Anime Review: Re:Zero, "City Scramble" (Season 3, Episode 9)
Talk about an action-packed episode!
In the second cour of season 2, the group decides to split up to take each of the sins on themselves.
Felt, Otto and some of the city’s soldiers encounter one of the forms of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos. Wait…you’re telling me there’s more than one Gluttony? I honestly don’t know how Subaru’s squad is going to handle this. One Gluttony is already incredibly powerful. The last thing they need is several others to deal with.
Next, we have the troubling Lust along with two of her swordsmen. While Garfiel faces off against one of them, Wilhelm Astrea takes on the other. But, there’s a terrible twist of fate. The swordsman Wilhelm fights is his wife, who he believed died years ago. Can he bring himself to kill her after seeing her face once again?
Unfortunately, the swordsman Garfiel is fighting happens to be ridiculously strong. It’s not like that’s a shock in Re:Zero. The main characters always seem like they are at a disadvantage.
In another part of the city, a purple fire engulfs a building and it’s no surprise that Wrath is behind the explosion. Even though we don’t get to see Wrath face off against Priscilla, it seems like their showdown is only a matter of time.
The episode switches to the main conflict—Subaru and Reinhard against the sin Greed named Regulus. They make it to the church just in time to interrupt his wedding with Emilia. Reinhard attempts to draw his sword, but it only works if the sword deems his opponent worthy. Surprisingly, his weapon doesn’t, leaving him in a vulnerable position.
Since his wedding is interrupted, Regulus goes into a fight of rage, sending an attack at Subaru and Reinhard. While he’s distracted, Emilia uses her powers to freeze him in ice and pull an ice blade on him. However, that isn’t enough to stop the invincible Greed. He breaks out of it and grabs Emilia by the throat.
To save her, Reinhard makes a deal with Regulus: If he lets go of Emilia, Reinhard will endure one of Greed’s assaults. The strike kills Reinhard, but…he gets up? Since when does Reinhard have regenerative abilities?!
Episode 9 is full of twists and turns. Subaru pulls Emilia to safety, and Reinhard stabs Greed with an ice blade. Obviously, the attack doesn’t kill him, but the two begin to clash in an intense battle. However, Reinhard proves a challenge to Greed. Even though he’s nearly impossible to kill, maybe he’ll be the one that defeats him.
I couldn’t help but laugh when Subaru told Reinhard they had to switch to “Plan I” after seeing how dangerous Regulus is. I mean, how many plans can you create if you’re all the way up to “i”? Subaru clearly came prepared. Oh, and did I mention Reinhard also has telepathy? He started talking to Subaru in his head, and I was as shocked as Subaru himself.
I mentioned there’s more than one Gluttony, right? Ricardo and Julius are up against the second one. Despite not showing much of the battle, Gluttony smiles when Julius sends an attack at him. Definitely not a good sign.
The biggest plot twist is when Lust disguises herself as a civilian and sneaks into the medical quarters. It turns out she can take on any form she wants, and she targets Felix and Crusch. She enters their room and Felix looks…horrified. That’s not going to end well.
Overall, it looks like the sins are dominating the battles in Priestella. I can’t see Felix and Crusch surviving against Lust, especially since Crusch is sick and Felix is a healer, not a fighter. The animation is crisp, and every battle had me on the edge of my toes. Especially the cliffhanger ending!
Like always, Re:Zero doesn’t fail to disappoint. The anime episode is full of unexpected reveals that continue to shock fans. I wonder who will be victorious in each of these battles. Who do you think will survive? Will Subaru manage to save everyone in this time loop, or will he have to reset once again?
Great start to cour 2