Scum of the Brave 1×06 and 1×07 Review: “A Brave’s Special Training” and “A Brave’s Death”

Scum of the Brave anime season 1 episode 6, titled ‘A Brave’s Special Training’, and episode 7, titled ‘A Brave’s Death’, raised the stakes as danger crept toward Yashiro.

With the previous episode introducing a new storythread of a certain Demon Lord’s minions experimenting on animals (even dead ones) to create weapons, a major moment involved Ishino being asked to form a team of five Braves to hunt down one of the many dangerous Demon Lords. Even though Ishino declined the offer made by Arthur to work for the Round Table, things didn’t pan out great for him in episode 7, which I’ll get to soon.

As the title stated, ‘A Brave’s Special Training’ was about Jogamine, Indo, and Sara, asking Yashiro to train them before their upcoming sword exam. Apparently, passing the exam was required to progress in the academy. Though Yashiro initially refused, he agreed to a special training lesson because he needed the money to buy a ticket to an autograph event for the famous King Rob.

We also got introduced to one of Yashiro’s acquaintances, named “Mole” Malta. The short guy operated as an unlicensed Brave and, from what I could understand, was in the business of acquiring valuable items to sell them for a profit. I don’t know if he was actually a scalper, but he did give off similar vibes. Mole seemed to have at least some morals because he decided to beat up his former boss for trying to scam a bunch of elderly people.

Coming to the training session, I liked how Yashiro immediately told the girls they would be breaking into their academy for a skirmish. As Yashiro put it, if the girls couldn’t break into their own academy at night, they could forget about infiltrating an actual Demon Lord’s hideout.

Yashiro’s training program made for a bunch of comedic moments. He was there to give the girls a taste of how actual fights would occur in the field. They needed to utilize their surroundings and the element of surprise to gain the upper hand against an opponent instead of sticking to the proper rules of sword fighting.

Having spent time with each girl on a two-person mission (whether he had wanted to or not) and analyzing their fighting techniques during their training, Yashiro offered some constructive feedback. Sara, while skilled, had a major weakness linked to her Ether ability. Sara could detect the power levels of her opponents as well as sense danger around her. While that was very useful when operating as a team during a mission, Sara was prone to freezing up when facing enemies stronger than her.

Not only that, but not wanting to get hurt had encouraged Sara to try to end a battle with one hit, which was not the best strategy. Due to how she had been trained by her father, Sara had a habit of slashing from above, leaving her vulnerable. Sara’s demeanour helped explain why she had been the one who got captured by the Demon Lord Thorn back in the debut episode.

Yashiro wanted Sara to work on regaining confidence in herself and realizing that power levels weren’t always the determining factors when it came to winning or losing a fight. A well-placed hit or counter could help turn the tables in your favor even when facing someone stronger than yourself.

However, I think that’s easier said than done, especially when Sara’s Ether Ability allowed her to fully sense her foe’s power levels. There’s a difference between fighting someone whom you might assume to be stronger and someone whom you know for sure is levels above you. I’m interested in seeing how Sara will develop as a character.

As for Indo, according to Yashiro, she didn’t have any major weaknesses that couldn’t be addressed by gaining more combat experience. Indo had a lot of potential as a Brave. She was quick on her feet and didn’t hesitate to go for the kill. Her only struggle was trying to make sense of the educational content that the academy had students learn.

Coming to Jogamine, her reluctance to kill or even cause major harm to a foe made her a weak Brave. She was so focused on blocking and countering attacks that Yashiro immediately read her movements. Holding back to such an extent not only risked her life but also the lives of her teammates. I don’t know if Jogamine will be faced with a situation where she will need to murder someone, but considering Scum of the Brave is by the same creative behind Sentenced to Be a Hero, I wouldn’t be surprised if the narrative tests her resolve in such a manner down the line.

The training session got cut short by the appearance of two characters whom Yashiro and the girls mistook for security guards. I liked how Yashiro ordered Sara and Jogamine to knock the guards down as part of their training. However, it’s revealed that the two people, a man and a woman, were there for something else. And Yashiro noticed the symptoms of E3 overdose in both of them (a fried voice being one of the symptoms).

