First Impressions – Sengoku Basara: Judge End
Nobunaga is SO out of style. It’s time for a new revolution!
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I know you all expect me to say some engrish line of Date’s to open this post so screw it, I’m just going to go the cliche route and give in to easy lead-ins. ARE YOU READY, GUYS? PUT YA GUNS ON!!!! |
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I’M READY WITH MAH GUNZ FOR MORE |
Game Time
The bloody tears are at the end of a rather distressing Mitsunari route in the game ;_;
Overcooled // Sengoku Basara is an anime based off of the Capcom games by the same name. Some of them were localized (rather poorly) under the name Devil Kings in the west. Thankfully, the game this anime is based off of got a decent localization. As a result, I’ve played over a hundred hours of Sengoku Basara 3: Samurai Heroes and have been through every story route possible. It’s a simple beat-em-up game but it’s insanely addictive. Anyways, needless to say I’m really excited they’re making an anime of this game for many reasons.
One is that I really like the story of this game. It focuses on the falling out of Ieyasu and Mitsunari after Ieyasu kills their master to try and set things right. Mitsunari becomes blind with rage and the desire for revenge while Ieyasu tries to unite the nation his own way, feeling guilty as hell the entire time. Their complicated, bittersweet relationship is fascinating to watch. It’s especially interesting to see how the other factions decide who to align themselves with – the ruthless Mitsunari or the amiable Ieyasu. Of course, not everyone wants to join them since they have weaknesses. Ieyasu is naive, expecting everyone to be as pure as he is. That’s why he messes up and gets a whole army that was supposedly “surrendering” killed. He should have known. Meanwhile, Mitsunari is devout but…insane. He’s got yandere-level possessiveness and loyalty minus any semblance of dere. So..just murderous intent. So some people will say “screw you two” and just try and take over Japan themselves.
With an even bigger cast of characters this time around, it’s going to be exciting. However, it’s going to be really confusing. I feel that we’re expected to care about Mitsunari and Ieyasu a bit too quickly, when the show has previously shown us very little about them. If that introduction is this quick then I worry about how they’ll introduce all the new characters (as seen in the opening song) to the party. Sengoku Basara has never been a show with a strong plot, but I feel like this story has a lot of potential to be great. Let’s just hope they take more time to let us know Mitsunari and Ieyasu since they’re technically the stars of the show this time around. I’ll be kinda pissed if they try to make Date and Yukimura take over the spotlight again…
More Characters, More Fun
Bring in some new guys and make them totally beat up the old ones
anaaga// I can’t say much since it’s only the first episode, but I’d say I’m liking everything already, from the story to the characters. Besides of Sengoku Basara’s story that is awesome, I also like the characters themselves. They are really really really really fun. The characters are always full of quirks and weird moments that are definitely exaggerated, but that is the reason why I enjoy them (with the exception of Gyoubu because he is creepy as hell). Each character has their own special traits, and those special traits are exaggerated to the point where they literally affect the characters’ actions. Sometimes the characters do things that are unexpected, but somehow I can always brush them aside while mumbling, “that’s so them!” Sounds silly, isn’t it? Yes, but that’s what makes them so enjoyable. Being a Sengoku Basara fan that loves both the story and the characters, imagine how happy I was when I saw the trailer filled with cast that wasn’t in the movie. From the unlucky Kuroda Kanbee to the idol girl Tsuruhime, everyone is in Judge End. I was squealing jumping back and forth and did all other nonsense when I saw all the characters. The characters are all likeable, but I can’t imagine how all of them will interact with each other, considering how… Erm, unique they are.
Though, like OC, I am extremely concerned with the story because of the amount of characters and episodes and studio. How in the world are they going to cover everybody’s arcs and tangle them with each other without screwing things up? How are they going to make this version as fun and as enjoyable as the other versions? How are they going to make this anime shine just like Production I.G.’s version? To be honest, I”m really worried about this version of Sengoku Basara, but I want to indulge myself in this happiness of getting all the characters first.
