News roundup: The DOKUGAN manga, books and a silly character ranking

The upcoming Sengoku Basara: DOKUGAN manga now has a launch date

The Sengoku Basara tenth anniversary website has revealed that Nekoi Yasuyuki's Sengoku Basara: DOKUGAN modern day alternate universe manga now finally has a start date. It's been a long time coming; the manga was first announced last July for a winter release date!

As previously announced, the manga will be serialised in Akita Shoten's Young Champion magazine (released on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month). DOKUGAN will begin its run on 26th April 2016 and it's billed as a heroic story of swords and bikes in the land of Hinomoto. It's the year 0011 in the BASARA calendar, and Oushuu has been forced to yield to rule by Ushuu's Mogami Yoshiaki and his tyranny. Against that backdrop, a one-eyed man with a wild motorbike appears...

Since it's been a while I'll repost the older teaser images again too showing Masamune with his bike too.

I'm very curious to see which other Sengoku Basara characters will be making appearances too.

The Sengoku Basara 3 novels are returning in omnibus form

I was browsing the Mangaoh website yesterday and noticed that a listing had appeared for a new novel titled Sengoku Basara 3: Sanada Yukimura & Sarutobi Sasuke No Shou ('Sanada Yukimura & Sarutobi Sasuke Chapter'). Digging deeper I found that it was also showing up on Amazon Japan, and piecing the details together it seems that it's an omnibus edition of two previous books, Nozaki Masato's Sengoku Basara 3: Sanada Yukimura No Shou ('Sanada Yukimura Chapter') and Sasahara Shio's Sengoku Basara 3: Sarutobi Sasuke No Shou ('Sarutobi Sasuke Chapter'). Amazon's more detailed listing advises that the new book will be 560 pages long and cost ¥994 when it's released on 13th May 2015. The publisher is Kodansha via their Kodansha Bunko label this time (the previous Sengoku Basara 3 stories were published as premium Kodansha BOX editions so this new version will be much more affordable).

Amazon's description boasts that this is the first in four monthly releases, so it sounds as though all eight of the old Kodansha BOX novels will be getting the omnibus treatment this summer. The timing of the Yukimura and Sasuke volume leading the way makes me think they want to hint that Sasuke might be returning for Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den. Am I reading too much into things? (Yes.)

The final standings are published for the 7-Eleven 'character ranking'

The first round of the Print Charamide Sengoku Basara ~Jindori Gassen!~ ('Base-grabbing Battle!') campaign in Japanese 7-Eleven stores is now over, and as promised the website has published the rankings for the characters based on how many pictures each team sold. Please don't take this too seriously as being able to sell individual ¥150 pictures is more a mark of how devoted each character's fans are than a precise measurement of popularity - but still, there are some grains of truth amongst the crazier results. The placement of the Toyotomi army at the top is no big surprise.

7-Eleven kindly broke down the individual rankings within each 'army' so people can see how well their favourite character did.

1st: Conqueror Kings
1. Ishida Mitsunari
2. Shima Sakon
3. Ootani Yoshitsugu
4. Takenaka Hanbee
5. Toyotomi Hideyoshi

2nd: Manly Men
1. Sarutobi Sasuke
2. Sanada Yukimura
3. Takeda Shingen
4. Shimazu Yoshihiro
5. Miyamoto Musashi
6. Honganji Kennyo

3rd: Setouchis
1. Chousokabe Motochika
2. Mouri Motonari
3. Tsuruhime
4. Tenkai
5. Saika Magoichi
6. Kobayakawa Hideaki

4th: Oushuus
1. Date Masamune
2. Katakura Kojuurou
3. Shibata Katsuie
4. Itsuki
5. Mogami Yoshiaki

5th: Demon Lords
1. Azai Nagamasa
2. Akechi Mitsuhide
3. Oichi
4. Oda Nobunaga
5. Nouhime
6. Mori Ranmaru

6th: Regional Lords
1. Amago Haruhisa
2. Anegakouji Yoritsuna
3. Utsunomiya Hirotsuna
4. Nanbu Harumasa
5. Naoe Kanetsugu
6. Satake Yoshishige

7th: Emperors
1. Matsunaga Hisahide
2. Ashikaga Yoshiteru
3. Sen No Rikyuu (Sabisuke)
4. Sen No Rikyuu (Wabisuke)
5. Kyougoku Maria
6. Yamanaka Shikanosuke

8th: Bonds
1. Fuuma Kotarou
2. Tokugawa Ieyasu
3. Honda Tadakatsu
4. Tokugawa Ieyasu (young version)
5. Ii Naotora
6. Houjou Ujimasa

9th: Three 'bee's
1. Gotou Matabee (version 2)
2. Takenaka Hanbee (version 2)
3. Kuroda Kanbee (version 2)

10th: Loves
1. Maeda Keiji
2. Kasuga
3. Matsu
4. Maeda Toshiie
5. Uesugi Kenshin
6. Imagawa Yoshimoto

11th: Kyuushuus
1. Gotou Matabee
2. Kuroda Kanbee
3. Ootomo Sourin
4. Tachibana Muneshige
5. Xavi

12th: Sengoku Gourmet Association
1. Katakura Kojuurou (version 2)
2. Kobayakawa Hideaki (version 2)
3. Matsu (version 2)

13th: Tiger-users
1. Sanada Yukimura (version 2)
2. Utsunomiya Hirotsuna (version 2)
3. Ii Naotora (version 2)

While the Toyotomi army is arranged exactly as their relative popularity appears from where I'm standing, the 'Manly Men' were a surprise; Sasuke did better than Yukimura! Other surprises included Ieyasu coming below Kotarou, eternally-doomed Nagamasa triumphing in the Oda bracket and Masamune's army getting crushed; it had some weaker members but fourth place is still pretty bad for a main character with such a natural advantage. The eternal rivalry between Motonari and Motochika has resulted in Aniki doing better this time, making up for his loss in the old BSR48 survey. None of the girls did all that well which is a shame (and possibly a side effect of the ranking being generated in such an eccentric fashion; the campaign might not have connected so well with male fans). The characters who had more than one picture available may have suffered from their 'votes' being split between both versions.

There are some happy results from this survey; if I'm understanding the rules correctly it means that obscure characters such as Tsuruhime, Nouhime, Ranmaru, Yoshihiro and Itsuki could be appearing on the tiny pieces of merchandise available through a follow-up campaign in July. It's been almost forever since some of them had any merchandise and Gyoubu doesn't usually get much either even though he has a hardcore following in his own right. Congratulations to their fans!

News roundup: A first glimpse at new characters Sanada Masayuki and Nobuyuki

Famitsu teases the long-awaited Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den update

It's finally time for the hype to begin! A preview of this Thursday's Weekly Famitsu magazine was posted today to confirm that it will include a six-page feature article about Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den with details about Sanada Yukimura's father Masayuki and older brother Nobuyuki. The preview includes a picture of the Sanada family members together, and adds that the game is scheduled for release in September 2016.

I'll post a full update tomorrow once I've had the opportunity to read the final magazine article but in the meantime BlackKite has kindly translated some additional information from the usual leaks here.

Hosoya Yoshimasa, eh? I'm pleased. The designs look crazy but I'll withhold judgement until I see a larger version.

