English Dub Review: RErideD: Derrida, Who Leaps Through Time “Everything Goes Back to Where it Belongs”

Bill Nye would be proud.

Overview (Spoilers Below!) 

Yuri weeps that she’ll lose her memories of their journey. Outside, Videaux rains a shower of bullets down on the DZs. Mayuka runs to his side, and Videaux vows to protect her.

Yuri and Derrida enter an identical replica of Mage’s house from the night of her birthday party, where Mage is lying in a mechanical box. She left a video message to her future self, stating that the most important thing is to send Derrida back in time. Mage time rode so much that she can’t remember anything before she was fourteen. She speaks off-camera to Ange.

Derrida realizes that his abrupt time rides were caused by Mage’s interference, using this equipment. Derrida is better suited to ride back to ten years ago, because his memories are fresher. He hasn’t been losing any memories from time riding because Mage is giving up her own as fuel.

Schmidt offers Derrida an ultimatum: if Derrida hands over his tech, Schmidt will take his friends somewhere safe from the bombing. Yuri sings her song. As Derrida swirls through the mist, Ange confirms that this is his last time ride.

Derrida returns to his conversation with Mage in the snow and tells her that he’ll help Nathan with time travel research. Because Mage no longer feels that she has to experiment alone, she stays home to give Nathan the patch file. The next day, Nathan receives a call from Cassiel and uses the patch file to fix the DZ bug. Jacques and Nathan expose Andrei, and he, as well as the government officials who commissioned the DZs, are arrested.

Ange appears to Derrida. She explains that Derrida really died with Nathan, but Mage overwrote that reality. Ange is the Mage from the reality where Derrida didn’t die. Derrida and Mage return to the present.

Derrida picks up Mage and drives through a beautiful city. Videaux is still a cop, and his pregnant wife is still alive. They meet Mayuka and her parents at a bookstore, and Mayuka gushes over a cute robot called Graham. Angelica and a man get coffee. Nathan tells Jacques that he and Derrida are still working on their research. Derrida and Mage make a new life together.

Our Take

I have to say—for an anime that confused me, where characters frequently displayed bafflingly unrealistic emotions, where the focus was always on uninventive action scenes rather than the plot—this ending is remarkably heartfelt, lucid, and satisfying. Every character contributes to the finale in a substantial way, and nearly every question I had is answered. The ending scene, especially, is shockingly emotional—it’s so bittersweet, that Mayuka is no longer Videaux’s daughter and reason for living, that their conversation is now a chance encounter between two strangers who happen to cross paths. Heck, I nearly cried over Graham. I’m so glad he’s okay! He was a good car! He deserves to be happy! (And his bow is adorable.)

This episode is almost purely philosophical rather than action-packed, which gives the clever plot and themes—certainly the highlights of this series—their opportunity to shine at last. The final sequences highlight the importance of chance in our lives, that one small decision could drastically alter the course of our lives. And yet, Derrida’s choice isn’t small at all—he makes the decision to try, to invent, to innovate, to move forward towards progress even at the risk of failure. The world was nearly destroyed because one man, an ordinary man, was too afraid to speak up, to try to work towards the things he believed in. “It’s not about actions,” Derrida declares. “It’s about what I’ll pursue. It’s about what I’ll hope for!” If that’s not a message for 2018, I don’t know what is.

The show also pushes a strongly anti-war message—“This version of the world avoided the war. That’s all that really matters.”—declaring that war exists to benefit a choice few at the expense of the many. This finale reminds us of the importance of “caring about someone” and “reflecting on yourself once you’ve reached the end,” both of which are truly noble aims. Honestly, bravo, RErideD. I didn’t expect an animated action movie to speak out so strongly for causes I can get behind.

Of course, this wouldn’t be RErideD if I didn’t end the series with some questions. I have no idea what Mage and Derrida are doing—they’re clearly arriving for some appointment, considering everyone chides Derrida for being late. Yuri takes a photo to commemorate the occasion, and then… a reporter asks for an interview with her? It’s unclear why Yuri is famous in this timeline, why an interviewer would be interested in her.

I also can’t help but think that Mage and Derrida evoke marriage subtext in this scene. Mage wears a white dress and Derrida a suit, and they walk through a building holding hands before turning to face each other in front of a structure that looks a lot like a chuppah, a staple of Jewish weddings. I don’t know if we’re supposed to read Mage and Derrida as romantic here, and the ambiguity is frustrating.

At least the show doesn’t try to force unnecessary romance. I was immensely relieved when Yuri’s tears at the episode’s opening didn’t dissolve into a love confession towards Derrida. For once, it was okay for a male and a female character to just be close friends, and I really appreciate that. Although Mayuka hinted at the possibility of romance between those two, it would have been creepy and, from a narrative perspective, entirely undeserved.

Instead, the most important relationship ones here are familial. Mayuka and Videaux find each other at the end of the world. Mage works tirelessly to save both of her father figures. It might have been nice to round out this theme by having some sort of reconciliation between Derrida and Jacques, but I understand that this could have ruined the pacing of the series’ end.

A few other small things about this finale don’t work. When the whole series surrounds Andrei’s greed and mistakes, it’s pretty unsatisfying to have Schmidt serve as the final antagonist Derrida must face, even if he’s comically ineffective. The episode does repeat itself at times—Derrida and Yuri have practically the same conversation about how he must change time, even if it means Yuri will lose her memories, on two separate occasions. And, considering how important she is to the plot, I do wish we were given a bit more of Mage’s personality, of her interactions with Derrida and Yuri.

But I can forgive these imperfections for the beautiful reflection on the importance of memories in our lives, for the chilling imagery of Mage lying in a coffin surrounded by lilies. For the touching relationship between Videaux and Mayuka, for explaining why Derrida was time riding in a satisfying way.

I wish I could time ride to overhaul the beginning of this series, but given the chance, there’s not much about this ending I would change.

Score
8.5/10