Saturday 23 August 2014

Anime review: Sengoku Basara Judge End episode 8

With the plot having developed slightly differently to that of the original Sengoku Basara 3 game, fans who have stuck with the series are now left guessing what will happen each week! Here's a summary of what happened in today's new episode.

How to watch

Now that the official simulcasts are beginning it's been confirmed that the alternate title Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement- is being used outside Japan. I'll keep using Judge End for consistency but they're the exact same show.

These are the official ways to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End at the moment:

Television (Japan only)
This week's initial television broadcast on NTV is at 02:55 on Sunday morning (Japan time). The YTV and BS Nittere broadcasts are shown over a week late.

NTV On Demand (Japan only)
This is a premium service. Fans can pay ¥900 to watch the whole series or ¥300 to see an individual episode. The first episode is free and the previous week's episode is shown for free on Fridays and Saturdays. The series airs slightly earlier than the television broadcast at 24:00 local time.

Hulu (Japan only)
Fans who pay Hulu's ¥933 monthly fee can watch the episodes slightly ahead of the broadcast time.

The following Japanese streaming services will also be streaming Judge End; if you can't wait then it might be worth checking them to see whether any work in your region. I imagine they'll make the episodes available shortly after the television broadcast and some will be showing it for free.

AcTVila, Bandai Channel, Best Hit Anime Douga, d Anime Store, DMM.com, Google Play, GyaO Store, Happy Douga Anime, Hikari TV, JCOM On Demand, Movie Full+, Nico Nico Official Channel, Rakuten Showtime, Tsutaya TV, TV Dogatch, U-NEXT, Video Market

FUNimation (US only)
The episodes are streamed weekly on Saturdays at 14:20 Eastern Time with English subtitles, even when the Japanese television broadcast is delayed. Subscribers can watch the latest episode on the same day it's available in Japan while free users have to wait a week. FUNimation also have the home video rights, so if the stream is popular the series should eventually be dubbed into English. Even though the videos are region-locked, fans outside the US can still visit the site and rate the videos to show that there's demand!

Anime Digital Network (France only)
ADN are offering the series online with French subtitles. So far, the first six episodes are available. They charge a monthly fee for the service.

J-ONE (France only)
A French-subtitled broadcast will take place on J-ONE - Canalsat (50) and Numericable (38). It seems to have begun, so the schedule can be viewed at the link.

Viewster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway only)
The show's broadcast was announced as being 'day and date with Japan' but it took a while for them to catch up. They seem to have settled into a rhythm now and the first seven episodes are already online with English subtitles. Viewster is a free ad-supported service.

Like many fans around the world I live in a country which has been excluded from the licensed simulcasts. In spite of this I feel very strongly about supporting the official translated version when it's available rather than resorting to piracy. The Japanese distributors will use the official viewing figures to see how successful the show has been while the US anime distributors like FUNimation use them to decide whether to give new titles home video releases, whether to dub them and whether to go the extra mile and produce a high quality premium release. If we want Sengoku Basara Judge End to receive a decent western release and raise awareness of the series, we need to make sure people are watching the official streams if possible. Please get your friends to watch it too if you can so that the industry can see that there's an audience out there. It might help to visit the official streaming sites and leave supportive comments there too, even if you live in a country where the video itself is blocked and you had to watch it some other way.

I'd rather not say how I'm watching the Japanese streams but it's not that difficult to find a method with some searching.

Important reminder

Sengoku Basara: Judge End is not a continuation of the previous anime adaptation. It's a brand new story and none of the events in Production I.G.'s version of Sengoku Basara have taken place in its timeline. Please don't get confused trying to match the old story to the new one; this anime is a complete reboot of the entire Sengoku Basara scenario. The story takes place after the fall of Oda Nobunaga.

Summary

The rest of this post contains spoilers for the first eight episodes of Sengoku Basara: Judge End and some low quality screenshots. Please note that I'm watching the show in untranslated Japanese and using my preferred spellings for character names; they won't necessary match the localised spellings if you're watching one of the subtitled versions!

