WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World, Season 2, Episode 15, "Otto Suwen / A Reason to Believe," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
A moment that many fans have been waiting for since Re: Zero began airing in 2016 finally happens in Season 2: Subaru and Emilia just shared their first kiss in Episode 15. As Subaru professes all the reasons he'll always love Emilia, she can't help but feel conflicted since the slow return of her forgotten memories cause her to doubt herself. Still, Subaru promises to help Emilia find her "reason to believe" and seals that intention with a kiss.
While Subaru and Emilia's emotional scene will rightly garner lots of attention, there is a strong chance it may not have been possible without some surprise heroics from Otto. Tasked with keeping Garfiel busy, Otto pulls out all the stops to give his friend Subaru all the time he needs. Combing his Divine Protection ability to speak with animals -- and some help from Ram -- Otto holds Garfiel up, but the human hybrid still reaches Subaru.
Otto's Past & Power, Explained
Like Subaru, Otto has had to cope with his unique ability. Initially, Otto's power allowed him to hear the indistinguishable sounds of all creatures near him. However, as he grew older, he understood them and controlled the skill in handy ways. Unfortunately, he made enemies with a powerful family in his hometown -- forcing him to flee and becoming a merchant in the process.
Determined to help Subaru, Otto steals Garfiel's blue crystal, which causes a chase to ensue. Despite Otto's clear disadvantage in strength, his resourcefulness proves as sound as his dedication to helping Subaru. Ram eventually joins the fight, admitting that while Subaru is mostly useless, he has a knack for finding the perfect moments to burst into action. While she may not know that Subaru has had to die more than a few times to work out these precise plans, Ram can trust that he'll deliver.
Subaru's Heartfelt Admission
Emilia struggles to cope with Puck's abandonment and the trickle of forgotten memories that she's slowly beginning to remember. After Subaru failed in his promise to stay by Emilia's side all night, she ran away, only to be found by him later. Realizing that she'd forgotten such important people and moments from her life, like her mother, cause Emilia to question who her authentic self is. Much like Rem did for Subaru in Season 1, his admission of love is also meant to remind Emilia of her strengths and hopefully lift her out of a rut.
Subaru's affectionate declaration highlights all the things he loves about Emilia including ones that she may feel are flaws. Though far from saying all the right things, and with more than a touch of mutual selfishness, Subaru remembers something his mom told him, "What matters isn't how you start or what happens in the middle. It's how it ends." In the end, Subaru urges Emilia to put her trust in him and herself, sealing his vow to help find her life's inspiration with a long-awaited lip lock.
Garfiel Confronts Subaru
Things aren't all smiles for Subaru, though, as he's quickly brought back to reality when Garfiel confronts him and Emilia. While it isn't guaranteed to lead to an altercation, most of Subaru's previous lives and encounters with Garfiel see them in opposition. Plus, with Garfiel now covered in blood, it begs the question of what happened to Otto and Ram, who were attempting to hold him back.
Re: Zero, and Season 2's fifteenth episode, can be summed up by the earlier quote from Subaru's mom. Otto and Emilia indicated precise moments in their lives that changed the trajectory of who they could become, and Subaru experiences these frequently because of Return by Death. Something that seems to be motivating Subaru is focusing on how he wants his journey to end -- not being defined by some of the missteps along the way.
