English Dub Review: Plunderer “Plunderer”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The demon of the abyss has appeared as a helicopter, and nobody knows what to do. Nobody except Licht, that is. He quickly takes command from Jail and orders everyone to evacuate underground while he fights off the chopper. The arrival of Althing complicates this, but his comrades decide to throw aside the laws against attacking them in order to help Licht reach the helicopter. But once he does, something else goes haywire.

Mizuka Sonohara, the legendary Ace of Pursuit, shows up with guns blazing. She proceeds to shoot and kill everyone she can: men, women, and children. Licht begs her to stop, but it’s no use. Eventually, she pins him down along with his friends and an innocent townsboy. She tells him that she’ll kill the boy unless he reverts back to his former self. Suddenly, the aces are all dead, and the Plunderer has taken Licht’s place.

Our Take:

Wow! After a couple episodes of pure fluff, Plunderer finally decided to start plundering again. This is a wild episode of television, complete with human/chopper battles and a gun-toting, jetpack-wearing lady from Licht’s past. While I’m not entirely certain what rating this episode deserves when it comes to overall quality, it was great to see stuff actually happen this time around.

Much of what happens revolves around Licht and his true identity. Jail and the other military members have no idea how to face off against the helicopter from the abyss, but Licht knows exactly what to do because he has prior experience with it. Everything might have been fine, until the Althing arrived. It’s probably the weirdest, most confusing part of the episode: a giant mass of black hands that, for some reason, the military has dubbed ‘Althing’. It’s responsible for dragging deserving people into the abyss, but it will also attack anything that gets close to it? Go off, I guess.

There may have been plenty of gun violence, but there was also a really heartwarming scene when Jail and his cohorts decided to help Licht by fighting the Althing. At first, he’s hesitant to step in, as he tells Hina that interfering with them is punishable by execution. But after a few minutes of reflection, he decides to put aside what’s lawful for what’s right. His action inspires everyone else to do the same, and it was honestly pretty inspiring. Which makes it all the more depressing that Jail seems to be dead now. At least we got one last great quote out of him: “The idiot I’ve been chasing this entire time is a colonel? Impossible.” 

This week’s dub was solid, with Mizuka’s VA doing an admirable job bringing plenty of chaos along with a bit of cloying sentimentality to the role. I have no real idea what’s going on after watching this episode, and that’s a lot more than I could say the last few weeks. I’m eager to find out more about Licht, Mizuka, and how they’re connected next week!