re: zero

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

As I said last time, this book starts off a new arc but is also a continuation of the previous one, which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we don’t really get a huge new cast to remember like the previous arc’s start: all the main characters here are familiar faces with the only new person showing up at the very end. The bad news, of course, is that I don’t get a whole bunch of new faces to talk about in a review, just the old familiar ones, which is a problem as this book is very much “clearing an obstacle” as a plotline. There is a place our heroes have to get to, it’s considered impossible to get there, but they do get there thanks to some old familiar faces, some nice gossip from an innkeeper, and of course Subaru’s Return By Death, which comes back gloriously in this volume, featuring some of the goriest deaths to date.

Yes, yes, look at the cover’s Rem’s back. Except she’s not, she remains in a coma the entire volume, so don’t get too excited. But she’s one of the many things that Subaru is hoping the Sage of the Watchtower can fix, along with Julius and Anastasia (who Subaru now sometimes calls “Foxidna”, i.e. Echidna wearing a fox stole. Anastasia/Echidna is not fond of that). Unfortunately, this involves making a journey so impossible even Reinhardt couldn’t manage it. Towards that end, they go back to the mansion and grab Rem (and thus Ram as well) and also Melia, the minor villain who can control beasts from a prior arc, who agrees to help them as basically she’s reluctant to go back to the person who hired her and pay the price of her failure. Unfortunately, not only do they have to deal with sandstorms, twists in time and space, and terrible monsters, but the Sage of the Watchtower seems to want Subaru dead. And she has lasers.

Rem may be in a coma for the volume, but that does not mean that her presence does not influence the others. Subaru and Ram both have very complex feelings of love and loathing regarding her, and Ram’s are even more complex as she’s the one who can’t remember her. One of the “death” endings involves everyone losing control of their emotions and killing each other, and Subaru and Ram both scream at each other for not caring enough about Rem’s wellbeing. And then there’s Emilia, who is sure that she loves Subaru, but has not quite gotten the hang of what that kind of love is. Everyone boggles a bit when she suggests she’s 100% fine with her and Rem both being objects of Subaru’s affection… till she throws in every other close friend he has, and we realize she means as a big family. Hang in there, Subaru.

So yes, a good volume, but it’s basically a long prologue to what’s actually going to be happening, which will no doubt involve Shaula, the character introduced right at the end, who seems far more delighted to see Subaru than is reasonable under any circumstances. We’ll see what happens next.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

We have now reached the end of the 5th arc! That said, as the author notes, this is less of a resolution and more of a change of scenery. In terms of achievements, our heroes do not make out very well this time around. They do succeed in stopping the destruction of the city, and they capture one of the archbishops. But before this arc there were five “camps” for the Who Wants to Rule The Country?” sweepstakes, and two of them are decimated after it finishes. Even the fights here are bittersweet rather than satisfying, with the exception of Garfiel, who gets to unleash his inner shonen protagonist. Reinhard gets to finally tell his wife what he never managed to say, but it’s hard to call that happy or heartwarming. Al doesn’t win but merely survives. Otto is grievously injured. Crusch is still not healed. That said, I think the Anastasia Camp wins the prize for “Bad Things”. Oof.

The bulk of the book is fighting, as we basically get the fights that were happening while Subaru and Emilia were busy with the previous book. Garfiel is fighting (and losing, most of the time) to the eight-armed legend, but his fights run on pure shonen, as I said, so he’s good. We get a double dose of Gluttony, which goes very badly for many soldiers who get their names stolen, though Otto manages to figure out something about how their powers work. Wilhelm is forced to realize – again – that this is a fantasy world, and therefore hard work hardly works. Fortunately, Reinhard is there to finish off his grandmother. Unfortunately, their relationship is not magically healed. Al is fighting Lust, which mostly involves a lot of banter and a truly excessive amount of property damage. And then there’s Julius and Anastasia… let’s save that for the next paragraph.

This is one of those series I do tend to spoil myself on, given we’re still so far behind Japan (and also you never know when a short story volume may be relevant to the main series, cough), so I was aware something was going to happen with Anastasia. It’s not nearly as bad as Subaru or the reader feared, though that reveal is a killer. And at least this was done with Anastasia’s consent. But it’s still depressing, as I liked her, and I fear it will be a while before we see her again. Julius is a pure gutpunch, though, and meant to be the truly devastating consequence of this arc. At least he has Subaru, who (like Rem) can remember who he is. And , unlike Rem, he can at least walk and talk. In any case, we’re all now going to consult with the Great Sage to see how to solve everyone’s problems. I’m sure it will go fine.

