English Dub Review: Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond “One Butler’s Blitzkrieg”

Action Butler Society… GO!

Overview (Spoilers)

Gilbert’s in a spot of pain. A run-in with a sky-fish (literally) has given his spine more subluxation than a woodchuck can chuck in wood, and he can barely stand anymore. Good thing he isn’t the only combat butler. The headquarters of his order sends a temporary replacement: Phillip. He knows his stuff, too. In addition to anticipating Klaus’ requests for a very specific kind of tea, and delivering it before the request is even finished, he’s also good at field dressing wounds. Leo gives Phillip a tour of the city, and clues him in on the best ways to avoid dangers eldritch and urbane. Along the way, a pickpocket steals Leo’s wallet. Though Phillip is able to retrieve it, he finds the whole exercise was moot. Leo doesn’t keep his money in there. He has distributed it in hiding places all over his body, so that thieves and muggers won’t get it all. That way, he can avoid conflicts that could easily escalate into worse than bloodshed. Phillip is still stunned, and goes to talk to Gilbert about it. In the process, he catches Gilbert accessing Libra’s computer hub, and asks why he hasn’t been trained on it. Truth is, it contains information that, simply by knowing it, makes him a target by high-level enemies. Depressed, he goes to drink his troubles away, and gets kidnapped by some demon thugs. They take out his brain and turn his body into a spy. Fortunately, Gilbert notices something is amiss, and gathers a posse of Leo, Zapp, and Zed to mount a high-octane rescue in his suped-up, transforming, flying convertible caddy. Seriously, this car has so many gizmos, it looks like the Batmobile got it on with the Mach V.  As they narrow in on Phillip’s brain, the thug in possession of it mounts a charge with his sword, cleaving Gilbert’s head in two. Surprisingly, the combat butler shrugs this off, and serves up a platter of tank rounds to his foe. Later, in the hospital, Phillip wonders why, if Gilbert were a regenerator, would he not tell them his injuries would heal? As it turns out, his power only kicks in for life-threatening injuries. He offers Phillip a position at Libra, but the boy gives him an emphatic no.

Our Take

Oooooooh, this episode was so fun! Not only do we get a bit about Gilbert (who I always forget is there), but we get a bit more about what life is like in Hellsalem’s Lot. There is enough of a system in place that if you are going to a more frequently lethal area, buses change their text color so you know. That’s actually kind of amazing to me. It’s details like that I enjoy. I also like how this season focuses more heavily on individual characters instead of the overall plot. The previous season did a great job introducing us to Libra and the city, and this season, we go a bit deeper. This is good, because our brief glimpses of the heroes from before left us with an incomplete view of their abilities.

The animation in this foray was amazing. Your first hint? Phillip’s tea delivery dash. Think that’s all? Watch this car shred dead heads. Not good enough, it transforms and charges with mind-blowing speed, warping not only the car from our perspective, but its surrounding environment. Blood blades, laser beams, missile salvos, everything is flying all over the place, making it all look like a disco of death. It is probably some of the best animation I’ve seen in a long while. The direction of these sequences is intense and dynamic. What do I have to say about the voice acting? Not much, really. There isn’t a whole lot of depth in the performances, but that wasn’t what you came here for. Action and comedy. That the show has in spades. Leave the performances for another episode.

Yeah, I know. This is a bit of a short review, but when you get down to it, you don’t have to say a lot about something to relay that you like it. And I liked this episode. It was a wild ride, and it had a little bit of fun humor while fleshing out a rarely appreciated character. It reminds me of classic Trigun, and I think you know why.