So who is Anti-Bravoman and why are we dating him? Well, hopefully we’ll date everyone and he just happens to be first on my arbitrarily compiled list. But as I said in the prologue, Anti-Bravoman is from Bravoman, an old beat-em-up arcade game. In the game Anti-Bravoman is called “Black Bravo” and appears as an antagonist. The impression I get from skimming the ShiftyLook Bravoman webcomic is that he’s portrayed as more of an emo anti-hero that takes himself too seriously. I doubt we’ll need to know much to enjoy his route, although people who have read the comic might get more of the jokes.
(This place is crazy… and the people are even crazier…)
(But maybe some of them are nice?)
We’re prompted to choose who we speak with, and of course, today we’re going for the Black Bravo.
???
I’ll never escape… my dark… darkness…
This is my burden…
My curse… My cross to bear…
My… My… burden to curse bears…
(I… Don’t think he sees me. At all.)
…it’s like bugs crawling inside of me… Really ugly bugs… of darkness…
I’m like a shadow… Of myself… which was originally a shadow, so really it’s like a shadow twice removed, and–
AHHHH!
(Oh… Did he notice me?)
Have you been there the whole time?!
Are you creepin’?!
I’m not creeping… You just didn’t notice me. You were monologuing.
I’ve never seen someone do that before!
Anyway, I’m Cousin. What’s your name?
It’s… it’s better that you don’t know that I’m Anti-Bravoman.
(…)
(Should I say something…? He takes himself so seriously, though…)
And Cousin… Stay away from the Poetry Club. For your own good.
It is where my darkness dwells.
(He turned around… how is his scarf billowing inside the classroom?)
(I think he’s ignoring me… He keeps peeking to see if I’m gone. What an awkward guy…)
(…Or they’re probably all bananas after all.)
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(Joining a club and showing my school spirit will reduce my detention sentence…)
(I wonder if there’s any other students from detention that are taking up the offer?)
I can’t control… This thing inside of me… This… This…
Monster?
Huh?! No… I was talking about breakfast.
He turns around.
What’re YOU talking about?
Er, nothing.
Listen, I have to join a club… And I was thinking of Poetry Club.
Mostly because you mentioned it and I haven’t spoken to anyone else at all.
Poetry Club’s full of nice people… And ME.
Uh.
I can’t stop you… But I can’t recommend it.
As curious as I am, there’s no way he’s getting us out of this.
I’ll take my chances…
It’s for the best. You don’t want to be anywhere near… Wait, what?
I wanna try Poetry Club. Sounds fun.
Oh… Well… I can’t… I shouldn’t take you there. I can’t be held responsible for what happens if you’re within 50 feet of me…)
(Is he talking… about a restraining order?)
But if I walked in the direction of the club and you just HAPPENED to follow me… That’d probably be okay…
Ummm… okay. So I should follow you, but pretend like I’m not following you?
Yeah.
Okay.
Um… I’M LEAVING NOW. GOLLY, I SURE HOPE NO ONE FOLLOWS ME…
God compared to the last route this guy makes Cousin not look like such an embarrassment.
Er… NOW I’M WALKING IN THE EXACT SAME DIRECTION FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON…
I take back what I said.
…
Sheesh
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(This is the Cafe…)
(I followed that guy here, but I lost him as soon as we got inside…)
(The whole cafe is dark, so it’s hard to tell just how many people are in the crowd.)
(There’s a… contemplative silence in the air. Everyone seems to be waiting for something to happen.)
The music stops.
(There’s a stool with a mic at the front of the room. It looks like someone is going up.)
Hi guys… Welcome to open mic night. Our first poet comes from real far out.
hey dudes
Ah, yes. Excellent.
heres my poem
im the best
and youre the rest
youre the worst
and im the hearse
of your coolnesspeace
Davesprite fades out of the screen to the sound of scattered clapping.
That was… really rad.
Really… rad.
Anyway, our next poet is from the auto club. Give it up for… Hiromi!
……
……
Girl, when we’re alone… I feel like we’re going a million miles an hour.
When we’re together, I don’t want to be anywhere else.
You make me feel so amazing.
I wish we could get married.
