English Dub Review: The Executioner and Her Way of Life “Monstrine”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
A dangerous drug has flooded the streets of Libelle, but Menou isn’t the only one on the case. Who will uncover the truth first, and what is Manon Libelle planning?

Our Take:
So far, our little visit to Libelle is quite lovely, but it isn’t without a few disadvantages. For starters, Menou’s plan to send Akari to her death in Pandemonium didn’t go as planned. Now, we have a mysterious group known as the Fourth that seeks to ruin the characters’ “relaxing” visit.
Even worse is that Libelle’s ruler’s daughter, Manon, is calling the shots as she sends the members to assassinate Menou. When the attackers are defeated, Manon transforms them into monsters to keep them from spilling the beans to the authorities. Then, Menou is tasked by Pastor Cilica to investigate an addictive drug known as monstrine, so she sends Momo to investigate while she keeps an eye on Akari.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, you’re not wrong. “Monstrine” follows the same formula as the one from “The Ancient Capital Garm”, which has Momo investigating a mystery in a town Menou and Akari are visiting. Additionally, it features another feud between Momo and Ashuna, who’s also looking into the mystery drug. The only difference between the two is that we know the person behind this dangerous drug in this episode.
Manon plans to exact revenge for her mother’s death by killing Menou and using monstrine for nefarious purposes. She even went as far as to slip the drug into the members’ food, leaving them no choice but to obey her orders. If that isn’t the sign of her being insane, I don’t know what is. The episode also indicates that the monstrine could be coming from the young girl’s blood harvested by Manon.
“Monstrine” introduces another enticing mystery for Menou and Momo to solve, even though it couldn’t help but get a case of deja vu in its formula. There were also times when Akari’s chirpy personality came close to becoming a nuisance. She even tried to snuggle with Menou twice while she was sleeping. Otherwise, it’s another fine chapter in Menou’s journey to kill a time-reversing Lost One. Next week’s episode has Menou and Akari attending a ball Manon is hosting, so let’s see if they’re able to dig up some more dirt on the drug during this “special” occasion.