The meaning behind a simple jacket

Re:Zero always does this with imagery, and even I got to know this from a guy in a YT comment section pointing it out, and I was like, HOLY SHIT, THAT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE.

So we all remember how Subaru didn't even question why he was in a new world in S1, some people noticed, some were like, yeah, if I lived a bad life in my original world, I wouldn't want to think abt it too. Then of course S2 EP 4 happened, which, in retrospect, makes a lot of sense why he didn't question being in this world suddenly and tried to cling onto this world more.

As soon as he came into this world, he was pretty much sure he couldn't go back, considering that's pretty much the trope within isekai's, so he didn't try to question it.

Now what makes this more compelling is him clinging onto his jacket. He was ready to give his phone because it had no use. He was also ready to give his food, but not his jacket.

Also, it was a constant reminder for Subaru that:

first, he was not from this world, it made him stand out.

second, he wore it because it was the only single thing that was from his original world.

third, he constantly wore it throughout S1, S2, which is what I'm talking abt, which makes it so much more bittersweet when he met his parents. All throughout these seasons, he was always thinking abt his world, his parents. If he didnt care abt the people from his original world he would have decided to get rid everything that reminded subaru of his original world but thats the thing he didn't..

His jacket was sum more than a sign of his original world. He wore it as an armour to protect himself from the world around him, to feel like he was a main character and using it as a comfort object - while bottling his emotions until it burst during S2 EP 4.

And what makes this even more interesting is that Subaru STILL wears the jacket in S3. But I think its meaning has changed completely. Earlier on, the jacket felt like something Subaru used to distance himself from the world around him ,a piece of Japan that he could cling to while pretending he was the protagonist of some new life. After S2 EP4, though, Subaru can no longer look at his old life through that same lens. He finally confronts his feelings about his parents and realizes that the life he left behind wasn't something he simply wanted to escape from.

So when he continues wearing that jacket in S3, I think it's less about trying to hold onto his old world out of denial and more about "accepting it as part of himself". He's not embarrassed about being Natsuki Subaru from Japan anymore. He's carrying that part of himself with him.

The jacket prob starts out as a reminder of the life Subaru left behind, but eventually becomes a way of saying “this is where I came from, and I'm still Subaru.” and yeah then s4 happens lmao i could go on with how this connects to s4 but yeah i just wanted to say the jacket part lmao