Author Note:
Hello! This spinoff is inspired by its namesake, WHDAA, written by Mohamed. I originally wrote this before I found out that the original work was still being worked on, but I release this anyway in the hopes of garnering more positive support for him and the story he created. If you haven't read it yet, please do so he can get the credit he's earned (and because none of this makes sense without it).
This spin-off is about the cast reacting to the third opening, Realize by Konomi Suzuki, as if it was in the continuity of the anime. This means that it is written as though the cast has watched the Re:Zero anime up to the end of Season 2 episode 2, where the opening is first shown. Some parts of the opening don't make sense until later in the season (like who the witches are), so the cast's reactions in a full continuous work of WHDAA would only get more and more interesting with each showing, though that won't be reflected here.
I'm also using version 2 as the reference, since the only real differences are smoother animation and less blinding credits placements.
Also, duh, spoilers for Season 2 of the anime. Some reactions build on some events from Arc 5 in the novels, too.
The opening begins with a glowing butterfly being enclosed between two feminine hands.
Julius: "It would seem that this is another one of those 'introductions' to the Arc."
Ricardo: "Wonder what kinds of things we're gonna see in this one."
The screen pans out to a clear silhouette of Echidna with her face obscured as she lifts her arms and sets free a swarm of butterflies with the title card.
Roswaal's eyes light up as he takes in the form of his beloved teacher.
Beatrice gives a reluctant smile as her mixed feelings make her feel conflicted over whether or not to be happy that she would be seeing more of her Mother in this Arc.
Anastasia: "I'm not sure another witch's presence is gonna be a good thing fer Natsuki-kun."
The five other witches flash by one by one, in order of Minerva, Sekhmet, Daphne, Typhon, and Carmilla.
[None of the cast has likely met them. Minerva wouldn't let Emilia look at her, and it's doubtful whether Roswaal or Beatrice met them while they were at the Sanctuary.]
Crusch: "Do you know those five girls?" Looking inquisitively at the Emilia camp, since no other camps were involved in the Arc.
Otto: "I've never seen them before."
Petra: "They were dressed really strangely!"
Tivey: "A blindfold is a questionable fashion statement, for sure."
A loud guitar riff accentuates the panning of Subaru's face, adopting a gritty, determined expression.
Emilia: "I don't like it when Subaru makes those scary faces . ." Her eyes watered as she remembered the crazed looks he had in Arc 3.
Wilhelm: "If this Arc is even worse than the others we have seen up until now like our warden said, then it is ominous to think of the obstacles Subaru-dono was made to stare down."
Beatrice: "Subaru is usually self-conscious about his eyes" Her voice betraying her worry for her contractor.
Rem, still very much shaken by witnessing Subaru's suicide for her two viewings ago, desperately tried not to think about the suffering he had to endure after she was brutally forced away from his side.
Cut to Subaru's shoes beginning to walk forward.
Subaru walks with his face down in front of a dimmed background of a city in Japan.
Stopping, the screen enlarges on his face as he blinks, then looks over his shoulder with a grim expression.
Anastasia: "It's kinda hard to get excited about seeing glimpses of Natsuki-kun's world when he's looking that sad in it . ."
Mimi: "Mimi likes him better happy!" Pouting cutely to try to cheer up his screen self.
Reinhard: "Will we maybe get to see why Subaru never seemed that concerned that he was so suddenly taken from his homeland?"
Felix: "It was kind of weird how quickly he accepted it."
Ram: "Stupid Barusu confessed to Rem that he was a lazy good-for-nothing before he came here and started being an idiot good-for-some things."
Two quick shots back to back.
The first is a grown woman with brown hair tied over her shoulder, a gentle smile being the only feature shown on her face. Her arms are laid one over the other at her waist, and she's wearing an apron. Behind her is a comfortable, Japanese-style kitchen. [Naoko]
The second is an older, muscular man standing confidently with a chad smile, and glasses. His other facial features and hair are obscured. The background is Subaru's room, with his shelf of anime figurines and manga featured prominently on the right, though it's too obscure to make out any details other than the silver hair. [Kenichi]
Felt: "Are those big bro's parents?"
