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No, it's not a Reverse Harem series

Brave10 and its sequels, Brave10 S and Brave10 Tawamure form a Jidaigeki fantasy series by Kairi Shimotsuki, following the lives of the Sanada Ten Braves, ten loyal ninjas serving under Sanada Yukimura. Rather than going for historical accuracy, the manga (and its anime adaptation) takes a mythical approach, with ninja magic and playful anachronisms in abundance.

The main protagonist is an Iga ninja named Saizou, who meets an Izumo priestess called Isanami on the run from the ninjas who destroyed her temple. He reluctantly protects her on her journey to Sanada Yukimura's castle, only to find himself drawn in by the schemes of the lord there. Yukimura wants to gather 10 warriors, a party unrivaled in skill and power, to protect Ueda from the perils besetting it although he remains vague on just what and who the real peril is...

Shimotsuki is well known for her Yaoi work, but she has also worked on the Sengoku Basara franchise and written a Jidaigeki infomanga. The series takes light notes from both, targeting a Seinen/Shoujo crossover audience.note 


This series provides examples of:

  • Acquired Poison Immunity: Demonstrated by Anastasia, Saizo and Sasuke during the Knockout Gas attack in the manga.
  • A-Cup Angst: Isanami comments on this multiple times. Ironically, she is far from being flat-chested, but other women in the series are much better endowed and the men tend to treat her like a kid sister and call her flat anyway.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: Saizo's eyes become more deep green than blue, and Rokuro's blood red eyes become purple in the anime.
  • Affably Evil/Faux Affably Evil: Hanzo bounces back and forth between the two depending on the time and context. He's polite of speech and enjoys eating meals with others. You can irritate him past the affability pretty easily, however.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Ishikawa Goemon is one of the more sympathetic Villains of the Week despite being just as amoral as the rest, perhaps because of the atmosphere of mono no aware that he invokes.
  • Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Arguably slides into Alcohol-Induced Brilliance, but when a gargantuan magical crab attacks Jinpachi's ship in the middle of the drinking challenge, the sailors are freaking out trying to get away from it when Kamanosuke happens to note it looks tasty. Isanami and the others concur, and next thing you know Saizo is killing it with his ninja techniques and asking Jinpachi to fry it with his lightning powers. This kind of reckless behaviour is what gets Jinpachi in their corner.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: No matter how aloof and gruff Saizou acts, Isanami still calls him her shining knight.
  • Aloof Big Brother: Rokuro is one towards his twin, Nanakuma, as Rokuro is far less emotional than him. He doesn't hate Nanakuma like Nanakuma hates him but in reality Rokuro's cold stoicism only contributes to Nanakuma's insecurities and anger.
  • Always Identical Twins: When Nanakuma is introduced in the sequel, Kamanosuke starts demanding answers from him thinking he's Rokuro as they are identical in everything but the colour scheme of their Coordinated Clothes (white and indigo, and black, respectively). Seeing the two together shocks many of the other characters as historically one twin would often be killed at birth for superstitious reasons so the sight really is rare.
    Kamanosuke: You look exactly the same. It's disgusting!!
  • Always Someone Better: Saizou's skill was famous until he met Hattori Hanzo, who proved to be more than his match.
  • Ambiguous Gender: Kamanosuke, both in universe and out of it, prompts a lot of speculation.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Jinpachi's Japanese, but much darker than the rest of the cast.
  • Anachronism Stew: Isanami is at the center of many anachronisms, what with her biker shorts, ballet moves and lollipops, but every cast member partakes in their share.
  • Anti-Hero: Kamanosuke and Anastasia are not really heroes, they simply are on the side of good. Kamanosuke, in fact, is the Token Evil Team Mate. Saizou, on the other hand, is young but jaded, with some rough habits, but his goodie instincts are awakened by Isanami and by becoming part of a team.
  • Arsenal Attire: Both Rokuro and Nanakuma hide their whips as part of their clothing.
  • Art Evolution: Although Shimotsuki's early art was actually pretty good as far as dynamism and detail, it was far more chaotic, more prone to being off-model and the character designs saw many adjustments as the series progressed. By the sequel, the art is clear, gorgeous and consistent.
  • Artificial Limbs: In the sequel it turns out there are two characters with fully functional artificial hands Hanzo (who lost his to Isanami when he tried to control her) and Jinpachi (lost before he joined the Braves).
  • Assassin Outclassin': How Anastasia ended up working for Sanada Yukimura. Or so she told Saizou. She's actually The Mole for Hanzo.
  • Attack Reflector: One of Saizo's many techniques, seen in the first episode against Isanami's pursuers.
  • Attempted Rape: Happens a few times in the manga, to Kakei, Isanami and Anastasia to be precise.
  • Attention Whore: Kamanosuke does not like it when the attention is not on him, and will loudly, violently bring it back if he has to.
  • Ax-Crazy: Kamanosuke Yuri tells Isanami he's a bandit for the chance of people resisting being held up. Becomes more of a Blood Knight later after joining the team.
  • Back for the Finale: Hanzo vanishes and is practically never mentioned after Kamanosuke joins, but he's back once Anastasia betrays the team. It turns out He's Just Hiding. This is also the focus of his Episode 11 preview.
  • Badass and Child Duo: Seikai and Benmaru are seen often together, with the latter usually riding the former's shoulders. Benmaru is good with traps and tests them out on the nigh physically invulnerable Seikai, but doesn't do hand-to-hand combat, which is where Seikai does most of the damage.
  • Bald Head of Toughness: Seikai is kind of a monk so he is appropriately bald, but he's also The Big Guy and nigh physically impervious to even blades.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Even when not covered by Censor Steam, there is a lack of detail in the nudity.
  • Bash Brothers: Despite how much Saizo hates Kamanosuke, they make the best pair when there's a need to unleash violence and havoc upon their enemies as they're both quite fast and reckless fighters.
  • The Beastmaster: Sasuke. He likes all kind of animals, but birds and weasels in particular.
  • Bedmate Reveal: Isanami likes to sneak into Saizou's bed. But she's a priestess, don't get her wrong.
  • Before And After: As his portrait shows, Seikai was just another pretty boy before becoming a musclebound bruiser, to everyone's shock.
  • The Berserker: Kamanosuke finds the idea of strategy offensive as no one can tell him what to do and he just wants to create blood and havoc.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Rokuro may be the Team Mom, but that only means the other Braves have learned first-hand what happens when you piss your mom off.
  • Big Bad: Tokugawa Ieyasu, although he never really comes to the fore, and both of his dragons have their own agendas.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The bread and butter of the action scenes in this series
    • After Yukimura turns Isanami away, she and Saizo are attacked by her pursuers. Sasuke shows up to turn things around, and Yukimura steps out to reveal his real intent was to flush out the enemy.