Rem is, by the way, still in a coma and no one remembers her. We’ve now had far more books with Rem than without Rem. I fear the fans may have forgotten her. In any case, this is well-written, but intentionally leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Last time I mentioned that the 4th side story volume was actually a setup for the 6th arc, which had not come out yet. It still hasn’t – expect it in 2023. Worse news, this volume is mostly a setup for the seventh arc of the series, so I’d say expect that in late 2024. Fortunately, this one can be read as a standalone relatively easily, mostly as it stars Priscilla, who we are already familiar with. That said, you might want to brush up on the 4th book in the Ex series, as several characters from that show up here, even though this book takes place a few years earlier. This book can basically be divided into two stories: 1) a throne war with 32 siblings trying to kill each other, and 2) a death battle stadium where the competitors take over, but one of them has an ulterior motive. That said, it’s a Priscilla book. So honestly, the real plot is “Priscilla is fabulous”. (Oh yes, and Al as well. Hi, Al. You sort of sound like Subaru, but less tsukkomi.)

In the first story (framed as Priscilla reading what might be her diary to Schult), we meet Prisca Benedict, age 10… who is immediately murdered by her servants. But it’s OK, that was just a body double! This should give you an idea of the sort of thing we have going on. It’s betrayal, backstabbing, and zero sibling affection, as Prisca tries to stay alive and become heir over her cunning older sister and powerful older brother. Who has the power of the previous book on his side, which shows he wins. The second story shows us Al, who has lost his arm but lacks his helmet. He’s spent ten years fighting death battles for an audience on an island devoted entirely to that purpose. Unfortunately for him, the other “sword-slaves” are rising up in rebellion, even if that’s a terrible idea. Will Al be able to talk them down? What about that ulterior motive? And what is Priscilla Pendleton, now on Marriage #1, doing there?

The biggest frustration with this volume is that it’s NOT how Priscilla and Al first meet – they spend the entire second story apart from each other, and never meet. We also don’t get a shot of Al’s face, though he’s there on the front cover and also one illustration seen from the back, showing off his ponytail. Priscilla has her intelligence and arrogance here, but is also ten years old, so is now quite the powerhouse we see in the main series. She’s helped by Arakiya, a dog girl who gains monstrous powers by “eating” spirits (and can somehow hold on to her sense of self), and one things I really like about the Re: Zero books is seeing characters who are otherwise terrible people and show the people that they like and respect. Priscilla may regard 95% of everyone around her as clowns, but she’s rarely WRONG about that either, and I enjoyed her scenes with Arakiya. Al shows that he has similar people-judging qualities, too.

I’m sure I will forget 95% of this book when we get to Book 26 and Arc 7. Oh well. It’s still a solid entry in the series, especially if you like Priscilla: The Early Years.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

First off, for fans of Subaru/Emilia, this book is a full-course meal with chocolate trifle for dessert. After worrying when Emilia ended up getting kidnapped and forcibly married off to the worst man in the world (who, we are reminded here, killed her mother and “father”), Emilia spends most of this book kicking ass eight ways from Sunday. She’s joined in this by Subaru, who has his handy whip but more importantly has a increasingly analytical mind, as he, Emilia, and Reinhard (who is occasionally sent off the state in order to allow Subaru and Emilia to be cooler) to try to figure out why Regulus is invulnerable and how to stop it. Over half the book is just this fight, and it’s well worth it. That said, I am a bit worried now, as past arcs have told me that I should expect Emilia to be absent from the 6th one, just because the author simply hates using the same heroine more than twice in a row. Who could be next? Well…

Summary of this volume: They fight. They fight. They fight and fight and fight. Some sights are merely teased and will play out in full in the next volume (Otto, Garfiel, Wilhelm), and one is left for the cliffhanger (Lust vs. Anastasia, Ferris, and Al), so we’re left with two major battles. Subaru and Reinhard break up the wedding just in time, but Regulus is not only seemingly impossible to kill, but also the single most annoying character in Re: Zero to date – and this is a series which includes Subaru himself! The other big battle we get here is Priscilla and Liliana taking on Sirius, which also serves to give us some Liliana backstory. Based on the rather abrupt ending, I’m not convinced Sirius is dead yet, whereas Regulus definitely is. Through it all, Priscilla is simply fabulous. As expected.

First of all, given that I have yelled at illustrators in the past for not drawing the really obvious scenes that should be drawn, bless you, Shinichirou Otsuka, for the two-page color spread of all of Regulus’ wives tearing him a new asshole. That was beautiful. Elsewhere, I really did enjoy Priscilla here, who does show off that a) she has her own limits and weaknesses, and b) she can be quite kind – in her own arrogant way – to those that she likes and respects. And if that happens to be an incredibly annoying bard, so be it. Liliana is much better here, mostly as she’s under threat of death, so we don’t get to see her be irritating. Instead, she pretty much helps save the day. And again, Subaru and Emilia are wonderful here, so trusting of each other. Particularly at the climax, where Subaru uses some very bad powers to do good things. That said… I think he may have gotten more bad powers as a reward.

