What They Say:
“The Outside of Madness”
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)
In all my years of watching anime, I don’t recall ever being left so dumbfounded and speechless after finishing an episode. Re:Zero’s Episode 14 solidified the series as a horror, psychological story about human cruelty and helplessness. In a story in which only Subaru and the audience know what’s going on, Subaru’s character development is crucial. After a couple episodes where Subaru had earned negative reactions from viewers for his arrogance and unhealthy obsession with Emilia, “The Outside of Madness” didn’t give many reasons to complain as Subaru was pretty much gone for the whole episode. This allowed the episode to offer some insight from Rem’s point of view, as well as to expand on the world-building with the Witch cultists and (supposedly) Satella’s Gospel.
Similary to what Episode 7 did, “The Outside of Madness” begins with the end of the previous episodes’ events. After finding Rem’s corpse at the entrance of the mansion, Subaru goes inside to find even more corpses, including Ram’s and Petra’s. Emilia’s blood-stained hair accessory on the floor implies that she’s met the same fate. We don’t know what happened to Roswaal or Beatrice, but the mansion seems to be frozen in some areas. Subaru follows the ice that leads him to some sort of secret bunker where is frozen to death as we hear the words “you’re too late”. It had been exactly seven episodes since Subaru last died. His checkpoint is, once again, in front of the appa store. While this is a very good checkpoint (after his fight with Emilia to keep the character development, but before the mansion gets attacked), I can’t help but wonder whether there’s something more to that appa stand.
This time, Subaru has finally lost it. His broken mind means that Ferris can’t do anything to heal him, which leads Rem to take Subaru back to the mansion earlier. This results in both of them bumping into the Witch’s Cult in the middle of the road. This time, the cultists actually take Subaru away, which I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the witch’s scent getting stronger (the theory that it gets worse each time he respawns seems to be pretty much confirmed at this point). This leads us to meet Betelgeuse, the Archbishop of Sloth. Voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito’s voice actor), Betelgeuse is, without a doubt, the most creepy, unsettling character in Re:Zero so far. Everything about him was captivating, from his mannerisms to the way he carried himself. His appearance and mood swings also resembled DC’s ‘The Joker’. Betelgeuse, who is convinced Subaru is one of them due to the “love” on him (the Witch’s scent), asks him whether he is Pride. Subaru doesn’t reply, which leads Betelgeuse to ask him why he’s faking being crazy. The thing is, he wasn’t. Subaru was clearly in shock and his brain had shut down due to the trauma as a self-defense mechanism. However, to Betelgeuse being crazy is something else, which is why Subaru’s behavior puzzled him.
This is later reinforced when Subaru is able to snap out of it after he sees Rem being mutilated in front of him in what was the most gruesome death in the series so far. There’s nothing that could have prepared anyone for the moment when Rem crawls to Subaru to save him and confess her love him with her last breath. This was easily the most heartbreaking, gut-wrenching moment in the series. Having been freed from the chains, Subaru carries Rem back to the mansion only to find the exact same outcome. Even if it’s not explicitly stated, it’s easy to guess that the creature that came out of the mansion was Puck, as he is the only character who has referred to someone as his “daughter” and he also seemed to wear the same earring. After uttering the words “sleep along with my daughter”, Puck mercy kills Subaru by beheading him before he freezes to death as the dramatic music kicks in and the credits start rolling. Everything about the credit scene, from the shot composition to the way the snow kept pilling up seemed like something out of a movie.
In Summary:
“The Outside of Madness” is Re:Zero’s most dramatic and impactful episode yet. The world of Re:Zero is bigger and much scarier than we could have ever thought. However, all the suffering Subaru had to go through was worth it if only to see that after-credits scene that revealed a new Subaru, one that is full of rage and determination to kill Betelgeuse.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
