Brave 10 Ep 1: Unfortunate Encounter [First Impression]

Saizou encounters a shrine priestess who is being pursued and finds himself pulled into an unpleasant situation.

First Impression:
Well even though I was looking forward to this since the previews, I’ll be honest that I wasn’t expecting too much. This episode definitely caught my interest and exceeded some of my exceptions. First of all, there’s blood- and lots of it without going overboard into the gore level (in fact, this isn’t even close to gore level yet compared to Hakouki where you saw limbs being sliced off- not that was much gore either, but still.)
I found this episode to be totally badass, yet at the same time, it’s absolutely adorable! I’m loving the characters that are introduced so far, and Isanami is totally awesome. I mean, 95% of the time, girls who play the role of having to be protected are dull, pathetic and doesn’t exactly appeal to our interest. Isanami on the other hand, is definitely one of those lucky 5% that automatically appeals to me. First of all, she’s a glutton, second she is persistent enough to follow Saizo because she has more faith/hope in him to protect her than Sanada who at first claimed that he doesn’t want to be involved. I don’t blame her one bit. But then again, that’s pretty common altogether…. Thirdly, it appears she possesses some sort of dangerous power (of course it looks like it varies on the situation considering the power or whatever it was, spoken). It makes her skin look almost as if it were petrified and looks like she doesn’t exactly have control of it- it just happens in the split second and she doesn’t seem remember when she has used that power. The question now is, whether that power is within her, or it’s the traditional hair-clip. Either way, this power basically decays everything and the world is screwed if it gets into the wrong hands.
As for the enemy, I can’t tell whether they are aiming to capture Isanami or are trying to kill her, but by the looks of it- it’s an assassination mission.
I like Saizo’s character. He, even though he puts on a face that he doesn’t give a damn, or claim he doesn’t want to be involved- has a soft side, but it’s hard to draw out. However at the same time he’s serious and points out he’s not such a great guy, especially considering he didn’t hold back at all when it came to taking down the enemy, where as one of the corpses landed on Isanami and she has blood of the guy all over her.
I have to admit though, the combat is kind of lacking. I mean it’s not the worst I’ve seen, but like Vantage mentioned while we were discussing about this, rather than Samurais battling each other (which I was kind of expecting), it feels like a mediocre version of Naruto with the whole ninja fighting (mainly because that’s all we really saw this episode). I’m hoping that in the future episodes, the combat will improve.
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Kaitou’s Impressions
For the sake of fairness, Brave 10 stood out for the sole reason that is seemed to hold emphasis on bishies filling the screen. I’m not going to lie about why I want to watch this show, because at least, it doesn’t have a useless lead like in Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan. The back drop of the era, ancient Japan is an instant draw, along with warring ninja clans of Kouga and Iga makes it worth it, even if there were inaccuracies.
In this episode, we’re introduced to Isanami, Izumo shrine-maiden-in-distress; Saizo, ronin that gets recruited into being bodyguard; Sarutobi Sasuke, leader of the Sanada ninjas; Sanada Yukimura, peasant lord; and whole mash of nameless assassins that get their asses handed to them as they all attempt to kill Isanami.
It starts out normal enough, Isanami running through the forest and trying to escape assassins. Although there is blatant fanservice, this fanservice is “nice” enough that is appeals to females and males. Saizo reluctantly comes to her rescue, and it looks like his reasons for helping extend beyond meals in exchange. He’s got his own baggage, and despite his gruff exterior (tsun-tsun, anyone?), he’s willing to help out Isanami. And gosh, he’s soooo cute when he wakes up next to Isanami. Shows he has a sensitive and, possibly, thoughtful side. ;D
Isanami’s strange role as the shrine maiden, the dangerous piece of jewellery that she sports, the resourcefulness of her personality give her an edge as an engaging heroine, rather than some cute piece of fluff on screen. She’s dealing with all the events that are happening to her, and where a normal person would give up, she picks up the pieces and keeps going. All that she knows no longer is around- her home taken away, the people she loves all dead. I can’t wait to see what the power entails, because the power to destroy is not one usually given to a peaceful shrine maiden. Do the assassins want her, or the headpiece, or could it be something more sinister, like the silencing of a secret?
The outfits and character designs are gorgeous. Isanami is pretty but not too over the top, and the rest of the male cast are all hot in their manliness. The colour choices, accessories, all play together to create what I assume will be the “Brave 10” that will protect Isanami from her enemies. Fighting guys is totally the reason to watch this. I hope there’s more fighting and drama, and maybe some implied romance. I don’t have a whole lot of hope for the depth of this show, but over all, I was impressed that it lived up to my low expectations of being a bishie-riffic show. Not too violent, and just the right balance of humour and action.
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