Re: Zero 2x4 Reaction Extended (YT link below)
Added 2024-12-29 02:00:03 +0000 UTCIn Re: Zero 2x4, Parent and Child, Subaru travels back to his past to confront his fear of peas and other things.
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Comments
This was such an insanely insanely home-hitting part for me back when i read this years ago in the web-novel after finishing season one of the anime. And now that I'm older, it hits home in even more ways. I've gone through the same things, skipped school for pretty much a whole year, felt bad for not living up to expectations, struggled with depression, tried my very best to hit rock bottom, did that, all the while my family still kept supporting me, and i felt so embarrassed and guilty about myself. I can't say I'm the best person in the world as of current, but I can say quite a bit has happened since, the journey here has been a meaningful one and I'm learning to appreciate the structure I've always had supporting me. That being said, awesome episode and amazing commentary as always, had a good cry.
Teemu Aho
2025-01-13 00:25:36 +0000 UTCAs for why Subaru is so nonchalant about skipping school, in Japan, mandatory schooling ends at 15, and the last 3 years are optional, though Wikipedia says that 98.8% of Japanese teens enroll in high school. So Subaru can just drop out of his own volition. It was great to hear your perspective on school and this episode as a whole, with you having gone through something similar to Subaru (at least far more than anyone in my life).
baseballlover723
2025-01-07 06:29:51 +0000 UTCPart of wanting to distance ourselves from Subaru at the beginning of the show is that it wasn't obvious that the show was treating his poor behavior as such. There are so many pervy characters in anime that are played as a joke and thats it.
Sam B
2025-01-01 18:12:32 +0000 UTCI was considerably younger when I was watching this for the first time, weekly actually, and I remember having been in a really weird place mentally. But there were a few things, like this episode, that pulled me out of it, and be it only momentarily at the time. I probably don't remember everything like that, which still deeply pains me in a way. So does thinking about the good moments, the episodes or even whole shows it still feels like I wasted in a way, just by being in that state of mind. I don't think that's something that's ever gonna fully go away. But also, those moments or even whole episodes that pulled me out of it, made me happy and probably did help in the long run are just so special to me, like this episode — I usually don't even tear up often when just watching something, but man this episode. It probably isn't all good either, because I keep catching myself comparing other moments, shows and episodes with that feeling of, let's call it relief, I felt those times, which is just hard to catch up to, especially if I'm in a better mental state at the moment. Even if they are really great and still do call out to me — Sometimes I catch myself devaluing them when they can't reach that point. Even more so when I actually am in a similarly bad mental state. Still, for what it's worth, I would still never wanna give away those moments I had and felt. And for some things I was also just not ready yet either way, and that's fine. I don't know how often I rewatched Re:Zero, or other shows too, and I still found new things to catch or realize, that sometimes were just fun and othertimes really helped me out in that moment. And everything inbetween. In short — I love, respect, treasure and am thankful for this show as a whole, but especially this episode, among some others, so much I can't put in words. And not only does it just make me so happy to see you watch, enjoy and take things away from this, your added perspective ontop of rewatching it often — Well, if it doesn't help me out right away, I feel like it will at some point. So as a second takeaway from this comment — Thanks a bunch for those videos!
Baddy
2024-12-31 07:13:16 +0000 UTCYeah, this episode was painfully relatable to me. Being constantly told while growing up about how smart I am. How I'm gonna go on to do great things. But then just... not wanting to go to school. Hating myself for feeling that way. Feeling like I'm a failure for not doing what society expects me to do. For a long time, I thought that when my parents gradually stopped asking me about school... that they had given up on me? That they knew I was a lost cause and didn't want to bother with me. Yet they were stuck with me. I thought that if they were mean to me, then maybe I could have the motivation to make something of myself if only just to spite them. They are still stuck with me lol... and im 28... But I've been starting to recognize that I've been framing it wrongly. I'm someone dealing with mental health issues living with people who he enjoys being around, people who enjoy having him with them. It's okay for me to struggle. I'm not just a burden. Watching as they get older... Has helped me to realize that if I don't make changes to my life, I won't be able to help them when they're too old to work. And I want to be able to help them. I want to keep them in my life for as long as possible. I want to be able to do something for them after they've done so much for me, which thankfully I should be able to do, assuming I don't get isekai'd into another dimension lmao And even if I do get isekai'd into another dimension, I know they'd want me to be happy and to do my best, even if I never see them again. I thought you would have good commentary on this episode, and you definitely did. It really is a bit out of nowhere to get this much perspective on Subaru as a character condensed into 1 episode.
