Knowing my experience with the first part of Re:ZERO's second season is important in contextualizing my feelings toward this part. It's really hard to overstate how much I enjoyed the first half of Re:ZERO's second season. While it wasn't perfect, I really enjoyed myself and was blown away by the brutal narrative and Subaru's endurance despite the seemingly insurmountable odds before him. More than anything, however, I was taken aback by how much better S2P1 was from Re:ZERO's first season. The tone was consistently dark, the characters were actually beginning to be fleshed out, and Re:ZERO finally dispenses with many of its trope-y elements, or at the very least, doesn't wear them on its sleeve as much. In S2P1, Re:ZERO comes into its own in a way I never really thought it did in the first season. Really, S2P1's only major misstep is how long it takes to pick up.Re:ZERO's first season might have been the best isekai I had seen up to that point, but that wasn't saying much, as the bar was pretty darn low. I didn't think the show warranted the hype. After watching S2P1, however, I could see how people could go gaga over this show. I was really excited to see where Re:ZERO went next.

Unfortunately, as the curtains close on the second half of the second season, I have to say that I ultimately didn't like the second half as much as the first. And I'm not...quite sure why? Unlike the first season, S2P2 is seldom annoying, it's just...kind of boring, at times. Hopefully, in reviewing this, my thoughts become clearer, not just to you, dear reader, but to me.

Re: ZERO Season 2 Part 2 ~~Episode 2~~ picks up immediately where the first half ends, with Otto revealing that he considers Subaru a friend, and thus Subaru decides that he doesn't have to go it alone. Since Subaru has help, he begins thinking up a more intricate plan to save Emilia, those trapped in the sanctuary, and his friends back at the Mathers Mansion. He confronts Roswaal with a challenge (complete with dramatic finger pointing, since this is Subaru, we're talking about, here). If Subaru is able to save both the Sanctuary and the mansion in one loop, Roswaal will give up his prophetic witch's tome, give up his wicked ways, and join Subaru. If Subaru fails, however, he is to follow the instructions of the tome.

Part of why my critiques of the season are so hard to pinpoint is because the second half does a lot of good. Even if there are things I don't like, I don't want your takeaway being that I think S2P2 is bad. My gripes come down to personal preference and I can still acknowledge that Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 has things going for it.

Continuing the precedent that the first part started, the characters are really defined, at least in terms of backstory. I'm pleased to say that every character that I said I found a bit unseasoned in the first part is more fleshed out here. Emilia, Roswaal, Echidna, Beatrice, Garfiel, Otto, and even Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti (DESU!), of all people, get backstories here. This is a far-cry from season one's large, yet shallow cast of characters who we never got to learn about, thus care about (except for Wilhelm van Astrea for some reason). We really get a sense of who these characters are, thus we understand the reasons why they're doing the things that they are and everything feels a lot more compelling. Emilia actually feels like a character now and not just a goal for Subaru and I commend the show for finally committing to consistently and adequately exploring its characters. It's pretty amazing that a show that had somewhat barebones backstories before puts many other shows to shame — it's almost meme-worthy how much backstory it shows, but I'm certainly not complaining. I think this is how the show will handle characters going forward and that's fine by me. Exploring backstories may be “boring” to some, but I thought they were quite necessary and were the highlight of the season.

The more trope-y elements of the first season remain gone. I know this is a bit nebulous statement, but I found there to be a lot less parts that made me groan, that took me out of the show because I thought Tappei was going down an anime trope checklist. Believe you me, they're still there, and I'll get to that, but it's thankfully less prominent. It might not mean much to everyone, but it's a darn important factor in assessing if I want to continue a show. I can't exactly see myself spending years watching a show that annoys me.

While it ends up being a double-edged sword, at the end of the day, I have to at least give Tappei some props to not having Subaru die once during this section of the story. Conceptually, it's daring, as that's the show's entire gimmick, yet they do away with it for an entire cour. It brings something new to the table for the show and I have to admire that, somewhat.

I'll briefly mention the length as a bit of a segue point. Episodes are around a good eight or so minutes longer than your standard anime (they're around thirty minutes a pop and S2P2, largely does away with OPs and EDs). You'll welcome this if you love it — after all, the production values are great and you find the story compelling. This isn't so much the case if you merely "like" it. While I wouldn't say episodes drag, it still is a longer time commitment than most anime and you'll need to schedule accordingly, which can be annoying. If you're an anime watcher like me who doesn't have much time, you might not be able to help but feel just a bit of resentment that Re: ZERO Season 2 Part 2 forces you to bend over backward just to watch it.

