English Dub Review: Kado: The Right Answer “Yaha-kui zaShunina”

Sound it out…

KADO: The Right Answer episode “Yaha-kui zaShunina” picks up where “Ninovo” left off with flight 256 being enveloped by a massive rainbow-colored cube. Onboard are Kōjirō Shindō (Ian Mead Moore) and Shun Hanamori (Kyle Igneczi). It’s neat witnessing the fallout. As with real-world tragedies, there’s media havoc and concern from co-workers and loved ones.

NNK Broadcasting Director Gono Takumi and a team of reporters film the cube from a helicopter. While filming, Takumi murmurs, “Let’s do this before the government censors us.” Meanwhile, political leaders get involved. Chief Cabinet Secretary Ubuka Kiyotaka states, “Let’s determine the potential threat of this object, and come up with a plan of action.” With little concrete intel, the main priority is gleaning information. Thus, there’s no media censorship in place.

While the initial emergency briefing concludes that a passenger airplane has been crushed, a young theoretical physicist, Shinawa Kanata (Tabitha Ray), interrupts and claims that it hasn’t been destroyed. Professor of Physics Mifune Tetsuto introduces his protege, Shinawa.

She’s a quirky character from the onset: Shinawa bursts into the meeting wearing a lab coat and pink slippers, clutching a pink tablet. The tablet has what appear to be buttons on it such as a d-pad, suggesting she might be a gamer. What’s certain is Shinawa isn’t a typical character.

Several forces and factions mobilize, including the military. Working with scientists, military officials fire a shell from a tank at the cube to determine more about it such as its consistency and whether an object could survive its impact. This prompts Shindō  to emerge, alongside a strange man Yaha-kui zaShunina (Jason Librecht). Although zaShunina does not explain his origin or his connection to the cube, it’s pretty clear he’s responsible.

Though I enjoyed the intro KADO: The Right Answer episode, I couldn’t quite figure out where it was heading. The first three-quarters meandered and seemed to stall while getting to the main plot. However, the second episode quickens the pace. It’s still pretty dialogue-driven which I rather appreciate. Moreover, “Yaha-kui zaShunina” introduces several new characters. Notably, I really enjoy Shinawa and remain excited to watch her progression as the series continues.

Occasionally KADO: The Right Answer suffers from underwhelming CG. 2.5d doesn’t always gel with more traditional animation. At times, this pseudo-3d styling interrupts the flow and jars me out of the story. But these sequences are sparse. “Yaha-kui zaShunina” quite impressed me with its marked improvement over the initial season one opener. The second episode arrives as an excellent answer to an average season one debut.