The Self-Proclaimed Knight and the Greatest of Knights / That's All This Story Is About

Today, April 1, is both the birthday of Re:Zero's protagonist, Natsuki Subaru, and the day of the new edit version's final episode! That was fast. It was a three-month sprint. Please see Subaru's great adventure through to the end. I'm sure everything will be okay, no matter what happens. Yes, as long as the Dragon Balls exist!!

Last time, Natsuki Subaru cornered Petelgeuse to within one final step, and yet lost his life. Where he returned to was the meeting where they had begun discussing how to defeat the White Whale and Petelgeuse.

By the way, the reason Ricardo's first line is "You okay, kid?" is because in text form he'd be indistinguishable from the fruit shop old man otherwise, so it's there to make everyone panic.

Even I don't have the recklessness to do the White Whale battle one more time.

While everyone else is thinking, "What the hell did he suddenly start talking about?", Julius is the only one seriously considering the options and presenting possibilities, so yeah, things really would have been rough without Julius.

"I'm one of the possible vessels too," is basically a Witch Cult confession at this point.

A subliminal Priscilla-sama insult. It looked like it didn't bother him that much at the time, but you can see it actually hit him really hard.

Puck is fine when there's already something to do, but he's not suited to being an advisor when nothing's been decided yet. Unlike Rem, I think this one is total unconditional affirmation.

The reason Wilhelm-san introduces himself here as "Wilhelm Trias" is partly to avoid complications that would come with using the Astrea name, but from Wilhelm-san's own perspective it's because he sees himself as someone who "left the Astrea family." That too is a pretty one-sided way of thinking, which is why things are messy in the Astrea family, gaa gaa.

They'll have Ram guide them to the "Sanctuary." Please remember this.

The theatrical man in the cat-ear hood who appears here is using an effect that interferes with recognition, so his true identity can't be discerned. Emilia isn't just being airheaded, okay!?

For the record, that perception-obstructing robe is the one Emilia left behind when she and Subaru fought in Episode 13 and parted ways. I had her leave it there so it could be used here. The kind of foreshadowing nobody notices...

Basically, the kids of Arlam Village are good kids, so this is a pretty exceptional reaction too. Whether Emilia really wouldn't be disliked by the children was a gamble. But thanks to all the days leading up to this, Subaru knew it was a gamble he could win.

A bond has formed between Emilia-tan and the children. ~Happy End~

It's not over. What Kety-san, the Witch Cultist who exploded last time, is holding is a "Metia" called a "Conversation Mirror." It's something that lets paired mirrors communicate with each other. Among the not-so-numerous Metia, it's actually a fairly common one. There are all kinds of mirrors too, from hand mirrors to full-length mirrors.

Subaru-kun says it in a cool way here, but I think that really is the scariest thing about "Return by Death." That's why I think "Return by Death" is the scariest ability of all.

"Oh? Of that Margrave Mathers... would you mind if I took a long, careful look later?" is what he's thinking.

Opening with a full prostration right out of the gate...! Deeper, like you're gouging into the ground! Full prostration is the ultimate clinging to life...!

By the way, as I said before, the old man is a fake village chief named Muraosa. The rejuvenated old lady is the real village chief.

Recovering the Conversation Mirror is the goal, but here the key person of this episode gets picked up too!!

Honestly, in terms of being a lucky find, this guy is the biggest lucky find in all of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-.

Here comes Petelgeuse.

Petelgeuse is overjoyed. Witch Cultists aside, among those blessed with favor on the level of a Sin Archbishop, there isn't a single person who treats him this properly...

But in the end, once someone says, "Show me your Gospel," this whole discussion is doomed.

Patrasche Attack!! Natsuki Subaru's strongest strike.

Freely visiting (♥ direct attack)

Even though he can see them, the reason he can dodge is because Subaru, who can see the "Unseen Hand," has these tiny scared reactions, and Patrasche is accurately reading the attacks for him.

To people who can't see the "Unseen Hand," it looks like he's curled up and flying around like that.

Out of all of Mimi's lines, "If we win here, it'll be so cool!" is my favorite.

Do you remember? When episodes 6-7 aired, I said I wanted you to remember this place--!

