BBK/BRNK

Episode 3

Ah, here it is. After two weeks of big battle scenes and dialogue that's been primarily of the “us good, them bad, time to fight” variety, BBK/BRNK has finally settled down enough to give us a more detailed picture of what's going on. It's time for some character development and history lessons, neither of which is as exciting as giant robots blowing things up. This is the stuff that makes us care about which giant robot wins though, so sit down and eat your narrative vegetables if you want any explosions for dessert.

In the aftermath of their battle with Reoko, Azuma and his new friends take shelter with Horino, a woman who seems to have the answers to all of Azuma's questions. They visit a building full of information about the Bubuki and the Buranki, where Azuma gets a better idea of his family's place in the world. We also see how Reoko's actions during the crisis caused by the falling Buranki allowed her to rise to a position of power. This would all make for some solid team building if it weren't for Hiiragi, who demands that Azuma hand over Oubu's heart. An improvised outdoor bath cools down everyone's tempers, but the peace proves to be short-lived when one of Reoko's henchmen arrives at the hideout.

As much as I may joke about this being the mandatory info-dump episode, it does at least achieve its goal of putting things into context for the audience. We've got a better idea of how the city ended up in its current state, and the government's systematic pursuit of Bubuki users drives home the idea that Reoko's regime needs to be overthrown. The slower pace also gives the show time to develop its characters a bit and expand the core cast's personalities beyond their particular brands of action hero banter. This all comes at a good time, as two episodes with a bare minimum of exposition was about all BBK/BRNK was going to be able to sustain.

The effort at character development works out for some of Azuma's newfound allies, but not for all of them. Kinoa comes across rather well here, establishing herself as the sharp-tongued glue that holds the team together. Kogane also finds some extra depth at the end of the episode, balancing out her otherwise cutesy mannerisms by going completely ballistic. Shizuru seems to be deliberately mysterious and quirky, so we don't see anything particularly new from her. The big loser here is Hiiragi, who comes across as a belligerent simpleton during his faceoff with Azuma. I get that he has a reason to hate the status quo and hold a grudge against Azuma, but the script needs to turn his “righteous anger” dial down a few notches. Still, the team as a whole has come out of this episode looking a bit more charismatic, so we can at least mark this effort as a partial success.

As was the case in the first two episodes, the CG character models continue to have a herky-jerky puppet person look to their movements, and that hurts when the show is trying to convey both intense and subtle emotions. Meaningful glances between characters are often too overplayed, and big comedic outbursts don't work nearly as well as they would in a show that could alternate between detailed and simplified faces at will. Since there's no big fight to occupy our attention, even more focus is drawn to the shortcomings in the character animation. However, the environments continue to look great, and the series has a knack for framing important shots in a way that strengthens their emotional impact. Some of the visuals in the flashbacks do more to convey the significance of what happened than the narration offered by the characters.

This episode might not have been as entertaining as its predecessors, but I think it will do the series some good in the long run. With the majority of need-to-know information now out in the open, the script is free to let the story unfold at a natural pace. While I still want to send Hiiragi skydiving without a parachute, I'm more invested in what's going to happen next than I would have been if the parade of mecha fights had simply kept rolling along. In particular, I'm really looking forward to seeing how Kogane's sudden rampage plays out.

Rating: B-

BBK/BRNK is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.