English Dub Review: Battle Game in 5 Seconds: “Plagiarist”

Overview: The matches continue as Akira (Robbie Daymond), Yuri (Laura Stahl) and Madoka (Billy Kametz) finish their battles against their opponents with Shiroyanagi learning the true nature of his ability. 

Our Take: Picking up from where the last episode left off, Madoka and Saeko finally conclude their battle. The cliffhanger ending raised so many red flags that you couldn’t help but wonder what, if anything, Saeko could pull out to put a stop to Madoka. A large, unsuspecting marble torpedoing the man’s balls will definitely do the trick in being surprising. Although, it inserts a nice dose of humor and not just in the moment, having it be the cause of Madoka becoming unconscious and therefore losing the match, feels a bit too easy in order to end the match quickly and offer a “surprising twist” 

After Madoka’s hilarious embarrassment, Akira tests the rules of his ability on the definition of wimpy that is Kouji Kitajima. His deduction of the conditions that must be met to activate his ability works on various levels. Not only is Akira’s fakeout arm gun blasting of Madoka continuing to show his thriving friendship with the swordsman, it also puts focus on how Akira intelligently thinks his way through psychological enigmatic issues. In regards to Yuri, it wouldn’t even be fair to call her ordeal a match as it’s more so her just demolishing her creeper who got her into the deadly game in the first place. It’s a nice ending challenge for her, both physically and internally, in how his ability is essentially the antithesis to her own and Yuri finally getting her comeuppance and one-shoting him at that. 

Throughout the other team’s punishment in which they must wait hand and foot for Akira, Yuri and the gang, it showcases different aspects of the main protagonist that there’s more to him than just brains. Rather than just have him be a caricature of someone who thinks logically and tactically be cold and calculating, he’s shown to have nice emotional intelligence, with how he’s especially sweet towards Yuri and even that of his enemy, Ringo. Not to mention there’s even more cheekiness with him criticizing Madoka’s humiliating loss, that shows how well Akira bounces off various members of his team in a unique light-hearted manner. With each member being likable in their own way and as the Akira and the team separate, their own solo challenges ahead promise to distinguish and engage.