    • Kakei's introduction is to show up as Saizo is being curb-stomped by Hanzo at the festival, rifle in hand.
    • With Isanami out like a light, Kakei under assault, and Saizo losing to Hanzo at the Izumo shrine, the recently defeated Kamanosuke swoops in from out of nowhere to stop Hanzo from killing the guy he wants to kill him
    • Seikai and Kamanosuke were not invited along to Kyoto, but their choice to ignore this decision sure came in handy later as the others nearly lost to Benmaru's Death Course before they showed up to save the day.
    • With the Braves pursued by Masamune's army and cornered against the shore of Lake Biwa, they are saved by sudden canon fire as Kakei and Jinpachi unexpectedly sail up out of nowhere.
    • On a particularly cold night, Sasuke jumps through the window to rescue a badly wounded Rokuro from Ana. Rokuro repays him later by getting up just long enough to repel an accidental darkness blast from Isanami while Sasuke is frozen in ice.
    • Hattori Hanzo, of all people, does this in the sequel when Benmaru is kidnapped.
    • The climax of Brave10 S is fundamentally a prolonged series of Big Damn Heroes moments as everybody who was previously scattered arrives in style at the battlefield, one after the next.
  • Big Eater: Isanami. And she has a Sweet Tooth, too.
  • Big "NO!": Sasuke after Kamanosuke asks him if he could skin his weasel Amaharu.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Rokuro is accompanied by a wealth of sparkles in Hakobe's vision.
  • BFS:
    • Saizo has one, the Mari Blade. He later has it reforged.
    • Date Masamune and Sanada Nobuyuki also sport some very large swords.
  • Black Swords Are Better: Saizou wields one.
  • Blade Lock: As usual, an excuse during fights to keep on the Trash Talk and exchanging dialogue, as seen in Hanzo and Saizou's second fight.
  • Blood Knight: Date Masamune, who is willing to make any number of impulsive decisions if they'll get him the war he wants so badly.
  • Blood Lust: In Kamanosuke's strange Ho Yay way, he says he wants to see Saizou cut and bleeding.
  • Blood Magic: The God's Jewel controls water, which includes blood, meaning Rokuro can make a heart stop.
  • Blood-Splattered Innocents: During the second ninja attempt in the first episode, Isanami's face gets bloodied by a dying ninja.
  • Bloody Murder: Kuchiba's other skill, aside of Lotus-Eater Machine, as Kamanosuke found out.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Seikai is loud, large, and fight-happy.
  • Blow You Away: Kamanosuke's elemental specialty is wind.
  • Bottomless Magazines: Saaya, Kakei's musket, doesn't even have a magazine!
  • Braids of Action: Hanzo has a very long braid and he's the most deadly fighter in the series.
  • Brains and Brawn: Seikai plays the dumb muscle to Benmaru's strategist.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: While Saizo is complaining about the other Braves goofing off, images show of Sasuke hanging out with his animals, Anastasia sitting by a river and Kamanosuke threatening a villager.
  • Breakfast Club: The Braves are a bunch of lonely misfits slowly recruited by Yukimura who end up forming a Family of Choice
  • Breaking the Fellowship: In the sequel, just before the Battle of Ueda, Jinpachi leaves out of anger over Ana and Kamanosuke disappears after some very cutting remarks from Saizo. Then Seikai dies, Isanami chooses to leave and become Izanami to protect the rest of the Braves, Ana's so badly hurt she's in a coma, Yukimura, Rokuro and Benmaru live in exile, and Sasuke, Kakei, Hanzo and Saizo all wander searching for their lost members.
  • Bridal Carry: Yukimura wraps Rokuro in his cloak and carries him after getting his eye stabbed out, repelling Isanami's darkness blast from Sasuke and succumbing to poisoned wounds on the night of Anastasia's betrayal.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: Yukimura gets the Braves to do all the heavy lifting for him in private and public matters, and once pretends to be sick in bed rather than greet his own brother, but his brilliance is unquestionable.
  • Broken Bird: Anastasia is tough, self-reliant and cold, and chafes at the safety of Yukimura's castle. Don't expect her to defrost easily.
  • Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Ichimaru and Niko, fairly ineffective ninja villains and comic relief who first appeared attempting to rape Anastasia during her introduction. They are absent from the anime adaptation except for a brief cameo in episode five.
  • Butt-Monkey: Kakei and Saizo both have elements of this. Kakei's always interfering in fights as the Team Dad between the more dramatic Braves, but often as not ends up knocked out by them or caught in the crossfire of Rokuro's sonic blasts. Saizo, on the other hand, attracts an Unwanted Harem that stops him from sleeping at night and every time he hopes someone is about to do something reasonable, he finds out it's just him. Both of them are comically unlucky in the more slice-of-life scenes.
  • Cain and Abel: The Unno twins. Nanakuma knows he's The Unfavorite and that his parents only didn't kill him at birth because they weren't sure which twin would inherit the Water Crest eye. When it and the God's Jewel, go to Rokuro, he feels inferior, reinforced when Nobuyuki is unhappy to see the "superior" Rokuro choose to serve his brother instead. Eager to prove himself as a worthy page, Nanakuma is ready to kill Rokuro in a Duel to the Death in the tournament arc and take the God's Jewel for his own. While Nanakuma has a major complex over his brother, Rokuro doesn't really reciprocate or care.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Saizou, Seikai, Anastasia, Hanzo, Kaio can't apparently use their techniques without informing everyone of their names. One of Kamanosuke's attacks even involves calling his own name as part of it. The rest of the Braves are more discreet although over time Saizo introduces "Kirigakure-style" to his line-up.
  • Can't Hold His Liquor: Kamanosuke and Isanami get real drunk real fast during Jinpachi's challenge. Kamanosuke even becomes flushed from the first drop that lands on him.
  • Carry a Big Stick: Seikai has a massive club.
  • Cast From Hitpoints: Kakei's killing shot on Oukatsu, which goes right through him in the anime and Rokuro's use of the God's Jewel in the sequel, which causes him to collapse multiple times.
  • Cast Full of Crazy: This trope really comes to the fore with the addition of Kamanosuke and Seikai to the team, but every Brave has their moments of crazy in service of comedy.
  • Censor Steam: Even Yukimura complains about the obscuring steam in the Hot Springs Episode.
  • Chained Heat: Yukimura and Rokurou get bound into a compromising position during Hanzo's attack in Ueda, much to the delight of every Fujoshi watching. In the manga, the argument is both more heated and funny as Yukimura has his hand over Rokuro's mouth at the time.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Isanami reveals herself to be one as soon as Anastasia appears. Kamanosuke soon joins in as a Crazy Jealous Guy to increase Saizo's misery.