The story so far

Prior to the events in Judge End, the warlord Oda Nobunaga was betrayed and killed at Honnouji by his retainer, Akechi Mitsuhide. Mitsuhide was subsequently defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who went on to lead his powerful army across the land.

The series began with the Toyotomi army launching a major attack on Odawara Castle, home to the Houjou clan. The Date army tried to interfere and were brutally defeated by Ishida Mitsunari, a loyal warrior renowned as 'Toyotomi's Left Arm'. Despite their overwhelming strength, the Toyotomi attack was stopped when Tokugawa Ieyasu rebelled against Hideyoshi's methods and killed him in combat. Hideyoshi's devoted strategist Takenaka Hanbee died at Odawara too, leaving Mitsunari behind to curse Ieyasu's name and swear revenge against his former ally.

Since that day, Mitsunari and his loyal retainers have been working to expand the former Toyotomi army by building alliances with the Mouri, Shimazu, Ootomo, Tachibana and Kobayakawa clans. They also sought to add former Toyotomi retainer Kuroda Kanbee to their ranks, but he has since disappeared on a personal quest to search for Fuuma Kotarou - the legendary ninja employed by the Houjou clan.

After some soul searching, the newly appointed general of the Takeda clan - Sanada Yukimura - decides that the Takeda forces will join Mitsunari's growing 'Western Army' too. Meanwhile, Chousokabe Motochika has struck out on his own after learning that his original reasons for siding with Mitsunari were based on deception.

While all of this is happening, Ieyasu is travelling around Japan to unite other commanders and form an army to rival Mitsunari's. However, aside from the shattered remnants of the Houjou clan, Ieyasu has been struggling to gain supporters; his respectful approach is no match for the scheming of the Western Army's tacticians. His luck changes when Yukimura's longtime rival Date Masamune declares his allegiance to the fledgling 'Eastern Army'.

Elsewhere, Maeda Keiji has joined up with the powerful Saika mercenaries and the oracle Tsuruhime to try to locate his missing aunt, Matsu, who was reportedly abducted by Ieyasu. In reality, Matsu was secretly being held captive in Kobayakawa Hideaki's castle by the monk Tenkai.

During a raid on Ieyasu's base of Sunpu Castle, the Western Army releases Oda Nobunaga's sister, Oichi, from her confinement. Keiji is finally reunited with his missing aunt, yet at the same time Tenkai is revealed to be Akechi Mitsuhide in disguise. He vanishes with both Oichi and Kasuga in his clutches.

Unable to reach a peaceful mutual understanding, Mitsunari and Ieyasu plan to meet again soon at the 'promised' place for a final showdown: Sekigahara.

Episode 8: Yakusoku ('Promise')

As the episode opens, Masamune is still travelling west with Kojuurou. He left Sunpu Castle before the events which unfolded last week, on a mission to find out what the Western Army was doing.


Motochika has returned to his home of Shikoku.


His first act is to make peace with his dead comrades.


Next, he looks up at Akatsukimaru, his enormous mobile weapon.


Motochika's men tell him that he's not alone, and his spirits lift. He makes preparations to head out.


It was really Motochika's bitter rival, Motonari, who wronged Motochika.


But it seems that Motonari has some kind of secret weapon of his own, too...


Elsewhere, Yukimura and Sasuke are returning alone from the failed attack on Sunpu Castle. The pair are worried about Oichi and Kasuga.

Oichi is sweeping westwards with Kasuga trapped in her dark hands.


The creepy procession is guarded by the zombified remnants of Nobunaga's army.


Back at Sunpu Castle, Magoichi and Tsuruhime are preparing their horses.


Matsu approaches them, brushing off Keiji's concern. She has something she needs to tell Magoichi.


Matsu tells Magoichi that Tenkai was serious about his plans to revive Oda Nobunaga.


