Re: Zero Arc 7 Overview (Tiktok Video Script)

Tiktok video link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMS3bXH4A/

Script:

Is Arc 7 the weakest arc of Re:Zero?

It had a strong start following arc 6. Introducing characters like Vincent and Todd who act as amazing foils to Subaru. Vincent is willing to make sacrifices if necessary. Subaru will sacrifice no one. He wants to save everyone. 

Todd counters Subaru’s return by death because despite not being powerful compared to villains prior, he fears Subaru.

And as taught by the Vollachian Empire the strong prevail and the weak perish, in such a world he is not allowed to stand afraid. Todd becomes the threat to neutralise the threat.

These new themes continue to further  expand Re:Zero’s world and characters in a compelling way.

Arc 7 also begins to deconstruct Subaru's hero complex. Something Rem in this arc rejects, a complex she gave him before losing her memories. The irony of it was splendid from Tappei.

Subaru also had some amazing death loops this arc.

Despite that, Tappei had so much going on that the arc felt like it lost its focus at points.

The arc has long stretches of dialogue that have no bearing on the story’s plot. An issue present in most of Tappei's writing, but the story itself had enough interesting elements to keep me engaged. The entirety of phase 4 of arc 6 was focused on the hall of memories and while the pace was slow. Subaru’s memory loss remained compelling. We see a more vulnerable side of arc 1 Subaru. Tappei later uses the plot point to explore how a person’s memory shapes who they are.

Re Zero has always been a character focused story with Tappei's superb character writing.

Arc 7 phase 7 has no business being 21 chapters. There is a whole focus on a character called Izmail from the cyclops tribe who dies in the chapter he is introduced. It only serves to shows Arakiya's brutality, but this was already shown before in phase 6. Which despite being my favourite phase possesses moments of monotony. It doesn’t help that Subaru was able to reverse the perma deaths of some characters. It makes me wonder why bring up the conversation of deconstructing Subaru’s hero complex, and then radically backpedal on it. For what reason did Tappei do this?

Arc 7 also has way too many characters. Little time was left to develop the existing ones from previous arcs. This arc had a lot of named chapters as well. I was so eager to be done with them. Similar to the Liliana chapters, it felt like they were disrupting the story’s pace. I can’t wait to be done with phase 8 so I can move on. I then leave you to wonder…