English Dub Review: Re:ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ “Parent and Child”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Subaru wakes up to his dad placing him in a wrestling lock, and they both wrestle before being interrupted by his mom who announces that breakfast is ready. After breakfast, his dad attempts to get Subaru to school but Subaru rejects it and gets a headache before trudging off to his room. His dad comes in and gets Subaru to go outside with him on a father-son talk. At the park, he recalls his love for Emilia and then remembers the world he’s currently in before telling his dad that he does like a girl. During that talk, Subaru admits to feeling pressured as his father’s son and he opted to be a funny guy that did wild things which led him to be alone, and eventually, he stopped going to school.

When Subaru reaches the decision to go to school, he stops by his house to wear his uniform and his mom goes with him partially to the convenience store. They go down memory lane and his mom tells him that parents are always looking after their children and how she’s grateful to the people that made him see that he can just be himself. At the railroad crossing the two part ways and his mom assures him that he can be the best version of himself. After tearfully parting with his mom Subaru heads to school and when he reaches his classroom, Subaru pauses before opening the door to reveal Echidna in a school uniform.

Our Take:

Re: ZERO definitely stands out among the isekai genre for plenty of reasons and this episode just adds another layer to that. This episode was an emotional one as we explore Subaru’s past. I did expect his parents to be a part of this episode, but I was surprised at how impactful they were to Subaru.

From the moment Subaru and his dad take a walk, it appears that Subaru is in an illusion of his previous world. The lack of people and background noises only affirms that fact as Subaru and his dad are in the park. Admittedly it reminds me of when Echidna removed everything except for her and Subaru to converse at her tea party just without the layer of terror. Furthermore, when Subaru gets those attacks it is strange to see his parents not worry dramatically over him considering how adamant they were about not eating the peas until Subaru and his dad get to the park. Those attacks stop when he remembers Emilia and while that’s sweet, it appears that those attacks stop because he diverts from his usual choices. The animation of cherry blossoms and the tranquil scenery was really nice to show how dream-like the world was as well.

Now for the talk between dad and son, in that situation, it wouldn’t be a surprise if his parents did kick him out, but they didn’t. Instead, they tried to help in whatever way they could and acted the same around him. It goes to show how much they loved him despite his faults. Subaru’s giving up on trying his best definitely hits a sore spot with me especially with the expectations placed on him by others. The crowd of voices commenting on how Subaru was definitely his dad’s kid was a great emphasis on how much of a burden that expectation was for him. Subaru’s voice actor, Sean Chiplock did a great job with Subaru’s confession and his apologies. There’s also how Emilia and Rem have impacted Subaru in the current world. They’re both a good influence on him for his goal and his will to continue to find that path to a happy end for everyone. Furthermore, the fact that no one knows about his father in that world is what sets Subaru free from that heavy expectation.

Then when his dad starts to talk about the future Subaru realized that he won’t be there to take care of his parents when they’re older cause he’s in another world. It’s one of the consequences of the isekai genre that doesn’t usually get addressed like this. The camera’s blurry perspective as Subaru apologized was an emotional gut-punch to me, and when his dad hugged him I had to pause to get a tissue.

His conversation with his mom as they walked was another emotional wringer. Their talk about Subaru stepping out of his father’s shadow offered a different perspective on the matter. To his mom, he can just be himself and if he’s half of his dad and mom, he can just fulfill half of those expectations. It releases Subaru from that insistent need to be better at everything. Also when they bid farewell with Subaru recalling the last time he saw her, that moment just added more salt to the wound of not being able to return to his parent’s side.

Overall this episode was emotional as it needed to be with Subaru’s conversations with his parents. Subaru’s journey in this dream world helps him reconcile his past to move forward in the present. Now I’m just wondering how Subaru and Echidna’s conversation will go in the next episode about Subaru coming to terms with his past and how the experience was for him.