English Dub Review: Chain Chronicle: Light of Haecceittas “The Nadir of Despair”

The Darkness, it got into his heart and it got worse.

Spoilers Below

A Nadir is the lowest part of a valley. The lowest you could go without being six feet under. With a title like that, you know that something is going down. To start off, former ally and leader of an entire army of ogres Shuza, demands that they hand over the Chain Chronicle. Aram interrupts with some bravado, but it also starts off the tone of this negotiation. The clear, bell-like ringing of blade against blade. The heroes work together to keep Shuza’s troops at bay while Yuri tries to beat him with both sword and words. Shuza knew that Yuri was going to fail in beating the Black King. It was his mercy- his kindness- that was his undoing. He had even told him as much before the fateful battle. There is no way that Shuza was going to work alongside the failed hero now. So much so, that if Yuri chose to fight in the light, the Shuza was going to choose…

The ogre samurai unveils his own corrupted arm filled with dark mana. With the Chain Chronicle, he could gain the power to destroy the Black King, then install himself as the true ruler of the world! Yeah, because that sort of thing always works out. The Dark-empowered Shuza continues to gain ground, even breaking a classic Yuri/Kain/Mishida Chain Attack. While the main combo is reeling, he goes in for his prize at Phoena’s hip. Aram jumps in, but isn’t able to hold his own against the more experienced warrior. Yuri picks himself up and heads to the top of the hill to rescue Phoena, but is stopped by a row of blades slamming into the ground in front of him, followed by a strange metal pod.

The Black King’s Demons have arrived, including Dark Berkhart (Should we just call him Darkhart?) and a new combatant, an ancient golem droid with detachable blades and unnatural doll joints. Vampire/succubus Eirenus begins fight-talking with Yuri, telling him how he is tainted, and belongs with her side. She keeps whispering dark thoughts into his mind, echoed by Evil Yuri’s lies. Each time, Yuri beats them back, suppressing the darkness in his arm. That is, until she shows him one thing. The battle in front of him.

Aram fighting Darkhart, Kain fighting Shuza’s lieutenant, both because they believe in Yuri. Because Yuri was the hero they needed. They were willing to fight because they thought he could save the world. But he didn’t. He failed. He wasn’t the hero they needed. He was a failure, and he should just give up. After wrestling with the darkness, he stands up, and slams his sword into the gut of his evil counterpart. Its illusory form fades, surely revealing Eirenus as it had a skeleton in Maze Valley. Its eyes begin to cry as it asks, “Are you sure that is your answer?”

Before we see how that battle finishes, I’ve got to tell you what’s been going on in the Holy Capitol. Juliana has come to a final decision as to how to bring her people back from the brink. She realizes that after the death of her father, she had thrown herself headlong into a quest for revenge against the Black King. She had abandoned them, letting her aides share in the work of ruling the country in her stead. This was her mistake. She needed to stand with them. To show them that life would continue after such tragic events. But she decides to stand with them now, by ascending the throne as Queen. Her impassioned speech unites her people.

However, as Juliana’s coronation begins, Hero Yuri stares in disbelief at his sword. It’s stabbed clean through Kaine. The tearful eyes of his dark clone is replaced by the equally tearful eyes of Phoena, whom Kaine had jumped in front of to protect. Had he not done so, Yuri would have killed the chosen wielder of the Chain Chronicle, last hope of Yggdra. The darkness overtakes him, and he stumbles back in its consumptive embrace. As the crown of the Holy Capitol is placed upon Juliana’s head as queen, golden armor of evil and darkness enshrouds Yuri as champion of evil.

Wow. Yuri’s plight is intense in this episode. While he’s fought the darkness throughout the series, it has finally reached its climax. We had been under the assumption that he would always have the willpower and inexhaustible supply of hope speeches to beat it. To see him lose himself, especially after killing Kain, is a shock I wasn’t expecting. Knowing this is more than just a fight against the darkness, but a war against depression, doubt, and self-loathing drives it home for me, and I can really connect with Yuri. The episode’s action was solid, and the bits of CG were hard to spot. It seems though, that Eirenus continues to have slight issues when CG animated. Her movements are more smooth than the speedy tumbles of Aram, and that makes her stiff animation a bit more obvious. Otherwise, the director really did a good job with the use of traditional and CG elements. The voice acting is really good. I have no problems with the dub of this episode. It never pulled me out of the experience, which is important, because it let the story shine through all the better. I give this episode nine angsty ogres out of ten.