Return to the Capital / Self-Proclaimed Knight Natsuki Subaru

I feel like I say this every week, but one week goes by fast! So today it's episodes 12 and 13! Starting today, arc 3 begins! The "Who the heck are these people!?" tease we got a glimpse of last time while the snow was falling is showing up. Look forward to it!

It's funny just hearing Levi pronounce "Symphogear."

It started. Opening with Rajio Taiso.

In the last episode, he helped spread the snow festival in Arlam Village, and like that, he also makes mayonnaise, spreads Rajio Taiso, and introduces little bits of fun here and there. Notably, none of it makes any money.

The cat-ear robe Emilia is wearing is called a "recognition-inhibiting robe." Anyone Emilia hasn't given permission to can only perceive her vaguely at a glance. That's how she hides the fact that she's a half-elf.

In other-world stories, it feels pretty standard to make money with mayonnaise, but the reason Subaru doesn't use it to make a profit is that he's reached enlightenment as a mayo fanatic: "A true mayo lover could never charge money for the chance to spread mayonnaise..."

That coachman seemed like he wasn't ordinary, and he isn't.

This is Subaru, whose Gate is feeling pretty lousy because he used Shamak after doping himself beyond his limits in the final battle of Arc 2. It's like making untrained muscles do something unreasonable.

x "He stepped into the 'death zone.'" o "He stepped over the 'death zone.'"

About this flashback: ground dragons have a special ability called the "Wind Evasion Blessing," which normally lets them avoid feeling shaking and wind. However, Subaru raised his arm and stuck it out of that area, so he slipped outside the blessing's protection and got hit by the wind directly.

I skipped over some of the in-between, but Kadomon, the fruit shop owner, had completely forgotten Subaru. That was a conversation he remembered only after they talked a bit.

Th-there he is! A lovely, charming villain!!

He is Julius Juukulius. A knightly knight, through and through. Also, he properly remembers that "curry udon" advice from earlier. Someday, when he eats curry udon, the day will come when he thanks Subaru for it.

Personally, I like the openly malicious take of, "You went and slobbered all over Emilia-tan's hand!"

There are plenty of punks and thugs in the royal capital, but these three, Tonchinkan, are the unluckiest and most ill-timed punks in the whole city.

By the way, Tonchinkan's real names are Gaston for the big one, Latins for the middle one, and Kanbari for the small one.

"There was nothing wrong with me" is simply the truth.

"Of all families, the Astrea house..." is a line that fits Rom-jii being an old man with all sorts of history piled up behind him. Rom-jii fans who love Rom-jii should check out EX 2: Sword Demon Love Ballad!

Emilia and Subaru are talking past each other here, but Pack's conversation with her before the date at the end of the last Snow Festival is having quite an impact.

A brief appearance from Schult-chan (on the driver's seat). Priscilla's attendant, a little shota boy who looks great in short pants.

The person talking with Priscilla is named Marcos Gildark, the captain of the Royal Guard. In terms of pure ability, he's second in the kingdom only to Reinhard. If they fought normally, he's about as strong as Roswaal.

By the way, Roswaal had secretly considered the possibility that Subaru might show up, so he had the Mathers family crest sewn into the inside of the butler uniform to prepare a way to prove his identity. But Subaru got in by a different method, so Roswaal was a little surprised too.

Also, the vice-captain of the Royal Guard is absent.

Subaru was about to butt in unnecessarily, so Al stepped in midway and stopped him.

The royal selection candidates were super important characters in Re:Zero. In the books, they first appear from volume 4 onward, so when Otsuka-sensei designed all of them at once, including the knights, I remember being incredibly moved...

The peach-haired twins standing behind Felt are named Flam and Grassis. They're the granddaughters of the elderly couple who serve Reinhard's house. They may not look it, but they're pretty strong. About 15 times stronger than Subaru.

Felt has reappeared wearing a dress, but quietly enough, her hair and everything have also been properly cleaned up. Dressed up from the slums!

Reinhard comments, "It suits you very well," and he's the one who chose it with his "Divine Protection of Clothing."

The man with the villainous beard is Mr. Rickert, the head of the civil officials. He's not just fairly important, he's also someone who holds a rather weighty position in the royal castle.

Priscilla was actually pretty seriously considering killing him just now, but Reinhard stepped in and stopped her.

These are the royal selection candidates' statements of intent, but in the original they're a bit longer, and they talk more about their own ways of doing things. This is a shortened version that mostly keeps the main points.

The man with the amazing blue eyebrows is Bordeaux Zellgef. Because of various things in the past, his contempt for demi-humans is quite strong. If you're curious, check out EX 2: Sword Demon Love Ballad.

The shock caused by this declaration lingers quite a bit even later on.

The ones gathered in this royal castle chamber are elites among the kingdom's knights, those in the position of Royal Guards. There are several other knight orders besides them, so the Royal Guards really are the proper top-tier knights of the kingdom.

"I know full well that I'm weak!" can sound cool depending on how you hear it, but personally I think Julius's reply, "Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of, but neither is it something to be proud of," is pretty much the truth. Hang in there, Subaru.

He couldn't argue back, so it was just sour grapes, and he ended up being thoroughly shunned by the Royal Guards. It can't really be helped.

The white-haired old gentleman is Lord Miklotov McMahon. In a kingdom without a king, he holds a very weighty office. He's an intelligent man, but he can also be properly ruthless.

What Rom-jii used was a hidden passage in the royal castle. And why does Rom-jii know about such a hidden passage...? Oh? Could it be Sword Demon Love Ballad?_

Felt's insistence on smashing the existing order really feels like a protagonist. That's the orthodox route. As I've said before, Subaru is the heretical route.

Five knights and five candidates. A seriously hype setup.

A literal public execution.

All of the royal selection candidates seem to understand the meaning behind Subaru and Julius's mock duel.

Subaru's trump card, "Shamak," but Julius is top-class in the kingdom in both swordsmanship and magic, so well, it doesn't really work on him.

His teeth, bones, and all sorts of things were completely wrecked, but under the terms agreed upon beforehand for the mock battle, Ferris healed him exactly as needed. His teeth and bones are fine.

It's become, "Just like Pack said, Subaru gets hurt because he pushes himself too hard for my sake..."

This scene was a very important moment in the anime adaptation, so I remember the whole thing being included in the audition script. Honestly, I think the acting here was what decided on Kobayashi-san and Takahashi-san.

"Because you saved me" is an undeniable fact, but it's a debt of gratitude that will never reach anyone.

The penalty kicked in just now when he tried to talk about "Return by Death." He can't say it.

When you strip away everything he can't say and only what he can say remains, this is what Subaru becomes when he has no room to spare.

"I thought you wouldn't treat me specially" and "There's no way I could avoid treating only you specially" are tragically talking past each other in terms of meaning. Japanese is hard.

By the way, the ED changes starting this episode, and having this be the first "Stay Alive" is quite a bold move. This time we get the FULL version thanks to the new edit, so it really leaves an afterglow!

"Self-proclaimed knight" really is so pitiful.

So with that, from the original author's perspective, this was the part of Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- that I absolutely wanted to write! Those two were on a date just last week. So, see you again next week! The bottom is still yet to come!