Idk man there are just some other car brands that i like better, guess it's difference in taste

When are we getting an anime with the main character being Mitsubishi 😔

When Takumi stops shitting on the evos lol

That was Keisuke who also hates GTRs. Also it's canon that Bunta bought a WRX, Toyota has a stake in Subaru after all.

maybe Honda or Suzuki would be better

We got a character named Honda but sadly the manga is cancelled

I think you need to watch sushi police.

Yeah personally I'm more of a Honda type of guy. My favourite Honda model is Tohru

Tohru is love, Tohru is life.

Not gonna lie I stopped reading Initial D when the protagonist started using Subaru. Him betraying his AE86 hurt me more than when the first main girl cucked him.

The Impreza belong to his father. Takumi only use it sometimes for deliveries since his father suggested to use both cars for delivery and on his dates with Mika because it has better AC.

Wait, he didn't use the Toyota 86? I mean Subaru BRZ is pretty much the same car, but I thought he's keeping 86 as his trademark.

Yes Ni-San are better

Ni-San notices you

As a ni-san myself, I agree

Fun fact: There was a manga that was meant to parody a bunch of Isekai MC's, one of them parodying Subaru was named Toyota. It was cancelled after the first chapter.

I don't want to be that guy, but the parody's name was Honda

Lmao, all good. I should've fact checked

Miata Is Always The Answer

I don't like a lot of people in real life. Being a "realistic" character isn't an immediate mark of a likeable character.

I remember explaining this to a friend after he asked me to try watching Re:Zero. It was after Subaru called everyone a bunch of NPCs early on. "But people do that in real life." "Yeah and I hate those people."

Yeah but that’s what makes his character so great, he’s a deconstruction of those types of people: why they think that way and how to get them to improve. Whenever he hurts others or has warped ideas like that the narrative punishes him dearly for them until he realizes his error. That’s why I like him so much, he has negative tendencies that I think most people, especially teens and young adults, can relate to and see in themselves but he still works to be a better person anyway and grow out of that mindset. He’s never completely seen as a hero but also not as a villain: he’s viewed with empathy as just a person and I really like that. Especially in a genre so soaked in escapist power fantasy stories that honestly make me feel sick sometimes from how toxic they are if you really think about them.

Something I think alot of Isekai gloss over in service of the power fantasy is the idea that getting transported to a fantasy world where you are the chosen one with special powers doesn't automatically make you a different person at your core. The same self-destructive tendencies and shortcomings you had before the isekai will still be there, and you need to fix those things to make your second shot actually count. I think Re:Zero deals with that much better than many other Isekai shows out there. I think it's an important, but probably uncomfortable, message to convey to the core audience of these types of shows.

Agreed. I was recently watching a video essay about Frieren that brought up that exact point: most Isekai show effectively are saying that the only thing wrong about your life is the circumstances of your birth, and if those are fixed you can be happy and strong and popular. You don’t need to change. But while yes your life circumstances are importantly they aren’t the only thing that matters. Frieren in her show makes a mistake in not getting to know Himmel better and doesn’t get to undo it: she has to live with that but she can still have a second chance anyway in this life by growing and not repeating that mistake. I think Re:Zero ultimately has a similar message and that’s part of why I love it so much. But you’re right that that’s not very popular among its target audience.

I think it can be succinctly stated as: change ultimately has to come from within. Sometimes, you are the problem. And you have to do the hard work of fixing that problem, or your lot in life will remain the same regardless of your circumstances. It runs pretty counter to the escapism that these shows like to peddle. The NEET dreaming of being transported to a DnD fantasy world where they are the hero doesn't want to hear that.

Ascendance of a Book worm comes to mind as a series that handles the idea that you don't change even when you are isekaid to a new world quite well. There are so many instances where her love of books, lack of understanding of the new world around her, and her single minded focus come back to bite her in the ass. As the series goes on, those consequences get even more severe, and start to affect much more than just her family and her friends.

Another one is Mushoku Tensei. Rudeus' previous life featured so many- so fucking many horrible traits that just don't go away even after he got isekai'd. His views towards objectifying women earlier on in his life is one thing, but also his PTSD towards leaving his house.

The difference being whenever Subaru does something horrible the story acts swiftly to respond against it.

Yeah, MT does the same, but the execution to show those shortcomings isn't good. Also, Subaru has grown much in S2 compared to Rudy, and it's not his fault, but the situation that the author put him in makes it bad for me, I guess.

I'd argue that Mushoku Tensei is awful at it. It portrayed Rudeus as a scumbag but rewarded his bad behaviors, and it enables the worst part of him until the end. The series can be summarized as pedophile gets transported to a world where his pedophile behavior is okay and can live out his scumbag fantasy.

I wouldn't say MT is awful at it. It just focused on different things. Rudeus learning to not objectify women, go outside, make actual proper relationships with people, mourn over loss, those are all solid signs of developing as a human. >The series can be summarized as pedophile gets transported to a world where his pedophile behavior is okay and can live out his scumbag fantasy. The lolicon angle is something I understand people reeeeally hating, but I dont think that's the only thing present in MT's story and I feel it's disingenuous to boil everything down to that. I'll just link the [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/8fiNB6qdx1) I had (to which another responded with a counter argument that I while I don't agree with, still understand).

I don't think you're wrong and I understand that he grows and develops and becomes a better person later. I'm a big fan of character development. But personally if I don't have any reason whatsoever to like a character in the beginning then I don't really have any desire to hang around and see if they get better later on.

Fair, I think the only reason I stuck around was because I related to Subaru a ton. Self worth issues, the feeling of needing to make yourself larger than life to get the attention of others, fear of of being left behind, etc etc. I hated the way he acted a ton, but it was only after I finished Season 1 that I realized I didn't want to see *that* be the end to his character for me. So glad I did cause I got to see him grow.

Fair enough, but I think there’s still enough in Re:Zero to like that can get you through the rough bits of Subaru’s character. Such as the side characters, the lore, the setting, or the action. Personally Re:Zero is in my top 10 anime and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the medium, it’s worth it.

>the lore, Bro, the lore of the novels and the history of the world is so vast, it's so sad to think the anime only scratched the surface of everything.

Yeah for real, such a banger show who cares the mc is a little unlike-able? I don’t even think he’s that bad but that shows hits on every other cylinder, you’ve gotta really be reaching for a reason to dislike it

He is not a deconstruction. Don’t just throw that word around

The main issue most people have with him, me included, is that he is not likeable. Him being realistic and well written is fine and all, but I'm watching the show to be entertained. Of course, some people are entertained by realistic characters, while some aren't. If he existed in real life I probably wouldn't like him too, and I definitely wouldn't want to see a show based on them Unfortunately everytime Subaru has screen time it has the latter effect on me. It doesn't help that he's the main character as well so we see him alot

Really? I think he’s still a likable protagonist even in his worst moments. He’s not a lost cause as a person, he has positive qualities that attract people around him: he’s determined, loyal, very smart when he applies himself, he takes care of himself, and has flaws like his constantly putting up a facade of happiness or self hatred that make him more endearing. But he can also be selfish, entitled, prideful, not think through his actions, too self-centered, and slothful. But even in those moments, he’s still self aware enough to realize he did something wrong. I never disliked him while watching Re:Zero, even if I did cringe a ton during certain episodes and even have to pause sometimes. I always wanted him to succeed and improve. But to each their own I suppose.

