Report halfaspider's Profile

Bruh, hiding behind well thought out words, thinking you are above everyone who hates your review of one of the most beloved animes of the decade is sad - go back to school so you can learn socializing without pretending - Mr. irrelevant.. Attacking your critique has no meaning whatsover to me , if i had attacked that you would respond in the same fashion so i'd rather attack you as a critique

Your comment is irrelevant tbh, nothing about it makes sense - mr. Evangelion, no wonder you can't enjoy anime after watching that, it does destroy your entire future of watching anime.. Checking my profile and making the assumptions that i don't give 10s or the fact that i don't have favorites is just pathetic, bruh , are you even serious now - don't actually understand how that relates to being tasteless.. Numbers are numbers, 9 could be score i simply prefer giving an anime i've enjoyed to the fullest. Why i didn't give it 10, eh, who knows - thats not something an Evangelion fan should meddle with or make assumptions about, LuL.... Not having any favorites in my LIST means i don't have enough confidence to say something is good?? Wtf , bruh - 1 thing is certain though, you do have a much higher confidence than me, after all you did write a long review about a show you despise, can't wait to check your Evangelion review - oh wait... it doesnt exist.. because apparently you don't write reviews about shows you enjoyed or consider the best...man - get a grip please...

I sense some passive-aggressiveness. They are on your ass in your comment thread lol. I kinda feel sorry for you. I wish you best of luck mate.

Damn I came here to write something, but you got people down here writing essays on why you're wrong. I wasn't even going to go that far, lol.

WHAT THE FUCK THIS GUY WROTE PAGES WORTH.

"Falling in love at first sight is definition flimsy. Don't need a reason to love someone? Then I don't need a reason to care about him loving someone and thus don't need a reason to care about anything else that happens in this show. It's just lazy writing as far as I'm concerned."


Like I said it wasn't just falling in love...and falling in love at first sight is a common trope in many books and is a well-documented psychological phenomenon. If you want the scientific answer you can just say it was a mix of chemical of hormones since Emilia was the most beautiful girl he's met and he wanted to be with her. Here's an article from the Huffington post where a neuroscientist explains reasons as to why someone might fall in love at first sight: https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/07/20/we-talk-to-a-neuroscientist-about-love-at-first-sight_a_21435275/ As for the rest of the numbered points you didn't address those at all either as another explanation as to why Subaru felt compelled to save Emilia in the first arc. You even say that Subaru doesn't have to save her again after the first time so really, you yourself admitted here that a valid reason could be that Subaru wanted to save her just once to pay her back. After the first arc then we can say he begins to fall in love with her. You're really not understanding how attractive Emilia is to Subaru, maybe it isn't love and you can call it lust and that Subaru has never felt affection from the opposite sex and is why he pursued Emilia because she was crazy beautiful in the first episode. In the first episode Subaru's longing for the attraction of the opposite sex is made clear when he's reading a shoujou manga and says "This is where they suck you in..." as he looks blankly at a couple walking home together. Or as for another reason Subaru was very egotistical when first coming into the world. Maybe he felt that in this world he would be special (which he did feel) and that he could finally have a harem.


"For real though this whole discussion is pointless. I've already addressed multiple times all the points you're saying I won't address and you're trying to convince me the thoughts and feelings I had as I was watching the show were wrong. Even supposing I missed out on a whole bunch of subtle and intricate theoretical details masterfully laid out by the author that would have made me like the show, I didn't pick up on that shit and the result was a bad show from my perspective. Even if you go back and tell me all the intricate details (which honestly I feel like you and everyone else are pulling out of their asses or that the "subtle" details just make the show dumber), the experience I had watching the show isn't going to change. Normally, I'd say I could be convinced to rewatch a show, but considering the thought of doing so for R:Z makes me want die inside a little there's no way. Maybe 10 or 20 years from now I'll think about it but I hope future me is smarter than that.
"

