REVIEW: ‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus,’ Episode 6 – “The Persistence of Memory”

Blade Runner: Black Lotus is a sci-fi/action joint Crunchyroll-Adult Swim exclusive from Sola Digital Arts. With J’s capture last episode, Elle is flying solo for the moment. Luckily, she has her first target already in her sights. Now she’s off to pay a visit to Police Chief Grant’s penthouse apartment to talk with him and his wife. Since they were both participants of the doll hunt, I’m sure this will be a reasonable and calm visit in Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 6.

First, I just want to say that I’m not generally a proponent of violent solutions to bad situations. Violence should generally be used as only a last resort or in self-defense. It is extremely easy for a violent confrontation to spiral out of control leading to repercussions that can never be undone. However, there are those moments where an individual has been pushed so hard that they’re choosing the violent route, especially when it has been made clear that the law will not recognize them as a person, which is something that I cannot condemn. After five episodes of watching Elle unravel the mysteries of what has been done to her, I couldn’t help feeling like the choices she makes in Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 6 fall squarely into this space.

The overwhelming majority of the episode is focused on this confrontation. Infiltrating Chief Grant’s high-rise penthouse, Elle dispatch’s the guards protecting the Chief’s wife with fluid grace and ease. This brief moment of skillful violence on the part of Elle comes to serve as a mere appetizer to the smorgasbord of stylish combat tricks she will wow viewers with before the episode comes to its explosive conclusion. Once inside the penthouse, Elle sets about the task of getting answers. By the time she’s done, she will have some answers, as well as more new questions.

Now while I’ve already hyped up the fight that eventually erupts in Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 6, it is the lead-up to this finale that truly makes the episode smack. The story paces itself beautifully. As the tension rises, more personalities are gradually introduced to the scenario, causing the situation to slowly build until it eventually bursts. By the time it reaches this breaking point the tension has become almost too much to handle.

This tension is further augmented with the continuing struggle that Elle feels toward herself. As she confronts her hunters, she is reminded that they and many others don’t see her as real. That the emotions and feelings she possesses aren’t actual feelings. This sort of emotional torture reinforces the personal element of Elle’s rage. By the time shots get fired and the katana comes out, I was 100% backing Elle’s every move. And let’s talk about those moves.

From the moment those random thugs tried to take liberties with Elle way back in episode one, the shining element of Blade Runner: Black Lotus’s visuals have been the gorgeous fight scenes. If you have been impressed with what Sola Digital Arts has delivered before, you had better strap in. Because you haven’t seen anything yet. Elle takes her combat prowess to a whole new level. As she spins’ twists, and bounds around rooms, disarming and taking down enemies twice her size and neutralizing range weapons with sleek moves and amazing reflexes. This awesome display of combat animation culminates in the best gun/sword fight I’ve seen in a long time. Seriously, this fight could’ve come straight out of a John Wick movie.

So when all is said and done, Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 6 delivers a phenomenal entry into its series. With the amount of action, emotion, and tension that is woven into this episode, I found myself repeatedly forgetting this wasn’t a season finale. With so much left to go in this series I cannot wait to see where Elle’s quest for answers will eventually takes her.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 6 is streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.