English Dub Review: APPARE-RANMAN! “FAKE”

Overview:

The gang rushes to cut off Gil.

Our Take:

I do genuinely like everyone sticking around for Appare. I enjoyed Xianlian and Al a lot as individual characters, but I think it’s really great how they’re still caring for Appare. He may have helped them, and they’re not sticking around out of obligation to him to repay him, but because it’s the right thing to do. They have such a good bond, real friendly rivals that don’t spill over into bad blood, and I love to see it. I adore this makeshift group.

The standout character this time is naturally, Hototo. This is something he has dedicated his entire life to, ever since that fateful day, and he finally makes his stand. Surprisingly so, his act isn’t one of revenge, but to expose Gil’s crimes in front of the world. This makes sense, because despite his brash exterior, Hototo is really a kind kid at heart. Also, being Native American, we’ve seen just how people tend to treat him when he’s asking for advice, much less trying to expose a criminal for their actions. It’s not very likely that someone would listen to him unless they were an outsider to begin with (like Appare and Kosame), even if Gil isn’t a particularly liked person in the country anyway. The bravery that Hototo had to muster up to stand in front of his enemy’s car, knowing full well that Gil is the type of person that has no issue with creating a massacre, is incredible. It shows Hototo’s determination, but also his desperation, and I feel for him so much.

Admittedly, I was not expecting the plot twist of Gil not being Gil at all. To be fair, they have repeatedly said that Gil is not a public figure, so identifying him would be hard. It would be easy for someone else to swoop in and steal his name, as long as the original doesn’t mind. It’s a little hard to tell if Gil is a single person or a large group of people, since I doubt this is the first time that this has happened. Perhaps there was an original, and then his name was taken up by many other people, similar to Paranoia Agent? Or maybe the original Gil could be laying low. It’s a little too hard to tell this early on, but it really makes me wonder.