  • Clothing Damage: Everybody gets their time to shine. Ninja attacks are very precise about tearing open holes in clothes without shredding them altogether in this series.
  • Coat Cape: Jinpachi's gives him a certain pirate-y flair.
  • Cold Sniper: Kakei, who is very proper and stoic.
  • Combat Hand Fan: Yukimura fights Date, armed with a BFS, with only his fan. Isanami also has learned this skill by the sequel, when she goes up against Izumo no Okuni.
  • Combat Pragmatist: When Isanami isn't around to stop them, the ninja side of the team delivers coup de graces and does whatever it takes to win the fights. They are not samurai, after all.
  • Combat Stilettos: Ana usually fights in heels, as do many of the villains, male and female. One opponent takes this to its logical extreme and just wears giant blades underneath his feet.
  • Compressed Adaptation: After the first episode of the anime, which covers slightly past the first chapter of the manga, the anime races through the source material, covering over 120 pages worth of manga each episode: most of the cut material featured Ichimaru and Niko, who were left out of the anime adaptation and are pretty much nothing but comic relief. See Pragmatic Adaptation.
  • Cool Big Sis: Anastasia becomes Isanami's sister figure after she rescues her from Date. With a hint of Good Bad Girl in the way she flirts with Yukimura, Sasuke and Saizou. Bad idea, because Ana actually hates the concept of family-like bonds, and it was all an act, probably devised by Hanzo to eventually break Isanami.
  • Crater Power: When Isanami uses her power, she is left standing in a shallow crater.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: Kamanosuke is very clear that Saizo is his to battle To the Pain with and no one's allowed to interefere. He naturally has a rivalry with Isanami over their claim on Saizo.
  • Cry into Chest: Isanami breaks down on Saizou after Yukimura refuses to help her early in the story.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: In an unusual turn for an action manga, a lot of the heroes get their asses thoroughly kicked throughout the series:
    • Almost every fight Saizo has with Hanzo ends up with Hanzo trouncing him until new teammates arrive.
    • After the first curbstomping from Hanzo, Saizo gets really depressed and moody, which leads to Sasuke curbstomping him to make a point about how self-pity just makes you weaker
    • Susanoo does this to them all in the sequel. The Braves just aren't a match for a Physical God.
  • Dancing Is Serious Business: In the fourth of the Ueda Castle 10 Matches, Isanami and Izumo no Okuni get into a dance-off as Isanami is absolutely determined to prove the latter is a pretender to the Izumo name.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Anastasia tells Isanami to live up to the rest of the team during her Unwanted Rescue.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Anastasia and her family were shipwrecked in Japan, her family died and she was sold into sex slavery, then later trained to be a ninja. While looking for the last heirloom of her family, Hanzo appeared to have it. He then coerced her to join the Iga Five. This is also why 'family' was some sort of Berserk Button for her and what made her hate the easy bonds between the rest of the Braves.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Isanami's Defence Mechanism Superpower is basically holy darkness. Until Izanami takes over, at which point it's only holy in the sense of being related to a god, not one that is nice or good by any strain of the imagination
  • Darkest Hour:
  • D-Cup Distress: Being a practical woman, Anastasia would rather be small breasted because it's less of a burden. Isanami, being self conscious about her own, thinks she should be happy about it.
  • Death Seeker: Kamanosuke only joins the Braves so that he can get Saizo to kill him after a good, bloody fight.
  • Decoy Damsel: Kamanosuke pretends to be a hurt woman needing help across the suspension bridge. In reality, he's luring people there to rob and kill them at a location that gives him the advantage.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: This is how you collect Braves, to the point the only Braves Saizo has never had to fight against are Rokuro and Kakei. Yukimura recruited Ana by Assassin Outclassin' and Kamanosuke, Seikai, Benmaru, and Jinpachi join the team after fighting the Braves, although often as not it's the Braves who start it. The case that stretches disbelief the most is Hanzo in the sequel, to the point it breaks up the Braves.
  • Defence Mechanism Superpower: Sure, kidnap Isanami and put her friends in distress. Hope you like getting vaporized.
  • Deliberately Distressed Damsel: Both Kamanosuke and Anastasia have used this trick.
  • Designated Girl Fight: Averted Trope in the first manga. Anastasia only gets paired with a female opponent once, during the second attack on Ueda castle. The tournament arc in the sequel, however, has her face off against Komatsu, Yukimura's sister-in-law, where she has to throw the fight out of consideration, and Isanami also goes up against Izumo no Okuni in a dance off.
  • Determinator:
    • Saizo, of course. Dude has been slashed and bleeding how many times against Hanzo, and he's still standing up and fighting rather than being down for count.
    • Rokuro. You can stab out his eye, it's okay, he'll replace it with a magic stone that casts from HP, because when his HP is down to zero, he's just gonna get back up again and keep protecting his lord and kin.
  • Disguised in Drag: Because he would have been killed if it were found out any of the original Ishikawa Goemon's sons were living, the Ishikawa Goemon seen in this series starts living as a woman to deter rumours.
  • Distressed Damsel: Isanami is continuously being pursued and kidnapped. Get her distressed at your own peril, though.
  • Doomed Hometown: Isanami's shrine was burned to the ground.
  • Downer Ending: The sequel ends with four out of eleven Braves dead, one completely done with them, and the remainder standing around getting ready for the Battle of Osaka, which will see them all dead. Doomed By History, of course.
  • The Dragon: Hattori Hanzō is Tokugawa's main ninja enforcer, but naturally the One-eyed Dragon of Oshu features here as his less cladestine one.
    • Dragon with an Agenda: Unfortunately for Ieyasu, Hanzo has his own plans for capturing Isanami, and pretty much cares less about the upcoming Tokugawa vs Toyotomi clash, his team would be the one ruling from the shadow... or so he claims. Masamune also lacks respect for Ieyasu. He's just in it for WAR!
  • Dragon Lady: Oukatsu; open kimono, humongous cleavage, hidden blade, snake powers. Succeeded by Kaio, her sister.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Kamanosuke has to do very little to look feminine something he used to ambush people during her times as a bandit. Although maybe it's just that she looks masculine, as seen in the Lotus-Eater Machine..
  • The Dulcinea Effect: The first time Saizo saved Isanami was just self-defense. And the second time, too. And the third...
  • Dumb Muscle: Seikai is powerful, and has a good heart underneath the Hot-Blooded behaviour, but could not even charitably be considered intelligent.
  • Dysfunctional Family: Brave10 has a lot of the elements of a domcom, although it's based on a found family. A lot of the humour is derived from the Braves being wacky people who don't get along very well but stick it out together because they're what they have.
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Isanami's hair is dark green in the manga at first. It later gets recolored to cyan, and then white by the end of the first manga. Saizo's eyes go from brown to blue over time, and Rokuro appears to have dropped the purple lipstick.
