English Dub Review: Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ ”Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone“

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Garfiel fights Subaru on opening the Sanctuary as Subaru tries to get him to talk about his past. He admits that he wants his mom to be happy and that he and Frederica were baggage to his mother. After the fight, their words of strength in numbers get through to Garfiel. The guys get lap pillows from Emilia and Ram and Garfiel face his past in the graveyard. The trial reveals that his mother went outside to find their father. He later comes out of it and apologizes for worrying them.

Then Emilia heads into the graveyard and Garfiel comments on how he saw Subaru earlier which gets him embarrassed. On the inside, she spots the writing that Subaru did on the walls and calls him an idiot before her trial starts. Echidna greets her with a malicious remark on her as Emilia proclaims herself to be Emilia, the Frozen Witch from the Elior forest, and refuses to take Echinda’s insults as a fellow witch.

Our Take:

This episode concludes Garfiel’s struggle to change and reveals the past that he’s denied for so long. The episode does a good job at framing Garfiel’s past. The beginning sequence of him as a child getting out of the trial with that dead look in his eyes. The deliberate focus on his forehead as he bashes his head in as a child was a good build-up to his past. It’s a central focus to his past and he later accepts the truth of the matter.

Subaru and Emilia calling Garfiel out on his fear and empathizing with it were great. Their situation parallels Garfiel’s in their own way. There’s Emilia’s fear of being left alone and her isolation during her days in the Elior forest. Subaru’s former fear of disappointing his parents and not fulfilling expectations. It makes them the perfect choice to help Garfiel with his fear of getting in the way of his mother’s happiness. Subaru communicating to Garfiel on explaining his past to give Subaru more context to help him was great. Furthermore, when Garfiel steps back and Subaru steps forward to reach him, it was good as their conversation escalates with Garfiel’s stubbornness.

In the fight, Subaru gets a new ability from the Witch Factor he got from defeating Petelgeuse which he calls Invisible Providence. His ability is inferior to Petelgeuse’s Unseen Hands and it quickly wears him out. The opening shows up again and it does fit the tension of the fight. However, that punch wasn’t enough to defeat Garfiel and his toughness. Instead, it’s Patrasche who dealt the finishing blow to Garfiel. The action emphasizes their words on strength in numbers which Garfiel eventually agrees and accepts his loss to Subaru.

I enjoyed Ram and Garfiel’s talk on getting him to face his trial and accepting that change is going to happen. Garfiel’s past in the graveyard is heartbreaking. He tries to reject it but little Frederica forces him to confront the truth. She picks apart Garfiel’s idea of their past because their mother dying because of a landslide didn’t add up. His mother’s reason for leaving was to find their father and he was young so they didn’t tell him the truth. She asks him what he wants to do and Garfiel replies that he wants to be there for everyone. The conclusion to Garfiel’s trial was sweet as Garfiel accepts that the others helped him remember his mother’s love.

Garfiel being 14 was something I was not expecting, but it makes sense given his rash behavior. Furthermore when he calls Subaru boss and quotes lines like “nobody can lift a quain stone alone” it reminds Subaru of his own phase. Their chat outside the graveyard was funny and solidifies the fact that they’re dorks. Now that Garfiel is no longer opposing them, I look forward to seeing how he assists in the two events.

Then there’s Emilia’s trial and how Subaru writes encouraging words on the wall to help Emilia. She enters the trail to see Echidna who insults her calling her a loose woman who cries to the first man for comfort. Emilia’s confident introduction as the Frozen Witch reminds me a bit of Subaru’s introduction. At any rate, Emilia’s trial restarts, and with her memories back perhaps this trial won’t be as painful as before with the encouragement from Subaru.

Overall the episode was great. Garfiel overcomes his past and joins as an ally and Emilia getting back to her trial and greeting Echidna confidently.