Re: Zero 1x9 (16&17) Reaction Extended (YT link below)
Added 2024-11-07 01:00:04 +0000 UTCIn Re: Zero 1x9, The Greed of a Pig & Disgrace in the Extreme, Subaru battles condescension, curses, whales, stupidity, ghosts, embarrassment, cultist murderers, transportation shortages, fog, witches, low cell phone battery, cats, death, and the complexities of the modern economy to arrive home in time to watch his friend die.
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Comments
When Subaru was about to tell Emilia about Return by Death, what he was on about before and about to pull through is telling Emilia about it, even if his Heart get's squashed in the witches hand.
Baddy
2024-12-16 19:55:32 +0000 UTCI think the Witch's cult is definitely something that would be worth confronting as a shared threat. The problem is that Subaru doesn't have anything to offer Crusch. If he had his own forces at the very least, he would offering something of worth to a temporary alliance to take down the Witch's Cult together. But since he doesn't even have that, he's basically asking Crusch to essentially "bail" Emilia, a rival and potential enemy, out for free. Which is just a horrible starting position to ask anything of anyone that might risk people's lives.
BirthdayParty
2024-11-08 06:22:11 +0000 UTCI mean, the thing is that by showing up for a "negotiation" with each of the candidates without actually anything to offer or anything substantiative to back up his claims is basically an insult in of itself. It's basically a reinforcement of the image they had of Subaru when he made a fool of himself earlier, that he's an entitled fool who blunders into problem after problem.
BirthdayParty
2024-11-08 06:17:41 +0000 UTCloved this reaction. It really does just start to go off the rails with Subaru getting knocked down over and over and over again at every turn. So excited for next week's ep. It's many people's favorite episode in the whole show, and t's going to absolutely floor you.
Starky
2024-11-08 04:42:32 +0000 UTC"Correct" in this instance is subjective, and at the whim of that royal lady.
Sam B
2024-11-08 04:34:01 +0000 UTCI’m glad you recognize the goats that are ground dragons after all the best girl is one
Malachi
2024-11-08 01:22:10 +0000 UTCFor sure, but Rem has seen enough of him to recognize his good qualities. All the candidates have seen of him so far is self-indulgence and ignorance
Steve.
2024-11-07 16:33:18 +0000 UTCWell, she's not as ridiculous as she seems. The "lick my foot" request was a test. The correct answer what NOT to go for it, and Subaru failed. He should've said that he'd find another way. I think the fact that he gave up and that he'd shame himself (and, by extension, Emilia) made her decide not to help him.
Arakis
2024-11-07 07:41:31 +0000 UTCForce of habit, perhaps? He made himself a very public weakness of a political opponent camp, and one that's easy to exploit. Why wouldn't they jump at the chance to further undermine the half-devil that shouldn't even be in the running against them?
tk
2024-11-07 07:14:11 +0000 UTCAbout this episode being worse for Subaru, it's one thing to be dealt a bad hand or experience tragedy, to realize that you can't just WILL all problems away and that you can only control yourself, it's another to realize that you don't even have the tools to begin with, that YOU'RE the problem, or that YOU'VE made things bad yourself. The personal attacks by peers who he thought might be allies or might care about the situation is a different kind of suffering.
Alex G
2024-11-07 06:18:48 +0000 UTCRight! Not wanting to deal with him is one thing. Seeing his vulnerable state as a chance to rip his throat out... What's in it for them?
Alex G
2024-11-07 06:02:02 +0000 UTCThat's true, my first take was that the witch's cult was something that would be worth confronting as it's a shared threat. I think this was me not fully accounting for the fact that there are regional divides. I think up until that point it felt like it was something like an election in ONE country. But yeah, leaders frequently ignore problems that are outside of their borders and that is part of their mandate.
Alex G
2024-11-07 06:00:13 +0000 UTCGreat points. It's just funny / overwhelming that beyond just avoiding him and not wanting to deal with someone who is so obviously not comprehending his situation, they go so out of their way to explicitly outline all the ways he's terrible. Poor dude. I think this is one of the reasons why Rem works so well as his support and why that scene was important. She's not blind to his qualities but she's still nice to him because she has a heart.
