English Dub Review: BEM “Chimera”

More chimeras.

Overview:

Dog hybrids are in fashion

Our Take:

Fullmetal Alchemist has already scarred me enough with human-dog hybrids, and I didn’t need yet another one in anime. Still, this is one that we got, and let’s talk about it.

Belo is the star in this one, where he has been distancing himself from the downtrodden children in the slums. After his betrayal, he has gone into seclusion, not wanting to put the people that he could get attached to at risk again. Of course, the kids, not having any of that, hatch a plan to get Belo back. It turns out Belo is lonely and does want friends despite all his posturing… a happy ending.

We get to see the rich kid again, where despite Belo saving him yet again, all he can think of is revenge. It’s not entirely surprising, but he’s supposed to be intelligent. Belo saved him and yet that didn’t seem to be suspicious at all? Him using his weakness to his advantage was clever but… that part seemed a little weak.

All in all, this feels like a little bit of a side story. The previous episodes all seem to tie back into the main story based on who the culprit is, ie: the unseen council, the mad doctor, or whoever is pulling the strings. This one however, was more of a solitary figure, operating only by himself. The doctor disavows his work, which makes it clear that they’re not involved, so the scientist this time was just a guy doing his thing.

All in all, this is an incident more indicative of the culture of the other side than anything else. People in the uppers want fancy new hybrid pets, but someone has to make them. They have to be hybrids of something, and come from somewhere. Of course, the scientist this time is acting on just that; there’s a demand. Naturally, he’s going too far, but he is operating off a thing that people do want. People desire new and fancy pets, and he’s giving it to them, no matter the human cost. As for the pets too unruly to sell off, well he can just control them to bring in better materials. This is interesting, but it’s a little less focused. It’s an OVA instead of a proper episode, and there’s a time and place for that. It felt like a break, a break that I didn’t necessarily need, but won’t reject.