The 7-Eleven 'character ranking' updates with interim results

The current standings for the silly Print Charamide Sengoku Basara ~Jindori Gassen!~ ('Base-grabbing Battle!') campaign running in Japanese 7-Eleven stores have now been published. In a twist nobody could have seen coming (I'm kidding), the popular Toyotomi army has taken an early lead after selling the most printable pictures. Here are the full rankings:

1. Conqueror Kings (Hideyoshi, Hanbee, Mitsunari, Yoshitsugu, Sakon)
2. Setouchis (Motonari, Motochika, Tsuruhime, Magoichi, Hideaki, Tenkai)
3. Oushuus (Masamune, Kojuurou, Katsuie, Yoshiaki, Itsuki)
4. Manly Men (Shingen, Yukimura, Sasuke, Yoshihiro, Musashi, Kennyo)
5. Demon Lords (Nobunaga, Nouhime, Ranmaru, Mitsuhide, Nagamasa, Oichi)
6. Emperors (Yoshiteru, Hisahide, Maria, Shikanosuke, Wabisuke, Sabisuke)
7. Bonds (Ieyasu, Tadakatsu, Naotora, Ujimasa, Kotarou, Ieyasu [young version])
8. Regional Lords (Yoshishige, Hirotsuna, Yoritsuna, Harumasa, Haruhisa, Kanetsugu)
9. Three 'Bee's (Hanbee, Kanbee, Matabee)
10. Kyuushuus (Xavi, Sourin, Muneshige, Kanbee, Matabee)
11. Loves (Kenshin, Kasuga, Keiji, Toshiie, Matsu, Yoshimoto)
12. Sengoku Gourmet Association (Hideaki, Kojuurou, Matsu)
13. Tiger-users (Hirotsuna, Yukimura, Naotora)

The final results will be posted on 12th April 2016 so there's still time for the teams in the lower rankings to turn things around. It's sort of impressive that the Regional Lords are doing well if nothing else though I think having the Three 'Bee's splitting votes for those characters might have given their rivals a boost. Fight on, Kanetsugu.

Capcom are working on more mobile games, including something for Sengoku Basara

Sengoku Basara was mentioned by name when Capcom recently announced that they were planning to release four new mobile games in the next year to expand their reach. The article focuses on the wider Asian market rather than the west, but there's always hope.

The latest Sengoku Basara merchandise updates

The previous set of stamps must have done well as Capcom announced that a new selection would be available from 1st April 2016. There are only three new designs, sadly: Masamune, Yukimura and Shingen. Each stamp is priced at ¥500.

Accompanying the stamps are two new TS inkan seal storage cases priced at ¥450 each. There's a black one with Masamune and Kojuurou on it, and a red one showing the Takeda army.

Last but not least come three new printed tote bags priced at ¥1,580 each, with designs for Masamune, Yukimura and Keiji. They were released on 2nd April 2016.

Incidentally, if you're still desperately trying to track down a copy of that elusive Sengoku Basara Motoki Yoshihara Illustrations art book it will apparently receive a wider release as of this Sunday when the preorder period is over. I recommend checking your favourite import store to see whether they can get hold of some stock once it's become easier to obtain.

Is Shingen being turned into a mascot character?

The Kofu regional tourist office has been teasing what must surely be a new yuru-kyara mascot version of Takeda Shingen in the lead-up to the Shingen Matsuri festival. They're promoting the whole festival using the Sengoku Basara version of Takeda Shingen and from their previews I strongly suspect that the mascot will resemble the Kofu x Capcom design below. Congratulations in advance to Shingen for being the third game character to make this particular jump into the real world!

I know a lot of regions are proud of their local Sengoku-era heroes but Kofu's efforts to increase tourism have been particularly fantastic recently, with the Sengoku Basara version of Shingen plastered all over the city and a local exhibition of the beautiful ink paintings from Sengoku Basara 4. Having been there in the past I can confirm it's a lovely place and well worth a visit if you're a fan.

(Please forgive the inconsistent lapses into my preferred spelling of Koufu over the course of this blog.)

News roundup: A brief history of Sanada Yukimura's life, and some Sengoku Basara updates

Well, I think we know why there was so little news at Basara Matsuri - there's not been all that much to report lately! That ought to change in a few weeks when the promised character details for Sengoku Basara: Yukimura-den finally appear in the gaming press. Until then, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for new gossip.

The latest Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den updates

I mentioned before that the official fan club newsletter had promised some content about the game, but after receiving my copy it became apparent that there really wasn't much worth mentioning. The interview mostly repeated content from previous articles.

Perhaps more interesting was a two-page timeline introducing fans to the major events in Yukimura's life as a primer for the game. It's a stretch, but maybe this will help narrow down which of the many accomplishments of the Sanada clan will be covered in Yukimura-den. Since it's commonplace historical information I can't imagine that anyone at Capcom will get mad if I translate the details.

1567: Sanada Yukimura was born to Sanada Masayuki and Yamanote-dono, and given the childhood name Benmaru. Not much is known about his place of birth, but as they served Takeda Shingen it's been theorised that Yukimura may have been born in Koufu. Incidentally, Date Masamune was born the same year.

1575: The Takeda army was defeated by the combined Oda-Tokugawa forces in the Battle of Nagashino. After Sanada Nobutsuna was killed in battle, Sanada Masayuki succeeded him as head of the Sanada clan.

1582: The Battle of Nagashino led to the decline of the Takeda clan and its eventual downfall. From that point on, the masterless Sanada clan experienced suffering on a daily basis. Masayuki went from serving the Oda clan to the Houjou, and then the Tokugawa, desperately trying to survive against the backdrop of the Sengoku period.

1584: Tokugawa Ieyasu stood against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Ieyasu decided to make peace with the Houjou clan, and the territory of Numata was to act as a peace offering. However, Numata was an area which Sanada Masayuki had put a lot of effort into conquering and he wasn't willing to hand it over to Ieyasu. Masayuki declared that "Numata is a land we claimed with bows and arrows. It's not a land given to us by Tokugawa-dono." and refused to surrender the territory. Ieyasu was vying with Hideyoshi for control of the entire country and this act of defiance caused a rift between the Tokugawa and Sanada. In need of support, the Sanada clan became retainers to the Hideyoshi-backed Uesugi clan.

1585: The broken relationship between the Tokugawa and Sanada clans led to the Battle of Ueda, where the Tokugawa army attacked the still-unfinished Ueda Castle and the Sanada clan within it. The Tokugawa forces were able to approach the castle with very little resistance - but this was all part of Masayuki's plan. When the Tokugawa troops arrived at the area surrounding the castle, the buildings nearby were set alight. At the same moment, guns were fired from inside the castle and peasant soldiers attacked from all sides. The Tokugawa forces were completely overwhelmed. Having successfully repelled the great Tokugawa army, word of the Sanada clan's military prowess spread throughout the land.

1589: Houjou clan retainer Inomata Kuninori disregarded a ruling from the Toyotomi clan and attacked Nagurumi Castle in the west of the Numata region. When Masayuki brought the matter to Hideyoshi's attention, he was infuriated and declared war on the Houjou clan. Warlords from across the country were called into action and the Siege of Odawara began. Sanada Yukimura participated in the battle along with his father Masayuki and brother Nobuyuki; this was Yukimura's first campaign.

1598: Hideyoshi passed away, and the Sanada clan - now with the status of daimyou - were thrust right back into the heart of conflict once again.

