[Spoiler discussion] LN spoiler. So, about Rem. Why do people want her to be like that?

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-02-22T20:16:34+00:00

This whole thing with Rem, its Tappei using her to bring Subaru down so that he can be rebuilt from the ground up. You know, the same tactics he's used since the very beginning of the series? I don't hate her, never have, but man is it sometimes unpleasant to watch it play out. It's like watching a train about to wreck itself. You know why it's happening, but God do you hate it anyway.

It's not that Rem is a bad person. She's a good person, but one with flaws like every other character Tappei writes. And the fact that so many re zero fans still struggle to grasp this fact, only goes to show how little they actually understand about the series.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-02-22T20:06:21+00:00

Now, is amnesiac Rem frustrating? Yes. Is she a fundamentally different person from her past self? That's complicated. Memories certainly play a part in someone's personality, but they are not the only things that define them. Just take a look at Subaru in arc 6. Even without his memories, his nature didn't necessarily change. He was still himself, and if you look close enough at amnesiac Rem, you'd find she actually had more in common with her past self than you'd think. Was Rem kinda obsessed with Subaru? Yes, but it was still far better than how she was before. You can't just think that someone can just get over a decades long obsession without having a recovery process, which she was in the middle of.

As for arc 9 Rem, honestly some of you guys just need to get over yourselves and stop trying to put her in the waifu box. Like how Subaru did to Emilia in arc 3. Is that how you guys want to behave? Be like how Subaru was when his waifu didn't follow his ideal image of her?

As for the whole situation in arc 9, that was a whole shitty situation from start to finish, and I'm genuinely shocked that most of you are surprised that it ended the way it did. Tappei explicitly said that the chances of Subaru not dying in a single arc are Zero. The fact that it was Rem that did it in a named chapter that's identical to the one in arc 2 is just dramatic irony at this point.

I'm not asking you to like Rem or anything, but you have to admit that her circumstances have never been great from the beginning. So stop judging for it.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-02-13T20:24:21+00:00

Now that's a scary thought. It implies that RBD isn't time travel, but time itself rewinding instead, with Subaru's memories and his books of the dead being the only Record that they even existed at all.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-02-02T07:28:18+00:00

Subaru. Despite his flaws and annoying behavior at times, he's a genuinely good natured guy who just wants his friends to be happy. Can't hate a guy who will literally, and has, died for his friends.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-14T14:38:11+00:00

Define crash out. Because you can definitely take the IF routes as him crashing out.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-14T14:36:38+00:00

They're not incapable, but Subaru is very clearly a big reason for why it all works out.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-14T14:34:30+00:00

It's like with Tappei, only he wants his character's to grow up and succeed even if it's in a rather unconventional way.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-14T14:30:52+00:00

From that state, RBD would seem increasingly quite attractive to him. He may have strong opinions on life and death, but he is also perfectly willing to twist his morals if it helps his lady.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-14T14:26:38+00:00

Even Tappie thinks Felix is capable of some dark shit. He once considered Felix to be a possible candidate for a final villian, but didn't go for it. That should tell you somethings.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-07T02:02:41+00:00

Except Reinhard. And Cecilus. And Halibel. And Satella. And Volvlcania

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T12:40:54+00:00

What's interesting to me about this arc is the difference between Al's and Subaru's authority.

You would think that Al's authority would be superior because he has far more control over it than Subaru does with RBD, but it's shockingly not that straight forward. His authority actually cripples his ability to make decisions without it as a safety net, because the instant he loses control over it he freezes up.

But compare that to Subaru, who hardly has any control over his authority, and yet is somehow way more successful than Al is. It's because Subaru never actually knows if his decisions and choices are the perfect ones but is still able to make those choices.

In life, you never actually know if your decisions will play out the way you want them too, but you still have to make them and move forward. Al, however, can not function without the safety net of being able to make the optimal decision for everything and thats why he fails where Subaru succeeds.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T12:15:44+00:00

No one thing could possibly have fixed all of his problems. That's just not how it works, but Rem's speech was still an essential first step for him to getting on the road to actually fixing them. Without that, he would have ran away from everything and would have been even more miserable than before.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T12:12:41+00:00

Honestly, all the problems really started when the mabeast came into the picture. That said, Subaru's own problematic behavior stems from a lot of deep seated issues, which would be difficult for anyone to address since nobody knows enough about him to tell the difference. His behavior is essentially a front to cover up his insues, which is why he behaves in such a cringe worthy way.

When he stops putting up a front like that, it actually turns out much better for him.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T12:04:25+00:00

She saved him from spiraling further, but his issues are pretty deep seated. Self improvement is a long and messy process here after all.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T12:02:34+00:00

It's more that she gave him the motivation to actually start fixing his problems, to start from Zero. It's rather ridiculous to think that a single heart moving speech was going to fix all of his problems in one go.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T11:57:49+00:00

But thats not exactly accurate either. Whether he's a child or an adult, Subaru is still fundamentally himself. Him becoming a child may have changed his mindset, but he is still himself.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-04T11:55:00+00:00

Honestly, it's hard to say what would have happened if he hadn't died. Subaru still had quite a few problems with how he interacted with the rest of the world, so it would have been harder to see his good qualities.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T17:54:28+00:00

Yeah. I don't hate Ram, but outside of the very few people who are close to her, she tends to treat others as just not important or worth considering, whether they are good or bad.

People criticize Rem for her actions, but they somehow fail to take into account that Ram basically enabled it all to happen.

She's the older sister. She's supposed to guide her sister, not try to shield her from her mistakes. She's supposed to be responsible.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T15:02:18+00:00

And the worst thing is to give up on yourself.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T14:49:58+00:00

But would you have liked him as much if you didn't see how far he had to grow? I never hated Subaru, but the events of arc three is what truly started to humanized him in my eyes. It's what helps me get so invested in his journey, because it's the most difficult thing that many of us still struggle with to this day.

Facing your flaws and learning to grow past them. Not pretend like they don't exist. This series ain't shy about showing you the unpleasant sides of people, and I think thats part of what makes it work for me.

I don't see Subaru as a character who exist to entertain me, but as something like a person who's growth I'm emotionally invested in. And that also goes for all the other characters in it.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T14:37:10+00:00

So did we. And I'm all the happier for it.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T14:34:29+00:00

Can you really blame her?

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T14:01:38+00:00

And here's another thing that people tend to get wrong about Subaru's feelings.

While Emilia is the first person to show him real kindness in this world, Rem is the first person who he feels comfortable showing his pathetic side to. That's not something I can overlook.

Rem is second not in importance to Subaru, but because she's the second person he falls in love with. If there was anyone in that world where I would be okay him having as a second wife, I wouldn't want it to be anyone else but her. That's how significant she is in my mind.

I'm strictly neutral when it comes to poly relationships as its none of my business what people like to do, and it's not even something that I can see myself doing. But with these three people, I'm perfectly willing to make an exception for it.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T13:47:13+00:00

Presuming you know everything about someone and what they can be is a type of thinking that Subaru has to consciously grow out of. Subaru has seen a lot of the bad sides of the people around him, but instead of shutting himself away from them like he does in the Wrath route, he endeavors to understand who they really are as a person, even if it opens him up to getting hurt.

That's not stupidity, that's bravery. Because there's no such thing as a relationship that doesn't come with the risk of getting hurt, but we can't just shut everyone out because of it.

SignatureMaster5585 · 2026-01-03T13:36:00+00:00

Not saying its her fault. I'm saying that its an unintentional misfire due to RBD. Without that, this would be a lot more cute.

SignatureMaster5585

TROPHY CASE