Nobunaga the Fool - 05-18

Hello there, everyone.  Apologies for the long absence; school got incredibly busy for me this past semester, so I had to take a break from reviews for a while.  But enough about me.  You came here for anime reviews.

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So without further ado, let’s get caught up on Nobunaga the Fool, shall we?

Since my last post, Nobunaga has lost his father and brother, has become head of the Oda clan, and has gained control of five Regalia.  He has formed a temporary alliance with Gaius Julius Caesar, who has taken Ichihime as his wife in exchange for the truce.  And he has lost quite a lot more than just his family, at this point.

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A sizeable percentage of the population of the Oda clan’s holdings has been decimated thanks to the Brothers of the Round Table (namely Hannibal, Charlemagne, and now Alexander).  Himiko, Nobunaga’s betrothed, is basically at death’s door at this point.  And let’s not forget about the loss of Hideyoshi “Monkey” Toyotomi in episode 18 (which was a pretty devastating loss, in my opinion, both because of the brutality of his death and because he was one of Nobunaga’s best friends).

Meanwhile, Jeanne has dealt with a crisis of faith, so to speak, often wondering if perhaps Nobunaga isn’t the Savior-King she’s convinced herself he is.  This largely, of course, comes from the fact that she doesn’t completely understand Nobunaga (no one really does, hence the nickname “the Fool”), along with some incredibly unfortunate coincidences that occur (i.e. Jeanne’s village being reduced to ash just after Nobunaga comes to save her).

What this series does a great job of is making you care about all of these characters, even if you never intended to care about them in the first place.  While Nobuhide is set up as the disapproving father who pretty much treats Nobunaga like a complete idiot most of the time, his death is heart-wrenching and hits Nobunaga hard.  I personally find Himiko to be a bit annoying when she’s not doing something to help the war effort (a.k.a. when she’s fawning over Nobunaga), but her near-death at the hands of an assassin and her current state of physical weakness actually make me care about her more.  Nobunaga the Fool does an excellent job of making us care about all of these characters.

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With only six episodes left, there are definitely some big lingering questions with this narrative, though (other than the obvious question of who will win between King Arthur (via Alexander) and Nobunaga).  Why did Mitsuhide’s father commit seppuku?  What does Mitsuhide gain by remaining by Nobunaga’s side?  What exactly is King Arthur all about?  We’ve learned virtually nothing about Arthur himself, save that he believes himself to be the Savior-King.

I definitely recommend this series if you’re not already watching it.  The final six episodes show a lot of promise.  However it turns out, this is one of the best shows I’ve watched in the past couple of seasons thus far.

Nobunaga the Fool OP 2

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Nobunaga the Fool ED 2

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Nobunaga the Fool Episode 19 Preview

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(P.S.: I will be catching up with a few anime currently airing within the next week or so and write some half-season reviews (to be followed by weekly reviews once I’m caught up).  I will also post some “Final Thoughts” reviews for the all the shows I was reviewing last season once I get caught up on them.  I apologize once again for falling off the face of the earth, but school had to come before anime, unfortunately.)