Re:Zerowouldn’t be the anime it is without Natsuki Subaru’s deaths to drive the story forward. The anime is full of twists and turns that add an element of unpredictability to the story. Subaru’s deaths contribute largely to this quality. Based onhis ability called ‘return by death’, the anime shows Subaru dying several times in an attempt to change certain unfavorable outcomes by making different choices.
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Now that Subaru’s deaths are unsurprising by themselves, it is the circumstances that surround his deaths that lend the element of surprise. Sometimes they are emotional, and sometimes nightmarish, but always full of the tense drama thatRe:Zerois known for. Here are all of Subaru’s deaths ranked.
12Killed By A Curse
This death was a relatively peaceful one as Subaru died in his sleep. Subaru didn’t see this death coming but only realized it when he woke up at a previous point. The reason for this death was only revealed later when Subaru realized that his mana had been drained out of him by a shaman curse placed on him through a puppy’s bite.
An innocent visit to the village undoes his progress with Rem, Ram, and his love interest, Emilia. Rem also suffers the same death when she goes to the village in Subaru’s place.
11Killed By Rem
This time, Subaru’s miasma scent gets him killed by Rem whilehe was weak and unprotected. She smelled the scent of Satella, the Witch of Envy, on his body and thought he was definitely an enemy.
While trying to find help after getting the shaman curse again, Subaru gets killed by an unknown attacker later revealed to be Rem. However, her motives for killing Subaru are honest. Her people lost their lives to witch cultists having the same scent. All she wanted was to protect her own from the danger that Subaru could potentially bring.
10Killed By Thug
While on the hunt for Satella’s insignia, Subaru gets killed by Rachins Hoffman, a thug who only threatens people with his knife, but actually has zero kills to his name. Because of how this death takes place and who does the killing, it is considered one of Subaru’s most pathetic deaths.
Because of his impatience and unwillingness to deal with the thugs again when he sees them, he attempts to rush through and Richins’ knife stabs him in the process. Shocked by what they’ve done, the thugs run away and leave Subaru there bleeding to death.
9Died By Suicide (Jumping off a cliff)
In this loop, Subaru’s emotions get the best of him. In an attempt to prevent his inevitable death following his visit to the village, he makes a deal with Beatrice and she becomes his protector for the night.
But in the morning, the consequences of his actions are revealed: Rem has suffered the death that should have been his. Ram attacks him in revenge for Rem’s death, but during this fight, Subaru decides to reset everything to keep Rem alive and relieve himself of guilt, sohe kills himself by jumpingto his death.
8Death By Suicide (Petra’s Handkerchief)
In the tenth episode of the second season, Subaru kills himself to escape Satella’s hold on him. Because he spoke about his ‘return by death’ ability with Echidna, the witch of greed, many lives were lost to Satella’s viciousness as punishment.
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Garfiel saves Subaru from the attack but eventually loses his life as well. Left unarmed and powerless against Satella, Subaru is pushed to his last option and has to kill himself to escape, stabbing his throat with the handkerchief hardened by Echidna’s powers. Echidna, now aware of Subaru’s ability, had prepared an escape beforehand.
7Killed By Ram
Before Subaru could get on Rem’s good side, he had to go through a considerable amount of suffering by her hand.Rem still didn’t trust him, largely because of the scent of the Witch of Envy that he carried, but also because he knew too much and could prove dangerous.
After bonding with Ram over a folktale, Subaru retreats to a cliff to watch the mansion. There he is attacked by Rem, who challenges him about his scent and torments him with her spiked weapon. But Ram shows up and puts an end to her torture by killing Subaru herself.
6Killed By Julius & Felix
This death takes place in the twenty-third episode of the first season after the battle involving the Witch’s Cult against Emilia, Felix, Julius, and Subaru trying to protect the village. Their victory over Petelgeuse is short-lived when Julius and Felix find out that he has taken over Subaru’s body.
Although it brings them some pain, Julius and Felix, who are allies of Subaru’s, have to kill him to free him from Petelgeuse’s possession of his body. Subaru fights through his possession to urge them to take his life. Julius initially refuses to kill his friend but eventually has to take Subaru down.
5Killed By The Great Rabbit
In the eighth episode of the second season, Subaru faces Garfiel’s wrath but manages to escape with the help of Ram, Otto, and some Arlam villagers, who lose their lives for this reason. His escape is cut short by Frederica’s crystal which teleports him back to the sanctuary.
When he wakes, he is alone in a frozen sanctuary and is then attacked by several rabbitsand eaten alive. When he wakes again, he is still affected by the emotional and mental damage of being eaten alive, but he finds comfort in Echidna’s company.
4Death By Suicide (Stabbing himself)
This death was Subaru’s first in the second season of the series, taking place in the very first episode. After facing the Witch Cult, on his journey back with Emilia, he finds out that Rem has been erased from everyone’s minds.
She had fought against Lye Batenkaitos and Regulus Corneus, the respective Sin Archbishops of Gluttony and Greed. She and Crusch were ambushed and subsequently defeated, with Lye eating their existence.Subaru killed himself to change this, but this isn’t enough to save Rem’s existence.
3Dies After Sustaining Injuries From The Great Rabbit
This death happens in the eleventh episode of the second season. Before her death at Elsa’s hand, Beatrice transports Subaru to the sanctuary using Frederica’s crystal. At the sanctuary, Subaru is met with several upsetting circumstances: Emilia losing her mind, the sanctuary being covered in snow because of Roswaal, and an accusation from Garfiel.
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Amid all this, the Great Rabbit launches an attack that kills Roswaal and badly injures Subaru. But he manages to stay alive long enough to share an intimate moment with Emilia.
