There are very few anime protagonists who have suffered as much as Subaru Natsuki. Every time it looks like he has finally found a way forward something comes along to pull the ground out from under him. After watching Season 4 it honestly feel like the guy deserves a vacation more than anyone in this entire world.
Going into this season, I was curious about how the series would handle Subaru after everything that came before. Re:zero has never been an easy watch but Season 4 felt particularly interested in testing just how far Subaru could be pushed before something finally gave way.
What I enjoy most about Subaru is that he doesn't suddenly become an overpowered protagonist just because the story gets bigger. He is still vulnerable, still emotional and still capable of making decisions that make you want to shout at your screen and that's also what makes him feel human, watching him struggle and then somehow find the strength to keep going remains one of the strongest parts of the series for me.
One thing I really liked this season is that it didn't try to turn every episode into a big action sequence, the fights are great when they happen but honestly some of my favourite parts were the scenes where the characters were just having conversations. Those moments gave the story more personality especially when Subaru was struggling with what to do next. There were a few scenes where I genuinely felt bad for the guy because you could see how much everything was getting to him. The pacing is probably my biggest criticism of the season, Re:Zero has never been afraid to take its time and usually that works in its favour but this season had a few stretches where I felt the story was lingering for too long. Some scenes could have been tighter without losing what they were trying to say. Watching it week by week made those slower sections more noticeable especially when you were waiting for the story to finally move into its next big turn.
Subaru doesn't need to become the strongest character in the story for his journey to remain interesting as his greatest strength has always been his refusal to stay down. He can break, make mistakes, lose confidence and completely question himself but eventually he gets back up and tries again. After finishing Season 4 I came away feeling that the series still understands exactly what makes Subaru work. It doesn't need to reinvent him instead it just needs to keep putting him in situations that force him to grow and unfortunately for Subaru this season does exactly that. Senpai Score - 7.5/10 7.5 feels more honest. The season has excellent character writing and some genuinely strong emotional moments but it isn't consistently brilliant. The pacing can drag and some stretches don't hit with the same impact as the season's best material also at this point I've stopped expecting Subaru to ever catch a break.