Dusk Beyond the End of the World

Episode 4

I think more anime should embrace the idea of double date episodes. On paper they sound cute, and they allow for a lot of creativity. So I felt conflicted early on into the episode: On one hand, maybe a double date episode could make for a charming little piece of storytelling, that also might give our protagonists some much needed likability? On the other, I just can't find it in myself to care about these characters, and I wish this series would just tell us more about OWEL or otherwise get to the point already.

The core issue at play here is that, as I talked about last week, we just don't have good romantic leads and romance has so far been central to what's going on here. So far, outside of his love for Towasa, the only trait Akira has is that he's handy. That's it. Towasa, meanwhile, doesn't seem like she's had any social experience—more specifically, that Akira's the only person her age, full-stop, that she's ever so much as exchanged pleasantries with. And then there's Yuugure, the android who looks like Towasa and wants to marry Akira, but whom we know virtually nothing substantial about. You can't make a compelling romance without compelling characters, and they aren't that.

But of course, the romance between Fides and her brother Kalcrom was more so what the series wanted to put the spotlight on this week. It's too early to say with confidence whether or not this is going to be to any meaningful payoff, seeing as how the episode has ended in a way where I'd say we got a 50/50 of them being recurring side characters, or if we're never going to see them again after next week. I lean slightly toward the latter, but I'll admit, my reasons are completely arbitrary. They just have side character vibes, I don't know.

Speaking of that ending though, Akira's been shot again, but this time it's unlikely he's got another cryo-chamber to save him. But there's no way this series has the guts to kill its protagonist, let alone in a way as unceremonious as this. I'm sure next week, Yuugure will reveal some cool ability or medical knowledge she has that's going to save him. Still, I think it was going less for the suspense of, “ooh, what's going to happen to Akira?” as much as it was drawing a parallel between Yuugure and Towasa—more specifically, Akira taking bullets for both of them, whose relation definitely exists but we're still unsure of. But I feel nothing toward the potential Akira/Towasa romance, so the idea of this series trying to give itself some drama by giving Towasa a rival in Yuugure does nothing for me. So, well, shrug emoji.

I think what this series needs to turn itself around is putting more stock into telling us what's going on in the world they're in. We've seen cool worldbuilding going on in the background, and even in this episode we got a few offhand mentions of OWEL. And that's so obviously more interesting than anything else happening in this series. I care way less about Akira's journey to find Towasa, and way more about why OWEL wants to keep Akira away from everyone else. Episodes like this only highlight that, and give more stakes to this series giving us a meaningful payoff. So I hope for this series' sake that when we do finally learn more about what's happened since Akira fell asleep, that it can stick the landing. Because at this point, I think that's probably the only thing that could potentially resuscitate it. If only I could go into a cryo-sleep until it finally reaches that point.

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Dusk Beyond the End of the World is currently streaming on HIDIVE.