English Dub Review: Scarlet Nexus “Karen’s Wish”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
After reuniting with Major General Fubuki, Yuito and Kasane’s platoons are treated to a story from the past as Fubuki tells them about how he and Alice met Karen and why Karen has been doing what he’s been doing. He and his brother were born without powers, and Alice and Fubuki befriended them in the hospital. Alice gave Karen a lot of inspiration with her willpower to join the OSF, and the friendly rivalry lasted until Alice sacrificed herself for Karen and was turned into an Other in the process. Karen has been trying to travel back in time and change his friend’s fate. Yuito and Kasane decide to work on stopping Togetsu before they worry about Karen, but there’s one more revelation before the episode ends: Kagero tells everyone that he was the one who murdered the chairman, Yuito’s father.
Our Take:
Scarlet Nexus is already up to episode 18 when it comes to Funimation’s dub. There’s still plenty of plot left to come, but things are starting to fall into place as we near the final arc of the show. Karen’s Wish is mostly a blast from the past, but it happens to be more entertaining than most of the show’s episodes set in the present—although that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
We’ve had a lot of fast-paced action over the previous few weeks of episodes, so it was about time for a change of pace. This week’s ep gets it started early with a bit of story time from Major General Fubuki, who arrived on the scene at the end of the last episode. He recounts the story of Alice and Karen, and how the two of them formed a strange sort of bond due to those who doubted their success.
Alice was a girl who always wanted to help others by joining the OSF. The only problem was that she was small, I guess, and didn’t have super strong powers. It’s not a super fresh take on motivation, but it’s a sweet story that definitely does a good job mustering up some sympathy for Karen. The events of the last couple episodes have painted him in a pretty negative light what with attacking Kasane and Yuito, but now that we know the reason for his treachery, it seems a lot more acceptable. That’s not to say that Karen is a hero now, but the fact that he’s been traveling back in time for years in order to restore his friend to her rightful state helps explain why he can treat Yuito and Kasane in such a trivial way.
After the story is over, Yuito still has to decide what to do about Karen. For now, the group chooses to ignore the threat of the General’s meddling and try to take down Togetsu instead, since that threat is a little more pressing. Of course, the best way to do that seems to be sneaking in via the same cave they snuck out of last time they visited (shouldn’t the Togetsu folks have locked that down by now?) and then trying to sabotage BABE, the supercomputer with the funniest name of the show. And just when things look like they’re wrapping up for the week, Kagero goes and reveals that he’s the one who killed Yuito’s father…
Overall this week’s episode of Scarlet Nexus was a good one for sure. It’s a little distressing that one of my favorite episodes is the one that kept Yuito, Kasane, and basically all of the main present-era characters sidelined, but hey, sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder. And speaking of fondness, what was up with Fubuki and Alice’s parents making them toddler fiancés? That was weird, right?