The next volume wraps up this arc, and we’ll see if there’s any of the city left. Given the cover, I expect it will mostly focus on Wilhelm. Till then, enjoy another volume of one of the strongest light novel series for pure thrills.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

I always enjoy the books in this series that are more about rallying around the flag. The author in the afterword says that the series is always remembered for all the death and gore and terrible things, but that the hope and turning things around is just as important, and I agree with them. It does help that the plotline I was most worried about, Emilia being kidnapped, was handled in the best possible way. Certainly her would-be husband is a loathsome and terrible man, but she still manages to have agency, gaining valuable information and passing it off to allies before returning to her forced wedding because escaping would mean Regulus would take it out on his other wives. That said, for a series filled with Best Girls there are an awful lot of them this book. Crusch is mostly at death’s door, but manages to rally Subaru; Anastasia proves when it comes to actual administration she’s by far the best Royal candidate; and Priscilla… well, Priscilla just IS.

After the disaster of the City Hall assault last time, our forces regroup. Ironically, City Hall is now theirs, but there’s lots of bad things happening. Subaru’s leg… and Crusch’s entire body… are cursed. Emilia is, as I said, kidnapped. Wilhelm has figured out that one of the villains who attacked them was in fact someone he knows very well; heck, even Reinhard had a terrible time, though it was offscreen. What’s more, after Lust ups the demands (she now wants the Book of Knowledge (seemingly burned), an artificial spirit (i.e. Beatrice) and Regulus and Emilia’s wedding to go forward (that last one is obviously his addition). This means that all the citizens of this city are a bit scared and angry and upset. Can someone manage to win them over with a dramatic speech? And is that someone really Subaru?

As I said above; my God Priscilla’s presence in this book is just amazing. She’d be the worst person to interact with ever in real life, but her arrogance, confidence and strength here are just what the doctor ordered; her berating Liliana until she gives in and agrees to help is a thing of beauty. I would love to read some Re: Zero from her point of view. Speaking of points of view, it’s very amusing to see how everyone in the room reacts – particularly Julius and Al – when Subaru casually tells everyone that he loves Emilia. He may constantly regard himself as just this guy getting by, always scared and wanting to run away, but to everyone else he’s a tower of strength and confidence, saying things no one else has the courage to. He is topped, perhaps, only by Otto, who continues to be Best Boy, and unfortunately because he is Best Boy has to face the cliffhanger ending on his own.

The next book will be the counterattack against all the archbishops, and it promises to be a combat filled melee. Till then, enjoy a Re: Zero with no return by death by a whole lot of heartwarming moments.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

Well, we knew this was going to happen. Given that the previous book had, with the exception of the final scenes, been a delightful and mostly lighthearted volume showing off the entire main cast, it is no surprise to see that in this next volume, Everything is Terrible. This is not to say that Subaru is doing dumb things out of stubbornness – we’re long past that stage. Heck, he can even participate in battles now, wielding a whip he received training in (I suspect this training was in another unlicensed short story, ah well). But yeah, by the end of this book we have a ton of corpses, an even bigger ton of transformed monstrosities, and even those who are not dead or turned into something else tend to have wounds that constantly bleed and the like. If your idea of a fun Re: Zero book is seeing terrible people doing bad things to good people, well, good news! That said, there’s also a bit of non-violence here that’s fun to read.

When we left off, Subaru was having to deal with the shortest “return by death” he’s ever had to experience – he has fifteen minutes to figure out and fix things. Needless to say, this leads to quite a few Subaru deaths in the first quarter of the book, and he’s not alone. He tries solving the problem himself – he fails. He tries getting Reinhard to solve the problem – this fails. He tries asking Beatrice for help – this actually succeeds, but it doesn’t mean things so well, as we have not one, not two, but THREE Witch Cultists to deal with. Now Emilia is missing, Beatrice is in a coma, Subaru is heavily wounded, and a number of the cast are absent. Oh yes, and Capella, the Witch Cultist who has control of City Hall, says to get her “the Witch’s Bones” or the city is doomed. There is, as always, too much on Subaru’s plate.

I was at first vaguely annoyed when, halfway through the book, the focus shifted away from Subaru and focused on Garfiel. Don’t get me wrong, Garf is a fine supporting character, but given everything else that was going on I did not feel in the mood for “I’m not the strongest in the land woe is me”. And indeed we get that to start, but things quickly become FAR more interesting after Garfiel rescues some children from a potential boating accident. When returning him to their family, he runs into someone whose existence is impossible and yet is also the thing he wants more than anything in the world… but he just can’t actually reach out and take it, because, well, circumstances. Honestly, it’s really refreshing to see something that devastates a character that is a POSITIVE thing, and I really hope that this goes somewhere in future volumes.

