Synopsis:

Tagline: No restarts, no retries, only one timeline. When 17-year-old Subaru Natsuki is summoned to the Kingdom of Lugunica, he is gifted an mysterious power that the people of the kingdom are unaware of. Equipped with knowledge that should be impossible for him to possess, Subaru embarks on a painful journey with only one task: save as many lives as he can. Intention: Re-experience the events of Re:ZERO's first season from the eyes of the people of Lugunica, outside of Return by Death! Inspired by the series of YouTube videos by @TheFlamingFern, this fan-edit showcases Subaru Natsuki's adventures in Lugunica while re-cutting the series to seamlessly transition from Subaru's save-points to him returning back from an alternate timeline, possessing new knowledge and information. This edit also cuts out all of Subaru's internal dialogue, as well as visual flashbacks that take place outside of the "canon" timeline.

Intentions:

Inspired by the "What Returning by Death looks like to other people" series of YouTube videos by @TheFlamingFern, this fan-edit aims to re-cut the story of Re:ZERO's first season from outside of Subaru Natsuki's perspective. Where the original sees him dying and restarting again in time-loops, the people of Lugunica see a strange boy who mysteriously knows information that should be impossible for him to possess. This edit aims to show the full "canon" timeline, by which I mean all events that Subaru eventually ends up progresses from without dying and restarting. This goes without saying, but this fan-edit is NOT intended for a first-time introduction to Re:ZERO, as this cut leaves out many details and may leave new fans confused while watching. There are 3 general rules that I followed to make this edit: 1. The most important rule that this fan-edit revolves around: When Subaru dies and uses Return by Death to come back, we cut out all of the time from when he first reached his "save point" to him dying and returning to that "save point" for the last time. In this process, I aimed to make each return of his as seamless as possible, and while the results may vary on that, I believe the result can speak for itself during its best moments. 2. If Subaru says anything in his head, we the audience are not allowed to hear it, we are only allowed to hear the things he says out loud. Likewise, if information is shown to us in visual flashbacks from outside of the "canon" timeline (i.e.: scenes from which Subaru restarts and prevents from happening), these scenes are also cut. Not all visual flashbacks are cut, though. Some occur within the canon timeline, and some flashbacks from the canon timeline are cut to improve pacing. 3. No cutting content. I decided to show the full canon timeline of Re:ZERO's first season, so this edit does not aim to cut the entirety of any scenes if they are included according to rule #1. As a result, this fan-edit is, in fact, 5 hours and 43 minutes long. Long-form content is something I am very passionate about making already so if you are not down for a very long experience... then you might wanna take breaks. I have also made miscellaneous edits for various reasons, whether they be to improve pacing, recontextualize scenes as new character introductions, or just to slightly improve scenes in general. More details can be read in the full changes list below.

Change List:

