Oda Nobuna no Yabou – 05
“Takenaka Hanbei will not serve the Oda clan, but Sagara Yoshiharu. Okay, my lord?” HNNNNNG!
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Hi readers and lurkers at Metanorn! I’m back with the latest episode of Oda Nobuna no Yabou. It seems every episode we are introduced to a new character, either an antagonist, or a future member of Saru’s harem. Just a small disclaimer: if you like little girls doing cute stuff with some oriental magic, then this episode is for you. If not, well, just read along. Haha. |
Episode 5: “Strategy of the genius tactician”
Who is Imouto? “Onii-chan…”
A cute girl makes everything better. That is a perfectly understandable English sentence. When it comes to Oda Nobuna no Yabou, a cute girl who is a genius strategist, who can also summon familiars to do fighting for her, makes everything ten times better. That is also a perfectly understandable English sentence. Takenaka Hanbei-chan is so adorable that don’t you just want to take her home and give her a hug?
Okay. Let’s examine the white-haired pretty girl called Takenaka Hanbei. She is small. She is cute. She is HNNNGHHH personified. Having a voice supplied by Ogura Yui (who also voiced Yunoha in Aquarion EVOL and Athena in Campione!) definitely helps as well. In short, she is the little-sister/imouto character in Yoshiharu’s harem. By the way, Nene is the “wife”, Maeda Toshiie/Inuchiyo the “quiet best friend”, and Goemon is the “right-hand man”.
While this screencap isn’t relevant to the plot, Inuchiyo can be be cute too!
I tend to view characters in Oda Nobuna no Yabou through the lens of dichotomy, and Hanbei-chan is no exception. On one hand, she is childish, prone to pulling pranks on people with her kagemusha Zenki, shy when it comes to other people and apologizes a lot. She also prefers not to cause unnecessary casualties on the battlefield, even though she had six(!) chances to rout the Oda clan armies.
“I played a prank on you to see if you would get angry…” Girl, listen, anyone would get angry.
On the other hand, her naivety when it comes to negotiations leaves me face-palming. As a strategist, doesn’t she know entering a negotiation from a weaker position is a no-no? With regards to her summoning her familiars, I wonder why she overdid it knowing it would exhaust her. One or two was already overkill. Having four plus Zenki and the little demon imp, then having the four do a soul-blast was just pushing it.
“She is not your imouto! I’m gonna make her my waifu!” – Saito Yoshitatsu
I think I can now sense an underlying theme in Oda Nobuna no Yabou. Sagara has to accomplish a particularly difficult task, so he takes his “squad” consisting mainly of master spearman Maeda Toshiie, ninja Goemon and her ragtag bunch of misfits into enemy territory. He then executes a daring plan where he does most of the talking (either to opponents or allies) while Goemon’s misfits do the hard work. The group escapes after achieving said task, and Sagara acquires, albeit unintentionally, another haremette. Punishment from Oda Nobuna or any other harem member is optional. Rinse and repeat. I think we have Sagara Yoshiharu’s Standard Operating Procedures for the remaining episodes down pat?
Last thoughts:
1. Sagara demanding that Oda Nobuna give him the “most beautiful” girl in Japan to him after he accomplishes his latest mission could be interpreted a thinly-veiled wedding proposal to Nobuna, since Oda Nobuna views herself as such.
2. I now suspect that Azai Nagamasa is actually a bishoujo who cross-dresses as a guy (who probably wears a sarashi to bind her chest) seeing as how “he” reacted after eating the wasabi-spiked bun. Reverse traps in my Sengoku anime, who would have thought? It’s still without solid basis, though. LN Readers please put potential spoilers in the appropriate spoiler tags
3. Did anyone notice that Maeda Toshiie ate Nobukatsu/Nobusumi’s rice jellies when they were having a council of war? That’s just so moe~
4. Hanbei-chan declaring her allegiance to Sagara instead to Nobuna will probably trigger more episodes of jealousy from Nobuna. I’d like to see how Sagara manages that one. Hopefully it doesn’t bite him in the ass later.
Preview:
Please don’t kill the lolis!
Next week on Oda Nobuna no Yabou, it’s time for the Siege of Inabayama Castle. Can Yoshiharu pull off the trick of constructing a castle in one night on the edge of enemy territory? Will Goemon die after taking a shot meant for Yoshiharu? How will Oda Nobuna react to Hanbei pledging her allegiance to Yoshiharu? Find out in the next episode, “Sunomata Castle”.
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POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
This episode pretty much broke the storytelling commandment of “don’t tell, show”. Show us a loli, we forget that ten minutes ago that this character was supposed to be like most brilliant tactician EVAR. Would have been better if she would have kicked some butt on her own.
And I agree, Hanbei-chan has/will set off Oda’s jealousy flag.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 23 comments
Am i the only one who notices that his harem consists of nothing but lolis?(Except for Nobuna)
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…notice it? I’m intensely jealous of it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
True. I’d be insane if I didn’t notice that.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Nobusumi already has a harem of healthy young females (and collecting more). Saru’s only choice now is to go for lolis or MILFs.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I can understand everyone’s amazement finding out that a powerful strategist turns out to be a cute, unintimidating and shy loli. But she’s so cute I might flatline from high HNNNGHHH levels. Even though Hanbei is a strategist, she’s still a kid and has the mentalilty of a pacifist and so she uses such indirect techniques. She’s not the type to indulge in unnecessary bloodshed.
While the attack on the castle was good for a watch, it was still overkill. I guess Hanbei wanted to make sure the job was done thouroughly.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, the show really should be renamed Sagara Yoshiharu no Loli. That said, I actually don’t mind most of the loli characters, because I only start feeling sketchy about it when they’re the obvious romance interests. Goemon and Maeda Inuchiyo might love Sagara on some level, but it’s not really a romantic thing. Hanbei-chan really pushes it, tho.
I did think the conceit that the master strategist is a teeny little girl was interesting, although I didn’t really care for the complete personality break between Zenki and Hanbei-chan. The episode overall was pretty good, tho. Dousan is still an awesome character, and keeping that outside advisor role. Saving him is the best thing the show has done so far.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hanbei-chan’s thinly-veiled confession at the end was so cute! The teasing Inuchiyo with food moment was also pretty cute as well ^^
Nobusumi’s already pulled out ahead with his haremettes. Saru’s method to winning? Assemble a team of lolis who’ll become future beauties!
When I first saw Zenki (Hanbei impersonator) I was pretty sure they were going to have him killed, since he looked more like a side-character B than a secondary main character. Then we met Hanbei-chan and the route was cemented.
I did miss Inuchiyo stealing the food at the beginning though. I just thought Nobusumi was still feeling hungry and was glancing at his plate wishfully.
Interesting thought on Asai Magus_Killer, that would be interesting. Saru gains a trap! (harem +1)
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My first thought on Asai when ‘he’ showed up to try to get Nobuna to marry ‘him’ was “that’s a girl.” There sure hasn’t been anything to convince me otherwise.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I think my last comment got ate by the spam monster. I can’t be bothered to re-type it all. =?
Anyways, would be interesting if Asai really was cross-dressing. Otome heart cleared! – Saru gains a trap (harem +1)
Saru is slowly building a powerful faction within the Oda clan.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Saru has me jealous >< I want a confession like that!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Gr, this new site menu is really annoying me, half the time ti interferes with my browser settings and doesn’t reply properly =(
This was supposed to be a reply for skylion’s comment on the flag.