Man, the first season aired four years ago. I remember not liking it very much. After all, it isn’t really the type of show that appeals to me. Likewise, Subaru isn’t the kind of protagonist that I like to root for. He was a shut-in who consequently never shut up, he was initially super rash and careless, he fell in love with someone even though he barely knew her, so on and so forth. I also dislike love triangles. I doubly dislike the possibility that Subaru may very well end up with both Emilia and Rem when the dust clears. This doesn’t even cover the fact that he already has clingers. What can I say? I like romance, but I’m also a strict monogamist. If it were me, I’d choose the girl who has always been at my side. After all, I value love as an action… but I digress. Last but not least, Re:Zero is a very long story. Even now, the light novels are still being churned out. And we’re up to what? Volume twenty-four? Jesus Christ. And because Re:Zero is so long, its world-building phase is also very long. I remember being very annoyed with some of the slower episodes. The show would only ever pique my interest when (as unfortunate as this sounds) people died. But just as a major arc was about to begin (this was around episode 14 of the first season), I recall that my interest in blogging was beginning to peter out at the time. As a result, I never finished the first season… until literally two days ago.

Luckily, there is no downtime for Subaru this time around, because disaster strikes as soon as season two begins. He had just saved Emilia, but now Rem is in trouble. For some reason, people have forgotten her again. We then cut to the blue-haired maid and Crusch being steam-rolled by two new faces. I guess the latter is supremely confident in her skills, but it always marvels me when anime characters insist on standing their ground and fighting despite the fact that so there are so many unknowns in play. They have no idea whom they’re up against or how powerful these two new villains are (one of them looks like some goofy kid). And considering how much of a struggle it was to defeat Petelgeuse, why underestimate anyone? I’m not saying that either of them could’ve escaped. They probably couldn’t. I think I still would’ve made the token effort, though. I guess I’m “cowardly” compared to these two women, but if there’s even a chance than I can get away to fight another day, I would’ve taken it. Ah well, what’s done is done.

Crusch loses an arm and thus a lot of blood. Nevertheless, she appears to be in perfect physical health later in the episode. Obviously, she’s not okay; she’s now suffering from amnesia, and Felis almost dissolves the alliance as a result. Still, it’s funny to me that losing her arm in battle ended up having no actual consequences whatsoever. Oh well, I just have to assume she was healed by magic. Rem, on the other hand, suffered a much worse fate. Her body is fine, but she has been forgotten from everyone’s mind (except for Subaru’s for some reason that I won’t speculate about). To make matters even worse, she’s now in a coma. Why did Crusch get off so easily by comparison? I dunno, maybe her memories just weren’t as tasty. After all, before Rem’s memories were devoured, she went on and on about how the true hero — her true love!!! — would eventually show up and stop the dastardly villains. You can’t give the bad guys the satisfaction of watching you struggle in vain.

Will I stick with Re:Zero this time? Eh, I can’t predict the future. I can’t even guarantee that I won’t suddenly stop blogging in the middle of the season. But sure, whatever, I’ll give the show a second shot. There’s not a whole lot to blog this season (again), and I’m not very confident that I’ll like the other Wednesday show. I’m happy to take Tuesdays off, but two days off? Ooh, I dunno about that. Plus, it’s probably a good thing that there was such a long gap between the first and second season. Like I said, I vaguely remember being annoyed by Subaru’s characterization, but many of the finer details have been lost to the passage of time. For now, he’s just a broken hero trying to gather himself and push forward (with Emilia’s help). And I’m content to leave it at that. Let’s just see how it plays out from here.

Alright, time for a break before Deca-Dence.