You didn't though. You mentioned Otto and how Subaru mistreated him but I responded that it was a running gag and that everyone mistreats Otto as a joke and that it isn't exclusive to Subaru. You also said something to the effect that Otto doesn't laugh along but many gag characters who are picked on in anime DON'T laugh with the main cast since that's not part of the joke. Not saying Otto is a gag character but he's most often the butt of the joke. As for the rest of the main characters I've really only acknowledged Rem and you haven't really rebutted any of the other points I made regarding the characters and you didn't really explain what you meant by "unnatural outside of the context of the show". How then, do you naturally write a character who's meant to be obsessed with someone like Satella? What about how Satella and Echidna are currently written, is unnatural? You keep moving the goalpost to justify that it somehow is unnatural when it isn't. Even for the major characters from the 1st season such as Crusch and Anastasia -- you haven't really provided a reason as to how they're unnaturally placing attention on Subaru. You also left Ram outside of your list who's a pretty major character since she's a part of the Emilia camp. Not picking up on the details is your own fault and after learning of the details - your initial criticisms don't have any relevancy. If you feel like I'm pulling it out of my ass you can cross-reference the quotes I mentioned or explain why it's an asspull. You also said you addressed all the points but I don't recall how you haven't really explained this ""Even in recent episodes, the "growth" Emilia experiences is almost entirely attributed to Subaru's "supporting" of her and seems to manifest as her emulating Subaru. Which seems weak."" and I already pointed out how the cyanide pill already has an explanation => not a plothole. You said that Subaru suffers needlessly and that is true before ep.12 of s2p1. He suffers if he relies on his Rbd powers and his only ability is his Rbd! But like I said, in episode 12 of the first part he comes to understand his only value isn't just Rbd and he doesn't have to suffer needlessly by abusing his Rbd like Echidna wanted. You also didn't address the wish-fulfillment aspect when I said: "No, you wouldn’t be able to. The point of this fantasy setting for “wish-fulfillment” is to feel like a badass and Subaru rarely ever has those moments. Also with the cute girls point you brought up Rem isn’t present in this situation and it isn’t as if Emilia is all over Subaru this season either cause she didn’t even respond to Subaru’s confession, so the romantic aspect of Re:Zero isn’t really wish-fulfillment this season." You also brought up how Subaru's past was an afterthought but when I mentioned how it has connections and callbacks to previous episodes you didn't really say anything on the matter. Regarding the cyanide pill and why Subaru doesn't take it and why he doesn't actively kill himself you said it was illogical but Subaru was never logical to begin with and Subaru was determined after the present trial to try his best in saving everyone who he has now since they don't get second chances. It's up to you to rewatch but if you can't justify your reasons that just means your review is illegitimate since very few of the points you've made so far are valid. If you know that your points are wrong and refuse to change them that just says you really don't care about providing a review. Until you actually address them your criticisms are unfounded and invalid.

Great favorites

"Yeah I'm not saying all those people are "obsessed" with Subaru, just that they give him what feels like unnatural attention. And at the risk of going down the same rabbit hole we've been down 10 times, I realize there are "reasons" written into the show for that attention. The end result is the thing I was talking about in my review."


But how is it unnatural attention? You didn't explain that part. You never really explained the "unnatural outside the context of the show" part either. Garfiel gave Subaru attention before he's beaten up by Subaru because Bilma was manipulating him (scent of witch) and causing him to antagonize Subaru. I already explained Otto and you haven't really provided a counter point to the whole Subaru treats Otto poorly but Otto still wants to be Subaru's friend part when I explained that it's just for comedic effect and that everyone does it.


"Yeah the message of Re:Zero definitely can't be "being a badass and overcoming all the obstacles" because it has to be about needlessly suffering instead... much more fun to watch."


Which is the point...he suffers less emotionally and physically by not killing himself. You didn't really address the other points I made in my second paragraph where even if he does decide to kill himself he stills abandons the people on that loop which would make killing himself an invalid tool to save his friends. Also the fact that people care about Subaru and don't want to see him kill himself like with the situation I gave you with Betty. You're missing the point if you think it's only about needlessly suffering. Your main point again seems to be that Subaru is illogical but his character trait has never been a cold calculating logical type of person.


"As for why I find your point flimsy:
1) he loves Emilia
He barely met her at the time he commits to everything
2) Emilia saved him previously
OK, save her once and call it even
3) He wants to be more like Natsuki Kenichi’s son
This feels like it was thrown in as an afterthought to everything else along with the forced trial shit
4) he can do something about it
So? Lot of people dying he could save."


He fell in love at first sight? Don't really need more than an explanation other than that. You don't need a reason to love someone.
For the second point it doesn't become relevant after the first arc but he decides to stay with Emilia because he loves her, connecting to point one. For the third point his identity crisis was the precursor to the events in the royal selection and his attitude when he first came into the world. How was that an after thought at all? It's even referenced in Rem's confession. The whole conflict about Subaru proclaiming himself as a knight is a direct call to how Subaru had the expectations of Kenichi's son on him. There's clear foreshadowing and setup to make the reveal of his backstory more impactful which would suggest it isn't as an afterthought. The most important motivation is his love which only grows stronger as he's with Emilia. Those four points I listed out were relevant in the first arc but the rest such as 4) and 2) become less relevant later on with his love for Emilia taking center stage for his motivations. I brought those points up because you seemed confused as to why he involved himself with Emilia in the first place. There's lots of dying people he could save but the only dying people he saw in the first arc were Emilia and Felt and that part was his own words that he can do something about it.

"something like 1) Emilia 2) Rem (love interests) 3) Garfiel 4) Otto (best buddies) 5) Echidna 6) Roswaal 7) Satella (obsessed with him or his powers) 8,9,10 whoever."


