English Dub Review: The Kingdoms of Ruin “A Gentle Death”

Overview (Spoilers Ahead):

The Redian government and military are willing to do anything to stop Adonis’ rampage, including an extremely risky measure.

Our Take:

Adonis comes face-to-face with the military as they attempt to take him down. Yamato’s foolproof plan is to use the Magic Photon Suppression Device to turn his magic off. Theta, the Director of the National Science Agency, reveals that the machine has dire side effects on humans. In fact, it’s believed that the emperor’s illness is due to the machine’s effects.

A brave soldier does behead Adonis, which finally puts an end to his bloodthirsty rampage. At least, so everyone thinks. We also get introduced to some new characters, including a high school girl named Eri. She ran away to save herself instead of saving her boyfriend. On top of that, she has a crush on Adonis.

We also get a flashback to the witch hunts. Specifically, we see Doroka’s home being attacked. A fellow witch tells her to run away and seek help. She’s also the one who gave Doroka one of the puppets she had in the first episode, so that answers another question.

The tone of this show continues to be all over the place. We have revenge plots, sibling complexes and a girl who leaves her boyfriend to die all in one episode. This episode’s very messy. Everything feels jumbled together and rushed. For example, the sniper that was supposed to kill Adonis seemingly kills Doroka. He immediately becomes a non-factor after that. Plus, this random soldier is the one who steps up to kill Adonis. We might learn more about her later, but it just feels out of left field to me.

This episode does answer some important questions, but it also raises so many more. It doesn’t seem to have a clear sense of direction yet, and I hope that changes in the coming episodes.