English Dub Review: The Silver Guardian “Titan Goes Berserk \ A Bewildered Suigin”

I’m not sure if I’m really all that fond of the image of that sausage dragon getting shoved down Suigin’s throat…

Overview (Spoilers)

After getting utterly embarrassed by Suigin figuring out Farin’s shadow clone trick, Titan is enraged, and devoting his full power to smashing both of them into powder. Fortunately, Suigin still has access to his friend Shaw’s powers and weapon. Using these stolen powers, he makes an illusory clone of himself to attack Titan. As fast as Titan is, he can’t do any damage to Suigin, because he’s just attacking a clone. The battle ends with Titan getting frustrated, and we are given a quick flashback. You see, Titan is the heir of a major conglomeration. His dad is a total stickler for him to be the best at whatever the most popular game is at the time. When other players suggest his father rigged the games, Titan would go ballistic and beat them up in the real world. This would force his father to pay them off so they wouldn’t press charges, leaving Titan with the impression that he had to win at all costs, since money made all problems go away. Return to the modern day, and Titan reveals the true form of his special item: A sweet sportscar. He pumps the thing full of cash (over 100 million), dialing its damage-dealing capacity up to 11, and begins his assault run. He is shocked when the car slams into Suigin, and IT is the one that’s a bloody smear. However, when items of this caliber are destroyed when carrying such an insane charge, they explode. Boy howdy does it. But, how did Suigin protect the two of them from Titan’s car?

Well, after the fight, we see Suigin and Farin squished underneath a mine cart. Suigin had used his powers over wind and invisibility to put a cloaked piece of the environment between himself and Titan. Of course, the explosion slammed the cart over them, and they are in a rather compromising position. Fortunately, they aren’t there long. A carriage bursts out of the ground, righting the cart and freeing the pair. This familiar cart carries none other than one of the five billion players, The Collector. She has not one, but ten relics plundered from the tombs the game is based around. That makes her the most intense threat that Suigin has seen yet. She takes Farin out in one shot, transforming her into a plushie without actually damaging her. For the scarf-wearing soldier, she has a special bullet indeed. It knocks him down, then takes its long, slender, phallic-looking self and wriggles down his gullet. Beyond grossing Suigin (and the audience) out, this sausage dragon serves a very special purpose. He has been loaded up with all the help Suigin is going to need to take down the Totems and rescue Rei from their clutches. The Collector is on his side? To illustrate her point, she shoots down a spying member of Totem prior to zipping off. Now very unhappy at being unveiled, the player attacks them with speed so fast that neither of them could beat him. On top of that, his weapon’s power automatically logs them off if he makes a number of attacks on them, whether those hits land or not! Once back in the real world, Suigin receives a call. its the leader of Totem, and he’s got Rei!

Our Take

This episode highlights just how ridiculously broken the game of Grave Busters really is. When you can literally pay money to hypercharge an item for one attack, only the rich can afford to play this game. It is horrendously unbalanced, and as a gameplay mechanic, it would be frustrating and unfair. To jump in and be immediately outmatched by another new player who just happened to be richer than you would be terrible for a PVP-focused game. Sadly, this microtransaction play-to-win thought process is becoming more and more prevalent in modern AAA titles. From loot crates to elite gear and day one DLC, modern game companies care less about making good games that last and look more for fast cash grabs that make their game little more than a flash in a pan. This series plays with that. The villains made that mechanic into the game for a reason. They are trying to destroy all of the grave guardians in accordance to their plan.

I was surprised by the Collector’s allegiance. I had expected her to be a brainwashed Rei. I guess it’s because the Collector figures so much in the opening credits, in a fight with Suigin, she had to be an enemy. That and the fact that she has Rei’s physical attributes. Pink eyes, Pink hair, stacked. It is nice that I’m left guessing from that.

The animation was on the good side of things this episode, and it complimented the action. This series does action animation well, and lacking errors. The visuals aren’t always amazing, but it is well done enough that I can tell they put effort into the production. The voice acting did a good job in this episode. Farin (Brittney Karbowski) was believably frightened and insecure during the episode. I didn’t feel that everyone had an amazing voice with tones of depth and emotion, but they were believable in their roles all the same.