So far it’s been a pretty good week for me. I finally got over whatever has been ailing me. 6 months of shortness of breath and chest pains was really starting to wear me out but my breathing has been pretty much back to normal for almost a week. Fingers crossed that it stays that way!
How are you Crow? I hope things are great for you too!
Wait, you’ve been under the weather? You should have said something! I would have sent happy thoughts your way. Glad you’re feeling better, and hope you stay that way! Things are overall good. My family is healthy, I’m still employed, and it’s a great anime season. Hard to ask for more!
Looks like I’m in bold this week. There will be spoilers. And one great huge reveal! Well, moderately large, anyway. Unless you already saw it coming, in which case, welcome me to the club!
Emilia finally gets a chance at the spotlight for the first time this season, as we discover a bit about her childhood. Emilia sure does look a whole lot like Fortuna (who is not(?) her mother). We did see Subaru’s parents quite a bit in part 1 and I remember that I was impressed at the cartoon genetics. Subaru looked like both of his parents but wasn’t identical to either. It really did look like a mix. So I don’t think that reZero simply makes family members look identical like that.
What I’m getting at here is: Is Emilia a clone? Maybe there was a witch cloning project. We already know clones are a thing in this universe and Emilia now has 2 people that look exactly like her. I think it kinda fits…
This said it’s hard to think too long about that cause little Emilia is pretty adorable. What did you think of little Emilia, Crow?
Every bit as adorable as Mini Nezuko! She acted like a small child, too. I mean, what adult would try to be stealthy by saying, “Sneaky sneak?”
It’s striking how much Emilia’s attitude has changed in this episode. In fact, adult Emilia is acting almost the same as little girl Emilia. Are you enjoying this change Crow? And do you think it was all from just one kiss?
The kiss and the love letter might have been catalysts, but I think Emilia’s wanted to be strong and face this all along. Remember how she reacted when Subaru offered to take the trial for her?
I think, though, that I’m interpreting your question too narrowly. I do think Subaru’s support and affection encouraged her. She’s facing the trial on her own terms, so even though he supported her, he’s not doing it for her. She’s standing on her own.
I’m not sure if it was to even things out but by contrast, Echidna seems to have been royally beigified. All she really did this week was to relay information in a fairly neutral way. Personally, I really enjoyed the bit of a bite to Echidna’s personality. I find that most of the reZero cast are really straight forward. You know, good guys are super good and bad guys are really bad. The witches brought ambiguity which livened that up a bit.
This said I can see some people preferring this more straightforward Echidna. I know you were a huge fan of the character, Crow. Any thoughts on this change in personality?
Guilty as charged! I’m gonna back your interpretation. Snarky Echidna is best Echidna. She’s the Witch of Greed, for heaven’s sake. She’s not Quietly Annoyed Dispenser of Facts. She got a few jabs in, like when she said “I will simply find satisfaction in your suffering.” Even that felt too passive for Echidna.
Or maybe she’s just biding her time? That cliff hanger…
There’s probably something I’m not remembering again because some parts of the flashback were a bit confusing to me. Like why were they barricading little Emilia inside her room from the outside? The only purpose of that was to keep her in as anyone outside the door can just lift the piece of wood, but then everyone seemed to know that she was escaping and when they caught her out of her room, no one cared or mentioned it? Also why did Geuse react so extremely to seeing Emilia?
I don’t think you’ve forgotten anything, at least not in the series. I still need to make time to watch the OVAs and movie (danged necessity to earn money for food and stuff). But now that you’ve mentioned that name… When did you figure it out? I feel like an idiot for sitting there for about 10 minutes thinking, “Wow, that robe… And that last name… The first name sounds so familiar…”
For me it was the hair color. Not that many green heads in reZero.
I am not the quickest on the draw.
We got a small preview of things to come in the after-credits sting but figure it’s about to get really bad. We do know that something super awful happened to Petelgeuse’s character design but I’m guessing there must be something more. Coming up are the events that broke Emilia and traumatized her completely. Considering what we have seen her go through since the beginning of the show without letting it affect her for more than an episode or two, and what all the other characters go through on a regular basis and bounce back like it was nothing, I’m guessing this is going to be some truly horrific stuff.
The universe of reZero is brutal and unforgiving, so for Emilia to carry this all this time, it’s not going to just be the witch cult coming in and slaughtering everyone. Not that it wouldn’t be horrible, it certainly would. But sadly, it’s something that happens all the time in that universe. I’m guessing more witchey stuff happened. Something that got inside Emilia’s brain maybe and she carries little fragments of it.
Any guesses Crow?
I keep remembering what Regulus Corneas did to Crusch back in season 2, episode 1. I don’t think Fortuna has any special powers, and Geuse… I’m still freaked out that he was so normal!