Garfiel isn’t obsessed with Subaru. He kills him multiple times and he becomes friends with Subaru because he’s a chuuni. Otto isn’t obsessed with Subaru either – they have a normal friendship. But for a more concrete reason, Subaru saves Otto by buying all his oil and so Otto wants to pay him back and that’s how the relationship starts + Otto wants to trade with Roswaal. Echidna, and Roswaal are obsessed with Rbd and not Subaru and Satella is the only obsessed character with the intention of being an obsessed character. Lastly, Emilia never said she loves Subaru nor is she in a romantic relationship with Subaru and neither is Rem although Rem is the only love interest in the show to properly confess her feelings. I can’t address 8 9 or 10 since you didn’t bring them up. You brought up how it’s unnatural outside the context of the show before and I said that those obsessions and motivations were explained in the show. How is a character supposed to “naturally” obsess over another character outside the context of a show? You never really addressed that part or my comment saying how it isn’t relevant that it’s unnatural or natural outside the context of the show when proper motivations have been established in-universe. To fill in the rest though, Ram, Ryuzu, and Frederica are also not obsessed with Subaru and are also major characters in S2. The 10th character I'll just say is Elsa and she's not obsessed with Subaru either. Maybe only his guts but that's with everyone and Elsa as we know, was contracted by Roswaal to kill him. The only valid point you brought up here is Rem who's in a coma and isn't really a major character this season.

“>Not wanting to die isn’t illogical even if you have the power of Rbd.”
It seems to be more of an issue with not understanding the core message of Re:Zero. Re:Zero isn’t about Subaru being a badass and overcoming all his obstacles. It comes second to the growth of the main characters like Emilia and Subaru who try their best in improving themselves. He can’t save everyone he cares about because of the moving save point so that point is invalid anyway. Rbd doesn’t really allow him to save “everyone”. He still lost the Emilia in the first loop of the show and countless others. He doesn’t want the burden of having to throw away his life constantly and suffer constantly alone. Yes, it’s an emotional reason but why would it be illogical? No one wants to die or feel pain, and for that matter it’s not as if Subaru is the most logical and/or non-emotional reason ever. He makes rash decisions and is emotionally turbulent. It’s not only because he thinks it is wrong its also because OTHER people think its wrong in that people don’t want to see Subaru die as evidenced by Minerva's comment in my previous post. None of Subaru’s friends wish for Subaru to kill himself just to save them. His Rbd powers only allow to fix the next set of people, not the current set of people on his loop. That distinction is made very clear in the Unthinkable Present trial when Echidna discusses Subaru’s powers with him. Subaru doesn't want to kill himself because it'd be the same as abandoning the people on his loop who aren't the same people on the next loop. Subaru is also a coward, he's not strong or smart so it would be against his established character traits if he were to suddenly kill himself over and over again which we do see happen in the Greed IF storyline but that Subaru is completely broken and has no regard for his allies or for himself. Also, why is the reason worse than the lack of the cyanide pill?

“And yeah I understood Subaru's reasons well enough. I'm saying they're flimsy considering all the shit he goes through.”


Why? Can you explain which reason that I posted is flimsy? Also, what would be a non-flimsy reason then? Emilia is literally Subaru’s ideal girl evidenced by the posters and toys in his room – it isn’t surprising that he would literally fall head over heels for her. He wants affection from her and the only way to do that is to save her. You haven’t really addressed why the reasons I posted were flimsy other than saying they are.

"OK if will help you move on, let's just say out of the top 10 or so most relevant characters, most of them are either obsessed with his power, see him as a romantic interest, or want to be his best friend."


It's not about "helping me move on" it's moreso showing that none of these characters you say that you think are major are not obsessed with Subaru. You keep avoiding the question of specifying who you think these main characters are and then say "the top 10 or so most relevant characters"...like who are these characters?


"'I just have to point out how silly in my opinion that he even considers suicide to be bad. For example, if Emilia were killed in front of him, but he was otherwise going to get past the RbD time limit, wouldn't he want to kill himself before she stays dead forever? She's the whole reason he has been going through ANY of this shit, so it seems like suicide should always at least be on the table for him as an option. It makes perfect sense to me to have a way to hit the reset button as soon as something unacceptable happens in his current timeline or if he thinks about things for one second and realizes he is for sure about to be brutally murdered (it is very common that he knows in advance so not much of an assumption). But seriously seems *very* obvious to me. There's no way you're going to convince me that he shouldn't commit suicide because of respecting himself or anything like that. It's grossly illogical.""


