Scum of the Brave 1×11 and 1×12 Review: “A Brave’s Teamwork” and “A Brave’s Secret”

Scum of the Brave anime season 1 episode 11, titled ‘A Brave’s Teamwork’, and episode 12, titled ‘A Brave’s Secret’, concluded the main cast’s mission involving Coffin Count’s party while also setting up the next stage in Yashiro’s investigation.

With Yashiro and the girls causing a scene at Coffin Court’s party to try and gain information about the Half Dragon’s involvement with E4, as well as Ishino’s death, ‘A Brave’s Teamwork’ was about our leads needing to face a bunch of mutated monsters, whom Indo called Nephilim. Yashiro, understandably, learned a lot about Jogamine, Sara, and Indo during their training sessions. So, it was nice to see how Yashiro figured out the correct way for the three young Braves to fight as a team.

Due to Sara being Arthur’s daughter, the Academy instructors had been training Jogamine and Indo to fight foes in a manner that kept Sara safe. Such a tactic simply wasn’t effective because of the different fighting styles the girls possessed. As Yashiro put it, Jogamine should be the one to charge at an enemy. Her unwillingness to kill her opponent was enough to create an opening for Sara to land the finishing blow. Indo would be responsible for covering any vulnerabilities Jogamine and Sara might show during battle. Indo’s Teleportation Ether ability was best at stopping a foe from exploiting Jogamine or Sara’s weaknesses.

Seeing the trio adjusting their fighting style to follow Yashiro’s instructions allowed them to have a better chance at surviving the vicious Nephilim. It was also nice to see the girls being made to put in the work and demonstrate their skills by having an injured Yashiro stay back while he waited for his leg to heal.

An interesting scene involved Indo recognizing the Nephilim and going on a rampage before being pulled back to her senses by Yashiro. Indo clearly shared a history with the Nephilim. That’s why I appreciated ‘A Brave’s Secret’ sharing the required information instead of dragging out the storyline. But before I talk about Indo’s past, I have to share more of my opinions regarding what transpired during ‘A Brave’s Teamwork.’

Even though the girls were holding their own against the monsters, things took a turn for the worse when Levi and Ido appeared. The sudden rise in stakes continued to escalate with Jogamine being injured and losing her left eye while trying to protect Yashiro.

Yashiro realizing and accepting that the reason he was annoyed by Jogamine was that she reminded him of his younger self was an expected (but still a welcome) additional layer to Yashiro’s character. Similar to Jogamine, a young Yashiro had also wanted to become a Brave who didn’t kill and was capable of saving everyone. However, things didn’t work out that way for him, with our lead having murdered numerous people in his field. Whether or not Jogamine could avoid taking a life remained to be seen. But yeah, this wouldn’t be the first time an older character felt a kinship with a younger character due to seeing a past version of themselves in them.

While talking to Yashiro, Ido stated how he had been the one to kill Ishino. Hmmm. I mean, I’m with Yashiro on this one. I highly doubt someone of Ido’s skills would have been able to defeat Ishino. Something else must have played a role in Ishino’s demise. However, what we can be sure about is that Ishino had been the one to slice off Ido’s arm during their battle, resulting in Ido currently having to control a monstrous limb.

Though Yashiro didn’t need to take another dose of E3 (and risk losing control of himself) to fight Ido, I think we will get to see Yashiro being faced with a similar predicament soon. And you know what? I wouldn’t be surprised if he overdoses on E3 to deal with a major threat, leading to Jogamine, Sara, and Indo having to bring back their Master to his senses. Such a development could make for some interesting character moments.

After Yashiro killed Ido (with Jogamine’s help), ‘A Brave’s Secret’ dealt with the aftermath of the bloody attack at the party and a reveal about Jogamine’s healing ability. Coffin Court had gone missing in the chaos. And while there were rumors about Levy having killed her, Yashiro knew better. Coffin Court was more than likely planning something. However, her absence had led to other Dark Lords expanding their territories.

As for Jogamine, according to Yashiro, no Brave should have the ability to completely regenerate a lost eyeball. E3 wasn’t that powerful a drug. Heck! Even E4 wasn’t known to heal a lost organ without mutating the regenerated organ into something monstrous. Yashiro couldn’t help but wonder if Jogamine was actually his Master Kiyoto’s daughter or if she was even human.

If I were to theorize, I think Kiyoto rescued a baby or Child Jogamine, who was being experimented on by some dark entities, and proceeded to raise her as his own daughter. But let’s see what the truth is.

The rest of the episode focused on Indo’s past. During a conversation with Yashiro, Indo shared how she was ex-military. A war orphan, Child Indo had been recruited by the mercenary Braves operating in the Shadow Territory. Their mission was to keep an eye on the North, where a bunch of Demon Lords had basically created their own government in Hokkaido. Child Indo had seen Nephilim during her patrols as a Lamplighter. However, she and the rest of the kids had been instructed not to engage with the monsters.

Child Indo’s life was hit by a major trauma when the Nephilim, who had never been witnessed operating in a herd before, attacked the military base. The adult Braves fell quickly. Tasked with guiding the rest of the kids to safety, Child Indo froze when it was time to face a Nephilim tracking them. Her hesitation resulted in the death of her friend. That’s why Indo wished to grow stronger. She never wanted to relive that level of helplessness.

I wasn’t expecting Indo to tearfully cry when retelling her story to Yashiro. Also, kudos to Yashiro for being understanding of Indo’s emotions and not telling her to get over it. Staying around his new students had made him softer, but in a good way.

With Yashiro inviting Indo to accompany him to Hokkaido on his investigation into the Nephilim that appeared during the party, I’m looking forward to seeing Indo getting her revenge and interacting with people from her past.

Sara and Jogamine’s realization (having followed Indo from the Academy) that their teammate had spent solo time with Yashiro made for a nice comedic moment. I’m here for the girls being in a competition to see who received the most praise from Yashiro. Obviously, Jogamine was in last place.

Did you watch Scum of the Brave anime season 1 episodes 11 and 12? 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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