I don’t know exactly what Regulus’ power is aside from slicing at a distance. I agree with you — something like that is not enough. So many little Emilia loses it after seeing what Regulus does to Fortuna and maybe even the rest of the elves. Maybe Emilia breaks the seal?
It kind of reminds me of Daphne’s coffin, but I don’t think it is.
What did you guys think of this week’s reZero? Are you looking forward to the next episode? Or are you scared…
I’ll say it. I’m scared. Danger to little Emilia is worse than danger to big Emilia. Thinking of that little pout under threat is almost too much!
By the way, Irina, I’m glad you’re feeling better after those 6 months of poor health. It’s great to see how you consistently posted on your blog even in spite of what was troubling you at the time.
Since this was a setup episode and was more quiet than usual, I’ll finally post my analysis of the Priscilla and Subaru scene in episode 16.
My interpretation of the scenes in which Priscilla had an extreme reaction to Subaru considering licking her foot and her decision to grab Subaru’s arm and say to Emilia, “Is there a reason you stare at my manservant, half-wit?” is that Priscilla actually found Subaru to be attractive and possibly a potential lover after he had the moxie to show her that appas have red skin and stand up to the thugs even though he was a weakling. To me, Priscilla saying, “It seems you really are just an insignificant man!” shows that she thought Subaru was more than just a loser before he made a fool of himself at the castle, and her challenging Subaru to lick her foot was an attempt to see if he actually had any dignity left and to see whether he’d show the same kind of attitude he had when they first met, which was one that didn’t show deference to her and even taught her something new. Basically, I believe Priscilla was shit testing Subaru to see if he was worthy of her after her initial positive impression of him contrasted with his ugly outburst at the castle.
On the surface, Priscilla may have been calling Subaru a jester and a clown, which would give reason for people to think she isn’t attracted to Subaru, but I didn’t take Priscilla’s words at face value because of just how offended Priscilla actually was by Subaru deciding to actually lick her foot. She lectured him about what he displayed not being an act of loyalty or devotion but more akin to a pig’s greed, leading her to say she would strike down any camp he was a part of, and this tells me that Subaru’s decision to lick her foot was something that was the complete opposite of what Priscilla wanted even though on the surface she made it sound like favouring his miniscule pride would lead to an undesirable result. I believe Priscilla decided that she would make a weak pathetic Subaru her mortal enemy was because he did something that insulted her to the core, and for someone as extremely proud and confident in herself to the extreme as Priscilla is, it would be to show that she was wrong about her judgement in some way, and that would be that Subaru showed that he was pathetic and not worth her time after she would go as far as to try and make Emilia jealous by grabbing his arm and suggesting that Subaru was her (Priscilla’s) manservant at the Royal Palace. Showing that she was wrong to think more of Subaru was shameful to her, so much that she beat the hell out of him, lectured him, and threatened him to strike down any camp he was a part of. Her wanting to strike down any camp he is part of shows she wants Subaru to be humiliated as much as she had been or even moreso because it was a personal humiliation for her that she misjudged Subaru, and for a guy who fancies himself a hero, what greater shame could he face than to have his ambitions be thwarted by Priscilla, the one who had him on his knees and asked him to savour the humiliation of licking her foot, every time he tried to make something of himself? This interpretation is backed by Priscilla saying, “Your careless behavior and attitude have lead me to that decision!” I do note that Priscilla may also have been angry because Subaru abandoned his pride, and for someone who values her pride so much, seeing Subaru lower himself to that level might have disgusted her, but I believe the main source of her anger that bordered on rage was a sense of humiliation. If Subaru was just a little ant or clown to her, she would not have reacted the way she did in my opinion. I believe this shit test showed to Priscilla that Subaru does not value himself and is a low-value man, which went against her initial impression of him, leading to her being furious at herself and at Subaru for defying her expectations. Subaru botched up the interaction completely and should have tried to turn the tables on Priscilla somehow. I’m sure Priscilla sees herself as a very high value woman who has no trouble finding a man for herself, and this results in her putting men through shit tests to root out those who are unworthy of her affection because she doesn’t want just any man but someone who is confident and self-assured.
I know it might be a tough sell since it’s just one scene from a character that has only showed up in 3 episodes so far, but Priscilla’s outrage along with her body language during the scene which included her playing with her hair and uncrossing and crossing her legs says to me that she thought of Subaru as being more than just a clown or jester. I have seen some people say that the author has a mean streak with that Priscilla scene and was being nasty to Subaru for the hell of it, but I think that that scene had a lot of care and craft in how it was presented based on Priscilla’s tone of voice and also the music and tension and that it might be relevant to the endgame of Re:zero. I do acknowledge that it’ll be extremely difficult to convince Re:zero watchers that this particular interpretation is correct barring the airing of additional unreleased content that might be on the longer side of several seasons away, but I try my best to put myself into the shoes of the characters and see whether their interactions made sense, and coming to the conclusion I did was the only way I could make sense of Priscilla’s outrage in that scene. Her reaction changing from disappointment initially (judging by the voice acting and the line, “It seems you really are just an insignificant man!”) to that of righteous indignation is why I believe what I do about that scene.