No. He would not kill himself. Like I said, that was the point of episode 12 in S2P1 and the deal with Rem where he insta-killed himself after finding Rem dead. The whole "I see hell" is BECAUSE Subaru has been trying to do everything by himself and because he was using his life as a tool which he tries to move on by accepting that he doesn't have to use his RbD to do something. It's that theme of self love present in the show that Subaru learns to accept and trying to overcome his self hatred. To clearly iterate this fact I'll quote what he says to Satella:
Subaru: “All the pain, all the suffering, all of it…everything…only happens to me! If I had done anything different would anything be different? Arent I stuck with a horrible future? Who else but me would have done all the things I’ve done?”
Satella responds “Don’t suffer. Don’t look sad. So love yourself”
Subaru responds “What the hell did you just say? If I lost this ability out of love for myself, what would I even have for myself? There’s nothing I can use but my own life! It’s not like anyone cares what happens to a loser like me, right? As long as everyone else makes it to the future…As long as we can start saving tomorrow without losing anyone…then..”
He then laments on Rem’s death saying if he had been stronger and used his powers better he could’ve saved Rem and that he doesn’t want a repeat incident of Rem and starts crying.
Satella says to Subaru after Subaru attempts suicide in the witch’s realm “Why haven’t you realized that you should be included among the ones you wish to save”
Subaru flashbacks to the unthinkable present trial and states he doesn’t really want to die.
“Is there any value in my life? What can I do except die and repeat everything? Can I really believe that the people I like also like me?”
Then he also says to Echidna “I don’t want to feel pain, and I don’t want to see any terrible things happen to anyone else. I don’t want to die. I’m going to look for it. I can repay them in some way other than death.”
Echidna even comments on the illogicalness of his statement saying that if he denies his power and he tries to claim his own heart and other people’s futures that it would be above all greedy. Roswaaal says something similar to this effect in S2P2.
"But it's a fact that the Rbd power you gave me has saved me many times. Is Rbd one of the options available to me? If not relying on it too much is what it takes to love myself....I can't say that'll be easy. But I'll try to like myself a little more, just like you said."
Minerva even comments on Subaru's constant self-sacrifice and says "Are you saying I'm just pretending to be some tragic hero?!" in response to Subaru's complete disregard of other people's feelings toward him. Minerva also says "I'm saying that deciding you're the only one who needs to suffer is cowardly. That twisted thinking makes you way more vile than any witch"
Basically, the realization that Subaru comes to after finding out that the people on timeline A aren’t guaranteed to come back with him that all his efforts are wasted. So he changes his stance and says he’ll save whatever’s closest to him. But he’s still using his life as a tool. You brought up a pretty specfici scenario that if Emilia was going to die and his save point was going to change, not killing himself would be illogical but he does something similar with Betty. He attempts suicide in fear of the save point changing but Betty stops him. He also comes to the realization that people care about him and don’t want to see him die (Unthinkable present) and this with what Minerva said and Satella said gives him the newfound realization that he doesn’t have to kill himself and use his Rbd intentionally to help his friends. In the end, Subaru is a teenage boy. He’s not a badass but just a teenager. He might grow thicker skin but his fear of death will always be a constant part of him and it’s what makes him human. He wants to be able to love himself and accept that without this power that he isn’t worthless and that someone still does care about him. He wants to be so much more than his Rbd powers but his initial self-hatred and self-confidence issues that were revealed in his backstory made it difficult for him to realize that he doesn’t have to completely throw away his life and feel pain and suffering to save the people he cares about. Subaru for the first time places his feelings on the highest priority. So even if a repeat incident were to occur with that situation with Beatrice, this time he would not kill himself because it would make Beatrice sad and obviously because he himself doesn’t want to die. Not wanting to die isn’t illogical even if you have the power of Rbd. You're also misunderstanding how the pain transfers when he dies with Rbd. Taking a cyanide pill doesn't stop the pain. The pill itself could be painless but the pain Subaru felt prior to dying would still be felt after immediately restarting. Also, when you say he "realizes he's about to be brutally murdered" that happens each time when he faces an enemy. In the most recent episode according to you - he should just immediately kill himself because of the fire and Mabeast because he's about to be brutally murdered, but he avoids it and lives. What does that even mean 'realizes to be brutally murdered"? In his first death in the season he didn't even realize he got slashed across his stomach until it was too late. In his second death he tried escaping, blacked out, and then died without even knowing what happened and Elsa just comes up from behind and kills him again. The third death he didn't know there would be murderous snow bunnies. The fourth death he was using his life as a tool and wanted to get all the information before he died and was planning on killing himself anyway. Basically, he has very little opportunities because of his lack of finesse to make a proper decision when he's about to die. It still isn't a plot hole though and could be explained by Subaru being optimistic.

