Despite early mixed reception to Subaru's characterization in the narrative, anime and manga critics have praised the handling of his stress and the way he overcomes it in a heroic manner, making him a likable protagonist.

[citation needed] The series' editor at MF Bunko J, Masahito Ikemoto, first became aware of the web novel in April 2013 when it began to appear on his Twitter feed.

In order to keep the narrative entertaining, Nagatsuki gives Subaru a challenge with every Return by Death and subjects him to gruesome experiences, such as the time where he is eaten by animals.

While the first original video animation of the series focused on Subaru's attempts to save the world, the second one aimed to bring a parallel with Emilia's quest happening at the same time.

[3] After joining the project, Yoshiko Nakamura and scriptwriter Eiji Umehara had to readjust their views of the main character and rewrite scenes where they had made Subaru appear "cool".

At Masaharu Watanabe's direction, Nakamura had to rewrite Subaru's telling of The Red Ogre Who Cried in episode 6 multiple times.

[10] Chiplock found Subaru as an energetic character with a sense of justice, comparing his personality with that of Jin-Mori, the protagonist of The God of High School.

Upon his arrival, Subaru acquires an ability which he calls "Return by Death", which allows him to go back in time when he dies while retaining his memories of the previous timelines.

He cannot tell anyone about this ability, because any attempt to do so causes him to black out momentarily as unseen hands emerge to squeeze his heart, and may even kill those around him; it also causes him to give off the "scent of the Jealous Witch", which attracts "mabeasts" (magical creatures), and is repulsive to those who can detect it.

Regardless of attempts to travel back in time through suicide, Subaru is unable to restore everybody's memory of Rem whom he finds in a catatonic state.

At Anime News Network, Theron Martin lauded the series for being a somewhat fresher take on the "transported to another world" concept, but leveled criticism at it for bumpy and awkwardly timed dialogue and a tendency for redundancy, making Subaru come across as unlikable.

[21] Kim Morrissy regarded Subaru's traits as unique within the isekai genre as a rather than accomplishing tasks with ease, he suffers from multiple traumas that lead to self-loathing.

[24] The Fandom Post enjoyed Subaru's gradual accomplishments in the anime despite his weak initial portrayal as by the ninth episode, he obtains Ram's trust while discovering the shaman's identity.

The reviewers note that the character arc had a notable development in the anime, and point out a scene where Subaru has a deep conversation with Rem which helps him become more likable.

The site also compared Subaru with Konosuba's main character Kazuma Sato due to their similar situations as they find themselves in different worlds.