Nobunaga the Fool – 03

This week we have a battle in which guys with rifles, bows and arrows fight beside mecha, which is patently ridiculous on its face, even if you accept that mecha exist in feudal Japan. Furthermore, Nobunaga is able to take out most of Takeda’s war armor with said bow and arrow, simply by killing their performers, which begs the question, why don’t they have more protection? Fortunately despite how absurd these battles are, they still make for a thoroughly entertaining spectacle.

More to the point, the battles and their outcomes are stylized in the same manner as the flowery dialogue most of the characters employ. Nobu in particular has some particularly juicy lines that seiyu Miyano Mamoru sinks his teeth into with aplomb. If legendary times call for legendarily silly battles, then they also call for legendary words. We also have Jeanne transforming into the male Ranmaru (she looks like a girl to us, but whatever!), and Nobukatsu begging her/him to stand by his elder brother’s side.

We even see a little of the old guard bristling at the ideas of the new, with Nobu’s suggestion that the Owari clan hire da Vinci being dismissed as foolish drivel. Nobu and his father aren’t very chatty, either. But whether the old dudes are on board or not, when it comes to technology, it’s Adapt or Die for Owari, who are no match for Takeda’s forces, which are led by Shingen himself, piloting a bigger, shiner war armor than Nobu’s, with a difference: he has a regalia, which lends him godlike power and control over flame.

When Shingen’s army first approaches, The Fool isn’t ready to go yet, so Nobu has to hold them off with horse and bow. Jeanne, who is by his side, witnesses him as he single-handedly, single-mindedly decimates the Takeda war armor and rallies the troops, and halts his duel with Shingen to save her life.Then the skies open and Queen Himiko of Yamatai offers Nobu a regalia of his own in exchange for a bond of matrimony, which he accepts. On top of that, Julius Caesar and his pals headed to the Star of the East. Things are getting very interesting.

Rating: 8 (Great)