Anime Preview: Hitting the dance floor with Brave Beats

I have watched sixteen episodes of Brave Beats.

I don't know why I've watched sixteen episodes of Brave Beats.

Brave Beats is a silly anime, very silly, and aimed towards children who want to dance because dancing is cool and can be used to fight enemies and Santa Claus and there's a giant pink alligator always hanging around because why not, and then the principal says, "You shouldn't do this or that" before getting punched or kicked or punch-kicked into the sky, eventually disappearing in the clouds, only to return in the next episode so it can all happen again because are you actually still reading this? Like I said, Brave Beats is silly, but that's what makes it worth watching, or, at least, worth half-watching.

What's "half-watching?" Half-watching is just a very unoriginal term I use for watching an anime (or anything) while doing something else--like writing this or that, playing a game, browsing the internet, etc--and I think Brave Beats is a great anime for doing just that because there is a smidgen of joy to be found within its quirky frame. I may not re-watch Brave Beats or remember it months after it ends, but I'm happy I got to see Flash Beat, the main protagonist's secret identity, take on a buffed up, temporarily tainted Santa Claus because where else could I ever see such a ridiculous scenario take place? Nowhere, that's where, and being super silly and ridiculously ridiculous is where Brave Beats shines.

Never forget your belt when break dancing...

I guess I do know why I've watched sixteen episodes of Brave Beats (and will continue watching more), but I can't really recommend Brave Beats to anyone unless they literally have nothing better to do with their time. I'm not saying Brave Beats is a bad anime, far from it, but it's not that great either--nothing anyone needs to watch--and the funniest (or saddest) thing about it is that it's all about dancing and the dancing is by far the worst part of each episode; though, at least the music is kind of catchy and manages to get my toes tapping no matter how many times I hear it.

The one last thing I'll say about Brave Beats is that it is a very family-friendly anime and it's not always easy finding an anime without some kind of semi-disgusting fan service, adult themes, or violence to some degree, but Brave Beats manages to do just that, so, if you're looking for an anime that isn't full of booby-squeezing, nose bleeds, incest, raging fist fights, and everything in between, Brave Beats may just be the anime you never knew you always wanted because there's a little robot guy named Bureikin who loves to break dance and ride around on a Roomba because, honestly, who doesn't love doing that?

*Brave Beats can be streamed on Crunchyroll.