Before the Warring States era came to a close, legend has it that Yukimura Sanada has been gathering ten warriors known as Sanada's Brave 10, who have the power to change history and take down the Tokugawa empire. Isanami, Priestess of Izumo, is on her way to speak with Yukimura, but it seems that some people are very keen to ensure that she doesn't reach her destination. She's fortunate, then, that her path crosses with that of swordsman Saizo, who reluncantly takes on the role of her protector... I'm really beginning to dread any series that features the keywords "warring states", "heroes", "yukimura" and other related terms in their description - I have very little interest in the historical setting, the almost inevitable use to mystic powers instead of halfway-realistic battle actively annoys me, and the hackneyed storylines never impress. Brave 10 comes with the added issue of apparently being loaded wth bishounen and aimed more at the female viewership - so based on what little advance knowledge I had, this one seemed destined for the "dropped at ep1" list. Colour me surprised, then, when it turned out to be at least not horrible. Yes, the fighting falls back on "ooh my super abilities are better than yours!", the good guys are all invincible (of course), and the damsel in distress soon turns out to have a darkside that would make Yuno Gasai proud. Actually, that last one is a benefit - Isanami's dark side comes from the mystic power of her hairclip(?) rather that an unhealthy streak of batshit insanity, but it's not less effective at turning her into a killing machine, and I do like that quality in my animated heroines. The combat scenes were also quite enjoyable to watch, despite my misgivings. THE GOOD: Looks good, a while it includes elements that I'd usually class as daft, it's not as daft as I was expecting. You take what you can get... THE BAD: Nothing all that new here, so far at least. Still, enough here that it doesn't head straight to the drop list, which surprises me. We'll see how it plays out for a few episodes yet.
Read the rest of this entry Entry meta