……
Suddenly way more interested in this girl. She fades out, to some half-hearted clapping.
That was Hiromi, with a unique freestyle poem about her beloved motorcycle.
Disappointment.
(Er…)
Last up is a new addition to Poetry Club, and to Namco High… Anti-Bravoman!
Um… he’s around here somewhere…
(No one’s coming up…)
(Wait! There’s something moving in the rafters? It’s Anti-Bravoman!)
(He jumped down… How dramatic.)
(So he DID come here! Oh, he’s starting…)
Ahem.
I wish I could escape… the murky swamp of my heart.
Escape the humidity… of my discontent.
Abscond from… The sweltering brown soup of my inner garbage.
Flee from… The shadow of the towering castle of shame at the heart of my kingdom of regret.
My body is a meat prison.Thank you.
Gosh, well… We all have to start somewhere, don’t we?
This guy is so done with this high school poetry slop.
We’ll be sure to be a little more careful with our… Curation, next time around.
Thanks for coming, everyone!
(Whoa, that was RUDE.)
(Anti-Bravoman’s poem wasn’t great, but it had heart.)
(I can really see his sensitive side, which is more than I can say for the others. He was being really honest.)
I think Hiromi was being really honest too, she just really loves bikes.
(Maybe a little too honest for these jerks….)
(I should go say hi to him.)
Anti-Bravoman!
(Hmm… He seems lost in some very deep thoughts.)
ANTI-BRAVOMAN!
HUH?! Oh, it’s YOU!
Were you a victim of my poetry, too?
Yeah! I thought it was… Um… Nice! Really nice.
Listen… whatsyourname…
You don’t want to get close to me… I’ve got dark thoughts.
(This sad atmosphere… is absolutely ridiculous!!
But I should be nice… Maybe I can change the mood.)Say…
Hmm?
Anti-Bravoman is kind of a mouthful, y’know?
Oh… I’m sorry the very thought of me makes you throw up a little in your mouth.
What? EW! NO!
I was just asking if you had any nicknames! You… you FREAK!
(Erk… maybe I overreacted…)
Freak IS a nickname I have.
Anti-Bravoman… ‘Freak’ isn’t a nickname. It’s an insult. I shouldn’t have called you that. I’m sorry.
It’s okay, I’m used to it.
A nickname is more like… Something your friends call you. It’s not supposed to be mean.
Ohhh… right. That explains it.
It does?
I don’t have any friends.
(This guy… is really difficult.)
Let’s try out some nicknames… How about…
AB?
Ab? Do I even have abs?
I don’t really know what’s goin’ on in this gut area…
(He’s just… poking himself in the stomach…)
How about… Anti-bro?
It makes me sound like I hate bros…
True…
…and I’m not really interested in making a political statement or anything.
(WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT.)
Okay… Maybe Red Scarf? Scarfy?
How about xX-D4RkL0Rd99-Xx?
I’m not calling you that.
But I like it…
Not doing it.
But-
Nope. Let’s just stick with Anti-Bravoman.
Aw.
Say… What was the poem you recited earlier?
N-nothing!
Aw… I kinda liked it. It was real… Um… Deep.
I get the feeling that you have a lot of pent-up emotion. And I was just wondering what the deal with that was.
…
(Uh-oh. I may have pushed a little too much.)
I… I have to go!
xX-D4RkL0Rd-Xx fades out.
(I shouldn’t have asked so suddenly. Way to go, Cousin.)
(It seems like there’s two Anti-Bravomen. One that’s sad and dark and angsty…
And one who’s kind of a sweet, sensitive guy.)
(There’s definitely more to this situation than meets the eye…)
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Another day, everyone is here… Remarkable!
King agrees, keep up this excellent behavior!
See you at the bell.
(I wonder if anyone joined a club yesterday?)
Hey buddy!
…?
(He’s looking around…)
I’m talking to you, Anti-Bravoman!
OH right… Haha… Of course…
Am I going to see you at poetry club later?
Er… Yeah… Definitely…
(He doesn’t seem very sure…)
Cool… So I’ll see you there…
(He’s just fidgeting nervously… I pushed too hard yesterday, so I should probably let this one go…)
(This punishment can’t end soon enough.)
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