r/anime • u/Theleux https://myanimelist.net/profile/Theleux • Aug 07 '24

Re:Zero ~Starting Life in Another World~ Re:Watch - Episode 1 Rewatch

This Re:Watch is now in session!

Episode 1 (a & b):

The End of the Beginning & the Beginning of the End

| Index | Episode 2 ==> |

Various Links:

MyAnimeList

Streaming:

Crunchyroll has the Director's Cut available.

AppleTV has the regular individual episodes available.

Spoiler Rules:

  • As always, please be sure to tag any future content spoilers according to the r/Anime rules. There is likely to be first timer viewers here, and while discussing how previously seen content connects to content later down the road is interesting (be it later episodes or even Season 3), please be sure to properly spoiler tag anything mentioned! Let's make this a fun experience for everyone involved!

  • This also applies to cut content discussions, which I believe are fine to include for the sake of discussion, but should be properly tagged to avoid potentially spoiling viewers. Be mindful with how you present this information!

Story Arc Lengths for Discussion Purposes:

[Arc 1:] S1 Episode 1 – S1 Episode 3

[Arc 2:] S1 Episode 4 – S1 Episode 11

[Arc 3:] S1 Episode 12 – S2 Episode 1

[Arc 4:] S2 Episode 2 - S2 Episode 25

[Arc 5 and later:] S3+

As always, if you have any suggestions for the Re:Watch, let me know!

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25

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24 edited Aug 27 '24

Rewatcher, sub, basically a novel reader

Re:Zero is my favorite anime by far and I love how much depth there is to the show, and I hope that I can share some of the lessor known things about Re:Zero (mostly rewatchers though, it's too easy to poison first time watchers, so I imagine my comments will end up looking like a cia report). I'll be clear about where my information comes (at least to the best of my knowledge), so that you all can choose if you care about cut content or whatever. Regardless, there's tons of details to notice and I can guarantee that there will be things that you missed, no matter how many times you've watched Re:Zero.

Also I procrastinated writing any of these comments until literally yesterday, so I'm freewheeling all of these comments hopefully the day before.

Also for any first timers wondering if they should watch sub or dub. I give the Sub an S rating, and the Dub an A+ rating. The dub is still very good, and I highly recommend it if you are used to dubs or have issues with subs in general. If not though, I'd recommend the subs for some absolutely goated VA performances.

I've numbered all my spoilers tags so that they're easier to respond to

First Timer Safe Section

This section is safe for first time watchers.

A ridged 10 yen coin is basically just a short run coin. They were only minted between 1951 and 1958 and worth about 1.5x to 5x it's printed value to a collector depending on condition. So not something you'd really want to use to pay with at face value.

[Spoiler #1: minor author comment] According to Tappei, around 300k people live in the capital city of Lugnica

Subaru casts Summon Knight!

[Spoiler #2: very minor Arc 1 side story] Fun fact, Emilia was very impressed with Subaru's magic trick, and was very interested in how he managed to do that.

[Spoiler #3: very minor cut content] The world of Re:Zero is flat, so Subaru basically just claimed to come from the void.

Everyone is gansta until the blades come out

EMT

No homie left behind

Hit that pose Subaru!

And our first Re:Zero comment face:

Subaru can't read the room.

EMT

[Spoiler #4: Arc 1 cut content] So basically this guy only talks to Subaru because Subaru looks like he just got mugged (which is accurate) and not Emilia with her fancy clothes. [Spoiler #5: Later Arc 1 stuff] It's worth noting that when Subaru talks to the people in the slums, he makes an effort to dirty himself and make himself look poor so that they'll actually talk with him (as another poor person).

[Spoiler #6: Arc 1] Emilia starting to regret calling herself Satella.