As the book ends, everything is even more terrible than it was in the last book, as we deal with the worst of all possible enemies: an arrogant incel who only cares if girls are virgins. Hope he dies! Till then, enjoy the suffering that is this series’ bread and butter.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

Fans of this series have been reading it for a long time now, and know that this is the first book in a new arc. As such, we keep wondering when things are going to turn terrible again and when nightmarish, hideous things are going to start happening to Subaru. And, I’m not gonna lie, that does indeed happen. By the end of the book, we’re back in familiar territory. The wonderful news is that it’s the END of the book – which means we get an entire volume of everything simply being fun and relaxing. Now that all of Camp Emilia are on the same page, and we’ve had a timeskip (it’s been a year since the prior volume ended), the book can lean hard on what the main cast does best: Subaru being the tsukkomi, Beatrice snarking, Emilia being so earnest you want to look away, Garfiel looking for a good fight, and Otto stressing out. Almost all of those things happen in this book. Sorry, Garfiel. There’s always someone better.

As noted, it’s a year later, and Emilia’s group (minus Ram and Roswaal, who it seems sit this arc out) are invited to Pristella, the City of Water. They’re invited by Anastasia, and it turns out that invitations have been made to (almost) all the other factions as well. This allows the entire cast of the third arc to finally meet up again, and in what is essentially a bizarre combination of Venice (the city) and Japan (the inn they’re staying at – which is deliberately Japanese to such an obvious degree that Subaru is certain that someone else isekai’d into this world before him is responsible.) Now Subaru can try to make nice with Julius (semi-success), we can mete up with Crusch (still awesome, but in a 100% different way than how she used to be) and Felt (still kicking against the pricks). We might EVEN get a grandfather and grandson to reach towards reconciliation… or we would if a very uninvited guest didn’t drop by.

So basically we have a bunch of fun setup and scenes with characters interacting in either a) hilarious, b) heartwarming, or c) infuriating ways, and it’s bliss. (This does not count the final few scenes in the book, which are appropriately horror-filled and ghastly.) Subaru is confident now and so is Emilia, and everyone can see the change. We also meet up again with Liliana, the minstrel whose stay at the manor and subsequent chaos everyone remembers from the first short story collection… hang on, I’m getting something in my ear… what? Still unlicensed? Oh well, the author tries to describe what happened. Erm, you had to be there, I guess. It’s also nice to see the five candidates battling it out again after so long – what with the fight against the White Whale, and ALL of Arc 4, I would not blame readers for needing a refresher. And then there’s the villain – they’re on the cover, on the right – who is seriously screwed up and evil and I really hope something can be done about them next time.

That may be tough, though – Subaru’s not going back a leisurely couple hours or day or so as before. That said, till the next book, enjoy one of the best light novel series out there, with everyone being really happy and confident, including the author.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

This book slid in RIGHT under the wire in avoiding spoiling English-speaking fans. The book came out literally the day before the episode aired which animated the first part of it. It also brings to an end the 4th arc in this series, in a mostly satisfying way. Some of the beats feel very obvious, but as always with Re: Zero, they feel that way because we’ve spent so long setting up those beats with the previous go-rounds. This series also does a very good job of keeping all the fights it has to have here interesting, either through breaking them up by moving from the Sanctuary and Emilia’s trials to the mansion and Subaru’s pleading and back again, but also because, much like Banner of the Stars, this series runs on banter and there is a lot of that. Still, by the end of the book our heroes have won the day, though… not without some cost with a last minute bitter sting in its tail. And we’re ready to move on to a new arc!

Beako is on the cover, and deservedly so. Garfiel, Emilia and Ram/Roswaal’s stories also come to a conclusion here, but there’s no real surprises in any of them on an emotional level. Emilia’s trials two and three feel almost anticlimactic – after failing so hard at the first trial over and over, she sails through them. But that’s to be expected, as she has moved past the trauma that held her back. Garfield too had most of his issues resolved in earlier books, allowing him to be the muscle that’s required in order to beat the immortal nightmare that is Elsa (who gets a shred of backstory here, but honestly I think works best as simply a grotesque impossible to stop enemy). But Beatrice’s story is the one that needs Subaru, and, true to form, he fails over and over again to convince her to leave the Library of Forbidden Books and come with him. Not even the entire mansion burning down can sway her.