  • Epiphany Comeback: During his fight with renegade Iga ninja Goemon, Saizou is thoroughly beaten until Goemon tells him he's no longer an Iga ninja. Saizou realizes he should think like a one of Yukimura's Braves. Cue fight reversal.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Isanami didn't take well to Ana being a False Friend all along. Neither does Sasuke.
  • Expy: It's hard not to see Anastasia as a Darker and Edgier Kasuga, or Mizuki Tachibana, the latter also being the resident blonde, ponytailed Ms. Fanservice Cool Big Sis with the same voice to boot, as well as The Mole. Also, Isanami looks a lot like Kaname, and the author draws Date Masamune exactly as she did in her Sengoku Basara works.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ishikawa Goemon is an unrepetent thief and murderer who does enjoy the thrill and glory of it, but also acts heavily out of love for Katakura Kojuro, who gave him shelter when he was being hunted and then a purpose for living.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: Despite what Hanzo and Date think it's quite clear that Izanami is a dangerous force that cannot be controlled and should not be messed with.
  • Evil Redhead: Hanzo is revealed to be one beneath his ninja mask.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Rokurou hides his right eye until he loses it to Anastasia, at which point he starts hiding the God's Jewel behind it instead.
  • Eye Scream: Ana tries to carve out Rokuro's Water Crest eye. He promised Yukimura he wouldn't let anyone touch it, so he leans up into her blade himself to damage it irreparably.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Anastasia is actually working for Hanzo.
    • Heel–Face Turn: Ana is brought back by Sasuke and Saizo expecting to be executed but Yukimura offers her freedom. Although she is more miserable for being granted this mercy, she still gives her all for the Braves up until her death.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Hanzo is 100% evil, but he's sees no need for rudeness and is quite a polite speaker, even when describing how he likes to kill people. Also exemplified in his monologue for Episode 11 preview.
  • The Fettered: Mitsunari is this regarding honouring Toyotomi Hideyoshi and preventing the collapse of the nobility.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: Most of the Braves are weirdos who come to appreciate each other through tense combat situations rather than the ususual avenues.
  • Flat Character: Unfortunately, most of Hanzo's five (including Hanzo himself) have very little background and look like they're just in for simple megalomania, aside of Anastasia, who's shown to have Dark and Troubled Past and had other goals unlike them. More of Hanzo's personality comes out in the sequel.
  • Flechette Storm: A trademark of Hanzo that can be seen in the anime opening.
  • Flower Motifs: Ishikawa Goemon has camellias as his motif. He was discovered hiding among the camellias by Kojuro and has loved them ever since. They are a flower that falls "purely", dropping all at once rather than petal by petal. It's both a metaphor for his swift fall for Kojuro, and his dying young and beautiful as he falls from the rooftop after battling Saizo.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Yukimura is the foolish sibling to Nobuyuki's responsible one, as Nobuyuki is very orthodox and straightforward, while Yukimura is the lazy, playful chessmaster.
  • Forced into Evil: Zig-zagged. Turns out, the reason why Anastasia joined Hanzo was because Hanzo was holding her family heirloom that she's been searching for since she was little. However, during the time she spent with Hanzo, she turned into a cold-hearted Broken Bird Ice Queen who's just as bad as Hanzo is. But, even Jinpachi could see her slowly being defrosted despite her insisting otherwise.
  • Fragile Speedster: Kamanosuke's one of the fastest Braves, but he's not tough.
  • Genius Slob: Yukimura is brilliant but Rokuro is constantly his case for dressing slovenly, not brushing his hair, and generally not conducting himself as a samurai ought to.
  • Gentleman Snarker: Kanetsugu is extremely sharp-tongued toward everyone equally, offering backhanded compliments and politely-veiled insults indiscriminately.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Saizou needed Sasuke to give him a pep talk after being thouroughly beaten by Hanzo during their first fight (or when Isanami gets captured by Masamune in the anime).
  • Gilded Cage: Date is a good host for Isanami, besides the chain spiked to the ground.
  • Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Komatsu's design is very girl-ish and she puts a lot of stock in propriety, but she's hot-tempered and arrogant like the rest of her family, and good with a spear.
  • The Glomp: Isanami is fond of jumping onto Saizou and not letting go.
  • God in Human Form: Isanami is an incarnation of Izanami, goddess of the Japanese Underworld.
  • Good Old Ways: Kakei is prone to reminding Saizou of the proper ways.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Kakei has a fashionable scar on his jaw. Oukatsu has scars, too, but they aren't obvious until she gets comfortable.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: While being tightly tied and weaponless, Rokurou decides to use Yukimura as an improvised weapon
  • Grin of Audacity: Bordering on Slasher Smile sometimes when the more loose canon Braves get provoked.
  • Guile Hero: Yukimura is intelligent and is very good at taking in the bigger picture, and using that knowledge to manipulate people into doing what he wants.
  • Handsome Lech: Yukimura is always flirting with Ana and sneaking out to brothels and talking about how much he likes women, but he's not very successful as all of his efforts are foiled by Rokuro's interference. Jinpachi also spends a lot of his screentime talking about women and their charms.
  • Hand Gagging: Yukimura clamps his hand over Rokuro's mouth just before their Chained Heat moment, not wanting him to sonic blast the ninjas surrounding them before the crowd of civilians can clear. Rokuro's protests go unheard.
  • Happy Flashback: During the arc where they revisit Izumo, Isanami remembers how the temple was before the ninja attack. Anastasia also has one in the middle of fighting Jinpachi.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Kamanosuke tag-teams Hanzo with Saizou during the Izumo arc and joins the team afterwards. Even more extreme, Hanzo joins the Braves in the sequel at the invitation of Yukimura, claiming to have only been doing his job before with no personal feelings on the matter.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Kamanosuke's penchant for mixing bloody murder and affection is usually Played for Laughs.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Despite not being the most heroic of heroes, there are a few:
    • In the anime adaptation, Rokuro attempts one after he reveals that the prophecy was about having the ten Braves sacrifice their lives to stop Izanami no Mikoto. Saizo was having none of that, however, and put a stop to it.
    • In the sequel manga, Isanami decides to sacrifice herself to her Superpowered Evil Side Izanami to prevent any more of the Braves being hurt by Susanoo, and at the very end of the story, she stays in Yomi alone.
    • Also in the sequel, Kakei pulls one against Susanoo to save Rokuro at the final battle.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: By the end of the first episode, Saizo totally hasn't saved the girl three times and definitely isn't working for Yukimura. Really.
  • Hidden Weapons: Every Ninja has at least a few kunai hidden up their sleeves, if not thirty. The most unlikely hidden weapons users are Rokuro and Nanakuma, who managed to produce suntetsu, combo whips/rope darts, and daggers from within and out of their stripperiffic outfits.