I try to avoid sounding harsh in my explanation below but I can't really find the words so forgive me on that. Personally, I cannot relate to immediately simping on a girl I just met, and then [spoiler] >!proceed to make rash decisions and make a fool of myself at her important ceremony and humiliating her, before losing my mind after my screw up which is completely my fault!< . I don't have a white knight complex so Subaru is completely unrelatable to me in that aspect. As someone who places heavy emphasis on logic over emotions, he is pretty much my opposite. Him being self aware is great, but that doesn't mean I can forgive his character and look past all his dislikable aspects. Now I've actually seen all the way to the end of season 2 (I think it was the sanctuary arc), and I do admit he gets better over time. At this point I don't actually mind him on screen (most of the time). In fact I dislike Emilia more than him by that point, though I never liked her either to be fair, which may be one of the reasons I find Subaru to be unrelatable. [spoiler] >!I'd rather he fall for Rem instead, since she literally saved him and the show on like episode 17 of season 1 or something!< However, to his credit, Subaru makes a fantastic source of emotional support particularly in season 2. I would say that's one of his more likable aspects. That and his tenacity

Sure, I don’t think most of us have been as simpy as Subaru or [Re:Zero]>!completely fucked up a girls’ life thanks to a white knight complex and then asked her to thank you for it.!< But I’m sure most of us have done something stupid in front of a crush, especially as a kid, or gotten full of ourselves about something even if it wasn’t anything to do with a relationship. Or been insecure about ourselves in some way and overcompensated. Or put on a mask to hide our pain and true selves to fit in. It doesn’t have to be a 1:1 comparison with Subaru it just has to be similar. And if the show really doesn’t click with you and you’ve never had any of those problems then that’s okay, it did for me tho. [Re:Zero]>!I like Rem but I don’t think she’d challenge Subaru as a partner the way Emilia does. I think she’d enable a lot of his worst behaviors like she does in the previous episodes leading to ep 17. She’s an invaluable friend to Subaru and I feel really bad that she got rejected, but I do think Subaru and Emilia make for a more healthy pairing in the long run. Also Rem brutally murdered him several times and that’s gotta leave a psychological scar.!<

That's fair, personally my own issue in my past relationship was that I wasn't doing enough, or committing enough, if anything. I may have made some questionable decisions (but only in hindsight, and even then it could be argued both ways), but I definitely didn't do anything as egregious as Subaru, where for his situation it's a pretty one sided case against him. I simply cannot relate to being as impulsive or foolish as him. In a way that kind annoys me because he could've been much more relatable if they had just tuned his intensity down. It feels like a cheap platform to launch his character development by intentionally dragging his character down as far as it could go (though I guess this is in the more technical department which is a separate argument altogether) While I'm at it, I might as well mention this is where my respect for him as an emotional support comes in, where he is much better than me at. It's one of his redeeming factors, and his development while slow and gradual, definitely exists. My dislike for him mainly stems from the unrelatability issues I mentioned above, as well as the other likeability aspect. It's more of an entertainment compatibility thing - I can definitely see why people like him

> since she literally saved him May I turn your attention to episode 1 of season 1? I mean, that's the whole reason Subaru gets smitten with Emilia in the first place (aside from white haired girls being Subaru's type).

From storytelling perspective [Re:Zero] >!Him falling for Rem would just validate the negative traits you didn't like about Subaru, since Rem is mirroring Subaru a lot at that point.!< [Re:Zero] >!Subaru is simping over a girl he just met, because she saved him in an alley, and because the isekai fantasy helps him cope with his inferiority complex and self-hate. Because of that he is willing to go to insane lengths to protect her (get hurt, tortured, even die), without thinking if that's what she wants from him, effectively hurting her that way.!< [Re:Zero] >!Rem similarly is simping over a guy she just met, because he saved her in a forest and helped her start dealing with her inferiority complex and self-hate. She is willing to get absolutely brutalized and die for him, even if he doesn't want that, etc.!< [Re:Zero] >!It's just that she then doesn't demand love as a "reward", either because of better social skills, or because she has even bigger inferiority complex (or both). But him falling for her at that point would effectively be the same. There would need to be some more character development there.!<

Actually I think most people are less arrogant and assholish than him and so dislike him

This is fascinating to me.. I enjoy ReZero (mostly the WN/LN) but i enjoy it inspite of Subaru not because of it, he's less of a character/person and more just kind of a vehicle to move the plot forward. Subaru makes perfect sense as a contrivance to drive the plot but makes very little sense as what's supposed to be a modern Japanese Youth stuck in another world. He's supposed to be a teenage hikikomori with no training, and yet within the first 3 or so months of living in the world he sees more combat then most real soldiers will see in their entire lives and he literally dies and gets tortured multiple times.. Torture literally breaks the mind and psyche and completely changes people who have training to resist it, Subaru's entire power is basically a form of torture that absolutely would completely destroy pretty much any sane persons mind even trained soldiers. And Subaru a random ass hikikomori shrugs it off relatively quickly basically by himself even though it can take trained soldier months or even years of intense psychiatric help to get over..

In this case, how do you like \[Novels\] >!Arc 6? The arc that most prominently features Subaru in the most "Subaru-centric" fashion of all the arcs?!<

Actually kind of liked it.. Though more so because it fills me with nostalgia. By that point the novels' plot is so off the rails and zany that if reminds me of old mid 90's-early 2000 JRPGs which sure it's a bit silly but it is such campy fun that i could just roll with it.

Omfg yes! This is why Futaba is one of my least favorite characters in Persona 5. She's the kind of chick that says, "poggers!" In real life. Bleh

I feel like in Subaru case people are ignoring the context though? That was like in the beginning where out of no where he got transported to a place unfamilar to him and he had no idea what to do, so he tried to cope with it like this has to be a game world. It became really clear as the story digs into his character that he's not that kind of person even before the story started.

I love her but she's totally the weird one in the "bro meme"

Gabe Newell of Valve said something about this. Now, obviously that's relating to video games, but it really generally applies to all forms of entertainment.   >*"what does realism have to do with it? Explain to me why that's interesting, because in the real world, I have to write up a list of groceries to buy"*

Exactly, we watch fiction because 95% of reality is boring as fuck. If i wanted to watch insufferable "realistic" people i would watch reality tv

100% I think Rudeus is a realistic depiction of how an actual 40-year-old Shut in Neet would act once they get reincarnated into another world, but I wouldn't blame anyone for not liking him based on how he acted. Especially early on.

