Getting past the halfway mark of the series, the struggles get more serious and the world even stranger as Show encounters new lands and new battlers.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Now firmly into the second half of the series, Dunbine’s conflict and continually growing cast only become more and more fascinating. While the overall pacing of the show is somewhat awkward and indicative of the time it came from, there’s so much going on and so much plot moving forward between the various sides that it’s something that just keeps drawing me into it. The first few minutes end up being a quick catch-up to remember where we were but then it’s just complete absorption into the show.
Much like any batch of episodes of this series, the four episodes here really move things along in a number of directions. Show actually manages some forced growth during the course of these episodes though, something he’s been needing to do for awhile. A lot of the focus of things comes down to the defense of the kingdom of Rau and the Noburo castle where King Foizon has his armies being readied. Amid disputes between some of the ranking soldiers and their lack of wanting to help the Zelana’s crew, Foizon is coming to the realization that the way battles used to be fought across Byston Well aren’t going to suffice anymore. While something like Noboru castle may have made the perfect defense against invading hordes for centuries beforehand, it’s inconsequential against the type of weapons and craft being used now. Foizon starts taking the long view of sacrificing the castle and taking the battle straight to Drake by using his new massive battleship that’s been built in secret.
Battleships are the name of the game as the battles continue to spread across the realm. Drake’s Will o’ the Wisp battleship is the pride of his fleet but he’s still wary to use it much. His intent is to still use others to do much of the grunt work, such as waiting for Bishott’s forces to arrive and send them to the front lines to do the dying. But Bishott knows exactly what Drake is up to and serves him up rather well with only a few forces at first. Unfortunately for the viewer, one of them is Todd and we get to have more of his vengeance driven dialogue. Todd’s acts really show what his core personality it, especially when he and Show end up getting transported mysteriously to the Sphere of Tempest. The excursion there has plenty of reason to occur since it brings in Ceila and what she’s able to bring to the table as a queen, but it really just gives Todd a chance to show how single-minded his focus is. His near crushing of a Ferario just to learn Show’s whereabouts is ample proof of that.
On a character level, there’s plenty to match the action. On the lighter side, it was quite good to see Chum get a bit more screen time in a light way with her changing of costumes at long last. The amusing bits with her in the long dress and the birds that peck at her were good but it’s when she mimics Show’s combat uniform, complete with helmet, that it really kicks in. A lot of character time is also spent with Elle, Foizon’s granddaughter. Her spiritual powers that foreshadow the future weighs heavily on her and she’s only seeing more death and destruction and can’t help but to express it. The weight of what she sees is plain, especially when much of it involves the destruction of her homeland. Foizon himself comes across well during these episodes too, from his realization about how war has changed to some of the old ways he still holds on to. Show gets some changes as well, though his tend to feel more forced at times than anything else. Ceila brings some of the changes in Show to the surface in how she views him, and he reflects on some of them after his battle with Todd, but the really surprising one is his forthrightness with Marvel about their relationship. There’s always been the given that the two of them would be an item of some sort just based on typical storytelling, but it’s interesting how it’s actually approached here with his reasoning for keeping things as cool as they have been.
In Summary:
Dunbine is so completely my kind of show. While I would like some of the smoother pacing and dialogue of some more recent shows, I’m still thrilled to be finally seeing one of the classics that I’ve wanted to see for so long. This batch of episodes pushes a lot of the action plotlines forward and brings some smaller character plots up to date. At some points, it seems like there isn’t any real shift in what’s going on with the war but then it’ll change so completely that you see Drake’s forces pushing harder and harder as the good guys lose more and more ground. The series isn’t the most upbeat there is out there and this only continues that since more ground is lost, but there’s a good shift in power as well here as the battleships start to take the stage. A lot of small changes are introduced here that will slowly turn the tide I think as we move more into the back half of the series.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Daisuki