"I can simultaneously call the show wish-fulfilment and find it to be bad writing that he isn't better at accomplishing the fantasy. I don't necessarily think that the show would be better if Subaru were a genius who tackles all his problems perfectly, but I know that it is at least frustrating to watch him be terrible. In my review I said that the show is bad IF you don't like Subaru, not that you were wrong to do so or anything of that sort. Aside from his personality and dumb choices, I'll give the probable biggest reason I find him to be a poorly written character and it is his entire motivation for doing anything in the show. He literally met Emilia and within a few episodes fell so deeply in love with her that he has suddenly been willing to endure any and all manner of torture and suffering and see hell itself just to make her smile or whatever. It's weak at best imo. Going to extreme lengths for the girl happens all the time (and usually the whole plot isn't because of it), but rarely are they the lengths Subaru is going and usually the relationship is a little more than a childish infatuation"

No, you wouldn’t be able to. The point of this fantasy setting for “wish-fulfillment” is to feel like a badass and Subaru rarely ever has those moments. Also with the cute girls point you brought up Rem isn’t present in this situation and it isn’t as if Emilia is all over Subaru this season either cause she didn’t even respond to Subaru’s confession, so the romantic aspect of Re:Zero isn’t really wish-fulfillment this season. For him to better accomplish the fantasy he would have to be stronger and smarter and he’s none of those things, to change that would be wish fulfillment. What stronger motivation does he need other than because he loves Emilia? This with what is revealed about Subaru’s nature and backstory in S2 show that Subaru was in a very low place at the beginning of the events in S1. His motivations consisted of him falling in love with a beautiful girl (also, Subaru has a collection of silver haired girls in his room) But to better address your point I’ll quote a few lines from the second episode regarding his motivations:
“…the debt I owed her for saving me is gone. In that case, I should forget everything and live in luxury.”
He then comments on how even though he was a nobody Emilia still saved him from the thugs and healed him. He then states that even if Emilia doesn’t recognize him he knows she will die and there is something he can do about it. “If I have knowledge that people I used to know will be killed, I can’t just ignore it!” Basically his motivations for saving Emilia is because for a following reasons: 1) he loves Emilia 2) Emilia saved him previously 3) He wants to be more like Natsuki Kenichi’s son 4) he can do something about it. I guess love makes you do crazy things huh? Well it’s not just love anyway. Characters rarely go the length Subaru does probably because they don’t have Rbd and can’t retry. As of now, Subaru wouldn’t go to extreme lengths and continuously sacrifice his live over and over again just to save the girl. I don’t think it really matters what the relationship is. If Subaru cares about Emilia whether that relationship is considered a “childish infatuation” it explains his motivations for the actions he took in S1. In any case, his motivations are because of love and because he wants to do something with his life and be more than a loser at least in the beginning of the series until those feelings grow more serious.

"'Of course there is no method of this aside from cases where there are objective main characters like Subaru who are definite not minor or maybe the author saying who is minor vs major. It is a spectrum of how "significant" characters are and where you draw the threshold is subjective. I'm saying those characters are not significant enough for me to consider them major characters or to weight their thoughts/actions as heavily as I do major characters. This is not complicated and feels like you're looking for anything to argue about."


Not really. I brought up in which ways Ryuzu was involved in the plot and you just dismissed it as you don't think she's major. I also provided similar reasons to Crusch and Anastasia. Same thing with Meili and Elsa who are the antagonists. You also dismissed Otto because he is "apparently obsessed with Subaru" because he takes mistreatment from Subaru and still wants to be friends with him when I pointed out that it's a running joke in the series and that everyone picks on Otto. Just because Otto doesn't laugh along doesn't mean that Otto isn't in on the joke. You haven't really provided any reasoning as to why you feel the characters are minor or major other than you "felt like it" at least to me. Who are the major characters to you then? Only Subaru and Emilia? Then by definition "all characters are obsessed with Subaru" would be correct (lumping in romantic interests as well). It's why I brought it up - to show that you don't really have a legitimate reason apart from how you feel to categorize them as major or minor when there are elements in the narrative that decides how major or minor a character is such as how involved in the plot they are.


"Maybe killing himself is suffering, but if there is a way to kill yourself with less suffering involved than being brutally murdered, then that is the point of the magic cyanide. Again, not complicated. If you have a super power where you die a lot, then this would be high priority for a rational character in a well-written show."


You're making the assumption here that Subaru will foresee him being brutally murdered and that he will take a pill before he gets murdered when I explained that he will try to the best of his abilities NOT to get murdered. Even if he's about to die he's not going to take the cyanide pill. Taking a cyanide pill to kill yourself is not rational at all. The main contention here is "why doesn't Subaru have a magic cyanide pill to kill himself?" which isn't really a plot hole and is explained by the narrative anyway, so yeah not really a plot hole. It would be inconsistent with Subaru's character growth if he were to flip-flop and consider suicide.


"Bad as in Subaru was a bad character in season 1. I won't say all the growth was forced, but the trial definitely was. My point here was almost entirely just my perception of Subaru and how I, as a viewer, felt about him. You can give him a 60 or a 100 or whatever, but for me, he still isn't even 0 to be honest and I don't actually need reasons or facts from the show to justify that."


