English Dub Review: To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts “Those Who Seek”

Overview:

Cain and Hank get their fated match.

Our Take:

The human side reveals that they have made a mass weapon of their own; poison made from the hydra incarnate. They plan to utilize this to stop the Incarnates and it works, even against their own men too. However, as the allied commander says, some sacrifices are necessary in war… to an extent. I have a feeling they were trying to say something about morality in conflict, but I think they ended up missing it a little bit.

And Cain… he sure is in love with Hank, huh. They’re not even subtle about it, either. Looking at Elaine with jealousy, and feeling the same towards Schaal, who’s a direct parallel of Elaine… Cain’s got it real bad. Is this why he’s so laser-focused on Hank, because he’s got a gigantic crush on him? I wasn’t really expecting that but now that it’s there… well, kickstarting a war is one way to make your feelings clear, I guess?

At the same time, I still don’t really feel like I understand Cain’s motivations very well. He talks about wanting the Incarnates to survive, but at the same time he despises humanity that created them. His rebellion against that, instead of Hank’s choosing to off themselves, is to let them live on. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to slaughter all of humanity though, and he also doesn’t really seem that attached to his fellow Incarnates. They believe in his philosophy, but he doesn’t seem particularly close to them, not on a personal level. Compared to the camaraderie the original Incarnate Unit had when the first war was happening, this one seems much more clinical and professional in comparison. What does Cain actually want? And what is the deal with his dad, the president, anyway? I know this is going to continue on, likely because the manga isn’t finished, but this felt kind of anticlimactic in the sense that the battle just kind of stops.

I really wish Schall, our protagonist, didn’t do absolutely nothing this time around.

This is very much hyping up for a second season, and I’m mildly on board. I don’t think it was the type of series that had me desperately thirsting for a second season, but I’m willing to watch it if it gets made. It wasn’t bad, and the concept was fairly interesting, but I wonder if reading the manga will give me a different experience.