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BBK/BRNK
Episode 8

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 8 of
BBK/BRNK ?
Community score: 3.4

I'm not entirely sure what I expected after the solid performance that BBK/BRNK put in last week, but I'm pretty sure I ended up with something else entirely. Instead of pursuing an existing storyline, this episode introduces a legion of new characters in the form of Buranki teams from Russia and the United States. I can only assume that this explosion of colorful personalities isn't a one-off thing, though it's anyone's guess how these new faces are going to fit into a narrative that already seemed like it had everything it needed to move forward.

With the rogue Buranki soundly defeated, the Oubu and Entei groups part ways this week. Reoko's team recovers the heart and limbs of the rampaging robot while Azuma and company hop on board a fresh train and head for Treasure Island. They encounter a very enthusiastic American named Epizo along the way, but he proves to be more than just a foreign fan of Buranki battles. As the leader of a team of American Bubuki users, Epizo's arrival kicks off a battle for Oubu's heart. The Americans aren't the only ones to make an explosive first impression, as the members of a similar team from Russia split up to steal the salvaged heart from Reoko's group and instigate a fight with Shizuru. The foreign teams arrive at a bad time for the established characters, with Reoko suffering from her mysterious medical condition and Azuma suddenly finding himself unable to summon Oubu's heart.

There's no getting around the fact that the American and Russian teams are more than a little obnoxious. Even at their most maniacal, Reoko and her henchmen were never quite this over the top. Epizo comes across as the distilled essence of an airheaded American tourist, and the Russian duo of Lyudmila and Gianna could definitely stand to lay off the caffeine a little. Once the initial shock wears off, however, the newcomers prove to be amusing in their own way. Personalities within the teams vary enough that they stop short of feeling like a parade of stereotypes, and even Epizo shows a little depth by the end of the episode. In a series where most of the characters already scream their lungs out while waving multicolored weapons around, the international crews aren't as far out of place as they first appear.

What I can't quite wrap my head around is why BBK/BRNK would nearly double the size of its cast just as it was starting to figure out how to use the characters it already had. Azuma's team was starting to build some actual chemistry, and the battle against the headless Buranki introduced some tantalizing moral ambiguity to Reoko's side of the story. This episode presented a perfect opportunity for the show to build on that momentum and let the existing cast continue to play off one another, so it seems like an odd decision to start the character development process all over again with a bunch of new faces. As entertaining as the new kids may be, their presence doesn't seem to merit putting the brakes on a story that had finally started to pick up speed.

The one clear upside of bringing in Buranki teams from other countries is that it opens up the show's world a bit. We now know that the rest of the world is paying attention to what's going on in Japan, and that they're concerned enough to send in their own Bubuki users. There's an intriguing subplot hiding in the fact that only Japan seems to have any working Buranki hearts, which raises the question of what happened to everyone else's. With all four factions working to pursue their own interests, there's also the potential for some temporary alliances between rival groups. A little extra intrigue could help keep things unpredictable as the story moves forward.

This episode certainly went in an unexpected direction, and it may take a few weeks to figure out if introducing all these new characters was really worth the trouble. If BBK/BRNK can get all of these moving parts to work together, the result could be quite a lot of fun to watch. If not, the series runs the risk of weighing itself down with a mess of loose ends and underdeveloped characters. Go big or go home, I suppose.

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.


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