is a fictional character from Re:Zero, a series of light novels written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shin'ichirō Ōtsuka. Subaru is a young hikikomori who suddenly finds himself transported to another world on his way home from the convenience store. While dealing with the new world's society, he also encounters catastrophes that result in his death, though he is always revived to a point in time where he can make substantial changes. Using this ability, Subaru searches for a way to protect his newly found friends. Aside from the anime and video games based on the series, Subaru also appears in the gag series Isekai Quartet.
Named after the Pleiades asterism, Subaru was originally created by Nagatsuki in 2013 with the intention of creating a web novel. A publishing house editor was impressed and asked Nagatsuki to write light novels for publication. Ōtsuka's first sketch of the character was rejected due to the writer's fear of making him unlikable. In the anime adaptation of the series, Subaru is voiced by Yūsuke Kobayashi in Japanese and Sean Chiplock in English.
Subaru has been a popular character in Japan and won "Best Character (Male)" at the Newtype Anime Awards. Despite early mixed reception to Subaru's characterization, anime and manga critics have praised the handling of his stress and the way he overcomes it in a heroic manner, making him a likable protagonist. The character has been often analyzed as the opposite of the typical archetypes presented in the isekai genre due to Subaru's heroic complex and the weakness he often shows in most episodes.
Creation and development
The series' editor at MF Bunko J, Masahito Ikemoto, first became aware of Tappei Nagatsuki's web novel in April 2013 when it began to appear on his Twitter feed. He was immediately impressed by the series' use of Subaru's Return by Death, and how it was a "depressing, yet surprising, twist on the fantasy genre" before he began working with Nagatsuki to adapt the series into a light novel. The character's first name was a reference to the Pleiades asterism which also connects to the Seven Sisters from Greek mythology.
Subaru was created to be a young man assisting a silver-haired girl named Emilia. Nagatsuki conceived of Return by Death under the assumption that it would help the main character become stronger with each use before changing his mind. Instead, he decided to develop Subaru through the latter's deaths. Nagatsuki decided to explore Subaru's deaths in the light novel as he found this concept to be rarely explored in other series. In order to keep the narrative entertaining, Nagatsuki gives Subaru a challenge with every Return by Death and subjects him to gruesome experiences. While the first original video animation of the series focused on Subaru's attempts to save the world, the second animation aimed to have Subaru act in parallel with Emilia's quest, which was happening at the same time.
Although Subaru dies multiple times, the scene where he is eaten by rabbits was the most gruesome to the novelist, who claimed nothing scarier would happen in the novels. The scene was based on the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park where Compsognathus dinosaurs devour the character of Dieter Stark. In particular, Nagatsuki said that he liked the fear the Jurassic Park franchise shows when showing small creatures able eat people. Despite the rabbits' scene being the scariest death for the author, he still tries to come up with surprises when killing Subaru in each arc of the novels. When Subaru becomes unable to use his Return by Death power and everybody around him becomes an enemy, the novelist found it difficult to write the story.
Illustrator Shin'ichirō Ōtsuka submitted to Ikemoto a number of character designs for the major characters. Subaru's initial design made him look like a delinquent, with Ōtsuka later describing it as "not the face of a boy in his teens". Ikemoto requested that the character be "more friendly and less fierce" so that the audience could empathize with him during emotional scenes. Given that Subaru was conceived as an ordinary teenager, Ōtsuka avoided giving him the stylishness of an . After joining the project, Yoshiko Nakamura and scriptwriter Eiji Umehara had to readjust their views of the main character and rewrite scenes where they had made Subaru appear "cool". At Masaharu Watanabe's direction, Nakamura had to rewrite Subaru's telling of The Red Ogre Who Cried in episode 6 multiple times.
Voice actors
Yūsuke Kobayashi voices Subaru in the Japanese version. He initially believed the series was a romantic comedy. However, upon reading more of the narrative, Kobayashi was attracted by the series. He describes Subaru as a character who tries his best to avoid a negative future thanks to his Return by Death ability. As a result, he views his character more as a cheerful teenager despite the threats the character faces. Kobayashi recalls being surprised as he was immediately cast for the role once the staff heard his voice. When Kobayashi was preparing, he said "Isn't this too many lines for an anime?!". However, based on the multiple moods he had to portray, he became exhausted during recording sessions. During initial episodes, Kobayashi befriended Puck's actor Yumi Uchiyama who supported him.
Kobayashi had difficulties voicing Subaru in the first season, as a result of being given little direction, but got Nagatsuki's approval, as he found his work appealing. The two lines "I hate myself" and "I love you, Emilia" were written to be the strongest lines in developing Subaru in the first season. With the second season, Kobayashi believes the way Otto supports Subaru is a major turning point for the main character, now that Rem was not available to assist Subaru. The actor said that there was a noticeable change between Subaru and Emilia's relationship as they became a couple; so their interactions are more straightforward and his transformation into a knight appealed to the actor.
