English Dub Review: Zenshu “Hero”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Luke thinks about his life as a legendary hero.

Our Take:

Natsuko has finally figured out the whole “first love” situation, and, to no one’s surprise, her love was standing right in front of her the entire time: Luke Braveheart.  However, regarding the path he’s currently on, it’s only a matter of time before that first love gets crumbled to dust.  We all know that A Tale of Perishing is the most depressing film in the history of filmmaking, and the bird resembling its director, Kametaro Tsuruyama, wants to ensure it plays out as she wrote it.  In this week’s episode, she may be getting exactly what she wanted.

The first half briefly showcased how Luke formed the Nine Soldiers and how his comrades’ demises greatly affected his mental state.  Much of the film’s distressing tone is because of Luke’s descent into madness from all the losses he endured.  Natsuko informs QJ that the film’s original ending has Destiny’s death as the straw that broke Luke’s back, causing him to destroy the final Soul Future out of anger and grief and ending the world as the Ultimate Void.  This made me realize that Luke’s demise is similar to Memmeln’s fate, in which they’re both transformed into Ultimate Voids, symbolizing their succumbing to their emotional suffering.  As a cinephile, I understand why Natsuko loves A Tale of Perishing.  Its ending was depressing as hell, but it’s also quite ambitious in its storytelling and themes.

But, of course, this review isn’t about me talking about a fictional anime film.  It’s about an episode that emphasizes Luke and Natsuko’s awkward chemistry via its humor and balances the comedy with its emotion.  The latter is due to QJ, who’s destined to be the only survivor in the original ending but sacrificed himself to destroy the Void ship instead.  His sacrifice deters the director’s original plans, but considering how well QJ bonded with Natsuko, the same would likely go for Natsuko’s hope for a happy ending.