#tl;dr I enjoyed ep 1 but didn't vibe with ep 2 much :(

[ryuki-draws]

have you seen the new brave yet? if so, any thoughts or feelings?

I have! Under the cut because I kinda went off the rails, whoops, sorry! Spoilers for both episodes ahead.

I was excited after episode one, the sudden tonal change at the end was a whiplash but it looked promising. I was hoping they'd find a nice balance between the more serious mood and Bravern's character but after just finishing episode 2, I have to say I'm not very optimistic at the moment :( Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a ridiculous joke here and there but if there's a lack of substance to balance it out with, it doesn't work for me.

At the moment Bravern's character feels like the writers looked back at the Brave series and went "Look at those robots with their big speeches, giant swords and overpowered attacks! Look how ridiculous it'd be in the real world!" Honestly, I love how unapologetically whimsy and over the top the Brave series is. I saw Exkaiser's sword three times his height and fell in love. But it works because you just accept it as a part of the world. The world is whimsy. There's magic. There are aliens. Finishing move is a fiery sword chopping the opponent hotdog style with a badass pose and explosions at the end. You don't question it, you suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Taking parts of it - over the top protagonist with all the dramatics - and setting it into more seriously toned show where the world is supposed to have more "realistic" feel, it'd work only if you were making a parody. Which unfortunately, Bravern currently feels like.

Not to mention except the whole "I let him ride inside me" schtick, Bravern and Isami don't have a relationship. Brave Exkaiser and Brave Police J-Decker - shows that follow the "boy and his robot" premise both have their first episodes devoted to building and setting up a friendship between their respective human and robot protagonist. They make you care about them as a team by showing you how much they care about each other. Unfortunately, we don't have this here, or at least not yet. Bravern is superficially obsessed with Isami for the laughs while Isami is traumatized for life and doesn't care who gets into the robot as long as it doesn't have to be him.

What I'm saying is that I want some teambuilding with Bravern and Isami. Let them talk. Share some personal stories. They don't even have to be friends straight up, they can be colleagues and slowly get on friendlier terms. Put them into a situation that requires them to talk and understand each other on a personal level because just getting into the robot is not enough anymore. No innuendos, no jokes, serious talk. A bit of vulnerability, perhaps. And by the end of the show, maybe, they could genuinely call each other a friend.

That all being said, this is all based on two episodes that aired so far. I won't keep my hopes up but if they surprise us and turn it around 180 once again, I'll gladly eat my words. For now, all we can do is wait.