Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3

Episodes 1-3

I have to admit, I feel like fate threw me a bit of a curve ball here. It's hard enough to review three episodes at once and still give each episode its due. For Re:Zero, it's doubly hard considering how narratively and thematically dense each episode is. But then we add on top of that the fact that the first episode is basically a feature-length film and it's… well, it's a lot—and it saddens me to think of all the specifics I would have liked to talk about here but won't have the time or space to. So, sorry in advance.

Basically, these first three episodes form the basis and (pseudo) resolution to Subaru's first time-looping dead end of the season. The first, triple-length, episode does most of the heavy lifting. It introduces us to our new location for the season and re-introduces us to all the other Royal Selection candidates—as well as their relationships with Subaru and each other. It's a complex mess of families, friends, and rivals—all of whom have different goals that may coincide one moment and be opposed the next. Luckily, with more than 50 episodes under our collective belts, a refresher is all we really need—and the length of the episode makes sure the massive extended cast gets the time they need.

The second episode, on the other hand, is all about Subaru dealing with the sudden emergence of the Sin Archbishop of Wrath—and dying horribly more than once. More than being ultraviolence for ultraviolence's sake, each loop has two major purposes. The first is to properly introduce Sirius—her personality and how her powers work. The second is to show how the post-sanctuary Subaru deals with problems that require time looping to overcome.

After his first death, Subaru tries to rectify the situation alone. When that fails, he tries to rope in Reinhard—as he is close by. The next time, he goes to Beatrice for help—and when that unexpectedly leads to Emilia finding out about the threat, he allows her to come along. With each loop, despite his worsening mental state, Subaru logically involves his allies little by little. He never falls into despair or bans them from helping. Sure, he doesn't want Beatrice or Emilia in danger but he has learned well when to ask for help—and take it when offered.

Unfortunately, this also leads to the big downside of the episode and the season so far. The entire previous season was mostly about Emilia becoming strong enough mentally to stand on her own. She no longer needs Puck or even Subaru to continue on. And while we get an awesome fight scene between her and Sirius, the battle's confusion basically leaves her sidelined once again—this time a damsel in distress. It's frustrating to think that just when she was primed to have a more active role in her own fate, she was basically removed from the story.

The third episode is, surprisingly given all that is going on, an episode focused almost exclusively on Garfiel and his lingering trauma. Garfiel's whole reason originally for both failing the trial and staying in the sanctuary was the death of his mother. In these episodes, we find out that his mother is very much alive—although she has seemingly permanent memory loss caused by the accident that was thought to have killed her. This puts Garfiel in an emotionally complex situation.

On one hand, his mother is alive, on the other, she has no idea that he ever existed. Of course, he has the emotional need to connect with the woman who birthed him—who clearly loved him up until the accident. However, coming into her life would just add a massive element of danger and chaos—involving not only her but her new husband and children. And then the episode throws a last-minute curveball at him.

With not one but four Sin Archbishops attacking the city, it's clear where Garfiel should be: at Emilia's side. However, seeing his mother wandering the city in search of her husband and children, he discards his sworn duty and vows to help her instead. Sure, he doesn't know that Emilia has been abducted but the fact remains that, without Garfiel, Subaru is effectively alone. Beatrice is out of commission and Otto is, if alive, no doubt running as far as he can from the Archbishop of Gluttony. Once again, Subaru will have to put his diplomatic skills to the test with the Royal Selection candidates—and see if he can get any of them to go out of their way to help rescue a rival when simply getting out alive might be hard enough as it is.

Episode 1 Rating:

Episode 2 Rating:

Episode 3 Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I can't help but notice we have four Archbishops versus four Royal Candidates (you know, now that Emilia has been captured).

• The short time limit between Subaru's save point and the appearance of Sirius added a lot of tension to the story.

• I wonder if a new save point has been set thanks to Subaru's survival.

• It's always interesting how the Archbishops (and the Witches, for that matter) don't directly match the stereotyped personality for their associated sins. Regulus' greed, for example, comes out in the form of extreme self-centeredness rather than a need to obtain everything he sets his eyes upon.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

---

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.