English Dub Review: Scarlet Nexus “The Rebel Yuito”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After learning that Seiran is manufacturing medicinal ampules from human brains, Yuito and his squadron take what they’ve uncovered to General Fubuki. He tells them that if they can obtain Nagi’s erased memories that show Naomi turning into an Other, he will broadcast it to the nation so everyone can learn the truth.

But obtaining Nagi’s memories is easier said than done. Yuito and co. sneak into the facility that houses the data, but are trapped by Nagi, who is more powerful than ever. The team winds up imprisoned and the leader of New Himuka broadcasts that Yuito is a traitor to the country.

Our Take:

What once started out as a pretty simple humans against monsters show has rapidly turned into something more akin to a political thriller playing out before our eyes. Granted, it’s still a pretty simple show, but this episode definitely cements the fact that the Others were just a front to disguise the real villain: humanity itself.

Dramatic, maybe, but that’s the kind of show Scarlet Nexus is at this point. Between using human brains as medicinal ingredients and wiping people’s memories for scientific study, these recent episodes have dropped the struggle against the Others in favor of more sneaky opponents. Seiran and New Himuka both have their secrets, and there are some good people fighting on both sides for various reasons. And nobody knows that better than Kasane.

The situation she finds herself in now is stuck between a rock and a hard place for sure. On one hand, Kasane knows that Seiran isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and neither is General Karin. But at the same time, the research conducted by the mad scientists may be the one shot Naomi has at returning to lead a normal life. Kasane doesn’t really have a choice in supporting Karin and his regime, not unless she’s ready to say goodbye to the only family she has left.

I am a little confused about Karin currently, though. It seemed like the show had set him up as the big bad rebel leader behind the break from New Himuka, but in this episode he tries to convince Kasane and her friends that what he wants is different from what Seiran wants. But I thought he was in charge here? It’s definitely getting a little hard to keep track of who’s who and who’s fighting for what with all the time travel, double agent side switching, and political intrigue going on.

What’s I’m glad to see in this episode though is that we finally seem to be moving on from the evil scientific research discoveries now. The last several episodes have all seemed pretty one-note in that either Kasane or Yuito infiltrates a supposedly-secret research lab and then gets shocked by how evil their governments really are. I think at this point it’s safe to say that nothing would surprise me about what either New Himuka or Seiran do in their spare time, so I’m ready to move on. And if the ending of The Rebel Yuito is anything to go by, the series is as well — next week could see Yuito and Kasane break away into new territory, both literally and figuratively.