English Dub Review: The Dawn of The Witch “Snack Time”

Overview: Saybil (Travis Mullenix) admits his feelings for a certain special someone while Hort (Kimmie Britt) and Kudo (Joe Cucinotti) grow closer with Kady, as he gets to know the village and the enemies he is supposed to hate. 

Our Take: Sayb making the amazing progress that he is, albeit within a relatively short span of episodes, greatly contributes to why he succeeds as much as he does character wise. While more episodes to more deeply cultivate Saybil would be better served, seeing the companions in his life, like Hort, Zero and Lo, and the different ways they are having an impact on his character are enjoyable to watch in both his and its earnestness. 

One intriguing way we see how he is changing at a rapid pace are his romantic intentions in him being honest, albeit coming on a bit too strong, about his feelings for Lo, being VERY direct about what he wants to do with her. This is neat because he is not just a smooth talker outright and highlights how he is still finding his footing on how to approach people. While cliché in a main protagonist having immense potential, the way it is tackled here is unique enough in Sayb’s specific magic capabilities in shaping objects and potion crafting, ones that have the potency of two mages. It is cool to see how Hort, specifically, has a huge impact on Sayb in pushing him to be more honest about his feelings and thoughts. With Lo reminding him of how much Sayb cares for Hort, it teases that he may have feelings for her as well. I smell a harem brewing, or at least some complex feelings that are still changing and evolving which is neat in seeing how it will ebb and flow. Also, Hort’s effect on Sayb promises for even more great comedic moments in the future. 

A lot of extra story is packed in for various different characters. So much so that I was wholeheartedly expecting it to be overstuffed and bite off more than it can chew, not giving compelling contributions to anyone. However, it surprisingly works for the backstories that are given and the effectiveness of it. The boy who invaded the village, Kady, acts as a good way of showing that every side in war has kind and civilized people at the helm as he gets to know the “terrible” witch faction that he has been abused into hating since day one. It also paints a picture of the horrific atrocities the higher-ups of the Church put children through at a young age. Tyrant’s abusive childhood from his father, being recruited by horrendous trappers and eventually the church and Priest does a good job of showing how he became as brutal as he did. It also makes for a great explanation in how Tyrant views the kids contrasting lackadaisical attitude as well as why he likes Hartful in her overall strength and warmth towards helping witches in spite of being hurt by them. 

Dawn gives a brutal lesson in how seriously it takes the conflict between the church and witches in Kady being planted with a remnant, turning into a grotesque fleshy blade monster. Kady is hard to look at to say the least and even more so is the lengths Kudo and Hort force themselves to in attempting to kill him for the safety of the village children, despite forging a bond with him and pushing him to trust them. Tyrant’s redemption is nicely coming along in him saving Hartful and attempting to sacrifice himself. Tyrant’s feelings for Hartful, with Hort taking notice of the strides he is making, and heroic exploits coupled with Hort and Kudo choosing not to leave him behind nicely shows how they are slowly but surely building bridges. Lo and her crazy gluten staff, Ludens, coming to the rescue makes for an exciting ending.