English Dub Review: ISEKAI QUARTET “Explosion! Talent Show”

In this episode: ISEKAI QUARTET’s quality gets explosive.

Overview

The day of the talent show has finally arrived. Roswaal begins pulling names out of a box in order to see who goes first, and Erich is called to kick things off. Much to his displeasure, he sings “the song of [his] people.” The entire class seethes with second-hand embarrassment for him before Subaru goes up and shows off his “boring” string figure talent. Rem breaks out of her shell to use her ball-and-chain magic, smashing a watermelon to bits. Matheus literally tries to show the class his dong as his talent (and is magically stopped by a furious Tanya.) Darkness recruits Grantz to help her showcase her “pain threshold.” Everyone assumes Grantz has been in on this kink and they shun him. Subaru tells him he needs to respect women but then is also accused of abusing Darkness. Aqua winds up arguing with Kazuma too much to execute her talent (one that isn’t slaying monsters.)

Finally, the class is escorted outside for Megumin to cast her captivating explosion magic. It seems she is the winner, until a rather impressed Lord Ainz decides to show off his “explosion” magic as well — a booming spell that causes the sky to change. It begins to snow and the class enjoys the weather.

Our Take

There’s no mistake: this is the best episode in the show so far.

When the episode starts off, it’s a little surprising to see that the talent show isn’t being held in an auditorium, considering how hyped up it was. The slow-burn suspense of forming an event that would bring the students closer together led up to more of a talent presentation, rather than a show. The principal/vice principal aren’t even present for it, so by first impression, it seems like it might be more anti-climactic than anticipated.

However, looks can be deceiving.

Beyond the humor of just having these characters all together and interacting in one place, this episode was genuinely funny. The callbacks to past gags in previous episodes are one thing (“Then it’s settled.” “SIGH.”) but the dialogue/scene writing almost read like an Adult Swim show in its comedy stylings (“Don’t know what your deal is, but you gotta start respecting women.” Good equality win, Subaru.) The voice actors all seemed more comfortable with their roles — not as adventurers, but as caricatured versions of their characters in a very cartoony situation. The way lines were read — especially in the intro while Erich is singing — seemed so relaxed, almost like they were having fun the way voice actors in Ghost Stories did. Delivery and execution was solid on pretty much all parts: voice-wise, writing-wise, and character-wise.

Speaking of characters: The heartwarming turn of events at the end was an unexpected and welcome shift in what was already a great episode. Lord Ainz didn’t just go out of his way to win the talent show — he did it to meticulously create a moment that he knew everyone would enjoy — which is exactly what the show needed to finally unite its cast. Also, who isn’t a sucker for when an anime plays a lyrical song during an emotionally charged moment? While it seemed the show was just starting to own itself as the silly, fun series it is, it throws this sentimental scene that brings all the characters together — even throughout the credits.

Even in terms of animation, the episode beat out the others by a wide margin, featuring flashy magical sequences where there wasn’t before. The only critique that comes to mind is the fact that not everybody got to show off their talent, which was unfortunate. By the end of the episode, though, the story gives off some serious Pikachu’s Vacation vibes. No matter what their differences are, they’re all in this together. It’s the High School Musical anime remix we’ve always wanted!