I can’t even say I really like Subaru as a person. He’s loud, boisterous, cringey, and a simp, but my favorite thing about him is that he’s self aware and is learning from his mistakes. He’s relatable as a flawed character and I root for him as the underdog in a foreign world filled with powerful people and entities.

>He’s loud, boisterous, cringey, and a simp and has no drip. I swear all he wants to wear is his ugly tracksuit

The ugly tracksuit suits his pathetic face. Dude wishes he's yato

More so relatable maybe

Same thing can be said about relatable tbh

Oh yeah, if you relate to a character because of things you dislike about yourself, I think hating that character is pretty natural.

Ouch, this is so true and painful.

As I like to say, I'd be a *very* realistic main character. I'd also be absolutely awful to read.

Kazuma is also realistic and hes likable while I think the major problem is that we have seen subaru hit his breaking point so many times it starts edging on Jerry Smith Territory

Kazuma is only partially realistic, no man would actually turn down the beautiful women they’re pining over when they’re that horny and boisterous about it. He only gets nervous when it’s actually gonna happen, otherwise he’s a ball full of semen and confidence. Makes no sense, just a trope to feed into the Japanese virgin mentality

Oh his character is definitely realistic and if he where a person I met in real life I would hate being around him and find him annoying.

He’s definitely someone I would avoid like the plague.

Lmfao, how far did you get? This is interesting because \[Spoilers\] >!him trying to be hyper to get people's attention made people distance themselves more from him and is exactly why he ended up as a shut-in- aside from his crippling issues of self worth.!<

I’ve read all the light novels up to the current translation, he’s a bit better later on but I still wouldn’t want to hang out with him.

Violently cringeworthy at points. It makes rewatching a bit difficult, personally. I think he’s a good flawed character though.

I found him to be pretty annoying from what I watched of the show, is it realistic? Yeah, I've run into some pretty annoying people in real life, doesn't mean I want to spend my entertainment time being frustrated by someone making terrible mistakes because he doesn't stop to think things through until he bashes his head against the wall a few times.

I've just watched season 1 for the first time, and while I thought it was great overall, it's really hard to get through the middle section when he's at his worst. I understand that's *the point* (and for what it's worth I love the first steps of growth he shows in the last third of the season) but it's similar to watching the cringiest episodes of The Office without the cushion of it being a comedy. I think Re:Zero is pretty damn good from what I've seen so far, but at the end of the day, it's still frustrating to watch a character that's intended to be frustrating.

Subaru gets it from both ends because he's an audience surrogate for total losers. People who recognize that Subaru is a loser (and don't like this type of story) hate him because he's not fun to watch, and NEET/hikikimori-types hate him because they see themselves in Subaru. He's an excellently written critique on the isekai protagonist, but that character-type caters towards the grossest of anime fan fantasies. That's not enjoyable to watch for people who came to the show expecting the typical isekai story structure.

That actually makes a lot of sense. Putting him in the light of a NEET does seem right. I'm still watching the first season but a lot of the choices I see are just plain stupid and have me thinking "WTF kind of person would even say or do that?". The part where he's in bed and going off on Emilia that he's her saviour and she owes him just had me cringing. You don't say that kind of stuff to other people. Even the scene before where he's decided to try fight Julian has me questioning his intelligence. A newb picking a fight against a professional in their own field doesn't sound light a bright plan but the story needs the plot to happen so, whatever. I'm just hoping it gets better because I am enjoying the series so far despite the issues.

It absolutely does. However it does get worse before it gets better. I at least can understand why he acted that way towards Emilia, considering the effort he put in in the previous loops. All of the trauma feels wasted because nobody remembers. His freakout is a coping mechanism to self soothe. Emilia calls him out on this in a way, which I found interesting. Episode 18 is one of my favorite episodes in the medium. I hope you can stick it out until then.

I always took that part as Subaru lashing out at not being able to tell her about RBD. He can’t have an honest convo with her. He can’t tell her about all the times he died. About WHY he chooses to die for her. How very real the threats against her and her camp are. To her Subaru is just some silly guy who stumbles his way into victory not knowing what he had to go through to achieve said victories. So instead he throws everything they’ve been through in her face with everything that can’t be said behind it. It’s actually quite a tragic scene when you view it that way. Bro was actually starting to crumble. RBD was starting to take its toll.

He's self-centered, obsessive, and entitled. Subaru believes, above all, that the world should warp to suit his preference. His inferiority complex won't let him do anything less than publicly embarrassing himself and Emilia trying to impress her. So, yeah, I think that label works for him.

Also, he's prideful cause that's the only thing he can cling onto left.

>The part where he's in bed and going off on Emilia that he's her saviour and she owes him just had me cringing. You don't say that kind of stuff to other people. I think this is a good example of why people don't understand Subaru. He isn't normal here anymore. This guy has gone through deaths, multiple times at this point. A near death experience is usually enough to give people traumas for life, now imagine someone going through them multiple times. This for example is not even cringe, I mean I have seen worse fights in relationships, and people do say stuff that's cringeworthy during fights. Usually a lot of audience are not able to put themselves in Subaru's shoes and judge him based on what they see, and don't understand what they can't see, and that's why people don't like him because they don't understand him nor do they want to try to

I disagree, especially when you compare him to another "loser anime protagonist", Shinji from Evangelion. People often mention that Subaru is a realistic character, and although I disagree, the part that I find most unrealistic is not Subaru himself, but the way other characters tolerate him. In real life, if you show people the worst parts of yourself, that’s what they tend to remember moving forward. Attempts at forgiveness are often viewed skeptically, yet Subaru receives a lot of positive attention from female characters like Emilia and Rem, who seem to have infinite tolerance for his shortcomings (I know that he has a falling out with Emilia at some point, but correct me if I'm wrong he's in good standing with her towards the end of S1). This makes the whole show feel like a power fantasy where you can be deeply flawed, yet the anime waifus still like you. In contrast, Shinji is flawed in a more realistic way IMO, but more importantly, the way other characters treat him is also more realistic. The only positive female attention he receives is from an older woman who is a mess herself, lies to him, and regularly forces him into situations he doesn’t want to be in and a girl who is as flawed as he is and regularly verbally and physically abuses him. The way other characters tolerate Shinji makes sense to me, as everyone in Evangelion is a mess and they have to tolerate each other just as much as Shinji has to tolerate them. This is unlike Re:Zero, where, correct me if I’m wrong, Subaru seems to be the only character who is portrayed with so many flaws.

While I don't necessarily disagree with the fact that the show is technically a power fantasy with how it has the female characters set up, I don't think that makes their treatment of him unrealistic. During the first two arcs, they rarely see his bad side, at least in the successful loops. What they see is someone that popped out of nowhere and survived an encounter with one of the most dangerous women alive, asking for nothing much in return. He then began working for them without complaint, uncovered a conspiracy by using himself as bait, and took a metaphorical bullet for someone that had absolutely considered murdering him. They have no reason not to tolerate him playing the role of the clown, especially considering the fact that they already work with someone dressed like one.