Plasma Lemon
2024-12-29 19:24:33 +0000 UTCAbsolutely. It’s another way that Re: Zero tackles genre tropes as well, where the protagonist either just never thinks about their past life, or their past life was so comedically terrible that the new world is a clean slate. But in Re: Zero, it’s a deliberate choice made by our protagonist, by Subaru, to not think about it. Because thinking about it would be much too painful, and would break the illusion he has early on about this being his escape, his reset.
Vali Sippola
2024-12-29 06:20:35 +0000 UTCOne of the most beloved episodes of Re:Zero. Some of the aspects of Subaru's backstory match quite well with mine, and others don't (or they match different periods of time in my life), but this episode came out at pretty much the perfect time for me. Late high school, pandemic, feelings of inadequacy and a complex relationship with my parents had me bawling at this episode. Now that I'm past a lot of that stuff, it doesn't resonate with me nearly as much, but I still appreciate the comfort that it brought me, and the stuff that it made me think about. Of course, one part of this backstory that I didn't fully resonate with until quite recently was Subaru talking about how he realised one day he wasn't special, but a few years ago I had that moment, and it was painful to face. Spent months trying to not think about or accept it. Now, I think I've come to realise that I'm not special in the ways that I thought I was, or maybe in the ways that I WANT to be, but there are things that are uniquely me, and are my strengths. I may not be special, but I have a role that I can play in life. Subaru is much the same, even if he can't see it, his inability to give up, his willingess to step up when others are in danger, and his ability to genuinely connect with people (once he stops being a self-serving ass lol) are all positive traits that I suspect he never knew he had. Sometimes you can't know you have them until you've failed a few times. I suspect that he's still trying to figure out his role in this new world and what he should be doing for those around him. No comments on the episode, pretty much perfect as an adaptation (partially because it's an extended episode). This was a great reaction, as always. I want to issue a correction for a comment I made on your episode 2 reaction, namely a piece of cut content that I thought was only in the Web Novel. It turns out, it was only added in the light novel, which the anime adapts. It's a very huge piece of lore that relates to some of your theories, and one which I do not see the anime being able to adapt for a very, very long time, so I'll leave you to decide if you want to read it. You can watch the rest of this season (and the show) without knowing this and be able to understand everything, this is purely just for the purpose of theorising. If you don't wanna know, just skip the next paragraph, if you do wanna know, then read ahead. In the novels, when Echidna and Subaru are talking about the fact that Subaru has a Witch Factor (episode 3), he asks if "the Witch Factor is the condition for being invited into this castle of dreams?" (referring to the world that Echidna inhabits). She replies, "No, it is merely what qualified you to enter the tomb itself. You are an exception among exceptions. To begin with, you seem to have leaped quite a bit ahead of schedule-- by rights, you should be aware of far more than you are... about me, about the tomb, and about the Sanctuary." Subaru skips right past all of this and just focuses on the fact that she knows about the Sanctuary, which continues the conversation as we see in the anime (though as someone else mentioned, Subaru asks her some questions about the modern world, and she knows nothing). The implication that Echidna already knew about Subaru, knew that he would arrive at the Sanctuary, but that something strange is going on because he's arrived way too early, is obviously a bombshell (one so big that it's strange Subaru just completely ignored it). Theorise with that as you will. Gonna leave some space after this paragraph so that you don't accidentally read it if you end up replying to my comment. .
Kieran
2024-12-29 05:32:17 +0000 UTCI'd say I hit the bottom about a month or so into my sophomore year the anxiety of being in school and around a lot of people who were basically just strangers to me since I don’t have a lot of friends and I felt alone everyday just kept eating away at me until I couldn't take it anymore and just gave up and stopped going, I think I start "Climbing" would be around 11 months ago when I started studying to get my Ged
Mjw
2024-12-29 04:20:30 +0000 UTCThat cup detail is awful, as is the thought of his parents looking for him and probably blaming themselves. "We should have been more involved"
Alex G
2024-12-29 04:02:46 +0000 UTCI don't want to pry, but it's hard not to wonder what the point was when you hit bottom and started climbing. I remember my low points (two of them; I'm a slow learner), haha.
