English Dub Review: Date A Live “The Spirit of Origin”

Overview

A certain time, a certain place. Shinji Takamiya encounters a spatial earthquake but finds a girl at the scene. She remembers almost nothing about herself. Shinji gives her the name Mio and she goes to live with him and his younger sister, Mana…


Our Take

One of the biggest mysteries in the lore of this series was finally answered in this episode, revealing the mysterious connection between Shido/Shinji and Mio, along with the shit that went down 30 years ago before the events of the series. In combination with this, it also retraces the discovery of the Spirits, starting with Mio herself.

From what’s been unraveled, Mio the Spirit of Origin, was the first to come to Earth. and unexpectedly became part of Takamiya siblings (Shinji and Kana) lives. As Shinji and Mio grow closer, they face the evil schemes of Westcott and DEM’s attempt to capture Mio, leading to a tragic turn of events that makes everything come full circle…

Overall, the episode did an excellent job of explaining the past and providing crucial context for the series. It took five seasons and over 50+ episodes to finally get somewhere, but the buildup was worth it. Despite the irregular releases and the state of Date A Live as an adaptation/franchise, a lot of this episode’s proceedings managed to connect many narrative dots, even if some aspects felt disconnected, it at least highlighted the complex relationships between specific characters which further added to the emotional weight of Mio’s transformation and the looming threat of Westcott that indirectly marked a significant turning point in Shidou’s life later on. The real question now is, will it all have a big payoff in the end?