Emilia and Rem immediately perked up upon that question being asked.
Garfiel: "Cap'n's papa must be a man among men!"
Crusch: "I am quite interested to see the people that raised our hero."
Al, noting the figurines: " He's . . definitely got a type."
Subaru walks past his dead bodies from past loops, his face hidden.
In order: The alley where he was stabbed by the thieves, his second death by Elsa (judging by the sunlight), Rem's night murder in the mansion with the eyeball on the floor, his first suicide in the loop where Rem took the curses and died, and then the loop where he was frozen solid by the Beast of the End after Rem died freeing him from the cultists' chains.
[Alley reaction]
Felt: "You remember what I said, Rein?" Her red eyes filled with rage.
Reinhard: "Yes, we must reform those three so that they never commit such heinous acts again."
[Elsa reaction]
Garfiel, growling: "I'm lookin' forward to seein' her crushed again . ."
For once, Otto agreed with his bro's bloodlust rather than being scared by it.
[Night murder reaction]
Ram put a hand on her sister's shoulder to assure her of the fact that Subaru had forgiven her for the events of those loops. Whether it helped . . remained to be determined.
[Suicide reaction]
The knights and Wilhelm each nodded in respect for the one situation in which suicide could not be considered the cowards' way out.
Felix cursed himself yet again for thinking the way he did back when they first witnessed that death. For thinking that Subaru had abandoned Crusch by not trying to undo it all with Return by Death. But he was wrong. Subaru had tried to amend the losses of the Gluttony attack, and the defeat in his eyes when that failed was the cruelest realization yet for both Felix and Subaru, knowing how much he had depended on the maid for support. Had Felix and Crusch been in Subaru and Rem's positions . . That would have surely broken him.
[Beast of the End reaction]
Emilia didn't know if she could look at Puck the same after all of the harm that he had caused in the other loops.
Beatrice, seeing Emilia's complex expression, sets her hand on Emilia's, which had been tightly gripping Subaru's right hand: "Bubby's only been helpful to Subaru in our history, I suppose."
Subaru continues walking forward in the snowstorm before his mouth opens, as if seeing something ahead.
Cut to Subaru's legs standing over Emilia's lifeless hand in a pool of blood.
A great many winces spread through the audience's softer-hearted members.
Cut to a panning shot of Subaru standing in the midst of a white landscape featureless save for the massive number of corpses surrounding him and Emilia's dead body.
Of the corpses, Ram's pink hair momentarily shows on the bottom right, Patrasche's mouth wide open is just behind Ram, Petra's red bow is in the middle, and Otto's Furufu in the background. The others can be assumed to be the Arlam villagers.
Otto, whispering to himself: "We lost no one in our history, but if Natsuki-san was initially unaware of the mansion attack, then just how many people did Elsa and Meili kill?!"
Frederica holds Petra close to herself, knowing by now that Petra would object if she shielded her eyes, but still wanting to support her in witnessing this gruesome scene anyway.
Crusch and Wilhelm both tighten their grips on their armrests, remembering the horror that comes with seeing a battlefield of people dead.
While the shot pans, Subaru falls down to his knees in front of Emilia.
Priscilla: "Mayhaps it will take some effort to acquire that dog by mine side . ."
Cut to an unblemished white area covered by a shadow.
Blood drips down as it's revealed to be Subaru's blood, dripping from his gritted teeth as tears stream down his face.
Emilia and Rem stifle sobs at seeing his pain.
Four flashes of the most imposing villains of the arc appear with harsh, red glints in their eyes, with chaotic camera shaking to enforce their oppressive auras.
First, Regulus emitting an unknown airy mist.
Second, Lye drooling, as if standing over a new meal.
All members from the Emilia and Crusch camps (excluding Roswaal) clench their fists in anger at the unfathomable monsters that hurt their allies the episode before.
Ram and Felix in particular adorn glares that make Subaru's sanpaku eyes look tame by comparison.
Third, Meili cutting a confident stance uncharacteristic for her age. The various witch beasts are shown in silhouettes with red eyes behind her, the hippo and Guiltylowe particularly prominent.