1600: At last, Ieyasu made his move and the Battle of Sekigahara divided the nation. The members of the Sanada clan discussed the stances they would take; Yukimura and Masayuki sided with the Western Army but with his wife being the daughter of Honda Tadakatsu, Nobuyuki sided with the Eastern Army. Yukimura and his elder brother were therefore on different sides. This split wasn't due to a quarrel but a decision made with mutual respect for each man's position and viewpoint. Yukimura and Masayuki fought well together and accomplished much, yet in spite of this the Western Army was defeated. Thanks to Nobuyuki and Honda Tadakatsu the pair were spared death, instead being confined in Kudoyama at the base of Kii Province's Mount Kouya.

1611: Sanada Masayuki passed away in Kudoyama, aged 64.

1614: Having seized the country, Ieyasu's final concern was the Toyotomi clan. In order to destroy them he gave orders to attack Osaka in the campaign known as the Osaka Winter Siege. The Toyotomi clan called upon the Sanada clan to assist them at Osaka Castle, and thus Sanada Yukimura finally left Kudoyama. Although the Toyotomi were at a disadvantage, Sanada Yukimura's squad was their sole glimmer of hope. Yukimura identified a weak spot on the south side of Osaka Castle and constructed a fort to reinforce that location; this fort would later be known as the Sanadamaru. When the Eastern Army attacked the Sanadamaru, they were repelled by Yukimura's shrewd orders and expert command of his gunners. Ieyasu came up with a different plan upon seeing that brute force wasn't going to bring him victory. The Osaka Winter Siege came to an end with a declaration of peace between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans.

1615: Ieyasu pressed Yukimura to switch sides, but Yukimura paid him no attention and dismissed the 100,000 koku territory comprising the land of Shinshuu he was offered as a reward. His determination would have evoked memories of his father, Masayuki. Meanwhile, the Toyotomi clan feared another clash would be unavoidable and began stocking up on battle provisions and ammunition, secretly preparing for war. Word of this soon reached the Tokugawa clan, who were already looking for an excuse for a rematch. Ieyasu demanded that Hideyori demonstrate his allegiance by requesting to be relocated from Osaka Castle and banishing the gathered ronin. Of course, there was no way that the Toyotomi could accept this. The bonds between the East and West were severed once again and the Osaka Summer Siege began. Yukimura set his sights on Ieyasu and the Sanada troops united for an assault. They overwhelmed their enemies and eventually reached Ieyasu's hatamoto; so fierce was the Sanada charge that Ieyasu steeled himself for death. However, as the power of the Sanada forces gradually started to wane they were unable to take Ieyasu's head, and the Eastern Army regained their momentum. The exhausted Yukimura sat down to rest in the grounds of Yasui Shrine, where a thrust from Nishio Munetsugu's spear brought his life to an end.

--

There was one interesting comment in the official Q&A corner too. It's not specific to Yukimura-den but this question comes up a lot, so it's nice to seeing it getting a response from the staff even if it's not definitive.

Q. Is there a chance we'll see the characters' sons or daughters in the future?
A. Maybe if the series continues long enough...?

--

Setting the new game aside, here are the usual news updates and announcements from elsewhere in the Sengoku Basara world.

The new Sengoku Basara art book is proving unexpectedly popular

One of the most (unintentionally) exciting happenings lately has been the struggle of trying to purchase next month's new Sengoku Basara Motoki Yoshihara Illustrations art book. It's been really tough! The book is only available through three retailers at the moment: e-Capcom, Dengeki-ya and Amazon Japan. You have to be careful placing your order, however, as the book keeps selling out of its preorder allocations and causing the listings to close (at the time of writing the Amazon Japan listing only displays third party resellers who are overcharging significantly). To make matters worse, the first two stores only ship within Japan and it's classified under 'hobbies' on Amazon Japan - which means that most buyers from overseas will have trouble importing it that way too. I hope the book receives a general release soon so that all of the Yoshihara fans outside Japan can support this talented artist...

Ashigaru-kun is the star of an official Basara Matsuri event report

Bizarre series mascot character Ashigaru-kun has kindly prepared a photo report for those of us unable to attend the Sengoku Basara 10th Anniversary Matsuri ~Feast of Ten Years, Ten Shades~ event earlier this month. It's not the greatest, but Ashigaru-kun's team are allowed to take pictures in all of the places normal attendees cannot which makes it fun to read.

Ichiban Kuji partners with Sengoku Basara again for an unnecessarily complicated event

It's not another full Ichiban Kuji lottery (sadly) but there's going to be a smaller campaign called Print Charamide Sengoku Basara ~Jindori Gassen!~ ('Base-grabbing Battle!') running from 1st April until 10th April 2016. It's extremely similar to the previous campaigns of this type. Fans can visit participating 7-Eleven stores and pay ¥150 for the privilege of printing a special Sengoku Basara 'charamide' photo from the multifunction copying machine.

The available images are actually rather cool as there's a choice of 66 designs covering 13 different 'armies', which are grouped together in silly, not-entirely-canonical ways as the Oushuus, Manly Men, Conqueror Kings, Bonds, Loves, Demon Lords, Setouchis, Emperors, Kyuushuus, Regional Lords, Three 'Bee's, Tiger-users and Sengoku Gourmet Association. You can see the designs by clicking on the black banner halfway down the page with a red 'Click' label. Each image has its own reservation code which fans can take to the store and key into the copier.

(Why does Hirotsuna, of all people, get two designs?)

Once you've collected your printed charamide you can use the unique code printed on the bottom to enter a mobile lottery on the website before 1st May 2016. Group shots of the two most popular armies will each be featured on prizes for 50 lucky winners. Fans can track the popularity of each army by checking the green banner underneath the designs on 5th April 2016, and the final results will be posted under the red banner on 12th April 2016.

That's not all, however! There will be a follow-up event in early July 2016 called Ichiban Kuji MINI Sengoku Basara ~Hisshou Kigan!~ ('Inevitable Victory Prayer!'). The results from the April event will be used to decide which of the 'armies' feature on a variety of omamori mascot charms and ema mascot charms which can be obtained in a ¥500 lottery.

(Personally, I suspect that the 'Conqueror Kings' may live up to their name. I sort of want the 'Regional Lords' to win though, just because it would be weird and confusing. Ieyasu's army is probably going to have a hard time. It's neat that they've mixed popular and unpopular characters on most of the teams. It means that fans who like the unpopular characters have a better chance to get some new merchandise of their favourites, even though it's going to be difficult to obtain.)

The results of the third (and final?) official online Basa-ranking survey

The results from the third online Basa-Ranking survey were tallied at the end of February and the details were posted on the website as usual.

The survey asked fans which game's story interested them the most.

1. Sengoku Basara 2
2. Sengoku Basara 3
3. Sengoku Basara 2 Eiyuu Gaiden (HEROES)
4. Sengoku Basara 4
5. Sengoku Basara 3 Utage
6. Sengoku Basara
7. Sengoku Basara HD Collection
8. Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes
9. Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes
10. Sengoku Basara X (Cross)

The prize for the winning game are the usual smartphone lock screen images, which can be accessed here. Keiji finally gets to appear on one of the pictures!

Details of the next ranking have still not been posted so it looks as though this might be the last one, even though the website encourages fans to look forward to the next ranking.