Magoichi's reaction is emotional; back when he was still alive, Nobunaga burnt her village and killed the previous Saika Magoichi.


Matsu pledges to join them in doing something about the situation.


Masamune and Kojuurou have arrived in Osaka. They're waiting in a teahouse and discussing the situation.


Hearing a scuffle outside, they witness some of Shimazu's troops arguing with a group of Toyotomi soldiers, who have them outnumbered.


Yukimura rushes onto the scene just in time to prevent a fight. He scolds the soldiers for squabbling with their own allies.


As the grateful Shimazu soldiers thank Yukimura, Sasuke is surprised to spot Masamune and Kojuurou standing in the crowd.


The four of them head back to the teahouse for what Masamune calls a 'tea break'.


Masamune asks Yukimura about the Western Army.


Yukimura explains that he feels he has a lot in common with Mitsunari. While he acknowledges that Mitsunari has some problems, he still wants to help him.


As the two men chat, they come to an understanding and realise that they're both doing what they believe is right.


Once they're finished with their discussion, Masamune rides away from Osaka contently.


Yukimura and Sasuke remark Masamune hasn't changed after all, and Yukimura warmly describes him as his rival.


Finally back at Osaka Castle, Yukimura reports what happened in Sunpu to Yoshitsugu and Mitsunari.


Mitsunari is furious to hear that Tenkai has betrayed them.


Still mindful of his trickery with Motochika, Mitsunari immediately questions Yoshitsugu. However, Yoshitsugu had no idea that this was going to happen.


Yukimura isn't sure where Oichi has gone, but he sternly reminds Mitsunari of his position when he starts to get angry.


Mitsunari walks off to be alone with his thoughts, and finds himself thinking about the time he and Ieyasu decided that Sekigahara would be the 'promised place'.


The two of them were working under Hideyoshi at the time.


It's the same incident which was briefly shown in a flashback in the second episode.


They were suddenly ambushed by a huge number of soldiers who tore through their men.


Mitsunari and Ieyasu worked together as a a team to completely overwhelm the ambushers...


...tearing a huge chasm in the ground with their joint counterattack.


The site of that battle was Sekigahara.


Back in the present, Yukimura has caught up to Mitsunari.


He confronts him again, giving Mitsunari a firmly-worded pep talk about how he ought to be behaving as commander of the Western Army.


Regaining control of his emotions, Mitsunari calmly walks to the lookout at the top of Osaka Castle.


He addresses the whole city with a powerful shout.


Mitsunari lets all of his feelings out in his speech, holding nothing back.


As Mitsunari continues shouting, people stop what they're doing and gaze up at him.


Including his allies.


And his friends.


Almost everyone is listening intently.


Mitsunari's impassioned speech carries to the farthest reaches of the castle grounds.


Many miles away, Ieyasu is giving a similar speech to his own army.


Ieyasu's honest demeanour gives his words a lot of power.


Hearing his lord's resolve, Tadatsugu mutters Ieyasu's childhood name of 'Takechiyo' under his breath.


Masamune and Kojuurou stand behind Ieyasu, silently supporting him.


The countdown is now over - the Battle of Sekigahara is beginning!





--

This episode was great; Mitsunari's seiyuu (Seki Tomokazu) stole the last five minutes with an incredibly heartfelt speech. While Ieyasu is much better at encouraging his troops than Mitsunari overall, I don't think any soldier in the Western Army could fail to be affected by the emotion that Mitsunari was projecting. The music was used well during those scenes, too. I was so excited at the end of the episode!

Still, I'm starting to wonder what happened to Kanbee. According to the countdown it's been weeks since he ran off in search of Kotarou - did he get lost on the way to Sunpu? Is he sitting in the ruins of Odawara Castle shouting in despair?

It's sad to think that there are only four episodes left.

Reminder: There's no new episode scheduled for next week due to a charity event in its time slot on NTV, so the next episode, titled Sekigahara, will air on Saturday 6th September 2014 instead.

