English Dub Review: WorldEnd: What are you doing at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? “No News Was Good News”

The price that must be paid for hubris is often on the tab of the children.

Spoilers Below

Willem is taken to see someone. It is a name he hasn’t heard in a long time, and he is surprised that the person on the other side of it is even alive. Souwong, one of Willem’s compatriots of old, somehow used magic to prevent his own death. His lichdom has seen him through the five hundred years and has made him a vital part of the floating archipelago. Together with one of the beasts, Eboncandle, Souwong managed to lift the archipelago into the air and hold it there. Of course, having been around as long as he is, he also knows a great deal about the 17 Beasts and the fairies. The beasts were the bioweapons of a human cult, whose purposes were largely unknown. This is the reason why humans are treated so horribly. The world blames them for the destruction of the surface, and the creation of the Beasts. On the other hand, the origins of the Fairies and the Leprechauns are no better. Souwong has been harvesting the souls of dead children, converting them into Fairies so that they can wield the Dug Weapons. He doesn’t like it, but it is his only choice.

As we begin to see in Chtholly, this hybrid soul leads to some malfunctions. If the Leprechaun uses up too much venom, she begins to remember her past life. This results in ego death, and mental breakdown. Chtholly begins showing signs, having visual and auditory hallucinations that grow so intense, she goes into a comatose state. Willem, hearing that she has begun remembering, takes the first flight he can. But he’s too late. She’s an unresponsive vegetable. He and Nygglatho mourn her current state with some alcohol and emotional self-flagellation. However, with the sheer force of will, Chtholly resists the pull of her old self, answering the call of her promise to Willem. She wakes up and admits everything he means to her. He was the first one to help her, to show her a great view, to beat her in combat… and the first person she fell in love with. The two embrace, with a shove from Nygglatho, and release all of their pent up emotions in tears. But, it is important to remember, the life of a Faerie is short, and coming back to her love will cost her something great in the long run.

Oh, yeah! This episode may have been loaded down with exposition, but we finally got some explanations as to what is going on around here. While the Beasts as bioweapons was an angle I was expecting, the origins of the Faeries was not. I had figured that Chtholly was a reincarnation of the girl Willem loved in the past, and it was those memories that were messing with her, but this is something even worse. It’s sad that these Faeries are humanoid bioweapons, destined to live very brief lives with little joy. Worse that they are created from dead children. So those children will never be at rest, just turned into weapons and depleted. No wonder the world is slowly crumbling. Eboncandle was rather humorous and reminded me of Bob from the Dresden Files. A little bit of cartoony fun in an otherwise depressing episode.

The animation was good throughout. They managed to get a large amount of expression out of the skull that is Eboncandle, and the combat animation was impactful, despite using a few of the typical anime shortcuts. The voice acting for Souwong was rather impressive. His voice actor managed to portray an old man’s gruffness and a young boy’s impetuousness at the same time. What really got me was Chtholly’s wailing at the end. The entire scene was loaded with great voice acting, and I was right there for the ride. Amber Lee Connors did an excellent job here. I give this episode nine dead kiddie souls out of ten.