Final Thoughts
The first few minutes was purely re-introductions and a quick review of all the in-jokes (Date’s engrish, OYAKATA-SAAAMAAAA, and Sasuke hitting on Kasuga for starters). I was getting bored. Things pick up when we get to the actual war. It’s clear that they’re going for a bit of a darker route with this anime. I feel that there is a lot more blood and that the attacks are more visceral. They used to turn into colourful blurs of light and just fly at each other DBZ style. It was flashy and over-the-top – the style the show always went for with gusto. But this feels a lot more like real fighting. It’s more serious, and there’s no room for breathing. In a way, it’s more exciting, but it strips the show of it’s usually silly tone. The fact that the animation studio is different makes it feel even less like the Sengoku Basara I know. The quality looks a little worse than before, with some characters more affected than others. In particular, I can’t help but feel like Yukimura and Takeda are entirely different people. It’s really, really weird.
I’m a little disappointed with the first episode since it’s not Basara-like at all. Where’s the fun? The silliness? The flamboyant jumping into the air and unleashing crazy light shows from giant weapons? You simply can’t play it straight when you have a character jumping onto a giant, Sengoku-era gundam and just casually flying away. Maybe I’m just nostalgic, but I miss the old Sengoku Basara…
Plot-wise, I like how this episode is consistent with the third game’s story… For now. Ieyasu and Mitsuhide are in the spotlight, along with Masamune and Yukimura. Though how are they going to make Masamune and Yukimura shine until the end when the focus of the story is Ieyasu and Mitsuhide? Obviously the new forgettable studio is trying to please the fangirls by making Masamune and Yukimura as main characters, when the story is supposed to focus more on Ieyasu and Mitsuhide. Now I’m a huge Masamune x Yukimura fan, but if it meddles with the original plot, my ship can sink for all I care. And if by the end the focus is not Ieyasu and Mitsuhide anymore…. *sharpen knife*
As for the animation… I don’t know, I don’t like the animation at all. I like how the studio is trying to animate the fighting scenes as much as possible, but that’s probably the only part I like about the animation. That and how I can finally get to hear “IEYASSSSSSSUUUUUUUUU” but that’s another matter. I don’t like how the studio uses still images or zooms out some scenes to make it less-detailed on the characters. I don’t like how the studio freezes an action done by the characters, turns the animation into still image, and then shifts to another scene just like that. I don’t like how everything is not bright and colorful in this episode. Everything used to be full of reds, pinks, blues, purples, and yellows. Everything used to be bright and full of colors. But now? Everything is dark, everybody is gloomily depressed, and the brightest color I saw is probably Yukimura’s. The characters became less bishie and are more manly now, which is ironic because the game is making them more and more into a bishie. This is probably to fit the story that is more serious and gloomy, bur still… I don’t know. I like the consistent plot, but somehow I still feel something missing from this version of Sengoku Basara.
They hate each other…therefore, I ship it.
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
J-pop singer TM Revolution is voicing anime-original character Tadatsugu Sakai, a Tokugawa-aligned general and close acquintance of Ieyasu.
http://zakitakubu.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/l_53a7a9e76cf4as-1.jpg
TM aka Nishikawa Takanori:
http://zakitakubu.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/t-m-revolution2.jpg
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Too bad the character he plays only appeared for a few seconds…
Gotta love TM Revolution though! I wish he sang the OP too. I’m not really digging the one by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Good thing, Nobunaga is out of the way. Now boys will play :3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yes! And Hideyoshi too. Gosh, he was ugly. Now all the pretty ones are left to rule Japan!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
IKR?! All the hot bishies but man, I do worry about the overly zealous cast. Too many people being crammed into one story.
Also, RIP, Hanbe.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Neah, sorry to say that Nobunaga Oda IS in the movie.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCHCZg9_2Uk/U6nDJGEh3sI/AAAAAAAAFW0/Fxr4fNu2_fw/s1600/nobunagaje.png
Now all the pretty ones are left to fight the Demon King for the true final battle! 😀