Ryan
2024-12-29 04:00:55 +0000 UTCUncanny was my experience as well 😂 It also adds a lot to why he hadn't mentioned his parents or life at all. It's not just that his life was bad and so he was eager to move on. It's that his life actually was pretty good and yet he wants to move on, which would bring up feelings of intense shame. Easier to avoid it
Alex G
2024-12-29 03:54:25 +0000 UTCThank you! :D Yeah that line out of all the others sticks out a bit. It will come down to the interpretation I think. A good resolution does have a way of recontextualizing the struggle. But the process is important too
Alex G
2024-12-29 03:51:11 +0000 UTCLove this episode, I've grown to appreciate it even more the past year with experiences of my own and learning about some of the additional contexts behind it all in the novels. First, to answer your question. Subaru's dad, Natsuki Kenichi was essentially celebrated in their town as this minor celebrity of sorts. He's outgoing, sociable, successful, and did a lot for their neighbors all around to the point that he has a hard time walking outside without being caught up by everyone's greetings. He falls under the "CEO" troupe where people ends up expecting a lot from his son as a result. The anime also hinted at this in a quick succession of frames right after they went outside for their walk, where Kenichi apologized to Subaru for being caught up by all those greetings from different townspeople. Subaru's mom, Natsuki Naoko was explicitly stated in the novels to be an airhead that sometimes just blurs out whatever comes into mind and ends up making conversations awkward. She is on the slow end, the type of person to laugh at a joke -- 5 minutes after it's been told. That's why Subaru was really surprised at just how much his mom actually knew about his internal struggles, how even the most airhead of airheads are capable of offering their son this profound wisdom for the reason of simply being his mom and watching him grow up. But moving on to a more depressing note: according to the author, after Subaru went missing (teleported to the ReZero world), a police investigation was launched but ended up empty-handed. As a result, Kenichi and Naoko now spend their days praying for their son's safety and lamenting the regretful note in the relationship that Subaru left on. In retrospective, this makes it extra meaningful for Subaru to have an extended closure with his parents in the trial -- even if it was fabricated. Subaru's "I will" in response to his mom telling him to "Take care" means a lot because he actually ignored his mom's sendoff in the real world, right before his trip to the Ministop. Subaru also explicitly admitted in the novels that he regretted this so so much because his reasoning behind not responding to his mom back in the real world was out of fear that calling out to her would give her a chance to realize that he didn't do the dishes (wash his cup in the sink), so he eagerly left without looking back. The anime actually hinting at this by showing the unwashed cup in the sink during the frames in which Subaru was walking out of the house in the flashback -- it's just this really pathetic but unbelievably real detail that I'm sure most people related to. I'll also leave you with a comment that I came across from someone else that pointed out how a lot of the stuff surrounding Subaru in this episode was actually hinted at by the anime in Season 1. It's one that significantly enhanced my experience with this episode with its pointing out of stuff like how "Subaru's flip phone had an almost empty contact list in Season 1 -- referencing his loneliness in the real world". Anyways, looking forward to the rest of this season as this only marks the beginning of deeper dives on characters we already know! _______________________________________________________________ [That was quite a heavy episode but valuable in so many ways because we can deduce a lot from what this episode has revealed to us. We have finally gotten the big puzzle piece that is Subaru’s past and it tells us so much about why he acted the way he did up until now. Many wondered why Subaru was so accepting of the fact that he was just transported to a new world at the beginning of S1. Subaru has lived most of his life in his father’s shadow. Kenichi is charismatic, talented and well respected all around, qualities that people more or less also expected from Subaru. This was true early into Subaru’s life and he constantly got positive feedback for that until the point came where he wavered in upholding that kind of image. Being Kenichi’s Son turned from a badge of honour for Subaru to a painful weight on his shoulder and he was crushed by the expectations of others all the while his self worth crumbled away. And now here is this completely new world where no one knows him let alone his father. Here he isn’t Subaru Natsuki, son of Kenichi Natsuki. No one will put these high expectations on him. It was a new chance at life for Subaru, one he thought was tailored towards him and him alone. Sure he loved his parents dearly but the sheer pressure & negative feelings he held for the previous world and his position in it probably overwrote whatever lingering positive feelings he had for it left. There are all kinds of neat little details about Subaru’s character in regards to his old life throughout Season 1 that just now got more depth. Like his rather empty phone contacts which are most likely due to Subaru closing himself off entirely during Middle & High School ( S1 Ep 1 ) There is a particular scene in Season 1 that gets a whole lot more depth & context with this episode. The fabled ( S1 Ep 13 ) where Subaru proclaims himself Emilia’s knight and clashes with Julius. A centre theme in that entire exchange is being worthy of a title. Subaru proclaims himself a knight which leads to Julius questioning him on his worth for that very title. And when Julius implies that Emilia isn’t showing she is proud to have Subaru as a knight things start to fall apart. See the resemblance to Subaru and his title as Kenichi’s Son? To drive that point in even further let me quote Subaru’s next words "Is being a knight that big of a deal? You just happened to be born into the job! Don’t act like a big shot with your daddy’s name!" followed by a very clear visual indicator that Subaru is pained by these words cause as we now know it was projection all along. Another example is the second arc when Subaru starts working earnestly at the mansion and we learn that he is very happy with earning his place through hard