English Dub Review: WorldEnd: What are you doing at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? “Starry Road to Tomorrow”

Magical girls, holy swords, and Captain America.

Spoilers Below

Courtesy: Funimation

Fresh from giving Chtholly a massage to alleviate her overuse of her mana (or whatever word that is that they’re using in this anime), Willem heads to the records room to look up her fighting statistics. It takes all night, and some assistance from Nephren, but he manages to get the records room in order, and find the information he’s looking for. Chtholly, on the other hand, is waking with a pillow full of regrets for having asked him to KISS her. Some of the other girls inform her of where Willem is, and that he spent the night alone with Nephren, and she storms off to confront him. He presents her with an option: what if she didn’t have to open the Fairy Gate and sacrifice herself to save people’s lives? What if he could show her another way? One thing that is interesting, he picks up one of the holy swords and challenges her to a sparring match with hers. But, only Fairies can use these swords! That turns out to be only partially true. While these Leprechaun girls are capable of bringing out the Fairy Gate capabilities of the weapons, they have very little understanding of the actual weapons themselves. He demonstrates by soundly turning away her every blow, as his sword grows stronger to match the strength of his opponent. After proving his point, however, he collapses, coughing up blood.

Courtesy: Funimation

Nygglatho explains: Willem is the last human being, found in an ice cave after having fought one of the Beasts. He made a full recovery, but as we saw from a flashback, he is not at full power. All these truths weigh heavily on Chtholly, and she flies away to Limeskin’s airship. He gives her a bunch of sage advice that goes right over her head, but more importantly, he gives her the right to choose as to whether or not she will open the Fairy Gate in this upcoming battle. This time, her life is her choice. She returns to find Willem doing maintenance on her sword. He pops it open, and the blade explodes into a dozen shards, floating around them in a field while he plucks the hilt like a harp. It gives off a beautiful light show. Here, he explains why these holy swords are the way they are. Each sword is made up of many talismans, each for a different purpose. When combined, their resonance causes them to gain new power and become this weapon. He promises that he will make her stronger so that she can fight without killing herself. If she comes back, he’ll give her any wish. She wishes for butter cake, the same wish he made before leaving for war so many years ago.

Courtesy: Funimation

I have to say, I’m pleased with this series so far. It has a lot of heart, and the world is so rich. One thing I’ll never get over is the relationship before Willem and Nygglatho. Nygglatho’s Jaime Marchi does a great job conveying the deep connection with Willem’s Micah Solusod through teasing, and honest concern. Nygglatho plays as a man-eating monster, but she is very loving towards the girls and doting towards Willem. Her voice acting during Nygglatho’s outburst over the planned death of Chtholly is well acted, and I enjoyed it. Though Solusod was a bit flat and blase, I feel that that may have been what he was aiming for. A guy who gives away no emotion underneath his kind mask. Willem’s demeanor and backstory just scream a brunette Captain America. Calm, confident, and caring.

The animation is on the higher end of the scale here. It isn’t perfect, but its traditional animation sequences, especially the sparring match. Also, pains are taken to really bring out the precocious nature of the littler girls through their movement. It’s a small touch, but it gives each of them a personality expressed in their personal choreography. All in all, I really do love this show and want to see much more of it, even if the title could be shortened a bit. I give this episode eight mystical swords out of ten.

SCORE
8.0/10