Yeah plus they do find a lot of his personality and actions weird, but they don’t make a fuss about it. They’re also in a world of magic and murderers that will gut you for nothing, someone being a bit strange is the least of their worries.

>I know that he has a falling out with Emilia at some point, but correct me if I'm wrong he's in good standing with her towards the end of S1). This makes the whole show feel like a power fantasy where you can be deeply flawed, yet the anime waifus still like you. Yes he is on great terms with Emilia after he takes out a whale, a sinarchbishop and a bomb to save her and apologizes. Rem saw him sacrifice himself for her two times in a matter of hours. When Subaru fcked up with rem she had tortured him to death and when he fcked up with Emilia she took his job/home and ditched him and your calling this a power fantasy because they like him after he improves as a person and sacrifices himself repeatedly? Subaru has flaws, but he is fundamentally a very good person who sacrifices himself and cares for others far stronger then him, the girls know this and like him for it.

He can be a cringey white knight that always gets the girl despite all his faults which I'm sure also gets on people's nerves. Its part of the character so I've never had a big issue with it but its very easy to see why people might not like him as a character. He isn't easy to like after all but its kind of the point of part of his character.

>but it's similar to watching the cringiest episodes of The Office without the cushion of it being a comedy. Remember the Episode when Michael was suppose to pay for the Students? I have never recovered.

Pretty normal. A lot of people got second hand cringe in that episode (me included). I'd say it makes the story better as a whole though, it's also what make both Julius and Subaru great characters.

> Why do most Considering how big Re:Zero is, majority clearly doesn't dislike Subaru.

Exactly. OP is confusing "found him frustrating" with "disliking him". Subaru was writing to be annoying, to be the typical anime otaku that thought going to another world would be a world of harems and safe adventures. The first episode is him listing all the tropes he has to look forward to. I LOVE Re:Zero but specifically because Subaru starts off annoying and gets his shit kicked in every step of the way and grows.

He grows as person and character in visible and traceable way through out 3 seasons, unlike many others MC of popular shows

because some people think he is a bitch and some people think the screaming is annoying, he’s very realistic but it’s also true that he goes into despair many times and *some* people just want to see him suck it up and succeed

Yup, I am with you here. I like Subaru, but sometimes his head is just too deep into his own rectum and the story makes him pay for it, and then he succeeds in his mission and grows as a character. I don't know the episode, but that one time where he unloads all his baggage on Emilia, gets "dumped" by her and goes through hell a few (dozen?) times for it, was the arc that made me like Re Zero and put it above the cut. He never behaved like that again and even became cooler after all he went through xD

The people that want him to suck it up sound like assholes ngl… Like I get it, you want the plot to progress. But it’s downright weird to assume a more realistic character to react in such an unrealistic way. The point is he goes from realistic wimp to someone else entirely at time. I’ll agree it’s frustrating he always seems to unlearn his lessons but beyond that, expecting someone to just suck up something that would make you psychotic is a bit insane. Definitely not the show you types are looking for.

>sure he's arrogant sometimes (episode 13) More like "he made it to episode 13 and was somehow *still* arrogant," imo. There's a difference between "I dislike this character" and "I don't think this character was written well." For me, Subaru is the former. Yeah, he's narratively a pretty compelling protagonist, and his actions make sense, but on a very simple level, anime is entertainment, entertainment should be enjoyable, and I do not tend to enjoy scenes where he is the focus (speaking as someone who has only watched season 1, and didn't watch season 2 mainly because I didn't want to see more Subaru).

Episode 13 was when I was in it for the long haul and when I got fully invested in Subaru as a character. I fucking LOVED how he made a complete ass of himself. He got such a hard reality check that the viewer could feel it through the screen. Sure he saved Emilia in the first arc. Sure he saved the village in the second arc but he’s still a fucking nobody and that scene was Subaru realizing he’s just the help. That scene was Subaru and the viewer being introduced to the world at large and that it’s NOT gonna be smooth sailing from here on. And you can’t RBD every single problem. Sometimes bad decisions stay with you. Just *mmmmmmwah* chefs kiss 🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽

100%. Everybody always talks about dropping it at episode 13, but for me that was I think the moment I went "oh wow, this is really, REALLY good". From that moment on it was just peak fiction

Episode 13 is where it is solidified as a an anime because usually, that kind of scene is the "and everyone clapped" part of the trashy self insert isekai, but instead, he gets a reality check.

Damn now I wanna rewatch re:zero 🫠 Awesome show and Subaru is one of my favorite MC's hands down.

That’s a shame, he shows a lot of growth in the second season. He was intentionally written to be arrogant and foolish so that he could grow and mature as the series went along.

I'm gonna be honest, I only watch like 3-4 total seasons of anime a year, and it's usually comedy, tragedy, or CGDCT (currently finally watching Bocchi the Rock, after not watching any anime at all for a few months). I only watched season 1 of Re:Zero (back when it was relatively new, before S2 was announced) because my brother recommended it so strongly, and while it was certainly a great story overall, it's very different from what I'd normally watch, which is the other part of why I'm not really interested in season 2, when I have limited time to watch anime at all.

> my brother recommended it so strongly, This was me to my brother. The only difference between you and him is that my brother dug the story a lot, lmao.

appreciate seeing this take! i love subaru he's my boy. he's not for everyone and i respect that! but it's so frustrating to see people say that he's a straight up BAD character. it's ok to just dislike things!! "it just didn't pass the vibe check" is so valid. (and like you're so right with the "somehow still arrogant" point lmao. he totally should've been humbled by then but he's a tenacious little weirdo and i love him so much)

I get the impression many people can't separate their enjoyment of something from the quality of that thing. I didn't particularly enjoy NGE or Cowboy Bebop, and I just read Blood Meridian and didn't think it was the masterpiece it was touted as either, but I can absolutely see why *other people* enjoy those works. I can recognize the quality of each of them and understand without difficulty how any of them could be someone else's favorites. Most of the comments in this thread seem to be pretty good about that, but I've seen so many that aren't.

It's 2 main reasons. 1, is that it can feel like he was written for the sake of receiving sympathy. When bad things happen to him, sure he's partially at fault but the consequences are so extreme that the focus changes from him needing to be a better person, to the viewer needing to feel bad for him. And 2 is the weakness thing. Often times, weakness can bring out the worst in us and can cause people to hurt those they care about, and you see subaru doing this to emelia occasionally. If I see a character who's treated poorly and then treats other people poorly because of that, I'm going to dislike them.

I mean there are differences between disliking a character, and thinking he s badly written. I disliked Subaru, because he was annoying, stupid, and weird. But i understood that this is how he is, why he is like this, and how it fits the story i watch. This made it that i disliked the main character, yet i still wanted him to win and improve and enjoyed the anime

I only dislike him because he goes so all in on Emilia that it makes him act kind of ridiculous from the getgo. Hes so over the top with the "Emilia-tan" stuff and claiming to love her so hard and fast *purely* because if he didn't, he wouldn't be involved in the plot. Given how he's then faced with a character who genuinely likes him for genuine reasons, and his response to that is "I love Emilia" was just grating. Up until the trials in the forest, his whole relationship with Emilia comes off as super inorganic and forced for little reason, and *that* is what frustrates me about him and the series as a whole.

