English Dub Review: Ishura “Higuare the Pelagic and Nastique the Quiet Singer”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Higuare the Pelagic and Shalk the Sound Slicer meet with Taren the Guarded.

Our Take:
Based on the episode titles, I assume this is the last of the five chapters chronicling the different Shuras and their Aureatian allies before we reunite with Soujiro and Yuno.  Thankfully, some of the Shuras introduced in this episode consist of some familiar faces, including Higuare the Pelagic.  We’ve previously seen Higuare and Shalk the Sound Slicer in the second episode when a wyvern army ambushed them, yet we’re unfamiliar with their origins.  That is until this week’s episode, where we properly examine this peculiar mandrake monster.
The first half covers Higuare and Shalk’s meeting with Taren the Guarded, in which Higuare explains more of his past.  Higuare is a mandrake trained to be an unstoppable gladiator, stricken by his purpose of killing his opponents or dying.  In addition to his ability to hold multiple swords simultaneously, Higuare can inject poison into his enemies with a single blow.  However, outside of his violent ways, he’s also seen as a well-mannered mandrake creature.
The second half also continues the journey of Nihilo the Vortical Stampede that began in last week’s episode.  She allies with Kuze the Passing Disaster, a paladin, on a mission as an assassin involving the war between Aureatia and Lithia.  Their tranquil stay at Ripple’s place was then interrupted by a group of Lithian assassins, who were quickly defeated by his “guardian angel”.  However, it turns out that Kuze’s guardian angel is actually an invisible Shura called Nastique the Quiet Singer, who can kill anyone with a single blow.  No one can see Nastique but Kuze, making them a seemingly unstoppable trio if you count Nihilo.
Basically, if you’ve seen the previous episodes, you’ve seen this episode.  Regarding its structure, this latest chapter expands more of its familiar characters, introduced a couple of weeks ago, through their backstories and continuations.  However, its narrative still contains an unfocused nature despite the characters’ significance in the war.  It’s still far from a tedious chore due to its solid animation and world-building, but it left me hoping the show will pick itself up in its second half.