Nobunaga the Fool

Title:Nobunaga the Fool
ノブナガ・ザ・フール
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Satelight
HIKASA Yoko
MIYANO Mamoru
SUGITA Tomokazu
The planets of the East and the West were once connected by the Ama-no-Hashidate. The culture that built it was destroyed countless years ago, and the two planets have had separate histories ever since. On the Western planet, ancient culture is experiencing a renaissance after a long period of war. Jeanne Kaguya D'Arc, a girl from the Western Planet, was prophesied to be the Savior of the World at her birth. With Leonard Da Vinci, she lands on the Eastern Planet, where Nobunaga "the Fool" longs for the power to change the world, as his planet is still locked in a war where many heroes vie for supremacy. When these two people meet, the culture of both worlds will be transformed.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


Series premiered on January 5, 2014.
Animated by Satelight.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 9 8 8 5 6 6 Ggultra2764 [series:2831#1552]
Nobunaga the Fool is essentially an anachronism stew of notable historical figures of eastern and western lore from different time periods living on two separate planets with war slowly erupting between them as the western planet has their own heinous desires with the eastern planet unveiled throughout the course of the series. The series very loosely adapts elements to the historical personas of each character in the series with some of the major characters (particularly Jeanne and Nobunaga) gaining aspects of the historical character they are based off of while many of the Westerners don't get much to them beyond being archetypal evil characters per Japan's usual penchant of demonizing other countries in their works. Mecha, magic and elements of steampunk are also tossed into the mix as mecha serve as the main means of combat for the military in this series with powerful gems called Regalia that serve to amplify the abilities of a mecha and Leonardo Da Vinci milking use of fortunetelling to foretell upcoming events within the series.

The first half of the series sets up Nobunaga's rise to becoming the ruler of his clan and exploring the world of his planet as he gets into conflict with other clans, claims Regalia and hints are dropped over the lurking threat of the Western Planet's influence. This point of the series was solid in that it helped establish the backgrounds and problems facing the major characters of the series and the world of the Eastern Planet.

Unfortunately, the second half is where things start becoming a mess with the title's plot as many of the major Western Planet characters lack the depth and personality of the Eastern Planet ones and makes an attempt at trying to be an epic clash between the Western and Eastern sides yet comes across as more predictable thanks to its milking of action and mecha anime cliches. It also tries establishing an unconvincing love triangle with Nobunaga, Jeanne and Himiko that doesn't get much focus thanks to the plot's greater focus on the conflict between the Western and Eastern planets. Also, the ending of the series is rather awkward as details on aspects of character motives and prophecies are suddenly tossed into the series finale without any hints to their coming or earlier exploration of them.

Visually, the series is one of the better-quality titles I've seen for the year thus far with vivid scenery and a good amount of detail with scenery and character designs. The mecha used in the series are rendered in CG animation and move fluidly in action during heated battle scenes, though they stick out quite prominently compared to the regular animation.

Overall, I found Nobunaga the Fool to be a case of an anime that started off well for its first half, yet crashes and burns for its second half. What started off as solid character focus and plot buildup devolved into fairly typical territory that action/ mecha titles delve into and a subpar attempt at trying to be grandiose with later plot developments. Kind of regret having to go through the second half of this title.

Last updated Sunday, June 22 2014. Created Sunday, June 22 2014.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:2831#628]
(One episode watched):

Well, at least this wasn't another girls-as-Samurai-era-warlords show, as the title made me suspect. What exactly it was still escapes me, however; something about a link between Joan of Arc and a famous Japanese figure? But this seems to be taking place in an alternate universe, so are these really supposed to be the historical characters, or their alternate universe equivalents, or were the makers just too lazy to come up with names of their own? The use of Renaissance figures like Leonardo DaVinci and Magellan seems like the DaVinci Code ploy of invoking mysterious links to people of that era in hopes of stirring up interest; it kind of reminds me of Galilei Donna. There's a weird mix of Renaissance and futuristic technology. But it seems like much glitz and little substance, and confusing too. Perhaps if the characters had been interesting I wouldn't be complaining about the plot so much, but they weren't. Shallow characters are tossed at us with little development and we're supposed to accept them gladly, or perhaps concentrate on the action instead. But eh, I felt unexcited at the end. Why bother to make sense of all this if the characters are going to be two-dimensional? I guess I'm supposed to assume that Nobunaga and company are the good guys since they at least got a semblance of an introduction and didn't attack anyone. But somehow I just can't get into characters who aren't properly introduced. If they had just made a little small talk, maybe things would have been different.

Last updated Friday, January 24 2014. Created Wednesday, January 08 2014.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.nobunaga.tv/

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