English Dub Review: Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ ”Reunion of Roars“
Overview (Spoilers Below):
After their failed attempt to call off the mansion, Subaru and Garfiel head to the mansion while Otto stays behind. Meanwhile, Ram greets Emilia and tells her about Subaru’s whereabouts. She requests a favor to Emilia on saving Roswaal by taking the throne. Even though she unsure of how the two events are connected she agrees. Roswaal greets them before conversing about Subaru and her success in the trial. Emilia goes back into the Graveyard to start the trial again as Roswaal leaves Ram to welcome her after the completion of her trial.
However, Ram follows Roswaal to the crystal where Ryuzu Meyer is in and they converse about their vow and Ram’s goal to break Roswaal free from the words in the Tome of Wisdom. Ram knows that she can’t Roswaal alone, and therefore takes out the crystal that Subaru gave her. Puck shows up for another round against Roswaal. Meanwhile, at the mansion, Petra runs but stops at the thought of Rem and goes to her room. However, Elsa encounters her but before she attacks Frederica defends her and tells her to run. Petra tries to find Beatrice for help as Subaru shows up. On the other hand, Garfiel defends Frederica and they have a small reunion before Garfiel tells her to get Rem out of the mansion.
Our Take:
Re: Zero does a good job at flipping some of the cliches in the isekai genre. This episode is no exception with Roswaal conversation with Emilia on Subaru. It feeds the audience information on Ram’s goal while the plot moves forward with Subaru and Garfiel heading to the mansion. Emilia takes on her second trial to prove Roswaal wrong and take steps to fulfill Ram’s request.
Roswaal’s conversation after Emilia gets out of the graveyard gives an interesting perspective from Roswaal on Subaru’s talk with Emilia. Not only does Roswaal point out how Emilia takes on Subaru’s characteristics during their talk. It’s a subtle detail on how they influence each other. It flips the opinion that Subaru and Roswaal are alike with forcing their views on the women they love. Emilia denies that Subaru sees her as an idealized version of herself, instead, he accepts her for who she is. Subaru even goes out to call her out on her actions being a nuisance to everyone much to Roswaal’s surprise.
Additionally, he considers everything to be pointless like the royal selection because of how the world is heading to ruin. Emilia refuses to accept Roswaal’s view considering the fact that they’ve entered the royal selection with him as her sponsor and her as the candidate. She even makes it a point to prove him wrong by going into the graveyard again to take the second trial. Admittedly I believe this is the first time the show shows that Emilia can take the trial without a waiting period.
Roswaal and Ram’s vow hits with their dialogue to the soundtrack playing as they’re in front of Ryuzu Meyer’s crystal. Although mid-way the lines started to blur on which words were their vow and their conversation. It gives us more details on their relationship and Ram’s goal of freeing Roswaal from the witch’s delusion. There’s also Roswaal’s comment on Ram’s mistake to not ambush him while he’s in the middle of creating the snow as per the words of the gospel. However, Ram chooses not to free him in that way. It’s most likely because of her feelings towards him as implied with her conversation with Emilia earlier. Then we get Puck who enters the brawl with the claim that he’s a free spirit. Now we’ve only seen a glimpse of their fight in Memory Snow, and it sets up a high expectation for their fight in the next episode.
Frederica and Garfiel’s reunion was heartwarming if not amusing with Garfiel’s comment on her height. Despite not having seen each other in years the siblings prioritize Rem’s wellbeing and fighting Elsa. Elsa is still creepy as ever with her comments on her opponent’s entrails. However, it’d make for a good banter against the childish Garfiel during their fight.
Overall it was a good episode to prepare for the fights at the mansion and the Sanctuary. I can’t wait to see the battles and how Subaru will drag Beatrice out of the library to help with the dangers in the mansion.
"There are also other characters that come and go (also owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate media company)."
Huh. Is that just referring to other characters from the show itself, or is this implying that the new season is going to have cameos from other WBD IPs