594 likesRe:Zero: Only Subaru Can Endure Return by Death, Author Says
According to Re:Zero's author, only Natsuki Subaru is actually built to endure Return by Death, his ability to rewind time by dying over and over — and a new Japanese reaction-compilation video puts that claim to the test by cataloguing exactly what it's cost him. Across 255 comments, the top reply (594 likes) turns the claim into a literal checklist of deaths, and from there the thread pulls in the series' other death-cheating characters, Al and Reinhard, to argue over whether the theory actually holds up. Commenters don't dispute that Subaru is uniquely built for this, but they can't agree on why. Some read it as proof he's simply gone numb to it; others call it its own kind of damage rather than a gift. The most contested subplot compares him to Reinhard, who has also died once and come back via the Phoenix's blessing — splitting the thread over whether one painless death counts the same as hundreds of drawn-out ones. Editor's note: Return by Death is Subaru's core ability in Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-, resetting him to a fixed save point whenever he dies, with no way to explain the loop to anyone else. The show's fourth season, subtitled the Recovery Arc, has been airing weekly since August 2026.