RE: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – 05
::ahem::…shopping trip…
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All hail Rem and Ram. Let’s see what mischief they get up to on this brand new day… |
We can probably talk about Barasu in terms of his two new companions, and yes, both Rem and Ram are pretty much new companions again this time around. Our boy is capable of getting over the initial shock of his sudden and unknown Return/Rebirth rather quickly. I would say that getting Drilled by Beatrice worked like a magic charm; there is no sense in complaining or feeling sorry for oneself. I also think she rather spells out the theme of the series? Mortals die. You got your chances, what did you do with them? In the end are you filled with regrets or with life? Here are at least two points which might lead to either?
Honesty is my most charming feature
Ram: zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Well, Ram is out to make Barusu a man of letters. Or a man of very embarrassed confetti. Or something like that second one. There is a part of her that I love that is barely coming up for breath from somewhere in her hidden depths. She feels superior in many respects to him, but oddly out of sorts with him on so many occasions. This frustrates her, and I think this makes her the best choice for his teacher. She gives him a structure to lean on while being able to spy on him and get into his thought process. As a brief aside, I do wonder, aside from being subject to the Gestalterfall effect, is he going to pick up anything from the very obvious faerie tale book he has to work from?
Getting back to reigning the boy in. Rem is good at all the things except for the things she isn’t good at, which leaves her elder sister Ram to pick up the slack. As they explored with the margrave, it’s a very odd situation. The slack is the important bit. There are little clues here and there with this crowd; the only ones I really pick up on is the trail that leads to how Subaru got here in the first place. I don’t think Ram has the slightest knowledge about it, but then, we are left to ponder what type of being she is along with what sort and level of power/influence she has.
Do you like demons?
…if they’re voiced by Inori Minase? Yes, every time…
If it weren’t for Emilia-tan, I would very much support Rem winning the Barusu-bowl. She looks to enjoy the baddianage quite a bit more than her older sister. She’s also operating under Ram’s shadow in respects, making her struggles that much more compelling to me in the dramatic sense. Plus, for all of Ram’s confessed honestly, Rem displayed for more with just a look. She also makes me feel that something else is going on in that mansion that has put a pall over everything so far.
This really is underscored with Rem, as she is trying out some new things with Subaru, and is the one that is most engaged on his level. She reminds us of something of the social structure, that for all intents he is above them in station in the household, but still remains fascinated that he’s not lording it over them. It goes against the rules doesn’t it? I love that she sees something there, that she’s happy to see, that she might have been looking for that Ram cannot…
The moon sure is pretty
She’s looking forward to it as well…
I do wonder if the pall I mentioned is being cast from Emilia’s center of influence, so to speak. It’s no doubt she’s probably been in the household just a touch longer than the boy has, and it’s no doubt that she has a great deal of even more unexplored pull over the margrave. She’s far down the list, why is he staking her? He is fascinated by the amount of “nerve” Subaru has displayed, becoming so very attached in such a short period of time, getting probably just as much attention from her as the margrave gets. I’m sensing deals and counter deals, some to go sour?
Of course, both Subaru’s love for Emilia and his newness to the whole situation is great for storytelling. I’m already hooked to them both, and all the characters for that matter, so my stake in there personal involvement is sealed. He allows us a set of new eyes into a strange situations and we learn with him as we go along. So yes, he found just the right words to ask Emilia out on a date. But, it’s the date that never comes…
…poisoned and disarmed…under that moon…
Splish Splash
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Well, I’ve said quite a bit again, so I’ll keep this short (again). That was just a wonderfully composed after credits scene. I love the use of silence and of long shots that show discretion more than ample amounts of gore. A little goes along way after all. Subaru is a tough little bastard, and instant. I do wonder why he didn’t try to find Beatrice as soon as possible, given that he can find her whenever he feels like it. How much does that little loli imp know already? And what was that horrible sound coming after him in the end there?
It’s the kids….these damn kids…
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 462 comments
So, you like Rem, do you? *marks something off in a notebook* Show ▼
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I love my Rem (since around 1986 when I first heard their fourth album, Life’s Rich Pageant) so yeah Show ▼
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Holy Mother of all the Moe Goddesses and their combined Home-made Macaroon Output….I wish they would have animated this conversation…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
All your LOLis are belong to skylolion.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
With so many authorities on Metanorn, people should know by now skylion is the authority on lolis. 😉
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
I’m not sure Rem qualifies as a Loli
…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
But Beatrice does…
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
…Oh no, Skylion its not too late to turn back from the dark side!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…there is no dark side. Sides are a control mechanism> Reject.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Re Zero was voted the 2nd most popular anime of this season in a recent poll from Japan.
