As Brave10 moves on to episode 4, I am happy to say that it still doesn’t fail to entertain, and continues to be a nice Anime to look forward to each week.
The episode begins by briefly showing two men on horseback talking, but soon moves to the more familiar face of Sanada who is discussing Saizo, Kakei and Isanami’s journey to Izumo. When Rokuro mentions that the three will most likely be followed, Sanada admits in a round about way that it will inevitably happen. Elsewhere, Saizo, Kakei and Isanami arrive at the burned down remains of Izumo in search of clues as to why people had been targeting Isanami in the first place. While initially having little luck, Saizo notices an odd pattern on the ground and jumps up high on a pillar to get a better look.
After trying to figure out what the symbol meant, Kakei tries to turn the pieces in the ground to see if anything happens, but instead just ends up hurting his back. Isanami takes a look at the paper Saizo had drawn the symbol on, and then asks if it would be ok if she tried turning it, to which they both agree. Isanami is able to turn the pieces as she realised that only the middle parts could be turned, and then a light emits from the centre as a set of stairs appears leading underground. The three of them go down the stairs and apparently come to a dead end, only for Isanami to notice some writing on the wall.
Unfortunately the writing is in Izumo script that none of them can understand, but before they can even decide what to do next, they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of the masked ninja who originally attacked Izumo (and later fought with Saizo), who was accompanied by the woman from before who can control snakes. They find out that he wants Isanami’s hairpin, which ultimately is what everyone has been chasing after her for in the first place, eagre to claim it’s power for themselves.
Needless to say a battle ensues, but there was a surprise appearance near the end of the episode as well as a new character appearing too, so I don’t want to go in to that and spoil the ending for anyone who wishes to watch the episode for themselves.
The episode was good again this week, we got to see Saizo battle again which is always good and there was also a lot less of Isanami acting stupidly obsessed with Saizo which is an improvement. While it can be said Brave1o has been a bit samey for each episode, for the moment anyway it’s not much of a problem as the battles are enjoyable and Saizo continues to be one of my favourite characters in recent times. I think Brave10 will move past this problem before long, to begin with as with any show it is more to set out the specifics of characters (and what they are capable of) and plot as a whole, so I expect the upcoming episodes to change it up a bit. All the same, Brave10 certainly continues to be the show I look forward to most each week for this season, and continues to be a great use of 23 minutes.
Posted by Tokyo Mao 
Tokyo Gazette 