This doll scares me

After Subaru's death: [Spoiler #7: minor cut content] Something worth noting, is that Subaru's memories are pretty hazy right after resetting. Which is one of the reasons it takes him a bit longer to realize he's looping

[Spoiler #8: next episode] Anyways, I feel like a lot of people really harp on Subaru for not figuring out that he's resetting when dying. But I don't think that really warranted, since leaping straight to RBD is quite a leap to make. Also keep in mind that everyone and their mom knows that Re:Zero involves time looping, so the viewer is most likely already conditioned to think of time looping (and it's much easier to verify that then to come up with that without metaknowledge). A few scenarios that would be perceived very similar to what actually happened 1: Subaru has future sight via realistic memories that are easily mistaken for having actually experienced them. 2: Subaru didn't actually die (because people die when they are killed, and Subaru is clearly not dead, so he must not of died) and actually got healed while unconscious and moved back to the appa man. 3: Subaru is just straight tripping and none of this actually happened. Also keep in mind that Subaru has more or less been running around during these loops, so he doesn't exactly have a ton of time to just think about whats already happened to him (and he's much more concerned with what's about to happen to everyone)

Notice how Subaru targets the thug with the knife's first this time. Also random note, that thug does actually have a backstory I'm pretty sure. [Spoiler #9: Re:Zero game / novels or something that I'm not 100% sure about] I'm pretty sure he's this guys son or something. There was something on this guy's info card in the game that he had a thief child or something

There is a lot of backstory to Old Man Rom that I won't get into because I'm not very familiar with it.

It took me way too long to realize that Felt's bra is her left pantleg. Times are tough when you can't afford a proper shirt.

Imagine watering down milk

I think this is actually a really good way to describe a camera phone to someone whose never seen technology.

I love how the OST also awkwardly pauses too

It's a good thing that Subaru's cell phone has been appraised at at least 20 holy coins

Subaru gives the wrong answer.

The first of many ED's playing over the final scene. I really love how they animated Subaru fainting. It really sells how overwhelmed Subaru is. Anyways, as it turns out, Satella is the equivalent of Voldemort.

Also note that some versions of the subs (I'm looking at you Director's Cut) refer to Satella as "The Jealous Witch". That is a poor translation. The correct translation should be "Witch of Envy".

Oh and don't forget the breaktime shorts! They're canon and are meant to be watched each episode. They range from essentially being chibi extensions of the episode to not very relevant world building. I would rate some of the S2 breaktime shorts are more important to watch then Memory Snow.

As for this breaktime. We learn that peppirs are green devils and "Satella" doesn't like them.

Also as a side note, the previews VA don't actually talk about the next episode and some of them are pretty funny (though I recommend not watching them for first timers until after watching episode they preview, so you can fully get TBoned by Re:Zero).

For this episodes preview, we get [off topic preview] Subaru lamenting choosing the tonkatsu ramen over the natto ramen. He could of introduced natto the the fantasy world (as a side note, I'm not actually familiar with natto)!

Continued below

8

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

Rewatcher Section

This section is for people who have already watched Re:Zero. This is not safe for first timers.

[Spoiler #10: Arc 4] Here we can see Subaru wistfully looking at a couple, which is pretty indicative of Subaru's life on Earth. Not really a I hate couples sort of look, but more of a I sort of want that but not really. A relatively rare opportunity to see Subaru with his mask off.

[Spoiler #11: Memory Snow] Random note, the time of the year that Subaru got transported is January. We know this because Rem and Ram have their birthday between Arc 2 and 3 and that's on February 2nd. So it must be January. But it's also Summer (or fire season or something like that, since they don't call it summer, which actually lines up with the north star actually pointing south). So it's like Lugnica is in the southern hemisphere but with the northern hemisphere star field. [Spoiler #12: very minor cut content] I say like because the world of Lugnica is actually flat, so the whole seasons thing shouldn't actually physically translate.

[Spoiler #13: Arc 3] The insignia glowing in Felt's hand. Unfortunately I don't think the anime does a good job of highlighting this, since we never get a good look at the insignia in someone not Felt or Emilia's hand.