Okay, why was Subaru a poorly written character? You said it yourself that a character can be annoying but interesting but you never really provided reasons as to why Subaru is a poorly written character. If you're not using any reasons or facts from the show to make an informed decision about a character that completely delegitimizes your review. Shinji is an annoying brat in Evangelion and I didn't like him at all but that doesn't mean Evangelion is bad or that Shinji is a poorly written character. I predict you'll say here that the show doesn't only revolve around Shinji but the same applies with Subaru in that it also explores the mentality and motivations of other characters such as Beatrice and Emilia. I mean you say Subaru should be a god amongst men but him being like that WOULD be wish-fulfillment in that he'd stop being the stupid awkward person that he is. You can't simultaneously this is wish fulfillment and then also want Subaru to be a "god amongst men".

"OK, how about this qualifier for minor: I think they're minor characters because they seem that way to me and I'll consider them as such."


But how does that work then? You're saying that there's no objective method in determining how minor or major a character is other than your own subjective reasoning. This has no relevance to what I said. You say it's episode count & line count and I brought up the episode count and you just move the goalpost into you deciding for yourself whats minor or not.


">He goes in with the expectation that he will not die and not use his RbD powers which is the conclusion he reaches after episode 12. If he had used this "magic cyanide pill" when he was imprisoned and caught by Garfiel he would lose out on the connection he made with Otto. But none of this really matters since he's made a promise not to kill himself anymore."

You also brought up plot holes In your original review but you never really expanded what the plot holes were. Would killing himself not be suffering? That's why he doesn't do it cause he doesn't want to kill himself. He just doesn't want to die. He said the hell line BECAUSE he was intentionally going to kill himself later in that route and now he's stopped that line of thinking. You have a big issue with that line so it should be good now that he wants to stop his own suffering and saying that only he's the one that needs to suffer.


'Yeah, see I was already pretty indifferent to all of this "progression" to be honest. Even if I had been still trying to like him still at that point, he still is going from a bad character to a neutral character at best. going from a -100 to a 0 is nice, but the 0 is still nothing I'm getting excited about and he spent most of the show still in the negatives. The journey might something I'd typically be interested in, but I've stated my feeling on how forced the trials all felt."


The point is that the character was written that way intentionally so he could have some sort of redemption arc. Your main point was how he doesn't use his powers more intelligently which I addressed and later that he's cringe and unlikeable. I've shown you how he's improved and that he was first intentionally made to be cringe and unlikeable. Why is he a zero and not say, a sixty then? We've seen Subaru's backstory also in S1E04 although not as detailed so I don't really understand how it's forced since it's already been foreshadowed. Also, what do you mean by "bad"? As in a bad person or as in a poorly written character? It's also just not the trials that showed Subaru's growth but the confession with Emilia and Rem in S1 that also showcase his growth. Is that also forced then?

"How many lines to Meili, Felt, Julius, Crusch, Prsicilla, or the other witches have in the nearly 50 episodes? How many episodes do they even appear in? _Minor_ characters."


So line count determines how major or minor a character is? Surely you can see the fallacy in this. Is Satella a minor character then? Ram too? What line count determines how major/minor a character is? There's varying levels of how major or minor a character is as well. Also, for Felt, Julius, Crush, Priscilla I was referring to S1 when you brought up that everyone is obsessed with Subaru when that isn't true and you just dismissed them as minor characters. Meili & Elsa are the antagonists for this arc and I guess you could call the rest of the witches minor since we haven't seen a lot of them yet or how they tie in the story. But as another major character, Ryuzu and Garfiel who's appeared in every single episode except for three (two for Garfiel but he was just standing around in Roswaal's backstory episode) are characters who are major, who are not obsessed with Subaru. If we were talking about in the context of season 1 though, the royal selection candidates would definitely not be minor. Crusch and Anastasia were a big part of Arc 3 in taking down the white whale and subjugating Betelgeuse and are also not obsessed with Subaru.


"Man, if it is somehow relevant to the plot that he not "kill himself" painlessly just before somebody brutally and inevitably murders him, you need to reconsider your favorite show here. That is stupid as hell."


He goes in with the expectation that he will not die and not use his RbD powers which is the conclusion he reaches after episode 12. If he had used this "magic cyanide pill" when he was imprisoned and caught by Garfiel he would lose out on the connection he made with Otto. But none of this really matters since he's made a promise not to kill himself anymore.


'I'm not saying a character can't be awkward, but if they are, then they better be interesting in some other ways or I'm probably not going to personally like them... as is the case with Subaru. But how cringe he was in the first season is totally relevant here even if he doesn't do that shit as often any more. Some of the scenes from the first season were *INCREDIBLY* bad and they definitely impact my opinion of Subaru even if the author is trying to paint the narrative that he has changed. Has he actually recognized how bad some of his specific actions/words were in the past or is everyone just assuming he figured it out? In either case though, the author making me distain him early on has ripple effects as I watch the show. The more I disliked him, the more apathetic I became to everything related to him in the show (which is most everything as was the point of my review in large part). Then the more apathetic I am to him the less likely I am to find anything he says or does interesting. I'm not obligated in any way as a viewer to forgive a character or forget what they've done and I still see him as the same character he was when he did all the cringe so why would I?"