Sean Chiplock voiced the character in the English dub of the series. Chiplock found Subaru as an energetic character with a sense of justice, comparing his personality with that of Jin-Mori, the protagonist of The God of High School. Chiplock claimed that he drew on his own personal insecurities to make Subaru sound properly scared, eventually forming Subaru's trauma.
Appearances
Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Subaru is the main protagonist of the series; he is a 17-year-old NEET who, on his way home from a convenience store, is suddenly transported to the Kingdom of Lugunica, a nation in another world. There, he meets and falls in love with a silver-haired half-elf girl named Emilia, leading to him getting recruited into her camp for the Royal Selection, a competition to decide the kingdom's next ruler, and meeting the other members: nobleman Roswaal, twin maids Ram and Rem, and the spirit of their mansion's library, Beatrice. Upon his arrival, Subaru also acquires an ability he dubs "Return by Death" that sends him back to a predetermined point in time whenever he dies, which was seemingly gifted to him by Satella, the legendary Witch of Envy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Emilia and haunts him throughout the narrative.
Arcs 1–3 The first three arcs of the novel (season one of the anime) gradually break down Subaru's character and the tropes of the isekai genre as a whole. Overall, these initial arcs follow Subaru as he navigates his new environment and meets the other cast members, all whilst feeling isolated as the only person who remembers Return by Death's loops, since Satella silences him whenever he attempts to talk about it. As an otaku well-versed in the genre, he initially sees himself as the "protagonist" of this world and others as stereotypes rather than actual people. This makes it ironic that he breaks out of his time loops only when he shows humility and treats others with respect, winning the other characters' trust.
The third arc explores Subaru's flaws: his entitlement and need for validation. When Emilia starts focusing on the Royal Selection instead of him, Subaru crashes the proceedings before publicly declaring himself her knight, only to make a fool of himself and her. He also meets the knight of one of Emilia's rivals, Aldabran, or "Al", who is revealed to also be from Japan, shattering his perception that he is special. Subsequently, the mansion comes under attack from the Witch's Cult, a group of zealots who worship Satella, led by the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, who serves as a foil to Subaru—a madman who feels entitled to the witch's affection. To fight off the Cult, Subaru attempts to recruit help from the other camps but is turned down during several loops due to his self-centered behavior, always resulting in his friends' deaths. Eventually reaching his breaking point, Subaru gives up and admits his faults to Rem, revealing that, beneath his eccentricities, he actually has a severe inferiority complex. However, rather than chastise him, Rem declares that he had been her "hero" ever since he saved her in the second arc, giving him a reason to keep going.
Acquiescing to those around him, rather than expecting them to conform to him, Subaru wins the other camps' support before defeating Petelgeuse using information he acquired during his previous failed loops. Unfortunately, the victory comes at a price: Rem is left in a comatose state after being attacked by another Sin Archbishop, Gluttony, with waking her becoming Subaru's secondary goal throughout the series.
Arc 4 The fourth arc of the novel (anime season two) centers around Subaru's toxic overreliance on Return by Death. Seeking answers regarding the Witch's Cult, Subaru and his friends travel to a place known as "The Sanctuary", which houses the souls of deceased witches—Greed, Echidna; Sloth, Sekhmet; Pride, Typhon; Gluttony, Daphne; Wrath, Minerva; and Lust, Carmilla—and is surrounded by a magical barrier that can only be lifted by completing three trials: face your past, face your present, face your future. When Subaru accidentally takes the first trial, the origin of his inferiority complex is revealed: his father was well-respected in their community, and Subaru wanted to be like him but failed to live up to that image, subsequently going through a downward spiral that culminated in him becoming a hikikomori. Having effectively already overcome his hikikomori tendencies in previous arcs, Subaru easily passes the trial.
The arc's central conflict is introduced when a horde of monsters attacks Sanctuary while assassins raid Roswaal Manor, where Subaru and the rest of the cast live. Throughout the following loops, Subaru showcases extreme disregard for his own life, immediately attempting suicide so he can loop back when things do not go well and not wanting to burden others by attempting to do everything himself. This reveals that, although Subaru has overcome his hikikomori tendencies, the underlying mindset that made him one remains: the belief that his life has no worth. Subaru's mindset is mirrored in Beatrice and Roswaal. Beatrice, a centuries-old spirit, is tired of life and wants someone to euthanize her. Meanwhile, Roswaal has dedicated his life to one goal—reviving his master, Echidna—while disregarding everything else. Roswaal is eventually also revealed to know about Return by Death, and he instigated these conflicts to mold Subaru; Subaru can save the Sanctuary or the manor, not both.