Igdrasil

Currently Reading Re:Zero (holy hell is this series LONG) Only up to Arc 5 Content atm btw, so would appreciate no spoilers beyond that. Credit to J2X3 for the Banner Art

[igdrasii]

Legend

A place containing tags for efficient navigation.

The title is based off Map Legends since I thought that sounds neater then just putting something generic like “Masterpost” as the title. This’ll be updated as needed.

Reading the LN/WN for the first time ~ This is basically me reading the Re:Zero Novels for the first time. This’ll include screenshots + my commentary on the screenshots. For the sake of organization this’ll have the Light Novel (which’ll go up to 20) of wherever the screenshot is listed whilst the Web Novel will be listed based on the Arc & Phase. In practice, the format will look something like: “LN 1” or “Arc 6 Phase 1” which will be slipped into the tags alongside the main tag here. Also, due to me covering the Arc 4 LN’s I have a Post where I covered the WN exclusive Post-Tea Party Interludes tagged #Arc 4 Interludes if you’d like to check that out.

Reading the Side Stories for the first time ~ Me reading the Re:Zero Side Stories for the first time. This will have screenshots & my commentary on it. This is going to be organized by whatever the name of the respective side-story is tucked away into the tags accompanying this more broad main tag.

Reading the Ex Novels for the first time ~ What it says on the tin with commentary from me. This’ll be subdivided by the respective Ex Novel bundled with this main tag similar to how the LN’s for the Reading Novel tag are separated. The formatting for this would look something like: “Ex 1” as the subdivision. There’s one exception to this & that’s Battle Ballad which is listed underneath this tag but instead of it being subdivided by the Ex Novel it’s subdivided by “Battle Ballad” as what’s listed.

Q&A ~ A tag encompassing commentary from yours truly on Q&A questions Tappei has answered. This’ll be subdivided by the dating of a Q&A. For something like a birthday it’d look like: “Reinhard 2018 Birthday” slipped in alongside with this main tag here. Due to the fact some Q&A’s don’t really have clear cut dates/anniversaries there is an alternative way these can get their subdivision tag. The format will be generally what the Q&A questions are related to so for example it’d look something like: “Reinhard Related” or for multiple characters “Rem & Ram Related” as the subdivision tags encompassed within the main overall Q&A tag similar to how Side Stories are split up. All posts with the Q&A tag will have the respective Q&A I’m giving commentary on be linked in the replies section of a post for easy perusal.

Re:Zero Nuggets ~ Neat thoughts/theories on Re:Zero. Can be from me or someone else.

Character Design Analysis ~ In-depth analysis into the appearance of Re:Zero’s characters by yours truly.

Name Analysis ~ Analyzing the Names of Re:Zero’s locations, items & characters. Lots of contributions from you all for this one that I analyze, it’s quite a fun subject!

Revisit ~ Me going back to moments of the Novels or Anime & re-analyzing them with a new lens.

Snippets ~ Little bits of writing I indulge in & post underneath this tag.

My Fics ~ Pretty self explanatory.

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An important notice regarding character tags is that characters will be tagged by their first names. This is due to me not wanting to flood the overall Re:Zero Tumblr space with my posts due to my posting frequency. Characters that lack a surname will have the first two letters of their name be what is tagged. So #aldebaran would appear as #al or a more bizarre example is #rem would look like #re. Even creatures like Volcanica will follow this two letter trend.

There will be an exception in that Patrasche will be listed as #pat on the blog. Shaula is also formatted as #sha due to Shion being #sh and both of them having the same 2 initial letters.

Some posts will feature the normal full character names if I’m interested in them gaining more traction despite this overall general format of character tags.

[igdrasii]

Ironic that Balleroy’s adherence to his ideals to not turn away from brutal acts he commits is what costs him his most loyal companion. There is certainly a delicious irony in that.

Though I respect Balleroy’s refusal to avert his eyes from horrific things he does. Far too often in life I’ve found many of those whom engage in awful acts don’t have the stomach to own what they’ve done even if their wretchedness was a conscious choice.

[igdrasii]

Aaaaah. I see what’s going on here. Felix is going to bait Balleroy lower, tank a snipe and then Julius is gonna yeet Balleroy off his dragon. Smart plan. How does the dagger Felix has on him factor into all this though..? Hm..

Aside from my pondering on that matter. Nice to learn this fact of sharing Od’s between a dragon and its rider and the comparison to the earlier Insect Cage Clan. This country is prevalent about tying ones Od to shit goodness.

Also. Also. It’s good to get an answer why Balleroy was so weird about Cecilus earlier. I still believe there is a part of Balleroy that has got a negative self view of himself because of other evidence yet it’s still good to see his reasonings here.

[igdrasii]

Spirit Mages are so cracked heh. Poor Subaru can’t reach the heights normal ones can though becaude his and Beatrice’s circumstances are the most scuffed Spirit and Spirit User contract ever.

