So I finished xxxHOLiC, the manga last week and guys, do yourselves a favour and read xxxHOLiC. It’s such a lovely musing on the subtle nature of friendship and family. I really liked it. Right now, I’m reading Noragami. I’m finally into material that was not covered by the anime and it’s the best so far. I hope that show gets a season 3 because the story gets way better.
How are you Crow? Anything on your radar? By the way guys, I’m in normal font and there will be spoilers. Like these spoilers for Crow’s week!
I’m glad you said that about spoilers. Now I can speak freely! If only I had something riveting to say… Glad to hear you enjoyed the xxxHOLiC manga. The anime remains one of my absolute favorites. Maybe you can give the manga the same treatment you just gave Blue Period? That would be cool!
So Emilia is different now. And Subaru is back with the boys telling them what I have been screaming at my TV for weeks now! That he should probably check on all that mansion massacre business. Especially now that he made it so much worse with Roswaal. Good job breaking it, hero!
So we hustle Subaru and Garf out of the way for act 1 and get a brand new intro. Very poppy!
I really like Garfiel now that he’s not trying to slice Otto in half or turn Subaru into compost. He’s so nice now that it would have been totally unbelievable without knowing how he got here. He has a quiet confidence that’s really endearing.
The actual first act catches up with a now weirdly serene Emilia who is met up by Ram for a bit of a chat. However, that doesn’t last too long as the scene launches into a heart-pounding verbal confrontation between Emilia and Roswaal. It seems he is shaping up to be the antagonist of this part. Emilia finally got a chance to show that she is more than just talk.
That seen completely pulled me in. The way each comment would elicit a change in Ram’s grip on Emilia’s hand, or on Roswaal’s expression, so clearly dramatized their feelings that it almost felt like watching subtle real-live actors.
After Roswaal’s diatribe that he felt assured would turn Emilia into the hesitant, tearful damsel in distress, I was on the edge of my seat. How would she react? Would she back down and crush not only her future, but Ram’s hopes as well?
How she reacted was also lovingly animated. She placed her hand on her chest and took a breath. Then she opened her eyes, looked straight at Roswaal, and asked, “Is that all?”
She might as well have punched him in the face. That was some serious animation craftsmanship right there!
Just when we thought things would calm down as Emilia walked back into the temple from which she had just exited, the episode hurled us into a flashback. We were treated to the sight of a balmy exchange between Otto and Ram.
Wasn’t it great how Otto just popped out from behind a tree and was all like, “Hey, there, Ram. Nice weather we’re having today, eh?”
It was also awesome how she seemed to shoot him down after he said he thought he and Subaru could help her realize her dreams. He looked crestfallen until she said, “Give me more details.” That was classic Ram!
But wait, we don’t even have time to catch our breath when once again, Roswaal plays the villain, but with Ram this time. Back in the clone chamber, the two talk it out and Ram repeats what she told Emilia earlier but not as directly. Then Roswaal takes out a book.
Before the scene ends, we even get a glimpse of Puck who seems to be back already. What did you think of the mid-episode cliffhanger?
It was nice to see Puck in all of his cute-smug glory. I’m really curious to see how it ends up.
BTW: Did I see correctly around 19:45? Did Roswaal say he was one of the attackers on Ram’s home village? Did I get that right? Did we already know that, and I forgot?
I couldn’t help but notice that Roswaal’s character model was extremely inconsistent this episode. Maybe it’s cause we usually don’t see him that much and when we do, it tends to be from the same angle.
I saw that, too. I was able to put the observation aside because they apparently spent their animation budget on the small movements, especially in Roswaal’s conversation with Emilia.
Unless it’s really a clever plot, and Roswaal is undergoing some strange magical transformation? Probably not…
Despite all that, there is still one more act to the episode. We think that maybe, Subaru will be too late this time as Frederica must hold a dialogue with the witch cultist all by herself. Well not entirely alone, Petra was there for a brief time.
However, Petra got the chance to remove herself from the parlay and go look for Beatrice in empty rooms.
Frederica had to talk her into it! I love the affection that’s grown between the two of them. But Knifey is back! Not sure why I’m happy about that, except that as far as insane villains go, she’s really, really committed to her shtick. To a frightening level, actually…
Just when it seemed hopeless, little Petra was surprised by Subaru arriving in the nick of time. He managed to find Beatrice pretty quickly so it seems at least 2 girls should be ok.
My favorite quote from the episode was probably Subaru trying to comfort Petra by saying, “Just leave it all to me! …is what I’d like to say, but if I rush in there, I’ll be dead in a heartbeat. So I sent some super-strong reinforcements instead.”
Did you notice what he said to Beatrice? He’s going to take her outside to play until her dress is dirty. Finally, he gets her. After learning her history from Ryuuzu, and after his last experience trying to get her out of the mansion, Subaru thinks he knows what’ll give her a bit of happiness.
The final moments of the episode showed us that touching reunion between Frederica and Garfiel. The two even managed to catch up a bit and talk about old times. It’s nice to rekindle sibling bonds especially now that Garfiel is a new man.
