English Dub Review: Ragna Crimson “Lightning God”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

As Ragna and Woltekamui’s titanic battle rages across the heavens, the dragon is reminded of another encounter—one that shaped him into the warrior he is today.

Our Take:

While the Argentum Corps and Crimson are starting to lose their footing in the war, Ragna continues to give it all he’s got against Woltekamui in the far reaches of space.  Beforehand, though, Chimera’s tail friend, Snake, finally gets the opportunity to be helpful after his limited screen time throughout the season.  He uses his World Collapse magic to kill Borgius and injure Ultimatia.  However, he also accidentally harms Crimson in the process, but you know what they say: sacrifices have to be made to turn the tide of the battle.

Besides that small crucial moment, the episode primarily focuses on the relationship between Ultimatia and Woltekamui, both of which have backstories to reflect on before the season finale.  The previous episode showcased Ultimatia as one of Carula’s copies that had gone rogue due to being pressured by the others to save a specific person.  Here, it’s revealed that her path to being a Monarch was also due to her encounter with the young Woltekamui, whom everyone denies due to his lightning God magic until Ultimatia came to his aid.  The episode also reveals Woltekamui’s new knife-cut technique, which he learned from his encounter with Gilzea, the Clawed Monarch who can immediately cut people who cut her first.  Fortunately, despite Woltekamui’s upgrade, Ragna isn’t willing to throw in the towel yet, even though he got decapitated by the Lightning Monarch.

“Lightning God” continues the tradition of showcasing the Monarchs’ backstories before their eventual demise.  It also made me realize that the structure reminded me of Demon Slayer, which also portrayed the villains’ backstories before they got their heads chopped off.  While Ragna Crimson doesn’t reach the same emotional heights as Demon Slayer, it’s still a nice way to provide layers into the Monarchs’ villainous traits before the heroes’ potential victory over them.  Will Ragna and the others finally win the everlasting war?  Only time will tell as we’re nearing the show’s heart-pounding conclusion!