work to a point where he declines Emilia’s offer to heal his wounds. Subaru was given a chance, not because he is Kenichi’s Son but because he is him and Subaru is giving it his all to be worthy of the expectations put onto him ( S1 Ep 4 ) All throughout Season 1 Subaru has the tendency to suddenly be all outgoing, goofy and hyper as if he just flipped a switch. This confused both viewers and the characters within the show. People eventually concluded that this was a coping mechanism for Subaru to deal with the things thrown at him but we still never really knew why he dealt with trauma in this way. This episode gives us the necessary info to finally get why Subaru behaves the way he does in such scenes. When Subaru started to fall behind from being the best and felt like he was in danger of not meeting everyone’s expectations anymore he shifted his priorities to making everyone around him laugh, to be as charismatic as he could be. He put on an extremely noisy, hyper attitude in order to not only be the center of attention but also to feel like he was still the best at something. This is how Subaru got through the early stages of his childhood until the people surrounding him outgrew this kind of behaviour. It went from being funny to annoying so people started to move on. Subaru didn’t try to change his ways but rather distance himself more & more. As a result Subaru’s experience in socializing with others became severely lopsided towards what he knew & worked in a portion of his life…putting on a clown show, making others laugh and be as loud and outgoing as possible. Now Subaru is here in a new world and desperate to make a good impression on others. Not only that but he is experiencing horrific things, ones he cannot talk about. So what does he do as a result? Fall back into the pattern he knows the best by putting on the overly happy jokester facade. At his core Subaru really isn’t this noisy annoying brat, he just can’t help behaving this way sometimes because it’s just imprinted on him from his past life. Luckily he has been bettering himself in that regard ever since From Zero happened in S1 Ep 18 where he openly laments this exact behaviour as one of the things he hates about himself. Seriously, listen to Subaru’s rant about himself again after this episode. Also since it keeps coming back up "I'm watching you, you're watching me, so I won't look down" finds itself even into this flashback episode. There are countess more examples like these, more than I can realistically tackle here so I encourage people to at some point look back at some episodes and try to see the new light that is being shone on them. I gotta say I loved and feared the scene when Subaru sits in his room and observes the clock as it advances towards the point of no return. It’s painfully relatable to me ( not in the context of school ) but I had moments where I had to do something and I looked at the clock waiting for the moment where I could give myself an out by going "eh, it’s already too late for it anyway" and not blame myself further. All of this is already very relatable and emotional but what broke me personally is when Subaru apologizes repeatedly and openly laments the facts that he will never be able to repay his parent’s love & support. His chances on returning to this world, especially anytime soon are very slim so Subaru has already resigned himself to the idea that he will never be able to see his parents again. He can’t repay them for all they did by watching after them when they’re old & in need of his support. All in all a highly emotional and relatable episode which I hope lets some people finally warm up to Subaru’s character.] _______________________________________________________________ Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/i01snn/comment/fzmjc52/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Hailan
2024-12-29 03:19:40 +0000 UTC0:40 "Did he just say 'skinship'?" -> Yes, yes he did, haha. 2:22 Salt on pineapple -> So glad that someone else said that! It's really good and yet people get weirded out by the idea. I think, even if the particulars are different, it's hard not to find something relatable in Subaru's experience, as much as it's painful to acknowledge.
Ryan
2024-12-29 03:16:43 +0000 UTCI love this episode so much. It’s one of my favorites in the entire show and it just hits right at home for me, and it makes me cry. On my first watch of this show, I related to many parts of Subarus character throughout S1. The good, the bad, but this episode and S2 came along and kinda shook me. There were parts about the way in which the author wrote this that felt uncanny to me. It’s one of the only times I’ve ever experienced a story where I truly felt like I was looking into a mirror. Whether it be the specifics of the backstory itself, or the way Subaru spoke with his parents. I’ve had conversations like that before. Those relieving, yet devastating and emotionally wrought ones that are core memories for the rest of my life. I absolutely adore the choice to have Subarus parents, Naoko and Kenichi, not be terrible or inadequate. I know that sounds strange, but it is surprisingly rare. And usually if they are good, they die early on. But having really loving and understanding parents doesn’t mean you aren’t going to have trauma from your experiences growing up. This episode also serves to give a lense on Subaru as a person. Why he is the way he is. It’s honestly perfect. The way you can fill in the blanks the moment you see the way his mom and dad speak and carry themselves is amazing. And you also realize, that the entire time in S1, especially the first half, he wasn’t trying to be himself at all. He was trying to be his father. Because after all, who in this world could know that he’s just emulating someone? Theres so many scenes in S1 that are completely recolored by this episode. A ton of scenes in the mansion, where he’s trying too hard, or in the royal capital, he says to Julius “You’re just acting like a big shot with your daddies name.” And there’s tons of other stuff. It’s really masterfully done. This ep really just has too much going on and is too dense to dive into over a comment, so the last I’ll say is that I love this episode. And this story. There’s lines in this ep and perspectives that I’d never thought about before, specifically from his mom, that have fundamentally changed how I go about my life. So yeah, great thoughts as always, I was particularly excited for you to see this ep after hearing you talk about your own life. Super excited for the next ones!
