Empty Shell

Now then, it's Wednesday again this week! Re:Zero day! You think I'm here earlier than usual? That's right. Actually, I regret that last week I was completely plastered and couldn't do proper live commentary, so I'm going to do a self-run live commentary for episode 74 on my own. The live commentary for episode 75 starts at 11 PM, so please join that too!

Episode 74 began with a nostalgic greeting. Since the end of the previous one felt pretty abrupt, some people may not have understood it, but just as the subtitle indicates: Natsuki Subaru has returned to his first day in another world, mentally speaking.

Naturally, Emilia and Beatrice are bewildered by a greeting meant as if they were meeting for the first time. Seeing the days they've built up for over a year suddenly collapse like this leaves them shaken, and even Subaru reads the room.

Emilia-tan's cute cheeks are bright red!

In this episode, I want you to pay attention to the reactions of the people around Subaru that are inserted here and there. The parts left unspoken are expressed exquisitely through the visuals.

The OP! Isn't that the OP!? We meet again, OP!

"I want you to tell me your name" was the wish Subaru held in Arc 1, but by bringing that up first, was what passed through Emilia a sense of understanding, or perhaps an even deeper loneliness than before?

Now then, when Subaru gets reset, of course it's hard on Subaru too, but there are several people in this tower right now who are directly affected by it.

The "blinding spell" is also something he did back in Arc 2. Between that and the name thing, is he planning to blaze through events from Arc 1 to Arc 6 at high speed...?

Starting with "nice to meet you" when the relationships are already fully established is pretty tough, but when a third party deliberately lays out those relationships for you, it really is a strangely assembled group all over again.

Julius can't say anything. Thinking back on what happened last night, that's only to be expected.

About "Emilia-chan" here, what did all of you watching think when you heard it? If it made you feel like something was off, or just creeped you out, then I couldn't be more pleased.

Ram creates a moment for the two of them to be alone so she can press Subaru about his behavior, but she is far from calm inside. Ram’s reaction here does reflect her trust that Subaru has something in mind, but more than that, she had left it to Subaru to verify the existence of Rem—a twin sister she does not know.

Julius barely managed to pull himself back together. The fact that he can still put on a calm face is impressive, in a way... and also sad.

Eridona's confession here must be truly bewildering for an amnesiac Subaru, to the point that it makes no sense at all. Even if someone you thought you were meeting for the first time tells you, actually, they're a different person, you wouldn't understand any of it.

So with Anastasia revealed to be Eridona, Ram and Julius out of sorts, and Meili and Shaula staying out of it, Emilia ends up having to take charge. What a situation. But you could also say adversity is the perfect chance to make a leap forward. Yes, like when it's time to emerge...!

Last night, Subaru came up with something and headed for the archive where the Books of the Dead are kept. What happened to Subaru while he was collapsed there, before he lost his memory? Where exactly is the answer that will unravel that mystery?

"Status Open!" came up at the start too, but it's there because of the author's wish that when people hear "another world," this should rank among the top things they just have to try.

It looks like an absurdly huge hole, but this is actually the spiral staircase leading up from the fifth floor where they first arrived. An absurdly huge spiral staircase, and the moment he peers down into it, a sudden shock--

It's no laughing matter, but it does make sense to go, "A dream?" I've experienced it too, but I imagine a lot of you have had that dream where you fall from somewhere high and wake up. What is that, anyway? And what's with those dreams where you're late for school no matter what? Really, what are those about?

As Subaru checks the situation in front of him again, Emilia and Beatrice are thrown into complete confusion. But while they're explaining it to him, Subaru realizes something. Yes, a prophetic dream!

The reason Subaru did not tell Emilia and the others about his “prophetic dream” here begins with the fact that, when he still had his memories, he himself had not told his companions about it. Naturally, if it were an ability he should have told trusted companions about, then why had he not told them—? The fact that he realizes this instantly shows that this protagonist is actually pretty quick-witted.

Standing in front of the spiral staircase where he just had that worst-case dream, Subaru switches gears and tries to share the prophetic dream with his friends, but... their discussion happens to be at a very bad moment.

Incidentally, this discussion was actually a little different last time. The reason it turned into this discussion this time is that Subaru’s behavior and reactions, having sensed this was his second loop, differed from the first loop and seemed suspicious, making Ram and Anastasia wary of him.

Now then, unlike the first time, the second time he fell from a much worse spot. Subaru crashed into ledges on the way down, breaking parts of his body as he fell, and the pain of his first "death" hit him with enough stress to drive him insane. As a result, he ends up fleeing in tears and screams, but where he runs to is the worst possible choice.

Reid doesn't know anything about the circumstances behind Subaru's amnesia, and he has no interest in them either. All he sees is a worthless weakling with no merit showing up to make an even more pathetic spectacle of himself, which is simply unpleasant. Not killing him was an act of mercy, but whether that was really for the best is another matter.

A battered Subaru searches for the reason he ended up like this, but all he can think of is: “When I left home, I didn’t say ‘I’m off’ to my mother. Because I didn’t want her to tell me to wash the cup I drank cocoa from.”

Incidentally, by the time Subaru was told, "Have a good day," Naoko-san had already noticed and quickly washed the cup.

Even after suffering wounds like that, he can recover with his companions' healing magic and the Green Room... but the wounds in his heart don't work that way. Unable even to listen to what these companions he can't bring himself to trust are telling him, Subaru leaves the tower, but... wasn't there a rule about that being the one thing you must not do?

