From the first episode to the last, I never once thought Subaru was a bad person.

I hate how ep 18 has one of the best character developements (and also is basically the best episode in the whole series) and yet all people ever focused on was the fact that subaru said "I love emilia"

SUBARU: What do you know?! What do you know about me?! This is the kind of man I am! I have no strenght but I want it all. I have no knowledge but all I do is dream. There's nothing I can do, but I struggle in vain! I... I... I hate myself! All I do is talk a big game, and make myself sound like a big shot, when I can't do anything! I never do anything, yet I can complain like a pro! Who do I think I am? It's amazing I can live like this and not feel ashamed! Right?! I'm empty! There's nothing inside me at all! I know that... Yeah, that's obvious. I know it's obvious. Before I came here... Before I got into the situation that led me to all of you. Do you have any idea what I did? I did nothing. I've never done a single thing! And this is the result! What I am now is the result! All of my powerlessness, all of my incompetence, is the product of my rotten character. Wanting to accomplish something when I've never done anything goes beyond the limits of arrogance! The cost of my laziness and all the wasteful habits in my life just ends up killing both you and me! That's right. I have no character. Even when I thought I could go on living here, nothing changed. That old man saw that part of me perfectly. Right? I wasn't trying to get stronger, or trying to make things better. I was just striking an obvious pose to justify myself, to say that I was trying, that it wasn't like I wasn't doing anything. I wanted to say I couldn't help it. I wanted to be told that it couldn't be helped! I was only pretending to push my body to the limits so that would be possible! Even when I had you help me study, I was just posing to cover up how embarrassed I felt! At heart, I'm just a small, cowardly, filthy piece of trash who is always worried about how other see me, and nothing... nothing about me has changed! I knew it all along. That all of it was my fault... I'm the lowest of the low. I absolutely hate myself.

This reminded me why I watched Re: Zero til the end. Sure it was entertaining and you wanted to see what would happen next, but I actually really liked seeing the truth of Subaru as a character, and this video highlighted it perfectly. He was a deeply flawed character who pushed his ideals of the situation onto those around him, but it wasn't until he opened up about how powerless he really thought he was that he was able to get the help he needed and make the most progress he had ever made. It wasn't the greatest series ever, but it managed to do that right at least

Looking at it logically, Subaru has fuck ton of grit and patience. He puts his life on the line just because he’s met people that in only some loops he found a good side to them. With Emilia, she was like Subaru first savior and at the time where Subaru still believed he was gonna be like a “Isekai protagonist” She captured his heart by saving him only once in that alleyway setting her as a “main heroine”. Subaru was so trusting even though to him, she’s was honestly a complete stranger. How often do you find a person who would be willing to get disemboweled several times for a girl that they just met. Moving on to the times where he works at the Roswaal Mansion, in the very first loop where he wakes up at the mansion, he immediately offers himself as a butler in order to provide for himself and as well stay close to Emilia (which at the time was the only person that had treated him with kindness despite not knowing him all that well. Excluding Reinhardt). He treats everyone with respect and a approachable funny attitude while Ram (being as sarcastically cute as she is) would honestly not be the ideal type of coworker as she comes off a bit rude and snarky. Rem is completely cold to Subaru as she smells the witch’s scent on him and suspects him of being a witch cultists. At this points in the story, Subaru has still not had a full grasp on the history of the Rezero world and has no knowledge of his scent, so to him Rem is just being a monotonic cold person to him for no particular reason. Nonetheless, he always tries to keep it the mood fun when they interact even with Rem’s not so enthusiastic attitude. He goes 4-day sets of continuous loops dying from a curse, crushing by chained mace, and jumping of a goddamn cliff. On one of the loops he plans to leave the Roswaal Mansion in order to find out who, based on his point of view, would murder him and then the rest of the residents of the mansion. He does this despite not being treated by most of them and is not willing to leave anyone behind. To his surprise the attacker would be Rem, the person he was so sure he was getting a tiny bit closer to, would cut off his legs off to prevent from running, interrogate him about his smell and the witch cult (which he still has no idea about) while simultaneously getting his body smashed if he answers with the truth of just “wanting to be closer with everyone”. His responses are then followed up questions about “WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!” This man is balling his eyes out while his voice reflects his agonizing. His final sentence before his throat is severed is “I Really Love You Guys”. Like Rem cut the man some slack because if he was a witch cultist, this man deserves a Grammy for his acting. And guess what he’s forced to become a freeloader at the mansion seeing this as the only option in making through the 4th day without dying, and because he wasn’t at the village to obtain the mabeast’s curse (in the form of a puppy) Rem receives the curse in his place and dies. Ram wants to kill him at this time, and he now he has three choices, to escape Ram and find a new place to live that allows him to remove all the troubles he’s encountered thus far, to kill Ram and live but ultimately remove a fraction of his humanity, or to kill himself by jumping off a GODDAMN CLIFF to once again restart despite not even being sure if “Return by Death” has a unlimited number of revives. This man risks his potential final life in order to save a girl that brutally murdered him, a girl that wants to murder him because she believes he killed her sister, a girl who cause him to get disemboweled several times and lied about her name being Satella, a little girl who seems to be in a bad mood 24:7 (I know she has her reasons), and a weird clown man. You guys already know what this sigma male does. He clenched ass cheeks and his fists dashing towards the edge like Usain Bolt diving towards spikes like he’s a goddamn Olympic diver. Skipping a few episodes, thus far, Subaru has experienced getting mugged and stabbed, using his Od (basically magic container and life force) to an unhealthy degree that permanently damaged his body, getting disemboweled, getting smashed, getting his throat slit, getting mauled by dogs, getting humiliated in front of the girl he likes by Julius, getting frozen to death by a spirit, getting murdered by witch cultist, getting pushed off a carriage by Otto as a sacrifice to the White Whale, getting rejected by several parties who don’t want to help him against the witch cult… and he’s unable to say a single word about it. So when he reaches his breaking point and starts going off on Emilia, suddenly he’s a dick, loser, and someone with a heroic complex. HEEEELLL NOOOOOO Imagine yourself going through what he did and being able not to get pissed by anyone for that long. I’m positive some people wouldn’t even have been able to keep their shit together after the first 2 to 3 deaths. Not even that. During his “I Hate Myself” speech he lists so many things that we as an audience can relate to and have experienced. Lazying away while you could’ve done anything your life, being rejected by your former friends, not feeling well enough to go to school for several days because of depression, and not making genuine connections with people because you fear each 5 negative thoughts that come from every positive thought of “what if”. Subaru has such an understanding of himself as a rotten character that he dismisses every single life he saved when he was transported. The man is selfless, compassionate, funny, determined, patient, kind, tough, trusting of of others, forgiving, and smart to figure out his mountainous problems he faces. This goes even further in season 2 when he still doesn’t want to kill Maylie (the mabeast trainer) just because she’s a child. This may sound bad in today’s society but, who the fuck cares if she’s a child; that “child thing” tried to curse your ass, crush your ass, and chew your ass to pieces with her pets. If I encounter Subaru’s situations, I would be a lot less forgiving to anyone who wrongfully killed me. I probably wouldn’t be patient enough to understand their reasoning of killing me like Subaru did with Rem. I probably would’ve not jumped off the cliff because I’d be too much of a pussy to do it with the fear of final death. I probably would’ve left Emilia to fend for herself even knowing that she would die an unpreventable death. I wouldn’t continue to put up a tough act for others and wallow in my own pain from dying so many times. The point I’m trying to make here is that if you hate Subaru, take a genuine moment to think “What would’ve I done in his shoes not knowing anything about the story line of Rezero.” or “What would’ve happened to my mental state if I was in Subaru’s shoes?” It makes sense considering everyone gets pissed at stupid things sometimes and cries about a major problem in their lives, but Mr. Chadbaru over here is still kicking ass with his mental durability.

This is me interacting for the almighty Algorithm-Sama

Subaru is probably the most human main character, at least in my opinion.

I mean Subaru is realistic he’s literally a human being probably one of the most realistic MC’s despite his “world” being all magic.

I too thought that scene was something off of old English Shakespearian, Re: Zero defiantly deserves its praise as a great story in the medium of animation. And not some "Waifu trap", "Harem", "Memes" or " Just another Isekai". presumptions. After season 2 I can't help but want to read the Novels now, and here's to hoping Season 3 is going to be announced this year. Thanks for the well-informed video and spreading the greatness of the show/books, also nice regard to another great piece of the story, Monogatari.

Episode 18 of Re: Zero is what led me to discover Monogatari in the first place, and this channel. So for that, episode 18 will always be one of my favorite episodes in all of anime.

subaru is one of my fav character, i love the fact that he didnt have some kinda hidden power that activates by power of friendship or achieving something by saying mada mada

He really is one of the best isakai characters ever purely because of his development.

This is why I don't watch Re:Zero, I don't want to cry because I could relate to Subaru

Yeah, Re Zero was like fun mystery with great suffering of main character until episode 18 but after that it became even more. At that moment, I was stunned. It is one of most meaningfull and touching monologues for me in all anime.(maybe cause I relate) Also, I love Rem. She is so precious.

I was so surprised when I found out what ''to be or not to be'' meant a few years ago. It suddenly made me realise why that line is so famous, because it's absolutely fucking beautiful. This video is absolutely fantastic and one of, if not, my favourite one you've ever done. The king's return to anitube has been fantastic. Good fucking work.

Great video. Subaru’s Soliloquy was when I really fell in love with Subaru and Re:Zero as well.

Are you KZfaq’s/Anime’s English teacher? I wouldn’t mind that... I’m also glad you mentioned Monogatari at the end AGAIN because that show also has Shakespearean type deep dives into the characters. Subaru is a great character though in that he is very Real, flaws and all.

I have to admit I watched this anime with no info beforehand and absolutely loved the MC when he speaks about his inner conflict it really hit's hard.

A Re Zero and Monogatari fan? Literally 2 of my top 5 anime of all time. Truly a based individual you are my friend.

Subaru = The powerless hero who care too much

Super mega solid video like always

This really made me look at Subaru and the series in a new way, very cool stuff.

This is wow, like I haven't read Hamlet, or watched Re:Zero, but I feel like I can relate to them, without watching, or reading them though. Yeah, maybe I should have done that before saying I can relate to the characters, but still I can feel and sympathize, base on what you told. So good job on that

Hey Man. Thanks for this video. I’m sending it to my mom for analysis. She’s a writer herself and loves Shakespeare so maybe this will be a great video for her to listen to.

Hmmmm.... to be honest I kind of think Subaru did in fact snap for a while there. When faced with an insurmountable problem it's not unusual for the mind to retreat into itself to escape the issue. Given he was trapped in the harshest situation yet he couldn't deal with it and retreated from reality. If everything is going to die, myself included, why act at all? I think the context of Petelgeuse's criticism of Subaru comes from the two character's kinds of madness. Subaru's was a madness of regression, where the madness Petelgeuse fell into stripped him of who he formally was almost entirely. It seemed to be that was why Petelgeuse called Subaru's madness "fake", because it wasn't the same sort of schism his mind went through. Also, even Petelgeuse wouldn't be able to understand the levels of despair Subaru was going through. Pretty much no one can, given everyone else is living a linear existence, where as Subaru gets to live, die, and remember each obstacle set in his path before he ever reaches it. A madness that results in regression would seem like a 'fake' madness to someone without that context.

This was great. I think you're right and creators should be brave enough to let their characters have a moment like a soliloquy where they're able to pull on the greatest frictions within their characterisation.

Adding this video to my favourites. Subaru's characterisation will also be brilliant in the second season, just wait.

Well done! I always felt there were parallels here as well, but this was a better exploration of the topic than I could have come up with, and I'm very happy it exists now. Subaru's character and this monologue are also things I relate to quite strongly on a personal level. It's a cliche thing to say, but I legitimately cry every time. Hopefully I too can stop faffing about in fear and make progress XD

So... Horatio should be Rem? Jokes aside, your line of think was amazing. Great video. Fun fact: in the middle of volume 4 of the re:zero extra light novels, Tappei writes a shakespearean rhetoric dialogue

Great vid. Looking forward to more of Subaru in season 2.

after watching this 12 minutes long video, I realised that me and Subaru are alike . The only difference is that, He confronted himself and move forward while I’m still sitting in my comfort zone waiting for some miracle that likely not gonna happen because of I’m scared to take the opportunity, scared to take the risk. not like him. I don’t know what’s the point of life anymore. I constantly thinking of what I need to be rather than what I WANT to be. I do have the desire to change but am I serious about it? Hell no. people always say to me “change yourselves”, “change the way you think”. but how.... I really don’t know how.... I saw many people around me had changed and become a better person. how can I be like that?

Thank you for your video! It nice to know show such great support for character Subaru! What I really like of him being flaw and relatable person that we all shared that kind struggle.. and best of all how we overcome our mistakes and strike to be better! Fantastic effort!

Not the best yet one of the most unique and interesting re zero video I have ever seen.

Imagine someone suicidal being cursed with return by death. That would be a good plot.

this is why I love re:zero thanks for this wonderful video:)

If you’ve been showing people a facade for a long time you could probly tell from near the start Subaru was just trying to impress people. He was trying to appear like he had it all together and people thought he was perfect. If you’ve lived somewhat like that you can tell especially with how he sacrifices his happiness and his own life for others. Def my fav anime character

Hamlet is sounding more interesting than ever now

Woah !!! This video is so good !! 🤩🙌

This video earned a subscription from me. Well done.

This was amazing, thank you

Subaru speech when he was with rem made me cried He been through so much Just to be useful to emila Just to save his friends He died so many time But in the end he cant say it to anyone When he broke his promise with emila Kinda betray her trust there but he only done it for emilia Only becasue she saved him Btw my friend that he have a thibg for white hair don't know if confirm yet or not though

Nice video, I've been meaning to reread Hamlet too. Felt like a good combination of a video essay and an actual analysis by yourself. I don't think I've seen anything else but I'd love more stuff like this as I've found anime lacking in good faith analysis and you seem actually interested in understanding the work put in by the creatives and the nuance of 'rules' which I inferred from you talking about 'Show don't tell' which I've seen people take that and others so zealously that they can't create or enjoy anything.

I already thought I could relate to subaru before but this even 4 minutes into this video I see that subaru was designed in a way that seemingly perfectly encapulates my current mindset and or all my various ones. knowing your not doing anything while trying to convince yourself your doing something by simply stating that to be the case or doing small things that you think make what you're saying true when really your doing the minimum of what you need to do to convince yourself which is basically nothing.

the fact that he calls himself a bad character just makes me feel bad and like him more i want to see him get a happy ending to be honnest

Greatest character of all time

Great vídeo as aways

Good video man, keep it up :D

That deserves a like, good video!

WOW. Did not expect such an in-depth video that perfectly describes Subaru. Amazing video dude. Sub and share from me man keep it up :)

No character? No sane individual would willing to do what he did knowing all of the consequences, most will just give up, find another route & turn a blind eye, he tried to but he didn't. Subaru is just a human, with an angel heart, who is trying his very best in an unfair world with most of the people judging him without knowing.

I love this video

As a secondary English speaker I really have to read some of the English classics, but considering I'm German that is hard with so many important German authors existing too... Freaking Goethe, Schiller, Lessing and the countless other authors (especially in philosophy), there is just too much to read.

Subaru is a really good guy. Like REALLY good. It’s just the way he does things that make him come off as something else. Subaru really cares about other people and he even sacrificed himself about 3-4 times for a girl he had just met. It shows how admirable Subaru is as a character. Sometimes the way he does things can be questionable, and even bad. Sometimes the things he does end up hurting himself and other people. But in the end, all he has are good intentions.

Looks like my Gr. 11 literature is having a quick preview...

Great video! :)

I loved the Monogatari mention, I was thinking about it for most of the video

This is Criminally underrated

9:50 i want more of this, mor, MORE!

Do you plan on making a video on season 2 now that it’s over? I think it offers so much to develop Subaru’s character from season 1

It's not just Hamlet that can be recognized. I think the whale arc was a Moby Dick reference? I could be wrong, I haven't read that book, but it immediately struck me and I was just o:

Last time, before Re:Zero, that I saw this technique used well was in Inou-battle wa Nichijou. Also, great voice acting.

You really said my exact same opinion on Subaru I am glad others understand this

Some anime honestly has more depth than a good number of anime fan deserve or care to pay attention to.

Even if he had no character. that would be the reason why he is so special

Ay I gotten to learn more about Shakesphere then reading a bunch of confusing text that I had to write down at school

9:01 - 9:10 Ouch...that made me cry a little.As always,Subaru will always be somewhat of a relatable character especially in his darkest moments (Given how he deals with it)and yet,at the same time,a fear of mine.The fear of repeating the same mistakes and never having truly changed which in turn is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It reminds me of silly kid stuff I dreamt about being and got a contrast of it as I grew up.Being a hero,being special and all that."If Karma truly existed then why is it so broken" were the thoughts that crossed my mind too many times at ages I should be laughing away.If anything there was or is special about me is just being a boring gloomy nobody(Funny enough,I am good at acting like the villain,oof).But I made peace with the fact that these hands cannot really hold people and this voice of mine can't reach the people I want to reach in time. Which is worse?Failing to save people whom you care about a lot...or watch them get better(to the point of arrogance) and completely abandon you.But I guess it's better that way.It's better to be alone than having others to suffer because of you when they could lead a much better life without you in the mix.(Yeah,taking the easy way out,I'd rather be an antisocial and kill myself[killing my emotions]than having to die inside about being myself and being blamed for every single thing I do wrong,than having people potentially suffer and/or die because of me just because I didn't do this or done that)No matter what,it seems life just wants me to be a villain.People were already calling me that as I was growing up(I even leveled up to "Monster")so I naturally(Or should I say subconsciously) took up the role even if I was being falsely accused one too many times.(Yep,it seems I am not that strong even mentally,big oof) Funny thoughts crossed my mind too "If I were to enter a fictional world,could I befriend the protagonist?" "Hmm...nope" "I would pretty much be the antagonist,given me,myself and my luck" Well,thank you nonetheless for reading this uselessly long and pointless comment.Have a good day or night,dear reader. :) Edit:What is the point of being awake when even the nightmares that haunt you seem far more interesting.A little "edgy" indeed.

No gonna lie but i thoght of dropping re zero at S1 EP 16 because i felt so sad about subaru and how he suffered and not got any love. It was so sad for me that i didn't wanted to continue but i never thought that subaru was bad or a bad protagonist 😅

Nice vid

So goooooooood

I'd watched already over 200 of the animes but Re:Zero is still one of my favourites. It's not because of amazing story,world,gore moments. It's about...Subaru :D I know,it may seems weird,but actually before Re:Zero I never thought I might change so much in myself. This show is kinda therapeutic for me. Through Subaru's character,his struggles and emotions it shows me a lot of my own flaws,struggles,emotions which I was hidden deep inside. He also gives me a hope,that you can change, that you may fall deep into the despair but theres a chance to get up and go on. It's weird but I find him realistic, I mean I would probably do the same things since the first episode cuz we're really similar. I'm doing a similar things and mistakes in my own life. But I can see how I grown. I can see how I started to appreciate my dearest,how much I wanted to be seen as a perfect person,which I'm not. I'm flawed and sometimes it is hard to live with me. But I'll never give up,no matter what.

All too often are we asked, "What can you do for others? For your community? For your company?" and hardly do we hear, "What can you do for yourself?" Too the point that thinking such a thing is considered selfish and not the right thing to think about. All too often we forget that we all need the time to not think about others and instead think about ourselves and what we need or want.

«To be or not to be» line is about self-ending only on the surface. Remember, Hamlet is playing crazy person and he is being watched by his enemy. And he knows he is being watched. This line is a message. This line terrifies his enemy. This deeper layer is big deal. It changes the scene completely. After that you can't just tell me that Hamlet wonders should he end his life of should he not.

Amazing analysis 💯💯 earned a sub

Re zero is a masterpiece tho

subbed

i watched re zero for cat boi and left with a good experience

Subaru is a complicated character. He himself is almost useless in terms of strength but he is also very useful in helping others because that's the only thing he wants to do. He doesn't care about himself and doesn't see any character in himself. He's half right and half wrong. Subaru has character but it needs to be plucked out of the solid ground that is holding it hostage that is Subaru's hate for himself. If he stopped hating himself, he could probably be one of the best characters in all of anime history. Guts for example, Guts hates himself but only to a certain point, his hate for Griffith keeps him focused on how he hates Griffith and not himself. Subaru needs to do the opposite of Guts and care about himself but also keep moving forward. I would just recommend to Subaru to work out, get stronger physically and hone his abilities so he can use them properly in combat. Possibly honing unseen hands to Betelgeuse's level. Subaru's ambition to save others is stronger than anyone else in the series, imagine if he used that ambition to actually protect them without having to die constantly to save them. Sure, Return by Death is useful but it also has it's limits on a person. We've already seen what Subaru has gone through with it. It can distort his mind if he doesn't use it properly, he could end up as insane as Betelgeuse. Subaru could end up becoming one of the best if not "THE BEST" Isekai protagonists in all anime history if he pulls himself out of that hole which is his own mind.

Cool vid

Watching Re zero for the first time made me hate Subaru not for anything other than his human mistakes, Maybe because at that time I was watching Anime to escape reality but anyway, the more I started thinking about it like 4 years later when Season 2 got announced, I Was happy but it felt weird. Why I am happy , I hated the guy, Why did he do that , why did he fall like that was back in my mind, until I Rewatched it again and then it hit me I was happy for season 2 because Subaru is a human the same thing that made me hate him in the first place was the thing that made me exited to see him again his mistakes his arrogance his personality is relatable. Back in my mind when I first saw it it was just another Anime, not taking it serious. not like watching a drama play or reading a book like Hamlet , my mindset wasn't in the right place when I first saw it, There is that feeling like when you go play a game or read a book or watch a series , Like let's say I am going to Watch Breaking bad I am waiting for the drama, but watching friends I am waiting for the comedy , Anime for me was mostly Fantasy were things that I can't do can be done, there which lead me to not welcome Subaru at first. After this Rewatch and my understanding of character development and that Even though Re:Zero is an Isekai it is close to home so much and I loved it and I loved Subaru's character so much that it made me start reading the web novel before the new season comes out and to my surprise what a character he is. A huge scene that maybe not all felt it was in season 2 episode 4 even though I read it I know what is going to happen etc, but the scene were he looks at the clock waiting it to go pass the time that will make him able to go to school and then start sleeping again. This scene was relatable to me sooooooooooo fking hard looking at this scene was looking at the mirror but to my past when I was young , I was glad that I moved from that point and was also happy for him because his achievement became as of mine , which makes him even more of a masterpiece character. Re:Zero after all that you can guess became my favorite anime/Web novel of all time and Subaru's character after Reading the Web novel and keeping up with it became on par with Guts from berserk don't @ me. I couldn't have guessed that something will pass Code Geass as my favorite Anime but Re:Zero did and it was thanks to Subaru and the great will written characters.

U slipped in a Monogatori joke at the very end 😂

Gotta be the third time I watch this ❤

Sabaru show me life not alway's easy

the reason why we can love Subaru is because he is us.

in the world of magic (fakness in our) subaru shows the reality of person.

If you can't tell by my PFP of best girl, I also love the Monogatari series.

Nice ❤

This would make a really good ap literature free response question tbh

here before this gets recomended

background music name?? edit, I found it, particle- borrtex riviére- ben winwood

Im gonna go read hamlet now

Relatable

Euphemisms!

My favourite quote from Shakespeare, but have no context for is "Villain! I have done thy mother"

💙💙lovely

because he is realistic

Dammit! They're becoming self aware!

Subaru is such a deep character

wow.

I almost threw up listening to subaru's speech, It highly resonates to much with me.

Sad some people hate subaru because they think hes "too realistic". those people relate to Subaru on a very personal level, to the point where it gets too uncomfortable for them to continue watching rezero, thus hates it and calls rezero and subaru trash.