Committed RED will feature on T.M.Revolution's new anniversary album

If you prefer albums to singles but still want to own the latest Sengoku Basara: Yukimura-den game's theme song, you'll be pleased to hear that it's going to be included on T.M.Revolution's new 2020 -T.M.Revolution ALL TIME BEST- album when it launches on 11th May 2016. The album celebrates Nishikawa's 20th anniversary since his debut as T.M.R.

A generous number of Sengoku Basara tracks can be found in the 3 CD set, which has been remastered in New York. The first press limited edition also includes a slipcase and a DVD with video footage covering the last twenty years 'in 2020 seconds'. The limited edition costs ¥4,920 (a pun which sounds like 'yoro(shiku) 20(th anniversary)' while the standard edition will be ¥3,920 - also a pun, this time of 'thank you 20(th anniversary)'. Special bundles for both versions and a muffler towel will be available through Loppi and HMV.

Speaking of the song, there's a short preview available on YouTube in an unofficial capacity for those of us who can't look forward to the radio previews available to fans in Japan.

News roundup: The next Sengoku Basara stage play is going back to Honnouji

The next entry in the stage play series has been announced

In between closing the current stage play's run and posting cute pictures on Twitter, the Butai Sengoku Basara team found time to announce the newest stage play as Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi drew to a close.

The next entry in the series will be titled Zangeki Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi: Honnouji No Hen ('Swordplay Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi: Incident At Honnouji'). Interestingly, they've changed the 'Butai' ('Stage') in the official title to 'Zangeki' which usually means a slashing attack, except the second character uses a different character meaning 'play'. I'm struggling to find a concise way to write that in English without ending up with something inadvertently invoking another meaning of the English word 'slash', so please forgive my inelegant attempt at a translation which approximates the deliberate double meaning of the original. I'll call it Zangeki Sengoku Basara for short.

It's being reported that the new title indicates that there will be a deeper focus on the combat scenes from now on and the staff are going to try to make even more adventurous fights. Social media reactions have been mostly positive so far. We already know the Sengoku Basara version(s) of the Honnouji story pretty well at this point.

There's a video on the official site (all of the actual footage is from the previous play).


The new play will be performed eighteen times in total across two venues: at the Zepp Blue Theater Roppongi in Tokyo (1st July - 10th July 2016) and at the Umeda Arts Theater's Theater DramaCity hall in Osaka (16th July - 18th July 2016). Cast and ticketing information will be revealed at a later date.

The results of the second official online Basa-ranking survey

The second official Basa-ranking survey was for the game which fans thought had the best gameplay mechanics. The results have been tallied and the final ranking is as follows:

1. Sengoku Basara 4
2. Sengoku Basara 3 Utage
3. Sengoku Basara 3
4. Sengoku Basara 2 Eiyuu Gaiden (HEROES)
5. Sengoku Basara 2
6. Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes
7. Sengoku Basara X (Cross)
8. Sengoku Basara
9. Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes
10. Sengoku Basara HD Collection

The special smartphone lock screen images based on the winning game can be downloaded here.

The third survey is now available too in the usual place. This time, the team wants to know which game's story interested you the most. Click the gold-coloured button underneath the picture of the game with your favourite storyline and then click OK to register your vote! The voting will end at noon on 29th February 2016.

They should really replace the HD Collection with Sumeragi in the options; it's just way too confusing this way!

Another guest is announced for March's Basara Matsuri event

It's only a month away now but the announcements are still coming! Okiayu Ryoutarou (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) is the latest seiyuu guest confirmed for the Sengoku Basara 10th Anniversary Matsuri ~Feast of Ten Years, Ten Shades~ event, which he will be attending on Sunday 6th March 2016. The guest list is looking quite impressive by now.

A new fan club gathering: Basara Club Fan Meeting 2016 Spring

If two days of Basara Matsuri aren't enough, fans who happen to belong to the official fan club can look forward to two additional 90-minute gatherings on Saturday 28th May 2016. The Basara Club Fan Meeting 2016 Spring will take place in Tokyo's Nissho Hall and a number of special guests have been confirmed.

Afternoon show (14:00): Seki Tomokazu (Ishida Mitsunari's voice actor), Koyama Rikiya (Kuroda Kanbee's voice actor), Fujita Ray (Shibata Katsuie in the stage play), Shiramata Atsushi (Chousokabe Motochika in the stage play), Kobayashi Hiroyuki (series producer)

Evening show (18:00): Ookawa Tooru (Tokugawa Ieyasu's voice actor), Hayami Shou (Akechi Mitsuhide/Tenkai's voice actor), Matsumura Ryuunosuke (Sanada Yukimura in the stage play), Shiina Taizou (Sarutobi Sasuke/Mori Ranmaru in the stage play), Kobayashi Hiroyuki (series producer)

I bet they'll be revealing a few details about the new game at these fan meetings!

Mobile phone stands for each character will be available from e-Capcom after all

Remember the 51 different mobile phone stands which e-Capcom was accepting reservations for a little while ago? It's since been decided that all 51 designs will be made available after all, rather than only the options which receive enough preorders.

The Sengoku Basara 10th Bushou Ransen Mobile Stands are exclusive to e-Capcom and cost ¥2,500 (¥2,700 with tax) apiece. Delivery is expected to take place on 14th April 2016.

Preorders need to be placed by the end of February, and as e-Capcom doesn't accept foreign orders (or foreign credit cards) it's likely that fans outside Japan will need to use a deputy service to make a purchase.

The Sengoku Basara series might be reaching out to a global audience again soon

Perhaps the biggest news of all though over the last couple of weeks is the single tweet on the official Sengoku Basara account which reveals that an official Chinese language edition of Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den is on the way this summer. The games have been distributed across the Asian region for a while but they have been left in their original language, which is obviously not terrifically convenient for the majority of players even if the prices tend to be lower than importing the Japanese editions.

The same tweet also urges fans to keep looking out for news about further 'worldwide' plans for the series. I don't want to get my hopes up, but if they do manage to try expanding internationally again I'll certainly be doing my best to support the Sengoku Basara team!

News roundup: Sengoku Basara box art ranking, and T.M.Revolution will appear at Basara Matsuri

The results of the first official online Basa-ranking survey

The results from the first online Basa-ranking poll have now been revealed. They asked the fans to pick which of the series' box art illustrations they liked the most and quite a lot of people voted to produce the following list.

1. Sengoku Basara 3
2. Sengoku Basara 2 Eiyuu Gaiden (HEROES)
3. Sengoku Basara 3 Utage
4. Sengoku Basara 4
5. Sengoku Basara X (Cross)
6. Sengoku Basara
7. Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes
8. Sengoku Basara 2
9. Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes
10. Sengoku Basara HD Collection

You can download the smartphone lock screen images based on the winning image here. Mitsunari and Ieyasu don't appear on many of the designs so perhaps this win can be attributed to a combination of their appeal and the fact that Sengoku Basara 3 did so well; the Battle of Sekigahara is a very popular theme, after all!

The website suggests that we can all look forward to another Basa-ranking soon. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long to share our opinions about something else.

The latest Sengoku Basara book news

The cover illustration for the third (and final) volume of Yoshihara Motoki's Sengoku Basara 4 manga adaptation has now been revealed ahead of its release next week and it's another stunning picture. Sakon and Katsuie didn't get their own covers so they're sharing this one with their allies in the background. I hope that Yoshihara will return to the series for more adaptations in future.