  • Hiding Behind Your Bangs:
    • Jinpachi's dreads cover up one eye, adding to his mystery.
    • Rokuro and Nanakuma both have one eye covered, to emphasize their distant personalities.
  • High-Pressure Blood: Every big slash is marked by a brief blood spurt.
  • Highly-Visible Ninja: It has to be tough to be a blonde, blue-eyed infiltrator in 16th Century Japan, Anastasia.
  • Historical Domain Character: Sanada Yukimura is the strategist version, more of a Guile Hero like the gender-flipped Samurai Girls version than Hot-Blooded as in Sengoku Basara, and older than those versions, too, matching up with his historical age at the time the manga is set. There's also Tokugawa Ieyasu, Date Masamune, Ishida Mitsunari and Naoe Kanetsugu. The sequel manga, Brave 10 S features several others not seen in the anime/1st manga, including Yukimura's brother Sanada Nobuyuki, along with Honda Tadakatsu and his daughter Komatsu (Ina), and several minor appearances by other famous figures of the time.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Well, it's an anime about Sanada Yukimura. Of course Tokugawa Ieyasu and his men HAD to be villainized! Hanzo probably got it the worst. At most, Ieyasu is depicted as an incompetent tanuki (which is lampshaded by Masamune). Hanzo goes beyond being 'loyal' to Ieyasu into having probably different goals than Ieyasu and being much more sadistic, making his way towards Hero Killer, although there's a justification in that 'Hattori Hanzō' is a title passed down through Iga ninja leaders so this Hanzo may not be the same Hanzo that escorted Ieyasu through Iga after Nobunaga's death (Hattori Masanari).
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Hanzo's plan to unleash Isanami's Superpowered Evil Side so he can control it goes exactly as well as you'd expect.
  • Hope Spot: Kamanosuke broke down Kuchiba's Lotus-Eater Machine and cut him in half! Finally, there's one Brave who survived the Iga Five — Not so Fast, Bucko!, Kuchiba reveals his other ability and finishes off Kamanosuke... Until the end.
  • Hot Springs Episode: Second half of episode six in the anime. In the manga, it comes as a brief respite after the second assault on Ueda.
  • Hulk Speak: Sasuke speaks in very broken Japanese owing to his Raised by Wolves backstory. His sentiments can often be quite elegant, nonetheless, as his few words have a lot of impact.
  • I Call It "Vera": Saizo's sword is called the Mari Blade and Kakei's gun is Saaya.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: Equal opportunities for getting abused (as Kakei can attest to during his fight with Oukatsu), but Anastasia gets most, even in her introduction (manga only).
  • An Ice Person: Anastasia can turn water to ice with her Iga techniques, and she also prides herself on being cold in other senses of the word as she shows when she betrays the team.
  • If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Isanami stops Saizou from killing a beaten Kamanosuke when he has him in a Sword over Head situation.
  • Ingesting Knowledge: Rokuro can store information and memories by sucking them into his magic Water Crest eye.
  • Implausible Hair Color: There are three redheads in the series (Benmaru, Yuri and Hanzo). Not exactly common in XVI century Japan.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: Nanakuma is tsuntsun and extremely haughty, but it's because he's afraid everyone thinks he's the inferior twin and he's desperate to surpass his brother as a result.
  • In Love with Love: The author notes in one of her doujinshi that Isanami, being a naive 16 year old, is squarely in this stage.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: Kamanosuke gets fascinated by Saizo's killing intent.
  • In-Series Nickname: She is known as Anastasia of the Glacier, but everyone calls her Ana.
  • Instant Runes: Okatsu's snake magic works like this, as seen in the seals on their eyes, and her fight with Kakei.
  • It's All My Fault: Isanami comes to this conclusion after the second fight with Hanzo and briefly gives up. She's then goaded by Hanzo during the fight against the Five into another breakdown that pulls out her Superpowered Evil Side.
  • I Was Only Pretending To Like You: Anastasia upon her Face–Heel Turn.
  • Japanese Delinquents: The author notes Benmaru is really just a juvenile delinquent.
  • Jidaigeki: Historical Fantasy set in 1599.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: Anastasia is a Combat Pragmatist, after all, and will hit a helpless enemy or former ally. Ask Sasuke.
  • Kid Samurai: Eleven-year old Benmaru is introduced when he sends the Braves on a Death Course made up of his inventions and traps to test whether they're worthy or not. Since they're the only ones who've managed to pass, he asks to join. It turns out he's an abandoned child who has always wanted to be a samurai and even gave himself a surname to sound like one. Yukimura sees potential in him so he joins the team and in the sequel really does get his wish when Yukimura adopts him as his heir, Sanada Daisuke.
  • Knockout Gas: Used during Goemon's attack on Ueda castle. Too bad some Braves have Acquired Poison Immunity. Played for a humour the morning after, with Isanami wondering whether she crossed the line with Saizo the night before and just can't remember, and Yukimura waking up to discover that heavy weight is Rokuro lying on top of him.
  • Lady of War: This is how Komatsu sees herself. Proper, graceful, and the best with a naginata. Her enthusiasm tips her closer towards Girly Bruiser at points, however.
  • Large Ham: There are a few
    • Seikai tends to be noisy and larger than life in general, with a dumb Hot-Blooded streak.
    • Date Masamune is a Blood Knight with a tendency towards drama.
    • Jinpachi pitches back and forth between this, and being too cool to bother with anything. The hammier moments are usually prompted by anyone trying to tell him what to do or how to live.
  • Leave No Witnesses: Silly ninjas, they got Saizou involved in protecting Isanami because of being overly thorough.
  • Light Is Not Good: Saizo's ninja tricks are themed after Marishiten, Shinto goddess of Light.
  • Lightning Bruiser:
    • Jinpachi is a very literal example. He's fast, extremely physically powerful, and has lightning as his element.
    • Hanzo hits really hard, can takes a point-blank Shunko attack and survive, and is so fast that even Saizo and Kamanosuke can't keep up with him.
  • Like an Old Married Couple: Yukimura and Rokuro in their natural element. Rokuro is fussy and proper while Yukimura is a lazy genius and womanizer.
  • Limit Break: Looks like Isanami has one (being depressed or afraid will do the trick).
  • Live-Action Escort Mission: Kakei and Saizo escort Isanami back to Izumo.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: Saizo for Isanami. After watching her home being burned to the ground and almost everyone she knew being killed, she adopts Saizou as "her light".
  • The Load: Isanami's role in the team is just being there to be protected.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Seikai is Isanami's elder adoptive brother. Sort of.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: Kamanosuke faces one in the fight with Hanzo's Five. He axe-crazies his way out, as to be expected.
