Nobunaga the Fool – Who needs Historical Continuity Anyway?
January 7, 2014 2 Comments
There are numerous anime series and films which take the historical past and twist it around certain ideas and concepts, adding steampunk aesthetics, robots, and even swapping the gender of important, and famous historical figures. Nobunaga the Fool does just this, splitting the world in two in a way that reminded me a little of Aquarion Evol, although at the moment one of the worlds isnt trying to abduct the women of the other. What is particularly interesting about this setting is its ability to have numerous historical figures appear at the same time (although Jeanne d’arc did live about 100 years before Oda Nobunaga, so there are certain liberties taken) on worlds that are both similar, and different to the historical past. We also have an injection of Kawamori style madness that manages to take the grand, the incidental, and the plain silly, putting them together into something immensely entertaining.
The idea of Oda Nobunaga riding around on flying dinosaurs, and samurai fighting in giant robots that appear to be in traditional samurai armour is both mad and amazing to watch. Similarly, we see Jeanne d’arc and Leonardo da Vinci steal a spaceship and crash-land right near Nobunaga apparently in an effort to fulfil some sort of prophecy. This series looks mad, the sort of madness that should be expected from Kawamori, the mind that gave us Macross Frontier, AKB0048, and Aquarion Evol. While the characters are certainly entertaining, and the worlds look fascinating, with a wonderful blend of futuristic, historical, and fantasy elements, there are certain clunky aspects to this first episode. We have a significant amount of exposition and world building, both arguably essential for what appears to be a pretty complex story about two interlocking worlds, and various factions vying for supremacy. Previous series by Kawamori have had similar issues, taking a number of episodes to get characters introduced and the world explained, and I feel that in this case the exposition and world building are entirely justified.
Overall the first episode looks promising, presenting us with a suitably insane story where Oda Nobunaga walks into battle in a big robot while also carrying Jeanne d’arc in his arms. Yes it’s a little confusing, and perhaps a little messy in places, but I feel the world and characters are strong enough to pull through and help create a fascinating, and entertaining series.
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Nobu the Fool seems oddly reminiscent of Sengoku Basara. Crazy but fun characters? Fantastic mashup of tech (horse with exhaust pipes)? Historical-ish setting? Surrounded by enemies and a paltry few allies? Characters carry the show? All check, however, I see Nobu aspiring to greater heights and a larger scope than Basara. I’m not sure Nobu will make it, but I am certain the climb will be enjoyable and even the twitching corpse might be entertaining if the show falls before reaching its target. Nobu seems to fit into the category where anything actually deranged can be pawned off as just fitting with the general theme of madness the show had going.
True, hadnt thought of Sengoku Basara, but now that I do there are certain similarities between the series, although there also differences. As for Nobunaga the Fool, I dont think it will be a complete mess, or even a ‘glorious trainwreck’ in the same way that certain other series have been – not that I have any real evidence for that apart from past experience with series involving Kawamori. This first episode was a bit thick on the exposition and world building, but considering the sort of world we have been presented with I would argue that it was necessary. At the moment I just hope it will be the same brand of Kawamori madness that has always entertained me.