The high point of the book, as I just said, is Subaru and Beatrice, and I loved every scene with both of them in it. The rest of the book does not QUITE reach those heights. Emilia, in particular, suffers from the author wanting her to grow up and move past her trauma but also being an innocent boke who knows nothing about anything. Sometimes this is hilarious – her comment on “Ryuzu’s mother” may be one of the best jokes in the series – but announcing she’s pregnant because she and Subaru kissed fell a bit flat to me. (Presumably he explains later – or more likely Ram does). Oh yes, and there’s another character who I thought was gone for good who shows up again to help kick Roswaal’s ass, which was great. Actually, there’s a scene which mentions that the entire cast take turns punching Roswaal at some point, and I deeply hope this gets like an entire episode devoted to it in the anime.

Where will this go next? There’s apparently the series’ first time skip coming up, and presumably we’ll see more of Anastasia, Priscilla and Felt. Till then, though, please enjoy Garfiel punching forever, Subaru and Otto being bros, and Emilia being even more earnest than Rem, if that’s even possible. (Technically Rem is in this book a lot, but sorry, she still does not wake up.)

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

I’ve always been a fan of Emilia, so have been inclined to cut her more slack than she possibly deserved, as those who’ve seen my other reviews know. That said, I get the feeling that for most Re: Zero fans, reading Emilia has sort of been like me reading Subaru in the first six books – screaming at her and wondering why she’s so bad at everything. This has only been underlined in this fourth Arc, which supposedly was going to give far more focus to Emilia – to the point of writing the other main love interest out of the story entirely – and then she spends the first three books sobbing on the ground, unable to get past a test that Subaru sails through. Of course, Subaru’s ‘overcome your past’ was, let’s be honest here, not the hardest test in the world. And at least he remembered it. Emilia’s past has a tragic centerpiece, and she’s also had her memories erased to boot – learning all of this with no emotional support would break a lot of people. Luckily, she now has that emotional support.

As you can see by the cover art, we get most of Emilia’s backstory here, though some elements (who her birth parents are) are still left clouded. Her aunt Fortuna, though, who raises Emilia as a daughter, is 100% pure awesome, and also… has Subaru eyes, something that causes me concern but I’m not going to dwell on it too much. And next to them on the cover is… yeah, that’s Petelgeuse, known mostly as Geuse here. He’s not quite what I was expecting, being fairly overdramatic and self-loathing even before said tragic events. I am grateful we got a lot of Emilia being cute here, showing her as a typical curious kid who does not enjoy being locked in a tree all day. This is balanced out by the present-day Emilia and Echidna watching the events as they happen, with Echidna being very irritated at how well Emilia is taking everything. They have the best dialogue in the book.

Meanwhile, while waiting for Emilia’s test to finish, Subaru, Garfiel and Otto confront Roswaal, who is still not willing to give an inch, despite some things happening that his book does not talk about. As long as the book ENDS the same way, he says, that’s enough. There’s some funny stuff here, mostly involving Roswaal’s reaction to Otto, but it’s clear that if they’re going to stop Elsa and her fellow animal-tamer assassin from killing everyone at the mansion, they’re going to have to do it themselves. Fortunately, Garfiel much better at fighting than Subaru is. We also got more backstory here, provided by Shima and the Ryuzus (which sounds like a girl group; from the 60s) showing the backstory of the Sanctuary, Echidna’s past with Roswaal, and most importantly Beatrice’s relationship to all of them. If Subaru is going to succeed, he has to get Beatrice away from her library, and given that’s the cliffhanger ending to this book, it’s a tall order.

The arc ends with the next book, but there’s still a lot to solve. Can Subaru end this with no deaths? Can Emilia pass the 2nd and 3rd Trials? Will the reader even see the 2nd and 3rd trials? (Signs point to no.) And will Roswaal finally be forced to give in and support Emilia for real? Can’t wait to find out.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Ah, side stories, beloved by fans and feared by publishers. It may be dismaying to light novel fans, but most series coming out over here are running a year to several years behind Japan. This includes Re: Zero, whose 14th volume is due out here in October 2020, but it came out in September 2017 in Japan. When Re: Zero EX started coming out here, I noted that the timing was off, that we got the Ex books before the main titles that they were supposed to be supplementing. We have the opposite problem with this book, which came out in Japan last Christmas. It’s meant to be a supplement to the 6th arc, which begins with the 21st volume, which had just come out a couple months before in Japan. Here, we’ll likely see Vol. 21 in 2022. Fortunately, the book still does read as a stand alone, so the English speaker need not worry about spoilers here. They may, however, wonder why so much attention is being paid to a goofy samurai with a flair for drama.

The cover may be packed with people, but the most important one is right at the front. This is a book meant to give a strong role to Julius and show off how great he is when he isn’t around Subaru. The story takes place a few months before the start of the main series, and Julius, Reinhard and Ferris are bodyguards for two elder politicians who are going to negotiate with the nearby Empire. Having recently lost the entire royal family (see: Re: Zero Ex 1), they are in a very precarious position, so are trying to negotiate a non-aggression pact. Unfortunately, the Volakia Empire has “strength is the most important thing” as their watchword, so things are already unlikely to go their way. Then Reinhard is framed for murder, and he, Julius and Ferris must flee with the Emperor in tow and avoid everyone else in the Empire trying to kill them.

