Re:Zero Season 3 First Half Review
Article at a glance:
- Season 3 excels with balanced pacing, compelling political drama, and dynamic conflicts with four Sin Archbishops, avoiding the long exposition issues of Season 2.
- Subaru matures into a strategic leader, and Emilia plays a crucial, multifaceted role, showcasing depth and growth absent in Season 2.
- Improved animation quality and powerful soundtracks, including memorable themes by Myth & Roid and Emilia (Takahashi Rie), elevate the season’s emotional impact.
The first half of Re:Zero Season 3 just concluded and it will be my first anime review for the Fall 2024 season! Who would’ve thought? If you were disappointed by Season 2, Season 3 will be more than good enough to rekindle your interest. This arc is where the web novel “clicked” for me and the anime is no different. Re:Zero starts off quite slow but this is where things really get going. This arc balances character development, plot progression, and action really well. All the while still building upon Re:Zero’s already excellent world-building.
Welcome to the first review of the Fall 2024 season. Today, we are talking about Re:Zero Season 3, the first half. The second half of the season will start airing on February 5th, and I look forward to it. Let’s get started. Of course, this review will be spoiler-free.
Plot
Right off the bat, the pacing of Season 3 is better than Season 2, The overall plot setup is a lot better too. The season premiered with a 90-minute episode that set everything up. Unlike Season 2, Season 3 balances everything a lot better, it doesn’t do long-winded exposition dumps which results in an overall more engaging watch. We have 4 Arch Bishops in Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, and Lust serving as the antagonists here which also always keep things fresh. The season just does so much to highlight Subaru and Emilia in particular.
The added political drama also helps the narrative weight. My only critique would be that it can be a little overwhelming at times to take in everything but that’s a nitpick. It is something that I should’ve expected with an arc as dense as this one. But yeah. aside from that 1 minor nitpick, I have no complaints with the plot in this season. It is great.
Characters
The side characters do suffer a bit in this season but I am more than willing to overlook that because of just how much growth Subaru and Emilia show here. Emilia didn’t do much in Season 2 but she is a key part of this arc and we get to see so many different sides of her personality. Subaru feels a lot more reliable and leader-like in this arc. Gone are the days of cowering fear, he uses his ability to the utmost here to make sure that his plans succeed. He also shows considerable intelligence here putting every piece of info he gathered to excellent use.
I can’t say much about the Arch Bishops without spoiling things but I will say this: Greed and Wrath are amazing throughout the season.
Animations and Soundtracks
The production has definitely gotten better. The art and animations are noticeably better than Season 2 so that’s good to see as always. The opening theme, Reweave by Konomi Suzuki is quite nice though in typical Re:Zero fashion, you will only hear it in a few episodes. We got 3 ending themes for this season, the one by Myth & Roid is my favorite but the one by Emilia (Takahashi Rie, by extension) hit hard too. It is used for the ending of Episode 7 and it will make sense why it’s a song by Emilia when you watch the episode.
Summing up
Here are my final review scores for Re:Zero Season 3 First Half:
- Plot – 9/10
- Characters – 9/10
- Animations – 8/10
- Soundtracks – 9/10
- Enjoyment – 9/10
- Overall – 9/10
So yeah, Re:Zero Season 3 was overall really, really fun. I look forward to the second half in February now. This arc has been amazing. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
Also, check out my thoughts on the Winter 2025 anime here!
