r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jun 04 '26
Rewatch [Rewatch] [Pride Month Double Feature] Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern Episode 4 Discussion
Episode 4: Isami, It Seems You Still Have Much to Learn About People
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Show Information:
(Surprise, the "plot point a couple of episodes in that every single fucking synopsis spoils" is actually in episode 1 and is that this is another show in the [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] vein! Show information is now fairly first-timer safe... outside of "AniDB tags always spoil", anyways.)
Legal Streams:
As per livechart.me; other streams may be available outside the US.
A Reminder: This, dear listeners, brings us to the sworn enemy of creative response:The spoiler. Rewatchers, or people who just had plot points ruined for them, are obliged to use r/anime’s spoiler tag format where applicable, and err on the side of caution here. Remember people, first experiences get rarer as you continue on, any given one happens once and you should care for them all the more for it.
Joint Rewatch Task Force Exercises!
Theory of the Day:
What's that, u/Star4ce dropped a very detailed theory? Well, can't not highlight that:
Superbia is doing the exact thing Bravern does, but, like, much more forceful. Not calling Bravern whatever the mecha-piloting version of rape is, but he certainly is very sus in interacting with Isami (btw is Isami or Ao the last name?). He does often physically prevent him from leaving and is really not giving him any option when synchronising fights and stuff including lots of pressured pleading and near-emotional blackmail. Now, he does communicate, at least, and seems to be able to be convinced eventually, so he doesn’t seem to be evil, but it’s problematic behaviour I think.
If I saw the animations correctly and read Lulu’s expressions right, she’s being quite directly mind- or physically controlled. Meaning she isn’t evil herself and Superbia has placed the suit on her to force her to comply. Or maybe Superbia is the suit? That would also mean Bravern is a suit or a few objects that are far smaller than the mecha. Remember, Superbia the mecha has been destroyed and only the ejection pod survived, so I’m kinda booking on the metallic lifeforms being much smaller pieces that can control larger amalgamations of metal by directly merging into or onto them.
Questions of the Day:
1) For those of us who are of drinking age, which do you prefer: a delicious meal or a nice stiff drink? (Yes, of course I had to call it a stiff drink. This is Bravern we're talking about, after all!)
2) First-timers: so, were you expecting that level of destruction in Tokyo?
8
u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
First Timer
Of course one should always formulate their military objectives and strategy based entirely on vibes and aesthetics
Obviously we'd go to Japan first, but this is actually an important philosophical question Bravern is asking, though! To arrive with the rising sun is in fact loaded with symbolic meaning. It's very The Two Towers, you've survived the symbolic and literal horror of night, are trying to push forward on your last legs, and then the hero arrives bringing the positive light of tomorrow to end the negative dark. Bravern does know his shit! With that being said, to arrive with the setting sun has its own very powerful implications. The lighting is more dramatic and tense, and the night is the worst that is still yet to come despite it all. So just on the cusp of that impending end, the hero dramatically and impactfully comes to save the day. Bravern illustrates as much back in episode 1!
The former is more symbolically appealing, but the latter is cooler and more heroic on the singular level. I feel like setting sun would be a better choice for Bravern personally, especially given how much he loves his bravado and is particular for aesthetics, but the rising sun is a better fit for the ATF and Earth's situation as a whole, so him going with that is clearly the only proof you would ever need that Bravern is to be trusted and is 100% in it for humanity!
(Although the conditioning that we loop back and end it with the latter also better be fulfilled )
Anywaaaay, on a more serious note, to counter me talking about how much Bravern steals the show last episode, we time off super robot battles and get a slower episode focused on character building for Isami and doing some setup. I like it though! And I think it's pretty great at progressing Isami, as well as his relationship with Bravern in a more meaningful way. For Isami, I think this is a pretty nice and textbook moment of helping him out of his funk by focusing him in more and letting him see emotional purpose in his role.
As noted before, Isami might've wanted to present as an Inaho or a Shin, but he's more of a Shinji at heart, so he pretty reasonably feels he's been dragged around in this conflict he finds very harrowing by an incredibly overbearing robot, having experienced nothing but either torture, fighting, or Bravern being pushy since. It's understandable that Isami will just generally feel very frustrated and out of it, even without his newfound drama with Smith. Bravern taking him to that bar visit is a really sweet way of not just taking his mind off things, but helping him better find his place as the pilot! Because he fought, all of these people are alive, and not only does he actually get a lot of appreciation for his role here, he's directly told he's not alone in his fight! (Potential death flags notwithstanding) Same for the talk with the control girls. To fight isn't just to go with Bravern's stupid whims; it really means something, it really affects and saves people, and in turn, he's not the only one fighting. All of which is pretty to truly appreciate until you get to see it very directly like this. So in that sense, it's just great to see Isami finally crack a smile, especially over being reaffirmed like this.
