When the wandering samurai saves a priestess, he begins to find some direction in his life. Not that he really wanted it.
What They Say:
Saizo, the wondering Samurai, saved the life of Isanami, the priestess of Izumo. After escorting her to Ueda Castle and witnessing her power, he won’t be able to leave her side again.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga of the same name by Kairi Shinnotsuki which began back in 2007 and has eight volumes under its belt as of this airing, Brave 10 is a new series animated by Studio Sakimakura for TMS Entertainment. The manga itself had a North American pickup under TOKYOPOP but with their shutdown the license has gone to limbo since then. Brave 10 revolves around a familiar period of time and on the group known as the Sanada Ten Braves, the group that was involved with Yukimura Sanada during the key Sengoku period of Japanese history. So there’s definitely a layer of familiarity with it if you’ve seen shows involving this time period, but it also has to strike out on its own and define itself. Which can be hard to do with so much material covering the same time.
While the show has a good sized cast to it just going by its name, it has to have a central focus and that come sin the form of a wandering samurai named Saizo. Through a luck encounter, he rescues a cute young woman named Isanami from attack in the forest and she manages to cajole him into escorting her back to Ueda where she lives. Since a bit of food is involved, and she has a hearty appetite, it’s not a bad thing to pass up for one who wanders as much as he does. He’s able to tell there’s something different about her as their brief journey goes on, but the scale of it he doesn’t quite realize since there are quite a few people after Isanami, revealing that she’s a priestess of Iga and wanting her dead. Of course, Saizo’s the kind of guy who can’t walk away from that, but as he points out he’s not exactly going to give his life for her. But a challenge is a challenge and we get some really fun action here with the fight sequences.
Isanami’s hopes of finding help in Ueda falls a bit short though as we learn how those she was with previously were all killed and her shrine having fallen to the attack. Going to another shrine for help only has them refusing since they don’t want to get caught up in her quest for revenge or being attacked themselves. For Saizo, you know that he’ll eventually give in to it all and help her, but he’s resistant to it for as long as he can be since he doesn’t want to get involved either. While there is a good bit of action to it, and it’s well animated, there’s also a supernatural element that comes into play as it progresses as well with some very skilled warriors becoming part of things. But like other series of this nature, the more you know the characters and their standing in history, the more you’ll get out of the connections and the reworkings of it.
In Summary:
Brave 10 hits all the expected but solid marks it needs to in order to kick the series off. With a focus on just a pair of characters and plenty of room to grow, we get a look at Saizo as the lead and he stands well as the man of skill with a bit of mystery to him and goals of his own that aren’t laid clear. With Isanami, she’s far more modern than you’d expect in a show that’s playing it straight otherwise, but she brings a good mix of serious, fun and cute to the table that’s more charming than I expected at first. I really liked the style of animation and the character designs as well as how well done the action sequences are. It’s not a huge episode that knocks you off your feet, but for those looking for something with good action and a period piece that comes around every so often, Brave 10 may be exactly what you’re looking for.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