Lastly, Elsa turning around with a cruel smile on her face.
Roswaal, after having gone through the change in heart he did back when Subaru forced him away from his Teacher's path, resigned himself to the punishment awaiting him whenever Subaru, and by extension, the other camps, learn of Roswaal's meddling.
Reinhard was still in a poor state after having learned that there was yet another attack just outside of the capital that he failed to prevent. First failing to bring an end to the Bowel Hunter, then forcing Subaru to face the White Whale that had split his family apart, and finally an attack by two unaccompanied Sin Archbishops that had robbed Crusch of her memories, the lives of many men, and the entire existence of Subaru's support . . . That the only vestige of emotion showing on Reinhard's face was absence of his usual smile was a feat greater than any he had accomplished before. "I could have prevented so much of Subaru's suffering if I had been more diligent . . How can he look me in the eye and call me a friend?"
Cut back to Subaru's hand clutching his chest in pain, evoking the memory of how the Witch of Envy crushed Emilia's heart in Arc 3.
Zoom out to Subaru doubling over with the pain as darkness swallows the area around him.
Flash back to the spatter of blood under Subaru, as more droplets fall. One suddenly freezes mid-fall as the music shifts tone, and the blood begins to rise back up.
One of the witch's shadowy hands begins to reach for Subaru's back.
The spatter of blood has almost entirely been cleaned as time rewinds.
No one had any initial comments on the scene, believing it to simply be another echo of the imagery the openings preceding this one used to illustrate Return by Death, if an even more detailed one at that.
The shadow hand suddenly fades away to reveal the ethereal pale arm of a slender woman, tinged with glowing purple on her skin.
Ricardo: "What is that?!"
Al: "Has she gotten too close with all of the times he's tried to say Return by Death as bait?!"
Perspective change to right in front of Subaru as his eyes are now closed in the pain.
The ethereal arms reach around his shoulders and embrace him, his expression first showing recognition, then shock as the tears and blood on his face disappear.
Petra: "W-what is she doing to Subaru-sama?"
Garfiel: "Get yer' paws off Cap'n!"
Nobody wanted to mention how strangely warm her embrace seemed, struggling to disbelieve it until . . .
Over-shoulder shot of Subaru's stunned face, pupils shrunken to the absolute smallest, as the witch tightens her embrace, bringing her gently smiling face close to Subaru's ear. Her eyes are hidden, but the resemblance to Emilia is haunting (the position is eerily reminiscent to how Emilia embraced Subaru by Rem's bedside in Ep 1 as well).
Close-up of witch's face next to his ear as the music builds up. The witch whispers something to Subaru.
A chill swept throughout the theater, an effect made all the more impactful by the fact that the White Whale's madness-inducing screeches and Roswaal's identity-concealing cloak had previously failed to affect anyone in the theater.
Wilhelm, reading the phantom witch's lips: "Ai-shi-te-ru (I love you) . . ?"
Roswaal: "So that's why he's been given so much special treatment."
Beatrice: "Stay away from our Subaru!"
Emilia: "NO! That's not me! I swear I'm not the witch!" The emotional trauma of watching Subaru kill himself while saying it was for her and Rem's sakes coupled with the realization of just how alike she looked to the one responsible for the prejudices she's endured brought about a moment of weakness not unalike those she had in her nightmares after failing the first trial.
Rem did her best to console her rival, the anger shaking her out of her sadness as she resolved that there was only one half-elf in the world she would allow to touch her Subaru-kun.
Subaru takes a breath before facing forward and beginning to run in the dark void.
He is injured multiple times by unseen forces, each wound fatal. They cause him to momentarily stumble, but he continues running regardless. The blood spray of one of the deaths covers the final Subaru in the sequence as he pushes aside his past body and screams at the top of his lungs.
Priscilla: "It would seem that the dog will fully begin to see his pitiful life as naught but a tool in this Arc."
The scene hit all too personally for Al, whose own power was very close to the depiction in this sequence.
