English Dub Review: Plunderer “Serious”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Licht has fully given in to his tremendous power, and he starts to fight Mizuka. They’re locked in a dangerously deadly combat as Hina, Nana, and their other friends watch in horror. But just as Licht gains the upper hand and is about to finish Mizuka off, Hina and Jail interject themselves into the struggle. Eventually, Jail and Licht begin to battle, and Jail easily crushes Licht, who returns to his normal senses. But who is he, and was he really not in control of his actions while under the urge to kill his enemies?

Our Take:

Plunderer has really gotten ‘serious’ these last few weeks it seems, and this episode is no exception. Not a whole lot happens, per sey, but that’s because Licht’s battles take up pretty much the entire episode. No matter how Hina and his friends try to snap him out of it, it’s as if he’s been taken over by someone else, as Nana puts it.

Honestly, it’s more than a little confusing at the moment. Licht is Licht, but he’s also a Legendary Ace who Mizuka calls Rihito. But Nana also tells Hina, Lynn, Pele, and us that when his full powers are unleashed it allows someone named Schmerman to take over his personality? The way she talks about it makes it sound like a full-fledged bodily possession. And Mizuka is actually a girl named Sonohara who was drugged by an ominous group to prompt her to start shooting people? But yet Licht seems to recognize Jail and call him by name even when he’s under the influence of the so-called Schmerman. It’s a lot to process, and I hope things get clearer next week.

The climax of the episode could be argued to be the precise moment when Hina runs up to Licht/Rihito/Schmerman and wraps her arms around him, begging him to return to his senses. It’s kind of a touching moment that illuminates just how much she’s come to care about his well being. Considering that she’s seen him brutally battling Mizuka for the past little while and just learned about his weird personality takeover thing, it’s an even braver act for her to commit.

The dub continues its streak of being solid overall. Licht didn’t have many lines other than variations of ‘kill the enemies’, but Eric Vale does a fine job of trying to make them sound interesting. I also liked the little nuances in Sonohara and Jail’s performances, especially after Licht has been beaten and they share a cute little moment where he immediately collapses onto the cobblestone after she thanks him for coming to her rescue and taking the heat off of her.

Serious is a serious episode of Plunderer for sure, but I wish it was a little more succinct when it came to the details of what exactly is going on with the Aces, Licht, and Sonohara. Hopefully next week’s episode will deliver some answers, along with the return of the normal version of Pudding. (Hearing people call him ‘Pudding’ while he’s wearing a creepy, blood-stained mask was pretty funny, to be honest.)