English Dub Review: Tougen Anki “A Futile Battle”

Overview:

During the battle, Shinya recalls his past and what motivated him to achieve his current position.

Our Take(Spoilers):

I understand that one of the tropes in shonen anime is to show why the villain became the way they are. Demon Slayer gets made fun of for it quite often, but this might have been the worst example I’ve seen. Momoiwa is about as redeemable as one of the demons in that show. In fact, I might argue that he’s worse. Most people of the Momotaro agency believe they are fighting for the greater good, but all of Momoiwa’s reasons are selfish, and for advancement, he even screwed over his own teammates. So when he died, and it seemed like we were expected to feel bad, I didn’t shed a tear, and the moment fell flat.

I do find it interesting that Mikado and Shiki both use guns with their powers. That’s another thing they have in common, and if they can somehow resolve their issues could be another example of why they could be great friends. This episode felt like it killed some of the momentum that the series had been gaining. A dumb end to one fight, but hopefully we get a decent resolution to Shiki and Mikado’s fight.