In other book-related news, today is the release day of Sengoku Basara Rival Fortune-Telling from Wani Books. Capcom published a preview to mark the occasion and it shows the way that the information is presented to fit the 'rivals' theme. I'm tempted to say that it's almost as good as a mini art book if you like Yupon's cute illustrations - even if you can't read the text.

A footnote adds that there's a special bonus if you purchase the book from Animate; while stocks last it will come with an oversized clear bookmark.

Another musical performer is added to the guest list for Basara Matsuri

While this isn't exactly a surprise to anyone who has ever been following Basara Matsuri event news, Capcom recently made the big announcement is that musician T.M.Revolution will be attending the Sengoku Basara 10th Anniversary Matsuri ~Feast of Ten Years, Ten Shades~ event in March 2016 as a performer guest. He will be present on both Saturday and Sunday.

Even if it was expected from the moment the event was first announced, this is great news. It's going to be a great celebration of the series!

The cute Sengoku Basara stickers from B-side Label are back - and they brought friends

CafeReo has posted information about a new batch of 80x65mm Capcom x B-side Label stickers and they're already up for preorder. Kojuurou, Sasuke, Keiji, Motochika and Motonari are joining the product line for ¥400 before tax apiece.

The four designs used for the original stickers are returning too for the Capcom x B-side Label Sticker L range. The 'L' versions are larger at (approximately) 110x100mm in size and cost ¥1,000 each before tax.

Packs containing all of the sticker designs are also available for those who want the full sets.

Release dates and the first cover illustration for those three upcoming drama CDs

Remember the three drama CDs announced at Tokyo Game Show 2015? We now have the full release details. The story outlines and character lists are as described in my original TGS 2015 post.

The first disc will be released on 27th January 2016. It's titled Drama Yose CD Sengoku Basara -Date Masamune & Sanada Yukimura- and the preliminary cover artwork is shown below. They're using the Judge End art style again for this comical food-themed illustration:

The second release will go on sale on 24th February 2016 titled Drama Yose CD Sengoku Basara -Tokugawa Ieyasu & Ishida Mitsunari- and the third, Drama Yose CD Sengoku Basara -Sen No Rikyuu-, will be available on 23rd March 2016.

Each CD costs ¥2,000 before tax for the standard version or ¥2,500 before tax for the Animate special edition with an illustrated keychain. The information about Animate's keychain bundles (which can now be preordered) is available here.

Magazine review: Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 9

It's taken a little longer than usual to write a review for the latest issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine, mainly due to the sheer volume of Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi news which keeps distracting me in the last month before the game's release.

My slow pace is certainly not through lack of excitement, as the star is Sarutobi Sasuke this time and Sasuke is awesome. If you happen to be a fan, the new cover artwork, exclusive Mame Sengoku Basara rubber strap and feature articles should make this a very tempting issue.

Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 9 was released on 29th June 2015, a month later than originally advertised. Priced at ¥2,500, it can be purchased from all good Japanese bookstores with international shipping including Amazon Japan, Yesasia, CD Japan and Manga Oh. There's an official preview article here if you want a look inside.

The new bonus CD is Showgeki Basara Talk! Sakon & Katsuie No Maki Vol. 1 with seiyuu Nakamura Yuuichi and Okamoto Nobuhiko. The CD was actually the very first thing I noticed since it's usually bundled with the magazine in a separate jewel case. This time, the CD has been packaged inside a cheap plastic sleeve tucked into the magazine itself. Fans have the option of downloading the CD jacket artwork and printing their own cover if they want their collection to match - it doesn't feel very luxurious. On the bright side, I guess it makes the magazine easier to ship and store.

Still, the most important thing is the content and the two voice actors have put together a good show for their listeners. Okamoto's naturally sweet personality is a funny contrast with his gloominess whenever he slips into character, and Nakamura has a cheeky attitude which plays off his co-presenter well.

The CD starts off with a candid talk segment where the two actors have to write Japanese kanji on sheets of paper then talk about how they relate to their characters in the game. Their illustrated papers are shown on the last page of the magazine, complete with silly doodles and autographs.

Magazine review: Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 8

I can't believe that it's already time for another issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine! Shibata Katsuie graces the cover and exclusive Mame Sengoku Basara rubber strap to mark the winter issue and indeed, it's a highly recommended purchase for his fans. A selection of preview images can be seen in this official blog post.

Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 8 was released a week later than it's usual month end slot in the schedule, on 2nd March 2015. Priced at ¥2,500, it can be purchased from all good Japanese bookstores which offer international shipping such as Amazon Japan, HMV, Yesasia, CD Japan and Manga Oh. The anime-style cover artwork from character designer Ookubo Tooru seems to have worked its magic once again as the book has reached the top of Amazon's gaming magazine charts several times in the last few days.

The bonus CD is Showgeki Basara Talk! Chousokabe & Mouri No Maki Vol. 2 with seiyuu Ishino Ryuuzou and Nakahara Shigeru. I missed their team antics at Basara Matsuri so it's good to hear from them again.

The pair start off by reading their fan mail (several people submitted questions about Sengoku Basara Judge End) then launch into the newest 'Basara Challenge' skit. The task this time is that Motochika and Motonari have to conduct an interrogation - except that they're too busy arguing and undermining one another to get anything productive done. The bad situation gets even worse when Motonari points out that a pirate isn't really in any position to look down on a criminal and the task is eventually abandoned in favour of a battle between the two warriors.

Lastly comes the 'Bonds Game' where they have to answer weird questions and compare their answers. Ishino and Nakahara seem to have a lot in common!

Magazine review: Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 7

Autumn's issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine was released a few days ago with Sengoku Basara 4 newcomer Shima Sakon taking the honour of appearing on the cover and on the cute Mame Sengoku Basara rubber strap. For Sakon fans, this book is likely to be indispensible; it's the first time since his debut that he's been the star of an entire publication.

Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 7 went on sale on 27th November 2014 priced at ¥2,500. It can be purchased from most Japanese bookstores which offer international shipping, such as Amazon Japan, HMV, Yesasia, CD Japan and Manga Oh. Prices will rise once stock starts to become scarce and the last issue is already out of print; given that this particular issue seems to be quite popular thanks to character designer Ookubo Tooru's anime-style cover illustration, it may sell out more quickly than usual.

With this being an odd-numbered issue it means that there's a new pair of characters featured on the CD. Showgeki Basara Talk! Motochika & Motonari No Maki Vol. 1 features two of the most beloved seiyuu of the series, Ishino Ryuuzou and Nakahara Shigeru. They're both lovely and tend to work as a natural comedy duo even during the unscripted parts of the show.

Their 'Basara Challenge' skit requires that Motochika and Motonari try to look after some children, which ends up being Motochika looking after the children while trying to prevent Motonari treating them as pawns in his army. The whole thing is greatly enhanced with childish background music and prerecorded sound effects of the children cheering at comical moments. No matter how much fun Aniki has trying to instil his values in his young charges, Motonari is always ready with a joyless insult of some kind to darken the mood.

The other special activity on the disc is a quiz where both seiyuu talked about their characters' more challenging lines. Overall, it's a pretty good Basara Talk CD.

My usual run-through of the rest of the magazine's contents follows.

Magazine review: Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 6

The summer issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine is devoted to Mouri Motonari, with a brand new CG illustration of him on the front cover and an adorable Mame Sengoku Basara rubber strap.

Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 6 was released on 27th August 2014 priced at ¥2,500. It can be purchased from most Japanese bookstores which offer international shipping, such as Amazon Japan, Yesasia, CD Japan and Manga Oh. Once new copies have sold out the prices are likely to rise as they have for the previous issues.

The talk CD this issue is the follow-up to the previous one: Showgeki Basara Talk! Ieyasu & Mitsunari No Maki Vol. 2 starring seiyuu Ookawa Tooru and Seki Tomokazu. At close to an hour, it's the longest bonus CD yet! Since the Sengoku Basara Judge End anime has now started its run, they were able to talk about it more freely than before. It's funny how different Seki sounds when he's speaking normally and not using Mitsunari's intense voice. Among other topics, they replied to questions from fans and played a 'Bonds Game' where they had to answer strange questions about the series and compare their responses. Most of their answers were completely different...

The CD's 'Basara Challenge' skit was the 'Children's Telephone Consultation Room'. It parodies a real Japanese radio show called Kodomo Denwa Soudanshitsu where children call in with questions for adults to answer on a variety of topics. The seiyuu had to pretend they were talking on the phone since there wasn't really anyone on the other end during the live recording. Ieyasu was really good at speaking to the children! He tried to guide Mitsunari through the process and prevent him from terrorising the kids, which didn't work all that well - still, the results are very funny.

Having covered all of the bonus items, it's time to take an in-depth look at the contents of the magazine itself!

News roundup: Sengoku Basara Judge End news - and a PV

NTV's official Sengoku Basara: Judge End website updated this afternoon with new cast information, character designs and the long-awaited promotional video! Unfortunately the video is blocked in my country so I can't embed it here. Alternative links for foreigners in the same position are already up at Dailymotion and Nico Nico Douga.


(Edit: Thank you to Balder over at Koei Warriors for digging up an embeddable version!)

The opening theme song will be Thunderclap by the group Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. Unless Ishikawa Chiaki's ending theme is very different to her usual style, I'm guessing that it's the opening which plays in the promotional video. I'm not entirely sure I like the song (yet) but the video is fantastic overall!

In addition, Hideyoshi, Hanbee, Yoshitsugu and Tadakatsu also now have character profiles on the official site.

The full list of new cast members is as follows:

Maeda Keiji (Morita Masakazu)
Saika Magoichi (Oohara Sayaka)
Kuroda Kanbee (Koyama Rikiya)
Tsuruhime (Koshimizu Ami)
Uesugi Kenshin (Paku Romi)
Kasuga (Kuwatani Natsuko)
Houjou Ujimasa (Miyazawa Tadashi)
Sakai Tadatsugu (Nishikawa Takanori)

The list says there will be other characters not yet announced; the PV reveals several of them though since Oichi, Oda Nobunaga, Tenkai, Kobayakawa Hideaki, Fuuma Kotarou, Chousokabe Motochika and Mouri Motonari are clearly visible.

The last two even appear in the silhouette lineup at the end, implying they will have major roles.

Sakai Tadatsugu is a new historical figure joining the series for Judge End and his profile describes him as a Tokugawa clan warrior, a retainer to the Tokugawa family and advisor to Ieyasu. He's served the Tokugawa clan since he was a child and, being an old friend to Ieyasu, he's one of the very few people who can address him simply as 'Ieyasu' instead of using an honorific title. Sakai has an unusual kind of rivalry with Tadakatsu and harbours an unspoken dissatisfaction at Tadakatsu being valued more than he is. His motto is "Believe!".

The most interesting aspect of Sakai's character though is the fact that he's being voiced by T.M.Revolution's Nishikawa Takanori. Fans are already noticing similarities between Sakai's design and the outfit Nishikawa wore for HOT LIMIT some time ago, something that Nishikawa himself seems amused by.

There will be a Sengoku Basara: Judge End online radio show

Seiyuu Hoshi Souichirou (Sanada Yukimura) and Seki Tomokazu (Ishida Mitsunari) will be getting together starting on Sunday 13th July 2014 to present a 30-minute Sengoku Basara: Judge End web radio show. It will be broadcast on Bunkahousou's Chou! A&G+ service from 24:30 to 25:00 every Sunday (that's 00:30-01:00 on Monday morning, in normal time notation).

A pair of Mame Sengoku Basara cushion covers will soon be available

Gift have now announced details for online sales of their two Mame Sengoku Basara: Chara x Cushion designs. They're actually cushion covers so you have to insert your own cushion inside, but customers who buy two items will receive a free cushion to get them started.

There will be a blue cushion featuring Masamune and Yukimura (direct shop link) and a yellow design with Mitsunari and Ieyasu (direct shop link). Both cushions cost ¥2,700 with tax.

If you plan to buy one I'd recommend asking your proxy service in advance because they will only be available for reservation from the Gift Online Shop for a very limited time between 18:00 on 4th July and 13:00 on 14th July 2014. They are due to ship in the latter half of September.

Gift also posted details of their collectible Mame Sengoku Basara Cleaner Straps which I don't believe I ever mentioned before. Nine designs are available for ¥300 apiece and each of them comes with an earphone plug.

The straps have been given a limited release in Animate's main Ikebukuro store from 7th June 2014. It's possible that a wider release will follow later on.

Sengoku Basara Magazine issue six will arrive in August

Manga Oh has revealed that the next issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine is due for release on 27th August 2014. Expect preorder listings to begin appearing at other stores very soon!

Date Masamune is to join the Revolmini line of figures

A new Date Masamune figure is set to join Kaiyodo's Revolmini line on 25th September 2014. It will have catalogue number RM-004 and it's priced at ¥3,564. It looks very similar to the full-size Revoltech released in the past; I wonder whether more characters will appear as the new Revolmini line continues to expand?

Figure designer Yamaguchi Katsuhisa has posted a selection of prototype shots of the figure over on his Twitter account: 1, 2, 3, 4

The figure can be preordered at Amazon Japan; more stores are expected to list it soon.

Preorders open for the new Chara-Forme figure of Mitsunari

We finally have the details for Empty's new 10.5cm Ishida Mitsunari Chara-Forme figure. Mitsunari can currently be preordered at Ami Ami, e-Capcom and Amazon Japan and he's set for release on 25th November 2014 for ¥3,150.

It's good timing since e-Capcom is currently celebrating a Toyotomi Matsuri this week. Special bundles of goods are available aimed at fans of Mitsunari and the other members of the Toyotomi forces.

I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait to see the planned Ieyasu model?

Results from the annual Twitter character ranking

Last but not least, the 2014 Sengoku Basara Sousenkyo on Twitter popularity ranking recently closed in Japan with 2,963 participants. The ranking is completely unofficial and the results this year have been a little crazy - see for yourselves. Please note that there's a natural bias in this being a Twitter survey as not everyone who enjoys the series uses Twitter or follows the same groups of people.

