English Dub Review: The Drops of God “A Voice, Strict But Gentle”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Tomine and Shizuku climb the Matterhorn.

Our Take:
The race to the Fifth Apostle continues, with Shizuku and Tomine both climbing the dangerous Matterhorn mountain, though each of them is taking different paths.  While Shizuku and Andrew press on with a safer route, Tomine tests his endurance with the east route, which is considered a risky endeavor.  Fortunately, Shizuku was smart about this choice in the previous episode.  Otherwise, this would’ve been a pretty short series.  It goes to show that even though Shizuku really wants to win against Tomine, he’s smart enough to understand that patience is the key to victory.  As for Tomine, his eagerness to win led him down a trail that could’ve cost him his life but also caused him to remember a childhood trauma involving his mom.  Let’s just say his mom may not be as kindhearted as we thought.
Regarding its premise, “A Voice, Strict But Gentle” represents the mountain’s different paths as the contestants’ own trials.  Shizuku’s safer west route gave him a sense of growth and experience, with an ally by his side.  As for Tomine’s trek through the east route, he gets to endure a fierce trial alone involving his trauma.  While Tomine comes out on top despite the danger he faces, he feels he didn’t win fair and square because he caused Shizuku to choose the wrong wine during the climb.  Despite his arrogance, I can’t fault Tomine for wanting a fair fight against Shizuku.  Regardless, the reward for tackling this risk isn’t exactly as rewarding as we’d expect it to be, and Shizuku would still have to improve his game to win the next Apostle.