Vali Sippola
2024-12-29 03:09:58 +0000 UTCHaven't watched your reaction yet, but I have the feeling you'll have a field day with this episode. Let's see if I'm right.
Anders Pike
2024-12-29 03:02:28 +0000 UTCMan i like this episode so much, it gets me every time :') I relate alot to Subaru, more than im willing to admit lol altho despite me liking this episode alot there are some things i wanna say. Subarus parents are a little too nice? if that makes sense. My parents wouldve not been too happy if i was a shut in xD Altho its nice to know that the author confirmed that had subaru stayed in that world he wouldve gone back to school with encouragment from his father so thats nice. Also the "It doesnt matter how it starts or what happens in the middle, its how it ends" is also interesting and while i agree that the start doesnt matter as much, the middle is just as important if not more than how it ends. If you dont work on yourself in the present then you cant hope to get the good ending you want for yourself. Also side note this is a little sad but the author confirmed that his parents are still looking for him to this day. Which is insanely sad (its not an anime spoiler so i hope its ok me saying this) But as always great reaction, i started watching your reactions way back from when you started mha and i really enjoy your commentary.
Snor
2024-12-29 02:58:39 +0000 UTCProbably my second favorite episode so far.
PKKite
2024-12-29 02:58:08 +0000 UTCgod this episode never fails to make me tear up a little when I watch it, Subaru's reaction to looking at the clock holding his chest clearly a way to show his anxiety in these moments, waiting for the clock to pass 8 is something I deeply relate to back around a year ago after covid when schools went back to in person, I entered High school, and I was fine for freshman year but when I got to sophomore year is when it hit me that I hated going to school every morning I would wake up and just feel this intense anxiety while I stared at my phone until eventually I stopped going and I remember the day I stopped going because it was 2 days before my birthday, and I would stare at my phone waiting for it to pass 8 just like Subaru and then go back to bed waiting for the anxiety to stop until months went by and the school expelled me, and what you said about ignoring all the opportunity's from people trying to help and fighting against that purposely trying to fall to the bottom is something I also did just ignoring everyone, what sucks about this is that for Subaru he got an opportunity to speak to his parents one last time in a way but for his parents Pov he just went out one night and just disappeared, they're most likely still looking for him worried sick and not being able to see the person their son is currently and only knowing the son that we met in the first episode, I feel there is more I have to say but can't put into words right now so if I think of something I want to add ill just reply to this comment.
Mjw
2024-12-29 02:52:38 +0000 UTCI agree with your thoughts. It can be very cliche for stories to have a protagonist with an awful tragic backstory to setup who they start as and what drives them to become who they are in the heros journey. But its alot more realistic and common that the backstory for most of us is pretty generic and normal. Subaru's issues that made him who he was at the beginning of the story were all internal baggage. He had a good balanced home life, with a decent upbringing. He was falling behind in alot of things in life (which is ok) which made him withdraw and hide from the world because he perceived himself as a disappointment and not good enough as his father's son. Alot of this recontextualize who he was and the issues behind his flawed actions in Season 1. His desire to be the isekai hero and a constant need to prove himself as someone useful to Emilia.. which in turn caused him to make soo many mistakes and made a fool of himself. His mental break in front of Rem as he came to the conclusion he was still the useless loser he was back home and that nothing had really changed. His despair at realizing he was powerless to do anything and the desperation to run away from the problem once again. It all is consistent and makes sense now with the context of his past why he's carried this burden all this time.
Reuben Filimaua
2024-12-29 02:47:22 +0000 UTCPeak zero day!!!! With the best episode of television in human history
Aukar frank
2024-12-29 02:22:28 +0000 UTCProbably my favorite episode still. Such equally overwhelming devastation and inspiration packed into 1 episode, it’s always almost emotionally draining to watch but in a good way lol
Jake White
2024-12-29 02:02:16 +0000 UTC
