English Dub Review: Beast Tamer “The Lost Woods”

Overview

As Rein’s group try’s to conquer the Lost Woods at the begrudging request of Arios, they couldn’t even make progress even after using a bird’s eye view. Tania then notices this illusion magic that was at play and once Kanade tried to remove it, a new ultimate species stopped them…

Our Take

Within the Lost Woods is where Rein, Kanade, and Tania heads next to retrieve the Shield of Truth, a tool needed for the Hero Party to defeat the Demon King. Being a bird to assimilate the best approach, that’s what Rein was supposed to do, but the actual walking took a fair bit of precision in the guise that they were walking in circles due to a magic barrier. Indeed, there is a reason for this, and the fairy race is using illusionary magic to keep their village safe due to past conflicts between humans and fairies.

As Rein tries his best to talk to the fairy bearing his goodness, even to the point of attacking him if the conversation fails, he bravely stands his ground against her, but not by much for both Kanade and Tania to later jump in on his behalf. The Fairy (whose name is revealed to be Sora) begins to clear whatever misunderstandings she had towards them. However, Rein, the caring boy scout that he is, has a hunch that Sora is legitimately bothered by something else and then proceeds to ask…

Overall, a short but very passable episode that moves the plot forward while introducing new characters. So far the most noteworthy running joke is that Rein sometimes rewards his new companions with head-pats, which is kind of wholesome but also plays into the theme of these girls being otherworldly animal people. Of course, I’m curious how they could help Sora and her situation in the next episode…