Keitai Sousakan 7 - Preliminary Thoughts

I'm gonna do a sort of review of the first three episodes of Phone Investigator/Braver 7, a new tokusatsu show that I've recently come across watching. It won't really be a huge synopsis but more of what I liked overall and the more important plot points. There's not a lot I dislike about it at the moment that I can think of so let's not waste time. There will be no spoilers in this other than a few aesthetic things here and there.

From the show's title, it can probably be guessed that there are 7 somethings. The somethings in question here are 7 highly-advanced cell phones, named Phone Bravers, who were all made by the organization ANCHOR. In the first episode we are introduced to 07, 01, and 03, who have named themselves Seven, Zero-One, and Third respectively. Zero-One is a rogue Braver for reasons currently unknown. He is also, obviously, the first one ever made.

The protagonist of the series is Amishima Keita, a high schooler. Keita is lazy and very passive, even trying to run away from home with a friend. He gets lost and ends up on the receiving end of one of Zero-One's plans to control a bulldozer and rampage throughout the city. Takimoto, Seven's owner, appears and sends Seven to try and stop the bulldozer through the Bravers' power of Parallel Decentralized Link, which allows a Braver to control technology at will. He succeeds, at first, but Zero-One is able to reboot the system again and injures Takimoto. Seven tells Keita to throw him to the control box and he is able to shut down the bulldozer.

Takimoto is in the infirmary at this point, so it is Keita's job to take care of Seven.

The Phone Bravers are assigned to certain people to act as their Buddy. The Buddies are in charge of protecting the Bravers while they are using the Link power because they cannot move when in that position. 

The next episode, Zero-One tries to hack into a large-scale system and break it apart. It is here we are introduced to the attachments for the Bravers, named Boost Phones. Zero-One's is unnamed as of this point, but Seven accesses Seeker, which allows him to use an augmented camera and increases his viewing power so he can see through walls. The Boost Phones can be accessed by any Braver, though most stick with one.

The two phones fight, and Keita rushes in to push Seven out of the way, getting cut by Zero-One's saw. Zero-One escapes and the heroes rendevous back at ANCHOR.

Episode three has Zero-One controlling people through the use of hyper soundwaves, causing a police officer to nearly shoot a child, two businessmen choking each other, and other disasters. It is in this episode where we get the biggest glimpse of Kirihara Daiki, Third's owner. Third has access to Speaker, which can shoot soundwaves strong enough to cancel hyper soundwaves and are also able to cause injury. The criminal is apprehended, with Zero-One getting away.

At this point in the series, Keita is still a greenhorn, and it shows. Everyone talks down to him because he is younger and inexperienced, but he's really trying. Seven is probably my favorite character at this point, just because of how he talks. It's kinda underhanded, but he's not mean or anything.

The show is also more of a coming-of-age story rather than a fight against evil like in Sentai or Rider. It's very fresh and is pretty cool to see. Another thing I really like about the show is how realistic it seems. This could very well happen in real life given the advancements of technology - maybe not now, but in the future. It's a little scary, but fun to think about. It's also a very different take on the agent-type story.

I'm greatly enjoying it so far. There's also a lot of old tokusatsu alumni in this show which is cool to see. It's definitely a little heavier than the Super Hero Time shows, too. Recommended for everyone.