The Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World ending is not coming out any time soon, but series creator Tappei Nagatsuki has confirmed once again that Re:Zero Arc 11 will contain the final chapter of the entire web novel.
This issue came up when the author held a Twitter Spaces to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the series on April 20, 2022. In the past, Tappei had originally planned on ending the story with Re:Zero Arc 10, but several years ago he began planning to have Re:Zero Arc 11 ending the series.
Tappei also confirmed that Re: Zero Arc 1 and the Final Arc, Re:Zero Arc 11, are the most important story arcs in the series. He’s also planning a Re:Zero “happy ending” for the story, but he refuses to be pinned down on exactly what that means for Subaru, Rem, Emilia, and the other characters (please see the article in the link for more details).
READ: Re:Zero: When does Rem wake up from her death-like sleep?
Re:Zero Arc 7 was halfway done as of March 2022
The writer also mentioned that Re:Zero Arc 7: The Land of the Wolves Arc is currently only about halfway finished with Re:Zero Volume 29. If the web novel to light novel adaptation ratio continues to be the same, that means Re:Zero Arc 7 will be the longest yet with eight volumes in total.
To put things in perspective, Re:Zero Arc 6 concluded its long run on November 5, 2022. Its 90 chapters were adapted into five light novel book volumes, the last of which came out on December 25, 2020.
As for Re:Zero Arc 7, the Re:Zero Volume 29 release date was on March 25, 2022. Considering that the series has been a work-in-progress for 10 years already, and Tappei’s progress rate has slowed in recent years, it’s very likely that the entire story will be over 50 volumes. Let’s just hope the Re:Zero ending doesn’t take another 10+ years to complete!
Tappei Nagatsuki reveals other Re:Zero lore and secrets
Warning: The following contains spoilers.
The Twitter Spaces lasted around two hours so Tappei was asked many questions. He also discussed various parts of the Re:Zero lore. For example, The Crazed Prince, the strongest in the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko, is currently locked up after he killed around 15 or 16 of his siblings.
Re:Zero’s Frederica has rare blood, which is blood that reacts strongly to mana to the point that it can captivate dragons. The fan specifically asked if another person with rare blood exists and whether that person had met Subaru yet. Tappei indicated that other characters with rare blood do exist, and the context of his response could be interpreted to mean that this unknown person already met Subaru, but it’s definitely not Garfield since that detail was confirmed in the Re:Zero side story Golden Siblings.
The writer confirmed that Hector is going to show up in the future in the light novels/web novel. If you don’t recall who that is, Hector is the Warlock of Melancholy who pursued Echidna into the Sanctuary around 400 years ago and almost killed Roswaal A Mathers.
When asked whether bard Liliana Masquerade and Noble Guardian Archi Elior would be active again in the future, Tappei indicated that Liliana would return in the future, though she probably won’t take as big a role as in Re:Zero Arc 5. As for Archi, Tappei said that answer was a spoiler, which isn’t surprising since the elven warrior supposedly died protecting the young Emilia.
Tappei also discussed how the first Emperor of Vollachia was friends with a tyrant and Reid Astrea. This red-haired man was the first Sword Saint who played a role in sealing the Witch of Envy 400 years ago. Reid is first mentioned in anime Episode 48 and Reid’s soul is featured in Re:Zero Arc 6, which probably won’t be adapted until Re:Zero Season 4.
According to Tappei, the Witch Cult wasn’t originally a bad organization originally. The Witch Faith was co-founded around 400 years ago by Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti out of respect for Satella. It originally operated based on the church philosophy of which Guese was a member, but over time the Witch Faith became warped into a wicked cult due to new members and leadership changes.
The author mentioned that if he has a chance to explore the origins of the Witch Cult further then he will write about it. If he can’t do that in the main story he’s thinking of writing a Side Story about the Witch Cult.
Tappei also revealed his favorite chapter titles from Arc 6 are Good Loser and Shaula. For Shaula’s named chapter, he also thought Tomorrow’s Tomorrow would have made a good title, but he ultimately ended up going with just her name.