English Dub Review: Code: Realize “Code: Realize”

Can we wedge a few more colons in the title?

Overview (Spoilers)

Cardia is now onboard the Nautilus, captive of Nemo, Finis, and Isaac Beckford. Finis has taken the liberty of changing her clothes back to how they were at the start of the show, which is a bit creepy, I’m gonna be honest. So, Isaac assumes direct control of Finis to say creepy things to her, then leaves the body unconscious. When Finis finally comes to, he reveals the truth of why she is going to be the end of the world. He holds up the red pendant, causing her pain. The Horologium will be removed from her, and used to furnish energy for the creation of a new “god” out of Beckford. Of course, this means that she will be without a heart, and will die at the same time as her brother, whose personality will be erased as Beckford ascends. The process has already begun. The poison in her is growing in strength, and soon it will corrode things that she isn’t even touching!

Meanwhile, back at the army camp, things are looking grim. The Nautilus is near invincible, and lays waste to anything around it. As they back and forth about how to fight it, Lupin attempts to make a break for the car. Helsing stops him, and the two have a discussion about how best to help Cardia. Lupin promised to “steal her back” (that’s cliche thief for “rescue”), and to keep her safe, he would have to destroy the Nautilus. Helsing, however, remembers her dream: to have her skin touch Lupin’s. That girl wants a cuddle, and she can’t do that when she’s acid in the shape of a human. The only one with knowledge enough of the Horologium to remove its corrosive effects is Beckford. Therefore, Lupin is going to have to do much more if he’s going to give her her dream. Fortunately, the good guys just got a new trump card! You see, Saint Germaine has gotten help from IDEA, the shadowy organization he’s a part of, and they are going to use magic to put barriers around the Army’s airships. That will give them enough protection to get onboard and… well… improvise from there.

After a fierce airship battle, Impey crashes their ship into the Nautilus, opening a hole for Lupin to get inside. Fortunately, not long before, Cardia escaped from Finis, and is looking for a way out. She runs into Lupin along the way. This is bad! If he gets too close, he could dissolve away! He holds her close and tells her exactly how he feels about her. He doesn’t care about her poison. He’s never leaving her side. In the stinger, Finis arrives and shatters his pendant. Immediately, the Horologium goes bonkers, and the railings begin to dissolve. Even Lupin’s glove and hand a couple yards away from her corrode away! Taking advantage of the distraction, Finis pushes Lupin over the railing and knocks him into the abyss below.Shocked, Cardia passes out.

Our Take

I need to take a moment here and be open with you. During the portions of the episode where everyone was in the camp talking about what to do, I tuned them out. Seriously. They all just kept blabbing on and on about how hopeless it was, and how strong the enemy was. All in all, they spent half the episode jawing about how screwed they were, and how much they cared about Cardia. I got bored and how. Coupled with all of Finis’ fail fanaticism and cryptic doublespeak, I would have to say this episode doesn’t really start until he uncorks the Horologium. Ultimately, this is the failing of the series’ writing. Too much time talking about their situation, not enough time doing something or having a conversation that contains the real meat of their emotions. It’s all just fluff emotions or hopelessness. Most of the series, the episode has no plot content. All of the relevant plot is shoved into the stinger at the end of the episode. The last episode was full plot, but this one was only half that.

If I ruminate on the wherefore of this issue, I think it’s that the characters are all flat and cliche. They are a male harem with a clear alpha and a girl whose only remarkable trait is a permanent casting of Dissolving Touch. This means that they don’t have enough depth between them to hold a conversation worthy of paying attention to. So, they can only trade half-witicisms and trope-aligned declarations of feelings the writers don’t truly understand. These characters are each only partially formed: A dating sim archetype blended with a literary character, and given a shard of unique backstory to give them a pin to secure them in this steampunk wannabe world. There just isn’t enough there to make the characters feel like people with thoughts, feelings, and a life.

Speaking of lacking life: that voice acting. The most life we got out of anyone was when Cardia screamed from the pendant activating. On the plus side, Trina Nishimura toned down the hoarseness of Kid Drac. Sure, this makes him sound more effeminate, but at least he no longer sounds like a woman failing to sound like a little boy.

The animation isn’t terrible in this episode. I don’t really see anything wrong with it. What I also don’t see is anything exciting until the final scenes. Most of the episode is talking, talking, talking, and with pretty blase direction. The camera doesn’t do anything all that interesting until we reach the stinger. There, we get more dynamic camera angles to highlight the action. While this is an important scene to be sure, the fact that the director didn’t give any emphasis to the big reunion scene just before it is a bit of a shame. The most we get is a filter over the scene. The zoom in shot leading to them is similarly disappointing, as it zooms in in stages. This could have been a great shot, filled with drama in its motion and composition. It could have been a wide shot showing all the distance between them, narrowing in until the entire world is just those two. It would have drawn you into them. Instead, it just zooms in a bit, fades to a closer shot, and repeats.  No drama, no risks. They just saved budget.