What They Say:
“Rem”
Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he’s lost and confused in a new world where he doesn’t even know left from right, the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair. Determined to repay her somehow for saving him from his own despair, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she’s looking for…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
And with that, Arc 2 is finished. In “Rem” we get to see the (short) ending of the battle against the mabeasts, as well as the overdue backstory of Ram and Rem and Subaru getting his long-anticipated date with Emilia.
We finally learn why Rem idolized her sister so much even though she’s the most capable of the two. Back when they were kids, Ram was not only stronger than Rem, but she was actually stronger than any other oni at her age. This created an inferiority complex in Rem, no only because she felt like she could never compare to her sister, but because she thought that if she hadn’t been born, Ram would have had two horns. Rem grew up thinking that she was holding her sister back, and even when Ram lost the horn, Rem continued feeling guilty for smiling at the tragic event. All this guilt and low self-esteem is not something that can be fixed with a few words, but Subaru’s words probably helped her a lot.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: this episode also marked the birth of a new ship. Rem does not only trust Subaru now, but she’s also grown very fond of him after he saved her life. Far from being the typical “hero crush”, the fact that someone would go as far as to risking their life to protect her when she thinks she’s completely useless meant the whole world to Rem. Subaru’s speech bringing Rem to tears was not only beautifully animated, but it also made for one of the most emotional scenes in the series, right on par with Emilia’s lap pillow scene. Subaru and Rem also happen to have a lot in common and Subaru could actually use his own advice. Apart from the flashback being shown from Rem’s point of view, the episode was also titled after her, so this could probably be a sign that Rem might play an important role later in the story. Hopefully, Subaru and Rem will be able to rely on each other for emotional support from here on. I would like to thank Re:Zero for writing twins as separate individuals with different personalities. It happens way too often that anime treats twins as clones that come in a pack.
As a matter of fact, Ram seems to be busy with other stuff… like Roswaal. Arc 2 might be over, but the master of the house is still very shady. He did save Subaru this time, but he also seems to have some secret intentions that hint at the fact that he could be using Emilia to get to the throne to fulfill his wish to kill the dragon (whatever that means). His relationship with Ram went from mysterious to creepy really quickly. We learn that Ram needs to get mana transfers from him in order to replenish her life energy (would she die without it?), but I wonder if there is something more to their relationship. Whatever it is, let’s just hope it’s consensual.
All in all, Arc 2 has surprisingly ended on a happy note (well, at least this timeline has). Subaru finally getting a date with Emilia while ‘Styx Helix’ played in the background was the final touch (he really worked for it!). The only issue I have with this episode is the fact that there was a confusing timeskip after last episode’s cliffhanger (did Rem’s horn get cut off or…?). We also didn’t get an explanation as to who where those hooded people who attacked Ram and Rem’s village or why they were attacking it in the first place, but considering Rem said that the Witch’s Cult caused a lot of pain to her sister, it’s safe to assume that it was them. Hopefully the following episodes will focus more on the dragon and the Witch’s cult.
In Summary:
‘Rem’ did wonders for the twins’ characterization while finally putting Subaru out of harm’s way, even if we still don’t know whether he got a new “savepoint” or not. Arc 3 has been very hyped both by light novel readers and the anime staff, so here’s to hoping that Re:Zero keeps delivering during the summer season!
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
