It’s been a long time comin’

I was hyped for this show back in Summer 2012, for, well, no reason whatsoever, other than how the art style piqued my interest somewhat (props to Madhouse Studios for them awesome character designs). Heck, let’s also add the textbook “boy-meets-girl”-esque adventure as I think of myself a fan of that. I wasn’t particularly looking for anything I wouldn’t find in the multitude of Zero no Tsakaima’s and Shakugan no Shana’s already around. So do forgive me for finding something I didn’t even expect to come across – engagement.

Kekkon?~ No, no. What I mean is that Oda Nobuna became, to me at least, a show that got me watching throughout. Largely in part, to my own surprise, to the dialogue present within the series. I don’t think I’m lying when I say that this series’ strong suit is in the way
the characters deliver their lines. A paragraph and a half in and you may as well call me
prejudiced; and I honestly was going in to it. It’s just a sengoku jidai ecchi harem rom-
com with some action, right?

Half-right. At it’s core, it really is a sengoku jidai ecchi harem rom-com with some
action. At the least however, it’s not just that. Leaving the dialogue aspect for later,
another area where Oda Nobuna shines is it’s stable male lead Sagara Yoshiharu. Likeable, good enough at what he does, and most importantly, not totally transparent. A character that actually has character most of the time.

I wish I could say the same for a number of characters in the series, but for what it’s
worth; the main Oda cast were solid enough to warrant being remembered. I guess it’s
supposed to help that they are all moe genderbenders of real historical Japanese figures
(though it wasn’t the case on my end as I only do remember a name or two). I’m sure sengoku jidai fans at the very least appreciate their effort in that aspect.

That said, I wish even more that they (and by they, I mean MadHouse primarily) had put a little more effort for the second-string characters. Setting aside the still historically relevant auxiliary harem (kemonomimi Ieyasu and ojou-sama Imagawa). I don’t even remember the names of the main villains that appear in the second half. I don’t think they are characters that have significant depth or anything of the sort (and for all I know, they too could be
historically significant in one way or another), but not giving them that extra treatment
as a character cost the show, in my opinion, a bit more drive power in its arcs.

Maybe I expected to much in that area (and for all I know, that’s how the light novels
handled them). All’s Nobuna signed up for is to beat the leaving hell out of ’em – and
there in lies MadHouse’s zeal. Very very nice swordplay and fight animation all around.
There’s the occasional CG horse animation, but everything else is splendidly conistent; and I’d rather consistency over unintentional erraticism (*cough* JC Staff *cough* *cough*) in terms of animation.

And with the talk of consistency, we now segue back around to the show’s dialogue. I’m a
huge sucker for well-delivered one liners and talk-downs, and Oda Nobuna is chock full of
’em. If they’re direct grabs from the source novel then huge props to author Mikage Kasuga, and to the production as well for actually putting that stuff in. Even the comedy is
actually pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, the writing itself is no NisiOisiN or Urobuchi
Gen; but it is something. If anything, it’s more than what you get from a harem cliche.
That much I can guarantee.

So yeah, Oda Nobuna no Yabou was a fun experience. Not perfect, and very likely not
everyone’s cup of tea. I can only ask people to try it if they haven’t because, well, I
feel this show gets set-aside too much than it should be; and I just want to give it a
fighting chance.