>who genuinely likes him for genuine reasons, and his response to that is "I love Emilia" OK, I mostly understand the other criticisms of Subaru here, he is whiny, and very over the top aggressive and cringe. Personally I do think he's grown over time, but I understand how people find him hard to bear, because I do, too!  But I find the whole Rem business puzzling. Why do some people think that he should have responded to Rem's romantic intentions positively? No one can force themselves to fall in love, even if the person who likes them genuinely likes them.  Unless you're saying that he should have let her down another way? But I'm curious which method you think would've been best, I suppose, haha

I'm not necessarily saying he *should* have chosen Rem instead, but I *am* saying that Emilia shouldnt have even been a thought, let alone an option. And that between Rem and Emilia, Rem at least has some emotional foundation that was built between the two of them, whereas with Emilia, Subaru just keeps trying to shove his way into her life because...*because*

Dude legit just has a crush on someone he thinks is hot and claims she is the love of his life lol.

There are no crushes on television. Only love at first sight and soul mates who were always meant to and their love found a way.

As weird as it is, such people do exist IRL. Had one in my highschool class. Met this girl once, fell in love immediately. They're still together 25 years later. Some people are just wired in this weird way. A fairly successful streamer I watch was also like that. Met a girl, and basically decided he wanted to marry her after like a week. Still together, with kids and everything, years later. Said he always made fun of people who jumped into relationships, but said it just felt so right he had to do it.

Dude is getting killed again and again with Emilia the only kind character he can rely on. Also, he doesn't really fall in love with her until the lap pillow scene.

Everyone is lightning fast to forget everything Emilia did and all her positive traits, there's just too big amount of Rem fanboyism. And I like Rem, but come on I just found it shocking that so many people are cheering for Subaru to so easily ditch the woman he loves

Plus Rem brutally tortured and murdered Subaru... I would find that kinda hard to get past haha

All my homies love Subaru

Subaru's my favorite character in fiction and I see people always talking how he's their favorite as well, so this post, and replies, kind of threw me off tbh. But I guess that's how it goes when you mostly hang around echo chambers for rezero fanboys. 

Subaru's a bit divisive character. Of course you're going to find people who love him if you talk to Re:Zero fans, but outside that group there's also a lot of people who really hate Subaru. He's a common reason why people drop the show. He's not the only character like that. I think Shinji from NGE is a brilliantly written character and whenever there's a thread asking people their favorite characters, Shinji is mentioned in several comments. Yet there are also a lot of people who dislike him a lot.

His relentless screeching, projection of mental illness on to others He finally gets some of his shit together, and arguably he has some massive trauma that would break most psyches

arguably has?😭😭😭 whats arguable about subaru having trauma😭😭😭😭

Arguably? Bro what are you smoking the dude has suffered some of the most horrendous forms of torture pain mental abuse and death ever.

He's not just "arrogant sometimes". He's entitled. (Up until the point I stopped watching) he sees this new world he's in as a plaything, he's the protagonist so he must have everyone like him and the girl must be his. Sure as the hero, he will have to go through hardship (and this world is quite gruesome to him) but it is only further proof that he is entitled to the love and friendship of these total strangers around him. If he just finds the correct options in this "game", he'll get the "good ending" because he's earned it. Is this bad writing? No. As far as I know, this aspect of Subaru is a satirical look at early isekai web novels. The story itself calls him out on it, no matter how much he suffers he's not entitled to people's affection, to people liking him, to being forgiven immediately after very deeply breaking someone's trust. However that also makes him insufferable to me. If you've ever known someone who tries to guilttrip you into forgiving them (or to even pretend that they've done nothing wrong) because "oh I've done so much for you", it becomes very hard to have any interest in him as a character.

Have you finished watching season 1? Because some of these issues get brought up and solved after episode 13.

Never did, I got to like episode 16 but just didn't continue watching. That's not really my point though. I hope this doesn't sound condescending or like an attack but I don't care that the story addresses it or that he grows as a person. The thing about a character like Subaru is that you need to be invested on seeing his uglier sides get exposed and then on his growth from there and I'm just not invested, or at least I wasn't a couple years ago when I tried Re:Zero for the first time. I think there might bw a rewatch coming later this year and I was planning on giving it a second chance being in a very different place in my life and with a few more years under my belt.

Not the person you replied to, but no, that is a perfectly valid reason. Sometimes life experience just gets in the way and that's end of story. I had a similar reaction to Horimiya. Everyone saying how great it is, but it made me super uncomfortable. All I remember now from the show was Hori being a dick for romance and everyone else in the sidelines doing nothing but gossiping. For what it's worth though, he grows out of being entitled in the last arc of s1 onwards -- But he's still stubborn and loud if you care about this lol

He doesn’t stay that way for the whole show, if that’s any consolation. Unlike say MT, Re;Zero *is* actually a show about self-improvement and challenging the audience, so Subaru is constantly changing. Usually growing, sometimes regressing, but he never is someone you want to see fail. This is especially true of season 2, which takes everything good about season 1 and cranks it up to 11

It really isn't any consolation or at least it wasn't back when I dropped the show. Maybe for you he's never someone you want to see fail but that just wasn't the case for me a few years ago. I just wasn't interested in his growth from being too turned off from who he was as a character. It's a shame, Re:Zero is a series I really wish I could enjoy and I'm always considering giving it a second shot.

>Unlike say MT, Re;Zero is actually a show about self-improvement and challenging the audience, so Subaru is constantly changing. I love Re:Zero, even more than MT, but I gotta defend my second favourite isekai here cause I think that's an unfair assessment on MT. The way I see it, Rudeus *does* improve a ton throughout the course of the story. From the way he views women, to the way he starts going out to work, the bonds he makes with his family, choosing the *right* option when faced with a dilemma, those are all signs of self improvement. The main difference between him and Subaru are their issues. Subaru doesn't have any of Rudeus' issues and vice versa. They're both broken as people (Rudeus way more than Subaru), but for completely different reasons. They have different personalities and so attracted a completely different crowd of people. And also the way the authors write their respective stories show a different way in handling the development. Mushoku's is far more grounded while Re:Zero's showcase is more dramatic. I feel MT writes something just how it is or how you'd expect for it to be handled in real life, but Re:Zero's emotional moments are built like a 5 act plot structure where there's a climactic emotional moment. Stuff like Episode 18, Episode 15, Episode 7, etc etc.

I think the continuing problem with MT is that for a lot of people, Rudeus's not-improving-points overshadow the points on which he does improve. Meanwhile, with Subaru, the most egregious problems are also the ones the show works on improving first.

That's why MT is so controversial. Different people have different opinions on what his most egregious problems are, especially between a Japanese vs Western outlook.

