Age Appropriate: Pre-teen/Teen
Emotional Response: Excited, a little confused
Notable Features: samurai, ninjas, swords, ninja magic
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great
"You are my one light in the darkness" - Isanami
Brave 10 refers to the ten brave warriors being assembled by Lord Sanada. His main goal is to assemble these warriors to serve him in a variety of ways. These warriors include fighters of multiple styles. While they are primarily some sort of ninja or samurai, they all have specific abilities that set the apart from each other. Some of them have elemental abilities, some are skilled weapons fighters, and one pretty lady is a warrior with heart.
The series actually follows Isanami, a priestess from a fallen village who seeks out Lord Sanada at the behest of the priest who raised her. On her way to Ueda, Lord Senada's home, she runs into Saizo, a wandering-type samurai who is completely apathetic to her plight, but battles the ninjas chasing her as an act of self-preservation. Due to Isanami's innocent pleas and her certain charm, Saizo takes her all the way to Ueda, and curiously finds himself staying with her and reluctantly agreeing to have Lord Sanada as his master. As the series progresses, new warriors are added to the mix.
Isanami has a hairpin, the Kushimitama, that is a relic of untold power. In the beginning, the hairpin is shown to have the power to destroy all life within the powerful bubble that seems to emanate from it when Isanami is highly distressed. The other lords during this Warring States period all want this power for their own gain. The Brave 10 end up protecting Isanami throughout the series, to keep her out of enemy hands and protect everyone, in general.
Brave 10 is a great departure from the typical high school comedy/romance that I find frequently. In the Warring States period, which I'm not really familiar with, there are feudal lords, samurai and ninjas running around in conflict. Brave 10 uses that conflict as the foundation for the story. It's very interesting. I really wanted to watch a series that was apart from the usual. I'm glad I did, too. Brave 10 is great.
It reminds me, in some ways, of Neo Angelique Abyss. Some of the plot devices are the same, if in a different setting. The period part does remove the magic/technology post-Apocalypse parts. The ten warriors do have special "techniques" that essentially represented as magic. All ten also have strikingly different personalities. Those personalities play off each other really well, including a gruff samurai, a shy ninja, and a weird, masochistic-type potentially-transgender, weapons-master/thief. Say that 5 times fast.
The action is very exciting. There is some sort of battle (epic or otherwise) in each episode and I'm always cheering for the Brave 10, and laughing at the absurdity that is the womanizing Lord Sanada. The end has a few twists to it, but in a good way. I think this is a good anime for anyone. There is a pretty boy or two, a lovely young lady, NINJAS, and humor. I'm sure I'll watch it again in the future.
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Hai!: Murder Princess
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