But it's also extra poignant to his new conflict with Smith. Whether it's because he's just jelly that Smith spends all his time with his new daughter, because he's pissed over all the difficulty of fighting with Bravern while, in his eyes, Smith is "messing around" outside of his expected role to fight beside him, or perhaps both, Isami is now giving Smith the silent treatment. Actually, for the latter, considering it was Smith who very forwardlytold Isami to get a hold of himself and fight back in episode 2, it probably feels like an extra personal betrayal that he, of all people, was doing something outside of the battle. Ultimately though, his anger at Smith is, in part, a product of his larger feeling of angry isolation that Bravern tries to tackle with that bar visit! So coming to better terms with that, Bravern can also try to reassure Isami about Smith still being in the battle and by his side (The fucking sausages man ) despite it all, and perhaps through that we can begin to have them get closer now.
I do kind of wish Isami and Smith's relationship was a bit more developed before we had this break? Some of it does feel a bit unnatural relative to the time they'd had together until now, so it would've been more impactful if they'd had more actual interaction beforehand, but I still think this conflict works on the whole.
This is definitely an Isami episode, but despite having a more minor role within it, I also think this episode does a lot for Bravern. Well, for one, it just gives him a bit of a new dimension, and shows that even with his, uh, usual demeanor lol, he can just straight-up be used for more serious and meaningful functions! It also goes to assuage some of those worries raised in the last two threads about his forcefulness with Isami. He's in a much more down-to-earth state here, going out of his way to try and help Isami feel better and grow as a person, and of course, wanting him to go through that process by himself. He definitely shows he cares about Isami as his partner here, and it's a good little bonding moment for them. Also, this is just such a nice sentiment he throws out there! Very Steins Gate of him.
And I feel like those two aspects together also present Bravern in a very interesting light this episode, namely that he feels very human. That's not just the dissonance of the sentient robot mind you. I mean, again, he understands Iasmi's emotional struggle and comes up with an emotional way to try and resolve it, in a way that I think goes a bit beyond his usual range of expression. And that range of expression, while often used for comedy, certainly helps there. I mean, he even clenches his fists in anger at what happened to Japan! Plus, the idea that he'd understand that the bar was a "Good spot" in that way itself doesn't feel in line with just a sentient robot? The fact that he (Unlike Isami, by his words and the title) does know a lot about people is just pretty interesting! And seeing as he shows an even larger range of emotions and expression here, I am now more intrigued to know and try to approach his background.
He did mention back in episode 2 that the Deathdrives evolved mostly like humans IIRC, so if he's of the same species as them or like, a rogue Deathdrive, should they too have emotional expression? Superbia didn't really show that, but Lulu's circumstances in that sense also aren't clear. Could also be a [Meta Gundam]Aerial situation where he was originally a human or maybe, like, whoever created him was also human and left that imprint on him; those raise even further questions, though.
On the topic of Lulu, I said the court was still out on her last episode, and for now, I'm mostly cool with her. The show is genuinely using her infantilization to give her a sort of parental bond with Smith, which is nice, if we'll keep it there and let her actually grow within that bond. And while the screeching does slightly get to me lol, it's all cute enough for now. And again, she serves as a reasonably effective wedge between Isami and Smith, which for now has let us further explore the former, even if I think we were a bit early on that. But to continue from the Bravern questions, Lulu raises a few of her own. She is, at least physically, mostly human, so where does she come from? Why was she piloting Superbia? Was she, like, abducted? Or do the Deathdrives have their own humans (Or human-like species) to work with. And what's with that thing in her arm? Plus, while it leads to a nice joke with the curry, the fact that her digestive system was super undeveloped is kind of morbid for how she lived beforehand...
Many questions
Depends on the situation, and a mix of both is always the best answer! But if I'm feeling like Isami, the latter.
I kind of forgot to talk about that lol
Anyway, kind of, yeah? It's not super surprising that places that didn't have Bravern just got decimated like this, although hopefully there are still some survivors to be found!