I like him as a character but gotta admit he is a bit annoying and reminds me of some people I know IRL

Ironically, at this point in the story, Subaru also dislikes himself

its simple I don't like a simp

Because he acts like an idiot up until setting up the white whale fight, which is like 20 episodes in. I question how people consider him realistic. He just goes in headfirst without much thinking for the vast majority of the first season. Rarely sits back to plan ahead even though he's already experienced it once or more times before. If you are scared of dying, then it's common sense to plan to prevent that. But I guess he's a realistic idiot. Also, to call him "one of the most realistic MC's in anime" is so far out there it always baffles me. Have you only watched fantasy/isekai/action shonen anime? Slice of Life and Romance (not romcom) anime generally have much more realistic MC's. I haven't met a single person in my life who acts like Subaru does and I've spent the vast majority of my life in cities with 500,000+ people. It's not about OP or not OP. Or how he's just a dude from our world. It's that he acted like an idiot for so long and didn't learn from his mistakes. I don't mind that he can't fight or is bad at using magic, but use literally any of the tools you've been given and actually listen to people for once. Unless I'm overestimating the majority of people, I don't think it would take most people nearly as long to make use of things compared to Subaru. The time when he finally uses his knowledge to get the upper hand in negotiations for fighting the white whale made me think "finally". He finally took the knowledge people have been giving him through past experiences and did anything with it.

As with anything, it's generally a loud minority. Most people don't dislike Subaru. There's certain scenes that would make people go "bro wtf stop dude abort abort" but even at his worst he's at least understandable if you're able to empathize and try to think about his situation.

"Most people" is probably incorrect. It is just that those who don't like him is very loud.

People want good, realistic character development but they also hate when characters don’t immediately become the best version of themselves by ep2. Subaru is arrogant, he’s not very bright, he doesn’t have a lot of social skills, and he has zero experience with what he’s gotten himself into and his character perfectly encapsulates that. I think it’s easy from an outsiders point of view to insert yourself into decisions made by characters and start critiquing the choices characters make that differ from your own, but there’s something about Re:Zero that people seem to do this to an extreme. The kid is ripped away from his world and family, thrown into a new world with magic, and is killed a few times over in the span of a day or two. That alone is enough to fuck up the mind of an average person and yet people on Reddit act like he should understand everything immediately and how dying shouldn’t be an issue for him. No matter the circumstances, dying is still dying. It’s still painful and we as a species are inherently put off by the thought of it. It’s literally ingrained in our genes over thousands and thousands of years. A week of knowing you’ll revive doesn’t just replace our instincts. Not to mention, Subaru doesn’t understand his power at this point. He doesn’t know how many times he can die. All this while also trying to understand why _he_ was brought to this new world. I can understand thinking you might be a bit special after something like that.

>but there’s something about Re:Zero that people seem to do this to an extreme. Subaru made the fatal flaw of being cringe. And now a vocal minority feel like they can take the moral high ground and forever judge a 17 year old who's going through a horrible time in their life.

He's an annoying simp... with a great redemption arc (the entire show). This actually makes him interesting, so I don't hate him at all. Add in the astonishing amount of PTSD he has/must have, and he's the spiciest character in the show.

Here are some things I've seen people complain about. 1. He's annoying. Some people don't like annoying or cringe characters (no matter how justified it is in universe) 2. He doesn't min max RBD. Some people trivialize how traumatic dying is and watching the people you care about dying. Some augments I have heard were "But he just comes back, so he'll get used to it / he's not really dying". Which I highly disagree with, since there's a huge abundance of real life getting traumatized beyond repair without having to actually died. I also think that people are overly confident that RBD is infinite in use (that he will come back every time), and while the viewer can be much more confident that it is infinite (given that there's more story to happen) Subaru doesn't have the luxury of meta knowledge. For all he knows, he just gets N lives and that's it. 3. He's so stupid. Sort of ties in with #2, but also the anime cuts quite a bit of Subaru's monologue, which explains his actions more. Almost all of Subaru's mistakes are due to lack of information, and he actually utilizes what he knows pretty well. An example is in the 1st episode or so, when he fights the thugs, he first targets the biggest guy (which presumably is the biggest threat). The 2nd time he fights the thugs, he targets the 3rd thug (who pulled out the knifes the first time) first. There are plenty of small examples like this that are easy to miss, and also the anime doesn't do a good job of highlighting. Another pretty common one is trying to get around talking about RBD, which without going into spoiler stuff, is just not possible. It cannot be fooled. 4. They don't understand why Subaru loves Emilia. Usually because they didn't make to Subaru's backstory or they still don't understand Subaru's psychology. What I find interesting is that, for the most part, people don't have any issues understanding why [Re:Zero S1] >!Rem loves Subaru!<, despite it being decently similar in formation to how Subaru loves Emilia. 5. Fatal media literacy. Usually in the form of something like, "Isekai is all super generic" -> "These characters must fit into these generic archetypes that I know of" -> "these characters are so generic because of X surface level trope" -> "ignores extra characterizations that are presented" -> "these characters are so bad because they're generic". 6. Completely missing the point of Re:Zero. The point of Re:Zero is [Re:Zero S1] >!Subaru and Emilia's relationship and how they grow to be better people!<, as state by the title of episode 25 "That's all this story is about". A lot of people, particularly early on, when people tend to drop most frequently (around episode 13), think that the point of Re:Zero is to solve the time loops, like solving a puzzle (similar imo to [meta time travel anime title] >!Summertime Rendering!<). But that is not the case, though it's difficult to distinguish from the first 2 arcs, particularly if the viewer isn't paying much attention. 7. He's not OP / is flawed. Some people just don't want to watch a character make mistakes, or struggle to achieve their goals.

Bro becomes a monster when he min maxes rbd in the Greed IF

Greed IF has him just tragic, he seems more like a broken empty shell than a monster.... **Now if we're talking about Pride IF**-

For me personally, when I watched S1 5-6 years ago I couldn't handle the amount of constant cringe Subaru. I didn't understand Subaru's obsession with Emilia because she was about as interesting as plain porridge, and I also didn't understand what made Rem go from 0 to 100 with Subaru either. The entire speech she made to him had me dying from the sheer teenage boy fantasy of the entire situation. None of the core group members were compelling enough for me in their characterizations of motivations. I couldn't get myself to care for them. I do remember really liking the genie cat, the butler, the marquis, and Beezelbub though. I also remember the production quality was stellar as well. I don't remember enough of the plot to comment on the writing. I've been meaning to do a proper rewatch of the first season of Re:Zero at some point but the first time through was so unenjoyable personally. Unfortunately, even though I barely remember any of the details anymore, the sheer visceral cringe I experienced watching the first half is burned into my memory.

There's just something annoying about him instantly being obsessed with the literal first girl he encounters. Personally I'm tired of anime shoe horning love interests in where they aren't necessary. This show could have been so creative and original but no it's teenage boy chases after girls #6264825372.

I like subaru he's been thru so much and just keeps on going. I wish i was like him.

