English Dub Review: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman “The Old Country Bumpkin Lets Out a Roar”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Their mission to take down the saberboar begins.  Curuni achieves her long-cherished goal of taking one down and realizes how much stronger she has become.  Randrid makes full use of the skills he honed as an adventurer and puts his swordsmanship to good use.  Impressed, Henblitz challenges him to a sparring match – which ignites something in the hearts of both Beryl and another swordsman.

Our Take:
Beryl’s first day back home was quite eventful to say the least.  By that, I mean pretty peaceful, despite his father embarrassing the bumpkin once again over his lack of a wife.  However, with the father/son relationship starting to bloom regarding their strengths, it seems that something might go down between them later down the road.  Until we know for sure, this week’s episode brings us the element we’ve been anticipating since Beryl received his father’s letter: the annual saberboar hunt in the mountains.  Unsurprisingly, these creatures are no joke, which would explain why the village needed some extra hands, especially Beryl’s and even Curuni’s, who’s gotten stronger since her training.
But, as it turns out, the boar hunt wasn’t the only thing that’s worthy of the episode’s roar.  It highlights more of Randrid’s experience as a former adventurer/swordsman through the battle against the saberboars, prompting a sparring match that unleashed something inside Beryl.  Despite feeling his age, Beryl certainly has some strength left in him, which could play a role in next week’s episode, where he’ll end up facing off against his old man to see who’s the strongest.  Unfortunately, even with the premise’s development of this father/son bond, it was hindered once more by the dub’s iffy lip syncing and voice direction.  I didn’t think they would get any more noticeable than the previous episodes, but this one proved me wrong, particularly in one scene where Beryl was speaking while his mouth was closed.  He was one step closer to becoming a ventriloquist than a swordsman.  While a fun hunt to be had in this episode, the English dub version continues to let out a whimper instead of a roar.