His reaction to actually seeing her again made me laugh literally out loud. Come to think of it, since LOL really means to make a tiny smile in front of a computer screen, maybe we should make it LLOL when it’s real. Anyway, Garfiel, shocked, said, “Whoa! You’re huge!” Frederica didn’t seem to think it was funny.
The episode ends on something of a second cliffhanger as Garfiel tells his sister to grab Rem and run. Rem and run is fun to say and sounds like the mispronunciation of a cocktail name.
Next week, we’ll find out if Garfiel can actually hold that lady back and if they make it out of the mansion in one piece. My prediction is that everyone is going to be fine.
I think you’re probably right, but it’s going to be a heck of a fight!
Previous Posts
- Review of Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 39: STRAIGHT BET
- Re:Zero 2 pt 2 episode 40 – One More Time With Feeeeeeeeeeelings
- Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 41 – Young Garfiel And Simply Emilia
- Re:Zero 2 pt 2 episode 42 – Audaces fortuna iuvat
- Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 43 – Thought As a Child
- Re:Zero 2 pt 2 episode 44 – A World Full of Love
- Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45 – A (Literally) Shattered Heart and Clown Face Off
I might have to start reading the Norigami manga too . I loved the anime but I’m so sad to be waiting for new seasons . Also great review 💕
The manga is great. I still like the anime better just cause I like anime more in general but there’s definitely a lot of great story that didn’t get adapted.
Now I really want to read it now . I love the characters 💕Yato’s japanese voice actor is so amazing too , he voices a cockroach in Overlord but he’s still Yato to me 💕
Ohm had a really good post about why Roswaal took out his not-quite-Tome of Wisdom when he did. It did not occur to me that he was making a point about how he could save Ram and Rem’s village but chose not to to force them to be his servants.
On Ram, I know her relationship with Roswaal is still murky, but I am speculating about something regarding their relationship based off of what we’ve seen in Season 1 and Season 2, inferring that Roswaal is the one keeping Ram alive. Roswaal indicated in Season 1 at the end of the first arc that Ram had used a lot of mana, so he’ll have to tend to her, which entailed touching her horn area. At the time, I thought it had a sexual purpose given Ram’s reaction to it, but after episode 40 when Ram started bleeding from her horn area when she used her demon powers to fight Garfiel, it’s clear that Ram overburdened herself by attempting to tap into those powers without her horn, so given Roswaal’s remark that she had lost a lot of mana, I now conclude that Ram cannot regain her mana naturally because of her horn being cut off, meaning that Roswaal is the one keeping Ram alive. I remember in Season 1 during the White Whale fight that the Night Banisher’s brightness dimmed some time after Rem used her horn, which shows that demon horns draw in mana from the atmosphere, and that’s how I came to this conclusion.
Oh, good thinking, Ohm. That didn’t occur to me, but it’s those kinds of small context details in Re:zero that are important to understanding what just happened.
I wonder how Garfiel can win given that Elsa’s ability is still very much unknown to viewers. Can she undo certain types of damage, have really fast regeneration, or does she just have multiple lives? I think Garfiel should at least be strong enough to reveal what Elsa’s true power is.
Irina, I just want to note that I don’t think it’s ever been shown that Elsa is a witch cultist. With Roswaal being able to see the future and being her employer, she would of course know to attack the mansion residents without a Witch Cult Gospel.
“Irina, I just want to note that I don’t think it’s ever been shown that Elsa is a witch cultist. With Roswaal being able to see the future and being her employer, she would of course know to attack the mansion residents without a Witch Cult Gospel.”
I agree with that pov. I think Elsa is more just a mercenary. She is a crazy one but I think she doesn’t follow any specific ideals similar to Roswal. She is just a hired help to kill certain people.
Man I feel like I’m missing out on Frozen
I think I might have assumed based entirely on the fashion choices. But her companion is a cultist no, The little one we saw in part 1? Again I could be assuming but I thought I heard that
This ep was so good. It had me on pins and needles the entire time. Emilia has gotten way more badass since the season started, and I liked the scene where she holds hands with Ram. The worst part was building up that epic fight with Ram, Puck and Roswaal and then cutting away to the mansion. At least the next episode will have a ton of action, and Beako is back too 😅
I’m glad you liked it!
Man, they really left us in some suspense this time didn’t they? Also happy to hear that you’ve been reading Noragami further.
I ran out of Noragami manga at volume 15 but I’ll get the rest in my next haul. I’m trying to wait until May. Not sure if I’ll make it
I think what Roswal meant something different regarding being one of the attackers. While he made that statement, he is holding up the gospel. This can mean that the statement and the gospel he is holding is related. Maybe he meant that he knew the attack was gonna happen and did nothing but simply play the part of the savior for the Oni sisters so as to earn their servitude. This can then state further things about his beliefs. He would regard choosing to not save the village to be equivalent to being an active participant in the village’s destruction.
I think so as well.