19 comments:

  1. Mitsunari's speech was amazing ^_____^

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    1. Yeah! It sent shivers up and down my spine, it was so exciting. I'm glad that Yukimura was able to get him to act like a true leader.

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  2. So, the anti-Tenkai squad is Magoichi, Tsuruhime, and Matsu... and they'll probably drag Keiji along. ... is it bad that, even after the hype speech Mitsunari gave, I'm still more excited for that?! O:

    I'm glad Sorin came along with Muneshige, hopefully they'll get a scene together with Shimazu since Kanbei is strangely missing. Wonder where he's toddled off to? Hm... wonder if he'll be the butt of a joke and end up showing up to Sekigahara when it's already over. I hope not,poor guy.

    If I have any complaints about the episode it was the "promised place" bit, mostly because of the magical energy beams Ieyasu and Mitsunari shot. If they can do that on a whim, why not just show up to Sekigahara alone and bother getting so many people involved? I guess it's possible it wasn't meant to be literal but eh. We just haven't seen anyone else have that sort of raw Dragonball-esque power in this interpretation so it's a bit offputting. Yes Ieyasu did it in episode one but I thought it was supposed to be sort of like that one move of his where he punches the ground, not something like out of IG's anime. Clearly not the case though. I'm just nitpicking though, I guess.

    And because I am an utter fanboy.... KASUGA PLEASE BE OKAY. OICHI PLEASE PUT HER DOWN ... ;_;

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    1. I'm guessing that Yukimura and Sasuke will be joining up with the anti-Tenkai group at some point with all of the little hints about how worried they are (and they owe it to Kasuga) so Magoichi's troops will probably get some support after the Sekigahara showdown. Or Kenshin could suddenly join up with them ^^

      Kanbee, Sourin and Muneshige definitely need some more scenes soon to avoid being nothing more than cameos in this series! It's their first time getting to be animated so I hope they get a chance to fight properly. I guess Kanbee and Ujimasa will have an affectionate moment later on, but Sourin hasn't done much other than tease the Motonari fans so far...

      Maybe he can work with Kingo on the battlefield and get angry with him. Angry Sourin is the greatest.

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    2. Ha, yes, the magical energy beams. It felt out of place in this anime, perhaps it was a nod to the previous adaption?

      It's good to see Matsu back to normal. Her hair is fab (random shallow comment)
      I also liked that they included the tragic Saika backstory there, but it was rushed. Teabreak obviously much more important. Hope Mago gets to kick zombie Nobunaga ass if he returns. Speaking of zombies, wtf. That daywalking parade complete with Kasuga was weird.

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    3. I guess the swirling yellow/purple magic beams are only possible when the two of them are working together with their hearts in perfect sync, otherwise they'd probably have literally torn the country in half by now.

      Hopefully we'll see a little more of the bloody history between the Saika and Oda clans if Magoichi gets a chance to face Nobunaga (as she should) during the climax. At the very least, a proper look at the previous Saika Magoichi would be much appreciated even if his design is just something the anime team threw together themselves. Any effort the anime staff put into developing Magoichi more is time well spent.

      I hope the zombie soldiers don't appear too much or things will become even more surreal ^^;

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  3. One thing that I really liked about Judge End is the fact that Yukimura ACTUALLY interact with the Western Army as Mitsunari's friend. Yukimura never interacted with the Western Army at all in SB3 and he only gave them a few lines in SB4, I am really glad with the way they portray Yukimura here.
    I feel like Mitsunari gave a more powerful speech than Ieyasu as the last attempt for the Western Army to unite aganist each other, it a bit of a shame that we only have Ieyasu,Masamune, and the Hojo clan on the Eastern side but I think they should pull it through.
    Tadatsugu should be getting an epic back story soon, because right now as a character. He is fullfilling nothing but "If Tadakatsu could talk" guy.

    Love this episode, the real battle begin

    Onward to SEKIGAHARA!