(Kabaneri was 1st, Kumamiko was 3rd.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/4h3rw8/japan_spring_2016_anime_popularity_poll/
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I would place this one ahead of Kabeneri (typcial potboiler plot and semi-interesting characters).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The first two in that order works for me perfectly. Though I can’t say about the third since I’m not watching it.
A shame to see Joker Game, Bungou Stray Dogs and Kiznaiver so low. Nothing groundbreaking but still entertaining to watch.
The surprise, however, is a show like Mayoiga getting a higher rank than the much talked about Jojo.
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
I can totally see how Kabenari would rank higher than ReZero simply due to all the hype it had and that its much more mainstream. But I agree that atm ReZero definitely comes ahead with its story telling (not that kabenari isn’t entertaining as hell :))
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I can see Kabaneri being more popular simply because of how mainstream it is, but to be honest, I would definitely put Re: Zero ahead of it for me.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, Mayoiga is a Big Hot Mess, and even though we can’t really follow the characters or a discernible plot, we are attracted to the pot just coming close to boiling over.
But overall, it’s better than this season’s JoJo which is kinda sad in how much it’s just re-used the last storyline’s script, just replaced the names…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Actually, one thing I’m thinking is that perhaps all the vomiting wasn’t the result of poison, but a magic spell of some kind? It wouldn’t be the first time in a world of magic where assassination was caused by such.
Also, there was one thing that I noticed they dwelt on, though they wanted to make it seem like it was in passing, and that was how Subaru mentioned that he had forgotten to say good night to Beatrice, which while that might seem like a small departure from the first go round, Beatrice might indeed be the key!
I have three theories so far:
-It’s the most obvious one that one of the maids did it on orders.
-That some outside party is trying to kill everyone in the mansion and Subaru just happens to be collateral damage each time.
-Beatrice being the protector of the library, has some other magical safety function that includes perhaps summoning a guardian creature that roams the halls at night. And so, while Subaru was poisoned by someone intentionally trying to kill him, him wandering out in the night, which I guess he hasn’t done before, got him killed by the guardian, and so that was an accident.
As for Rem and Ram, they’re okay. I’ve never really been into the twin girls with similar speech patterns thing. Someone brought up the fact that they term used was “oni”(monster/ogre) rather than “akuma” (demon), and brought up the famous tale of the red and blue oni. I had never thought about that before when seeing them, that does give their color scheme a little more significance.
As for the SoL bits, Emilia and Subaru are cute. And while being a male teenager, Subaru is thinking mostly with the lower half of his anatomy, I hope he this time decides to think less about the date and more so about saving his own life.
It wasn’t as easy to bounce back emotionally as before, and it will only get harder. I’m wondering what his next plan of attack will be? If he goes to sleep, he is killed, and if he says awake, he’s killed even more brutally. He doesn’t know who is doing it or why, and there are so many unknowns that it’s almost impossible to know what kind of right choices he will have to make in life in order to avoid death. He could try to not even sleep in the mansion and try to figure out what’s going on by observing from the outside? He needs to get out of that room.
With Emilia herself, I am interested in why she was even chosen and why she wants to pursue the throne in the first place, especially considering her continual implying that because of her half-elf heritage, that she’ll be hated? Why does Roswaal (who’s not that bad looking when out of all that garish makeup) support her, and what does he want in return? What about Emilia’s past? Why did she hide her real name the first time she and Subaru met? We really need to learn more about this world and these characters.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Subaru was disoriented prior to vomiting. If the cause is poison, that could also be side effect. The parts I’d admit the parts that were magic were when he got blown back to the hallway then taken apart. Either one, the attacker was out of sight.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…or the attack was at range, or that sort of stealth was a specific skill set of the assassin, or they just “filmed it that way” for a good cliffhanger…
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Yeah, I was reminded that it could have been magic after I remembered all the ways Shiro could die in FS/N XD. Maybe Subaru learnt ‘bite’ after having that technique used on him by Felt :3
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Beatrice knows way more than what she is letting on so far as the boy is concerned. But I don’t think the show will be letting it go any time soon.
