English Dub Review: Special 7: Special Crime Investigation Unit “The Eleven O’clock War”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

We begin where we left off. Nijo and his semi-deceased brother, Luka, are engaged in a gun battle at a surprisingly empty park. Before too long, Nijo gains the upper hand causing Luka to surrender. The defeated disgrace asks his brother to put him out of his misery. Nijo fires, but we know damn well he doesn’t kill anybody.

Meanwhile, Nanatsuki is still having a weeping fit, blaming himself for what happened to Ichinose’s partner and every other nasty thing that has occurred in the past nine years. Ichinose doesn’t have time for the rookie’s crap. He tells him that Luka made the right call all those years ago, and he would’ve done the same thing if their positions were reversed. Because even though Ichinose is a lazy sack of crap, he believes in justice and is more than ready to put his own life on the line to protect innocent civilians.

 Bellemer, Akane, and Gramps are at the noodle house. The young homunculus wants her partners to sit out the upcoming dragon battle because they have families that depend on them. Belle, on the other hand, only has the Special 7. Akane and Gramps decide to stick it out. The vampire calls her partner who is super understanding. The faceless man agrees to lie low with their beloved dog. Gramp’s ex isn’t as uplifting, but proves she cares in her own way by ordering him not to die.

With everyone on board—except for Nijo who’s starring in his own series—Bellemer shows the team the info she got off that witness’s prosthetic eye. It turns out, every act of terror NINE committed in the past few weeks was to break a series of seals to make Warlock more powerful. After tracing a pentagram on the map, Nanatsuki discovers the final seal is located somewhere in police headquarters.

At the same time, Boss is apprehended by Public Safety, all of whose surviving members are agents of NINE. They bring him to the roof where he meets Warlock. Surprise, surprise, they’re old friends. Boss used to be a dragon before he broke good, and the clever son of a bitch still has some of his powers. The two behemoths fight to a standstill. Warlock’s power is increased by his brainwashed minions while Boss’s are strengthened by his belief in justice. When Nanatsuki shows up, he combines his powers with Boss’s as they prepare for the final fight.

Across town, Nijo has finally gotten through to his brother. All of a sudden, Luka remembers who he is and what he had to sacrifice to save Nanatsuki and countless other lives. It looks like he’s back on the right side—but for how long?

 

Our Take

Now that was an interesting reveal for the generally mysterious character known as Boss. Throughout the series we’ve always kind of liked him, even though we knew he was hiding something—or perhaps, a series of somethings. I also appreciated how such a big secret was a surprise even to the hyper-intuitive Ichinose.

While we’re still not one hundred percent clear on the extent of the dragon’s power, it seems that with all the broken seals, Warlock should be stronger than Nanatsuki and Boss combined. Not to take away from the good guys’ moment of hand-holding that supposedly created an ultimate power-up, but there has to be some tension going into the final episode.

Boss, Nanatsuki, and Ichinose are already formidable opponents. If for whatever reason, Warlock isn’t able to overpower them, than what would be the point of Luka’s last-minute transformation? Sure, Boss appeared to be Warlock’s equal when he blocked an entire damn helicopter, but I’m thinking the great dragon, as the epitome of evil, still has a trick or two up his sleeves.

And let’s not forget that we have the rest of Special 7 waiting in the wings. Yes, they have the minions to worry about as they make the exhausting journey to the roof, but we’re talking about a vampire, a sniper, and a technology wizard. Working together, there’s not much this holy trinity can’t accomplish. Plus, in case you hadn’t noticed, Warlock’s followers are a bunch of two-bit losers who were weak and dimwitted enough to drink his Kool-Aid in the first place.

I hope now that Nijo has the answers he’s been seeking for almost a decade, he’ll take that closure and become a better cop and person. The young elf has so much potential and is already skilled at so many things. To think, he got this far with such a gigantic chip on his shoulder. He managed to make detective at such a young age, and succeed despite working beside a man he wrongfully despised. If he’s not on the road to a redemption story, I don’t think anybody is.

Okay, so I was wrong about Luka secretly being Akane’s boyfriend. It was a bit of a long shot, but don’t tell me you didn’t at least consider the theory for a second or two. Now it seems that his face is hidden because he’s just a regular guy and represents the millions of faceless citizens living their lives unaware of the darker side of Tokyo that Special 7 faces every day. On the other hand, her dog’s face isn’t hidden, because he’s a dog and it would be super weird if they had chosen to conceal his face!