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    1. Yeah, the body language in Yukimura's scenes with Mitsunari this week was powerful - he didn't even flinch and was completely unafraid of Mitsunari's angry attempts to intimidate him. That kind of deep trust is exactly what Mitsunari needs, especially as they're showing him doubting Gyoubu more openly this time.

      It's going to be hard waiting an extra week until the next episode; I want to see what happens at Sekigahara!

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    2. I agree. It has been really interesting to see Yukimura actually interact with the Western forces/Mitsunari. To think that his words would inspire Mitsunari to go and make a "Let's go kick Ieyasu's ass at Sekigahara" speech! So quickly after having felt lost himself without Oyakata-sama, he basically mentors this guy.
      It also surprised me that Mitsunari took Otani's suspicious activities as something he did out of care for him, not possible betrayal.

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  4. Man, I really feel Ieyasu drew the shortest stick out of the four main leads in JE. No wonder the Western Army has more allies than the East.
    Some of my reasons:

    1. His conflict is the hardest to understand. While his zeal in preaching about the power of bonds is only matched by the Xavists' preaching about love, his killing Hideyoshi has caused more than one "What the hell, Ieyasu?" for many fans. This event also boosts Mitsunari's claims to the country, as his cause of vengeance gains moral high ground. This could have been averted if a.) Ieyasu learned of the Toyotomi's ruthlessness in pursuing strength, or b.) it's revealed that Hideyoshi killed his wife in order to gain power. The latter choice could also be included in the former, and both would give Ieyasu the moral boost he needs to do the deed, because for him (most likely), killing one's spouse for any reason at all is extremely unacceptable. But, well, that didn't happen, because...

    2. He's not very open about himself. For all his talk of bonds, Ieyasu doesn't really bond well with the Eastern Army. Sure, there was that episode where he forged an alliance with Hojo, but that could easily be taken as a shrewd political move rather than a heartfelt call for friendship. He also doesn't talk to his retainers (his conversations with Tadatsugu don't count, because as of this point, the latter's purpose is simply to point out what is already painfully obvious). He's never seen giving advice to either Masamune of Kojuro in their darkest hours. Hell, he doesn't even talk to TADAKATSU, and Hondam is practically his sounding board for everything he ever does. Thus, the emotional tornado whirling inside Ieyasu is never brought up. Contrast to Mitsunari, who always talks (screams?) about his single-minded obsession over killing Ieyasu and avenging Hideyoshi. While very hard on the ears, everyone at least knows his thought process, and can therefore conduct themselves accordingly. Which, sadly, leads us to...

    3. He's practically a hypocrite. As a result of 1 and 2, it's not very hard to believe that Ieyasu is simply using "bonds" as a cover-up for whatever evil plan he has in mind. He's done something morally reprehensible, and he doesn't talk about what he feels, what he's going to do from then on, or even why he did it. Bonus point for (hopefully for this anime) being voiced by Liam o' Brien, who was also the English voice of a certain white-haired, brown-skinned man known for not giving away a lot about himself.

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    1. I feel like Ieyasu is the type of guy who "dreams" but has a hard time to go with it because he "worries" too much about his actions

      1. I agree, I think his conflict is just too idealistic to live in the era. He believes that once Nobunaga and Hideyoshi are gone; he would actually be able unite Japan without more bloodshed. He understanded that Hideyoshi's rule would bring the death of many innocents. Of course, he knew that there would be many that would still refuse his "quest" for peaceful unification because many want to unite Japan under their own banner.

      2. I believe this is more of a "Capcom doesn't know how to handle characters" type. But the producer has promised us to talk about Ieyasu more often, I hope that is the case in the later episodes.

      3. Ieyasu knows this, but he means well. I think this goes back to Ieyasu being filled with blood as sighted by Oichi and Tsuruhime. Ieyasu's blood is the gulit of him abandoning Mitsunari and causing Japan to split up in a world of turmoil causing more bloodshed. The same thing he was trying to prevent Hideyoshi from uniting the land.