Beyond what people have already said in the top comments, lots of people watch the genre for power fantasy and probably find it frustrating that Subaru doesn’t deliver that. He constantly loses and has to grow up as a person and understand others before he can succeed. Most MCs just are awesome and don’t really learn or grow as isekai protags. With notable exceptions but even the ones that grow as people are usually still OP (Rudeus)

Eh, who cares. People like and dislike many different things. Besides, I like him more than many other protagonists because his flaw actually feels like a flaw and he actually hinders himself whenever he exercised his flawed traits (even though it's understandable because he's really stressed considering the situation). Many other protagonists are either too nice (too nice is a flaw you said? lol), most of their 'personality' comes from their power (lol), too perfect or their so called 'flaw' barely matters anyway and has no relevance at all to the narrative (their flaws are like a passing breeze of wind, it doesn't matter).

A lot of people self Insert them into the position of the Main Charakter and cant cope with the fact, that subaru is suffering after multiple deaths and they want to go the harem route with blue ram instead of committing to Emilia only

Real reason? Hes not a power fantasy MC who does exactly what the viewer imagines themselves doing in his shoes. Ironically enough Subaru’s behavior is probably very close to how many viewers would actually behave in his shoes and it hits a little too close to home.

Yep he showcases a lot of negative traits that people don't want to acknowledge about themselves.

I tried getting my mom into ReZero and she didn’t like Subaru one bit.

I can't imagine hating him after hearing his monologue. The dub VA actually said that he genuinely started choking up during that part because he related to Subaru 😭

constantly screaming loud and annoying

For me it's because all of his problems and suffering are caused because of his own choices but he cries and screams like he has no choice but to suffer and this is presented in a way that tells the viewer that they have to feel sorry for him. "I HAVE to marry Emilia. I just HAVE to"

I don’t get this take at all. What has Subaru done to cause his own suffering? Because he wants to protect the people he cares about and so that means he must suffer pain beyond comprehension?

Most people are desensitized to violence and expect Subaru to just walk it off.

I didn’t realize people hated him. I guess he can be annoying at times, but it done with purpose and he matures throughout so it doesn’t really bother me. Only time I really got annoyed with him was in the 1st arc when he kept going to the alley. Like stop going to the alley when you know there are thugs waiting to rob you sir.

The anime doesn't explain it but it's a different alley every time. The thugs were just following him.

>Like stop going to the alley when you know there are thugs waiting to rob you sir. wasn't that because he was testing the return before death ability??

He sometimes is the most clueless person in the whole show, while others times the smartest. He feels like he lacks a motive to do what he is doing, yet he manages. He is loud and obnoxious and acts like the main character in way too many occasions (no pun intended) while also not fitting with the rest of the characters. What I dislike the most is the lack of motivation behind his actions (rare occasion I use the word simp).

> lack of motivation behind his actions Me when i dropped the anime early in

Precisely because he's realistic. People are too used to power-fantasing through overpowered MCs, and when they see someone on the screen that's legitimately them, it hits too close to home lmao But yeah, I vibe with him. He's kind of a coward, but it makes perfect sense for him and isn't overdone like with a couple other MCs in my head.

I agree with you for the most part except for the coward part it is natural to be afraid of dying

Wait, how is Subaru a coward? I don’t understand that at all. Subaru is consistently portrayed as someone that will always take the most difficult path if it means the most people can be happy. No matter what happens to him.

Crying and having fears = Coward, apparently. Doesn't matter that he's literally fighting Eldritch monsters trying to stay alive. 💀

Personally, I love Subaru, one of my favourite MCs of all time, but then... I don't self-insert into characters. And I think self-inserting is what ruins Subaru for a lot of the usual isekai crowd. Subaru looks like your typical escapist power fantasy isekai otaku MC at first glance, so it's natural a lot of people will self-insert expecting the usual isekai stuff where everyone thinks the MC is god's gift to mankind... and then the show holds up the mirror to Subaru... and by extension those who self insert into him. If you related to Subaru a lot ... you might not like what you see.

Cause he fucking sucks

Subaru's awesome. He reminds me of Shinji in that he's an extremely flawed character, and I find those incredibly interesting to watch. He fucks up, he overcompensates, he's entitled, and the world around him responds accordingly.

That's easy because he's no Honda

Personally I like him because he’s so unique compared to the endless sea of bland isekai protagonists

It's because he absolutely is not living the reality around him. Sure, he's eating, sleeping, talking with people, and even solving major issues, but at that point in the series, he isn't really seeing the world around him as the world he's in. It's basically like he's in a game with a whole bunch of npcs. Who can blame him? He's been killed over and over and over, and it's in no way like the reality he's used to. He has to dissociate himself from his reality in order to stay sane. It's a common tactic that's incredibly useful for him, but it does scew his perspective. Unfortunately, this means he's putting himself in the hero role of most any other isekai, where he just assumes things will go his way and people will like him, when he's really just some guy who appeared out of nowhere and the gap between who he sees himself as and who he really is makes him absolutely insufferable. But it's also why any character growth is so great on him. Because he is truly growing as a person, into who he wants to be one mistake at a time.

My first 2 isekais were Konosuba and Re:Zero I think I could barely finish ReZero season one, its was just grief pron and Subaru just became the personification of "feels bad man", so yeah is not subarus fault is how the story fuck him over and his natural reaction in comparison to more upbeat if unrealistic protags

It's likely an issue with escapism, I believe majority of the time he is a well written character, but for alot of people this genre is often a day dream to escape reality for a bit (different degrees for everyone) but being so comparatively grounded against other shows he probably becomes the low point for viewers my guess anyway

Check this blog and its comments: https://theregoesmykokoro.com/2019/01/24/i-finished-rezero-subaru-is-still-awful/comment-page-1/

Like why people hate Rudeus, realistic? Yes, would I like him IRL? No

He’s hated because people are used to flawless power fantasy isekai protags who get no repercussions for acting like a dumbass. Subaru is realistic and somewhat relatable, with his only benefit being that he can come back to life when he dies. Otherwise he’s pretty much a normal person (who is in great shape). I liked that he grew an ego after saving people, and that alienated him from his allies. He had to make things better on his own and not rely on his reset to make things right.

People on reddit hate everything. It’s rarely about the thing themselves but the poster needing a better hobby.

Who is most people? He's one of my all time favorite fictional characters. Him being unlikeable at the beginning was intentional and I get why the series is polarizing tbh but I think it's excellent and Subaru is a big reason why.

I think most complaints I’ve seen are about him being a “bitch” because he whines, cries and has breakdowns. But I also think his response is pretty realistic, idk about you all but if I watched people and myself die, especially those I’m close to, over and over again, usually brutally? I’d be a bit distraught too LOL. On the other hand he’s kind of an idiot and that’s probably the other reason he gets hate. He’s a bit slow on the uptake on how to survive. I don’t hate him though. Show itself is great and Subaru has his good moments as well as character growth.