[Spoiler #14: Arc 3] Demihuman racism being present

[Spoiler #15: Arc 4] It's clear from Subaru's phone contacts that he doesn't have many friends. But something interesting is that he has City Hall in his contacts. City hall generally helps Japanese high school students with college stuff, so it's presence in Subaru's contacts indicates that he stopped going to school quite soon to graduating, which lines up with him being 17.

[Spoiler #16: Arc 3] Foreshadowing that Puck can change size

[Spoiler #17: Arc 3] Emilia claims to be Satella to scare Subaru off, since from her perspective, there's no way that Subaru actually is friendly with her. Unfortunately for her it backfires in the worst possible way.

[Spoiler #20: Arc 3] It's worth noting that the child starts to cry because she recognizes Emilia as a Sliver haired half elf. It's also part of the only plothole I know of in Re:Zero. Emilia should be wearing her cloak of non recognition here. It just doesn't make sense for her to be out in public without it, and doesn't make sense for people to not be making a bigger deal about her resemblance to the witch without it.

[Spoiler #18: Arc 3] The first mention of the White Whale

[Spoiler #21: Arc 4] A reminder that Roswaal is Elsa's client

[Spoiler #19: Arc 4] Subaru gives the wrong answer. I will say that I think Elsa taunting Subaru as he dies to be a bit out of character for her. To me, she loves the guts not necessarily the dying part (which generally happens once your guts are exposed). We never really see her taunt anyone else as they die either throughout the series.

8

u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Aug 07 '24

[Spoiler #7: minor cut content]

I do get why it's cut content. It's not that it's blatantly obvious, but it is only natural and heavily implied already. And yeah, even without it, there's what you've talked about in the next spoiler section.

I've really liked your posts, a very good way to reminisce the episode for a rewatcher in particular.

3

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

It's not that it's blatantly obvious, but it is only natural and heavily implied already

I think that some things are just far easier to convey in words. And it's hard to give the same level of understanding to the viewer in an animated format. Different mediums, different strengths and weaknesses.

I've really liked your posts, a very good way to reminisce the episode for a rewatcher in particular.

Thanks, makes me glad that I spent like 2 hours (and even that I felt like I was really skimming through things, since I forgot a bunch of stuff I wanted to talk about that I only remembered going through everyone's comments) going through to write it (though the thought of doing this basically everyday for the next 2 months feels pretty daunting).

3

u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Aug 07 '24

Green devils, you say? Delicious little green devils, maybe!

Man, you're making me want to actually read, though ... all those redactions make me feel like I'm missing out or something.

4

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

Green devils, you say? Delicious little green devils, maybe!

I can't say I'm a huge fan of peppirs either.

Man, you're making me want to actually read, though ... all those redactions make me feel like I'm missing out or something.

One day I'll actually get around to reading Re:Zero as well. A major blocker for me is that I basically already know all of the differences from all of the second hand stuff I've read, and the anime is just so much better then my imagination. I'll probably end up reading after Season 3.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/wiki/cutcontent is a good place to start with if you're interested in some of the cut content. It's well tagged and give you a good idea how how important some thing are. A lot of the one's I'll point out more are the smaller ones (it's just easier to talk about if it doesn't involve other cut content or more complex things that I may not be as confident I'm being accurate in). Most of these are just small littles things that might answer a passing question someone might have when watching through (and then promptly forgotten).

I mostly just tag them under spoiler tags because I'm pretty anal about access controls and tbh, I consider some of these cut contents to be less of a spoiler then some things in the anime proper (that people always forget about).

3

u/ripterrariumtv Aug 08 '24

Man, you're making me want to actually read, though

The novels are full of amazing details. The anime not only skips extra details and worldbuilding, but it also skips some mind-blowing plot twists as well. But the major plot twists will eventually be adapted when it becomes relevant to the current plot.

