REVIEW: ‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus,’ Episode 11 – “All the Best Memories”

Blade Runner: Black Lotus is a sci-fi/action joint Crunchyroll-Adult Swim exclusive from Sola Digital Arts. With Elle on the verge of discovering the identity of the mysterious man in her memories, J struggles to find a way to save Elle from her questions. But Niander Wallace isn’t about to risk his newly acquired empire on J’s choices and dispatches someone to make sure Elle is silenced in Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 11.

With the reveal that Niander Wallace is the man in Elle’s memory giving her the tattoo, what was once a beautiful memory takes a whole new tone. In order to protect Elle from searching out Niander, J suggests that she should have her old memories erased. That way she could start fresh without the horror of the doll hunt and the scares it left hindering her from living a happier life. Though J has his motives for making this suggestion that are unknown to Elle.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 11 makes some delicate decisions where its main characters are concerned. Elle and J both make some hard choices that, agree with them or not, feel well thought out and true to the characters. The continued reveals around J alters his role in the show entirely. Having rewatched everything that has been released so far just this past week, much of the show’s first episode makes more sense with the recent reveals.

This episode also does a great job of building up Niander as the new villainous mastermind. While he only has a couple of scenes in this episode, both dialogue and visual presentation do a great job of emphasizing the character as sinister. His biggest contribution to the story in Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 11 is to set a new player loose on the field. And what this new agent promises for the next episode look to be epic.

With only a brief moment of combat near the end of this entry, it surprises me to write as positively about the animation as I’m going to. I have frequently been critical of the out-of-combat animation work in this series, but this episode brings some stand-out moments during its calmer scenes. Elle’s movements in particular are handled with a level of nuance that feels exceptional for the series. Her discussion with J about what she should do next is given a heightened sense of emotion thanks to the great job the animation does in delivering her body langue during this sequence.

So, when all is said and done, Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 11 delivers a slower tale that is highlighted by a couple of strong emotional beats and sets up what promises to be a fantastic episode for next week.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus Episode 11 is streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.