Well it's relevant in the sense we're shown Subaru's character progression. As for whether or not he's recognized it that's the big focus of episode 4 in S2P1, so yes it is addressed. Particularly the scene where Tappei juxtaposes the similar conflicts Subaru faced when he saw himself and placed expectations of himself as his father's son and when Subaru called himself a knight in the royal selection. He says in S2P1E04 "I decided I would set my sights higher. But the next thing I knew I was looking around, And there was no one around me. That's when I finally realized that there was nothing special about me at all." also in S01E18 he says this: "It's amazing that I can live like this and not feel ashamed!" (flashbacks to the room he was staying in with Emilia) The best example of him recognizing his actions though, is in S01E25 where he says this to Emilia (after meeting her for the first time after the incident) "Everything you said back there was right. I was wrong". So he's definitely addressed what he did wrong and tries to improve. Yeah, you don't have to forgive or forget what he's done but it's another thing to say he's the same character. He's definitely changed for the better and whether you like him or not it doesn't change the fact that he has made amends and is making attempts in becoming a better person.

">Ryuzu doesn't want to be his best friend. None of the witches are obsessed, view him with romantic interest, or wants to be Subaru's friends (apart from Echidna). Meili and Elsa certainly don't. Those who do care about Subaru are already in the Emilia camp. If you take a look outside of S2 and into the cast of S1 again, very few characters really want to be "Subaru's best friend". Like Felt, Julius, Crusch, Prsicilla. The only characters with romantic interest in Subaru are two. It's hardly "everyone". The cast in S2 is much more limited and the only new characters introduced are the witches of sin, Garfiel, and Ryuzu (not counting the characters from Emilia's backstory) and the only character that wants to be friends with Subaru is Garfiel and he's a chuuni so it makes sense in character. Emilia's backstory, Garfiel's backstory, nor Roswaal's backstory revolve around Subaru.What do you mean by "the nature of his power"? The two step process you describe could be applied to any story if you generalize it enough...It's not as if Tappei is writing Re:Zero on the fly when there's callbacks to the first season that show some level of thought put into the narrative."


How are those character that I mentioned minor? If you exclude them they're the same characters from the first season who already have a pre-established relationship with Subaru. You can't say everyone is obsessed with Subaru and then say the characters who AREN'T are minor characters. Is Ram a minor character as well then? And I mean Ryuzu plays a big part in freeing the sanctuary and exploring Roswaal's and Garfiel's backstory.


">Why would he make a magic cyanide pill? The point of episode 12 was for him to realize that he should stop trying to kill himself and abuse his Rbd powers. In fact the show tries to steer AWAY from the plot revolving around his RbD powers by giving Subaru the realization that he needs to be able to love himself and respect himself and that he should stop killing himself. He dies six times in season 2 (p1 & p2). Each time he dies there's no lag between resurrecting and dying so if he falls to his death he feels the impact of the death as soon as he restarts."


I'm not sure how it's relevant to my point that people are trying to kill him. I'm talking about the act of suicide which he can control. The point is that he's not going to kill himself anymore so there's no need for the pill.


"Maybe Subaru does numb himself to the people around him during RbD events where they are likely going to die (seems reasonable to me), but it isn't like his whole life is going to be a RbD event--especially if he just uses his powers to vanquish all his enemies."

To vanquish his enemies he needs to use his RbD powers since he has no other abilities. I don't really understand what you mean by "it isn't like his whole life is going to be a RbD event". Satella tells him he should use his RbD powers for himself and not for others, as in killing himself to try to get to a point before Rem becomes comatose.


'I don't see why I need more than Subaru is stupid and cringe as far as criticism. Maybe if he were interesting enough to make up for the stupid and cringe moments, but he isn't even close for me."


So do all main characters have to be socially adept and not stupid for it to be a good show? Subaru is not as cringe as he was in the first season so you're exaggerating here. He's getting better and he was made with the intention of having no remarkable qualities other than RbD so again, this seems to be more of your personal dislike of Subaru rather than any fair criticism of his character and Re:Zero. Why do you say he's not interesting?

"By "wish-fulfilment" I don't mean any show with some arbitrary supernatural element. To me, it is specifically a show that feels like the author just 1) said "wouldn't it be cool if <insert some fantasy scenario>", 2) writes that down, then more or less repeats those two steps until all the characters and plot points are done. I get this feel from the way the plot revolves around Subaru, the nature of his power, the way most everyone is either obsessed with his power, views him with romantic interest, or wants to be his best friend. I don't care for that kind of show, I think it is lame."