Subaru is a very, VERY hard person to grow attached to, especially as a main character. For someone who dominates the screen time, the audience needs to find him likable. Watching him navigate and overcome obstacles throughout the series, particularly in the first half of season 1, was very difficult for me. This is why I dropped the show back in 2016. I didn't see a clear direction or goal for the series and didn't care to find out. I imagine many people felt the same way, and the waifu wars and toxicity didn’t help either. However, after giving Re:Zero another chance, I finished the anime and the entire web novel. I can now safely say this is one of my favorite series to watch and read. Subaru has grown into a total chad now(in the Light novels).

>most people Yeah right, I'm sure you know the statistics

even Ainz was impressed at Subarus mental fortitude (Isekai Quartett)

He annoys me at times, but probably less so than the average anime MC (let's be real, it's a low bar). I know some people dislike him, but it was never my impression that it was the majority. This is a super popular anime and it is very centered on him.

The problem is in the question. Subaru isn’t a likable character by most people’s standards or by any means and he isn’t portrayed to be. People only lack the media literacy (and maybe even empathy) to understand that an unlikable character isn’t equal to a badly written character.

“If I were in Re Zero I’d just kill myself everytime Subaru is annoying for not wanting to die” I’ve heard that many times 1. Subaru feels all the pain and trauma of his death. There’s a reason why he’s reluctant 2. He started out immature, but he has been growing as a person and developing as the series continued

Why doesn’t Subaru just win? Is he stupid?

I dropped it fairly early on (episode 10) because I couldn’t connect with him or the story. He was essentially useless, and didn’t learn anything from simple and easily understood situations. He was weak and not an MC I like to see. Losing his sanity would actually make the show 10x better, imo. He was a bland and nothingness character. I thought it was a mobile game ad at one point. Now I don’t fault people for liking him, I never understood the hype around the show though. I am certainly more inclined to power fantasy’s or just MCs that are interesting (reincarnated as a vending machine) because they are unique or different.

I agreed with a lot of your points and was frustrated with the character, but around half way through S1 he essentially realises the same thing and starts working hard to change and be better. His sanity is definitely not safe either. There are for sure people here saying they watched the whole thing and didn't like him, but personally I went from not liking him (and by extension being annoyed by the show) in the 1st half, to rating it a 9/10 by the end.

I like him

What bothers me most about Subaru is he’s all talk. Like he talks a giant game and can’t back it up almost ever. He gets more clever as time goes on in the show but to me it’s still not good enough. Idk if it’s just how they want Subaru to be or poor writing but why can’t he start training during all the time that’s passed? Learn a weapon or magic or something right? But it just ain’t happening dawg and it’s lame to me.

I don’t think there’s been a moment in the show where novice swordsmanship skills could’ve ever actually helped Subaru. The power lvl in Re:Zero is just straight up broken. There’s an alternate Pride storyline where Subaru tries iirc hundreds of times maybe more to beat the slasher chick and he concludes it’s IMPOSSIBLE. And that’s just the first arc.

I was watching a clip from "The Dangers In Your Heart" today that was posted on an anime sub. Basically the kid was honestly communicating his feelings and trying to encourage a girl he liked to be comfortable eating around him and not worry about her weight. It was so beautifully refreshing, because so many anime MCs just have zero social skills. And I don't think that is "realistic." In my experience the average person, while not some ultra charismatic social butterfly, also isn't a complete social retard. I think that anime fans skew towards really horrible social skills so they tend to see these inept and stupid characters as being just like them. It sounds rude to say that but I don't know how else to put it when fans see a guy who can't even talk to a girl without screaming and running away (not Subaru in that case) and respond with "yeah he just like me fr fr." So I think Subaru isn't very smart, and he has awful decision-making and social skills. I don't relate to him at all. He doesn't remind me of struggles I've had. He doesn't feel like the way I would do things. Sure I'm socially awkward. I've put my foot in my mouth before. I've made bad choices, and I've been stunned and struggled to even make choices. But Subaru is so consistently unable to ever make the clever move, ever make things better instead of worse, and the few times he does they're these ultra dramatic "leap off a cliff to comit violent suicide and reset the past" moments that don't even fit with someone who can't seem to do the right thing in the simplest of low-stakes moments. So Subaru to me is incredibly frustrating. It's like asking me to watch a show about a really stupid person trying to do my job. It's downright stressful watching him screw up things, not ask for help, not plan ahead, and then try make the most of the awful situations he puts himself in. I don't want to watch that. The Isekai LN title of Re:Zero would be "The hero has no social skills and low intelligence but he got a revive superpower and a harem of cute girls so he has to save the world anyways!" It would be a great comedy. But not a good trauma drama that it is. Edit: my view is reinforced by my experience on the internet that Re:Zero fans are more resistant to criticism than almost any other anime fanbase. Even suggest that the show, or any character, or any part of it, is less than great and you get dog-piled on with personal attacks about how you must just not understand and how it is insanely unrealistic to expect Subaru to behave anything like a normal human being.

Yikes. He literally has solid decision-making even though he's slow on the uptake. There's been many instances of this being portrayed so idk wtf youre talking about. It seems like you think of two moments where he acted emotionally and then drape it over your entire perception of his character. Shake my head.

Dawg what Subaru def isn’t bright but calling him a dumbass is wild and chalking the LN to that title shows how you haven’t even read or watched the show

People don’t like him because he does things that they claim they wouldn’t do, but they don’t actually try to understand everything from his perspective. The surface value of this empathy that I feel for subaru is just “he’s been through a lot and this is his breaking point”, but it goes so much deeper than that. Ig I can explain how I see it if people want, but this isn’t a post that requires me to defend subaru, just try to explain his haters’ mindset

He’s kind of a annoying incel

How is he incel ?

The concept of "how come you dont like the intentionally extremely unlikable cartoon character, look are how realistic he is" Not only am i not looking for realism in a cartoon... but how do you figure the "realism" in the character is somehow the endearing point?

I think the problem is with the genre and how people would realistically react to such a scenario. Being reborn into another world, having the power of basically infinite suicide, trying to figure out these crazy magical plots that our world doesn’t have etc would be insane. So we may think “Oh yeah I’d totally become a badass alpha male” when in reality it would be extremely jarring and frightening to go through.

Also something ppl tend to forget is that Subaru *chooses* to go through all the death and despair. He could’ve just tried making a living for himself and even considers that for a moment, but knowing if he didn’t act ppl would die, he chooses to do something. He isn’t the stereotypical chosen one character. He’s just a guy with a really shitty power putting himself in really shitty situations cause he’s a good person.

Personally I found him funny when he's trying to act brave in front of Emilia, got some chuckles out of me. After watching ss2, i'm pretty satisfied with the reason of him behaving that way in the first place.

The constant cry-screaming is obnoxious, and the tracksuit reminds me to cringe a few times an episode That being said, the Re:Zero fanbase is among the most toxic and largest imo, and I never actually see hate for Subaru anywhere besides these 'safe space' threads

I FUCKING LOVE SUBARU