Now comes the part that will be something I don’t think anyone but me has predicted. I believe that Subaru will end up with a look-alike of Priscilla at the end of Re:zero when he gets sent back to the regular modern human world after Satella, the Witch of Envy, possesses Emilia’s body and gets Subaru to kill her with the help of a coalition of fighters, and Satella sends him back to where he came from in her dying moments. I believe Subaru will eventually grow closer to Priscilla in future arcs of Re:zero, and Subaru will have to settle with a look-alike of her when he returns to the world he grew up in. Luckily for Subaru, Priscilla has no recollection of the time he seriously considered licking her foot given that he was killed off by Puck in that loop, so there is time to mend that relationship.
Why do I believe that Subaru has no chance of being with Emilia at the end of Re:zero? In the anime, there are already two incidents that suggest that Satella will possess Emilia at the end of the series. In Season 1, Petelgeuse stated that the Witch Cult’s goal is to test Emilia to see if she can be a vessel for the Witch, and if so, the Witch will be revived on a coming fated day. Given that he was following the words of his Gospel, which is based off the original Tome of Wisdom that tells the true future, I believe this could very well happen. The second incident is in Season 2 when Satella told Subaru to come kill her one day, and given that Satella’s original body is immortal, that would only be possible if Satella possessed a body that can be killed, and Emilia’s body fits the bill for that purpose. Thus, Satella’s endgame goal is to possess Emilia’s body and finally be killed off. I see no reason why this will not come to pass given the hints we’ve gotten from the anime already. Emilia is the first person Subaru was attracted to in this world, but she won’t be the one he ends up with in my opinion.
Small Emilia is really cute. Thanks for the update on S 2!!
She really is
I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better ✨And also glad that we get some more back story with Emelia💕There’s a lot to digest with this episode and definitely watch Bond of Ice 💕Such a great movie ! I do need to watch Memory Snow though . I skipped it cause I thought it was mostly filler but now I want to see it .
Memory snow does seem to be relevant to what’s going on here
Looks like I’ll be checking it out soon .
Irina, Petelgeuse’s extreme reaction to seeing Emilia is likely because he’s already a Satella worshiper and seeing young Emilia, who was a spitting image of a younger Satella made him feel elated. Remember when Petelgeuse took control of one of his fingers who was an old man that spazzed out and was crying upon seeing Emilia in Season 1? I reckon the same thing happened here. Petelgeuse and his followers were all wearing Witch cult robes after all, and one of them called him Bishop Romanee-Conti, which was a hint of his higher status. In addition to this, in episode 27, Beatrice, who seldom leaves the library, knew that Petelgeuse was the Sin Archbishop of Sloth even though Subaru never mentioned him by name, which shows that Beatrice likely met Petelgeuse 400 years ago from present day events, which means he might have known her before she was the caretaker of the Forbidden Library.
Oh! I can see that. I figure he would be more frazzled at Fortuna who also looks identical but I’m guessing he’s already used to her?
Oh man, six months of being under the weather? Glad you’re better now. That’s gotta feel liberating.
I really enjoyed this episode. Little Emilia was cute, and pre-apostle(? I’m not quite sure considering his outburst at Emilia…) Petelgeuse was interesting. I was a tad confused by the opening, though. Puck tearfully apologised for leaving her alone and then introduced himself? There are some behind-the-scenes shenannigans we don’t know yet, what with Beatrix being connected to both Puck and Petelgeuse… I had that weird feeling that the spirits wanted to guide Emilia to the seal… (Btw, that opening scene? Memory Snow is about what happens shortly (?) after that.)
I’m actually curious what’s going on for once.
That’s great! I’m sure we’ll get a lot happening next week
Glad to hear you’re feeling better. Out of curiosity, do you plan to take a COVID-19 antibody test?
It wasn’t COVID. I took a whole battery of tests but I have ongoing sinus issues and that’s what got me.
Boy, am I glad my sinus issues were confined to trigonometry. How was your exercise routine affected?
Certain exercises were harder. Sit ups or anything that required me to bring my head from low to high quickly was rough but treadmill and weight lifting didn’t change at all
Did you draw your profile picture? If not what site do you use?
I use Picrew. It’s great!
thank you
I think Emilia regaining her memories slowly might also play an (albeit) small part to her shifting personality. She was always a cheerful and happy child so maybe remembering that made her more of a cheerful person? I also appreciate that they are taking their time with Emilia’s backstory. I probably wouldnt feel all that much about the tragedy she will face next episode if this was all stuffed into one episode
That’s a good guess. Emilia is rediscovering her inner child!
I agree, tragic backgrounds are way more effective when they take their time with it.