Anastasia: "I'll never approve of usin' yer own life as a tool in the inventory, Natsuki-kun."
Crusch: "Please regard yourself higher, Natsuki-dono." She said with a twinge of pleading in her voice as she gripped Subaru's left hand in her right.
Flashes of bright memories of various characters begin to show in between deaths in the void.
First - Rem, Ram, and Roswaal.
Roswaal: "How flaaaatttering, Subaru-kun."
Second - the Arlam villagers.
Third - Ram, confident in her steamed tatoes.
The smug, confident grin's humor was lost on the cast that was still recovering from the harrowing foreshadowing from earlier in the opening.
Now begins a series of flashes of Japanese kanji characters in between void deaths and memories.
Fourth - Petra and the village kids.
Immediately followed by Otto (who is blurred and in the background), Patrasche, and Furufu.
While Otto usually objected when he was made the butt of a joke, he was instead in a cold sweat worrying for what awaited his friend.
Sixth - Beatrice and Puck.
A particularly distraught Subaru yells with blood in his mouth inside the void.
Seventh - Rem from the rooftop scene, but her eyes are covered by a bright light
Al: "She looks like an angel going to Heaven . ."
The sorrow once again consumed Rem as she couldn't help but weep into Subaru's shoulder at the pain he's going through while she was unable to do anything to help him.
Seventh - Three successive images of Emilia: One with Puck blurred in the foreground (allusion to his departure), the next of her in the cloak in the capital's market, then a precious smile with white flower petals in the air.
The kanji flashes end with two rough, blood-red characters.
Emilia sobbed as she continued to be disgusted with her own resemblance to the witch that forced this suffering on Subaru.
Julius: "I curse myself for ever doubting his conviction to protect Emilia-sama . . though I do wonder what those chicken scratches could mean?"
Subaru yells and desperately reaches out a hand towards a faraway bright window.
Pan shots of Garfiel and Frederica striking poses, but facing away from each other. Their beast forms and what look like prison bars are cast as shadows over them.
Garfiel: "How long does it take 'im to get my amazon' self to help 'im . ." His usual hothead demeanor gone as the thought doesn't even cross his mind that he might be one of the causes of Subaru's deaths.
Frederica: "I thank you for bringing us back together at the end of this, Subaru-sama."
Butterfly swarms fly over all of the following screens.
Next shot is the Ryuzu elder in front of the big Pyroxene crystal with clones all around. Similar bars are also cast as shadows.
Mimi: "I feel bad for their mama."
Tivey: "I don't think they were all born at the same time, Nee-chan."
Next shot is Beatrice, Roswaal, and Puck all with their backs to each other, with Puck and Roswaal's faces being entirely hidden from the audience.
Roswaal: "I should have spoken with the two of them more before, looking back."
Next is Beatrice's hand on her Book of Wisdom.
Beatrice: "Thank you for pulling Betty away from that contract, Subaru."
Next is the tea party table in the Castle of Dreams with a swarm of shadow hands faded in.
Quick flash of the Great Rabbit.
Petra was the only one to take note of the creature with how fast it went by. She made a note to herself to ask Subaru to knit her a bunny plush after they got out of the viewings, innocently missing the true identity of the witch beast.
Final zoom in on Echidna turning around and giving a youthful smile.
Roswaal: "She looks younger here than the Teacher I knew."
Ricardo: "For his sake, I hope she's not another wolf in sheep's clothing."
Opening end.
. . .
Ram: "Warden, what is the point of these introductions?"
They exist to provide a broad summary of an Arc's events while simultaneously putting the viewer into the mindset ready to witness them.
A lot flashes by quickly during them, and some details will not make sense until you see more of the story.
Julius: "So it is safe to assume that it is structured in a way that foreshadows revelations that are to occur later?"
Yes.
Emilia, wiping away her tears: "Those two people from the beginning . . Are they really Subaru's parents? Will he see them in his Trial?"
Yes.
However, due to how personal the Trials are, I will ask those that have participated in them not to elaborate further on the details so that the rest may see them with unspoiled eyes.
And so any questions about what the Trials were were immediately shut down before they could even be asked . . .
