In Dimension W episode episode 8, The Island That Fell into Nothingness, it seems that I was right: Kyōma Mabuchi should have taken an SUV to the island instead of a sports car! Plus, the island starts to come back to life and defend itself with huge robots.
Warning: As usual, this review contains spoilers.
What Happened in Dimension W Episode 8
Albert Schumann safely delivers Mabuchi, Mira Yurizaki, and the sports car to Easter Island. They can’t contact Salva-Enna-Tibesti or any of that crew, but Mabuchi decides to leave them to their own devices and begins his journey.
In a flashback, we find out that Salva-Enna-Tibesti isn’t related to the king; he was an orphan the king picked as his successor. Then the queen gave birth to Lwai, who became the crown prince. Salva-Enna-Tibesti didn’t turn bitter, though, and determined to help his brother.
A storm had forced Salva-Enna-Tibesti’s airship to crash. The Collectors who had been onboard survived, but several, including the prince himself, are unconscious. As the ship crashed, a glowing sphere entered the ship and touched several of them. Lwai with his robots helps the group find an abandoned cabin where they regroup. Meanwhile, Loser and Elizabeth Greenhough Smith, who had apparently bailed out, land in a different part of the island.
The Collectors in the cabin get restless because they wonder, with the Prince unconscious, who will pay the finder’s fee. Lwai plays a video that the Prince left assuring them they’d still get paid if they found the coil.
As she and Mabuchi stop to clear rocks off of the road, Yurizaki notices Salva-Enna-Tibesti’s recording being broadcast via the car’s monitor .
A robot attacks the cabin, and Lwai takes lead on destroying it. The other conscious Collectors except Cassidy proceed with the mission. The blue energy ball arrives and seems only interested in the males. Then it departs.
As they’re driving, Mabuchi and Yurizaki encounter two robots. Mabuchi blinds them with a flash grenade to get past.
Soon thereafter, they come upon the brother and sister (Debbie) team fighting a robot. After giving them an assist, they find that the duo have unique tunneling abilities, which comes in handy because the rest of the way was blocked. They burrow into a tunnel and continue the journey in the car.
Meanwhile, the Collector K.K. uses a syringe to disable Yuri, another Collector. Apparently K.K. wants to perform some kind of operation.
In the tunnel, the siblings have to ride on the roof of the car since it’s a two seater.
They encounter a region of utter blackness, where the coils won’t work and even living beings begin to fade. Yurizaki begins to panic. They enter the darkness. Yurizaki becomes inert. Debbie passes out. Just as Mabuchi’s about to lose consciousness, they emerge and have to swerve to avoid disabled robots. Yurizaki comes back on line immediately.
Mabuchi says they’re almost at ground zero: they have almost arrived at the facility called Adrastea. They get back into the car where Mabuchi has a moment of intense anxiety. As he’s about to pull away, Loser drops in front of them.
What I Liked about Dimension W Episode 8
Albert liked the sound of Mabuchi’s car’s V10 engine. I could tell he was worried about his buddy but didn’t want to express it directly.
I give points to Salva-Enna-Tibesti for not turning on his brother out of jealousy, as so often happens in that kind of situation. That choice gives the character a bit of depth. Same thing for the Prince had the foresight to assume something unpredictable would happen once they hit the island. That’s why he made the recording. Very resourceful!
Yurizaki and Mabuchi saw the recording as they were clearing rocks off of the road. In last week’s review, I mentioned that I thought they should have taken a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) instead of a low-clearance sports car! I felt vindicated when Yurizaki agreed with me.
You could see Easter Island statues behind Mabuchi and Yurizaki as they moved the rocks. I thought that was an interested detail.
When the robot arrived to attack the cabin, its targeting system locked onto everyone who was conscious — except Lwai. Given that in a previous episode we learned his body is synthetic, I thought this was interesting. The robots don’t target other robots; only living creatures.
Debbie was quite taken with Mabuchi. She even thought she might be in love! I thought that was a sweet bit of human humor in the middle of an otherwise tense battle.
When Yurizaki smacked a robot with a huge slab of concrete, Mabuchi actually told her she did a good job. See, Mabuchi? Being pleasant to your partner isn’t hard!
What I Liked Less about Dimension W Episode 8
Mabuchi continues to call Yurizaki a piece of junk and in general abuse her feelings. I still don’t care for that — no sir, not one little bit!
When the Collectors find the cabin, they look inside and declare it “clear.” But they didn’t even check the basement! Can’t say that I’m impressed with their overall tactical abilities.
Mabuchi used a flash grenade to get past the robots. First, he was lucky they didn’t attack him before he got close enough to use the grenade (what, they are programmed to let potential enemies get that close first?). Second, he’s lucky they didn’t also have Radar, LIDAR, or motion detectors. And finally, he didn’t warn Yurizaki to cover her eyes! Calling her disparaging names is one thing. Potentially damaging his partner when he’s in a combat situation is just irresponsible! He should know better.
This probably isn’t the time to bring it up, but why did Yurizaki wear a skirt into battle? Granted, it’s a very pretty skirt, but wouldn’t pants be more practical? I know; it’s anime. At least she didn’t have to fight in a towel — again.
Thoughts about Dimension W Episode 8
A lot happened in this episode. What struck me is that the the plot seemed to surge forward. We got to see the nothingness in action. Previously, I had envisioned it as something that covered the whole island. Now, I know it’s spotty. Above ground, it’s invisible, as Loser showed Elizabeth. Under ground, it’s a deep darkness. Felt effective to me. It also explained why it wasn’t completely insane to take Yurizaki to the island: there are huge portions where she’d be just fine.
I wonder what K.K. is up to? What kind of operation is he going to perform on Yuri? With fifty million dollars on the line, and with the coils being involved, I’m not surprised that subterfuge is afoot. In fact, it’d be unrealistic otherwise.
I continue to struggle with how badly Mabuchi treats Yurizaki. To be fair, he did praise her when she slapped a robot with a slab of concrete. I guess I need to be happy with progress!
In the next episode, we should find out what’s at ground zero. That’s where Mabuchi lost his memory; that’s where his life went seriously south.
I’m dying to know what they find!
Dimension W Episode 8: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: [Spoilers] Dimension W – Episode 8 [Discussion]
- Random Curiosity: Dimension W – 08
- Yatta-Tachi: Dimension W Episode 8 Review (The Island That Fell into Nothingness)
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Dimension W Episode 1: Collector
- Dimension W Episode 2: Loser
- Dimension W Episode 3: Chase the Numbers
- Dimension W Episode 4: The Mystery Hidden in Lake Yasogami
- Dimension W Episode 5: The Possibilities of the Dead
- Dimension W Episode 6: The Wind of Africa
- Dimension W Episode 7: The Voice Calling from the Past
- Dimension W Episode 8: The Island That Fell into Nothingness
- Dimension W Episode 9: The Key to Adrastea
- Dimension W Episode 10: Resurrected Nightmare
- Dimension W Episode 11: The Lost Genesis
- Dimension W Episode 12: The Future Reached
