English Dub Review: Kemono Michi: Rise Up “Pride × Loyalty”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

It’s time to get ready for the big fight, including choosing the line ups for each round. But Carmilla is chomping at the bit to stick it to Rose and asks Genzo to train her…then over sleeps and has to deal with a punishment suplex. Still, she sticks to the training and the preparations get under way from all sides. Genzo’s team, MAO’s team, Shigure with the sponsors, the spectators, everyone. And after some last minute recruitment and practice, the big day comes. Things go pretty predictably for the first three rounds, but the real match of the day is Carmilla vs Rose, with Carmilla actually doing pretty well and landing Rose on the ground. This victory is then upended by the fact that she forgot to pin down her opponent, costing her the match. But still, she proved she could get stronger and make her friends proud. Next time: the final showdown between Genzo and MAO.

OUR TAKE
It’s my first review of the new decade and we’re coming in on the beginning of the season finale two parter, with the first half basically establishing the final conflict as only this series could do it: A fantasy wrestling show against mostly fantastical monsters. While the novelty of it might have waned for me about at the half way point when thing started to drag in the middle, I have to admit that this is probably the most fitting way to conclude a series like this (even if we might eventually get a second season). And as the beginning of the end, this is more about resolving the slightly less important character arcs than the main one, in this case being Carmilla’s beef with Rose. Although it is a bit odd that, despite being just as if not more so being part of the leads, Shigure and Hanako really only get to just fall back on their usual gags. Which I guess makes sense, seeing how Hanako wants nothing but to eat and doesn’t really care about Joanna, while Shigure never got a counterpart of her own. I suppose that’s fine, but it irks me is all.

As for the fight itself, it’s pretty interesting in its own right, with her and Genzo having to put their vast contention for the other aside in order to better defeat these opponents. It feels pretty dramatically satisfying to see them overcome their dislike and work together and for Carmilla to finally get off her ass and pull her weight. So satisfying in fact that it doesn’t even matter if she lost in the end. Yep, seems they’re going for a Rocky sort of lesson here, with the fact that she tried mattering even more than the victory itself, especially since she’s shown massive improvement since their last fight AND getting Rose off guard with her wrestling knowledge, showing that Carmilla has learned from her teammates by working with them while Rose and MAO probably haven’t had that kind of time together to train.

With only one episode left and the fateful confrontation between the two wrestlers from another world is right on the horizon. Can this series pin its ending for the ten count or will they on the ropes right until the end? Guess that’s what we’ll have to find out next week for the season finale this time next week.