General Changes Across the Edit: - Cut all instances of episode title cards, opening sequences, and ending credits sequences. - Slightly changed subtitles for consistency. The Crunchyroll subtitles were inconsistent as to whether Knight Argyle's first name was Felis or Felix. I decided on referring to him as Felix for the entirety of the edit, as it is the chosen name for the English Dub. Full Changes List: NOTE: Episode numbers listed here are referring to the Director's Cut of Re:ZERO, which combines episodes and shortens the episode count to 13. This may cause confusion to those who are familiar with watching the original airing version of Season 1, as that has an Episode count of 25. - Removed the foreshadowing cuts to Subaru’s first death at the very start of Episode 1. - Added custom "Keku Presents, A FanEdit.org Original" text after Subaru is transported to Lugunica. Added custom Title Card over Subaru's exclamation and extended the landscape shot under it. Removed the Episode 1's original opening title card. - Return by Death Time! Upon Subaru’s 3rd death, he is transported back to the moment immediately after he started talking to the Appa merchant, Kadomon. The scene cuts to Episode 2 while extending the previous Episode 1 scene’s music, creating a near-seamless transition. - Muted Subaru’s internal monologue and cut flashback visuals in the scene during and after Subaru names Return by Death. This one was difficult to edit around due to the awkward pacing it created, but it was important to keep the scene in some way. - Muted Subaru’s internal monologue and cut flashback visuals in the third alleyway scene and the following scene of Subaru walking through the streets and witnessing various innocuous events. - Cut visual flashbacks when Subaru bumps into Elsa. - Removed visual flashbacks and internal dialogue when Subaru pets Felt. I could not entirely mute Subaru's internal dialogue for the Japanese audio, so unfortunately some remnants of that still remain. - Cut visual flashbacks when Emilia knocks on the Loot House’s door. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue after Emilia arrives at the Loot House. - Cut the flashback about how Emilia’s nature never changes. - Cut visual flashbacks during Emilia and Elsa’s fight by extending shots. - Cut visual flashbacks before Subaru declares his resolve in the fight against Elsa. - Cut visual flashbacks after Emilia tells Subaru her name. - Cut Subaru’s fading POV perspective as he falls unconcious. - Return by Death Time! Upon Subaru’s 7th death, he is transported back to waking up in a bed in the Roswaal Mansion, with Rem and Ram beside the bed. Before this save point, Subaru had his mana drained by Beatrice after he intruded on her door crossing. The scene transitions to Episode 5 from a fade to black. - Cut the visual flashback when Subaru clasps Rem and Ram’s hands. - Cut Subaru’s internal monologue and visual flashbacks during the work montage at the mansion - Cut the visual flashback when Beatrice explains to Subaru the Witch of Envy’s appearance and what it would take for someone to borrow Satella’s name. - Did my best to cut Subaru’s repeating “I feel sick” internal dialogue. Result is kind of a sloppy cross fade montage, admittedly. Open to critiques on ways to improve that. - Changed the breaking moment visuals in Emilia’s lap to a simple fade to white. - Cut the visual flashback when Subaru is discussing the Shaman’s physical contact pre-requisite with Beatrice. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue after the people of the village touch him. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue during and after Roswaal leaves the mansion. - Cut Subaru’s internal monologue and visual flashbacks when Beatrice checks Subaru for the Shaman’s Curse. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue and the Witch’s Curse hand visuals when Subaru tries to strategically tell Ram he can Return by Death. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue when he fails to hit Rem’s horn. - Edited the radio calisthenics scene at the beginning of Episode 7 so that the villagers don’t awkwardly repeat the same sound clip three times when shouting “Victory!” - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue when he meets Priscilla. - Cut Subaru’s internal monologue and visual flashbacks after Emilia demands Subaru not join her to the castle. - Removed flashback visuals during Emilia’s confrontation with Subaru, as well as the Witch’s Curse hand visuals. - Shortened the flashback scenes during Subaru’s mock fight with Wilhelm at the beginning of Episode 8, since we just saw that scene. - Return by Death Time! Upon Subaru’s 10th Death, he is transported back in front of the appa stand with Rem. Immediately before this, he was arguing with Kadomon about Emilia being a half-elf. The scene transitions to Episode 10 from a fade to black. - Cut visual flashbacks during Subaru’s emotional breakdown with Rem. This scene had some of the most difficult visual flashbacks to remove, even requiring some After Effects work. While i'm proud of most of the results, I do believe there is room for improvement. Critiques are welcome. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue and visual flashbacks when proposing the deal to Crusch. - Cut visual flashback while Subaru talks with Ricardo on the way to the Battle site. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue and visual flashbacks when he realizes the ability of the White Whale’s fog. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue when Felis heals the Soldier who fell victim to the voice’s effects. - Cut the Witch’s Curse visuals when Subaru strategically tries to say that he can Return by Death to lure the White Whale. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue and visual flashbacks after the Pearlbaten twins relay Ricardo’s message to him. - Cut the Witch’s Curse visuals when Subaru tries to confess his abilities a while falling off the White Whale. - Return by Death Time! Upon Subaru’s 11th Death, he is transported back to the center of the circle of his allies in the field, where he briefed them on the plan to take on the Witch’s Cult. (NOTE: It’s unclear as to whether he is transported back to the moment immediately before or after he briefed his team. I choose to say that it was after, since that will allow me to include the initial briefing which sets up the following battle) The scene transitions from the end of the planning meeting in Episode 12 straight to the beginning of Episode 13, though this time without the brief flashback visuals. - Overlayed more shadow onto Betelgeuse’s face before he steps into the light when Subaru confronts him, both to enhance the reveal since this is his first appearance in the edit, as well as make the hard cut to his face at the start of the scene a bit less weird. - Cut visual flashbacks when Otto tells Subaru about the power of the stolen magic stones. - Added translation of what Subaru writes on the Gospel to the Subtitles. (Special Thanks to the Re:ZERO wiki for that information) - Cut visual flashbacks before Subaru gets to Emilia’s dragon carriage. - While Subaru is getting rid of the bag of magic stones of fire, replaced visual flashbacks of Emilia with clips from the canon timeline. Also extended the Insert song 'Stay Alive' to continue playing as Emilia searches the smoke for Subaru. - Cut Subaru’s internal dialogue after the explosion. - Removed visual flashback of Emilia after Subaru’s confession of love. - Reorganized the credits and post-credits scene so that immediately after the end title card, the post-credits scene plays, and then the new credits sequence after that. I wanted to make sure as many people as possible watched the post-credits scene, since it did not remain unedited. - Return by Death Time! In the post-credits scene, Subaru is transported back mid-conversation in the ground dragon carriage with Emilia and the village kids. In arguably the most seamless transition yet, the scene cuts to where the scene would continue in Season 2 Episode 1. - Changed credits sequence to a custom-made English credits sequence that compiles a complete list of cast and crew. The credits include all voice actors for characters that appear in the edit, for both Japanese and English performances, as well as all of the crew on the original episodes that have been used to make this fan-edit. (Episodes 1-3, 5-8, 10-11, & 13) - Added a custom memorial end card in memory of the late Billy Kametz, who voiced Young Wilhelm in the English Dub. I was and still am a big fan of his work, and while his role in Re:ZERO was minor, I felt it was necessary to take the time to honor his memory if I was to make a Fan-Edit that contains his performance. Rest in Peace.

