My feelings for Re:Zero are mixed. Its the stuff that I wasn't expecting from the show at all that I ended up liking the most. All the character work that Subaru goes through is really good stuff and there are a lot of moments that allow for you to see yourself or people you know in Subaru’ character. Coming into this show blind I was told Subaru was to be tolerated until the show got better, but for me he ended up being the best part of the show. Our themes were a lot more psychological than I thought it would be, but I always enjoyed watching our protag shift his mental prospective, sometimes for the good and sometimes for terrible results. And so importantly, his reactions to situations feel authentic!, not scripted. The scene with Subaru in the candidate’ chambers hall, like, I don't think I have ever been more embarrassed and feeling sorry for a MC looking so pathetic and I was ashamed of him. just wanted to grab him and be like, "sit down!" And because of Subaru’ power the author can humiliate our boi on the reg to teach him lessons and effect his growth without the humiliating event having lasting consequences on the longterm plot. And then the author can play with my expectations on what gets erased and what survives until the next checkpoint. Twice he got me this way. I also like that Subaru has confidence about his actions and his feelings for girls, whereas most MCs I have seen in anime are either too shy to express their own feelings, or completely oblivious to the feelings of those around them, or both.

On the other hand, Subverting classic isekai tropes or having a protag without OP powers didn't really land with me as anything particularly special or amazing. I wonder if maybe seeing more isekai in general could have been a pre-req I could have needed to enjoy this show more. The part of the show that I liked the least was the stuff I was expecting to get tons of info on but never did; the setting, the powers, and the other characters. We spent all our time in the early-mid epis exploring Subaru’ psychology and Return from Death and exploring mysteries that were fun and emotional but didn't impact the plot much. We are introduced to three power systems in S1: Divine Protections, Magic that uses mana through a being' gates, and Spiritual Arts. All of which if given a quiz on right now I would score a 2/10. Idk if this is stuff that should be understood with like previous isekai shows and taken for granted, or if this is knowledge I shoulda had coming into this show from like a video game, or if it's supposed to be kinda confusing at this point in the story, or if i'm legitimately missing stuff.

I think I would be more grounded on the second watch, and able to focus more on the plot and the Subaru’ themes rather than grasping at comprehending this brand new setting and the power system and which characters are gonna be important. Admittedly I probs straight up missed stuff that happened in this show. Retrospectively, I think it was because I never knew what to expect or what was important so I spent a lot of time confused. I think all the character work Subaru went through was the best stuff in the show, obvi. His emotional breakdown epi with the emilia lap stuff, the mental breakdown epi with beetlejuice, and then the wanting to give up and run away epi right after were my 3 fav epis. I am looking forward to s2