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.

I think I’ve started to figure out why it’s harder to get into this arc compared to previous arcs, and it’s not just that 4/5 of the cast is new or we’ve only seen them in spinoffs. The problem is that Re: Zero’s plot is supposed to be, in part, a throne war. Emilia, Crusch, Priscilla, Anastasia and Felt are all vying to be the new leader. Unfortunately, we’ve now thrown that aside to get ourselves involved in another throne war next door, and… well, OK, maybe it *is* the fact that we don’t really know 4/5 of the cast. Now, some of them are becoming better known to us – I’ve really come to love Medium, and I hope nothing terrible happens to her. But for the most part the plot of this book is to have Priscilla save the day, but the enemy gets away, so they move on to the next location. Subaru describes it like an RPG and he’s not wrong. It’s a tad dull.

As hinted in the cliffhanger of the last book, when all seems lost and Arakiya is about to massacre everyone, Priscilla (and Al) arrive to, if not save the day, at least distract her enough to be subdued. Unfortunately, before she can be interrogated, our least favorite mercenary breaks her out. So they’ve taken the city but are otherwise back at square one. And Priscilla certainly isn’t here to help – anyone who has met her knows that. They need to prove that Abel can actually gain real allies, which means one of the nine demon generals. Unfortunately, one of them is so unreliable no one wants to deal with them, one of them is the enemy they just had escape, and one of them is the one who actually instigated the coup. So they’re going to The Chaotic Demon City to try to talk to one of the others… only they’re not the only ones there.

The good thing about Re: Zero is that while the overall plot may annoy and bore me, individual scenes can still be absolute dynamite. When he’s checking on Rem, and describing what happened to her, she points out, quite sensibly, that he’s taking too much on and that he doesn’t need to be a hero. To Subaru, however, who only moved forward thanks to Rem’s words in the 3rd arc, this is the worst POSSIBLE thing she could have said, and it briefly devastates him. I also enjoyed “Natsumi” being more formal while in the carriage with Al, because frankly the two of them sound too similar – it not only helps the author to differentiate between them, but helps to remind us that a lot of Subaru coping is his taking on a role, be it for himself or others. He keeps justifying being in drag throughout this book, and no one really buys it except him.

The cliffhanger suggests we don’t need to worry about Natsumi for a while now. That said, I warn you – this cliffhanger is one of the most contentious parts of this arc, and it will not go away anytime soon. Five more to go!

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.

I’ve talked before about how the way that these books come out in Japan vs. America can sometimes hinder the English-speaking reader. The afterword to this volume says that the 5th Ex book will be a great thing to read to explain much of what happens at the end. Which it absolutely is. The trouble is that here it came out before the final volume of the 5th arc, and also I’ve forgotten most of it by now. Not great, though I understand why Yen cannot simply match another country’s publication schedule to help the wiki-consulting reader. On the other hand, sometimes we can actually get a release schedule helping us out. The last Re: Zero I reviewed was the third short story collection, which has the debut of Natsumi Schwartz, Subaru’s cross-dressing alter ego. And now here we are with the 2nd book in Arc 7, and who should appear to save the day (well, somewhat) but the same Natsumi Schwartz? I expected to see “her” again, but not this soon.

Subaru wants nothing to do with Abel’s crusade, and so he, Rem, and Louis ask the Shudrack to help them reach the nearest town, which they enter thanks to a brother-sister team of eccentrics. Unfortunately, Subaru then dies. Over. And over. And over again. Without quite figuring out what’s going on, which does not help his state of mind at all. Once he’s able to finally realize who is doing this, he manages to break out of the city and go BACK to Abel – as Abel had predicted he would do. That said, he also brought along Flop and Medium (yes, those are their names, it’s a bit Baccano, methinks), which allows Abel the possibility of actually winning his next battle. Unfortunately, Flop proves reluctant to help, so it’s up to Subaru to remember what he’s best at: dumb-sounding plans that work brilliantly.

