English Dub Review: The Silver Guardian “Suigin Receives a Loss!”

The Silver Guardian episode “Suigin Receives a Loss!” advances the mystery set up during “Suigin Regrets the End!

Fictional video game Dungeon Century ends with Rei and Suginsearching for the rare in-game artifact the Evening Songflower until the game’s final moments. The pair finally meet in the non-game world as well.

In the preceding episode “Suigin Regrets the End!” some sort of intrigue spawned with Rei’s father, a famous video game guru and the creator of Dungeon Century as well as a new title Grave Buster at the center. During “Suigin Receives a Loss!” Mr. Riku gets killed by a co-worker no less.

It’s still unclear how, but there’s mention of opening a tomb, and Mr. Riku is dubbed a grave keeper. Plus, his murderer calls Mr. Riku “The last of [his] kind.” Coupled with Mr. Riku lamenting that he was still searching for someone, it appears he sought a successor to guard a tomb. Presumably, Suigin eventually assumes the task.

I enjoyed “Suigin Receives a Loss!” quite a lot, and the fourth episode of The Silver Guardian makes marked improvements over earlier series entries. I’m probably more invested in the mysterious events surrounding Mr. Riku and his games, as well as how Suigin gets pulled into a video game. Whereas earlier episodes featured a rushed feeling, “Receives a Loss!” makes excellent use of its condensed runtime.

Yet the protagonists in Rei Riku and Suigin don’t always feel terribly engaging. The plot is ridden with tropes and the romance feels about as deep as Twilight. Still, the characters, though caricatures, do feature traits which help them come across as relatable in many ways. It’s refreshing to see imperfect protagonists. Admittedly, the love story isn’t terribly strong and the writing at times is rather confusing. Just refer to the hot mess of a pilot. Even in this series entry, there’s a lot that simply doesn’t make sense. Like how Rei knows Suigin immediately when the first meet in the real world. Even for a fantasy show, many plot points are unrealistic and muddled. But The Silver Guardian has improved a lot, and I’m left keen to see where The Silver Guardian goes from here.

SCORE
7.5/10