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(Okehazama!)
“Winds of Change! Okehazama!”
Nobuna’s fate is finally kicking into high gear with a swift downfall of the Imagawa. Yoshiharu, however, takes some blows for the team.
Last episode, I mentioned plot armor being an issue I had with this series, given how all the main characters came out unscathed. Thanks to this episode, I’ll have to correct myself. I was very surprised when Yoshiharu took those shuriken like a boss, and I had high hopes that similar situations would play out like this one…until the ending. It’s understandable that Yoshiharu has a soft spot for pretty girls, but using groping as a tactic for saving her…I’m still iffy on that.
With that being said, this’ll probably not be the last time that Yoshiharu gets injured for the sake of Nobuna’s dream. Though this is a step forward in terms of moving away from plot armor, it’s to be expected that Yoshiharu will quickly recover from the injuries he receives (he’s already on the battlefield when Nobuna charges) and that none of the female characters will ever face a scratch on them.
Other than that though, there are few other gripes I had with this episode. Other than Imagawa being portrayed as a wimpy noble [see: historical notes], the characters all performed well in this titular flag event. Nagahide continues to be her badass scorekeeper self whilst the former Nobuyuki throws a wrench in the historical accuracy.
One important dynamic I want to highlight is Nobuna’s attitude this episode. Although a little rash and harsh in ‘firing’ Yoshiharu, her actions are an important development that helped mold Yoshiharu’s character. Previously, Yoshiharu was basically the final authority on all decisions, undermining Nobuna’s ability to make decisions for herself. It would’ve been a pity if Nobuna had to always default to Yoshiharu for advice, but today’s episode fixes that possibility. I really admire how Nobuna and Yoshiharu’s dynamic is evolving despite all the romantic comedy in between–both of them take care of one another in equal portions, in situations where neither of them may be entirely right. Instead of a sort of supernatural being that can basically plow through the entire era, this episode shows the flaws in his ‘future’ trait and brings him down a notch, whilst also elevating Nobuna’s status as a daimyo who can make her own dream come true. Her dream will be achieved with Yoshiharu, but she will be the one on the reins.
Next week, we’ll be seeing another genderbended (and loli) version of history appear, but not without a cunning character to spice things up like Azai did in episode 3.
Historical Notes: Spoilers Possible
- In the case that Imagawa had actually died according to history, this is how it went down. Hearing a major ruckus outside his tent, Imagawa thinks that his men are in a brawl and leaves his tent to tell them to quiet down. What he sees however is quite the contrary. Two soldiers attack him with their spears. Imagawa manages to deflect the first blow, but is decapitated by the second one.
- The final blow, instead of Mitsuhide, would be landed by a soldier called Mri Shinsuke. The first attempted blow was actually landed by Hattori Koheita, another soldier under the Oda, but was counter-slashed at the knees by Yoshimoto, only to be saved by Mri moments later.
- During the events of Okehazama, Tsuda Nobusumi is only five years old. Although he would eventually grow to be a ninja that serves the Oda Clan, he has no links to the Battle of Okehazama. The serving of sake to the troops is also an anime-only event, as the men already were celebrating their victory without the assistance of the opposition.
- The girls who are accompanying Tsuda Nobusumi may be a reference to the Onna Bugeisha (for you Shogun 2 players, it would be the Onna Bushi), the legendary female warriors of Japan. Typically, their weapon of choice was the naginata, the weapon portrayed here.
- The dance that Nobuna performs before riding off to Okehazama is called the Atsumori dance, which is said to have been also performed by Nobunaga during this time. The only difference here is that Nobuna performs her dance after receiving intelligence on the camp, rather than before like Nobunaga.
- This episode, we see Yoshiharu lose Nobuna’s trust and his efforts to gain it back. Historically, this is impossible, as traditional accounts state that the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 was the first time that Nobunaga noticed the skills that Hideyoshi had to offer.
- Although Hattori Hanzou, aged 18 in 1560, was already on the battlefield serving the Tokugawa (then the Matsudaira) clan (starting at age 16), there are no mentions of him participating in the invasion of Owari or the Battle of Okehazama, and thus, had no hand in actually deciding the alliance that would form between Nobunaga and Matsudaira (Tokugawa).
- For some reason, the mon (emblem) of the Imagawa isn’t used here, instead defaulting to a mon that looks somewhat like the Ashikaga Shogunate’s original mon. I don’t know if this is me being faulty in my historical facts, but Imagawa’s mon definitely is not the one portrayed here. It’s this one.
Full-length images: 4, 5, 19, 22, 23, 33.
