#tappei told me himself

[suffarustuffaru]

gluttony if otto was EXTREMELY hardcore saying this shit right before he died ngl…

[suffarustuffaru]

a series of emilia and co. doodles i did not finish bc writing meta about her made me crave content

[suffarustuffaru]

I think Subaru remaining a child is actually a very purposeful choice?

It allows us to explore Subaru as his child prodigy self, and who he would be if he had come to this world as that version of himself instead of at the age of 17, and who is VERY different from the Subaru we’ve come to love over the course of the series so far. He’s more brash and arrogant, WAY more cutthroat, and even though I don’t think he’s lost that compassionate core of his personality, he does lack a great deal of the sympathy and kindness that’s defined his character so far. Like, older!Subaru would absolutely not have abused RBD like this, especially not after Arc 4, and it is turning him into something that is genuinely terrifying. Like, you said that Arc 8 would not have changed if Subaru was returned to his normal self but — I actually COMPLETELY disagree with that, because while the general plotbeats might remain the same so far, Natchuki Subawu is a MONSTER. He’s paralleling every IF Route so far, he’s disregarding his life as a tool, he’s dismissing other people’s wills and wants for how they live their own lives, and he’s explicitly been using RBD in a way that prevents them from developing unfavorable opinions of him (Gladiator Island) and is now promising to keep using it with Jamal and Berstetz in order to prevent them from dying “noble deaths” on the battlefield (which is a complicated subject, but is current way of dealing with that conundrum is just him going “I’ll just bring you back lol”).

I really believe that Natsuki Subaru would not have done any of this — at the very least, not to this extent. Natchuki Subawu is allowing Tappei to explore 1) a version of Subaru we have been told existed but have not been properly introduced to until now (his child prodigy self, before his mental health spiraled and he ended up alone and anxious) and 2) a version of Subaru that is turning into something really, really terrifying — and I honestly believe he’s going to end up getting very severely punished for this by the end of Arc 8.

(I just took that line in your previous post talking about why Subaru is remaining as Subawu for so long as an excuse to dump my thoughts in your inbox lol, sorry)

hey anon!! no need to apologize hah, in my last ask i invited anyone who disagreed with my stance on the childbaru arc (given my general opinion being “i get Why its there but i Dont Like It and dont feel its 100% necessary”) because 1. id love to learn more about the intricacies of this arc!! subaru is such a complex interesting character as well on top of that!! and 2. i feel like some people, not just me in this fandom, have some mixed feelings on the childbaru arc so im very curious to hear from people who are bigger fans of this arc yes!! i would like to expand my horizons and all ☝️☝️

and also its been a while and im only answering your ask just now Oops but my feelings on childbaru have changed over time for sure 👍 just a little bit. and i didnt explain myself super well in past posts!!

yeah so. you really delivered on very succinctly explaining the purpose of the arc and you have such a great understanding of the plot and the effect this all has on subaru!! (i also appreciate you using “natchuki subawu” HAH we should all stop using childbaru or something and just use “natchuki subawu” now because that has gotta be one of my favorite rezero chapter titles ever). and also all the points you bring up are really really good!! and it takes all of my more in depth thoughts on it out of my head because yeah, its why i dont Entirely dislike the childbaru arc. in fact, its why i like it hah.

it’s absolutely a very purposeful decision. as much as the symbolism has the subtlety of a hammer (i can respect that though <3). it builds off of the natsumi arc and subarus previous major arcs (arcs 1-3, arc 4, arc 5, and amnesiabaru in arc 6) in a very interesting way and shows subaru regressing to Horrifying extents thats still different yet fascinatingly reminiscent of the if routes. i like a lot of aspects about the childbaru arc for this reason—the complexities of subarus character in general, the themes regarding Heroism and Image, more Horrifying exploration of rbd, the way subaru is reaching whole new heights but extreme lows (like the suicide pill) and is likely bound to be narratively punished for regressing at some point!! because tappei doesnt Usually hold back on punishing subaru, so i have next to zero doubt that he’ll deliver on that hopefully!! childbaru is a Regression overall in more ways than one, which is an idea ive warmed up to for sure because its fascinating!! i also am pretty fond of childbarus design—his outfit is very nice and fits him perfectly imo, and ive always liked the decision to add green to subarus color palette post-arc 5. his color palette quite Literally depicts him having a more colorful palette to match the colorful fantasy world around him, i think. and it just looks really nice with the warm yellow/orange.

