English Dub Review: To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts “Gargoyle’s Judgment”

Overview:

Murders are being committed in town.

Our Take:

The gargoyle this time is an extremely self-righteous man, even when he was human. He seems to be somewhat of an extremist, who already wanted to massacre the Southern soldiers even before he’d transformed. As a gargoyle, he takes his combat abilities to enact his sense of justice onto the world. Hank says that he lost his soul, but he was a blood knight before he turned, so it’s kind of hard to tell where the transformation begins and where it ends. I suppose he wouldn’t have initially started slaughtering innocents, but really, it comes off as all he needed was a justification.

Hank and Nancy share a moment, and I can’t help but feel like this installment must have come later in the manga. To be fair, it is a tender moment, and shows that the two of them are opening up to each other, especially is Hank is talking about his past to an outsider of the military. Considering the two of them are traveling companions, this is nice to see. However, considering that he acted like she was almost a burden last episode, this feels like a leap. Naturally, an anime will have to cut parts of the manga to fit into a single cour, but it really comes off like we happened to miss something important offscreen.

I am also reminded of the really poor decision to infodump Hank’s backstory into the first episode. That honestly hampers the entire show going forward, especially this episode, because there’s no intrigue. When Hank reveals slivers of his backstory, it’s supposed to make Nancy and therefore us, more curious about everything. Who is Elaine? Why is she dead? Who is Cain and what’s his objective? The only real question remaining is Cain’s motive, because we know everything else going in. The deeper mystery as to what the Incarnates are and why they’re rampaging is rendered moot when we have already been given an answer, and it’s a rushed and sloppy one at that.

When Cain shows up with a fellow Incarnate and a mysterious young girl, we wonder a few things: what’s he doing there, why does he want Nancy, and what’s his goal? Again, this could’ve been given more mystery by not having his backstory out in the open, but it is what it is. It, like Nancy and Hank’s trust moment, feels like it comes too soon, but I suppose it’s better than just a monster of the week.