English Dub Review: Scarlet Nexus “Kagero’s Confession”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After revealing that he was the one who killed Yuito’s father, Kagero is attacked by Yuito and the two of them engage in some serious combat. Yuito comes out on top, but before he can slay Kagero, he holds back and demands the full story. Kagero goes on to say that he didn’t actually kill Yuito’s father, but that he was ordered to by Togetsu. There are big shifts happening in the Kunad Gate as the squad breaks into Togetsu in an effort to try and commandeer the super computer called BABE. But before they can do what they’ve come to do, they’re interrupted by a vision of Yuito and Kasane’s…mother?!

Our Take:

This week’s episode of Scarlet Nexus may not have been the most exciting or interesting episode, but I did enjoy parts of it for how unintentionally silly it’s all coming across. We’ve got last minute revelations that make no sense, super computers called BABE, and that weird Kunad Gate which somehow affects everything just when the plot needs it to. But hey, just because it’s a little silly doesn’t mean it can’t be satisfying to watch.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect after last week’s end of the episode admission by Kagero that he killed Yuito’s father. The fact that Yuito attacks Kagero isn’t that surprising, but all the dialogue and lead-up and aftermath to the fight is just really weird. Like Kagero keeps insisting that he killed Yuito’s father, and Yuito keeps saying stuff like, “You murdered my dad?” and finally Kagero is just like, “I don’t know how I could make it any clearer.” This is the guy who has been alive for thousands of years, infiltrated the OSF, and lied to the group multiple times. Then once the battle begins, some of the platoon members wisely try to stop the fight, but others say that Yuito and Kagero need to fight or else they’ll never move past this and put it behind them. Like, what? Do they think that hitting each other is like therapy?

And then of course it all turns out to be some plan by Yuito to make Kagero tell more of the truth, which is that he didn’t even kill Yuito’s father in the first place. It all just feels like tension for tension’s sake, and a silly excuse to have some action in the first half of the episode. To be fair, the action isn’t bad and the fight between Yuito and Kagero was pretty well staged, I thought. But it’s just pointless from an in-universe perspective.

Before the group goes on with their plans to pick up BABE (And just picture me smirking every time I have to write that super computer’s name), there’s a strange disturbance in the force, er, I mean the Kunad Gate. Apparently Yuito’s either really emotional, or is totally about to lose his powers and die or something. Who knows? All they can do is keep on keepin’ on, so they head to Togetsu, where they send Kagero on ahead and infiltrate the place within like ten seconds. Seriously, how has Kagero’s security clearance not been revoked by now? Togetsu is just playing itself at this point.

As is tradition, we get a last second surprise and a woman appears who Yuito and Kasane both call mom… awkward! It’s a fitting end for a pretty silly episode that managed to be entertaining through unintentional humor and some solid action sequences. I’m definitely not invested in these characters or their squabbles, but I hope the show can at least keep up this sort of entertainment until the end of its run.