      I think this episode is talking more about the famous Sengoku Basara popstars; that is Mitsunari,Masamune and Yukimura. Ieyasu despite being one of the main stars,usually sits back stage and plan somesort of actions himself.
      I really hope they touch on Ieyasu really soon.
      Btw the "real" reason, the Western have more allies than the Eastern is because most of the Eastern army are really just Tokugawa retainers in real life. Aside from some Toyotomi defectors who believed in Tokugawa's cause than Mitsunari's cause, Many generals from the Western army offered a much more vast majority and colorful characters for Sengoku Basara.

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    2. Some good points here; thinking about Tanatat's response to #3 made me feel really sad. Poor Ieyasu >_<

      His more introverted personality definitely hurts him when it comes to being understood. Even Masamune (admittedly distracted by his own issues) took a while to warm up to him, and those who have reasons for distrusting him haven't really been challenged on their beliefs yet. It's only thanks to Magoichi being extraordinarily sensible that friendly guys like Keiji and Motochika regained some trust in Ieyasu at all.

      And now you mention it, it is strange that Hideyoshi's own story has had so little focus so far. I hope we'll get a flashback during the fighting at Sekigahara to make it easier to understand what's really going on in Ieyasu's mind in Judge End. It's interesting that the second season of Production I.G.'s anime presented Keiji's connection to Hideyoshi very well (I thought that was one of the anime's strong points), whereas this one has barely touched on that aside from a few references. It's like the two anime adaptations have to be combined to provide a complete picture of what was going on behind the scenes in the Toyotomi army.

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    3. I don't think it strange at all that Hideyoshi's backstory isn't brushed upon here; the main conflict of the story is between Mitsunari and Ieyasu, as well as the final showdown of the Sengoku period (i.e. Sekigahara).

      I think that the main reason Ieyasu doesn't talk about his feelings is because 1) he doesn't want to be seen as "weak", as in "a real general would be able to take this, but you can't, so you're not a real general" weak, and 2) he's mentally preparing himself for what might transpire at Sekigahara. The former might be a subconscious side-effect of the Toyotomi doctrine of strength or (I'm drawing from the Naked Blood manga here) his massive inferiority complex from having to rely on Tadakatsu so much. The latter is made much more obvious with every episode, what with the numerous flashbacks to the happy(?) times he had with Mitsunari. As we've seen from the game, neither of the two of them are crawling out of Sekigahara unscathed (physically or emotionally speaking).

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    4. That's true; I was just thinking of the completely new viewers who might benefit from some more flashbacks showing Hideyoshi himself instead of the way he's viewed by the other cast members. I guess that at this point most fans who are still watching are probably quite knowledgeable about his backstory already, though, so concentrating on the main content for the last few episodes will be very welcome.

      With the title of the next episode being what it is, I wonder if we're going to have an emotional time next Saturday with some of the horrors of Sekigahara finally making themselves known, or whether they'll extend it to last for the next few episodes (presumably running concurrently with the development of the Nobunaga storyline).

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  5. AHHHHHHHHH! THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!

    (I can't believe I have to wait 2 weeks for the next one ;A;)

    You know, not gonna lie, I totally forgot about Kanbei (Kanbee?). I don't hate him or anything, but he's just trying to find the key for his lock. I...don't really care about that >3>

    (maybe there will be a show down where all the sidelined supporting cast meet up and fight? xD)

    So I guess I was mostly right about Kasuga getting carted around by Oichi, but I can't tell if Oichi is doing things by her own will, or if Mitsuhide is somewhere hidden, still pulling those strings...Anyways, I'll be two-for-two if Kenshin saves her, so c'mon God of War! :O

    I'm so glad Motochika got a smile back on his face. Yet again, I hope Motonori is ready for the pain >:3

