Title: Re:Zero Chapter 2 – A Week at the Mansion, Vol. 5
Author: Tappei Nagatsuki (Story), Makoto Fuugetsu (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shounen, Battle, Fantasy
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
The Story
For those who have read the series, you may be scratching your heads as to how there is a fifth volume in this story arc; especially since the story wrapped up with volume four. Volume five of Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion, is a collection is short side stories between the end of the story arc and the beginning of Chapter 3: Truth of Zero. There are four stories total spread over five chapters, each of them having their own unique charm to them.
The first story involves Petra, one of the girls in the village Subaru frequents. It talks about her dream of going to the capital and becoming a seamstress. After that, we relive the story arc of Subaru getting bit by the dog and the kids wandering into the forest but it’s all told from Petra’s point of view. In the beginning, she didn’t really like Subaru all that much but after she learned that he came to save her, she felt as if it was entirely her fault and end began to realize just how kind Subaru truly was.
The second story was a day in the life of Rem and it’s here where we discover just how in love she is with Subaru. In fact, you could say she’s quite compulsively obsessed with Subaru. How obsessed? Well, she pays Subaru a visit while he’s sleeping and touches his cheeks only to trigger a reaction that causes Subaru to suck on her finger. When she withdraws, she contemplates licking his saliva off her finger. She pulls herself together but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have flashbacks to Mysterious Girlfriend X! Yep. Confirmed. Rem is definitely a freak!
The third story involved a world-renown chef paying a visit to the Roswaal mansion. Their name is…. (takes a deep breath) Dias Lepunzo Elemanso Oprean Fazzbalm VI. It’s so absurd that for the remainder of the chapter, they just refer to him as “Dias (etc.)” Apparently there is a rumor that his food is so good that if you break dining etiquette while eating it, your name will be tarnished. Subaru thinks this is a trap to sabotage Emilia’s chances at the Royal Selection and puts together a plan to thwart Dias (etc.). I won’t spoil it but it was quite the site to see as one would expect of our “Barusu.”
The final two chapters were about Subaru playing dress-up and pretending to be Roswaal. Rem takes Subaru away to help him maintain his make-up so he can make Beatrice laugh when she returns to the mansion with Roswaal but when she takes him into a room, a brilliant flash of light transports them inside of a Mitia where you must pass four magic trials in order to escape. This was the work of a brand-new character names Ezzo who wanted to trap Roswaal in the box to prove that she’s a superior magician but she ended up trapping Subaru and Rem instead because of Subaru’s little dress-up game. I’ll let you discover how they escaped and the fate of Ezzo on your own but I will say that it just furthers my claim about Rem being a bit of a freak… in a physical sense this time.
Characters
I, honestly, didn’t think I would be doing a characters section on a volume filled with short stories but we have two (technically three) brand-new characters to talk about!
First is the chef Dias (etc.). He appears to be highly flamboyant and a womanizer who only invites women to his dinners. However, it ends up being smoke and mirrors as he turns out to be the assistant to the real chef who is also a woman. Her personality is a bit bizarre as the enjoys torturing people by flaunting rumors that are spread about her reputation. She also openly uses her assistant in order to fuel those rumors, bringing her even more joy. She’s a bit sadistic in that regard but she was a fun character for the short amount of time we got to spend with her.
Ezzo, on the other hand, seemed a bit on the generic side. Typical character feels weak, hatches a hair-brained scheme to prove that they are not weak, ends up getting exposed, and regrets it afterward. We’ve seen this story played out so commonly throughout manga and anime that it doesn’t really feel all that unique anymore. I know that’s a bit harsh to criticize a character that was created solely for two entire side story chapters but I felt they could have done something a little more diverse in this case. Despite that, some good laughs were had at Ezzo’s expense and it didn’t really take away from the overall entertainment of the chapter so the character does work in that regard.
Final Thoughts
This was just a fun volume of Re:Zero. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously and it was there to provide some extra entertainment. It did give us some insights to Petra and Rem as characters… for better (Petra) or worse (Rem) and the stories themselves were just pure entertainment.
Usually, I have a longer analysis at the end of a review but there really isn’t much to say other than this was just a pure entertainment volume and I enjoyed what we were given. If you want a break from the main story and have a few laughs, you can’t go wrong with this volume of Re:Zero!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