The Ex books are not meant to be as much of a meta commentary on isekai titles as the main series is, mostly as the isekai hasn’t happened yet – Subaru isn’t around. As such, the author is allowed to write what is essentially a straightforward swashbuckling tale, with an added air of mystery – our heroes must figure out why they’re being framed, who framed them, and how much backstabbing and double dealing is actually going on. Ferris gets a few moments to shine, but is mostly there to allow someone to be emotional, which Julius (stoic) and Reinhard (blase) have trouble pulling off. Reinhard is there to show off how monstrously strong he is, but as ever he only works because he’s something of a cipher. As such, it’s Julius who gets the heavy lifting, along with the Empire’s Cecils, the goofy samurai I mentioned earlier, who is the Empire equivalent to Reinhard and whose overdramatic flair masks his dangerous abilities.

So not as astonishing as the main series, but it’s a fun, solid romp, and fans of fighting and sleuthing will have a great time here.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

I took a liking to Emilia from the very start of Re: Zero, and have been patiently waiting for her to live up to the potential she had. It’s been hard, let me tell you. This story has very precise and long-running character development, and when it pays off it’s marvelous, but it can take forever. The far more popular girl getting her important character development first did not help either, let’s face it. So I was ready for Arc 4, where I’d heard we would finally start to focus on Emilia. And… let’s face it, it’s STILL been hard. Seeing Emilia fail her test over and over, screaming and crying, has basically been playing into the hands of her detractors. It hasn’t helped that she doesn’t seem to have any allies. Yes, I’m including Subaru, who has been busily trying to find a way that Emilia doesn’t have to take the test, to the point where I wanted to punch him in the face (this made me nostalgic, let me tell you.) But here, in Vol. 13, we get the payoff, and the start of something new.

Admittedly, first of all we get the climax of the Witch’s Tea Party, which gets a bit Umineko after all, with Subaru at one point trying to bite his own tongue off to get out of there. The witches are, all, for once, relatively united in their desire to stop Subaru being self-sacrificing above anything and everything, and they try to explain (mostly to no avail, but it works a tiny little bit) that he needs to be selfish once in a while. That said, Echidna’s removing his ability to take the Tests is the best thing that happened to Subaru frankly. Now he can try to create a Faustian bargain with Roswaal, which tells us that we’ve seen the last of his Return by Deaths in this arc… or at least we hope so. Moreover, it helps Subaru to come to a realization: he doesn’t think Emilia can do it. He doesn’t believe in her. Neither does Roswaal, but Subaru’s the one who supposedly loves her.

This culminates in what may be the best scene in the entire series, where Subaru and Emilia confront each other in the tomb. (And yes, I am leaving out a lot here. Everything about Satella is jaw-dropping. The fight against Garfiel and seeing what drives him was wonderful. Otto is amazing and awesome and if you don’t love him we can’t be friends. Ram is fantastically sharp-tongued but also knows what Subaru is really like. And we see Puck again, probably for the last time, as Emilia is allowed to recall her tragic past and thus try to move beyond it.) Emilia is bitter and angry because Subaru promised he’d stay by her side as she slept and then he promptly left so that he could set up his multi-layered plan. The two of them have a wonderfully childish fight, appropriately given Emilia’s “mental age” is that of a teenager, and she eventually seems to accept that there aren’t conditions or logical reasons for Subaru loving her. I cannot wait for all of this to be animated.

So we’ve turned the corner 2/3 of the way through this arc, and I suspect that the next book will delve deeply into Emilia’s past. We get a bit of it here (oh dear, more Petelgeuse?), but there’s clearly a lot more to come. What’s more, I want her to triumph just as Subaru needs to. I want them to crush Roswaal’s spirit. And oh yes, stopping Elsa might be nice too. Why is there always so much packed into each volume of this. In any case, this remains one of the best light novels coming out right now. Give it to your friends who hate isekai to show them how it’s done.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

Subaru is much improved as a protagonist in these newer volumes of Re: Zero, to the point where I find I barely have to yell at him in my head at all. Most of the times that he dies and has to return by death are the fault of external forces or things he doesn’t know about, rather than his being a stubborn dumbass. And he gets two points here where he shows that his love for Emilia and Rem (still in that order, sorry Rem fans) is more than just saying it – he can tell when their own responses are either distorted or out-and-out falsified. That said, the last third of this book did a great job of reminding me just how flawed a protagonist Subaru can be. After all, every time he dies and starts again at his save point… he leaves behind a dead Subaru. And those who cared about him. Something he learns all too well when he gets to take the Second Test.

