English Dub Review: The World Ends With You: The Animation “Emergency Call”

Overview

Neku’s final game has begun, and the Reapers are out to make sure he doesn’t stand a chance. With no partner and enemies on all sides, Neku will have to rely on help from an unexpected source against the cool and calculating new Game Master…


Our Take

Unlike the previous two episodes, the third week doesn’t rely on too much character development or worldbuilding, so it’s pretty well suited for a condensed television adaptation. I found myself enjoying the whole complication with Beat and Neku having a bounty placed on their heads. It’s interesting to see the series getting less vibrant and darker colorwise, showing that we’re getting deeper into the plot.

It was pretty obvious that Beat would be Neku’s third partner either way. I just think the confusion Neku would feel from being able to use his psychs again would be more entertaining. We also got to find out what happened with Rhyme and what Beat’s whole goal was. Also one of the standout moments was when the in-game soundtrack played with a fan-favorite piece of music called “Twister” which I’m sure was done for the sake of fanservice for those who played the game.

Overall, the stakes are higher now with the Reapers going after Beat and Neku due to the emergency announcement from Konishi. Reportedly, the broadcast and her appearance at the end of the episode that upon research, wasn’t in the game’s main plot, yet she feels more involved with the story with the way they’re handling her character. But it remains to be seen if it’ll have a payoff in the next episode.