  • Mad Bomber: Benmaru's good with the explosives and the traps, and doesn't worry too much about collateral.
  • Magical Eye: Rokuro's Water Crest eye which strips out memories and records information. And then after it's destroyed, the God's Jewel he replaces it with becomes one too.
  • Making a Splash: Rokuro is the Brave of Water. However, his use of water is quite uncommon, as he mixes it with shouts to create waves that incapacitate his enemies.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Saizo is pretty much being dragged around by Isanami although she's sometimes more of a Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Hanzo is cunning and manipulates his opponents' and teammates' emotions alike to achieve his desired ends.
  • McNinja: Russian ninja with appropriate Ice powers!
  • Meaningful Name:
    • With a name like 'Kamanosuke', it's pretty appropriate that he'd be fighting with a 'kama'/sickle chain.
    • Also, Isanami no miko for Izanami-no-Mikoto.
    • Rokuro and Nanakuma, the sixth and seventh Unno heirs.
  • Meaningful Rename: Benmaru gets one twice. The first is from "Rokuro" to "Benmaru", the latter being Yukimura's childhood name. This ends up being foreshadowing for his second rename, to "Sanada Daisuke" when Yukimura adopts him as his heir.
  • Meet Cute: Saizo meets Isanami and within a day they are already in bickering mode.
  • Mighty Glacier: Seikai's battle strategies include things like just standing there and letting people hit him rather than parry.
  • Miko: Isanami, priestess of Izumo.
  • Modesty Shorts: Isanami wears them under her miko attire.
  • The Mole: Anastasia works for Hanzo.
  • Morality Pet: Isanami for Saizo. Were it not for her intercession, Kamanosuke wouldn't have lived to join the Braves.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Anastasia. Her outfit is already revealing, and she's prone to not wearing it.
  • Mugging the Monster: At the beginning of Brave10 S, a group of bandits try to mug an assortment of Braves. Considering they're all anti-heroes and Kamanosuke used to mug people for entertainment, this goes exceedingly poorly for them.
  • Mysterious Waif: Why is Isanami, a simple miko, so important? Why was her temple destroyed? What is the source of her Defence Mechanism Superpower?
  • Naginatas Are Feminine: The only female spear user is Komatsu, and natually, it's a naginata.
  • Nature Hero: Sasuke was abandoned in a forest and lived there until Yukimura recruited him. He still spends most of his time there.
  • NEET: The author describes Saizo as a former NEET before joining the Braves.
  • Never Gets Drunk: Saizo, who's a ninja immune to poisons, and Kakei and Yukimura, who have a deep appreciation for sake, hold up the best during Jinpachi's drinking challenge, although they loosen up a little as the night progresses.
  • Ninja: Well, that is what the "historical" Brave Ten were, isn't it?
  • Ninja Log: Saizou uses this substitution trick on Sasuke during their first fight, and later against Hanzo and Kamanosuke.
  • No Indoor Voice: Nobuyuki has a tendency to shout most of his dialogue.
  • No Shirt, Long Jacket: Seikai sports this look, which means his muscles are on constant display.
  • Not in This for Your Revolution:
    • Kamanosuke constantly reminds the Braves he's not here to protect Ueda or for sentimental reasons, he just wants to die after fighting with Saizo and is searching for the right opportunity.
    • Jinpachi agreed to help Kakei and eventually join Yukimura on the fact that there's one certain busty blonde named Anastasia in Yukimura's entourage. And kinda true too. He splits out of anger on Anastasia's behalf in the sequel, and it seems he just stops sticking with the Braves after her death.
  • Not So Stoic: Rokuro's usually pretty neutral, but there are a few times he gets a real smile in the series, and around Yukimura he's far more animated and snappish.
  • Not Too Dead to Save the Day: In the manga, Hanzo's still alive. Ana froze him in ice, but as soon as she left he got himself out using his hellfire technique. Everyone's pretty shocked when he suddenly shows up and saves Benmaru from kidnappers.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Yukimura cultivates an image of a lazy bumbling lord very carefully, especially among his peers, to maintain Plausible Deniability for some of his riskier moves.
  • One-Steve Limit: Enforced when Benmaru (formerly Mochizuki Rokuro) joins the team.
    Benmaru: I don't care how you address me. The name Rokuro is lame anyway.
    Rokuro: [bristles]
    Yukimura: Leaving aside whether the name is lame or not, there's only one Rokuro for me.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Kamanosuke's reason to help Saizou and join the Braves.
  • Only Sane Man: Saizo and Rokuro divide this position as amongst the Braves they are the most reasonable and down-to-earth ones, but both can be egged on to join in the shenanigans, Saizo most likely by Kamanosuke or an opponent, and Rokuro by Yukimura.
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: Saizo's "Bring it on!"
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: The only thing Isanami keeps from Izumo. It looks like a Protective Charm.
  • Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Saizou just slings Isanami on his shoulder to get away during their first meeting.
  • Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Kanetsugu Naoe's forte, being quick-witted and vaguely disdainful towards everyone.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Nobuyuki never looks happy.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Isanami's darkness power is extensive and none-too-choosy about the victims in its radius.
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Russian = blonde hair and blue eyes.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse: Komatsu is tiny but a great fighter.
  • The Pollyanna: Isanami comes across as this, but there is a lot of Stepford Smiler in her.
  • Post-Victory Collapse: A regular feature of post-battle scenes, and one that goes horribly wrong for Saizo and the others when after defeating Hanzo and Okatsu, Date Masamune shows up and effortlessly kidnaps Isanami while everyone's too weak to stand.
  • Power Limiter: The Kushimitama isn't the source of Isanami's Power of the Void: it's keeping it at bay.
  • The Power of the Void: Isanami's power is darkness that rusts and rots everything it touches into dust.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Because of time constraints, in the anime some characters disappear and others take their roles in some arcs, some fights and events are cut and some villains are somewhat weakened.
  • Prosthetic Limb Reveal: 7 volumes into the sequel, it's revealed that one of Jinpachi's hands is a prosthesis.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Hanzo tries to claim this. He says he doesn't hate the Braves or carry grudges. He's just a ninja who does a job without personal investment.
  • Pursued Protagonist: Isanami is on the run from Tokugawa the whole series.
  • Putting the Band Back Together: Saizo, Sasuke, Kakei and Hanzo go to a lot of work to get everyone back together after the Braves fall apart, but they're still short four by the start of battle. Then the Big Damn Heroes parade begins.
  • Radial Ass Kicking: The Braves often find themselves beset this way, and sometimes beset new members in this fashion.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Braves are an assortment of Bunny Ears Lawyers, orphans with nowhere else to turn, and people who flaunt convention as much as possible, sometimes all three. "Oh great, another weirdo," practically becomes Saizo's mantra as more and more unconventional team members are acquired.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • Anastasia will gladly tell you while you are helpless how being sentimental and idealistic makes you weak and only power matters.