I have to admit, I didn’t think of Red Oni, Blue Oni when watching Rem and Ram; which is odd considering how much anime I watch, I should be recognizing the trope, especially when it’s that’s obvious? It will be interesting to see how this tracks as their characterizations progress.
You’d think it would be that simple. Go sleep in the barn dude! But his Mode of Morte seems to be mobile, with a penchant for timeliness. Kinda sucks when it’s that persistent.
I have no idea yet what the Game of Throne is for Emilia and what she get’s out of playing it. For this episode I’m invested in why Rosewaal is backing a her run…he must know something that literally everyone else doesn’t. It also reminds me of a couple of storylines I’ve read where the POTUS and the rest of the chain of command all die in a Big Event and we have the Undersecretary of Federal Level Boondoggling taking the Big Chair. At first they’re very idealistic and hardworking, then it goes south…I’m hoping they go a bit more original here.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
They were actually pointing to more than just the trope, but also the tale of the red and blue oni, where the red oni wants to be friends with children, and so the blue oni makes the sacrifice to scare the children so that the red oni can “rescue” them and gain friend, however it costs the red and blue oni their own friendship.
In that way, Rem works to cover for Ram at a sacrifice to herself. Yet, I think that Rem gets personal satisfaction from helping her sister in all she does.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It’s there alright. I do hope they cleave away from it, as it’s a good place to start, but as you’ve already spelled out, it does have an ending. Rem and Ram need their own tale.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Subaru’s going to be an emotional wreck. Nearly all of his accomplishments get overwritten. If resetting at the start of the episode distressed that much, imagine a couple more times of it happening. Then again, with everything in general going on, especially continually feeling intense pain before death, you’ve got to ask which will break first: His spirit or his body.
If there are any benefits to the restarts, it’s that Subaru gets a better chance to know the other characters.
Whoa, that scene after the end credits was brutal. Poisoned in his sleep is how I imagined it all began. While he was nodding off, what could’ve been a split second for him could’ve been a period of 5 to 10 minutes in real time. And being unconscious, it’s doubtful he heard anyone come in then left. Whoever blew him back then dismembered him is definitely a magic user. Problem is there is more than one magic user in the mansion and I don’t know who to point the finger at.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hmm, I was rewatching the end and noticed that the camera spent some time on that blue light fixture in his room. I was thinking he was poisoned via the typical route, i.e. some sort of potion. But, radiation poisons, so why can’t mana? Magic light? To much of a stretch?
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Yeah I have to agree with both of your here on the magic theory it seems possible. And yes poor Subaru every time he ReStarts I mourn the memories, bonds and all which he has lost forever once again.
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Btw, isn’t the nickname Barusu just an anagram of Subaru? I only just realised that :(. I would be shipping BarusuXRem too if Emilia-tan wasn’t in the picture.
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Yeah, it’s just taking the first two letters and making them the last two..
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Actually, it’s just moving the first character to the end.
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..and one of the fansubbers (following the manga) decided to do this…
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Hahahha Highway couldn’t help correcting you. The grammar Nazi within has been revealed.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Rem and Ram are very similar, but they have enough different quirks that I can tell them apart and form a preference for Rem. It’s nice! And just as things were starting to get interesting, everything resets again. I know it’s the point of the show, but I keep getting so sad when all of Subaru’s hard work is wasted. ;w;
Also, yeah, that death scene at the end was really great. It was absolutely brutal without being too gorey.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ll continue to help color codes bits and pieces of my post, just for continuity sake. And you know, I am so fickle, now that everyone is crowding my Rem-train, I’m looking back at Ram, making sure she isn’t left too far behind…::sigh::
Yeah, White Fox knows how to be brutal when they need to be for the sake of context. Both Akame and Jormangundr were bloody as hell cause did you see those shows? Be bloody! Here, discretion deepens the impact…Is this Order a Rabbit was, of course, the bloodiest show they’ve done…
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Yeah I actually commented about the lvl of gore depicted on a youtube review of this ep, basically what I said was that the amount shown was plenty for the purpose of the plot and done perfectly. I didn’t want it to become another Akame ga kill if you know what I mean. The Manga was gorier from the image I was linked of the same scene in the manga.
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I can tell them apart cause one has blue hair and one has pink hair, but until skylion said “Rem and blue both have “e”” I couldn’t have told you which was which.
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Tanaka!
https://youtu.be/JpaxfpMO3EQ
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If Show ▼
Edited for possible spoiler