English Dub Review: Devils’ Line “Dogmatic”

Devils’ Line hints at yet another mystery but still feels muddled.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS BELOW)

We’re six episodes into the season and I can’t believe I’m asking this: do the general public know that devils exist or not?

Just when it seemed as though Devils’ Line was establishing some interesting ideas about the marginalization of devils in society, “Dogmatic” contradicts this development by instead suggesting a widespread coverup of their existence. While the latter could be an intriguing direction for an overarching plot, I’m honestly too frustrated at how little sense this retconning makes for it to feel at all successful. For instance, Tsukasa’s friend calls to ask about how she’s doing about the newscaster attack, only to be shocked upon learning that the now-viral footage features actual vampires, as opposed to elaborate pranksters. Sure, I’ll take any reminder I can get that Tsukasa has a life outside of Anzai, but we’ve seen characters speculating about the existence of vampires since the premiere. Likewise, I simply struggle to believe that all of the humans working alongside devils would cooperate with a conspiracy of the size being suggested; the police force alone would employ thousands of workers across both races, which makes it absurd to think that this fact is some sort of secret.

A flimsy premise aside, “Dogmatic” does at least feature a great chase sequence and banter between Anzai and Hans. It seemed inevitable that the pair would be brought together to compare and contrast their upbringings, yet there was a hint of depth here that noticeably improved upon “Plan B”. I also won’t deny that the two devils make an effective team, with their takedown of a would-be assassin feeling legitimately badass. Although the tone arguably becomes slightly too humorous, this new dynamic feels like a smart choice overall; given Anzai will probably be unable to work legally for a while, I imagine that we’ll be seeing more vigilante justice from him and Hans to uncover the assassins’ plan. Similarly, the cliffhanger to the assassin/mole plot was, in my opinion, the best reveal Devils’ Line has pulled off so far, demonstrating that even the most ill-advised setup can yield promising results.

OUR TAKE

“Dogmatic” is the latest example of this show struggling to decide what it wants to be. Unfortunately, this week’s felt particularly confusing as a result, with most scenes aside from those listed above feel like they were being shown out of order, or downright contradicting previous events.