English Dub Review: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman “The Old Country Bumpkin Goes Home”

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Overview (Spoilers Below):
The masked White Maiden is revealed to be none other than Beryl’s former student, Rose.  Beryl and the White Maiden meet up with Allucia and Surena, who have successfully taken down the Chimera, and they head to back up the Verdapis Mercenary Company.  There, they find Hanoy on the brink of defeat—and Pope Morris standing calmly before him.  The final battle is about to begin.

Our Take:
Well, folks, we have reached the end of the anime’s new season, as Beryl and his allies face off against Pope Morris in their final showdown.  Unsurprisingly, my feelings about it are the same as in season one, and they all range from “meh” to “meh”.  Sure, the fight against the chimeras seemed more enticing than the assassins in season one, but the stakes just didn’t feel exciting to me.  Honestly, it wasn’t worth dealing with its mediocre dub again to get there, and the twist involving the White Maiden’s identity was very predictable.  While it compensates for some of the character development shown throughout the season, mainly Beryl, the series continues its trend of taking the tropes from other similar action harem anime and doing nothing to make itself stand out.
Of course, that includes a season’s “heroes vs army” battle in the penultimate episode, followed by a finale where they tackle the final boss.  The season two finale is one such case, with Beryl and the others battling Pope Morris, whose keen senses and physical boost make him the season’s most formidable villain.  Unfortunately, the final battle falls flat in terms of narrative stakes, mainly because of underwhelming direction and subpar voice acting.  Given my journey so far, I wasn’t surprised this season finale went off with a whimper instead of a bang.  With its third season recently announced, we’ll likely see Beryl confronting the Verdapis mercenaries again amid his own quest.  However, with its English dub remaining an issue, I’m honestly not looking forward to that reunion.  Now that the second season has concluded, it’s safe to say the show improved a bit on Beryl’s journey, yet still falls far short of earning the title of the “master swordsman” of anime.

About Marcus Gibson

I'm a recent writer for BubbleBlabber who has an extraordinary passion for films and television, especially from the animation genre. I also spent plenty of hours playing video games, most notably from the Kingdom Hearts franchise. My goal is to provide the most friendly and entertaining reviews on the planet. Whenever something might be good or not, I always remain optimistic and curious about a specific concept from a film or television show.