The time had come. Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2 ended a few weeks ago with the epic conclusion of the Sanctuary arc. This contour covers from parts of Volume 13 to near the end of Volume 15 of the light novel. The series is ongoing with with 26 volumes published in Japan. Only the first 15 volumes currently have English translation. The translated version of Volume 16 will be available in late June this year.
What I liked about this part of the series
I like watching the source material coming to life on screen. A huge part of me watching the anime was trying to spot the differences from the light novel. On top of that, I also wanted to see how the imageries in my mind matched the animators' interpretation.
For the most part, the anime was faithful to the plot of its source material. There were definitely significant differences in some areas. However, they fell more into the category of cut content or the constraint of air time.
I'd like to point out that Re:Zero features longer episodes than most animes in a half-hour block. This leads to the meme of the series' seldom use of intros and outros like most typical shows. Even that approach, it was still challenging for White Fox Studios to pack in all the details from the novel.
Details viewers may have missed
In the anime, Ram's use of clairvoyance on Roswaal seemed to only serve as a way to locate him. In actuality, the significance of her being able to do that was not shown.
Clairvoyance was an ability that allowed Ram to see what her target was seeing. This is usually happens when she is much stronger than the target. When faced with a much stronger target, it is only possible if the target had not close off their hearts to her. One could say that being able to that pull off strengthened her resolve to "save her master".
A more subtle detail was Shima's sacrifice to undo the barrier at Sanctuary. For a brief moment, the viewers was able to hear the voice actor of Echidna speaking in her stead. This was not an error or hallucination on the viewers' part. This was to show that Echidna, or Omega, was assuming control.
Speaking of Echidna, this part of the season avoided showing her face in all the flashbacks. This created the comedic "hentai protagonist" feel of the said character. Since the anime skimped out on the explanation of "Echidna =/= Witch of Greed", it caused a disconnect. In essence, it's similar to "Satella =/= Witch of Envy" realization we got earlier from the novel. The different looking Echidna in the coffin and the tea party should make more sense then.
While we are on the subject, the flashback where Echidna kissed Roswaal in a lewd fashion was an anime only product. The novel only mentions that she helped him to release his mana. The anime took liberty with their interpretation of the event.
Cut content
There three huge cut content, or otherwise simplified, in the second part of Season 2:
- Ram and Puck vs. Roswaal
- The death of Elsa
- The rise of Omega
In the anime, the fight did not highlight the true power of Roswaal. For one, magic in Re:Zero is very different from most typical isekai or RPG. Most people only have affinity for one or two elements. Roswaal, on the other hand, is capable of using all elemental magic. The only limitation is the "gate" of his current body.
The anime did the bare minimum with him spamming fire magic against Ram and Puck's onslaught. In the novel, Roswaal was capable of canceling magic and even multi-cast powerful spells. The book revealed that he was so adept with magic, he was even able to modify Puck's contract with Emilia.
Magic in Re:Zero shares similarities to Dungeons and Dragons. It's difficult to maintain one or two spells while putting up offensive pressure. Roswaal was able to cast up to 5 simultaneous spells. This is different from casting in quick successions. He did that while maintaining the snowfall spell on Sanctuary.
Then, there's Elsa's death. The anime concluded it with Garfiel crushing her with the corpse of the hippo MaBeast. In actuality, she wasn't dead after her encounter with Garfiel.
When Subaru searched for Beatrice and tried to convince her to go, the near-dead Elsa appeared. This was much like Betelgeuse chasing Subaru and Otto before his demise. The show made it seem like it was smooth sailing for Subaru. But, this was the part where he could have lost his bet with Roswaal by dying.
Subaru only got out of this encounter through sheer luck. That's something the main character hasn't had much of this entire series. So, in truth, Elsa's cause of death was being burned to ashes in the collapsing mansion.
The rise of the resurrected Echidna, or Omega, was absent from this season. This might have been to avoid cliff hangers. After all, we do not know when or if a Season 3 would happen.
Other subtle content were the thoughts of the MaBeasts as they faced their defeat. Both the Guiltylowe and the Great Rabbit had them before accepting their fate. The former thought about its forest domain. The latter wondered about its creator, the Witch of Gluttony. The anime presented them as blood thirsty abominations. But, they are actually intelligent creatures.
Conclusion
The season concludes with the knighting of Subaru. It's an appropriate stopping point in case we don't ever see Season 3.
Until then, there are still plenty of materials to read over the next several years. The bad news is, there's usually a 3-year gap between the Japanese publication and English one. Guess what? The latest volume, #26, only came out a week ago in Japan. Looks like a lot of waiting is ahead.
Overall, this season did not disappoint. I am curious how the studio will approach the more action-packed arcs in the future. They did nerf the Roswaal fight and the next arc has tons of action.
Anyways, I'll leave you with this stereotypical anime trope here:
