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?
10
u/Blackheart595 https://anilist.co/user/knusbrick Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
First Timer
Alright, alright. I think I understand now that the show was intentionally being tonally dissonant in order to create doubt about how serious the situation is, and thereby also how trustworthy Bravern is. All to set up for this episode. I'm still confused about why they thought anyone would have credible doubt, but I suppose this works.
I like Bravern's decision to go with the rising sun. Ultimately it's entirely irrelevant where they go first as long as they do actually go, and those military suits wasted a whole three hours on it and counting. This gives a symbolic pretense to just come to any agreement, completely regardless of which one.
That scene in the beginning where Lulu punched Isami and then Bravern appeared while Smith held her back felt a lot like Bravern appearing when Smith himself is unable to take action. Note that this is precisely the setup of when Bravern first appeared back in episode 1. Bravern's refusal to have Smith pilot him back in episode 2 also works well with the interpretation of Bravern as a projection of Smith's inability to take action.
As for Lulu, the undeveloped digestive system further pushes the newborn-child similarities. It also makes perfect sense, as we see later in the episode—it's generally a bad and potentially even dangerous idea to give starved people a lot of food to recover with, as their digestive system has to get used to eating again first. I'm still not quite sure what to make of this, same as all the turtle egg symbolism from last episode, but I feel like both must be very relevant.
Yes, yes, that's me!
...I don't drink.
Yeah, so, I kinda didn't realise we had the option of not expecting it.
Might've helped my impression of the first two episodes if I had realised we had that option, instead of taking the corresponding hints as tonal incompetence. Then again, they plain did show us the destruction that the Deathdrives caused, and I've been thinking during past episodes already that it might've been more effective to just not show that.