Shocking! Encounter at Okehazama

This is for episode 2 of Sengoku Basara.

This episode continues after the attack from Hojo's army against Takeda's thank to the intervention of Date. Yukimura is set to follow Date and get the head of Yoshimoto Imagawa before he does. Killing Imagawa would represent the conquer of his fief (territory) and thus expand the general's power.

In this episode we get a closer look at why the events of Kawanakajima ended without a battle. Uesugi explains that both him and Takeda decided not to fight for Date's involvement would have resulted in more casualties tahn they expected.

We also get a better look at Kasuga, the spy for Uesugi. All the thought that she presents during the chapter are related to his general and she gets an energetic reaction (to put it in a softer way) to the touch and kind words that he gives to her. This implies a deep emotional connection to Uesugi.

When Date and Yukimura finally meet at Okehazama, their fight is portrayed with a different animation style. As much as I would like to give a prominent explanation to this, I can't accurately point a reason for this decision.

Takeda faces Hojo Ujimasa at his castle. Here Takeda shows his great prowess by a series of stunts (one of my personal favorite parts of the whole anime is when he climbs the wall riding the two horses). He is ultimately faced with the famous assassin Kotaro Fuma which he manages to defeat with relative ease exemplifying his might as a general over that of any legendary assassin. He finally ends up fighting Hojo who calls forth his ancestors to aid him in the battle. Takeda in a swift move was able to defeat Hojo proving how a good general, one that is prepared to fight for his soldiers, can defeat any opponent no matter his upbringing.

Back at Okehazama, Imagawa uses some body doubles to flee from the scene, thus demonstrating that even the generals in the Sengoku era were not only courage and strenght but also fear and weakness like any other human being. Yukimura, Date and Kojuro each follow one of carriages that escape the scene. Here we are introduced to Nobunaga Oda's 3 retainers (names are not introduced yet). Each one of them gets to the carriage first and kill the impostors, except for the one that actually found Imagawa who just injures him and takes him to Nobunaga.

Date arrives to the scenen where Nobunaga is standing at the top of a ledge, and freezed at the sight of him. A storm is revolving around him and his eyes are a deep shade of red. This represents the pure evil and torment that he carries with him. Moments later Kojuro and Yukimura, now assisted by Sasuke, arrive at the scene. All but Yukimura stare with awe at the power that emerges from Nobunaga. Yukimura starts ranting at Nobunaga which is a simbol of how naive and strong willed Yukimura really is and how he won't let anything stop him. After Yukimura is asked to be silent by his partners, Nobunaga shoots Imagawa and thus claims the fief in front of Date and Takeda's retainer Yukimura.

Blue Crimson! A Meeting of Fate

So, let's start with episode 1 of Sengoku Basara.

In this episode they introduce us to the leaders of some of the different regions that are residing in Japan at that period. This is important as it establishes which will be the participating characters in the story to come.

The anime starts with Date's flaring engrish (wich I personaly love and enjoy). This represents the influence that the Western countries had on Date's life. We are later presented with the first main rivalry in the series, the Takeda clan leaded by Shingen Takeda and the Uesugi clan with Kenshin Uesugi. This two characters meet at the battle of Kawanakajima, one of the most important battles in the Sengoku era. They both are presented as great insightfull leaders and respectfull of each other. This battle, in the anime, is interrupted by a second one that was being fought at a mountain nearby. This one consisted of Yukimura Sanada against his recently met rival, Masamune Date. This battle erupted after Date was planning to attack Uesugi at the mountain top but Takeda foresaw this move and sent Yukimura to stop him, not taht he told him what his mission was. This battle shows the spirit of both characters and how meeting each other makes them give their best and grow. Yukimura and his steel will faces the playfull yet powerfull Date. This battle is interrupted by the head of the Takeda's spy squad, Sasuke Sarutobi and Katakura Kojuro, Date's right hand. Kojuro represents the perspective that Date is missing, especially when it comes to strategy. This battle leaves both contendants with a strong impression of each other and the will to meet and face again.

As the episode comes to an end we can also appreciate the kind of relationship that Yukimura has with his general Takeda. This comes as unbreakable loyalty and admiration from part of Yukimura. However Takeda seems to have more plans for Yukimura than just being his follower, since he keeps instructing him (nothing better than a punch to face to correct his errors) and encouraging him to be a better man to one day become a general himself.

The episode ends with Date using Takeda's tactics to lead him into trouble and at the same time annoying Yukimura a bit more.

On a side note, I had forgotten how great the OP song was ^^.

Getting started!!

Hello!!

I have finally decided on an anime to start watching to get this thing going. The lucky chosen anime will be Sengoku Basara. This anime narrates the story of Japan at the Sengoku era (with a lot of creative permits) mainly through the perspective of Yukimura Sanada, a loyal follower of Singen Takeda "the Tiger of Kai", and of Masamune Date "The One-Eyed Dragon", a young man decided to rule all japan.

I chose this anime to start mainly because it is a short anime (just 12 episodes) and I have already seen it before (it is always easier to get a better analysis after a seconf view).

I will be posting analysis of chapter 1 by tomorrow.