This episode of Re: Zero season 3 was intense and high quality! Arguably the best element of this episode was the voice-acting (though the music and some of the fighting animations were also top-notch). I’ll mention 3 of the amazing seiyuus in this, my response to Re: Zero season 3 episode 4 (or episode 54 cumulatively).
Episode 54: Operation: Take Back the Government Office
Episode Rating: 9/10
Mimi and Garfiel ran into two high-ranking Cultists. Since Mimi has had more battle experience, she can immediately tell that they need to retreat. However, Garf insists on attacking the enemies at least once. The fight begins and Garfiel soon realizes he’s in way over his head. He would have died if Mimi hadn’t jumped in to protect him. As Garf turned to run, holding his companion in one of his giant tiger arms, the Cultists fired off one more attack. Mimi was hit.
Garfiel was understandably upset, seeing his little companion slashed within an inch of her life. It’s not certain if Mimi will recover. Garf spirals into emotional distress. Ricardo Welkin, the adoptive father of the triplets, lets Garf know that he doesn’t blame him for what happened. Garfiel appreciated the gesture, but no matter what anyone says, he can’t stop blaming himself. I felt so awful for Garf in this episode and hope he’s not traumatized too badly.
This episode revealed that Capella, the Arch Bishop of Lust, is actually a black dragon. She can take human form to go indoors, but she’s a dragon by rights. I was at first confused about whether or not she’s the Black Serpent, but now I think she’s a separate entity. Anyway, Capella is a sadistic and loud dragon who is terrorizing the city with audio broadcasts that overwhelm the senses of any listeners. Capella is likely to kill the hostages in the government building if the good-guys don’t act soon.
This brings us to the first of several seiyuus I want to mention in this post. Aoi Yuuki is the voice of Capella, and she did a great job sounding completely unhinged. In case she sounded familiar doing this sort of voice, you might recognize her from Saga of Tanya the Evil (she played Tanya). Aoi Yuuki also voiced other diverse anime heroines, from Madoka Kaname (Madoka Magica) to Maomao (Apothecary Diaries). She’s amazing.
The next voice actor to mention is Kengo Kawanishi, who voices Lye Batenkaitos. I noticed earlier that Lye refers to himself as “we,” and this episode made it clear that he has an alternate personality named Roy Alphard. Both people are in the same body share the role of Arch-Bishop of Gluttony. Toward the end of the episode, Roy is rambling on and on about god-knows-what. Listening to it was pure insanity. And Kengo Kawanishi played the part so convincingly!
For anyone who’s interested in his history, Kengo Kawanishi is a relatively young voice actor who had mostly minor supporting roles until he played Rei Kiriyama in March Comes in Like a Lion (2016). I know him best as Gen Asagiri from Dr. Stone. His recent roles include Muichiro Tokito from Demon Slayer, Taiga Tsugeura from Wind Breaker, and Soushiro Hoshino from Kaiju No. 8. Keep an eye on this talented voice actor from now on and you won’t regret it.
There are many more extremely talented seiyuus in the cast, including Nobuhiko Okamoto (Garfiel), Rie Takahashi (Emilia), and of course Yuusuke Kobayashi (Subaru). But the last one I want to mention today is Kana Ueda. Her roles in anime have been numerous, but she is most famous for playing Rin Tohsaka in the Fate/Type Moon franchise. In Re: Zero, she plays Anastasia Hoshin. This role gives little opportunity to showcase impressive VA skills, but nevertheless, Kana Ueda’s voice is distinct and memorable in every part she plays.
The fight scene with the four-armed man and the cultist woman was epic. Whoever that woman is, she can apparently hold her own in a sword-fight against Wilhelm, which is impressive. (I don’t like Wilhelm very much, but I can’t deny his sword skills.) I also enjoyed seeing Crusch’s cute moments in this episode. Crusch is still the most beautiful of the female characters, in my personal opinion, and also extremely responsible and strong.
On a final note, there is a short after-credits scene showing Corneas with Emilia. It was a disgusting scene where the creep has Emilia in his room naked in a bed. He demands to know if she is a virgin, which he says is “the most important thing,” confirming that he is a misogynistic pig. (Nah, that has already been clear for a while now.) I don’t like where this is going. That’s the end of my thoughts for today.
~Thanks for reading~
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