Anime Review: Bang Brave Bang Bravern! (Japanese title: Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern!“)
In the not so distant future, the latest weapons development is combat mecha. These “Titanostriders” are a lot like more agile tanks, with all the strengths and weaknesses that implies. On Oahu, there’s a joint military exercise with the Americans, Japanese and Germans participating. Gregarious Second Lieutenant Lewis Smith of the United States takes a friendly rival interest in the highly skilled and stoic Third Lieutenant Isami Ao of Japan. So far, very Tom Clancy/Top Gun territory.
Then, alien mecha attack. They’re more technologically advanced than the Earth machines, and at first seem invincible. All seems lost until a much bigger and shinier giant robot appears, announcing itself as Bravern! It addresses Isami by name, urging him to become its pilot so that together they can save the day.
Isami reluctantly agrees, and has a rough time in the cockpit, but the team does manage to clear out the Soldat hordes and defeat their boss, the enemy giant robot Superbia.
Afterwards, Bravern tells the humans that the invaders are the Deathdrives, mechanical alien lifeforms that are here to kill humans. But not to worry, he and his best buddy Isami are going to protect humanity!
Unfortunately, not everyone has gotten the memo that they’re in a super robot show now, and the CIA waterboards Isami in an effort to discover his connection to Bravern. Isami has no blessed idea why Bravern knew his name or wants to be his partner, and was already traumatized by the actual combat experience, so he has a complete mental breakdown.
Lewis Smith offers to be Bravern’s pilot until Isami Ao is back on his feet, but Bravern says that’s impossible and won’t expand on that answer. Smith doesn’t have too much time to dwell on this, as he stumbles on a mysterious white-haired girl with total amnesia who gets the name Lulu.
Bravern was one of the more interesting series from winter 2024. The genre shift from “real robot” to super robot” was not advertised much in advance, and the bizarre twists of what’s really going on were reminiscent of Samurai Flamenco. Bravern is a fascinating if sometimes annoying character, who seems to bend the universe around him to follow his genre conventions rather than “realistic” ones. He even plays his own theme song while flying into battle ala Mighty Mouse.
On the other hand, he doesn’t seem to grasp how uncomfortable it makes everyone around him when he describes his fondness for his pilot. “It was his first time inside me! I thrilled as his firm hand grasped my control stick! We came together!” and on and on. This series plays up the homoeroticism often seen in the mecha and military genres–the ending with Smith and Ao singing together shirtless must be seen to be disbelieved. It’s clear that the creators knew exactly what they were doing.
Poor Isami takes a long time to recover from the horrific events of the first couple of episodes. He manages to pull himself together eventually, but desperately needs to have real therapy once the series is over.
Smith is much more of a protagonist-type character, the sort of person who’s always fancied himself becoming some kind of hero. He faces a lot of frustration as he’s repeatedly denied the chance to step up, and when he finally accepts a supporting role, things go wonky once again.
Lulu completes our main character quartet. Her mysterious origins and unfamiliarity with human society are relevant, though she really picks up in the last third of the series when we learn her full backstory.
There’s also a nicely diverse set of minor supporting characters. If I had one critique, it’s that almost all the female characters have designs that make them look like they’re from a “cute girls doing cute things” series instead of a military action series.
And there’s the Deathdrives. It took me far too long to realize they were designed on a “Deadly Sins” motif, using the rarer “eight evil thoughts” version. They have nicely varied personalities, and their true motivation in attacking Earth is suitably twisted.
There’s some awesome action scenes, and heart-touching dramatic scenes And some very silly comedy scenes.
Content note: Several characters die violently. Torture. Mental breakdowns. Male and female nudity (no genitals.) Some body fluid humor. A lot of sexual double entendre humor. Older teens should be okay, younger viewers may need guidance or just not understand the jokes.
Highly recommended to mecha fans looking for something a bit more out there. Those new to the subgenre might want to watch a couple of more standard ones first to see what’s being parodied/homaged.
