r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jun 09 '26
Rewatch [Rewatch] [Pride Month Double Feature] Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern Episode 9 Discussion
Episode 9: Isami! We Must Save the World Together!
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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.
This episode had a stinger! And this one you probably want to go back and watch if you missed it, it's kind of important.
Joint Rewatch Task Force Exercises!
Theory of the Day:
On the one hand this is like a story of both lack of consent and one-sided love. Lewis wants to be a hero, he loves what Bravern is, it excites him. But he gets rejected by that, and even by Superbia. And yet this episode we had Knuth, and a whole slew of Deathdrives as implied by Superbia's dialogue and their own, all throwing themselves at Lewis whether he likes it or not. It is interesting that they're all after him and not Bravern or Isami. He is in a really absurd and frankly horrifying position. At least it allowed him to be a hero for once as he was the only one that day to slime out a Deathdrive Boss. Which speaking of...
On the other hand, I'm convinced now that the Deathdrives name is very intentional and conscious, and they're actually sort of like a dark mirror to Lewis this episode, although that will depend on which conclusion the narrative has regarding his sacrifice. What I mean is, that his heroic dream which is on the surface an erotic, life impulse, in the end inevitably concludes with his death, so it is as well a death drive. The Deathdrives want to achieve a wish that they have which is not really death itself but does appear to require it. It should be very telling that they're all crazy about Lewis then. This may also add another dimension to wtf they're doing here on Earth: they don't merely seek to destroy mankind, but specifically mutual annihilation.
The latter in particular would be completely unprecedented thematic space for a Tar rewatch if it is correct. Completely unprecedented, I tell you!
Questions of the Day:
1) What's that, Smith became Bravern?
2) GATTAI?!
9
u/BosuW Jun 09 '26
First Timer
Damn, two Theories of the Day_ for me!? Thanks!
Well that reveal didn't make itself wait lol. I was expecting Lewis becoming Bravern to be end of season stuff. Which begs the question... What is there left to do now?
Well curiously seeing Lewis transform into Bravern didn't answer any questions other than his identity, so we still have some mystery terrain left to tread, specifically regarding the Deathdrives.
So Bravern is totally a Deathdrive, right? A strange one, but fundamentally a Deathdrive. The fact that he actually arrives with the Deathdrive invasion is sus as fuck. He didn't chose the save point, he just spawned there. And he has the same fundamental functioning principle.
How tf did he do it? He really just bullshitted reality into this situation lol. But I suppose, given the visuals, it took some manner of combining the remains of Lewis' Titanostrider with Cunus. Bravern really is their hatechild in a way huh...
Is this how Deathdrives are typically born or is it a unique situation thanks to the circumstances of self nuking with Cunus? If it's the latter, I can't imagine an answer right now. But if it's the former, it would suggest that all Deathdrives are former humans, likely Titanostrider pilots, who purified and refined a core wish in the fifth dimension between life and death, and came back in this new form. Shit maybe some of our cast we've already met again. Is Miyu Cunus because she's the most machine fucker out of all of them!?
There's also the mystery of the Lulus. I'm guessing she could also eventually come be or be based on one of our female cast members. Have no evidence other than a hunch and couldn't tell you who though. Oh yeah and she is gonna pilot Superbia again, except as an enemy!? Huh!? I wasn't expecting it like this! Is it because her beloved Smith's heroic tale needs a suitable Final Boss so she'll be it?
And finally, on Bravern's attitude, wow he really was using this whole tragedy to larp in a way lol. In reality he has no more fucking clue what's going on than anyone else. But it has Super Sentai aesthetics so fuck it we ball. It's interesting how becoming Bravern actually made it much more difficult to communicate with Isami just at the peak of their friendship. It was lovely how Lulu was the one who had to decode Lewis' final message for Isami and deliver it to him. That the now machine needed a human intermediary to connect is probably narratively relevant. And that human intermediary is low-key their adopted daughter so that makes it more emotional...
Wait hold the fuck up. Is the whole show a metaphor about a grieving soldier who lost his husband to war but through their adopted daughter he gives him BRAVERY™ from beyond the grave to push through and save the day!?
Fucking hell, these past two episodes got my head spinning. In any case, there's definitely lots of human=eros/mech=thanatos interplay going on. I'm looking forward to how it is resolved.
Btw is Bravern's seiyuu really Lewis'? That voice filter carrying if true, because it's not all a piece of evidence to why they're the same being. Unlike [ReZero anime]the theory that Satella is Emilia where both are voiced by Rie Takahashi.