Meanwhile, Jinpachi faced Ana and she was blackmailed by Hanzo as he kept her royal heirloom as a bargain chip. Ana was a former princess from Russia and has a dream of returning to her country to reclaim her throne. Jinpachi claimed Ana is "ugly" and she realised she has become a cold-hearted person. But she managed to freeze Jinpachi in a ice coffin.
Isanami couldn't take it anymore and finally let her dark side control her. She become a different person and there was darkness in the sky...
Ep 12: Isanami's headband fell and Hanzo took it. A black sphere surrounded Isanami and it began to destroy everything on sight. Yukimura and Rokuro also arrived and saw what has happened.
Hanzo claimed with the headband, he can control Isanami and tried to use it. However it backfired and Hanzo was consumed by the black sphere. Rokuro planned to weaken the sphere with his jutsu as he and Yukimura knew the true meaning of the cave writing at Izumo temple.
Saizo realised Rokuro is planning to sacrifice himself and quickly stop him. Saizo took the headband and decided to take a gamble to save Isanami. Miyoshi recalled leaving the temple to travel and promise Isanami that he will be back. Benmaru woke him up and gave a special glove to battle Byakugan which he finally defeated her.
Sasuke and Kakei broke free and also defeated Kaiyo. Yuki and Jinpach also managed to defeat Takuha and Ana by surprise.
Saizo woke up inside the sphere and found Isanami. She was scared that she is not human anymore and is afraid to hurt anybody. However Saizo managed to talk some sense to her and she finally broke free and the sphere was destroyed.
Yukimaru found both of them and the others has also arrived. Ana woke up and realised her royal heirloom was a fake and has doubts of her future. Jinpachi advised her to start life afresh again.
Meanwhile, Date has plans after knowing what Isanami is capable of...
A few days later, everything went back to normal at the Sanada Castle and everyone agreed that Saizo should be the leader of the Braves which he yelled back in excitement!
Final Impressions: For a show which is done by a female mangaka and is about cool ninjas was pretty neat. However it also has it's pros and cons.
It has been a while since I seem some real bad ass ninja action anime. The last one I watch was way back during the 90s-Remember Ninja Scroll? Basilisk was fine too but it is more like a Romeo and Juliet story and the characters are all very dark. Here in Brave 10, it was built for some dark humor and the chemistry between Saizo and Isanami was wonderful. The action scene is pretty good and nothing too graphic which is all right with me. Furthermore, it is not just Ninjas action. We have Kakei who is a rifleman, Miyoshi is a Monk Fighter, Jinpachi is a pirate who think he is Black Lighting from DC Comics.
You can tell that everyone bring something to the table and everyone did their part well. (Maybe for Benmaru and Jinpachi whose introduction was a bit too late) The villains-to be frank, it was Hattori Hanzo who stole the show. Tokugawa was one dimension and Date didn't have enough scenes to show that he was tough to take on Yukimaru. But to play Hanzo as a villain was also ruining his image for those who play enough Sengoku related games. Hanzo was more of the silent and subtle type and listen to Tokugawa faithfully. Unfortunately, this version was more like an arrogant person who claimed he can rule the world with Isanami's power and finally got what he deserves.
The bad points: Only have one really which is really short! 12 episodes and we can't get all ten braves together for one big battle. Ana left them and whether she return is another question to ponder. I know there is an ongoing manga sequel for Brave 10 but can we at least show some indication there will be a second season?
Overall, a good beginning with some neat action in between but inconclusive ending which is begging for a second season. If a second season is confirmed, I will watch it but I probably won't review it.
