English Dub Review: Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer “Akitani Inatika”

Overview

Yuuhi digs up a box buried in the mountains that contains a letter and a book for him which describes the life of the clairvoyant Swordfish Knight, Inatika Akitani.


Our Take

While it plays like a framing device with Yuuhi finding this letter and diary, Inachika seems like a surreal character, both for his role and reputation. I think this episode is kinda interesting to show what he’s like in the current timeline. Putting such a heavy spotlight on Akitani really made me care for him. I feel like nearly every side character in this show is much better and more interesting than the main duo. The main characters didn’t have any screen time in this episode, but seeing their interactions was mildly entertaining.

What we learn about Akitani the “Swordfish Knight”, is the usual song and dance we’ve come to know from movies like Highlander or “The Old Guard” about the troubling implications of Existing for so long. Being Immortal for 500 years seems like a blessing but it’s truly a curse watching everyone you love and care about die before you. And up until how his story ends within those very same flashbacks, All of it comes across as both bleak yet hopeful that his knowledge would be passed down to Yuuhi even if he wouldn’t live long enough to see it…

Overall, I liked this episode and found Akitani’s story to be quite sad. For a flashback episode, it was a half-decent plotline and had much more compelling development than the previous side characters except Shinonome. We finally have a somewhat better side character, or rather had. I think he got the perfect resolution to his story after being able to impart his wisdom to his final students. Now that Yuuhi knows his story and whatever visions he has of a future he’ll never be part of, the real question is, what will Yuuhi do with that knowledge and how will this help him and the rest of the Beast Knights?