English Dub Review: ēlDLIVE “Something to Believe In Part 3″

Dulough isn’t the only one to get an update.

Spoilers Below

Ninotchka’s powers are impressive, but Dulough’s new evolution- sorry, Monitalien Update- comes with a new array of powers! When it’s time to fight, the critter’s tiny wings also sprout on Chuta, granting the boy super speed and reaction timing. Though at first, he’s content to dodge, it becomes quickly apparent that he must take the fight to her if he intends to protect Veronica and Dr. Love. He breaks up her shots from the side, cutting off their power source instead of taking them head on. Then, with his super speed, he cuffs her. Dr. Love uses his SPH removal beam to remove the mind control spell and reveals the now-stabilized Veronica. Victory!

This gives the officer and scientist a chance to ruminate on what they have seen. The Mind Control SPH requires prolonged, close-range, eye-to-eye contact to cast on a target. Further, based off of the levels of the SPH present in Ninotchka’s system, it had to have been used in the last two hours. Two hours ago, they were all being interrogated by that nasty-looking, three-eyed guy from Internal Affairs. But everyone was interrogated by him! Fortunately, only 5% are susceptible to the technique. All the same, they warn the bureau… all too late.

The traitor has already killed the lead investigator and has taken his credentials to allow him unfettered access to the bureau and its lockup facility. His goal is to get to Sonokata, and gain access to her sealed memories. Somewhere in there, is the gate to an immense treasure of some sort. He heads in for his prize while his mind-controlled puppets wreak havoc of Captain America: Winter Soldier proportions. While Chuta and Dulough head after the no-goodnik, Captain Laine heads to an airlock for… a space suit? The battle is brief, with Chuta blocking Sonokata’s cell with an electric web. Foiled, the spy makes a beeline for the nearest escape pod. Fortunately, that escape pod was blown off during the recent battle with Day mill. He can’t escape and is sucked out into space. Unfortunately, Chuta is also in the hall, and despite Dulough’s best efforts to hold on to the airlock, his grip slips.

Into the waiting arms of Captain Laine and his space suit. He knew the fastest route to the detention center wasn’t through the ship, but on its outside. This just happened to have an added bonus of being in time to save the boy’s bacon. Traitor now asphyxiated in the cold, dark embrace of the vacuum of space, the incident is closed. Sonokata is officially cleared of her charges, and ready to go back to work. elDLIVE command, however, believes it best if Dr. Love goes back into hiding. He refuses, stating that his test subject, Misuzu Sonokata, and another subject of interest, Dulough, are both at the earth bureau, and he will stay there. Command orders bodyguards for him, both for his protection, and to watch his every move. He, Veronica, and Ninotchka are assigned to the earth substation, undercover at Chuta’s school. Chuta laments this decision, worried that the doctor will take advantage of his partner.

Finally! An episode I enjoyed! For one, watching the updated Dulough in action was rather exciting. They didn’t make use of any special animation, just some filters, and layer effects, but they did so well enough to make it feel like he was moving faster. They used all the same, standard, anime shortcuts, but snazzed it up enough that it didn’t matter. The visual impact was much better than what I’ve been seeing. Second, the episode actually threw me a curveball. I was fully figuring that the lead investigator was going to be behind it all along. Having his interrogation lackey be the baddie was a welcome switch-up. Rather than having them catch him, the traitor is killed by his own lack of knowledge of the people he was messing with… and what was damaged on the ship. Also, the update to Dulough also comes with an update to Chuta: he’s no longer a sniveling puddle of cry baby but a take-charge fighter filled with confidence. I’m glad that this is finally happening, and it may make the anime a bit more bearable to me. The voice acting was a bit out of sync, especially when the episode first kicks off, but I stopped noticing after a while. Altogether, I give this episode eight mind-controlled police officers out of ten, and I’m ready for the show to keep this pace.