1. Mouri Motonari (354)
2. Date Masamune (305)
3. Tokugawa Ieyasu (271)
4. Ishida Mitsunari (237)
5. Chousokabe Motochika (207)
6. Sanada Yukimura (202)
7. Gotou Matabee (150)
8. Sarutobi Sasuke (143)
9. Ootani Yoshitsugu (134)
10. Katakura Kojuurou (128)
11. Tenkai/Akechi Mitsuhide (109)
12. Shima Sakon (107)
13. Shibata Katsuie (87)
14. Kuroda Kanbee (81)
15. Takenaka Hanbee (76)
16. Maeda Keiji (64)
17. Matsunaga Hisahide (40)
18. Fuuma Kotarou (31)
19. Itsuki (26)
20. Tsuruhime (18)
21. Ootomo Sourin (15)
22. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (13)
22. Amago Haruhisa (13)
24. Azai Nagamasa (10)
24. Oichi (10)
24. Ashikaga Yoshiteru (10)
27. Oda Nobunaga (9)
27. Nouhime (9)
27. Mogami Yoshiaki (9)
30. Kasuga (8)
30. Honda Tadakatsu (8)
32. Houjou Ujimasa (7)
32. Utsunomiya Hirotsuna (7)
34. Kobayakawa Hideaki (6)
34. Miyoshi Sanninshuu (6)
34. Yamanaka Shikanosuke (6)
37. Takeda Shingen (5)
37. Saika Magoichi (5)
39. Mori Ranmaru (4)
40. Matsu (3)
40. Imagawa Yoshimoto (3)
40. Tachibana Muneshige (3)
40. Kanetsugu Naoe (3)
40. Ii Naotora (3)
45. Uesugi Kenshin (2)
45. Shimazu Yoshihiro (2)
45. Xavi (2)
45. Honganji Kennyo (2)
45. Nanbu Harumasa (2)
45. Satake Yoshishige (2)
45. Anegakouji Yoritsuna (2)
45. Kyougoku Maria (2)
53. Maeda Toshiie (1)
53. Miyamoto Musashi (1)

Magazine review: Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 5

This season's issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine is a dazzling hot pink to celebrate Chousokabe 'Aniki' Motochika. Just like Mitsunari and Masamune in previous issues, he's received a brand new CG illustration for his role as the cover star. The collectible rubber strap shows a different side of Motochika in his cute Mame Sengoku Basara form.

Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 5 was released on 27th May 2014 priced at ¥2,500. It can be purchased from most Japanese bookstores which offer international shipping, such as Amazon Japan, Yesasia, CD Japan and Manga Oh.

The talk CD this issue is Showgeki Basara Talk! Ieyasu & Mitsunari No Maki Vol. 1 starring seiyuu Ookawa Tooru and Seki Tomokazu. I'm not usually interested in the 'Sekigahara duo' but thanks to their funny seiyuu they're hilarious in this kind of informal discussion. The conversations between the two seiyuu have a natural flow, then when they get into character for their 'Basara Challenge' drama Ieyasu always sounds as though he's provoking Mitsunari on purpose simply by being nice to him. The entire 'Basara Challenge' segment is amazing with members of the Toyotomi army cast as the purple, yellow, white and red warriors in a theoretical 'Sentai Hero' team: Sengoku Sentai Basaranger.

Somehow, hearing Ookawa saying the words 'Sengoku Basara: Judge End' in the CD's introduction made the upcoming anime adaptation feel closer than ever.

My rambling summary of the rest of the magazine follows!

Today's acquisitions (12th May 2014)

Yesterday was another day of deliveries. At the top of the picture are the second and third volumes of Dot Kareshi -We're 8bit Lovers!- and an overpriced copy of Black Wolves Saga -Bloody Nightmare-. I'm making up for lost time and playing all of the PC games I've missed over the last few years. The sole audio CD is Tadaima by Kurahashi Yoeko. A small pile of doujinshi from the recent Super Comic City event arrived too and was omitted from the picture.

I couldn't afford to buy all five mainstream anime magazines which contain Sengoku Basara: Judge End content this month so I settled for the June issue of Otomedia. Sengoku Basara: Judge End received a two-page spread to highlight last week's news. I'm not going to make a habit of publishing content from inside magazines but here's a terrible phone snapshot as a sample.

Most of the information was the same as on the official website aside from a very short Q&A with Itou Kouhei, one of Telecom Animation Film's producers and the same person who left a comment in last month's PASH! magazine.

Q. What's the appeal of this anime project?
A. I think that this is an anime which interprets the Sengoku Basara 3 source material from a new perspective. The story incorporates a large number of original elements.

Q. Other than the four characters that have already been revealed, please tell us whether the 'key characters' who featured in the original game will remain.
A. Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ishida Mitsunari; while it was inevitable that these four would appear, the unique individuals who stand firmly by their sides all have roles to play too. I think of all of them as having become 'key characters'. One of the attractions is seeing how they'll feature, and in which scenes.

Q. What will you do about fans who already have their own impressions of Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura?
A. That's a tough question... But I think that even these guys (Masamune and Yukimura) must have sides to them we don't know about. There could be some completely unexpected, unbelievable surprises. While it's unfortunate that I can't say any more about this, I think that we've taken care to look after the mental image that everyone has of each character.

Apologies for my shabby late night translation. Hmm, Itou-san always makes a point of listing Mitsunari last and the key artwork seems to set him aside from the other three as well. I'm really feeling as though he'll be positioned as the main 'villain' this time for most of the show. It's interesting that the female-orientated Otomedia coverage really isn't hiding its bias towards Masamune and Yukimura.

Finally, the second volume of the Basara Club newsletter arrived this morning too for a double-dose of Sengoku Basara excitement! It revealed that there's going to be more club-exclusive merchandise very soon to hurt my wallet. Since everyone loves rankings, here are some of the fan club's favourite things...

Best Sengoku Basara 4 alternate costumes (excluding DLC):

1. Ishida Mitsunari
2. Date Masamune
3. Mouri Motonari (all of the reasons people gave were full of mirth)

Most tear-jerking Sengoku Basara 4 scenes:

1. Shibata Katsuie's anime route ending
2. Shima Sakon's anime route ending
3. Takenaka Hanbee's drama route ending (it says 'anime route' but it has to be a typo)

Results of the unofficial international Sengoku Basara fan survey (part 1)

The results are now in! After three weeks the unofficial international Sengoku Basara fan survey managed to gather 302 unique responses, mainly due to the kindness of fans spreading the word on their local discussion forums. While this is a very small sample set compared to the Japanese polls, the responses were all very detailed and full of enthusiasm. Thank you, everyone!

The survey is now closed and I've spent the last few evenings tidying up the results to find out a little more about the international Sengoku Basara community. I've changed all of the spelling to match my preferred romanisation system, but please be assured that every vote was counted irrespective of spelling or language.

Every wonderful comment was read carefully. One person asked whether I could title this post with Masamune's rowdy catchphrase; I'd rather keep the post title consistent to make it easier to find, so I'll compromise like this.

Are you ready, guys?!

News roundup: Results of the Sengoku Basara 4 survey in Weekly Famitsu magazine

Tomorrow's Weekly Famitsu magazine reports the results of its character ranking survey

Just as promised back in late February, the 27th March 2014 issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine (released 13th March) has published the results of the character ranking survey it ran on its website as part of a feature about Sengoku Basara 4. It was a simple survey with just three questions and the voting was only open for a few days, but it shows some interesting results since it was asking the Weekly Famitsu audience rather than limiting the respondents to buyers of the game.

A total of 'more than 1,200' votes were tallied from a mostly female audience and every participant had to provide reasons for their choices in order to have them counted (a selection of the best were published). In that respect, I suppose it makes sense that it is being treated more like 1,200 fan letters than a small selection of votes - four full pages of the magazine were dedicated to the article. Here are the results.

