English Dub Review: Death March to the Parallel Word Rhapsody “Love That Started with a Death March”

Acquired: Slave Family?

Overview (Spoilers)

Zena has arrived, no longer garbed in armor, and ready to date! She takes Satou around the town on a second, heartburn-inducing tour of the city. Along the way, they go by the temple and hear more about the Legend of Zelda and the Master Sword hero and sacred sword. This inspires Satou to look through his list of titles, whereupon he learns that his casting of Meteor also killed a dragon god that had been slumbering beneath the scene. No wonder he leveled up so much! He also finds out from Zena that the legendary heroes of the past were all summoned with a spell. They come upon an enraged crowd. The three demi-humans from before are chained in the town square, while a “priest” of one of the local religions incites the crowd to violence. While he claims that the demi-humans are demon worshipers, his way of punishing them is to sell sacred stones for people to throw at the girls. Sensing a potential human rights violation somewhere in this situation, Zena puts herself (and a wind barrier) between the crowd and their target. In the meantime, Satou remembers these girls are the slaves he met during his last tour. That means they have an owner, who must know where they are. Using his map, he finds the owner, and see’s hes a member of the local thieves guild, the Street Rats. Other members of the guild are spread throughout the crowd, inciting more racial hatred. Using a newly learned “Kidnapping” skill, he knocks out the thieves and drags them away from the group. He presents the slave owner to the crowd and reveals the nefarious scheme. What Satou isn’t expecting is for the jerk to convulse and cackle as the evil wind mage Vaati a demon crawls out!

The creature uses its magic to draw everyone, including Zena and the town guard she called, into a dungeon cave system filled with monsters. Satou finds himself isolated from Zena, with only the (now ownerless) slave girls to help him. He takes a moment to help them clean up, change clothes, and eat something. In the process, ownership of the girls transfers to him. He hands the oldest girl, a partial reptilian he names Liza, a dagger to act as the rear guard while the younger ones, a cat and dog girl, act as an early warning system. They run across a monster, and he offs it with his magic gun. Strangely, he starts to view these girls dearly, almost like his own family. Still, they have to reunite with the others and escape this place before the demons eat them all!

Skills Learned: Everyday Magic, Self-Concealment, Secret Maneuvers, Assassination, Kidnapping, Conspiring, Fighting, Amplify Voice, Conviction, False Accusation, Survey Map, Direction, Organization, Shooting, Sniping, Aim, Disassemble, Entomology, Demonology, Weapon Crafting, Leather Crafting, Woodworking

Titles Earned: Buffoon, Gentleman, Labyrinth Explorer, Bug-Killer

Our Take

I have a slight issue with the writing of this episode is next to the previous. The second half of episode two was a tour of the town, and one that didn’t contain much more than an intro to the slave girls. This episode shows us more of the city, and teaches us much more lore. I feel that makes the previous episode mostly throwaway. The creators of this show are obviously inspired by the Legend of Zelda, from the sheer number of visual and lore that pay homage I noticed if you couldn’t tell. I’m also noting references to Phantasy Star Online’s magical technology in his gun. I like the universe that has been put together here, and the game system is robust, if overly granularized. Having the use of a gun be broken into three separate skills that all mean similar things (Shooting, Sniping, and Aim) seems a bit excessive. Further, in the context of the conversation he was in, I have no clue what Self-Concealment was supposed to mean. What is nice, and I really appreciate, is that the ADR team has begun translating all of his Augmented Reality menus and announcements. This means I finally know all the things he’s learning.

We have begun building up the plot of the show, and I’m starting to like where this is going. We are given many clues that Shirou is not dreaming, but had been summoned to that world as its hero. He’s eventually going to have to get the sacred sword and beat Ganon the Demon Lord. Just because the plot is derivative doesn’t mean it’s bad. In a way, the derivative plot is really a part of the larger story, and highlights the fact that he is in a video game-like world.

The animation has taken a dip since the last episode, which makes me afraid for the potential if the remainder of the series. Part of this is also an editing issue. When the demon crawled out of the guy’s chest and killed the priest, the cut was extremely choppy, and made the animation look cheap. If we had had a bit more time of the priest falling and spraying blood, or of the demon attacking, it may have been slightly better. What is completely the problem of the animation is the horrible CG demon. Other shots of the demon are in traditional art, but the CG form is blurry, and look completely out of place.

I finally noticed that Justin Briner has been pulling double duty. It’s slight, but he has been performing Satou’s thoughts with a slightly older and deeper voice than his speaking voice. Of course, this is because the character is 15 in game, and in his thirties in reality. This is a subtle choice for the voice acting, and I appreciate it. Other characters are not as thoughtfully voiced, and at times, Zena’s (Julie Shields) voice was a bit obnoxious.