[igdrasii]

…Balleroy’s sworn brother is Miles isn’t it? It’s matching up WAAAAY to perfectly that to not be the case.

Past that deduction of mine it seems I was correct that Balleroy was using Yang magic but I’d thought it was moreso for precision then stealth. Using it for stealth is a neat application though. Shows Yang isn’t just about enhancement. The use of Wind magic makes perfect sense though.

Honestly Balleroy is a big menace even if you know his skill set. Because like. What the hell are you going to do to detect him if your very eyes and ears won’t detect nothing? Your best hope if your not able to lure Balleroy down is to just randomly shoot shit into the air.

It makes Balleroy really problematic amongst the Divine Generals since w/ Groovy and Moguro it’s clear how to deal with them if you know their skillset. But knowing Balleroy’s skillset will do fuck all for you if he manages to hop on a dragon.

[igdrasii]

I mean. I did believe Julius was on the lvl of a Divine General. Nonetheless it is nice to see an actual Divine General themself agree w/ that assessment.

[igdrasii]

Woulda ya look at that. What skilled ragebaiting from Vincent to get Felix to do what he wants and frankly, what is necessary.

Moving on from that and ermmmmm. Bruh Vincent why u gotta put such italicized emphasis on the word observer?? Like mah gawd. You were already weird with that stars shit now this?? I guess this one has atleast some caveat of also Vincent utilizing the word bystander too so it’s not just a solely sus thing sitting on its lonesome.

Also. Pffft. Vincent bringing up Balleroy there to distract from his clearly moved he was by Felix’s words. Silly guy.

[igdrasii]

Okaaaaay then. Fascinating you say Felix’s “stars” are bad Vincent.

I don’t think this dude is a Stargazer given how he talked about them earlier but it’s clear he definitely has opinions on the topic of them and of Fate. My analysis has already dug that up but Tappei is making it more explicit here.

Anywaaaays. Felix. He always has such great scenes with Vincent I swear. I love seeing his internal thoughts on Fourier here and cursing how he can save Vincent but not him. Felix does in the end help Vincent because of Fourier’s morals imparted unto him but honestly…

What happens when one day, Felix betrays the thing he thought Fourier would do? It’s clear he already has the inclination for such behavior. He merely needs a push. And Crusch currently getting fucked over is certainly liable to push him over that edge if he believes going against Fourier’s mentality would save her.

[igdrasii]

All this emphasis on precise sharpshooting from Balleroy I wonder… is the man utilizing Yang magic on himself to increase his precision but the actual attacks themselves are lacking any magical attributions for stealth purposes?

[igdrasii]

Yang magic is so very interesting to see in action again. It’s really useful I feel with how it’s just enhancing what is already there for someone.

There’s something poetic to me about a magic element of light quite literally bringing out the best in someone whilst it’s opposite Yin is actively weighing down on someone.

[igdrasii]

Balleroy not using an element for the magic attacks is interesting. I suppose if you did want the utmost stealth prior to contact that is most probably the best way to go about delivering magical attacks.

Anyhow. God Julius. Guy simultaneously is emitting huge self doubt but also a childish sense of excitement to face a legendary figure clearly like in those stories he adores so much. Truly, this scene is the duality of Julius on full display.

[igdrasii]

Sniper…? Hmmm. Okay so is Balleroy just perched atop his mount firing off magic? I think that’s what’s happening.

Especially since it’s coming from multiple directions to the point Julius thinks there are multiple assassins but obviously if your an aerial sniper you can reposition and fire so fast from multiple directions. Thus, it’s easy for somebody being fired at to believe there are multiple assailants.

[igdrasii]

Oh what in the… clearly Balleroy did this but DAMN. Guess Felix is going to get some solid use if he can squirrel away to a remote location with Vincent.

[igdrasii]

See, once again this is a scene where Vincent is saying the things expected of the Volakian Emperor but he is most clearly undermining his own words with how he values Felix’s defense of his friend.

This undermining of the Emperor persona of his occurred in the Thone Room too. Tappei is honestly doing a great job with Vincent from what little I have seen of him so far to showcase he is not as much the perfect Emperor that this Ex is trying to show that he is.

Another thing I want to express appreciating in this scene is the diagnosis from Felix that Julius is like a kid in how he thinks, so Vincent crushing under heel some of the more childish feelings Julius has towards others is essentially kicking down a kid.

Frankly, I don’t think Felix is wrong whatsoever to diagnose Julius to have the mind of a child and that Vincent picking on somebody like that is basically him bullying the grapehead. They are not on even mental playing fields.

Now. I want to analyze Vincent’s dialogue more deeply here because it honestly is something I feel is going to be disregarded by most as being nothing other then Volakia being Volakia in brutality and being wholly wrong.

