English Dub Review: In/Spectre “She Who Defends Order”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Kotoko’s final fictional solution was accepted by a majority of the wiki readers. Steel Lady Nanase vanishes, and Rikka’s plan is foiled… for now. Saki tries to ask Kotoko more about Rikka and her motives, but the tiny ghost whisperer is too tired to talk.

After resting for many hours, Kotoko wakes up and knows its time to leave. Rikka won’t stop trying to fulfil her desires to become a normal human, no matter the cost. And now that Kotoko is her biggest obstacle, neither she or Kuro are safe.

Our Take:

The final episode of In/Spectre is a fitting end cap to the series. It’s a good episode, but never quite reaches the heights that it might have if it had a more focused, entertaining storyline. Kotoko and Kuro working together does end Rikka’s creation of Steel Lady Nanase, but only for the time being. She’s going to keep moving toward her goals, and now that they’ve intervened once, they’ll have to do it again. She Who Defends Order ends with Kotoko embarking on her new mission, but still leaves plenty of room for future stories.

One of the best parts of this show is the characters, and the finale gives them plenty of time to shine. We get a nice little voiceover ending montage from Saki, which does a good job putting a finishing touch on the Steel Lady Nanase events and how the citizens and the police department in the community are dealing with the aftermath. Kuro gets to have some sweet moments with both Saki and Kotoko, which should please all seafaring shippers. And Kotoko gets plenty of opportunities to throw in some of her trademark witticisms and lowbrow humor.

From a story perspective, not a whole lot happens. She Who Defends Order pretty much just recaps the Steel Lady Nanase arc and then provides a bit of closure for the heroes of the series while opening up new possibilities for the future. Probably the biggest climatic work the episode does is solidifying Rikka as a straight up villain. A villain with arguably noble intentions, but a villain nonetheless. I’m a little conflicted about how late in the game her full motivations have surfaced, but it’s a good way to inject a little tension into the final moments of the show as Kotoko and Kuro walk hand-in-hand into the future.