Re:Zero Chapter 3 Vol 2

Re:Zero Chapter 3: Truth of Zero Vol 2
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Subaru continues to support Emilia in her campaign to become the new Queen of Lugunica. But another candidate shows up, and it's the last person Subaru expected!

The last volume left us on kind of a cliffhanger and we dive straight in with this volume. It's Emilia's turn to speak before the Council, unfortunately she's reviled for being half elf and resembling someone shady from the past which provides an interesting tidbit that may or may not be expanded upon in future volumes. 

The selection kicks off in earnest, but Subaru is parted from Emilia and left on his own with Rem at Crusch's home. While there he decides it's time to learn to fight and we could be about to see him develop and grow some more and become a stronger character. He's kind of been left to his own devices and left on his own so it's going to be interesting to see what he does. 

Meanwhile the story diverges as our two characters part way because while Subaru is off taking part in his own little version of Fight Club with one of Crusch's people, Emilia is about to undergo her first trial in the selection....and it's certainly going to be interesting. The middle of this volume was a bit slow with not much happening, but we pick up again towards the end of the volume. I'm intrigued to see how things are going to progress as our characters have their own missions to fulfil. 

Manga: Re:ZERO Chapter 2 Vol 4

Re:ZERO Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion Vol 4
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

To save himself from another cycle of death and rebirth, Subaru must confront the beast in the forest. But what will happen to him there when his dear friend Rem snaps? 

So...as is becoming the custom with this series, the last volume left us on quite the cliffhanger and this volume dives straight in where we left off. Subaru and Rem are working as a team and Rem swiftly gets her badass moment...followed by her scary moment. I'm really warming up to her now! We also get Subaru teaming up with Ram and the moment I've been waiting for! 

Like I said, Rem and Ram have been growing on me as characters and I've been curious about them and their past. This volume we finally get some backstory on both of them and they've now swiftly become a couple of my favourite characters, they're a lot of fun! They have such a heartbreaking and intriguing history too. 

This volume has plenty of action and a fast pace as we speed towards the end of this particular story arc. Everything ends neatly with a little plot thread to carry us over to the next arc and keep us intrigued and desperate to know what the answer to the mystery is! There's even a bonus story too!

Manga: Re:Zero Chapter 3

Re:Zero Chapter 3: Truth of Zero
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Subaru returns with Emilia to the capital of Lugunica, where it all started for him. There, he runs into some (unfortunately) familiar faces...but also the other candidates for Queen of Lugunica! 

Okay folks, the events at the manor are over and done with and in this volume we head right on back to the Capital. I really feel like this is the volume where things start to kick off. Things certainly start to get interesting either way. 

Subaru, Rem and Emilia head off for The Royal Selection, and along the way we bump in to a new character. Priscilla. She's one of the other candidates for Queen, and she's a bit....strange. If not a little bit crazy. Interestingly enough her companion Al is like Subaru which is going to prove to be an interesting point in the plot, I think! 

There's actually quite a few new characters in this volume, because we meet the other Queen candidates Anastasia, Crusch...and a familiar face. Felt. Plot twist am I right?! The other candidates are certainly an interesting bunch and really liven up the story with some fresh faces. Each of them has an interesting personality, and plan for what they want to do and I'm excited to see more of them and get to know more. 

Reinhard returns too, along with Julius and Rom and it's nice to see these characters haven't been forgotten about! We get a nice amount of new information on the world, and things have certainly gotten interesting, shall we say! As the Royal Selection begins, we get to know all of the different motivations for the different parties, and I'm excited to see what's going to happen next and how it's going to play out. 

I have to say, I really want a dragon carriage! I loved how they where drawn, and it was such a fun addition! The art for the Capital is completely gorgeous too! Things are moving at a nice pace, but I feel like with this chapter we're hitting one of the main parts of the story and things are going to get very interesting! 
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Manga: Re:Zero Chapter 2 Vol 3

Re:Zero Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion Vol 3

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Thanks to his "Return by Death" ability and a little help from Beatrice, Subaru gets to the morning of the fifth day alive. However, an unexpected tragedy occurs! Can Subaru save the residents of the mansion, or is he doomed to re-live his pain once again?

This story arc is going a lot deeper than the previous one, and it's really hooking me in more and more. I've been coming up with all kinds of theories and ideas as I'm reading and I'm getting so impatient for the next volumes because I want to know! 

Things are really progressing in this volume and the mystery gets kind of partially solved? We get at least one answer, but I feel like it's not the whole story because there's one character that I think is really shady and I kind of thought he was behind it and I'm still not convinced I'm wrong even with this reveal! The plot thickens and I'm so convinced there's even more to it! 

We get a lot more insight in to the new characters and in to Emilia, and I'm kind of looking at her in a different way after a certain story came to light. Which leads me to....my other theory. I'm curious to see if she's different or if there's more to her than I first thought. Subaru finally sorts himself out this volume too, and he opts for another strategy, he kind of gets his confidence back and his good vibes as it where...his positive attitude! His new strategy is certainly paying off! 

