Return By Death Phenomenon. Review of Re.Zero Season 4

There might be some spoilers. Nothing serious, but read on your own accord.

When one thinks of Natsuki Subaru they think of perseverance, bravery, goodwill and tolerance. Throughout the show we've seen him go through trials and tribulations that would make normal men scream, retch and cower. Yet even though he feels all the pain and dies numerous times, he goes in still knowing that he'll come back to life. Still, is it really that simple?

The Return by Death hack in the anime world is an easy one to understand, especially if you're a gamer. It's like the world has a checkpoint after the story has progressed to a certain point and if by chance you get killed you can always return to that checkpoint and try again. It's a wonderful skill to have, especially in such a scary and fatal world. Still, it isn't a skill that is all good because it is such a scary and fatal world because once a man dances with death too many times, he's sure to leave a lot on the dancefloor.

Re. Zero season 4 was one for the record books with its take on The Return By Death phenomenon. https://www.instagram.com/p/DZu4BRak6ZP/?igsh=MWlka3BoN2VmYWRhYQ==

In this season, Subaru and his crew go to the Pleiades watch tower in a bid to save Rem and the people of Priestella from the curse of The Sin of Gluttony. A mission that seemed to be going well, one that I thought would certainly be their simplest yet, a small side story before the major battle where they might simply bring in a new comrade or a new skill (like all general mini arcs tend to do)

But now as I stare in shock at my screen, I look and I realize that I might be watching the climax point of the full anime, surely the best season of the show to come out so far and most definitely one of the best character development moments to witness in the Isekai world.

Subaru lost his memories and rediscovered the Return By Death hack by having one of the most realistic, graphic and gruesome death's that can happen to someone. This is a human being that has just come into an Isekai world, straight into a quest with people he doesn't know, things he doesn't know how to fight or how they kill and the fear and full terror of a depressed 17-18 year old. It didn't take long for his whole mind to start breaking down, from lack of trust to trying to kill others before they kill him, to feeling and experiencing himself get killed 3 times. He was stumped, and we the viewers totally understood why. It is very easy to imagine a hero who finds out he can die and come back to life and he won't be affected by dying multiple times. Yet it's very real to know that even though you'll come back to life, it's a primal instinct to not want to die. A primal instinct to question why everyone has so much faith in you being brave when you aren't brave, when you are powerless and when you want to run and hide.

Subaru confronts these fears and loses to them. Time and time again, he loses and we as the viewers are taken deeper and deeper into this darkness spiral as his depression deepens.

The storytelling was beautiful, a simple trick of showing and not telling, you're left in awe and dismay as he lashes out, destroying friendships made in earlier seasons not until we go deep into the trauma at the very last episode due to Emilia's help are we able to see a bit of light.

A little ray of hope that helps guide Subaru out of the situation he's been caught in.

This season had a wonderful accomplishment. It didn't show that Subaru was depressed, we knew that since, nor did it show he was weak or a coward or unworthy, that has literally been his gimmick the whole time. What this season showed was that his power wasn't ever a power, just a curse that he was implementing due to his intense mental will and sense of who he was. Once he lost that, we saw the return by death curse for just how heinous it truly is. This season 4 isn't a thriller, I can say it's a slow burn horror, one that would give you chills and would make you pray someone just ends it for him. It is a masterpiece, and I sure can't wait for the second part to begin airing.

Rating: 90/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/anime.