Alex G
2024-11-07 05:56:44 +0000 UTC"For Subaru to overcome this, he needs allies, and to do that, he needs to understand how to convey his feelings without disregarding others'" Couldn't agree more, that actually sums it up perfectly tbh. I also remember taking away a lot from this show to implement into my own life, it's just that kind of show that hyperfixates on some of the unbelievably common roadblocks in human relationships. It's like you said, this story was clearly told with conviction and personal experience It really is amazing stuff
Hailan
2024-11-07 03:53:48 +0000 UTCIt might be a hot take, but I actually think this episode is worse for Subaru than the previous one. Sure, he was arguably more traumatized last time—with the initial shock of the village massacre and the whole Betelgeuse Rem sequence—but this week's is the type that makes you want to give up with the way it's shutting the doors on Subaru's face at every corner. The audience generally feel more sympathy for Subaru than the episodes before, and for a very good reason. Yes it's true that Subaru didn't seem to have made any progress nor changed for good, yes Subaru is foolish and greedy and emotional -- but the way he was treated this episode by others, albeit inevitable, was still unbelievably rough and unfortunate. His past sins are catching up to him and what he has done won't ever go away, but he also simply don't have the time to turn it around. While the anime did noticeably shorten Subaru's interactions with each candidate this episode, I'd say the majority of their core reasons for rejecting him was still retained, well enough. Crusch's conversation with him was by far the most fleshed out one out of all the candidates. It was also the one where Subaru had arguably the most chances of succeeding with, but still ended up devolving into a dead end. Her main reasonings for denying him assistance are the fact that (1) he has nothing to offer in the negotiation, (2) he's making decisions for Emilia without her knowledge, and that (3) his hatred for the witch cult seemed to outweigh his desire to help Emilia. The fact that Subaru had nothing to offer in negotiation was problematic for Crusch, not necessarily because she was greedy, but because it highlighted Subaru's lack of consideration for others. He didn't even attempt to come up with something of value to bring to the table before listing his demands. This recurring issue also came up later in his conversation with Anastasia at the bar. Additionally, Subaru's suggestion that he’d let Emilia back out of the royal election in exchange for help was another mistake. Remember, this is the same Subaru who knows next to nothing about the politics of this world, who embarrassed himself in front of just about everyone as a result. Once again, he inserted himself into Emilia’s affairs, and for Crusch, who sees Subaru as little more than a pampered servant that she was contracted to heal by Emilia, it’s no surprise she would think he was overstepping Emilia's boundaries by making such a big decision for her without even putting much thought to it. I remember you mentioned in your reaction last week that you weren’t exactly on board with Subaru’s upcoming revenge arc, even though anything has got to be better than the despair he suffered in the previous episode. I suppose you'll be pleased to know that the author shares a similar sentiment, which is why Subaru’s rage-fueled plea for Crusch’s help to annihilate the Witch Cult didn’t work out. His murderous glare from the end of last week’s episode carried over, and Crusch called him out for prioritizing his hatred over his desire to help Emilia. But, of course, Subaru is also just unlucky in that he can’t reveal where he’s getting his information from. Still, the heart of the problem lies with himself, and his impure desire to save Emilia for the sake of proving 'just how much she needs him" instead of out of genuine love was snuffed out by Crusch as ingenuine -- shutting down further negotiation. Priscilla's rejection of Subaru was the most straightforward: she simply puts a lot of value on personal pride. And Subaru, in his desperation, has lost any semblance of that pride, reduced to nothing more than a beggar with a "pig's desires." There’s no sign of life or dignity in his pleading—he doesn’t even attempt to bring anything of value to the table—and the whole scene ends up reflecting poorly on him, rivaling his earlier antics in the castle. Anastasia’s rejection was tough to watch; she came across as cold and calculating. But, as we see, there were good reasons for this. She wasn't completely heartless—if she were, she wouldn’t have supported Julius’s efforts to protect Subaru from further persecution. However, it’s clear her respect for Subaru has plummeted. By the time she finds out Subaru has been kicked out of Crusch’s mansion, she no longer sees him as a potential ally. She starts to view him as a ticking time bomb—a liability to everyone around him. As a result, she doesn't feel bad about using Subaru as a pawn, viewing him not even as an equal, but merely as a source of information. It's really just unfortunate. The way things are in this world (politics and the secrecy of Return by Death), on top of Subaru's dirt low reputation, in addition to messed-up state of mind that he currently inhibits (trauma and guilt) -- ultimately led to every single negotiation breaking down. The way things played out for Subaru invokes sympathy, but man there's also just so many things that he could and needs to do better if he wants to break through, even if he doesn't have the luxury of time on his side. I'll leave you with a couple details. Thank you again for the reaction, especially (ESPECIALLY) looking forward to next week's! 1. The anime cut out the scene where Ram gave Subaru an extended headpat to calm him down, after initially shaking off his hand that was clinging to hers after he woke up in the mansion. She told him that she'll usually never do something like this but even she's not cutthroat enough to be cold to him when he looked this "out of it". Her remarks afterwards, calling Subaru a loser and that he should go make up with Emilia, was more of a joke to tell Subaru that he'll need to get back on his feet. 2. After getting so unbelievably tired of being unable to reveal his Return By Death and swearing that he'd rather get it out and vomit blood if needed, Subaru then realizes that the witch's hand only wrapped around his beating heart for a bit without squeezing it and causing him extreme pain like it usually does. It was almost like it went after someone else's instead...
Hailan
2024-11-07 03:45:09 +0000 UTCThe writing is just so good. The choice of the camera angles to hide his eyes until the reveal of his murderous intent and him projecting at Emilia and his reflection is shown in her eyes like a mirror to who he really is. Pure perfection. Also next episode is probably my favorite episode in all anime. Helped me in a really dark time in my life. Also, really liking Dandadan. Teen drama meets FLCL meets occult meets granny porn.
Douglas Davis
2024-11-07 03:13:10 +0000 UTCYou are picking up on some things I would have never thought of on my first watch through lol. Some impressive things have been said. Also it does feel like the candidates were eager to take shots at Subaru lol. Even if they're not wrong it feels like he can't have one normal moment of the day lol. So excited for the next episode, it will blow you away.