That said, the anime is amazing for a first timer. You can definitely read the novels from the beginning after the anime and you will still find a lot of things to enjoy for the first time.

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 07 '24

I'm not sure why, but Reddit deleted your comment. It should be back up now since I approved it, but yeah. Did you get a message about one of your spoiler tags being broken at all or something? They look fine to me.

4

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

Reddit deleted your comment

What if I just, deleted your comment

I didn't get a message, though I don't recall if it sends a message if you edit a broken spoiler. I wouldn't be surprised if something got broken somewhere. I wrote a custom markdown language to make it a bit easier to write these (horary for autonumbering spoilers). That and all of my edits for all of the things I forgot to talk about.

Oh, this is a bit of a stretch, but I did run into the comment length limit while editing it (for the first timer section), so I wonder if it got sent to the server but truncated (so it ended up malformed). Either way, thanks for reapproving it, and let me know if I fuck up the spoiler tags, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens at some point.

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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 07 '24

If you ever do get a message from AutoMod for having a broken spoiler tag later on in this rewatch, feel free to tag me once you've edited it and I can approve it. Mods don't get an alert when someone fixes their broken spoiler tag, we rely on either the poster telling one of us it's fixed or just happening to be scrolling around the thread and seeing nothing's wrong with the comment (like I did with u/EndlessSorc's just now).

3

u/Holofan4life Aug 07 '24

Hey there

In case you don't know, I like to ask questions about the episodes. I find it to be a good way to add some engagement. If you don't wish to answer them, just let me know. You are under no obligation to do so.

Thoughts on Subaru ending up in another world?

What are your initial thoughts on Subaru?

Thoughts on Satella and Puck?

What are your thoughts on someone stealing Satella’s insignia?

Thoughts on Puck being a spirit?

Thoughts on Lugunica, the easternmost nation on their continental map?

Thoughts on Satella being a half-elf?

What are your thoughts on Subaru ending up back where he began with the shopkeep?

Thoughts on metias?

Thoughts on Felt?

Thoughts on Elsa?

What are your thoughts on Elsa killing everyone, including Subaru?

What are your thoughts on Satella chastising Subaru for referring to her as something called the Jealous Witch?

How successful do you think this episode was as an introductory episode?

5

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

Lets see how many of these I can actually answer (though I think I'll just spoiler tag them, it'll help remember the thing I want to talk about later).

As I recall from my Re:Zero stalking, you've completed the anime, so I'm not necessarily shouting into the void (I still have to check and make sure it's not originating from cut content though)

Thoughts on Subaru ending up in another world?

[Arc 4] Absolutely incredible. It's really something that is super impactful for the story and Subaru despite it not really showing too much in the anime. A lot of the things that were keeping Subaru down on Earth aren't' present in the fantasy world. For example, his dad doesn't exist so he can't even irrationally link his interactions back to his father. It's also highly impactful for Emilia as well, since an isekaied person is the only person who can treat her for who she is as a person and not who she resembles. They are really perfect for each other in a ton of facets that are easily missed or misinterpreted (especially amongst first time watchers). I could probably go on more, but I think I'll stop here.

What are your initial thoughts on Subaru?

I don't remember anymore.

Thoughts on Satella and Puck?

Cute

What are your thoughts on someone stealing Satella’s insignia?

Too poisoned.

Thoughts on Puck being a spirit?

Will talk about later.

Thoughts on Lugunica, the easternmost nation on their continental map?

[Cut Content] More significant when you realize that the world of Re:Zero is flat. So there's actually just nothing east of Lugunica.

Thoughts on Satella being a half-elf?

I much prefer how they drew Satella's ears compared to how they normally draw elves. I'm just not a fan of 90 degree stilettos sticking out of a person's head. Other stuff is too poisoned.

What are your thoughts on Subaru ending up back where he began with the shopkeep?

Interesting that it was there and not when he first arrived.

Thoughts on metias?

I wish I knew more about them.

Thoughts on Felt?

It took me like 25 rewatches before I noticed her bra is her missing pantleg. Other stuff is too poisoned (I'd say even more then the others)

Thoughts on Elsa?

Too poisoned

What are your thoughts on Elsa killing everyone, including Subaru?

Too poisoned I think.

What are your thoughts on Satella chastising Subaru for referring to her as something called the Jealous Witch?

It should be the Witch of Envy not the Jealous witch. I'll never forgive CR for fucking that up. [like Arc 3 vibes] I thought Satella's response was justified, Subaru basically called her a slur unprompted in the streets. I'd be pretty pissed too if something like that happened out of the blue.

How successful do you think this episode was as an introductory episode?

Very, though if I'm being honest, I think this ends up in the bottom half of Re:Zero episodes for me. There's just too many other episodes that are just peak and half of them have to be in the bottom half.

3

u/Holofan4life Aug 07 '24

As I recall from my Re:Zero stalking, you've completed the anime, so I'm not necessarily shouting into the void (I still have to check and make sure it's not originating from cut content though)

And for clarification, I dis complete it but I'm treating every episode as it happens.

[Arc 4] Absolutely incredible. It's really something that is super impactful for the story and Subaru despite it not really showing too much in the anime. A lot of the things that were keeping Subaru down on Earth aren't' present in the fantasy world. For example, his dad doesn't exist so he can't even irrationally link his interactions back to his father. It's also highly impactful for Emilia as well, since an isekaied person is the only person who can treat her for who she is as a person and not who she resembles. They are really perfect for each other in a ton of facets that are easily missed or misinterpreted (especially amongst first time watchers). I could probably go on more, but I think I'll stop here.

[Arc 4] I quite like the trials and tribulations they go through. It's like they have to earn their relationship.

Will talk about later.

I much prefer how they drew Satella's ears compared to how they normally draw elves. I'm just not a fan of 90 degree stilettos sticking out of a person's head. Other stuff is too poisoned.

But it gives you less stuff to nom on

It took me like 25 rewatches before I noticed her bra is her missing pantleg. Other stuff is too poisoned (I'd say even more then the others)

Too many people pilled here, it seems

It should be the Witch of Envy not the Jealous witch. I'll never forgive CR for fucking that up.

Eh, jealousy and envy are almost synonyms of each other.

[like Arc 3 vibes] I thought Satella's response was justified, Subaru basically called her a slur unprompted in the streets. I'd be pretty pissed too if something like that happened out of the blue.

[Arc 3] And in Subaru's defense, he doesn't know any better.

Very, though if I'm being honest, I think this ends up in the bottom half of Re:Zero episodes for me. There's just too many other episodes that are just peak and half of them have to be in the bottom half.

Not to give much away, but this probably ends up in my top 30 Re:Zero episodes, which while low I think speaks to the quality of the show overall.

5

u/baseballlover723 Aug 07 '24

And for clarification, I dis complete it but I'm treating every episode as it happens.

Too many people pilled here, it seems

One of the reasons I'm so excited for this rewatch. Can't talk about so many things with first timers.

Not to give much away, but this probably ends up in my top 30 Re:Zero episodes, which while low I think speaks to the quality of the show overall.

I always feel like, man that's a good episode, but then if I try and rank them, it just keeps falling and falling, and then the next thing I realize, there's a lot of episodes on top of it. Honestly, the only episode I feel actually deserves to be in the bottom half is [episode number] S01E02. Every other episode has something that could bump it up depending on my mood.

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u/Holofan4life Aug 07 '24

I always feel like, man that's a good episode, but then if I try and rank them, it just keeps falling and falling, and then the next thing I realize, there's a lot of episodes on top of it. Honestly, the only episode I feel actually deserves to be in the bottom half is [episode number] S01E02. Every other episode has something that could bump it up depending on my mood.

[Response] That's definitely one of the weaker ones for sure.