    • Hanzo loves to tease opponents about how they fail to live up to the hype or victims about how they're the cause of everyone's trouble.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Saizo gets a moment of this when he's about to kill Kamanosuke after their fight.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Saizou is defiant, jaded, and more likely to waver in his beliefs and actions, while Sasuke is quiet, stoic, and ruthless in protecting Ueda, but also more tender-hearted.
  • Religious Bruiser: Seikai is The Big Guy of the team, and essentially a pantheist monk who invokes all the gods in his attacks.
  • Right-Hand Hottie: Rokuro has crowds sighing over him, not that he notices. He's too busy nagging Yukimura.
  • Rival Dojos: Koga and Iga ninjas don't get along too well. Sasuke is a Koga ninja, while Saizou, Ana, and Hanzo are from the Iga.
  • Rope Bridge: The setting for Kamanosuke and Saizou's first fight.
  • Rummage Sale Reject: The Braves are pretty terrible in their sartorial choices, although it's the villains who really take the Stripperiffic Rummage Sale Reject aesthetic up a notch. Award-winners include Fuuma Kotaro who is covered in blades including platform stillettos, Ishikawa Goemon with a crossdressing asymmetric belt-heavy number, Date Masamune in his Kyoto outfit that is indeed fearsome to behold but not for the reasons he thinks, and Kaio who has no bottoms on.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Ishikawa gang take this place against the Braves in volume 4.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Saizo almost does this after being curb-stomped by Hanzo and fearing he Can't Catch Up. The anime replaces this with Saizo doing it after Masamune captures Isanami.
  • Seinen: That means violence and nudity. There was a slight toning down in sexual violence by the time the series migrated to a Shoujo magazine, but still, it's written by Kairi Shimotsuki, that always means violence and nudity.
  • Sensual Slavs: Anastasia is naturally the Ms. Fanservice of the series.
  • Sequel Hook: Yes, Izanami is calmed down, and Hanzo and his comrades are dead or not, in the manga. However, there's still Masamune and Ieyasu ready to wage war.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: It turns out, the heirloom Anastasia is looking for which was in Hanzo's hand was fake.
    • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: If you're a history maniac, you'll know. No matter how badass the Braves got, they're destined to die with Yukimura during the Siege of Osaka.
  • Signature Headgear: A jade headpiece that's clearly more than for looks. It's name is the Kushimitama, and was given to Isanami by the head priest for protecting. Turns out it protects the world from her Superpowered Evil Side.
  • Sleep Cute: On a horse!
  • Smug Snake: Naoe is disdainful with a smile. In fact, his design is so smug it's almost a surprise he's not completely evil.
  • Sour Outside, Sad Inside: The mangaka outright calls Nanakuma tsuntsun in her doujinshi. He's arrogant and proud, but also very insecure and desperate to prove himself.
  • Sphere of Power: The form Isanami's Defence Mechanism Superpower takes is a growing black energy sphere emanating from her, first seen during the first episode.
  • Standard Female Grab Area: Anastasia puzzlingly lets some joke villains almost rape her during her first appearance in the series just because they caught her by her wrist?!
  • Stock Ninja Weaponry: Knives, poisons, throwing daggers... the usual. Not many throwing stars, though.
  • Tamer and Chaster: The anime removes the instances of Attempted Rape and nudity the manga has (so, no naked Anastasia during the Hot Springs Episode, not even with Barbie Doll Anatomy).
  • The Stoic: Rokuro tends to show little expression and goes around getting things done quietly. When he's not being a jerk to Saizo, Sasuke is pretty stoic too.
  • The Strategist: Yukimura is always considering the long-term future of Ueda and trying to manipulate things to ensure its peace and safety. However, once he meets Benmaru, he realizes the kid might be even a better strategist then him.
  • Subordinate Excuse: The mangaka notes in one of her doujinshi that Rokuro (and Nanakuma, by extension) is way too old to be Yukimura's page at 26. Given how the characters usually interact, it's easiest to take this as the in-universe explanation as both he and Yukimura seem happy with the arrangement they've always had, despite the constant bickering.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: The Goddess of the Underworld is, well, not nice.
  • Super-Scream: Rokurou uses sonic attacks in the rare instances he gets to fight.
  • Super-Speed: Hanzo is the fastest character in the series, and of the five key ninja skills the Iga Grotesque Five embody, he's "swiftness."
  • Super-Strength: Seikai and Byakugun end up facing off as the respective big guys from each of their teams since they're both blessed with this.
  • Super-Toughness:
  • Survivor's Guilt: Isanami is weighed down by the destruction of her temple and her adoptive family there, but she rarely lets on, except when she broke down in front of Saizou after believing Yukimura wouldn't help her.
  • Sweet Tooth: Isanami loves sweets with a passion, and tends to spend all their travel money on them to her teammates' despair.
  • Sword Pointing: Saizo strikes this pose often for dramatic effect.
  • Taking the Bullet: The Head Priest of Izumo takes a Flechette Storm to save Isanami at the opening of the series.
  • Team Dad: Every team needs one, and Kakei's there to fill the job with his proper ways and maturity. In the sequel, he turns out to actually be a father, although obviously an absent one.
  • Team Mom: Rokuro's there to make sure the tea is served and the noise levels are under control, forcefully. If pressed, he can offer a pep talk in his own weird way.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Not all of the Braves like or agree with each other, which has repercussions in certain fights.
  • Terse Talker: Sasuke finds easier to talk with animals than with people.
  • Theme Twin Naming: Rokuro and Nanakuma have "six" ("roku") and "seven" ("nana") as part of their names.
  • These Hands Have Killed: While trapped with Isanami after the fight with the giant snake, Saizou tells Isanami he's just a killer and cannot be anybody's shining knight.
  • Those Two Guys: Mitsunari and Naoe primarily show up as a set in the story, always gossiping about the other lords and plotting their uprising against Tokugawa.
  • Through His Stomach: Get a bodyguard for a soba bowl!
  • Throw Down the Bomblet: Part of Benmaru's bag of tricks are grenades enough for carpet bombing.
  • Throwing the Fight: The second opponent in the tournament arc is Komatsu. While she is talented with the naginata, Yukimura's all too aware it wouldn't be seemly for Ana, a Ninja, to defeat his sister-in-law publicly, so Yukimura has Ana throw the fight.
  • Token Religious Teammate: Seikai left the Izumo temple to pursue his own brand of Buddhism which involves worshipping all gods to maximise holiness.
  • Too Much Alike: Rokuro and Nanakuma are a pair of tsundere identical twins with Undying Loyalty to their respective masters, but that only fuels more conflict between them.
  • Total Eclipse of the Plot: An eclipse marks Isanami's Superpowered Evil Side appearance.
