Bravern Episode 6 Summary:
In episode six of Bravern, the combined Japanese and American militaries land in Japan to scout for survivors. An unexpected foe returns.
Overall Thoughts:
There wasn’t a lot to say about this episode. The tonal whiplash remains a constant, as always. The characters continue to be a delight, and the plot is confusing. Some new lore elements were also introduced in this episode of Bravern. That being said, this author can’t dedicate much time to them. This is because while these plot points were interesting, the most interesting thing appears at the end of this episode. Spoilers ahead.
Superbia:
Superbia stole the entire episode. Everything else pales in comparison to him. Despite only appearing in the last quarter, we finally get to hear him speak. Voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, Superbia has one goal in mind for this episode. In order to fight Bravern as an equal, he requests the return of his pilot, Lulu. The episode ends on this cliffhanger. Isami will likely have a migraine for days. That said, the hope of learning more about Superbia was a good cliffhanger to end on. How is he back? Why is he here? What is his history with Lulu? These are all valid questions.
Halfway Point Thoughts:
Bravern will only get twelve episodes. Considering the slow pacing and no confirmation on season two, this number is discouraging. If this author had known prior, the reviews would have commented on the lack of a central theme. Unfortunately, Bravern is taking far too long to tell its story in the amount of time it has. As much as this author hates to say it, so far, nothing has happened in Bravern. While the characters are charming, Bravern does not have enough plot to carry it through. Isami and Bravern are still developing their relationship. Lulu still has yet to be explained. Bravern is running out of time to have a plot. While the last two episodes promised something more, Bravern looks more depressing with every review. This author can’t comment on theories because every fan space is an echo chamber of the same questions. Fan reactions to Bravern have so far been mixed. Bravern only has six more episodes left.
Bravern Speculation:
This author hopes that episode seven will expand on the Superbia plot. No other subplot aside from Isami and Bravern’s has been nearly as interesting. As much as this author loves Lewis and Lulu, those two also still need time to develop. It’s difficult to tell where director Masami Obari will go with this show. This show is running out of time to explore other death drives. The hope is, at the very least, that Superbia’s arc will be covered. If not, the show may lose a big chunk of its audience that was interested in this plot point.
Other than that, fan theories have been largely the same. Some big ones, as always, are: Bravern is a rebel death drive, or Bravern is evil. A slowly emerging theory, however, is Bravern being Lewis from the future. Though this theory doesn’t carry much weight, it is still interesting.
That said, the outpour of love for this show overwrites Keigo Koyanagi’s underdeveloped writing. If this author has anything good to say in this review, it’s that shows like this often become cult classics. A show being perfect often leaves very little to come back to. Likewise, missed potential and interesting concepts make for shows that end up being topics of discussion for years. Episode six can be found here.
