920 likesRe:Zero Season 4 Episode 12: Subaru Turns What Killed Him Into Plushies
Re:Zero Season 4 Episode 12, "A Talk About the Future," airs August 12 and opens the second cour,《Dakkan-hen》(the Recovery arc). The official web preview shows Subaru handing Meili a plush toy — of a magic beast. Other plushies in the shot include Elsa and the Sin Archbishops, meaning Subaru has been stitching together soft versions of nearly everything that has killed him. Across 487 comments on the Japanese preview, the recurring word was 狂気的 — unhinged. The top reaction pulled 920 likes, but the read that took over the thread was darker: Japanese viewers landed on the fact that Subaru is giving a plush of a beast that killed him to a girl who also killed him, and decided this is what trauma processing looks like for a man who has died more times than he can count. Others simply noted that Beako is still cute, and that Meili has quietly graduated into senpai territory. One commenter puts a name to the whole habit in a single line, and it is not a gentle one. Editor's note: Re:Zero Season 4 is a split cour — 《Soushitsu-hen》ran 11 episodes from April 8, and 《Dakkan-hen》runs 8 episodes from August 12, for 19 total. The official channel numbers this episode "Season 4 Episode 12 (Episode 78 overall)."