First thing I have to say is that Re: Zero’s second season re-contextualizes a lot of the events that occur in the first season, making the experience when rewatching it, feel fresh and even more enjoyable than the first time. Subaru’s encounter with his parents during the Sanctuary trials really sets a whole different tone for S1E1 because we now know what happened before Subaru goes to the convenience store and is teleported to another world, making it kind of sad.

Subaru’s whole character arc up until now has always been:
situation arises --> tackle situation /death --> despair --> come to his senses --> overcome situation,
but that changes this season, after the tea party with the witches. Subaru’s encounter with Satella changes everything as she tells him “Love yourself more” which shocks him. He’s not the only one that suffers when he dies repeatedly, as he learns in the second trial, because his loved ones and those close to him hurt as well. He shouldn’t behave recklessly when trying to save others and should cherish his life more which is something so painfully obvious that Subaru doesn’t realize until now. This development elevates Subaru’s character, making him better which I love.

New characters are introduced, and secondary characters have much bigger roles and character development this time around. I absolutely loved Echidna in the first half of the season since she was such a mysterious but intriguing character who begins to reveal her true colors as the story goes on, showing you why she is truly a ‘Witch’. Best girl Emilia finally gets her time to shine – which is something I’ve been anticipating for a long time – receiving some amazing character development alongside Subaru and taking her place as best girl. Sorry Rem lovers. Roswaal and Beatrice were characters I enjoyed in S1 that I ended up appreciating even more in S2. There is much more I’d like to write about every single character in the series, but since there are plenty of reviews out there that probably cover that, and to save time, I’ll just skip ahead.

Was the second season perfect? Absolutely not. This is one of those rare situations where I am torn between picking season 1 or season 2 as my favorite season. In terms of quality, S1 takes the cake because it is much more visually pleasing and dynamic, and the direction is excellent. S2 doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor since, it’s not as stunning, the direction seems to be stiff at times and emotional payoffs don’t hit as hard as they should. However, that doesn’t make the story bad, since it is still quite good, just not on the same level as the first season which is kind of a disappointment. For me, certain things didn’t live up to the hype that people said it would but that’s on me for setting my expectations so high. Or maybe not. The first season was just that good, that my expectations for season 2 were over the moon. In terms of story/character development, I’d probably give it to season two just because some of my favorite characters get more screen time and like I said earlier, this season re-contextualizes various events from season 1, that make a rewatch all the more enjoyable. So, while it pains me to say this (not really), I’ll have to stick to season 1 as my favorite season so far.

Re: Zero’s second season saves itself from falling flat, with its final few episodes, wrapping the story plot nicely and giving us a solid ending to arc 4. I definitely prefer part 1 more than part 2 of the season but overall, they were both enjoyable. In the end Re: Zero is still Re: Zero, and I’m excited for what’s coming next in the story. I was thinking of giving this season a 7/10 but that would be criminal of me and I can’t do that to best girl Emilia, so I’m giving it a 8/10.