This is another book that gets better as it goes along. The first half is basically Subaru learning a lesson the only way he knows how – by dying over and over again till it sticks in his head. And that lesson is that this is not a war that he and Rem (and Louis, who Subaru is finally realizing he cannot simply treat like a criminal anymore) can run away from. Honestly, the best parts of the book are him and Rem. This makes sense, given how much ground Rem lost to Emilia over the last fifteen or so books. She’s still grumpy and distrusts Subaru’s smell, but she’s starting to see what his morals and ethics are… and is there to help support them when needed, and criticize him when he varies from them. Subaru worrying she was going to run away from him again, and begging her to stay not for him, but for all the others who love her, is fantastic.

The cliffhanger suggests we’ll be getting a lot of a certain Royal Selection candidate soon… not a surprise given who Abel actually is. Unfortunately, it’ll be till at least December till we get more, as Yen’s schedule lightens up. Till then, this is great in the second half, and OK in the first.

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Makoto Fugetsu. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Tanpenshuu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

This book starts with three more short stories that take place in that period between Arc 2 and 3, and I get the sense that the author knows that they are running out of stories that can really fit in there. The short stories in this book all appeared in Monthly Comic Alive sometime in the “Arc 3” publications, but this volume came out at the end of Arc 4, so the average Re: Zero reader, except for hardcore Rem fans, are likely really hoping to get something else in this series. Fortunately, I have good news for you. Not only does the back half of this volume move away from Roswaal’s mansion, but the next two volumes after this also move on to feature characters OTHEr than the Emilia Camp. Which is good, as the story that takes up the most space in this book is also the best one, showing off the tween years of our favorite silver-haired merchant.

This book has five short stories: 1) A famous chef with tons of rumors swirling around them is coming to the mansion… but he only serves women! To solve this problem, Natsumi Schwartz makes her glorious debut; 2) We get Petra’s POV on her life to date, attitude towards people and fashion, and that annoying new guy who’s hanging around the village; 3) We get a day in the life of Rem, which also shows us (again) how dangerous of a lightweight she is when it comes to alcohol. 4) Ten years before the series starts, we see a 12-year-old Anastasia Hoshin taking the financial world by storm… at least until she’s kidnapped by slavers; 5) a little while before the main series, Priscilla hears about a village where people are vanishing, and she, Al, and Schult investigate.

Anastasia’s story is twice as long as the others, but that’s fine, as it’s the best. It does give the impression of being the third part of an ongoing series, but it shows Anastasia being clever, Ricardo being badass, and introduces us to the Cat siblings, complete with an unhinged Mimi (OK, Mimi is always unhinged). Part of it was also mentioned in one of the anime episodes. I also enjoyed the story with Petra, which helps to give her some depth before she returns in the fourth arc. The first story had a twist that was very predictable, but Subaru cross-dressing was the main feature anyway, and I suspect we have not seen the last of “her”. The weakest stories were Rem’s and Priscilla’s, which weren’t bad but just did not really add much beyond what we already knew about them.

Again, I wish we’d gotten this in the publication order in Japan, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time we get a good look at Felt, which is desperately needed, so I look forward to that. Re: Zero fans should have a lot of fun with this.

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

The first volume of the Re: Zero short stories was supplemented by some stories written directly for the volume. Unfortunately, that appears to be a one-off, as the volumes from this one going forward consist entirely of stories from Monthly Comic Alive. This volume came out near the end of the third arc, between Books 8 and 9, but is still entirely concerned with that period after the second arc, with every story happening around Roswaal’s mansion. The stories themselves appeared between July 2014 and July 2015, which is to say around the start of the third arc. Why am I writing so much about trivia like this? Because this is still a short story book in the end, and there’s a limited amount of things they can do to affect canon and be important characterization, especially given they’re all “buy in a manga magazine” stories. That said… this is a lot of fun, and should be greatly enjoyable for Re: Zero fans.