Q1. Which of the playable characters in Sengoku Basara 4 do you like the most?

1. Ishida Mitsunari (147 votes)
"His earnest, straightforward appearance is cool." (female, early 20s)
"I'm so happy to see him appearing together with Hideyoshi and Hanbee!" (female, late 20s)
"His drama route made me cry." (male, late teens)
"His numerous high-speed moves are thrilling." (female, early 30s)
"His fighting style is pretty cool; playing as him feels exhilarating. And the sexiness of his second costume is nice as well!" (male, early 20s)

2. Date Masamune (121 votes)
"With Sengoku Basara 4, I was moved by how much he had matured since the earlier games." (female, late 20s)
"His six-sword style feels especially exhilarating!" (male, early 20s)
"Whether it's his looks or his voice, everything about him is cool." (male, early 20s)

3. Tokugawa Ieyasu (96 votes)
"Watching him suffer even as he's striving to bring peace to the land makes me want to cheer him on." (female, early 20s)
"His nimble footwork is great." (male, early 30s)
"As an invigorating, sporty type of guy, he has a fresh charm I haven't seen from anyone else." (female, late 20s)
"The tanuki from his Giga Basara technique is cute." (female, early 40s)

4. Sanada Yukimura (94 votes)
"I'm attached to him because I've used him ever since the very first game." (male, late 20s)
"I had a lot of fun seeing the Takeda army acting the way it used to in Sengoku Basara 4" (female, late 20s)
"I love Yukimura so much that I don't even know the reason any more!" (female, early 20s)

5. Gotou Matabee (83 votes)
"It's not just how great he is to control or the sensation of speed from his moves; he stands out and makes an impact!" (male, early 30s)
"In any case, he's unpleasant in a good way!" (female, late 20s)

6. Mouri Motonari (78 votes)
"I like Motonari-sama...both his funny side and his serious side." (female, late teens)

7. Shima Sakon (77 votes)
"It's fun to be able to switch between his kicks and his blades while playing." (female, late 20s)

8. Ootani Yoshitsugu (43 votes)
"I've been brought to tears countless times by the way he always seems to be putting Mitsunari first." (female, late teens)

9. Takenaka Hanbee (41 votes)
"I'm so pleased that he's been revived! His beauty, his strength and even the way it's easy to use him are his charms." (female, early 20s)

10. Azai Nagamasa (40 votes)
"His ultra-flashy actions are like a tokusatsu hero, and somehow refreshing!" (male, early 30s)

The most popular female character was Ii Naotora. She didn't make the top ten but it was noted that she had a lot of support from male fans.

Well, I'm probably not alone in thinking that it would have been difficult to predict this outcome. I feel bad for Masamune and Yukimura yet at the same time, very happy for Ieyasu after his dismal performance back in BSR48. And Matabee - what a dark horse! He's certainly popular online but I wouldn't have expected him to rank so highly in his debut title. He'll probably want to add two more names to his Matabee Enmachou hit list for holding him back from first place.

Q2. Which of the non-playable characters in Sengoku Basara 4 left the greatest impression on you?

1. Ashikaga Yoshiteru (605 votes)
"The feeling that he's an overwhelmingly powerful being. There's no other impression he could give." (male, late 20s)
"He's... strong! And there's the impact of his voice (lol)." (female, late 20s)

2. Kyougoku Maria (273 votes)
"Her interactions with Nagamasa and Oichi were really interesting." (female, early 20s)

3. Kasuga (103 votes)
"Her one-on-one stage was so full of sorrow that it made my heart ache." (female, late 20s)

4. Akechi Mitsuhide (55 votes)
"He was intense in Oda Nobunaga's drama route." (male, early 20s)

5. Takeda Shingen (43 votes)
"It's not Sengoku Basara without Oyakata-sama!" (female, late 20s)

A resounding victory for the shogun. The magazine commented that the newcomers had made a strong impression with Maria's sensual charms apparently captivating many male fans.

I think almost every Kasuga supporter must have said something similar to the woman whose comment they picked (I certainly did). In the end, though, it was probably Shingen's comment which left me feeling most inspired.

Q3. Which military commander would you like to see playable other than those included in Sengoku Basara 4? It can be one of the non-playable characters, a character from an earlier game or a Sengoku-era warrior who hasn't yet appeared in the Sengoku Basara series.

1. Ashikaga Yoshiteru (120 votes)
"I want to use a shaku which can transform into various weapons to beat up the enemies." (male, late teens)
"I want to see Yoshiteru's story." (female, late 30s)

2. Nouhime (116 votes)
"The greatest female warrior in the series. I love her weapons and her moveset as well!" (male, early 20s)

3. Kyougoku Maria (79 votes)
"Her attack animations are interesting! And I'd like to use her as Nagamasa's battle comrade." (male, late teens)

4. Amago Haruhisa (54 votes)
"Now that Shikanosuke has arrived, I want Haru-sama to join the battle too!" (female, early 20s)

5. Itsuki (52 votes)
"She's been taking a break ever since Sengoku Basara 3 but I want to play as an improved Itsuki-chan with Sengoku Basara 4's system." (female, late 20s)

The article commented that there were a lot of voices clamouring for Nouhime's return to the series, and that the battle for fourth place would have been tight if Haruhisa hadn't taken the honours. It sounds as though there were several characters with around 50 votes.

I wish they'd published more of the results for this question in the article even if the number of votes per character might have been quite low. I guess we have to wait for a proper Capcom poll for that.

Cover artwork for Mame Sengoku Basara volume 5 and the next Gakuen Basara

As the release date for Mame Sengoku Basara volume 5 draws closer, a larger version of the cover artwork has appeared. Keiji is as cute as a button.

I believe that this will be the very last compiled volume of classic Mame Sengoku Basara before the transition to the new Mame Sengoku Basara 4 series.

Gakuen Basara volume 7 was originally listed as a 'tentative' title and it's now clear why; it's been renamed to Gakuen Basara: Gakuen Sousei-hen. I'm not sure what the reason is but it could be that the staff are worried that people will think it's an ongoing series and be afraid to pick up new volumes. Giving each book a unique title in future might encourage new readers to try the series out (in case the deer wearing a gakuran cap wasn't enough on its own).

The artists for this volume have been confirmed, too. Nari has drawn the cover as usual with Kyuugou and ENU providing special illustrations. The list of manga artists includes regulars Arai Karo, Sanjou Kiiro, Yanagi Batoshirou, Koutake Hiroyoshi, Mikami, Danbo, Sanorin, Maki and Rokuji along with newcomer Konko Yukime. I'm not familiar with Konko Yukime outside of her doujinshi work so it will be interesting to see her contribution as part of the Gakuen Basara team.

Hopefully Naotora, Yoshiteru and Maria will make it onto the back of the book!

New Sengoku Basara 4 videos are set to debut

It looks as though we can expect five new videos in the next week according to the Coming Soon notices on the official website. They're probably gameplay videos, though we might get some kind of promotional videos for the ongoing social networking campaign that they've been running once they're done (a highlights clip with the most stylish user-submitted gameplay videos would be nice once that contest finishes).

There was also a promotional video showing off Kanbee's Sengoku Creation mode last week which I never mentioned at the time. Poor Kanbee.