The cover art features our villains of the book, one very familiar to us, one not so much. Unfortunately, despite returning to the mansion in record time, I think Subaru is going to have to come up with another plan, because time is not on his side no matter what. It does, however, given us another very emotional confrontation with Beatrice. I knew going in that this fourth Arc would give some time to Emilia, but it must be back-loaded, as so far there’s been very little. Beatrice, though, also gets an incredible amount of attention and care, showing us how much she is suffering and also showing how little Subaru can seemingly do about it. It also throws into stark relief the end of the book, where Echidna offers to make a pact with him – the fact that he’s desperate enough to accept it despite EVERY OTHER WITCH saying it’s a bad idea shows he’s still very, very fallible.

Speaking of the other witches, Echidna, who had been nice, police and helpful so far this arc, is starting to show her true colors and her stunning lack of empathy – well, no, it’s not really that stunning, we knew this was coming. I will give kudos to the author for making the Witch of Lust a crybaby moe sort of girl, and the Witch of Sloth the one who has the Red Hot Mama vibe you’d normally give to Lust. The cliffhanger ending shows the 7th and final witch showing up at the tea Party, which may end up being as bloody as Umineko’s sometimes were. On the bright side, she’s probably come as herself this time – the earlier parts of the book features a Satella who had literally possessed Emilia, and it was not a pretty sight. (That said, the prize for creepiest moment of the book easily goes to the scene where Emilia, her mind utterly broken by the tests, gives Subaru a lap pillow and a kiss – a kiss that he gets right as he dies. Brr.)

We’re now halfway through this arc, and I get the feeling, revelations about Roswaal aside, we’re not much closer to getting a happy ending. Still, fans of the series will definitely enjoy what they get here, though as always it can be difficult to read. Everyone suffers: The Novel.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

I was sort of expecting this volume of Re: ZERO to be a lot of dying and repeating, and that’s what it is, but we have the added factor, which is good for the reader but bad for Subaru, that things are not repeating in the same way. Due to the nature of Subaru’s Return by Death, every time he dies and comes back the people he needs to convince distrust him more and more as a possible Witch Cultist. Also concerning (and thankfully pointed out by the text) is that Subaru is getting perhaps a little too used to his Return by Death, to the point that his normal emotions are getting a bit flattened. Now, admittedly, the end of the book shows this is not necessarily the case, but if Subaru is going to be a pragmatist I would like him to be one who shouts and waves his hands and is sarcastic to people he dislikes. Grimdark Subaru is not a thing I want.

Having been ignominiously killed by a familiar face at the end of last book, Subaru wakes up in the Tomb, having just completed the first task. He now informs the reader that the one who killed him was Elsa. Remember Elsa? From Book 1? She’s back, and as he finds out when he returns to the mansion again, this time with Ram, she’s there for slaughter and not much else. Even when he can escape her he’s eaten by some sort of beast creature. And things aren’t much better back at the Sanctuary. As I said earlier, Garf is disliking him more and more due to the “witch smell” he gives off the more he returns by death, Roswaal is being very cagey and suspicious (Subaru asks him point blank at one time “are you the enemy?”), and Emilia is sadly still not passing her trial – in fact, she’s barely in this book, much to the annoyance of fans who would like to see her at least try to pull even with Rem.

A lot of this series relies on really good scenes that stick with you long after you’ve finished reading, and here the best of those is at the end of another Bad End in the mansion where Elsa is killing everyone. Subaru is already near death’s door from wounds and missing limbs when he happens upon the door to Beatrice’s library. Unfortunately, he was trying to rescue Rem at the time, so she’s toast. And Beatrice heals him, making it harder for him to go back and die. The ensuing temper tantrum that comes from him is understandable but also awful, and Beatrice’s hurt reaction, and then her enraged response, not only makes the reader feel horrible but also provides very important plot details. I suspect it may be Beatrice who gets development before Emilia here. Also nice to see Petra here again. Let’s give her a hand, people. (Sorry.)

So this was very much still a setup book, being Book 2 of 6 in this arc. There’s a lot of witches I didn’t really get into, including one familiar one who shows up right at the cliffhanger ending. Fans of the series will find a lot to sink their teeth into, though. Just… Subaru, are you OK?

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

As with my review of the 9th volume, I recommend that this review not be read by anyone who’s only seen the anime or manga versions of Re: Zero.