There are six stories here. 1) After the events of Liliana’s visit, the mansion’s residents are horrified to discover that Emilia is tone-deaf, and try to teach her how to sing; 2) Subaru accidentally uses Ram’s special medicinal tea that she needs to help her mana, and now he, Ram, and Puck have to go into the forest to get the dangerous ingredients required to make it again; 3) Subaru asks if there are ghosts in this world, and discovers that some of the residents of the mansion may fear them (they’re “hollows” here. He decides to use the Japanese “divination” game of kokkuri to have some fun; 4) Trying to get sedentary Beatrice to be more active, Subaru bets her that he can catch her in a game of tag played around the mansion. Beatrice accepts, but forgets how cunning Subaru cam be; 5) The mansion is freezing over due to Puck needing to get rid of his magic, and Subaru decides to help him along by holding a snow festival in the village; 6) Subaru finds a stash of alcohol under a trapdoor, and Roswaal gives permission to host a party with it, since in this world Subaru is old enough to drink.

The last two stories were adapted into an OAV of the anime, and it’s easy to see why, as they lend themselves very well to that sort of thing. Last time I talked about how odd it was to read about the “original” Rem from Arc 3 after all the time we’ve spent (in North America) with her in a coma. This one reminded me that I’ve gotten spoiled by the Emilia of the 5th and 6th arcs, who’s gotten herself together and is kicking ass. This is a return to the old, naive and somewhat goofy Emilia, which isn’t as cool but I will admit can be funnier; Emilia with Mr. Bucket may be the comedic highlight of the book. Most of these are downtime stories, with little danger. The second story has Subaru step off a cliff and get menaced by monsters, but honestly he was more in danger from Ram’s sarcasm there than anything else. Likewise, the danger of potentially dying of the cold in the 5th story is hilariously undercut by Subaru pointing that that Puck has to “fart out all that mana”. This stays on the funny rather than heartwarming side of the scale, though the final scene with Subaru and Beatrice is sweet.

For obsessives only, but it’s great the obsessives finally have a chance to buy it.

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.

We were spoiled by the first books in Arc 5 and Arc 6. Each of those books was filled with the main cast we know and love, featured Subaru being smart and making good decisions (even when he is getting killed), and generally were a lot of fun and led us into the horror and return by death gradually. This is the first book in Arc 7, and it is absolutely not that at all. We’re in a completely different country, most of the cast are new, and of those who aren’t new, one has no memories of her past, one seems to be mentally a baby, and one… is meant to be a mysterious swordsman named Abel, but anyone who’s read the Ex 4 and 5 novels know who he really is. And then there’s Subaru, who is… shall we say, making poor decisions again. Once again his stubbornness leads him to do things that just a moment of rational thought would show are going to get him in trouble. Whee.

Subaru, along with Rem and Louis, has been somehow transported far away from Emilia and company, who know he’s not dead and what direction he’s in but that’s about it. He wakes up in a jungle. Rem is awake, but has no memories, and of course Subaru has been returning by death a lot lately, so he smells horribly of miasma. What’s more, Louis has come along with them, and he suggests abandoning her… except she looks like a small child and acts like an innocent baby. So, naturally, Rem chokes him unconscious and flees. Congratulations, Subaru/Rem fans, you got your touching reunion? In any case, Subaru also manages to be shot by a hunter and killed, and then when he catches up with Rem he’s captured by an army on the march. And who’s that mysterious masked guy in the woods?

As I said above, reading the Ex spinoffs will help a tiny bit here, but for the most part this is pure unfiltered Subaru with new people – including Rem, who is basically in “angry and distrusting” mode most of the book, though she’s already worried and concerned about him by the end of it. So I’m sure the love will return. As for Louis, I understand why Subaru hates and is willing to abandon her. But his constant disdain and scorn of Louis in front of Rem is easily the dumbest he’s been since the 3rd arc. He doesn’t explain, he doesn’t take Louis at face value, he just… makes himself look like an asshole. Speaking of assholes, we meet a lovely smiling villain named Todd Fang, who I suspect we’re going to get a lot more of in future books. Don’t like him. And he’s not even the abusive one of the pair of soldiers. I do like the Amazon tribe that Subaru and Vincent run into, though – they’re all cool and badass, and I hope they don’t get killed off.

I’m sure as I get used to the arc, things will pick up. But this arc is *eight* books long, and I miss the core cast already. Good writing, interesting stuff, but a Subaru that I didn’t want to see again.