I have plenty of suspicions, this manga has me tense and constantly thinking and putting things together, and I'm anticipating the final volume when everything is suddenly made clear! This manga has me eager for each new volume, and each new clue!

Manga: Re:ZERO A Week At The Mansion Vol 2

Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion Vol 2
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Subaru thought his life would be peaceful now, but now he's died again and doesn't know why! Subaru tries everything he can to avoid repeating that fate, but nothing seems to work. Beatrice the librarian might be Subaru's only hope!

I'm not going to lie, I'm getting way more in to this story arc than I am the first story arc! The plot just keeps thickening and hooking me in more and more and I'm coming up with all these theories and trying to put everything together! I feel like this story arc is a lot better and a lot stronger than the first one, like the story is finding its stride almost. 

Subaru has gone four days back and that really starts to get to him in this volume. It was a very well done and realistic reaction to his situation and I enjoyed seeing it play out on the page. He adopts the tactic of trying to make everything go exactly the same this time around with interesting effects. 

Roswaal provides him and us with a tutorial on how magic works in this world, something that I found very interesting and would like to know more about. Roswaal provides mixed feelings for me. I want to like him, I want to believe that he has nothing to do with anything dodgy, but as much as I love his character and want to see more of him and root for him..I feel like somethings off about him and I'm just waiting to see what it is. 

This volume provides us with a suitably shocking reveal and some surprise twists that I loved and had me gasping! There's some gory deaths and a lot more information about the world and Subaru's situation, again, something that I find very intriguing. 

I'm really liking Beatrice, shockingly, and I'm intrigued by her. I'd love to see more of her and find out more about her and her past and who she is and so on. I could say the same about Rem and Ram as well! I so badly want to know more about their pasts and I'm hoping the next volume will provide that! 

On top of aaaaaallll of that, we get an original short story at the end of the volume too! 

A Week at the Mansion, I feel, really steps the story up. There's more gory deaths, more surprises, more intrigue and I feel like the tension is higher in this volume. There's brilliant new characters to get to know, and that fill you with intrigue as you try to piece together their pasts and so on. I'm so damn curious about Ram and Rem and motivations certain characters have! I feel like this arc is going to be a lot more detailed and go in to a lot more depth and I'm excited to see it play out! 

Manga: Re:Zero Chapter 2 A Week At The Mansion Vol 1

Re:ZERO Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion Vol 1
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

After being suddenly summoned to another world, Subaru Natsuki realized he didn't have superhuman strength, no magic, and no special abilities--except for the ability "Return by Death", which brings him to a set point in the past if he dies. He used his ability to help the bewitching Emilia but was injured and brought to her home to recover. Right when Subaru should be receiving his reward for a job well done, he realizes he's never been more threatened before and this time, he has no idea what the danger is. 

Maybe it's just me being dumb, but I honestly expected this volume to completely reset, as it where, the story, and bring in brand new characters except for Subaru to go with the new setting. So I was pleasantly surprised to find Emilia in there, and to discover that while the setting is different...it's a continuation from the first volumes! 

We get so much interesting information in this volume about Emilia and who she is, and what the deal is with her that meant some of her behaviour from the first volume made so much sense! Plus it's got me really excited for the next volumes, to see how everythings going to play out, Emilia's whole storyline but everything else too! 

I loved the chapter long recap of the first couple of volumes, it refreshed my memory and threw me straight back in to the world of the manga and got me back up to date! There are new and interesting characters in this volume. Betty, who I'm totally curious about but she's a librarian and therefore my favourite kind of character! There are the sisters Ram and Rem who are on the front cover, and I'm so curious about them. They're the maids of the mansion and we don't have all that much information on them, so I'm intrigued to find out how they came to be there and what the deal is with one of them and the master of the house. 

Speaking of the master of the house....Roswaal. Loved him. He's hilariously eccentric. But also kind of creepy and clearly not as ridiculous as his appearance would suggest. He really reminds me of Mephisto from Blue Exorcist or Gilles from Devils and Realist. To make him even more intriguing he's the court Magician....I'm expecting great things from him, I'm not going to lie! 

Along with all these new and interesting characters that I need to know more about, we get Emilia back and her friendship with Subaru grows a little in this volume. I totally ship them. They're adorable. But I want to smack Subaru sometimes! His reactions to everything are so authentic though. My one gripe with him is that the little favours he asks for got a little repetitive and seemed a little silly the more it went on. Like working at the mansion. I can't picture anyone asking for that as a reward quite frankly! His reactions to working and the dynamic between he and the sisters where pretty funny though. 

I've got to say, the first arc was fun, but I feel like this arc is going to be even better. It's all going great for Subaru and then the end happens and you're like woaaaahh okay. I have a feeling this is going to be like an old school murder mystery. Ram in the bedroom with the candlestick kind of thing. We've got a small pool of suspects, so it's going to be fun working out which one is the killer. Or you know...killers. 

Re:ZERO Chapter 2 really steps up the plot and takes us in a fun new direction. The new revelations promise to provide some future intrigues and action, and I feel like this volume really builds on the foundations set in the first volumes. I'm excited by the way this manga is going, and I'm looking forward to the next volume!