© 長月達平・株式会社KADOKAWA刊/Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活3製作委員会
Every once in a while we get one of those planning/action phases that doesn't leave much in the way of character development or themes to explore. Basically, the characters stand around and detail the problem, pitch solutions, and decide their priorities. That said, there are a few bumps.
Subaru clearly wants nothing more than to run to Emilia's aid and fight Greed. However, perhaps he realized his helplessness in this situation. People in other factions do not hate Subaru. On a personal level, maybe they all want to help him. However, they must focus on what helps their cause. In this case, this is making their royal candidates look as good as possible by saving the city.
Luckily, as he found out in the first season, if he's willing to help other factions, they'll be willing to help him, too. So he puts aside his need to do what's objectively best for the city: eliminate the citywide PA system that's being used to terrorize civilians (and stop the Archbishop from Sin and the two cultists harmed Mimi in the process). Of course, this is the first time we're this deep into our loop this season, so things don't go too well—especially when the Gluttonous Archbishop shows up.
The only remaining character to appear in this episode is Garfiel who is continuing his trauma related to his first kill, Elsa. Her ghost—literally or figuratively—continues to haunt him. During battle, he is often distracted, making mistakes that he normally would not make. Mimi getting hurt while protecting him only made him doubt himself more. But while the larger problem remains unresolved, Subaru and Ricardo are at least able to get Garfiel into the game during this time of crisis.
Other than that, this episode is all about action. We get flashy battles, some clever strategy, and a dragon that grows his face back in a way that's both grotesque and humorous. All in all, it's a solid, tense movie with twists and turns—and the ending leaves us wondering how much longer Subaru has before his next gruesome death.
Rating:
Random thoughts:
© Man, they went to great lengths to make Greed as unlikable a misogynist as possible, didn't they? I'm very impressed.
© Reinhard is so powerful that I find it hard to believe that even if he held his sword to Felt's neck, he wouldn't be able to save her.
© It seemed like the Sin Archbishops only had a limited amount of time in which they were allowed to act, whenever the city bell rang, they would retreat. But who can force any of them to follow such a rule?
→ I really hope we can find out what Priscilla is doing. I wouldn't be surprised if she took over a tower and killed one of the Archbishops out of boredom.
Re:ZERO-Starting Life in Another World-is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
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