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

First of all, I appreciate that we have a new translator for the short stories. The plan seems to be to release these volumes one month after the main volumes till we catch up, so putting all that on the same person would be a strain. Secondly, of course, we’re getting this a bit late. This volume first came out in 2014, in between Volume 5 and 6 of the regular series. It also introduces us to Liliana, someone who appears as a major supporting character in the 5th arc and who we are expected to have known about from this story. So, kinda like the Index SS books. Also like the Index SS books, it’s great to see these licensed anyway. They provide a lot of really good fluffy fun, introduce a character who’s important later, and give important backstory to two more supporting characters. And, perhaps most importantly, it gives Subaru a chance to really get in a ton of tsukkomi. Especially in the first story. Comebacks for all.

There are four short stories in this book. Two of them were written to appear in my nemesis, Monthly Comic Alive, and two of them are original for this book. The first, which ran in Comic Alive over 3 issues right after the 3rd volume came out, has a traveling bard named Liliana arrive at the mansion, looking to compose a song about a hero that hasn’t been composed yet. She also, unfortunately, has some people trying to kidnap her, who also come to the mansion. The second story has Subaru trying to give Rem a day off, after seeing how she basically does everything in the mansion, and Rem’s struggles to actually not work. This appeared after the 4th novel. Then we get the two original stories. The first shows Priscilla, having just chosen Al as her knight, returning to her newest husband, and Al learning what said husband has planned for her. The other one shows Emilia falling asleep and ending up in a parody of Alice in Wonderland.

The biggest thing I noticed while reading this book, which I would not remotely have noticed had I read it in publication order, is just how long it’s been since we’ve had Rem in this story. The second story is all about Rem, of course, and the first one has a heaping helping of her. She gets to show off her strength, speed, and pure adoration of Subaru here, and her fans should eat this up. Liliana’s introduction is also good, and she and Subaru have an instant boke/tsukkomi relationship that feels different from the one he already has with Emilia. Emilia’s Wonderland story is mostly silly, but the Priscilla story may be the best in the book. We get another good look at Al’s own “talent” in beating the odds, and we get to see exactly why Priscilla is one of the chosen candidates and why people absolutely revere her. She’s an arrogant, abusive ass, but she earns every bit of the adoration she expects to receive.

So yeah, this was fun. Nothing really serious, apart from bits of the Priscilla story. Fans should love it.

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.

And so another arc bites the dust, as the 6th Arc of Re: Zero ends with this volume. There are more returns by deaths, there are lots of surprises, there are absolute PILES of cool fights, and there’s even a bit of tragedy. That said, there’s still a whole lot of stuff we don’t really know. Some folks who had their identity eaten by Gluttony are restored, some are not. Gluttony, who of course is three siblings, gets sealed away/killed/we have no clue. As for Subaru, well, he didn’t get a 100% victory, but he did his best. And he did it by knowing his strengths, which is cheering people on, taking their own pain as his own, and knowing that everyone else in his party is ludicrously stronger than him. Emilia gets amazing things to do, Ram is awesome, Julius is fantastic. It’s a pump the air sort of book… at least till that cliffhanger. Whoops, new arc.

Subaru may have decided that now is the time for his counterattack, but about 15 more deaths show that he himself cannot actually affect anything. As such, the one thing that helps him out is spotting his OWN book of the dead in the library… or rather the multiple, multiple volumes of books of each of his deaths. The outcome of reading all these books I won’t spoil, but by the end of it Louis is taken care of and Subaru has all his memories back. Now he’s ready to figure out what should be done to win: give Julius the cheerleader he’s dedicated himself to (who it turns out has not so much been in danger of dying as curling up and sulking), give Emilia a huge morale boost that allows her to pretty much be damn near invincible, let Rem fight with her sister in a very real way to take out Lye, and then go with Beatrice to help Meili to try to hold off Shaula till all this can be done. Oh yes, and can anyone pass the test?