Other Sources:

All footage, audio, and subtitles from the show are sourced from the Director's Cut of Season 1 on Crunchyroll. (I could not select Crunchyroll on the Subscription Services, so I selected the closest alternative, Prime Video, where it is also available there with a Crunchyroll subscription service.) The post-credits scene (Or rather, pre-credits, post-title-card scene in this edit) also sources footage, audio, and subtitles from the first episode of Re:ZERO's second season on Crunchyroll. https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GRGG9798R/rezero--starting-life-in-another-world- Music sourced to extend or shift around music from the show: 'Different Dimension March' from Edward Stetchkov on Youtube: https://youtu.be/bqcIewdtc4M?si=n2MUS1hzRi1G5QOn 'Threads of Entwined Truth', 'Fool', 'Subaru Concerto' and 'Train of Thought' from Serena :3/ on YouTube: https://youtu.be/e6iKJMRldIE?si=J2Sw50JVb0Yriol5 https://youtu.be/qmkbuUdnHWI?si=eqJPlpk5eV--5Hq5 https://youtu.be/lrLyp0O1MjY?si=a_g9fwvZ5Ft3WiCM https://youtu.be/azRIHELuO94?si=zg0_kYDIbUF4BphK 'Stay Alive' from Crunchyroll's official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/b5Nud2MMRo4?si=LeeXDAlx_QwBu2vz Full Version of 'Redo' used in the custom credits sequence sourced from Konomi Suzuki Official on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9i8nVS2NCA Translation of what Subaru wrote near the end of the series courtesy of the Re:ZERO wiki. https://rezero.fandom.com/wiki/Re:Zero_Episode_25

Special Thanks:

@TheFlamingFern on YouTube and their commenters for inspiring me to try my hand at making this Fan-Edit in the first place. Without them, this would not exist.