And with that, once again, that was Episode 74, "Who Are You"! At 11 PM I'll be properly live-posting this week's Episode 75, so basically, that's the one to follow! Well then, see you again in the next episode!

All right then, let's enjoy Re:Zero again this week! Didn't I just greet you a moment ago? Maybe so! Figure out why later! For now, let's just enjoy this Re:Zero!

After the disaster last time, Subaru ended up fleeing from the tower. He tries to escape while leaving Emilia and the others inside, but the first thing that refuses to let him off easy is the baptism of the Augria Sand Dunes.

Maybe it doesn't feel real because Meili was there, but the Augria Sand Dunes are originally a demon realm where, if an ordinary person went there, this level of brutality would keep coming at them nonstop. That's why for four hundred years, no one ever reached it.

The way the Sandworm was taken down looks familiar, but of course Subaru has no idea about it. The sheer awfulness of everything hitting him one after another is enough to make your head hurt, and with him being swallowed by quicksand, then finding the underground filled with monster corpses, Subaru's heart just keeps getting worn down.

The OP! It's the OP! That's the second time today! Well, more like the tenth if you count the times I watched it on YouTube!

Wake up -> meet a beautiful girl and a cute little girl -> meet those beautiful girls and a handsome young man -> fall from a high place -> reunite with the beautiful girl, the cute little girl, and the handsome young man -> get talked about behind his back -> painfully fall again from a high place -> get stabbed by a redhead -> go outside and get attacked by a giant worm -> fall into quicksand and land among a pile of corpses. That's about where things are right now.

Subaru moves through the underground area where he fell, trying somehow to find a way out, but this unpleasant sandy path looks familiar too.

In front of the wall blocking his way, Subaru is enveloped in light, and when he realizes it, he's back inside the tower he was supposed to have escaped from-- There's a reason something happened here that didn't happen in that forgotten place, but I won't speak of it yet.

What crossed Subaru's mind after returning in a way he never wanted was the mad idea of personally cutting off the worst possibility with his own hands. This part was shown in the OP too, and maybe a lot of people were wondering what scene it was from, but how does Subaru's state of mind here look to all of you?

But even Subaru's pitch-black killing intent gets derailed by the unexpected carnage waiting for him.

What I like about Julius here is how he's shielding Meili behind his back. Even without knowing the details, it feels very Julius-like. Ram in Episode 15 was like that too.

By the way, in the web version this part had the subtitle "Tower of the Dead."

Waiting for him there is Patrasche. He even can't help driving his sword into Patrasche too, but before the earth dragon's unwavering gaze, even that flimsy resolve collapses.

But seriously, Yusuke Kobayashi is incredible...

One disaster after another that Subaru knows nothing about keeps happening. At last even Patrasche is swallowed up by that surging black something, and when Subaru finally reaches the balcony, what he sees is practically the end of the world itself--and then who, exactly, is the one standing behind Subaru?

Man, that A-part didn't have a single good thing in it!

Even after ending like that, the place he comes back to is the same. That's Return by Death. Right after returning, Subaru nearly reaches for the slender neck right in front of him, but--barely managing to stop himself, the one Subaru clings to is the beloved dragon who is the only one he can trust right now.

Subaru decides to act differently from before, but this trial and error is, in a sense, also a refrain of Arc 2. By the way, as the author, I have the image that Arc 6 contains a lot of elements from the arcs up to now. It might be fun to watch it with that in mind!

"I've been waiting 400 years for a proposal, 'ssu!" Even if you're going to be kept waiting, that's way too long. You should dump a guy like that.

Subaru feels something suspicious in Julius's reaction when he appears in the room, but that discomfort comes from not knowing what happened last night. It's one of those crossed-wires misunderstandings.

Julius's feelings were laid bare, and Subaru, knowing nothing, could only shrink back awkwardly, but I imagine many who know the "name" episode were suffering quite a bit.

The only reason Subaru could talk tough with Julius was because Shaula, who would take his side, was there watching over him. That said, even Shaula won't forgive anyone badmouthing Patrasche. Will the day ever come when trust in Shamak is restored...?

Shaula even boldly calls herself "a woman who's convenient for Master!" and Subaru, whose trust in Natsuki Subaru is at an absolute minimum, apparently couldn't stand failing to live up to that. That said, his trust in his former self isn't high enough to really believe this would count as living up to it.

"Mama" and "Elsa" are the two figures who had a huge influence on Meili's life. You all know about Elsa, of course, but Meili probably doesn't have any particularly good impression of Mama either.

We did a ton of retakes on that lip-licking before the whisper! (lol) I watched it during dubbing! (lol)

His consciousness blanks out for an instant, and when he opens his eyes again, there's Meili with marks on her neck. Subaru desperately tries the resuscitation measures that snagged in his memory, but to no avail, and on the arm where he then feels even more pain, there is--

I felt the ED matched Episode 69 extremely well too, but as the author, I think it fit even better today. What do you all think? Please let me know in the comments.

So, with the sponsor bumper being Subaru’s face—the face of someone who has seen something he should not have seen—thank you again for this week! Arc 6 has begun, in every sense of the word! We’ll shake off those heavy feelings with the mini anime starting in 30 minutes! Let’s keep that promise today too! https://t.co/symHqDzMF7

Well then, thanks again for this week too! See you again next week! Will things get better? Will they not? Will they not!? Stay tuned!