English Dub Review: Suicide Squad Isekai Episode 5

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Squad get their timer reset and go after a cache of weapons being guarded by a dragon.

OUR TAKE

We’ve officially reached the halfway point of the series, though while we’ve spent plenty of time establishing this fantasy world and this show’s version of these DC characters, this episode is pretty much just about the team fighting off a giant dragon in one self-contained story. It is rather disappointing that the aspect of the neck bombs was essentially neutered by just having it be reset easily. Considering the bombs are the main example of the difference in status between the members of the Squad and people like Rick Flag, essentially the thing that keeps them as slaves to the government and Waller, this could’ve been a good way for him to establish trust or show he’s starting to like or trust them more, or some sort of way of conveying character growth on either side. Maybe that can be utilized in the latter half somehow, but there is still some time set aside for a little character work as Harley and the rest talk to the recently reformed beast person army they managed to get away from Ratcatcher. Like the squad, these beasts were considered villains up until recently, though only because they may now serve the kingdom they fought against as their new pawns. I don’t really know if we’ll get more exploration of that beyond this cursory acknowledgement, but I guess we’ll see.

That said, the battle against the dragon, as hinted at in the show’s OP. And while it’s light on much character itself, is still quite a ride. Previous episodes were basically just army against army, not a game of Monster Hunter, so that in turn leads to a pretty different style of combat. It’s all of these character converging on a single point, though oddly enough not handling it very lethally. Again, this seems almost like an unintentional defanging of characters who are supervillains and ostensibly deranged serial killers who should all have their own unstable but distinct ways of looking at the situation. Maybe some want to kill the dragon and some want to keep it alive, but…we don’t really get anything like that. Still, it was sure a fun fight to watch, and I’m glad the dragon both didn’t die AND that Harley got a new potential dragon baby. But now, this Squad is about to face off against the remaining members of the first Squad that came through the portal, so hopefully we’ll see some interesting dynamics emerge when they come to blows.