English Dub Review: Dead Account “The A-B Battle”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
The grudge match between Class 1-B and Class 1-A, with Class 1-B hoping to make up for an earlier devastating loss.

Our Take:
Soji has met his match in another flame-baiter, Surugi, a student from Class 1-A who pushed his buttons by destroying Akari’s hairpin.  Even worse, Surugi just pisses off people to satisfy his fetish, compared to Soji, who does it to save his sister.  Fortunately for Soji, he will get his revenge in the school’s A-B Battle, which serves as a primary premise in this week’s episode.  Surugi is one of the characters who seemed like they could be another friend at first, but are actually utter douchebags seconds later.  While I’m not totally surprised by Surugi’s reveal, I also won’t be surprised if he gets a massive dose of karma after what he did to Soji later on.  However, the other Class A student who may be more dangerous than Surugi is the class’s sword user, Wagari, particularly in the episode’s second half.
“The A-B Battle” presents a straightforward competition that follows the classic underdog-versus-champion storyline. Instead of a traditional sports contest, it features a team exorcism competition where Class 1-B aims to achieve its first victory over the ruthless Class 1-A. Although the behaviors of both classes are quite similar, the students of Class 1-A, particularly Surugi and Wagari, seem to have the upper hand with their formidable cyberkinesis abilities, which could pose a significant threat to the underdog exorcists. Despite this change in setting, this episode maintains the copy-and-paste structure seen in other similar narratives.