Hello, and thanks for stopping by Anime Rants with 7Mono. Due to some IRL difficulties, I may be falling a bit behind on the blogging for Fall 2024. However, I’ll continue doing my best to write what I can when I find motivation and energy. Today we have a review of Re: Zero Season 3 Episode 3 (which is episode 53 cumulatively speaking).

The episode was titled “Gorgeous Tiger,” the humorous pseudonym chosen by Garfiel in the previous installment. Garfiel was largely the focus of this episode, but before we get to discussing his parts, let’s talk about Corneas Regulus and the Arch-Bishop of Gluttony. Both are major threats to the city of Priestella now. While Corneas defeats Subaru and escapes with Emilia, the Arch-Bishop of Gluttony begins slaughtering guards in other parts of the city.

Corneas held Emilia while simultaneously fending off attacks from Sirius and holding a conversation with Subaru. If I wasn’t so worried about Emilia, the whole scene would have been humorous. In fact, I think Corneas’ character is supposed to be laughable. He may seem charming at first, but he’s shallow, selfish, and fixated on the strangest damn things. For instance, he’s seriously offended because Subaru didn’t properly introduce himself. (Sirius’ insane yandere-ish rants were also hard to take seriously.)

In the end, Corneas left without killing Subaru, supposedly so that he could attend Corneas’ wedding later on. But he left Subaru with a horrific leg injury, bleeding out on the pavement. Subaru would still have died if not for Beatrice and her healing powers. The forced empathy link with the other townspeople was still active, so every person in the square received the same injury. Beatrice managed to save everyone, but she exhausted her mana in doing so, passing out indefinitely.

As things stand, the city is under attack by Lye (Arch-Bishop of Gluttony), and Subaru is too injured to take any action. (Felix and Aldebaran explained the situation to him). To make things worse, a third Arch-Bishop from the Witch’s Cult made a terrifying announcement. Her name is Capella Emerada Lugnica, and she’s the representative of Lust. She has taken over the broadcast towers and is now in charge of all the city’s water-gates. Priestalla has officially been captured by the Cult.

Now that we know the broader situation, let’s focus in on our dear beast boy, Garfiel. He was shocked to find out that the mother of the children he saved was also his own mother. But she didn’t recognize him. Garfiel and Mimi left after some tea, but were followed by the woman’s husband. He thanked them for saving the kids and asked about Garfiel’s connection to his wife.

Garfiel denied any connection, and the man backed off, returning home with his sweet wife. From talking to him, though, Garfiel learned some priceless information about his mother. Years ago, she was found almost dead in a landslide. This incident made her lose all memory of her previous life, including her young son, Garfiel. The woman started a new life and eventually married the kind man we saw in this episode.

Now that he knows the full story, Garfiel probably feels a sense of closure. His mom didn’t cruelly abandon him after all. Still, there are a lot of emotions to process. Mimi could tell Garfiel was about to cry, so she offered to hug him and let him cry against her chest. In so doing, she also declared that she is in love with him. Garfiel had a vulnerable moment and cried and sobbed like a small child. It made me tear up, too.

I was annoyed that Re: Zero always has to pepper in some slight sexism, this time by having Mimi state that men shouldn’t cry unless it’s into the bosom of a woman. But I swallowed my annoyance at the toxic masculinity because the scene was really sweet overall. The important thing is that Garfield did cry, and it was good for him. Garfiel is going through a lot, so I’m very glad he got to have this therapeutic moment. That wraps up my thoughts on this episode for now.

~Thanks for reading~