English Dub Review: ISEKAI QUARTET “Join In! Rivals”

Come on, gang! We gotta win the big game!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Everyone’s back in the classroom, and Roswaal immediately mentions the upcoming field day event. He notes that if they win field day, they get to go home — however, the class is confused by how they’d win if they were versing each other. That’s when Roswaal reveals the class next door — full of rival characters from everyone’s world. Subaru expresses concern to Lord Ains and Tanya about Reinhard — who is the strongest person in his world.

Aqua screams in the hallway upon encountering Chris. She, like the rest of the show’s cast, has no idea how she got here or how to get home. However, she reveals some disconcerting information about the school’s world — that if anyone dies, they can’t come back to life. Subaru wonders if he would be able to use his “Return by Death” in the world, and attempts it. He suffers the chilling penalty, but the spell itself doesn’t work. He does, however, attract the beasts Aura was overlooking. He admits to Lord Ains, Tanya, and Aura that he is cursed.

Back in the classroom, Lord Ains announces that winning the field day is the class’ only chance of going home. Kazuma, however, actually doesn’t want to go home, and is much happier in his school life. The class outnumbers him, though, and Tanya — alongside the class — takes him out to the schoolyard to “train him into a better soldier.”

Our Take

In a sense, there was a bit of whiplash compared to the last episode, where we were in the middle of the woods. It almost seemed like there was going to be more field trip content — an ending to that “test of courage,” or at the very least a campfire scene. Instead, it just jumped right back into the classroom, leaving a bit to be desired about the entire field trip arc as a whole. It just seemed like it ended sort of abruptly for all that build-up.

Anyway, Subaru seemed to be the protag this episode. There was the fun audio/visual text speed-up they did when he was talking about Reinhard’s cheaply overpowered abilities — although it was ever-so-slightly glitchy. The muffled echo could have been a little better when he was being eaten by the hamster, too. Aside from being nit-picky, the really cool audio effect was the chilling music and noise played when Subaru tried to do his “Return by Death” spell. For anyone who hasn’t seen Re:Zero — Starting Life in Another World, that was definitely an interest pique-r.

Considering how much of an underlined detail it was in the episode, will death be a bold threat to any of the cast members? If so, we can only assume that Tanya’s attacks on Kazuma were non-lethal, right? …Right? The animation effects were good, at least.

Voice-acting wise, everyone is doing a great job — and it’s very easy to tell Roswaal’s voice actor has a lot of fun with the role, and it’s fun to listen to. Lord Ains is wonderful to hear in juxtaposition with all the higher-pitched characters as always, and Aqua…well, Aqua’s Aqua. Hey, at least she’s been talking/crying less in the newer episodes!