English Dub Review: Tank Chair “Episode 3”

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Overview (Spoilers Below):
Naozumi Kurosaka and his younger sister, Touko, students at the assassin-training institution “The Academy” Nagi and Shizuku once attended, arrive on Guicheng Island in pursuit of them.  Members of Class A, they suspect Nagi is behind the spate of strange killings on the island.  When Shizuku runs into them, they grill her about Nagi’s whereabouts, and she finds herself in grave danger.

Our Take:
The first two episodes showed that Nagi and Shizuku are the most dangerous sibling duo on Guicheng Island in terms of their murders and strategies.  However, this week’s episode shows that another brother/sister duo may be aiming to steal that title, and they went to the same assassin school as them.  The duo, Naozumi and his “silent but deadly” young sister Touko, are aiming to kill their latest target on Guicheng Island.  But apparently, Nagi and Shizuku got there first, so the duo is targeting them instead.  Let’s just say their little “class reunion” is anything but pleasant, especially since Touko seems formidable with her skills.  Amid its familiar structure, the episode tried to add depth to the characters’ backgrounds, notably by showing them as students at the “Academy” and Naozumi’s anger at Nagi for leaving the “Academy” behind.
While admirable in its exploration, I still couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed that we’ve seen this aspect so many times already.  Yes, we do learn that these sibling duos were once classmates at an assassin school, but that hardly matters when the concept’s execution is obviously barebones and less exciting.  Even the big chase through the city tried to be as fun as the first episode, but it fell flat in direction and animation style.  Combine that with the dub’s mediocre voice performances, including Megan Berrisford’s Shizuku, and you get yet another episode with an interesting concept buried under the show’s dull, formulaic execution.  Hopefully, the battle between Nagi and Touko in the next episode will somehow make up for its subpar buildup.

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.