like Betelgeuse is playing a much much longer game.
POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments
exactly; and for the first time in god knows how long, im intrigued to see where things go in re:zero. They can pull off some cool stuff with this development. I think you’re on to something about subaru playing along with betel-chan’s chewiness
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Look! It’s Health Ledger! We need Batman!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…at least read my posts before you spam them like this…
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 35 comments
Those group of ikemens:
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I laugh a bit when the Sloth Beastmen got killed by the Archbishop of Sloth. XD best fodder death
About the Gospel:
It acts like the behelith of the berserk series choosing its apostle or in this case Archbishops to conduct event that may benefit The Jealous Witch.
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Skip event:
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POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ah, the ikemans…Show ▼
I actually wanted to build a WEBM shrine to the sloth beastman here in the post, but I couldn’t pull off anything interesting without making an even dumber joke than I usually pull off. So I didn’t…but still, poor dude, not a good way to go for us to laugh at him…
Yeah, the Gospel in this story and the behelith are plot pushers for sure. Show ▼
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 35 comments
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POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
This makes it feel like the story has been wanting to explore a full fantasy world all along, but has wanted to take the audience through this deconstruction first…cause why not, it’s a genre that could use a good kicking or two…
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
Actually we don’t know if Emilia received the letter yet tells them about current force heading there and warning them about imminent attack from the cult.
When Puck is contracted to Emilia he can’t make use of his full power and is dependent on mana from Emilia and drains it from her from time to time. Emilia herself as a Spirit User can’t make use of their internal mana so they drawn it in from the atmosphere, but mana from there is limited. They’re the only ones capable of maintaining the barrier at (which is formed by a fairly large amount of magic stones one of which you saw back in episode 9) around the village with Roswaal and Rem out. So them getting a bit tried from periodic maintenance on the stones isn’t far-fetch.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We don’t know if Emilia has received the letter and if she didn’t, that would be tragic, wouldn’t it? But it would also be really predictable…
…what if they got the letter..and just don’t care, or react in a manner unexpected, it’s getting close to cliffhanging the entire series…
…as for magic, the only thing I can add to your welcome information is…Ram got energy from Rosewaal or someone, so that’s another limit to take into account…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments