Re:Zero - Episode 21 (Review)
By: TheJewphin
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
[yasr_multiset setid=11]This was a fantastic episode filled with daring escapes, exciting battles, and just a little bit of character development. Subaru himself has completed his transformation from whiny insignificant flea to courageous heroic... well, still flea. But at least the personality flaws have completely disappeared.When we last left our heroes, Ricardo was severely injured, Wilhelm was transformed from valiant swordsman to a rare delicacy, and the White Whale had somehow found two other White Whales to join the battle. All seemed pretty hopeless for our heroes. In fact, most of Crusch's troops stand frozen in fear for a good majority of the episode.With Wilhelm missing and Ricardo injured, it falls on Subaru, Rem, and Crusch to fight the White Whales. Rem continually swings her mace with deadly force - though she never appears to do any lasting damage. Crusch continues to use her intangible sword, mostly to to save Subaru from being blasted into oblivion. And Subaru... runs around a lot.We also get the return of Wilhelm who cuts himself out of the White Whale and then takes a nap. Because nobody expected the amazing swordsman with the heartbreaking backstory who got eaten alive to be able to cut himself out.
It is actually a little silly that Subaru participates in as much of the battle as he does. At least in the fight against the dogs he had a sword and a little bit of darkness magic. Against the White Whales, he has literally zero ways of inflicting damage on his own. While it's nice to see the hero version of Subaru again, Subaru's courageous enthusiasm only highlights how inconsistent the whiny hate-filled Subaru was. Yes, I'm still salty.Crusch has some great moments in this episode - not as a fighter, but as a leader. She jumps out to protect her soldiers who stand frozen in fear and gives them a speech that is one part motivation, one part derision, and one part guilt. The speech works on so many levels. It helps enforce the idea of Crusch as a commanding presence, shows of her intelligence in the face of danger, and places Subaru in a positive light.
Eventually, through a discussion with Hetaro and Mimi, Subaru learns the trick of the White Whales. The two additional White Whales are clones of the original who is floating high in the sky away from the dangerous people with their pointy pieces of metal.With this knowledge in hand, Subaru comes up with a plan. Does it involve Subaru doing something foolish and dangerous? You bet. Does it involve Subaru acting as bait? Well, all of his plans involve Subaru acting as bait so I'm not going to give you points for this one. But the best part of the plan is the part that isn't obvious - where they blow up the great tree so it will crush the White Whale.With the White Whale trapped, the episode starts to taper off. Wilhelm gets to be the one to kill the White Whale and there is something just remarkably satisfying of watching his backstory finish off while he hacks the White Whale to death. We could replace Subaru with Wilhelm and have an amazing anime going forward.
The episode ends of with a reminder that the real battle is still to come. Subaru prepares to head out, backed by the newly healed Ricardo, Wilhelm, and a bunch of Anastasia's soldiers. Including Julius, the knight who most recently beat Subaru within an inch of his life. Hopefully Subaru can keep his personality problems in check long enough to save the love of his life.Quick note: Subaru rejects Crusch during this episode - though it is unclear whether she was actually asking him out. While I don't really have a big problem with harem anime, it is annoying to have each woman character eventually throw herself at the protagonist. Especially Crusch who is way too good for Subaru. Then again, so is Rem.