This is a long book, with a lot going on. Emilia fans will eat VERY well in this book, though I get the feeling that the next arc may flip the heroines again. By the end of the book, they have won a bittersweet victory, one that is perhaps more bitter for them than it is for me: I can appreciate the tragedy of Shaula’s existence waiting for her master, but her death doesn’t quite land as tragically as I think the author wants it to. The other really good bit in the book was the climax, where they have Roy captured but not dead, and when Subaru suggests killing him to try to get everyone’s memories back, Anastasia is quick to point out that is a very UN-Subaru thing to say. As for Rem, having had a moment of triumph from within a book of the dead last time, she’s still comatose here, though that does not stop her from unconsciously helping Ram to get more power to defeat Lye. the cliffhanger suggests her fate will change very soon, though, so Rem fans, your long wait is almost over.

The next arc is not only the longest in the series, eight books, but it’s also far less popular than the last two. Get ready for almost an entirely new supporting cast. And go back and read Re: Zero EX 4 and 5, you’ll need them. Till then, this was a mostly very satisfying finale to this round of Re: Zero…. oh wait, we’re finally getting the Short Story volumes! See you next month, back in the Arc 2 days of yore.

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.

I had assumed, since the end of the last volume was one of those “I have been a dumbass for a while but now I have turned the corner and am fighting back” endings, that there might be a bit less Return by Death in this book. Hardly. All that means is that the deaths are not “Subaru dies by being an idiot” but are instead “Subaru dies as he tries to figure out how to escape a damn near impossible situation”. Which means going through everything bit by bit and breaking it down into manageable chunks. but it does mean that this book is pretty exhausting, and features a lot of the cast getting their asses handed to them, as well as a lot of supposed allies turning out to be secret antagonists – though honestly, the latter should not be too surprising to a reader who is paying attention. This book is all the detective work, and the payoff will presumably be next time.

Subaru, now determined to fight back, goes back to square one and confesses to all that he’s lost his memories. He’s already worked out how he died the first time, by being pushed off the staircase, and solves that fairly quickly. The next step is to try to find Reid Astrea’s book in the Library, so that they can read his memories in hopes of finding a weakness – what killed him, for a start. Unfortunately, that ends up going badly, as when Subaru goes into Reid’s book he instead finds… another Gluttony. This one is named Louis (pronounced the French way), and she almost manages to break Subaru entirely before he’s saved by the least likely savior out there… and also the most likely, let’s face it. Unfortunately, they now have multiple Gluttonies running around, Reid running amuck, and that pesky killer scorpion. What’s up with that, anyway?

There are many amazing fight scenes in this, which the author has started to specialize in. This arc in particular continues to be a gift for Emilia fans, and that’s despite the fact that she (in one loop) gets her identity eaten by Gluttony. A fight that ends with her sneaking up behind Lye (Gluttony #2) and hitting him with a giant ice hammer while yelling “Sneak Up And WHAM” is possibly in my top five moments in the entire series. There’s also Subaru doing what he does best, which is rallying the troops and getting them to do what they do best… though sometimes even that isn’t enough. It all comes to a head in the final scene of the book, when he confronts Shaula and gets her to admit what she’s been hiding and why. It’s a very sympathetic reason – tearjerking, even – but honestly, I suspect that she’s absolutely correct and knows it. And that’s why she’s breaking down.

The next book is the final book in this arc, and I suspect it will need to be a much longer volume in order to fix everything up. Till then, this was a solid volume, and had a minimal amount of Subaru being a dumbass, which is always my measuring stick for how enjoyable it is.

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.

Do you enjoy Re: Zero but feel that it’s gotten a bit too complacent? Are you upset that everyone now tends to get along and talk through their problems like reasonable adults? Do you miss the early volumes when flipping each page felt like crawling through broken glass? I have terrific news for you! Subaru’s lost his memories, and we’re starting all over from zero! , Now, to be fair to Subaru, he actually IS pretty good about things, at first. My worry was that he would immediately try to hide that he’ lost his memory and try to fake it, which absolutely would not work with this crowd. So he confesses right away. Sadly, he is unaware of Return by Death, but he very quickly finds out, and also very quickly leads to him realizing that someone keeps killing him. So he DOES then try to hide that he’s lost his memory. Which does not go well, because see above.

