English Dub Review: Darwin’s Game “Old One”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After being beaten by Kaname in the Treasure Hunt Game, Wang tries to get revenge by kidnapping Shinozuka, Kaname’s friend, and cutting off his fingers. Kaname is consumed by guilt for dragging his friend into the D-Game, but Rein comes up with a plan for getting the hostage back.

However, things don’t always go according to plan. The police show up at the Eight Clan’s hideout, and that throws things off. Kaname pulls Shinozuka into the game, giving him access to powers, but in the end, it’s not enough and by the time Kaname reaches him, the goons have killed him.

Our Take:

The tenth episode of Darwin’s Game sees the Sunset Ravens working together as a team in order to rescue Kaname’s friend, but not being quite able to make it happen. A lot of entertaining stuff happens in Old One, but a lot of it is also just setting up the final arc with Shinozuka’s death spurring Kaname on to doing something that goes a little too far.

The episode opens up with Rein meeting with her informant, a pleasant lady named Kotori. Even though it’s only a brief encounter that sets the stage for Rein’s info on Wang and his gang, I was glad to see that even such a little scene is infused with a decent amount of personality. Kotori and Rein clearly have a connection, and I’d love for her to eventually join the Sunset Ravens, as she hints at wanting to do.

Once the mission gets going, we’re flung into the thick of things. Wang was beaten by Kaname in hunt, so now he’s gone a bit mad. As if kidnapping Kaname’s buddy wasn’t bad enough, the Eighth Clan also cuts off all his fingers, which is downright rude. It’s nice to see the Sunset Ravens working together like a well oiled machine thanks to Rein’s planning and intel, though. Each of them has a part to play, from Sui freezing some of the goons, to Shuka delivering the phone to Shinozuka (although why didn’t she just pull him out?). Kaname and Shuka flirting mid-mission is pretty cute, too.

But probably one of the more interesting parts is also the Eighth Clan itself. Wang is, of course, insane and it’s entertainingly frightening to watch just how unhinged he becomes as Kaname gets closer to him. Shinji is the side plot star of this episode, and his microstory is a little slice of a sad life. Getting caught up with the wrong gang to murdering someone to being murdered himself. It was nice seeing the side goons get some love, although Keiichi the karate guy pausing to relay his entire backstory of how he joined Wang felt a bit out of place.

Overall, this was a fairly solid episode that showed off a lot of different characters. Though things didn’t end as well as Kaname and the Sunset Ravens would have liked, it will be interesting to see how his friend’s tragic end affects the group.