Every week, I visit over 245 anime sites looking for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. These are my five favorite posts for the week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
You can see a list of the sites I check here: Massive List of Sites!
New Feature Thanks to Bloop!
In my review of Tower of God Season 2 Episode 6, Bloop worked up a demo of using an RSS feed widget to give bloggers a little more exposure in this post. I’m going to give the technique a try over the next couple of weeks to see how it works! I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments!
Thanks for the suggestion, Bloop!
Anime Evo
Checking in with Mushoku Tensei S1
I think about this often, but for some reason, this week’s crop of posts drove home the point: I strongly prefer authentic opinions. I’ve really burned out on rage click-bait. Actually, I’ve burned out on click-bait of any kind. I want real perspectives from real people. That’s why I enjoyed this post on Anime Evo so much. FlareKnight calls it like he sees it. A series like Jobless Reincarnation cries out for that approach, and FlareKnight really does it justice. No virtue-signalling here; just an honest opinion from an authentic perspective. Go see what I mean!
More Posts from Anime Evo!
Anime Rants
“Magical” Technology – Dr. Stone New World Part 2 Review
I’ve discovered that I’ve been a little unfair to the writers who review my favorite shows. It’s a subtle thing, but I realized I have much higher expectations for posts about shows like Dr. Stone New World Part 2 than I would for a show I’ve never seen. But in this case, 7mononoke’s post on Anime Rants met or exceeded all Crow Minimum Standards of Journalistic Excellence (CMSJE — doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?). In fact, it’d be more accurate to say that 7mononoke nailed this review! Given how much I liked this series, you know I’m serious when I make a statement like that!
More Posts from Anime Rants!
ARUM JOURNAL
Oshi No Ko Episode 19 Review – The Joys Of Acting
You know how when you’re watching an anime, and you’re enjoying it, and some aspect of that particular episode just clicks with you to the point you get giddy about it? We used to call that “geeking out.” About the only thing I like as much as having that experience is reading about someone else having that experience. That’s exactly what I got when I read this post by ecargmura on the site ARUM JOURNAL. ecargmura wrote about an episode of [Oshi No Ko] Season 2. What did ecargmura geek out about? I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m not going to just come out and say it. I’ll only say this: it’s an aspect of anime that, when it works, can elevate the episode to new giddy-inspiring heights!
More Posts from ARUM JOURNAL!
Merlin’s Musings
My Top Ten Favorite Weapons, Gear, or Armor Used in an Anime
Look, I know that reactions to top ten lists are arbitrary. I can’t say, “Hey, this list is exceptional,” or “Hey, this list is not exceptional.” I can only speak in terms of my personal agreement or disagreement. But that presupposes I’ll have a strong reaction one way or another. When I saw the title of Merlin’s post on Merlin’s Musings, and I thought it sounded like a cool title, but I wasn’t sure the post would evoke a strong reaction. Then I read the gear Merlin selected for number nine; and it seemed the higher I went on the list, the more the sheer coolness hit me. And then I read number one — which was perfect. Or, more precisely, it’s precisely and exactly the choice I would have made! Go see if your favorite gear/etc. is listed!
More Posts from Merlin’s Musings!
Shallow Dives in Anime
The Summer of Love VI with Attack on Titan: War for Paradis Arc: Specials 1 & 2: The Beginning of the End and the Conclusion of the Beginning of the End: Special Movie Edition: New Version with Better Animation Coming out Soon!
How do you review a series that ends with a season like Attack on Titan: Final Season Part 2? The show’s a cultural phenomenon. It’s a series that’ll likely leave its imprint on anime fandom for decades. How do you approach something like that? Dewbond has the answer, and you can see it as plain as day on the site Shallow Dives in Anime. The answer is simple; it’s almost elementary. It’s this: don’t worry about any of that stuff. Call it like you see it. And most of all, be authentic. That’s exactly what Dewbond does. I think this is my favorite review of all of the Attack on Titan reviews I’ve read because Dewbond took that approach. Go see if you agree!
More Posts from Shallow Dives in Anime!
Want to Read More of My Favorite Anime Post Lists?
Want to explore more amazing anime blog posts? Check out the previous editions of My Favorite Anime Community Posts!
Want to Read Favorite Posts from Other Sites?
