English Dub Review: Scarlet Nexus “To Each Their Own Future”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Extinction Belt is gone, Alice is back, and everyone is moving on with their lives—except Karin, of course. Slowly, everyone seems to be forgetting about the determined doofus, even those who experienced his time traveling escapades firsthand. But maybe that’s okay. Yuito is going to college and plans to become a politician, while Kasane is headed to the moon, and together, the two of them will forge their own futures.

Our Take:

Scarlet Nexus returns for one last time this week with its 26th and final episode. To Each Their Own Future feels like a bonus episode of sorts, with all of the main plot points resolved last time around, all that’s left is to check in with everyone and see what’s in store for them in the future. It’s not particularly exciting or heartwarming or anything, but I always appreciate a good goodbye, and this is definitely an attempt at that by the show.

Even though I enjoy when a series doesn’t just end abruptly and takes the time to plan out a farewell moment for its characters, Scarlet Nexus is just about the last show I expected to do that. I still feel like I don’t really know who these characters really are, even after so many episodes, because so much of the show is spent on reacting to external conflict rather than examining things that lurk beneath the surface.

Maybe that’s why a lot of the episode feels so flat, even flatter than a post-resolution episode would normally feel. A little while has passed since the events of the previous episode. Yuito has lost all his powers, and Kasane kind of blames herself for it. She’s still with the OSF, which has experienced a resurgence of new recruits. Yuito is getting discharged, and so most of the episode is spent with the two of them walking around the campus and making small talk with all the side characters we’ve come to know and— well, at least we know them.

There’s nothing revolutionary or anything—one guy is an up and coming commander, Kagero has been pardoned for his treachery and doesn’t want to go back to the moon, Tsugumi tells everyone that the trees are happier now post-extinction belt. It’s pretty basic stuff meant to leave us with a good feeling in our hearts as these characters disappear from the screen.

There is a little bit of intrigue to the episode, though, which is the dynamic between Alice’s return and Karen’s banishment. Yuito and Kasane try to figure it out with Arashi, who forgets about Karen’s existence mid-conversation. It adds a bit of an off-key note to the proceedings, especially when it’s revealed that Alice and Fubuki are getting married now. What would Karen think if he knew his sacrifice had caused this? Well, he’d be happy hopefully, at least the new and improved version of him.

Scarlet Nexus leaves us with a sweet goodbye between Yuito, who has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a politician, and Kasane, who is off to see what the moon people have been up to. It’s a satisfactory send off that leaves plenty of room for another season—at least in the minds of those who wish to imagine it.