“Would you let that cheap sentiment lure you into allowing them to achieve their goals? You cannot. That is the truth. Mercy, compassion, decency—all are but ways the strong show their superiority over the weak. Chivalry seeks to dress up this fact as something more, but when all is said and done, it only shows true selflessness is impossible.”

As is fairly apparent (to me anyways) we get to see how Vincent isn’t actually deriding the idea of mercy compassion or decency itself. Instead, he caveats to believing these are things that only the strong can afford to have and thus showcase as a symbol of their position of strength over the weak.

This can be taken to mean that Vincent more readily then previous instances this Ex is showcasing his admiration for such traits because Vincent does clearly value strength. He just (if I am reading him correctly) does not view himself as being strong enough to be in a position to embody these societally valued traits.

The follow up to all of this where Vincent talks of how chivalry dresses up the idea of these traditionally societally valued traits as “something more” is something I actually admit to finding agreement with. It gives a pretty word to have people encase themselves with as a reason for why they do what they do even if many people engage in these traditionally societally valued traits simply because they prefer to be looked at as good individuals.

And really, at their core, most people desire to be looked at positively by others. They need vindication that they are having worth in their existence from external sources. It’s why easily quantifiable and measurable ideals to meet like duty are so strong in some people.

Mmmmmm. Now. The final portion regarding Vincent’s belief in “true selflessness” being impossible is admittedly one that gives me pause. I think Vincent is taking an absolute applied to what to me is a perfectly rational position. Had Vincent dialed it back to say nearly impossible I believe I would have fully agreed with him. Because everybody in the murky world we all reside in is generally speaking operating with selfishness at their core ideas.

Even if one does the fit the mold of a kind person as society deems to be such, the selfless behavior oftentimes will come from the fact it is more a lot of people can’t live with themselves having not done a selfless thing because it goes against their purported ideals so it wasn’t really about the selfless act but rather the selfish inability to live with oneself if they didn’t make a choice they view as good.

Of course as with all things there are exemptions in my eyes. So I think it’s too far of a thing for Vincent to have gone so absolutist in his position to purport true selflessness is impossible. It’s VERY rare, I won’t deny that aspect of Vincent’s clear thought process.

But being rigid about an issue like this is what ultimately will kill the seriousness people take you with when you say such cynical things in the eyes of general social conventions as Vincent was clearly trying to do here by giving advice to Julius in what he thought was genuinely good faith.

[igdrasii]

Reinhard has a DP called First Sight that lets him avoid an attack the first time he sees it? Then also another DP dubbed Second Coming that lets him be faster at avoiding attacks he’s seen before?

Lmfaoooo. Every time I see Reinhard’s skillset it feels like a 5 year old made a character with how busted he is.

I do find it noteworthy that in the midst of all that ridiculousness Reinhard chalked up in his own modest way his abilities to evade things via the First Sight DP as intuition.

Y’know, the way the prose describes it as if Reinhard was predicting an attack before it happened is also interesting to me given Reinhard’s clear Fate shenanigans.

The Observers are clearly linked to Od a Lagna and the DP’s so them having basically given someone a DP that wouldn’t be a stretch to call a limited form of future sight does honestly make sense.

There is an eyebrow raising caveat to how busted this First Sight DP is tho. The prose makes it clear that one’s physical abilities have to be able to react to actually take full advantage of this DP in order to respond. And yeah, it will make it less emphasized since Reinhard is Reinhard he has no issues there. But.

It’s clearly a chekhov’s gun? Since obviously at some point Reinhard is going to get fucked over since he is as a character against a lot of the stories themes.

Plus the fact that a lot of Reinhard’s entire ridiculous strength comes from his body that absorbs mana from the atmosphere so if you just chuck him in the desert section of the map that is oozing with miasma he won’t be able to heal or enhance himself, so his physical reaction speed to capitalize on the First Sight DP would eat shit.

Alright. Final thing. But Vincent again seeing how ridiculous Reinhard is and clearly finding it impressive continues to make me wonder just what Vincent is thinking about Reinhard. The dude def understands Reinhard is extremely aligned as an individual w/ the Observers but maaaaan am I wanting to know the precise nature of his thoughts.

[igdrasii]

Insect Cage Clan hm? How fascinating to see this integration of the idea Od dictates physical appearance in the form of how their abilities work. Playing around with Od is no joke yet this entire clan has done so to what seems to have been genuine success.

Also. I am totally w/ Reinhard on considering this all “very interesting” tbh. Of course he’s gonna be all polite and considerate of how that might be rude but naaah I ain’t about the life. This is interesting.

[igdrasii]

Oh? It’s interesting that this group of folks is the “weakest tribe” according to Vincent despite being skilled enough at evasion to have evaded even Reinhard’s notice + being apparently a group that normally holds the role of spies and informants which is surely a key thing to be in this Empire full of plots.

I suppose given the culture of power in this country perhaps doing more underhanded and subtle things is considered a sign of weakness so thus only those lower in the hierarchy do it?