English Dub Review: Estab Life: Great Escape “You Can’t Run from True Feelings”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The extractors’ future looks grimmer than ever as an army of drones hounds them from cluster to cluster. Equa’s heart is set on one last job, but can she convince anyone else to join her on what seems like a suicide mission?

Our Take: 

Last week’s episode finally generated some interest in the repetitive series by having the extractors going on the run. More importantly, they had to escape without Equa’s Fatal Luck ability, the main reason they survived every extracting assignment they received. Combine that with Equa’s development, and you get one of the better episodes in Great Escape. It may be too little, too late for this troubling series, but at least it gave me something to look forward to in its last two episodes.

This week’s episode continues where the last one left off, with the extractors continuing to escape from the security drones. They eventually made their way to the terminal in the Sangenjaya Cluster, where they tried to contact their manager, Mr. M. While searching through Mr. M’s information, the extractors discovered through a sound file that their manager also wanted to escape from the controlled city. Equa then decided to head to Oedo Castle to help Mr. M escape. However, Feles’ injury during their escape forces her to depart from the team, leaving the group with one gunslinger short.

Since last week’s episode, the show has been doing whatever it can to provide some last-minute stakes for both the extractors and the city. It even started with the clusters being set on fire by the rioters. How this series made the final stretch more engaging than the previous episodes is beyond me, but at least it’s better than being consistently bored with the entire season. “You Can’t Run from True Feelings” continues to engage me even more as the extractors prepare for what seems to be their final assignment.

Part of its engaging plot comes from the characters, mainly Equa, Feles, and Martes. The girls started as basic yet tolerable characters with minimal amounts of development. However, starting with “Running Away”, the show explores their depths further, with Equa’s origin being the prominent example. “True Feelings” continues this exploration by showcasing Equa being the one who invented the runaway dance for her clients. I’m willing to bet that people would eventually use that dance for their next TikTok video.

However, the moment that really drove this episode was the brief confrontation between Feles and Equa that forced the former to walk away. After getting shot in the arm while protecting Equa, Feles feels concerned that she won’t be able to protect Equa during her mission to save Mr. M. This results in Martes being pissed at Equa for letting Feles leave without saying a word. Martes, now the voice of reason, convinces Equa to admit to Feles that she couldn’t complete the mission without her. With the team back together, they set off to storm the castle.

This touching moment between the extractors helps “You Can’t Run from True Feelings” elevate the show’s tiring formula with some much-needed character development. Plus, it offered a much-fitting reappearance of Toichi from episode two, who is now a magical girl. Now I want to know how they manage to transform a man into a magical girl. The stage is set for next week’s riveting finale, which will see the extractors on their most challenging mission yet: extracting their manager. Let’s hope it can end things off with style.