Re:ZERO Episode 29

Re:ZERO Episode 29

Parent and Child

I was a bit surprised by how episode 29 of Re:ZERO played out. Obviously Subaru was going to have to say goodbye to his parents. And obviously he was going to have to confront his past in some fashion. But I expected those two things to happen in the opposite order.

I figured he would do whatever it is he has to do in his past, and then at the last moment, he would get a chance to say goodbye to his parents. Instead, we got basically an entire episode of Subaru saying goodbye to his parents, and only at the end does he actually start to do whatever it is he needs to do to complete the Witch’s Trial.

Originally, I was thinking that Subaru’s trial would deal with him coming to terms with the fact that he’s not going to return to his old world. But if that’s the case, then he’s effectively already completed it by being able to say his goodbyes. And as we saw, simply going to school wasn’t the trial either — it’s only the start from what I understand.

Subaru's depression incarnate from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Subaru’s depression incarnate

But, why did I think Subaru coming to terms with his fate was going to be the trial? At no point in the series until this moment did we see Subaru worry about how he was going to return home. We know he has memories from his old life, but he never seemed concerned about not seeing his parents again.

So, I figured that this trial was going to be a way of forcing him to confront that reality. Basically, taking something negative that Subaru has been avoiding thinking about, and pushing him into it headfirst.

And yes, even though Subaru mentions to his mom that he’ll return eventually, I don’t think he will. I don’t see the series ending with him abandoning his new friends. That doesn’t seem like something Subaru would do, and I doubt his parents would want him to either.

Kenichi Natsuki

Kenichi Natsuki is Subaru’s dad. I don’t really want to say that he’s just an older version of Subaru, but that’s kind of what he is. He definitely has a slightly different personality, but I think a lot of that comes down to their difference in age.

The major differences I see between them are that Subaru’s dad is more outgoing, he’s more conscious of social norms, and he’s much better at expressing himself. But at the same time, we’ve seen these same attributes show up in Subaru over the course of the series to a lesser extent.

Now, it might seem odd for me to say that Subaru isn’t very outgoing. After all, he’s actually been extremely outgoing throughout his time in the parallel world. However, one of the things about Subaru that we learned from this episode is that he’s not really outgoing by nature — there’s a reason for him acting this way.

Kenichi Natsuki from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Kenichi Natsuki

At first, Subaru was outgoing because he was attempting to live up to everyone’s expectation that he would be like his dad. Then, he was outgoing because he thought that would make him more likable. And once he got to the parallel world, putting on an outgoing facade was basically all he knew how to do at that point.

Though, over time he seems to have gained more confidence thanks to the friends he’s made.

Social norm understanding and expressing himself are two areas in which Subaru is still lacking. He’s definitely gotten better at the first, again due to the friends he’s made. But as we should all be aware, he still can’t express his feelings in a nuanced fashion. Just look at all the times Subaru has fumbled through expressing his feelings for Emilia.

Subaru’s Mom Natsuki

While Subaru’s dad was named, I didn’t notice Subaru’s mom ever being named in this episode. Maybe her name was just cut out of the anime for some reason, or maybe she was never named in the light novels either. But since it’s something I noticed, I might as well make an unsubstantiated prediction based on it.

What if Subaru’s mom wasn’t named because her name is significant to the story somehow? I don’t really know how that would be though. You’d think that if she shared a name with someone important like Emilia or one of the witches, Subaru would have mentioned that — at least in his mind.

Unless she’s actually one of the witches. She has mean-looking eyes and the uncanny ability to know everything. Is she really the reincarnation of Echidna?

But in all honesty, I do still think it’s odd that she wasn’t named, so I’m hoping there’s something more to it.

Subaru's mom from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Subaru’s mom

Going beyond her lack of a name, Subaru’s mom was an interesting character in how she was used in the episode. Subaru’s dad mainly filled the role of getting Subaru to understand that he won’t see his parents again. But Subaru’s mom was the one who built his confidence back up afterward.

She tells him that it’s okay for him to want to be like his dad and also be his own person at the same time. And, by telling him to take care when he leaves, she gives Subaru that extra push he needed to commit to the trial and return to the parallel world.

I think we’ll see some evidence for this when Subaru does complete the trial. It’s possible that he’ll wake up with tears running down his face from this dream, but I think the opposite is more likely. I think he’ll wake up after the trial and be more determined than ever before — mostly due to his mom.

Conclusion

What did you think of Re:ZERO season 2 episode 4? And what was your favorite part of the episode? My favorite part was definitely the depiction of Subaru’s depression and how easy it is to fall into a pattern of taking the easy way out (i.e. him not going to school).

There are many days when I feel extremely unmotivated and don’t want to write these posts. But one of the reasons I’ve been able to stick to such a consistent schedule over the years is my fear of falling into a pattern like Subaru. I know that if I miss just one day, it will make missing more days that much easier.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

4 Replies to “Re:ZERO Episode 29”

  1. I was just thinking how sad it is because Subaru did not say bye to his mother in reality before going to the store and died.

  2. I think you misunderstood what happened, DoubleSama. Coming to terms with his past was the first part of the trial, and Subaru could not pass this part of the trial until he came to school. That’s why Echidna remarked that Subaru arrived sooner than she thought he would because she expected it would take him longer instead of having him breeze through it like he did in this episode.

    1. I understand that much, but my point is that I figured that what we saw in this episode was going to be the main portion of the trial, not just the pre-trial.

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