English Dub Review: KADO: The Right Answer “Episode 0”

Is this series a hero or a zero for Funimation?

KADO: The Right Answer follows negotiator Kōjirō Shindō (Ian Mead Moore), a highly skilled negotiator. Shindō gets assigned a new deployment with partner Shun Hanamori (Kyle Igneczi). The pair are sent to a metal manufacturing plant which is poised to be turned into a multi-purpose hall.

Most of the episode follows Hanamori and Shindō in their investigation. While initially Shindō embarks on a mission to close the plant and shell out a severance package to current plant employees, Shindō probes tech innovations to discover whether there’s a better solution. Instead of closing the plant, he suggests the factory workers manufacture a frictionless metal.

As Shindō explains, “The goal in negotiating is to acquire whatever’s in your best interest…there’s never a single answer…no matter how hard we try, we’ll never know the right answer.” Rather, it’s finding the best fit for all parties involved.

For much of the episode, I wasn’t quite sure where the show was going. That’s not to say it was boring or confusing. The plot of the episode remains pretty clear, but I assumed the entire series of KADO: The Right Answer would not focus on simply bureaucratic negotiations. During the final moments of “Episode 0,” Shindō and Hanamori set off on a business trip. However as their plane traverses down the runway, a massive rainbow-colored box hurdles from the sky and traps their plane. It appears like a shimmery version of the Lament configuration, aka Lemarchand’s box, or the puzzle box from Hellraiser. I doubt Hanamori and Shindō are about to encounter Pinhead, Chatterer, Butterball, and the rest of the Cenobites though. However, that could make for some neat negotiation.

I enjoyed the slow pace of “Episode 0.” KADO: The Right Answer offers a refreshingly steady narrative. The plot takes its time and plods along, but holds interest. Lack of clarity as to where the overarching story arc was going made me more curious and keen on the plot.

However, at times the negotiations were admittedly a bit dull. While I enjoy dialogue-driven stories, the negotiations weren’t all that captivating at times. I did appreciate its slower pacing though as well as the music. The score features a retro-vibe and strays from overpowering. Instead, it’s pretty muted and used sparingly.

After the massive cube, I’m pretty excited to see how KADO progresses. While I expected a bit more action, I did not predict the finale with a gargantuan shimmery box plummeting from the sky to trap the plane. From here, I suspect Shindō will have to make use of his negotiation skills in some capacity. KADO is refreshingly slow in spots, confusingly plodding in others, but ultimately redeems itself with a forceful ending.