BBK/BRNK

Episode 9

Things get off to a tough start for Azuma and friends in this episode. Hiiragi struggles to protect Azuma from the American Buranki team, while the Russian sisters Gianna and Lyudmila appear to have Shizuru on the ropes. The fight for Oubu's heart becomes a little fairer when Epizo calls his teammates off, allowing him to settle things with Azuma face to face. The two of them bond over punching each other in the face and agree to part ways without finishing the battle. Meanwhile, Shizuru snaps out of her trance and beats the stuffing out of her two opponents. The team regroups on the train and heads to the end of the line: an abandoned station beneath Treasure Island. After a brief rematch against the Russian Bubuki users, Azuma and company find themselves up against Reoko's group once again.

Admittedly, the fistfight between Azuma and Epizo is pretty cheesy. It's easy enough to guess how it will play out: the guys will come to a manly understanding after fighting one another to a draw, and Epizo will decide that he likes Azuma too much to steal the heart. Even though we know where this scene is going, the process of getting there is still surprisingly fun. For all his goofy one-liners, Epizo carries the scene through sheer energy. It's also refreshing to see Azuma perk up a little after all the fretting and worrying he's done recently. Their fight is just so gosh-darned earnest that it's easy to enjoy the moment.

Epizo isn't the only one that Azuma forms a “best bros for life” bond with this week. While his constant clashes with Hiiragi early in the series made me want to bash my head against a wall, the two of them manage to come to an understanding on the train. Hiiragi shows that he's got something resembling a brain under all that righteous anger, and his reasons for supporting Azuma are convincing enough. With any luck, this understated truce will make their interactions much less grating in future episodes.

Shizuru is apparently unwilling to let the guys hog all the personal epiphanies, and it's good to see her back to normal (or at least her version of normal) this week. While the reasons behind her odd demeanor remain frustratingly vague, she's at her best when she's pairing cheerfully cryptic one-liners with blinding displays of destructive power. If you're going to make a character odd just for the sake of being odd, you might as well make them fun to watch as well.

The process by which Azuma reawakens Oubu's heart doesn't venture too far outside the usual “hero finds his resolve” formula, but the delivery is solid here. I like that he's still unable to make anything happen on his own after his big speech, and it takes the whole team to get the heart going again. After all, that's the whole point of shows like this; it would ruin the all-important “teamwork and friendship” vibe if Azuma had been able to shoulder the burden of being the heart by himself. Once again, it's cheesy as all heck, but that doesn't keep it from being enjoyable. For one reason or another, BBK/BRNK gives off the impression that it's really invested in its themes, which makes it easier to buy into than if it were content to simply go through the motions.

I wasn't sure how well the new characters would fit in when they appeared last week, but most of them have had a positive impact on the show thus far. Epizo and his team have established themselves as a likable group of rivals for the main characters, and facing off against them has allowed Azuma and Hiiragi to improve their chemistry. The Russians have yet to play an especially important role thus far, but they've been useful as an expendable group of opponents for the heroes and villains to spar with outside of the main plot. The story itself seems to have gotten back on track fairly quickly after the latest round of character introductions, and things should pick up now that everyone is starting to gather beneath Treasure Island. If BBK/BRNK is going to set up one last big battle for the end of the season, next week would be as good a time as any to get started.

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.