Overview
Brad and Kagura are human characters that Emma and Koo encounter during their journey through post-apocalyptic Japan. They are officially described as "unlikely allies", a careful choice of words that suggests their partnership with the protagonist duo is neither straightforward nor entirely trustworthy. In a game where director Kota Furushima has emphasized that every single character carries "great secrets," Brad and Kagura exemplify the narrative's atmosphere of pervasive uncertainty.
The "unlikely" qualifier is significant. Emma has lived in total isolation within a Colony. Feared, shunned, and treated as an outcast because of her Blight affliction. The idea that any humans would willingly travel alongside her is remarkable in itself. That these particular humans are described as "unlikely" allies goes further, suggesting that there are reasons (beyond Emma's outcast status) why this partnership should not exist.
Brad
Brad is the pilot and mechanic of a vehicle called the purification ship, and he is the man who carries Emma to the Capital once the King's order has been given. Official material describes him as well versed in the outside world, guiding Emma with advice as the journey goes on, and as keeping a quiet resolve hidden behind his mask. He is voiced in Japanese by Akio Otsuka.
That profile settles what Brad does without settling what he wants. He is useful, experienced, and permanently masked, and the game has been careful not to state where his loyalties sit. Of all the supporting characters revealed so far, his behaviour in pre-release footage has generated the most discussion.
The Scene From Pre-Release Coverage
A widely discussed clip from pre-release coverage showed Brad talking with Kunai while Koo was nearby, whimpering and limping from an arrow wound, with Brad asking for Koo's name. Read cold, it looked like evidence that Brad was working against Emma.
The released game does not support that reading. Brad operates the Cleanse Walker for the entire journey, sells Emma her crafting materials from the cockpit, and steers her toward each Nushi in turn. He is the hub, not the twist.
Brad Aboard the Ship
Brad's job in the shipped game is concrete. He operates the Cleanse Walker, the walking purification vessel named Bauera that carries Emma and Koo between regions, and he is the reason the ship becomes available at all: after Emma drives Rangifer off for the first time in Chapter 1, Brad calls her back to it, which unlocks the hub and fast travel with it.
From the cockpit he also runs the materials trade, selling crafting stock in exchange for Amber. That role changes hands at the end of Chapter 10, when the ship itself takes over the trading counter and Bauera becomes the merchant.
Kagura
Kagura is an introverted girl who lives in a Colony. Official material describes her as having lost her parents, as isolated by the community around her, and as living under mistreatment from Golems. A particular incident brings her along on Emma's journey, where she takes on the practical work of sustaining the party's daily travel. She is voiced in Japanese by Sumire Morohoshi.
Her background rhymes with Emma's more closely than the "unlikely ally" framing first suggested. Both are outsiders in their own settlements, and both were treated as something less than fully human by the people around them. Where Emma was shunned as a Blightborn, Kagura was ground down by the machines that outrank the survivors.
Kagura, like every character in Beast of Reincarnation, also harbors great secrets that intertwine with the main storyline. The specific incident that pulls her out of the Colony and onto the road has not been described, and neither has what she is carrying with her when she goes. In a game built on layered mysteries, the quiet one who joins because something happened to her is not a safe assumption to make.
Kagura Aboard the Ship
Kagura is the one who feeds the party. She is a resident of the Ogouchi colony whom Emma saved during the Nue Malefact's attack on the settlement, and she joins the journey after it, taking over the kitchen aboard the Cleanse Walker. Talk to her there and the Rapport track opens: cooking research, grow research and food production all run through her.
Raising rapport with her has direct payoffs rather than flavour ones.
What Raises It | What It Pays |
|---|---|
Talking to her aboard the ship, especially before a major boss fight | Faster cooking research, so recipes finish sooner |
Bringing back recipes found out in the world | New dishes she can prepare once the ingredients are on hand |
Collecting crop seedlings and planting them in the Grow Chamber | Better crop yield as her grow research levels |
Putting a fertilized egg in the Incubator | Chickens that lay eggs for her kitchen |
Reaching rapport rank 8, then rank 10 | The Supreme Curry recipe, then the Supreme Onigiri recipe, neither of which can be found or bought |
Two achievements sit on this track: Knowing Me, Knowing You for the first deep talk with her, and Bestie for maxing her rapport. Version 1.0.7 capped repeatable affinity conversations at one per day, which slowed the track down for anyone grinding it, and the same patch fixed a bug that broke the interact prompt when talking to Kagura on the Walker.
The farming side of her research has its own page under Cultivation, and the dish list is under Cooking.
Thematic Role
The introduction of human allies changes the dynamics of Emma's journey. As a Sealer who has lived in total isolation (feared by other humans for her Blight-afflicted appearance and vine-like hair) encountering people willing to travel alongside her represents a strong emotional development. For the first time, Emma is not alone among her own kind.
However, the game refuses to let this development be simple or comforting. The "unlikely" designation, Brad's suspicious behavior with Kunai, and the director's repeated emphasis on secrets all suggest that trust is a resource more scarce than Spirit Stones or FP in this world. Players are not just navigating combat encounters and Nushi boss fights, they are navigating a web of relationships where every ally might be concealing something vital.
The presence of Brad and Kagura also serves a gameplay function. In a story centered on two characters (a woman and her dog) human allies introduce new narrative perspectives and potentially new combat dynamics. Their interactions with Emma and Koo provide opportunities for dialogue, character development, and plot revelations that the protagonist duo's isolation would otherwise preclude.
Director Quotes
Furushima has been deliberately vague about Brad and Kagura in interviews, consistent with his approach to all character reveals. His most revealing statement applies to every character in the game: "Every character carries great secrets." When pressed about specific characters' allegiances and motivations, he has consistently deflected, suggesting that uncovering these secrets is a core part of the gameplay experience rather than something to be spoiled in pre-release marketing.
The Purification Ship
The vessel Brad operates is named Bauera, and official patch notes refer to it as the Walker. It is a large walking machine with a habitable body rather than a boat, which fits the Japanese name, and it is the base Emma returns to between regions.
Everything the game asks the player to do between expeditions happens on board: an Attribute Portal for levelling, learning skills and saving manually, a workbench for weapon enhancement and Spirit Stone duplication, Brad's materials counter, Koo's item and skill research, Kagura's kitchen and grow chamber, an incubator, a communicator for respeccing, a bed that advances the day, and a shower that raises rapport with Koo. The ship upgrades as Emma brings back electronic brains, generator devices and memory chips from the field.