Preview
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Damn it Monkey, stop it. Now that Imagawa is alive, I don’t know what will happen next. I guess, the only characters that will be getting their heads cut off are the “Male Warlords”.Hanzo is pretty badass, and I thought that “ninja warp” is exclusive to him until Goemon does it as well. *sad*
I decided to start following this since I hear it’s actually quite good once you get past the apparent genderbend gimmicks. After all, if King Arthur can be a girl, why not Nobunaga?Anyway, we may be seeing the beginning of Saru’s growing harem via collecting his master’s defeated enemies, who all happened to be cute girls. But Saru has now increased the butterflies even more by keeping Nobukatsu, Dousan and Imagawa alive. And with Hideyoshi dead in the beginning, Saru has now placed his feet firmly in this alternate timeline. Unless Saru assumes Hideyoshi’s position, and then secretly grooms Raccoon Girl Motoyasu (aka Tokugawa Ieyasu) to be the ultimate ruler of Japan. But this would require Akechi Mitsuhide to betray Nobuna eventually…Lately Noto Mamiko has been slowly making the transition to voicing more mature character roles, as seen in Hanasaku Iroha, though she shows she can still play the adorably cute girl here as Imagawa pleading for mercy.
Would it be wrong to say I watch this show just to see Nagahide’s scorekeeping?By the way, average score for this episode is 1.67 points!
And seriously? This is Takenaka Hanbei?
Now I’m rather curious on how the major historical events will play out. From what happening appears Saru’s causing a predestination paradox (destined events are going to happen it’s the details that can be changed), although he himself isn’t sure what the effect going to be like.
So being stabbed in the arm now pretty much completely disables you. Ooooookay…Pimp master Nobuyuki!
I’m pretty sure it’s really hard NOT to reel in pain when you get stabbed…anywhere.
Im pretty too zanibas great minds think alike
I’m looking forward to seeing what Imagawa brings to the table in the future. Wondering who the new guy in the previews is, and when Azai will make another appearance. Anxiously awaiting next week.Also…Best I can tell, the emblem used in the anime (two hikiryou) is the primary emblem of the Imagawa, despite being the original Ashikaga emblem. The akatori appears to be either a secondary emblem, or a personal emblem of Imagawa Yoshimoto. Doing an image search on Google for (Imagawa-shi no mon) gives more results for the hikiryou than it does for the akatori. For whatever reason, the hikiryou is far more closely associated with the Imagawa than the akatori is. Just kinda curious about this…
I confess. Nobusumi is one impressive shota-pimp.BTW, wasn’t most media portray Imagawa as a wimp. (eg.Sengoku Basara, Kessen III)
The Imagawa are a branch family of the Ashikaga.To my knowledge, they used two crests, one being the Ashikaga, and the other being their own.
I like how he is playing a 1983 game in the 21 century and making use of the knowledge he get from gaming… This make me want to go and play Nobunaga Ambition… Any good torrent out there??
that cunning character looks like Moid in Lagrange ._.
The part where Nagahide jumps in and then slices through the grunts in the rain… That slowmo shot where the rain drops bounce off her spear… It so reminded me of Devil May Cry 3 :P. And the part where Sagara gropes Katsuie to stop her from killing Imagawa… That look on Katsuies face is just so… so…. cute XD
Hm, I like the idea behind this anime. Even the idea showign the warlods as woman is no bad. But why to hell small girls. This little green girl giving orders to an army… jsut awful. ;(Maybe I’m to old ~~, but the wish to fulfill every fanservice ruins this show me.
But this little green girl, Tokugawa Ieyasu.She/He’s the . . . *google for more*
what- or whoever she is. :> Its a little girl in this anime, and this is just sad for me. Why not all roles with at least grown up woman. Its just stupid to see little girls on a battlefield acting like warriors. I’m just disappointed cause I thought its gonna be a nice anime upon a good idea. For me! its a fail. ;(
Well, Ieyasu was nicknamed the “Old Raccoon” due to his extremely patience and willing to bide his time for no matter how long it takes.I await the day when anime moe-fies even Emperor Palpatine……
yes, you are too old. This show is supposed to be about cute girls doing bro things so don’t expect things to make sense like in real life.
fun toy ball and kimono combo – popular in both the feudal era and mirai nikki…!
lol. monkey is not so quick when getting chased by hattori hanzo, but when theres boobs to be groped he moves like lightning…harem-no-jutsu. ^_^
Best Ep yet IMO. Great mix of action, romance & comedy. LOL at the interaction between Nobusumi (what a player – “Leave it to me…I’ll seduce her”) and Yoshiharu. I agree with Zanibas that Yoshiharu’s injury was a good deviation from his normal invulnerability though I do think he got off a little easy with only a single flesh wound (not the Monty Python type :P). I also liked the fact that the show addressed the question of whether Yoshiharu’s interference altered history. That’s a big underlying issue for this type of show, and the fact that “history” might deviate from what he knows gives a needed aspect of uncertainty to the show IMO. I doubt that the show will deviate radically from history (e.g. Nobuna fails to conquer Japan), but it would be nice if something unexpected occurs. Very much looking forward to Ep. 05
Cant wait for Takenaka. She looks delicious in the preview
Ahahaha! Nobusumi’s girls rly know how to wear “zettai ryouiki”,..the tigh’s!
Alright, come cleans guys. How many of you were playing this song in your head at the end of this battle? :Phttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg8cKGBc6dU
The premise of this show is shit. Acknowledging that comes first. But the studio, MADHOUSE, is a veteran on…well, anything, so it was obvious they were going to pull this off.This is the best anime of the season so far, easily beats SAO(I read SAO’s LN, so episode 2~3 were crap for me).