Otto: "Who were those girls from the beginning?"
Ram: "Pervert."
Otto: "Come on! I'm worried about Natsuki-san here!" As he gestured frantically trying to dismiss Ram's jab.
It's a secret.
Felix: "Why can't you tell us nya?"
If you'll recall, the aim of these viewings is for you to experience Subaru's journey, if in a slightly easier lens, seeing as you don't physically experience his pains and you know the successful loops.
The most that I can tell you is that they are important, and that you don't need to worry about Subaru making more spaces in his heart.
Wilhelm: "That would be the last thing to cause us worry for Subaru-dono."
Regardless, there is one symbol that I can explain since only two people in this room may even recognize a fraction of the meaning behind it.
Anastasia, do you recall the language of Hoshin?
Anastasia: "Yeah, though it's pretty hard for people nowadays ta understand. It looks like chicken scratch to us. Wait, do you mean that Hoshin-sama and Natsuki-kun are from the same world?"
Yes.
A single sentence written from the language they shared in that world is punctuated in pieces throughout that sequence of Subaru running forward to reach the people in the Sanctuary.
It reads: "If it's to save you, I don't care how many times I die."
Al: "Looks like you were right, Princess."
Priscilla: "Of course mineself was correct, dog." Smacking his head with her fan.
Emilia and Rem's breaths caught in their throats as the meaning of that sunk in.
Crusch: "It is painful to see one with such a good heart fall into such a cruel mindset."
As I'm sure you must be wondering, I will also clarify this.
Yes, the Witch did whisper the words "I love you" into his ear.
Julius: "Then the reason that he was brought to Lugunica was . ."
Yes.
Mimi: "But then why make Nii-chan cry so much?!"
Beatrice: "It is as Ricardo said, I suppose. With how little Betty had protected him before, Subaru would not have been able to survive otherwise."
Emilia: "But why couldn't he tell anyone?! He has been in so much pain for so long because he couldn't say anything."
Priscilla: "Is it not obvious, half-devil?"
All camps turned and glared at the prejudice that the royal selection candidate continued to display. Evidently, the heartfelt confession from beside the Lifaus Highway in which Emilia and Subaru had finally reconnected had convinced the rest of the camps of her pure heart and intentions.
Julius: "Leaving that aside, it would seem that the Witch of Envy lives up to her feared name."
Wilhelm: "To go so far to preserve a lover's secret as to pain the man you love and murder those he cares about is a slander to the concept of true love."
The Sword Demon cut straight to the complaint in everyone's throats.
That is . . A reasonable conclusion to be sure, though you'd be missing on some of the finer points if that is the full extent of the understanding that you come to.
Rem: "-hk"
Ram: "Rem, what's wrong?"
Rem: "If he had tried to explain it to me when he first arrived at the mansion, even if he could, Rem would have surely killed Subaru-kun."
Crusch: "I would not have blamed you. Regardless of his own desire, a connection between him and the Witch was forced onto him, and he can never rid himself of the Witch's miasma. You are not at fault."
Felix: "Even past that, who would believe him?"
Another hard point of argument to swallow was brought up.
Felt: "But Rein, you can tell that he'd be telling the truth! We'd have no choice but to believe him."
Reinhard: "While I would know that what he speaks is the truth to him, we would likely conclude that he had lost his mind, and abandon him." He bit his lip in frustration at how slothful he truly was, being incapable of saving Subaru in nearly every situation.
Truly, Return by Death was a power more abhorrent than the Sin Archbishops, and that is not a conclusion made lightly, having seen the three of the Sin Archbishops and their irredeemable personalities.
Priscilla smirks behind her fan, pleased that the commoners below her had finally caught up to what she had already known. For this black-haired dog to have been able to persevere through such a dim fate, she was the only one suited to have him among a whole theater of commoners. She would endeavor to make him her own pet.
Before we continue down the rabbit hole of despairing realizations, I suggest that we hurry along with the viewings.
The fourth in this arc is a breath of fresh air, and it will make a good rest point before later viewings.
Without any further ado, let us continue.
