English Dub Review: Warlords of Sigrdrifa “The Eve Before the Battle of Tateyama Bay!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

During a meeting with the world leaders, Odin shows up and declares that Ragnarok is nigh. He also admits to being the cause of the Pillars with the slap to the leaders’ faces. At the declaration of war, the countries prepare for the next battle united against Odin and the Pillars. Azuzu and Claudia help in their own way with strategies and going to talks. Meanwhile, Sonoka and Miyako get a great idea to throw a summer festival at Tateyama to make memories.

However, Azuzu rejects the idea of the summer festival especially since they’re in a crisis and runs from Miyako. Miyako later finds her and they have a heart to heart moment. They meet up with Claudia and Sonoka at the summer festival. The girls enjoy the festival and to the end, Miyako leads Azuzu to her plane to fly. The duo lights up the night sky with fireworks. On the ground, Sonoka and Claudia with everyone else lighting up the water lanterns to send off those departed. Claudia sings while confirming that the people here are her reason for fighting as Ichiro and the old man discuss for a bit.

Our Take:

Before the final battle, the girls get some downtime with the summer festival. However, there’s the matter of Odin and the Pillars which gets addressed at the beginning of the episode.

For starters, Odin basically declaring war on humanity and admitting that he’s responsible for the Pillars wasn’t much of a shock. It was obvious the moment he mentioned Thor in the Fuji battle and the fact that he’s alive too. However, despite turning against humanity, he hasn’t rescinded his protection over Claudia and the other Valkyries. It’s like he’s looking forward to the battle rather than just winning especially with his comment on the shortage of lives lost in the Fuji Pillar battle. At any rate, his role now as the villain should make the final battle entertaining to some degree.

The dynamic between Azuzu and Miyako was great in this episode. Their bond is a major part of this episode as both of them work towards their goal. Azuzu struggles to make sure her strategies for the final battle are good as part of the preparations. Her disbelief at Miyako’s idea to host the summer festival is understandable. However, Miyako’s idea is also a much-needed reliever for everyone. Sonoka even makes a point of making memories with everyone since the next battle could be their last one. Miyako reassuring Azuzu at the beach is lovely as it works to emphasize how long they’ve been together.

Then there’s the festival and it works well as a breather for the girls before the final battle. Despite Azuzu’s initial rejection, she goes with Miyako to meet up with the other two. The montage of the girls playing games and eating the food was cute. These moments are sweet and a bit somber especially with the water lantern scene. I do like how the festival ends with everyone bidding farewell to those that have passed away.

Overall the episode was a good episode as it is the calm before the storm with the festival. Now with Odin on the opposite side, it’s going to be a long battle for the girls in next week’s episode.