Especially when you don't think it's that great.

I think most of my complaints come from the other side of the coin of something I praised; the side of the double-edged sword that I'm forced to wield, blood running down my fingers as I grip it — the underutilization (see: nonutilization) of return by death, Subaru's signature ability. Is it a daring choice, yes. Is it good choice?

Eh…

I think there are ways it could have been (not) used that would have still been satisfying. As is, I think it largely amounts to depriving the second half of stakes. Part of the reason I found the flashbacks the strongest part of this half was because it seemed like bad things could actually happen (as everyone has a Tragic Backstory™).

Admittedly some of this is my own fault due to my longtime, self-made, arch-nemesis, Expectation. A large part of my disappointment is because I thought Part 1 was the calm before the storm of Part 2. As it so happens, Part 1 was the storm. Sure, you could argue that Part 2 ultimately features more movement — it has the planning of a heist story and, being the longest stretch of time Subaru's gone without dying, he obviously does a lot in comparison to the first half where he wouldn't get very far before something or someone mercs him. All that said, though, in Part 2, Subaru doesn't face nearly as much resistance as the first.

Or, at the very least, it feels that way. Even if he struggles, he invariably comes out on top this time around, robbing this half of tension. If Subaru was faced with a dangerous situation, I largely didn't care, because I knew he'd survive. Subaru not having to use Return by Death honestly stripped this part of the show's biggest draws for me. I've seen this mechanic dismissed as "torture porn," but godammit, call me horny because I came for that shit and I'll leave for that shit. With it gone, the show begins to feel generic despite the downplay of the more trope-y elements. While you could argue that it's a "if you're nothing without the suit, you shouldn't have it" situation, I'd argue that it's more a "if you have the suit, you should make the most of it" deal.

While, on paper, the outcome of the season is determined by careful planning, in practice, it feels like it just amounts to "the power of friendship," which really, really aids in taking away from the dour tone of the first half. The show really begins to feel like a typical battle shounen really quickly. Not saying battle shounen are bad, it's just not what I signed up for and can feel like a bit of a whiplash.

This feeling is also due to some of the characters. Again, I want to stress that I wasn't annoyed nearly as frequently as I was during the first season, but S2P2 could still illicit a groan like the best of 'em. Subaru and Emilia will poke your eye out with all the declarative finger pointing they do. Once Roswaal is finally defeated, he's very easily forgiven in a way that's indicative of less a serious, tense show, and more a kids-oriented, reductively moralistic one. Garfiel is framed as a bad person for not forgiving Roswaal unlike literally everyone else. "People say 'sorry' when they've done something bad," Emilia chastises, sounding more like she's scolding a child for staying up past curfew and not talking to someone who's hired hits on countless people. Echidna can feel…”catty,” for lack of a better word, in her odd, unexplained, weirdly gendered, and intense hatred towards Emilia compared to Subaru, who she offered her "bodily fluids" tea to, and Garfiel. At the very least, Rem’s still gone.

Then there's the kiss between Subaru and Emilia.

And even as someone who described themselves as a hopeless romantic, this just didn't really do anything for me besides a very, very surface level "oh, that's kind of cute." More than anything, I thought, "finally," because this simultaneously feels like a long-time coming and ultimately unearned. Like, this feels like the same song-and-dance they've done before. It feels like Subaru just kept saying "I love you" until she finally submits. There's not much growth on his part besides the obvious "don't do good things expecting a reward" yet...he's very easily rewarded despite doing essentially the same things he's always done. And maybe it's just because we haven't had Emilia's side of things much. Subaru's declaration also feels kind of shallow, kind of obsessive.

I've used this phrase a lot in regards to Re:ZERO but the kiss just seems to reaffirm this as a wish-fulfilment fantasy for me. In general, this half feels a bit too happy. It feels bad to say this, because, again, not everything needs to be grimdark, but this happiness doesn't work well for Re:ZERO. It loses a bit of its identity as the supposed grim, realistic isekai. Maybe this tone works for the show, but it's ultimately not what I'm looking for, For all my complaints, though, it still feels like a better made, more consistent show than the first season.

Ultimately, as unfortunate as it is, I'm not really sure I feel like continuing this series. The ending was cute and conclusive, so it's a fairly decent jumping-off point. We'll see how I feel once the next season rolls around. For one last time, I'd like to reiterate that the show isn't bad. It's better than it started. I can understand why many may even consider it to be great. It's just that, personally, for all the things it does right, I can't muster enough care to be too invested.