Re:Zero: How Rem Became the Series' Undisputed Best Girl

Since its release, few isekai anime have managed to become as popular and well-received as Re:Zero - Starting Life In Another World. The series successfully subverted many popular isekai tropes, particularly the power fantasy of protagonist's being powerful legendary heroes, instead opting to make its main protagonist Subaru Natsuki quite weak, with his main power being able to die over and over again only to "respawn" at a temporal checkpoint.

Since Subaru is so weak, he relies on the strengths and abilities of the series' supporting cast, which more often than not ends up being the young Oni girl, Rem. While Rem's role seemed relatively small at first, with her sister Ram initially being the more central of the twins, this quickly changed and resulted in her becoming one of the most beloved anime characters of all time. Rem ended up not only surpassing her sister in popularity, but even the Re:Zero's main female protagonist, Emilia.

Everyone loves an underdog, and this couldn't be more true when analyzing Rem. Throughout Re:Zero, Rem is more often than not presented as the character at a disadvantage, whether it is in battle, love, or story relevance. When she is introduced at Roswaal's estate, she's actually treated as a relatively minor character. Subaru has already bonded and fallen for Emilia, and while working at the mansion, Ram befriends him before anyone else, making Rem seem rather irrelevant. It isn't until Subaru is murdered at her hands that she actually gets development and becomes a main fixture in the story. The rest of that specific arc ends up focusing entirely on Subaru saving himself from Rem while also saving her.

In the process of saving her, Subaru, as well as the audience, learns more about her personality and origins. It's discovered that she is deeply loyal and protective of her twin sister, and was tormented and tortured as a child. In fact, Rem killing Subaru was an act meant to protect her and her sister from the danger she thought he posed due to him having the Witch's scent. While murder is obviously never dismissible, the fact she was motivated by a desire to keep her family safe definitely helped redeem her in the eyes of the audience.

Speaking of her family, Rem's disadvantages started from practically the moment she was born. Rem and Ram are twin Oni, which is something of a taboo in their culture, mainly due to twins typically being weaker than the average Oni. Surprisingly, despite being a twin, Ram was considered a prodigy and even thought to be the second coming of the Oni God before her horn was cut off by Faust and the Witch's Cult, with Rem only being as powerful as the average Oni. Not only did this cause her to develop a sense of inferiority towards herself, especially when compared to her sister, but after being attacked by the Witch's Cult, Rem felt it was her responsibility to take care of and protect the weakened Ram.

Her origin story not only made her motivations more understandable, but made her more likable as a result. It's common for anime to have underdog characters that don't seem particularly skilled as others. However, as most of these characters tend to be main protagonists, they almost always end up becoming the strongest character in the series, with Naruto Uzumaki as a prime example of this. Rem doesn't have the same plot armor as the Seventh Hokage, and as such her ultimate fate is in no way guaranteed to be a happy one. It adds weight to her underdog status, further endearing her to fans.

Regardless of everything, her toughest uphill battle is easily in romance. Rem is blatantly in love with Subaru. After saving her from a curse as well as her own emotions, Rem ended up seeing him as her hero, but Subaru is so infatuated with Emilia that he can't even begin to feel anything romantic for anyone else, even her. He even tells her how much he loves Emilia and asks her to assist him when it comes to winning her heart, which is rather heartbreaking. The situation becomes even sadder when Rem's undying loyalty to Subaru is taken into account, as despite her own feelings being rejected by him, she refuses to leave his side and will follow him into any danger.

Currently, Rem is in a coma due to having her name and existence erased by the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. She can't wake up on her own, and nobody remembers who she is aside from Subaru.

This coma has been hard for many fans, as it struck Rem in Season 1 of Re:Zero and still hasn't been resolved. It also further highlights what so many like about her character, and that's her enduring quality. Regardless of how high the odds are stacked against her, Rem always perseveres and does her best to push through. Hopefully, this will help her wake up soon.