So yes, going back to the start of the book, Subaru has lost his entire memory of this world, thinking he just got here from Japan. He tells Emilia and Beatrice, who are clearly upset but are used to bullshit, so they cope as best they can. And Subaru is not the only one confessing secrets. “Anastasia” finally comes clean and decides to admit that she’s Echidna (no, not that Echidna, the other Echidna) and that she’s trying to save Anastasia before her life runs out. Unfortunately, as he wanders around trying to figure out what to do next, Subaru is pushed off a staircase to his death. At first thinking this was some sort of dream precognition, he makes another attempt to wobble through the same events… and suddenly finds half the cast also dead. As he realizes that this book just became a locked room mystery, Subaru reacts in a nostalgic way: by completely losing his shit and being 100% paranoid.

I admit, this book hurt to read and I wanted it to be over with as fast as possible. (It does help that it’s one of the shorter Re: Zero volumes to date.) I appreciate everyone’s character development, and seeing it removed it not ironic, it’s just mean. That said, this is very well done. Julius’s frustration, Rem’s furious disbelief, and Emilia’s unwavering love are all done incredibly well. The final scene with Emilia and Subaru is like a reward for the rest of the volume, and it will touch your heart. (Also, thank goodness that Re: Zero is one of those books that uses honorifics, because the moment Subaru says “Emilia-chan” when he’s trying to hide his memory loss you can see everyone go “WTF”.) And then there’s Meili, who spends half the book as a corpse but might get the most development of all, and whose backstory is both grotesque and a bit heartwarming, like most of the cast.

We end the volume with another death, but at least this time Subaru has decided, memories or no, to start fighting back. Which is good, as the culprit is clearly inside the house, and is also not any of the cast we see in this book. A great Re: Zero volume, despite the pain.

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.

When I was reading this book, I mentioned on Twitter that if you removed all scenes where Subaru is essentially acting as the “tsukkomi” to every else that the book would be 100 pages shorter. That said, I know that one of the reasons we enjoy Subaru so much is that this is how he copes with things. He’s always had three ways of dealing: overcompensating, trauma response, and sarcasm, and he’s gotten much better on the first two but the third is ingrained. You’d think this would make him very one-note, but it doesn’t, because each of the characters that he reacts this way to is so different. The way Subaru responds to Emilia, mocking her while also acknowledging his adoration, is very different from how he has to deal with Shaula, the new character, which is a mix of disgust and “what the hell is going on?”. He has a type, but the range is larger than you’d think… until the cliffhanger, which promises to upend this a lot.

Having finally arrived at the tower, and gotten the comatose Rem and the injured Patlash to the medical bay, our heroes now have to deal with the fact that the Sage they’ve been seeking is… probably NOT the sage. And also a bit of an airhead. They also have to pass a test to get access to the upper floors of the tower at all. The first no one is able to pass until Subaru, who is from Japan and suspects the creator of this test is as well, finds a solution to. Unfortunately, the floor they get to has a bunch of “book of someone’s life” books, and they’re in random order. So they need to get to the next floor… which requires another test. Unfortunately, not only is this one much harder, but they all have to pass it individually. Bad news, since the test giver is an insanely powerful swordsman.

This has the feel of a book that is a time-marker, to be honest. I never felt bored, but there’s a sense that we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, and since it doesn’t drop till about page 280, that’s a lot of waiting. There are some very nice scenes between Subaru and Julius, which shows off their friendship (Julius is kind of put through the wringer in this book), and EMT fans will be eating very well, as the relationship between her and Subaru has never been more romantic, even as she wins a fight by letting her opponent grope her tits, not understanding why she should feel offended at that. (Emilia’s “sexual innocence” continues to be at 120%.) And we’re also getting more of an idea about what Anastasia/Echidna is really after, and trusting them a wee bit more. Not much plot happens here, but a lot of good character stuff occurs.

Next book, judging by that cliffhanger, should be far more plot-driven, though I suspect it will also remain inside the tower. And hey, no death loops this book!

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.