The first half of this book is merely good, as it has to set up the basics of what will be the next arc. Subaru and Emilia arrive back at the mansion only to find that the other half of the village – the one with Ram – is not there. Instead they’ve ended up at the Sanctuary, an area deep in the woods that is the home to demi-humans. Headed over there, Subaru quickly runs afoul of the Witch Echidna, who is able to wrap him around her little finger despite the obvious handicap of being dead. Her tomb is home to a trial that Emilia must take – and, it appears, Subaru is able to take it as well, as he quickly gets sucked into the first of the three tests it involves. Which is good for the reader, as it involves confronting and accepting his past… a past that we’ve been almost entirely ignorant of till now.

So yeah, as expected, Rem is still in a coma and no one remembers her, and it appears that this is going to be the case for the entire arc. I suspect that Rem fans are not going to be too happy with the bright side, which is that this will allow Emilia to get more character development that she didn’t get in the previous arc. Unfortunately, as with Subaru’s character development in the last few books, this is going to begin with a certain amount of frustration – while Subaru is pretty much able to pass the first test with flying colors, Emilia fails the “confront your past” part every single time. I expect a future book will tell us why, but till then, sobbing on the ground and calling out for Puck (who is also absent, for reasons we don’t yet know) is not a good look for her.

The main reason to read this book is the chapter where Subaru confronts his past, which means that we actually get to know his past. His parents are both fantastic in their own way, two people who you read about for ten seconds and immediately understand “yes, these are absolutely who his parents would be”. Subaru suffered as a kid from what a lot of us do, which is being above average in academics and athletics to a certain age, but then starting to fall behind others. Subaru, who was measuring himself by his “perfect” father and coming up short, overcompensated by being more boisterous and doing more crazy, dangerous things at school – something that eventually lost him his friends and made him decide to stop going to school altogether. The trial allows him to do something that he can’t do in real life – say goodbye to both his parents, and assure them that he’s stopped standing still and is moving forward. The entire sequence is terrific.

Unfortunately, Re: ZERO still has its main gimmick in play. And so at the end of the volume Subaru is brutally murdered, and we see a face that I’d honestly totally forgotten about doing the killing. I’m not sure how far back he’ll go, but I suspect we won’t be seeing the first stage of the trial all over again. Also, his idea to take the trial FOR Emilia as her knight is a bad one, and I hope it gets scrapped. In any case, this is a fantastic new volume of an excellent series. Man, remember when I hated Subaru? It seems so long ago now…

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

When this arrived, I didn’t read it for a while as I was expecting it to be the “second half” of Wilhelm’s tragic backstory. But no, as this volume ends we’re still in lovey dovey land, though there are echoes of bad things on the horizon. Instead this volume picks up where the last one left off, with Wilhelm having defeated Theresia in battle and thus proving that he can replace her as the main defense of the realm… or so he thinks, but given that he starts the book in a prison cell, it’s likely that he has a lot more convincing to do. What this actually is are three short stories mushed together telling the story of Theresia and Wilhelm getting married and going on their honeymoon, and all of the things that get in the way of their happiness, which at this stage are mostly played for comedy. That said, the main villain towards the end has some familiar equipment, and I’m wondering exactly how Big Bad he’s meat to be.

I get the sense that the author wrote these stories while taking a break from their usual “Subaru has the worst day ever” fare. I was not expecting this to be as light-hearted as it was, and in many ways it doesn’t even feel like a Re: ZERO novel. Having determined to become Wilhelm’s bride and not a sword master (Wilhelm at least adds “unless she wants to” to this, but the narrative still pushes hard on “cute girls should not fight” mode), Theresia now goes into full-blown tsundere mode, with lots of embarrassment, mild jealousy, and no doubt pouting while pushing out one cheek in the grand anime faces tradition. Wilhelm has become more human since the last book, but that does make him a bit less interesting, as he’s now the standard snarky male light novel lead – something Subaru takes pains not to be. Theresia’s overprotective dad doesn’t help either, as he is made of cliches.

The final short story is the most interesting. (Well, there’s a short fourth short story about Carol and Grimm’s romance, but it’s clearly an afterword sort of thing.) Our couple are on their honeymoon, accompanied by Carol (who loves Theresia a bit too much) and tailed by Theresia’s father (ditto). Things turn serious, unfortunately, when they run into Lord Stride, who is the classic “arrogant noble” of many a light novel, and his bodyguard/champion, a big guy with eight arms. Naturally, he and Wilhelm have to fight, and it’s the best fight in the book, though unlike the last book this one really isn’t about the fights. Stride reminds me far too much of Petelgeuse only witho0ut the insanity, and I have a sneaking suspicion he or a relative may be in the main story sooner or later.

This is a great change of pace for those who’ve been reading Re: ZERO waiting for bad things to happen to good people. On the downside, that does mean it’s a little boring. There’s no deconstruction here, just the author writing a fun little light novel where the sword cutie marries the sword snarker. No doubt this will be continued in the 4th EX, but that’s not out in Japan yet.