- Anime Feminist: Weekly Round-Up, 14-20 August 2024: Hyperfeminine Expectations, Kimi ni Todoke Season 3, and Lowered JET Salaries
- Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner: Anime, Manga, and Light Novel Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (August 23, 2024)
TCrow, I’m going to flesh out my curse theory more. It’ll also rehash some of the stuff I’ve posted before.
In the OVA, Melakuera, the previous Great Spirit of Fire, stated he had faced world-ending crises countless times and ranted on and on about the Witch’s return. Some people may dismiss it as pure discrimination against Emilia ’cause of Satella and Emilia’s resemblance, but he may have physically witnessed a Witch returning repeatedly with the world burning every time.
This perhaps implies a powerful curse was casted thousands or even millions of years ago (just ’cause the world was destroyed repeatedly doesn’t mean those events weren’t part of the world’s history) in which the world is reconstructed repeatedly after its destruction from a very powerful Witch. In the distant past a yet-to-be-determined hero may have faced off against the true big bad of the series, and in a moment of weakness in which the hero had to choose between the world and his lover, he chose his half-elf lover, dooming the world to destruction, and the final boss cursed the world to be extremely biased toward repeating the failure of that hero for all time.
What I mean by bias is that the Seal in Elior Forest was probably opened during the first instance of the proto-hero’s story, and so the world is biased towards that happening. The proto-heroine, who was probably a half-elf, most likely had the power to defeat what comes out of the Seal by becoming a Witch, specifically the Witch of Envy, after which she would need to be put down as she’d become a world-ending threat. The world thus became biased towards repeating those events again even if the reconstructed worlds aren’t 1 to 1 with the original world.
So the hero of the story during the time of Satella and Season 2’s Witches along with the Witches (including Pandora but excluding Hector) might have found out about the world being biased toward repeating this failure of a long deceased hero, so they took a step to defy fate by enacting a grand plan hundreds of years in the making. The hero might’ve returned to Earth after acquiring future knowledge with his allies so that Satella could one day inject Subaru into Re:zero’s fantasy world in the future as the hero of the story.
As we have seen in the anime, Flugel is the name of the person who planted what was known as Flugel’s tree, and the White Whale subjugation force burned part of the tree off to defeat the White Whale by trapping it underneath the tree’s trunk.
Flugel itself means wing and can also be a nickname for someone with conspicuous sleeves at a time of dress regulations. So what this points to is that Flugel is a person not from Re:zero’s fantasy world who somehow came to be there given the nickname is for someone who dresses strangely, and this suggests that Flugel is from Earth. Flugel may have been the past hero of the story who returned to Earth as part of the plan to save the world.
Assuming this is true, the only way Melakuera’s mind could’ve persisted even as the world restarted repeatedly if there is some yet-to-be-determined force saving Melakuera just as the world is about to be destroyed and summoning him into the reconstructed world, and that would be how his mind persists. I wonder who has been doing the summoning in this case.
Regardless of whether the characters in the past were tipped off by Melakuera or someone else, they probably agreed to steer the world to a future that defies the bias of the world repeating the proto-hero’s failure. The first episode being titled the End of the Beginning and the Beginning of the End could mean that Subaru’s summoning is the equivalent of the endgame of MCU’s cinematic universe in the battle against Thanos.
I believe Satella being sealed 400 years ago is the first time any real action was taken against the hero’s lover ’cause the hero typically allowed the world to burn ’cause his half-elf lover was his entire world. The story of Re:zero likely requires the building up of Subaru’s self-esteem and that Subaru be born with a weak body relative to those of Re:zero’s fantasy world so that he isn’t conceited and can one day put down Satella and then finally challenge and defeat the final boss. Satella probably intentionally destroyed half the world centuries ago to manipulate Subaru into killing her and uniting the world against her and in a sense ensure that Subaru’s hands are tied to reduce the odds of him going against the plan.
In my theory, a group of characters from 400 years ago are working to push the world to one specific future in which the world is saved by forcing opening the Seal in Elior Forest on their own terms instead of one day having it be opened under unfavourable conditions without their intervention. If the Seal is opened, a monstrous horde of creatures that have a passive AOE aura that not even Reinhard can protect the world from may emerge, which will require Satella’s yin magic to defeat without bringing the world to ruin. Satella would return by possessing Emilia’s body before needing to be put down herself due to being a world-ending threat herself and to break the curse. Multiple instances up until Season 2 show that the characters are acting with future knowledge, and that’s one reason I believe I’m on the right track.
