English Dub Review: Lord of Vermillion: The Crimson King “Why do I Love my Despised Enemy?”

Don’t ask me silly questions, Vermilion.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The war between the Maldeus Church and the agents of Chaos is starting to take off, with Chihiro, Kamina and their allies working together to fight against their new enemies. With the terror of Chaos impressed upon them, each of the recipients of the Heroic Lineage realize just how dire this situation is.

Jun, unable to get reinforcements from up top, sets out to get allies to help him fight this war. Later, Kamina gets into a battle with a newcomer to the fray, Tsubaki, a fey soul who’s more complex than she initially lets on. Finally, Chihiro has an internal struggle to release the inner power locked inside his soul.

Our Take:

Things continue as they have for the first three weeks on Lord of Vermillion, indicating to me that what hopefully once was just a shaky start for the show is almost certainly going to be a consistent problem for this troubled anime. I can’t say I’m totally surprised by this; just take a look at its promotional art and pilot episode I was overwhelmed by a feeling of mediocrity that emanated from the generic character designs.

I’m a little confused as to why this show even exists in the first place. I understand, of course, that Japan makes shows and external media based on popular properties all the time. To those not in the know, Lord of Vermillion has based off an “Arcade card game” of the same name, so the show has some reason for its existence in Japan. The question, though, is why Funimation decided it was worth their and their audience’s time to import this bloody mess and give it a full simulcast dub. It’s a sad statement about the anime environment that we’re in where major dubbing companies are reaching for any property they can to fill out their seasonal lineup. Without wanting to sound like an old man, there was a time when dubbing was a more discriminatory practice. Alas, here we are.

As for the episode, what you’ll find is that the troubles that have persisted so far are only getting worse. The cast grows larger with each episode, and so the show’s focus gets weaker and weaker. Not that there’s a whole lot to lose focus of. Not a single member of this cast is particularly appealing as a character. I do enjoy the swagger and aesthetic of this private detective who’s been playing a bigger part recently, but most everyone else has the depth and complexity of a stale loaf of bread.

Each time I watch Lord of Vermilion, I get a sour taste in my mouth. It’s not overwhelmingly bad, (Like certain other shows I could mention) but boy is it undercooked, and not to mention totally weird. The show has done a pretty poor job of importing the game elements into anime form and giving them sense in the context of a linear story. It seems like the writers are mostly concerned with getting the show to look like the game as much as possible, without making a creative story.