I personally have always been pretty pleased with the job WF did on Re:Zero. Yea, some monologues and scenes were removed or swapped around, but that’s how it goes adapting a book. They have always nailed the characters, the eerie atmosphere, the world and story and that’s the most important thing. But season 3 marks a change in the approach. It’s clear either fan feedback has been heard by the production committee or the staff themselves wanted to focus on bringing everything out of the source material this time around. The number of episodes, splitting the season into two, going with extended length episodes a couple times, White Fox felt much more in command of the story this time around and it couldn’t have come at a better time since Arc 5 sees Subaru take on his greatest challenge yet.
We’ve seen him fight one archbishop, but in this season he has to take on FOUR. As you can imagine that’s not something he can do alone, so teamwork has never been more important than in this arc. When I say every single character gets a big moment to shine and grow, I mean it. It’s truly a group effort to overcome the archbishops and save the city from impending doom and it’s only achieved thanks to everyone stepping up and surpassing their limits. Look, I was hype as hell reading this arc and seeing Garf, Priscilla, Otto, Wilhelm etc get their big moments, but seeing it animated with the incredible animation WF brought to Priscilla’s big fights, Garf’s big showdown, Regulus v Subaru, Wilhelm’s big moment etc., just made it that much better. This season also showcased just how deep and complex the magical and ability systems are in this world. The sheer number of fighting styles on display this season was cool to see. Tappei-sensei has put so much work into this world and I’m glad it’s paying off.
Simply put, this season of Re:Zero just feels bigger and better than anything before it while acting as a platform for Subaru to showcase his growth. He’s always been someone who overcomes insane obstacles that would break most people, but this is the start of a new Subaru. A much bolder and more confident protagonist who can stand up to characters of immense strength and not backdown because he KNOWS he will find a way to overcome, even if it requires dying a few times. For a guy that’s suffered as much as anyone in this medium has, to see him grinning with that sort of confidence was such a treat, even the other characters who are much stronger than him have supreme confidence that he’ll figure out a plan to save the day. Our Subaru is no longer someone who stands behind others, but now he’s leading from the front and even able to strategically go on the offensive like we see in his big archbishop fight. It’s a full circle moment that feels very satisfying given the hardships Subaru has dealt with. But he’s not alone, Emilia, Otto, Garf, etc., all showed tremendous growth in this season and in some ways it feels like the start of a new era for our characters. They’re battle hardened and ready to go on the offensive against the witch’s cult.
Production wise, RZ season 3 has got a total makeover. The pacing, direction, art style, animation, EVERYTHING is the best it’s ever been in the franchise. Admittedly I’m limited in the WF series I’ve seen, but Garfiel’s fight scene might be the best piece of animation this studio have ever made. Emilia’s big action scenes looked great and of course my beloved Pristella got so much attention to detail. My favourite tweak was the character designs though. I love Otsuka-sensei’s art, so seeing the anime get closer to that was a welcome change!
I think this season of Re:Zero is as close to perfect as one can get. I know there’s some fans who still weren’t satisfied with some details being cut out, but you can’t please everyone nor can you ever really cram everything from a 300 page book into a tv show. It just doesn’t work that way. White Fox did a great job of conveying things from the books using flashbacks, direction techniques and more though. They went with a show don’t tell approach and it worked. Hell, this season was so good I came out of it an Emilia fan and I HATED her before. Now I agree with Subaru and think she AND Rem are the way forward. Great fights, emotional storytelling, the most interesting arc with the highest stakes, most intimidating villains and the biggest disadvantage for Subaru and Co. thus far. Their story of overcoming insane odds is the best Re:Zero’s ever been and one of the all-time great seasons.
Re:Zero season 3 gets a very easy 10 out of 10.