That cliff Julius casually jumped down from is the same cliff Subaru flung himself off of and committed suicide from. Julius landed it casually, though.

The spell she used when she dispelled Nee-sama's illusion over the subjugation force is a sensory-sharing magic called "Nect." Using that, Subaru and Julius are sharing vision so they can deal with the Unseen Hand.

It's really nice how they use two colors for "The Self-Proclaimed Knight and the Finest of Knights."

That said, even if Julius can see through Nect, what he's seeing is still "Subaru's field of vision," so of course he's stuck with Subaru's blinking timing, and on top of that he's basically fighting while watching himself from a third-person perspective. Only because Julius is such an absurd guy can he pull that off.

Julius has his eyes closed because if he kept them open, Subaru would get Julius's field of vision too, and then the visuals would keep doubling over and over and make them feel sick. Even so, he's still putting his life on the line, so yeah, it's nuts.

Because of the previous experience, Subaru knew that if it was right after Petelgeuse had "possessed" someone, resistance was still possible. So he knew Petelgeuse would try to possess him at the very end too. Why, I wonder. But I knew. Like, "You'll choose me."

In fact, just like he said, Subaru was prepared to keep calling the Witch until he could drive Petelgeuse out no matter how many times it took, but it wasn't that Petelgeuse lacked patience so much as... well, the result is what matters here.

"You were slothful" was something I absolutely wanted said at the moment Petelgeuse was finally defeated.

The commercial break comes early. Because from here on, it's nonstop.

Otto started checking the roster on his own because there wasn't really anything in particular for him to do, but this is already the point where his quietly invaluable contributions begin...

Right there, Patrasche and Fulfu looking at each other like, "Right foot first? Left foot first? On three?" really makes it look like they're coordinating with each other, haha.

By the way, this rampage is what Otto's running style looks like when he's hurrying in that feverish, three-days-straight kind of way.

After all, if it's the final battle, you've gotta be chased by a tenacious boss character. You know, I'm a kid of the Biohazard generation...

It looks like these little ones are clinging to Emilia and begging for help, but actually they're clinging to her to protect her.

Please remember that this oil is here. It might pay off in season 2 of the anime.

Subaru-kun really uses whatever the other person is clinging to as his trump card. And the thing he wrote in blood on the Gospel at the end was the katakana character "I" from "owari."

That way the Witch Cultists run is the Naruto run, right? Whether it's actually fast or not aside, it looks exhausting.

Subaru-kun holding back hard even though there's so much he really wants to say.

Subaru-dono really is a man with impeccable timing, at least.

I've said before that Arc 3 is the arc that exists because I wanted to make him say "I hate myself" and one other line, and that other line is "I love you, Emilia." That's all this is, really.

Please notice that in the part that just exploded, Patrasche curls up around Subaru to protect him. One of the strongest heroine powers in the Re:Zero world--! (The other heroines are a little too brawny.)

By the way, it was also Patrasche's cry that told Emilia where they were here.

That final scene is so nice—the background and BGM while Subaru and Emilia are talking are very gentle.

"A bad dream... no, a good dream" is a Chaos Hero homage.

That final line, "Thank you, Subaru. For saving me" wasn't in the Web version, but it was added in the light novel. And if I remember right, during a script meeting (at the time, we were still working on volume 9 of the books), producer Yoshikawa-san said to me, "Doesn't she have to say that?"...

No, seriously, there were a few times in script meetings where it was like, "Wait, shouldn't I have been the one to notice that?!" but this was probably the biggest one, yeah... I reflect on that.

And with that, thank you for sticking with the first season of the Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- anime!

Oh my, oh my? A C-part?

For the record, back in the Web version, I did leave a two-day gap, okay?

That final scene was posted on the web on April Fools' Day. In other words, it was April 1st, just like today. My thanks to everyone involved for arranging the broadcast date to line up with that day. And I'm a little put off by just how seriously they committed to it. Adults are scary.

And from the author's perspective, this was also Natsuki Subaru's very first birthday--!

Well then, everyone, thank you for these past three months! Unfortunately, season 2 was postponed to July, but if it hadn't been, it would've started next week, and when I think about that, I realize I was not mentally prepared at all. What an incredible three months. Let's meet again in July! Until then, please go back and rewatch the new edit version and all that!