Ryuzu doesn't want to be his best friend. None of the witches are obsessed, view him with romantic interest, or wants to be Subaru's friends (apart from Echidna). Meili and Elsa certainly don't. Those who do care about Subaru are already in the Emilia camp. If you take a look outside of S2 and into the cast of S1 again, very few characters really want to be "Subaru's best friend". Like Felt, Julius, Crusch, Prsicilla. The only characters with romantic interest in Subaru are two. It's hardly "everyone". The cast in S2 is much more limited and the only new characters introduced are the witches of sin, Garfiel, and Ryuzu (not counting the characters from Emilia's backstory) and the only character that wants to be friends with Subaru is Garfiel and he's a chuuni so it makes sense in character. Emilia's backstory, Garfiel's backstory, nor Roswaal's backstory revolve around Subaru.What do you mean by "the nature of his power"? The two step process you describe could be applied to any story if you generalize it enough...It's not as if Tappei is writing Re:Zero on the fly when there's callbacks to the first season that show some level of thought put into the narrative.


"There are plenty of reasons I, personally, don't like Subaru aside from just how cringe he generally is (though that is a big factor). Honestly, the bigger one really is just how dumb he is. It is really frustrating to watch the guy stumble through this show and struggle so much at something that seems like it should be so easy to figure out. I'm sure as a true Re:Zero fan, you'll have lots of reasons why Subaru's life needs to be as hard as it is, but for me, the more casual viewer, it seems like if he just used his brain for a second and stopped freaking out, he could be doing a lot better. Like is there a reason he can't put together some sort of magic cyanide pill to make dying painless instead of all the suffering he goes through every time he messes up? He literally can sit and retry whatever obstacle put before him INFINTE times. Meaning as long as there is ANY possibility of him accomplishing something, he can do it. He just has to suck it up and get ready do die a bunch. But in the whole second season he has died what, 3 times? Then he spends 2 or 3 episodes crying. He should literally be a god walking around and instead is a pathetic sobbing kid. And as for how hard it is to watch all the people around him die and such, sure maybe the first couple times.... but get over it man. He's seen it all before and he KNOWS he can just die and bring them back so what is the fucking deal? It's like watching a 5 year old play a Mario game or something and them just being terrible and wanting to just take the controller away from them and show them how to do it, but I'm watching an anime so all I can do is sit and watch him be terrible. Not a fun experience at all. Maybe you have your answers to these questions and understand why it needs to be so hard for Subaru, but this is what I was thinking the whole second season and the damage is done as far as I'm concerned."


Why would he make a magic cyanide pill? The point of episode 12 was for him to realize that he should stop trying to kill himself and abuse his Rbd powers. In fact the show tries to steer AWAY from the plot revolving around his RbD powers by giving Subaru the realization that he needs to be able to love himself and respect himself and that he should stop killing himself. He dies six times in season 2 (p1 & p2). Each time he dies there's no lag between resurrecting and dying so if he falls to his death he feels the impact of the death as soon as he restarts.


"He's seen it all before and he KNOWS he can just die and bring them back so what is the fucking deal?"


That's what Roswaal accuses Subaru of actually. When Roswaal kills Ram and Garfiel he's in shock and doesn't go into a rage. Roswaal even comments on how Subaru would usually start screaming. Nonetheless, the realization that Subaru comes to at the end of the second trial when Echidna tells him that he might not be actually saving anyone and that he may be jumping to a parallel world he comes to a decision that he must save everyone on whatever loop that is. So even if Ram dies on timeline A, that Ram on timeline A is lost forever. She doesn't get a redo like Subaru does which is why he does care and isn't willy-nilly about killing himself just for more information. Also, the moments when you refer to him as a pathetic sobbing kid was after he was literally eaten alive by rabbits, or when he realized that all his efforts may have been futile when he saw the "Unthinkable present" in that he wasn't actually saving anyone. In an earlier loop where Subaru follows Echidna's advice and uses his life as a tool he barely factors Emilia into his plans and doesn't trust her at all. Otto comments on Subaru's lack of concern for Emilia on that loop (the "I know hell" loop) which shows how if Subaru WERE to go on this path of just using his life as a tool he would eventually become numb (like you wanted, to stop being a crybaby) and care less about his allies. In fact, if he were to continue with Echidna's advice he would become an emotionalless pyscopath (Greed IF story) just like you wanted except he isn't the Subaru that we come to know. Also, as for the reason why Subaru makes things intentionally hard for himself it's because pre-S2P2 he decides not to involve anyone and tries to do everything by himself because of what happened to Rem. That is why he doesn't involve Otto in S2P1 because he doesn't want there to be a repeat incident. He's included Otto in his plans now and is more cooperative so I don't really see any other instances of "situations that should be easy to figure out". The only really valid criticism you have for Subaru is that he's stupid and cringe.