Confronted by overwhelming power and never-ending malice, Emilia is faced with questions about herself. Why is she called a criminal? Why did she alone awaken? Emilia, beaten down by the unbearable weight of the cross she bears, shouts to an irreplaceable presence in her life. And so, a new bond is formed…The curtain closes on this tale of fate between girl and spirit.
I enjoyed following Emelia through this journey, as she explored the forest to map it out, with Puck protecting her. Of course there are all sorts of dangers around, I quite liked the male antagonist in this, it didn't matter how badly things got for him, he still wanted to attain his goals and was unrelenting to do so. The Horse was a bit late of an introduction but after that it fits in the story perfectly, I could have done without all of the gibberish it was spouting, it just came off as nonsensical at times.
This was a fun read, you don't need to read countless other volumes to enjoy or understand it.
Emilia really shines in this prequel series to the Re:ZERO main series. Like in the main series she has flaws that she needs to overcome but without Subaru and everyone else (save for Puck and the minor spirits) she is still able to pull on her inner reserves of strength even if she might end up sacrificing herself for the sake of others.
Within these pages we see Emilia doing her best to stop the sentient Black Water, ends up in a final showdown with Melakuera the Arbitrator which leads to a flashback for the great fire spirit, makes a formal contract with Puck, meets Roswell, and find herself eventually back to the beginning at zero as the prequal ends. All in all I love the characters and seeing Puck in his Beast of the End form was a real treat considering the most I remember of it in the past is his silhouette one of the time Suburu did not save Emilia in time leading to Puck freezing him and possibly the rest of the world if the story was not reset at that point.
Beautiful drawings. Emilia and Puk's past is clarified, but not completely. I understand that in a manga not all scenes can be drawn in sequence, but sometimes pieces are just missing. Anyway, I am curious to read the next series.