The ensuing battle was a quick yet interesting one. The woman, named Levy, had the Ether Ability to track people, while the guy ended up growing a monstrous arm similar to the one Demon Lord Thorn had. However, unlike Demon Lord Thorn, the guy seemed to have some level of control over it. There’s clearly a whole lot of experimentation occurring in the underworld. Who knows how many other Demon Lord minions have had surgery done to produce similar monstrous limbs?

Yashiro ordering the girls to retreat made sense. Having them there was just going to make things tougher for him to handle. Also, he had to fight Levy with a fake training sword. Another sensible thing that happened involved Yashiro and the guy agreeing to stop fighting after Yashiro knocked out Levy. As the mysterious dude put it, one of them would die if they fought, and it was better not to risk finding out who that would be… at least, for now.

Due to the episode’s title being ‘Death of a Brave’, I could feel myself getting more anxious as the episode almost reached its end without anyone dying. I just knew something was bound to happen because the titles of the previous episodes had been a good indication of the events that transpired in them.

A major mystery surrounding Jogamine’s backstory was shared in episode 7, which helped explain why she was so drawn to Yashiro. While talking about the Student and Master dynamic as well as their motivation behind working as a Brave, Jogamine shared that her deceased father’s name was Kiyoto. Turns out, “Nine-Fingers” Kiyoto was also Yashiro’s Master back in the day.

While Jogamine wanted to become a Brave to follow in her father’s footsteps, Yashiro decided to become one after Kiyoto killed the Demon Lord that a young Yashiro ran errands for. Seeing how skilled Kiyoto was and needing a source of income, Yashiro had begged Kiyoto to accept him as his apprentice. It’s kind of funny how Yashiro now found himself mentoring Kiyoto’s daughter.

Another interesting thing was the different versions of Kiyoto’s personality depending on whom you asked. According to Yashiro’s memories of him, Kiyoto was always nervous during missions. Thus, opting to complete them as quickly as possible. Yashiro also didn’t remember receiving much praise from him.

Yashiro’s recollection was in sharp contrast to Jogamine’s memories of her father. According to her, Kiyoto always told her stories about what an amazing Brave Yashiro was. Kiyoto also maintained a very positive attitude in front of Jogamine, which eventually encouraged her to become a Brave herself.

Hearing the two characters talk about Kiyoto was well-written because in the real world, we do get to hear about different versions of the same person depending on whom you ask.

After telling Jogamine to go home because he didn’t want to deal with past feelings about his Master, Yashiro ran into Sara waiting for him at Ed’s bar. Sara calling herself a failure for not overcoming her hesitance to face more powerful foes than her was understandable. Again, I’m looking forward to seeing her finally do just that in one of the upcoming battles.

And now, coming to the cliffhanger at the end of the episode, it was about Yashiro being told about Ishino’s death by Joe. I was not expecting that at all. Ishino had come across as a character who would continue to play a major role in the story. He was the skilled Brave that Arthur had made the offer to. He was the one who had been trying to uncover the mystery behind the monster-limb surgeries. Seeing the visual of his dead body in the rain really made me go, “WTF?”

From what we were shown of Ishino’s Ether Ability, it looked like he could distort a foe’s vision. That’s why I’m clinging onto the hope that Ishino, somehow, faked his own demise. However, the credits not playing the usual closing theme and instead rolling to the sound of falling rain makes me think that Ishino’s indeed dead. We might get a flashback to how it happened. But yeah, I think I have to accept that he’s not coming back.

Scum of the Brave really does a good job of luring viewers into a false sense of security because of the many comedic elements and visual gags before hitting them with a dark twist. Again, I have to remember it’s a story by the creator behind Sentenced to Be a Hero.

The upcoming episodes are likely going to be about Yashiro and the rest trying to uncover the truth behind Ishino’s murder, especially with his dead body holding the same dragon-shaped badge Yashiro noticed on Levy.

Did you watch Scum of the Brave anime season 1 episodes 6 and 7? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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