but okay enough about me gushing over subarus character design, back to the topic at hand!! yeah so. i still have Some mixed feelings on childbaru despite all the Purposeful Intent behind it and all the things i like about it.

and my only reason is like. okay i feel like this is super petty but at the same time HAH. i Really dont like how subaru declares louis as spica, his daughter, when they both look the same exact age 😭😭😭 i have a few personal problems with louis’s arc 7-8 storyline anyway, as much as i like her causing drama in arc 8, but im hoping tappei proves me wrong on that with the rest of her arc but. anyway.

yeah like subaru and spica both look 12 yrs old 😭😭😭 preteen adoptive dad moment??? its just so incredibly awkward and i feel like the impact of that scene did not Hit. both in the sense that the entire time i was thinking “subaru you look like a kid just like louis how the fuck are you her adoptive dad” and also my personal problems and opinions regarding arc 7-8 louis means i dont care about her too much so that scene did not Land for me. but thats mainly a personal thing!! and i might change my mind on it later but yeah like. louis is always gonna be my biggest beef with arc 7-8, which i talked about a bit in previous posts iirc??

as for subaru, i def like both the natsumi and childbaru arcs and completely understand their purpose. i respect tappeis crazy wild character development hes done with subaru—its absolutely amazing. but i do kinda wish the transition from natsumi to childbaru wasnt so Jarring. i almost wish we just saved natsumi and childbaru for Each Half of arcs 7-8, which is a combined arc as you know, or moved childbaru to when capella comes into play later in rezero.

and i know that sounds like doing A Lot just to avoid subaru and spica being the Same Age when he declares her his daughter, but i feel like pacing wise it wouldve been cool to give the natsumi arc and the childbaru arc Their Own Main Story Arcs. not that theyre bad as they are in canon—i love them, for the most part (apart from my beef with louis HAH)!! but def i think it would be way less jarring in a lot of ways if—and ok youd have to move and change plot points but this is just me spitballing random ideas here—if childbaru was All/Almost All of arc 7 and natsumi was arc 8.

childbaru takes up a good chunk of arc 7 anyway, and then once the emilia camp and julius/ana come back in arc 8, subarus grown already to put him on an. Aesthetically Equal ground as the rest of his friends bc now hes grown again. but this is after childbaru arc so the Wack Lessons his childbaru self learned carry onto the natsumi arc—and i know in canon the natsumi arc lay groundwork for childbaru but the themes go right into each other in canon anyway so i think this could work!!

and since im sure the Consequences of Subarus Actions will probably start catching up to him around arc 8 (and kind of already have. with the louis drama ig?? if you wanna count that??) the natsumi arc is. a good transition ig. and now we can have mom natsumi with spica instead of 12 yr old preteen adoptive dad subaru ?? 😭😭 natsumi but in front of all of her friends and the entire country and the entire world this time ?

but no yeah what i just said is a wacky idea and its not that i think canon is Bad. i just have personal problems with louis 😭😭 and im petty about 12 yr old preteen adoptive dad subaru akfndnd and i kind of wish natsumi got a full arc to balance out the Combined Themes of natsumi arc and childbaru arc !! the transition from natsumi to childbaru felt a little jarring imo <3 but as im rereading arc 6-7 now (its been a while and my memory is Hot Garbage pfft) ill probably think more on this. and ill be reading arc 8 front to back once its fully wrapped up to get a better and complete read on it 👍

also other people like cecilus al medium got turned into kids too, but i think it just felt the most significant with cecilus :,) though i may be wrong on that. feel free to enlighten me 👍

i just think the thing with a lot of tappei plotlines is that they go on for a while. theyre kinda slowburn and of course theres a lot of characters in the cast so arcs get put on pause and picked up later alll the time. which is totally fair and understandable with so much ground to cover!! but bc of that i feel like for me personally (and for a good number of people probably, such as how audience reactions to the amnesiabaru arc 6 arc were when it was beginning (people Did Not Like It) vs when it ended (people called it the best arc ever))….. anyway for me personally i think bc of how tappei does his arcs its normal to feel uncertain about it in the beginning or middle bc its hard to predict how itll wrap up and If itll get wrapped up well. which is how i be feeling rn with rem and louis and otto and lots of other people 👍 and honestly even when i first saw childbaru in arc 7 i was like “wtffff but okay ill trust tappei for now and hope he wont get weird about kids again ahahaha”. but thats just my thoughts on it.

so all in all thanks for the ask :3 !! you have a lot of passion anon ty <3 (and im pretty sure i know who you are but totally cool if youre shy pfft)