Echidna has shown that she was reading ahead in her Tome of Wisdom with how she (the special font from a female in the OVA was revealed to have been the words of Echidna in Season) had Puck search for Emilia and have him enter a contract with her in which if he started a contract with Emilia he’d slowly lose his memories, showing she wanted him not to do it until there was no other choice, and how she turned Petra’s handkerchief into a spirit knife or whatever it was after Subaru spoke with her about Return by Death so that he could kill himself. Why would a Witch who wants as much knowledge of the world as she can be so invested in Subaru’s success when she could enter a contract with Subaru and learn about RBD, a pipe dream for someone who loves knowledge like herself? It’s probably if a threat is approaching in the future in which the world’s end is approaching, which would end her quest for knowledge.
It’s likely the case that it’s not just Echidna who had future knowledge but also Subaru from 400 years ago, Flugel, Satella, Pandora, and the other Witches too. Flugel planted what was known as Flugel’s tree centuries ago in the exact spot the White Whale subjugation force needed for it to be to burn the trunk off in order to trap the White Whale underneath it, showing that Flugel did that to help Subaru succeed. Petelgeuse apologized to Flugel-sama after making the decision to take in the Sloth Witch Factor, which likely shows Flugel made him promise not to take it in so that Petelgeuse wouldn’t take it in until he had no choice but to do so much like Echidna did with Puck. If most Witch Cult Gospels don’t show anything after the first loop, then it was probably Pandora who ordered the White Whale to stop chasing Subaru in Episode 17 and blow him away with its breath, likely to give Subaru time to reach the mansion before resuming its chase ’cause Pandora might’ve been intentionally trying to bring Subaru to his breaking point so that From Zero with Rem could happen. Season 2 showed that mabeasts and Daphne find Subaru to smell irresistibly delicious ’cause of his Envy Witch Factor, so the White Whale wouldn’t have left Subaru of its own accord, and since normal Witch Cultists’ Gospels’ only have info from the first loop as seen by Petelgeuse’s Gospel in Arc 3, it had to be Pandora’s meddling.
So Subaru and Emilia may have been born and put through suffering specifically so that they could be the hero and heroine of the story in an attempt to the lead the world to a future when anything can happen. Even if Subaru’s self-esteem is built up properly, he’ll probably never be okay with sacrificing Emilia unless Emilia herself tells him that she won’t suffer and accepts her role in the story, which is why Emilia herself needs her self-esteem to be built up in order to be the queen piece that willingly allows Satella to possess her to defeat what comes out of the Seal and be killed by Subaru.
Yes, I know people will call it blasphemy that I am predicting Emilia’s permanent death given Tappei has said there’d be a happy ending, but Emilia can be plenty happy even right until the moment she gets possessed. The construct of Naoko in Subaru’s trial stated that what matters if you can smile at the end, and that could come into play with Emilia being able to smile at the end before being possessed having had happy times with Subaru when they were a couple and Subaru being able to smile even after he defeats the final boss despite his huge loss.
I know Emilia’s goal to reduce racial discrimination and rehabilitate the image of half-elves is a topic Tappei intends to address. And I believe there’s no better way for Emilia to show that half-elves aren’t monsters than to sacrifice herself for the world in allowing Satella to possess her body to use her combat powers against the monstrous horde from the Seal. If Subaru and those in the know do a good job of spreading the word about Emilia’s noble sacrifice, even her biggest detractors would have to take a step back and acknowledge what she did for the betterment of the world.
The reason I have predicted that a statue of Emilia would be erected at the end of the story and that people of the world would make pilgrimages to it and bow to this statue in reverence is ’cause it’s the ending that I believe most dovetails with Satella dying and Emilia still being a very respected figure. This is an ending where Subaru can still be happy about his accomplishments while not being destroyed by Emilia’s death because Tappei took care to give him achievements outside of protecting Emilia while also rehabilitating Emilia’s image.
Thanks for the mention! Glad you enjoyed my review. 🙂
WHOOHOO!!!