    I feel like I need to play catch up again. Not sure when Matsu served Oda. I always knew her as just Toshie's wife, and Kenji's...sister? Aunt? Both? O.o

    That flashback Ieyasu had was really telling. I thought it was gonna show Mitsunari being a hothead, but he actually was seen in the right. Not to mention a smiling Mitsunari out in the open is C.R.I.M.I.N.A.L *_*

    (aside: it took me a while to realize he's not so thin like in SB3. I even noticed with his alt. outfit in SB4 that he's pretty fit with a healthy buff. so I liked that kind of detail, showing he hasn't completely neglected his body all that much yet)

    Not to mention just how...open Mitsunari was to his men. He basically laid out his faults straight up. That's a lot of ammo to be used against him, but luckily that doesn't seem to be an issue. These kind of deviations from the game story I like :D

    Anyways, my boy Yukimura was so good here, holy crap. Someone already mentioned it above, but I love how much interactions he got with Mitsunari. The game made it seem like Mistunari was only vaguely aware Yukimura was on his side, but the anime went and made him a frickin' catalyst, hnnnnnnnnghhh.

    He's so mature to boot. That unflinching stance when Mitsunari got his blade all the way to his neck was so cool :O

    At first I was thinking what he was saying to Mitsunari was a little too idealistic (I couldn't help but think most people under Mitsunari have their own agendas), but seeing that speech and everyone's reaction, it seemed it was a good call.

    On the reverse, seeing Masamune actually look past defeating Mitsunari to his own rule by taking Ieyasu down himself someday really pleased me.

    That heartfelt man-to-man he had with Yukimura where they both dished on why they were following their respective men was so fluffy and bromantic, but he's still am ambitious guy. It makes me wonder if they'll ever do an OVA/movie/something where he does rule Japan or something (a lot of characters will probably be dead though :/)

    Anyways, I really don't know what to expect for the end. I can still see that visage of Ieyasu covered in blood, and now that Mitsunari had become more humanized, it's a tough call. Of course cop out Oda is a likely thing, but how much of an impact that will actually have is yet to be seen o.o

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    1. The sidelined characters fighting? Sourin, Muneshige and Kingo (with Motonari spurring them all on) versus Ujimasa, Kotarou and Kanbee (with Motochika?)...

      A whole episode based on that might be great :D

      I think Mitsuhide must be lurking near Oichi's zombie army, or perhaps standing at the front of the procession somewhere leading them to his planned resurrection site.

      Toshiie (Keiji's adoptive uncle) used to directly serve Nobunaga so that connection is occasionally mentioned in the story; since she takes an active role in her clan it's likely that Matsu would have been familiar with the high ranking Oda commanders. I doubt she thought very highly of Mitsuhide no matter how he introduced her as though they were friends ^^;

      All four of the leads had some amazing development in this episode. It's been a long time coming but it feels as though all of the uncertainty in their hearts has been lifted away just in time for the big battle!

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  6. Is there any canonical information how Mitsunari met Hideyoshi?

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    1. The canon is so loose with all of the 'parallel world' resets that it's hard to pin anything down as being the definitive story, but it isn't alluded to in much detail. Given that they've been delving into the back stories much more with Sengoku Basara 4 (at last) we might see a manga adaptation showing the formation of the Toyotomi army one day with a younger Mitsunari - which I'd definitely be very interested in picking up! Maybe they will consider a Sengoku Basara 4: Sakichi-hen story (guest starring Takechiyo) one day once Bontenmaru-hen is complete?

      It might have been covered in the Mitsunari novel, I guess - I haven't read that one yet.

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  7. Sorry i was on summer trip and couldn't write a comment before. Great episode, an all-out emotion speech from both sides, can't believe Mitsunari actually did it its so good. The flashback with Ieyasu and Mitsunari was good (the animation with the energy not so much, i wonder how it could have been with the previous team working on it). That reminded me, would you like to see a super skill where Ieyasu pick up again his lance ? All preparations are set, Sekigahara is waiting !

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