Kimats0548
2024-11-07 02:53:54 +0000 UTCThese episodes are just a complete beatdown. I just feel so bad for Subaru. It’s interesting to look at this from the point of view of other characters. We know the absolute horror and trauma Subaru has been through, we know his good points and his bad points, but the other candidates really barely know who he truly is and only have surface level knowledge, and they act accordingly. We get this as well with other characters like Otto, and we see more of Rems extreme self-sacrifice tendencies. Priscilla’s reaction is probably my favorite of the three candidates, though all are scathing, hers feels particularly personal. Anastasia at the very least seems more like a lecturer, and Crusch treats him with doubt and suspicion, but Priscilla attacks his character completely, and makes him do a physical act, only to get beat on. She is also super hot, but that’s beside the point. Also liked how you inquired why Al would follow her, when he seems so cool. It’s honestly really interesting to look at the knights, what you know about them, and why they might follow their candidates. Honestly just can’t wait for future reactions, cause there’s just so much depth to all of these characters and their beliefs. Of course, the mysteries and questions keep piling on. And yeah, even the episode titles feel painful. Great thoughts as always, super excited to see the next eps.
Vali Sippola
2024-11-07 02:50:32 +0000 UTCLet me first clear up a mistranslation in this episode: Otto in the subtitles says that the White Whale killed the first Master Swordsman (the term used in the community is Sword Saint, but that's beside the point), but this is not what the Japanese says. He instead says that the PREVIOUS Master Swordsman was killed by the White Whale. A teensy bit of cut content that doesn't really matter but that I like. Before Subaru revealed to Ram that Rem died, Ram recognised that he was beyond distressed and comforted him for a little bit. Was a nice bit of warmth. Before it was then almost immediately ripped away again lol. Also, man I love that little monologue from Beatrice, when I first read it really hit me in the feels for some reason. An interesting note I think I'd make in the Crusch negotiation. You say how we can sometimes mistake plausible conclusions for the truth when in fact we don't have enough information, and how Crusch coming to the conclusion of Subaru being a Witch Cultist would be one such situation, but I think there's an extra layer when we consider the responsibility that her position as a lord entails. She has a set of facts, and based off of those facts she has to decide whether or not to risk the lives of her vassals. Even if Subaru is not in cahoots with the Witch's Cult, she will still be allowing her own people to die because a lord in some other territory isn't able to ensure the safety of her own citizens (naturally, some of the blame would also fall on Roswaal, who is the actual lord of the domain and Emilia's backer). That alone would be a pretty tough pill to swallow since it would not be a popular choice amongst her vassals. Then, there is a remote possibility (which I don't think even Crusch herself believes), that Subaru is a cultist and could be leading them into a trap which has a possibility of completely wiping out her forces. At that point the expected value of the negotiation, which was already incredibly low because Subaru had nothing positive to give her, plummets even more. As a lord she has to take into account all of the possibilities and pick what's best for her and her people, and so she doesn't want to gamble on something that gives her minimal gain. Great reaction once again. Can't wait for the next few episodes!
Kieran
2024-11-07 02:31:16 +0000 UTCI know a lot of your comments about the poignant criticism of Subaru's character by other characters is in jest, but in all reality, I think the reason they were all primed to do so is because he's already made a public spectacle of himself. It's Subaru's actions that put them all on guard about him. Anastasia even commented, as you predicted, that word is spreading about his humiliation and shameless begging. After making a circus out of such an important occasion for them, demanding help and acting like he’s deserving of respect would be grating at best and insulting at worst. The moral of the story for Subaru here is that other people have as rich of a life experience as he does and are dealing with all sorts of things he knows nothing about, and he can't just make a mockery of it, then expect them to take kindly to him coming back around and asking for things. I think all the crazy world events converging on him are also symbolic of this. But saying all that, I must also acknowledge that his suffering is immense. He just doesn't have the understanding to deal with it, identify it, and actually express it in a healthy way. As you said before, this is certainly something he carried into this world from our own, and is only being made more obvious by the fantastical circumstances. I can't help but think the “you better not tell anyone or I’ll crush your heart and the hearts of those you care about” condition of Return by Death is representative of the struggles people face in expressing their mental struggles and/or illness. It feels incredibly isolating, you carry all of these painful experiences that may as well not exist to other people. There's also the fear that verbalizing them might ruin their perception of you or your relationship. For Subaru to overcome this, he needs allies, and to do that, he needs to understand how to convey his feelings without disregarding others'. Even when he was trying to pull Emilia out of the mansion, all he could talk about was how HE felt while ignoring how scared it made her This show is damn good, and actually helped me realize a lot of this about myself when I first watched it. That's the result of a story told with conviction. It can help someone's perspective become more nuanced and help process things that are normally hard to face or even pin down otherwise
Steve.
2024-11-07 02:24:38 +0000 UTClol, not the meatloaf reference.
Nicholas Bell
2024-11-07 02:07:37 +0000 UTCHell yes!!! Peak zero day
Aukar frank
2024-11-07 01:01:23 +0000 UTC