  • Trap Master: Benmaru joins the Braves after sending them through his Death Course which they escape by the skin of their teeth.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Setting traps and bombing are not the healthiest hobbies that children should have, and Benmaru's strikingly unconcerned about collateral damage to boot.
  • Trash Talk: Hanzo teases Saizou continously on the gap between his fame and his actual skill during their first fight.
  • Trauma Conga Line: This is actually an omnipresent presence in-story too, according to Yukimura. Any time Isanami experiences trauma or sadness, the power of Izanami spreads out and kills everything nearby, and the Kushimitama is only surpressing that power. Making matters worse, Isanami overheard this while trying to recover from the trauma of Ana's betrayal. Nice job being a Mr. Exposition in the wrong time, Yukimura
  • True Companions: As much as a group of deeply weird and often violent mavericks can be. With most of them orphaned, the Braves really are each other's family.
  • Tsundere: An Unno family trait. Rokuro's sharp-tongued and quick-tempered, but occasionally Yukimura catches him offguard with unexpected praise, which gives rise to brief moments of deredere. Nanakuma is arrogant and haughty, but is covering up an inferiority complex and acts like a dog wanting praise around his master.
  • Undying Loyalty: Many of the Braves end up feeling this towards Yukimura and the lands of Ueda, even Saizo, to his own surprise. The best examples of this trope are definitely Sasuke, Rokuro and (in the sequel) Nanakuma, all of whom never waver and will pursue loyalty past the point of reason.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Saizo was surprised to learn Ishikawa Goemon really was a man in the aftermath of the attack, as he dresses as a woman and refers to himself as one to conceal himself better after his father's execution.
  • Unusual Weapon Mounting: Oukatsu has a kunai-like razor blade in her tongue.
  • Unwanted Harem: Saizo starts building one up with Isanami and Kamanosuke fighting over him. Throw in Hanzo getting touchy-feely in the sequel and he's earned himself a seriously unwanted yandere harem.
  • Unwanted Rescue: Isanami gets scared of being fought over, claims It's All My Fault and just gives up and resigns herself to being a prisoner of Date.
  • Unwilling Suspension: Isanami gets to hang over a precipice courtesy of Kamanosuke before he joins the Braves, and Anastasia gets hung up upside down while she's a prisoner of Date.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Little-Anastasia is adorable. She turns out real cold when she becomes an adult. Thank you, Hanzo.
  • Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The Brave 10 are based on some historical figures, but mostly they are as real as Robin Hood's Merry Men (on top of the Ki Manipulation and Magic and Powers). Also unlike even the existing stories, Anastasia and Isanami are Gender Flip versions of Anayama Kousuke and Seikai's historical brother Miyoshi Isa. Benmaru also gets a name change from Mochizuki Rokuro to consciously enfore the One-Steve Limit and in the sequel a second change to Sanada Daisuke, Yukimura's son, as this Yukimura never marries.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Hanzo learns the hard way how to control darkness with darkness.
  • Villainous Crossdresser: Goemon. Since his whole family was targeted to be exterminated, he had to disguise himself as a girl. Also, Kamanosuke Yuri would use this to trick people while he was a bandit.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Saizo and Sasuke, going along with their Red Oni, Blue Oni relationship. Saizo is often hostile and grouchy towards Sasuke and Sasuke sometimes physically lashes out at Saizo rather than just say what's he's thinking, but Sasuke's usually doing it to remind Saizo that's he's important and needed, and Saizo more than once has walked away from an argument complimenting Sasuke on how unwavering he is.
  • Warrior Monk: Seikai's both a monk and a fighter. Often as not, he starts it.
  • Warrior Poet: Yukimura, surprisingly. Of all the samurai lords in the story, he has the biggest philosophical streak and spends a lot of his non-Obfuscating Stupidity time ruminating on war, power, morality and fate.
  • Warrior Therapist:
    • Hanzo uses Isanami's Survivor's Guilt against her.
    • Jinpachi guesses his opponent Anastasia isn't actually above it all and tries to talk through it.
    • Despite his broken speech, Sasuke tends to stoically offer sage advice to other teammates when they feel uncertain of their purpose while he's also kicking their asses.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Rokuro is one of the smallest, lithest dudes on the team and gets thrown around like a ragdoll more than once, but he has his sonic techniques, later Blood Magic, and is fast and precise with suntetsu and his chain whip.
  • Weapon Specialization: Jinpachi is the team's spear-wielder. In the tournament arc of the sequel, more spear users appear, including Komatsu, who naturally has a naginata, and Oniwa Tsunamoto with a short spear and Date Shigezane with a long spear, both of whom Jinpachi has to take on at the same time.
  • Wham Episode: Hoo boy, episode 9. What would be a good night's sleep went downhill when Ana is revealed as The Mole for Hanzo, goes on to cripple Rokurou (and forced him to sacrifice the important information in his eye) and Sasuke, and Yukimura reveals the reason why he wanted to gather the Brave 10: to surpress the power of Japanese Death Goddess Izanami...incarnated into Isanami. And she overheard that too.
  • What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Kamanosuke doesn't get what love/affection is and it confuses him, so he approximates it to what he likes most: killing. His relationship with Saizou is colored by this.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Yukimura delivers one to Rokuro for nearly killing Nanakuma in the tournament arc after he jumps in and declares forfeit.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Isanami literally shuts down near snakes.
  • With My Hands Tied: Anastasia can easily clean a room full of guards with her hands tied and hanging upside down.
  • The Wonka: The Braves regularly comment on how they don't know what Yukimura is thinking, but they also know he's brilliant even if he comes off like a good-for-nothing lord and operates in hard-to-follow ways.
  • Worf Effect:
    • Saizo's got a reputation for never having been beaten, but then gets thrashed around by Hanzo in all his battles with the man, and by Sasuke during their second fight.
    • Jinpachi is introduced stopping a blow from Seikai bare-handed, to everyone's shock.
  • World of Badass: Everyone kicks ass in this series. Only Isanami is an exception, and not quite since she is a God in Human Form. She is able to beat Izumo no Okuni with battle fans in the sequel.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Ninjas are professional killers , after all, and they don't hesitate in hitting female opponents or even old women as Hanzo did during his attack on Ueda.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Kakei, not being a ninja and a pretty old fashioned gentleman, won't fight women. That doesn't prevent women from fighting him as seen in his fights with Okatsu and Kaio.
  • You Can Barely Stand: In the finale of the sequel, several of the Braves are yelling at Rokuro to stop casting from HP and stand down. This ends up leading to Kakei's Heroic Sacrifice instead.
  • You Killed My Father: Kaio is pretty pissed at Kakei for killing his sister Oukatsu.


Alternative Title(s): Brave 10

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