So unsuspectingly I sat down to watch something before I go to sleep. What
happened in the end is what you are reading this moment. I decided to watch
this new Sengoku-themed anime I have been hearing about here and there.
Sengoku is nothing new. It is a common theme, frequently encountered and often
poorly applied. Watching the opening, with all sorts of supposedly cool things
happening, a terrifying fear manifested itself within my heart: ‘Is this going
to be something like Samurai Champloo?’ And indeed, one could argue that there
is a similarity, only Sengoku Basara is anything but lame.
Sengoku Basara Anime Review
I highly doubt any proper anime fan out there would be oblivious of the
Sengoku era. Its popularity is second only to that of the Meiji Restoration.
So, as I said, the story takes place in the Warring States period. Most
characters are caricatures of actual personages. Most notable are Date
Masamune (伊達政宗) (otherwise known as the One Eyed Dragon - Dokuganryuu ), Sanada Yukimura , Takeda Shingen (武田信玄 ) and Uesugi Kenshin.
There
are various other figures as well. The reader can quite easily look up the
characters appearing in the game (And probably in the anime as well. I have
not played the game, but I assume there is a resemblance, as is usually the
case) on wikipedia.4 Let it suffice that total war is waging all across Japan
for its control. The country is divided into smaller factions, each led by its
respective daimyou5, war is part of the every days.
The story begins with the chance meeting of Yukimura a member of Shingen’s
army and Masamune, while both armies are headed to war. A fight between the
two, Yukimura and Masamune immediately commences, which ends in a draw.
The
first episode is sort of warm up, the story is drawn up, the main characters
introduced, nothing out of the ordinary. The second episode however is quite
honestly made of a material often referred to as ‘win’. For a certainty, if
‘win’ had an industry, there would be a ‘win mine’ in Sengoku Basara. The
manliness in the second episode is probably breaking a number of records,
although Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann still stands unchallenged, but for how
long?.
The last time such manliness had existed on the face of the earth was
when Kittan sacrificed himself, and before that when the first caveman decided
that animal fur would go well with the axe hanging by side, but let us return
to the story.
Masamune makes his appearance, mounted upon his mighty dark
steed, equipped with a handlebar and two exhausts (probably both crafted using
pure, tempered win), and proceeds to obliterate part of an army en masse. But
Yukimura soon shows up to settle the score, what follows is akin to the Big
Bang, only ‘∞ x ∞’ times bigger…
In the atmospheric fight, the laws of nature are bent while reality is slowly
fading away. The primal force with which Masamune and Yukimura are fighting
transforms all matter surrounding our heroes into testosterone. Yes, indeed,
testosterone. But the transformation into testosterone is not everything. As
the two heroes are invoking the energies of the cosmic chaos, the masculinity
overflows and their particles begin to break down into what the NASA refers to
with dread and immeasurable fear as ‘pure manliness’.
Finally, Oda Nobunaga is introduced, with his lackeys at his side, yielding a
gun and looking generally pissed. Now Nobunaga best show something flashy
soon, because an angry glare surely won’t convince me that he’s tougher than
Masamune, or even Yukimaru, who, let us admit is inferior to Masamune in every
regard.
Let me put it this way: Masamune is about as metal as Ronnie James
Dio, but in addition he is one-eyed, wears an eyepatch and has a steed with a
handlebar and two exhausts. Oh yes, he also has infinite advantage of not
ending almost every sentence in gozaru, or a variant, as does Yukimaru.
I am very unfair, I know, but my guess is that anyone would agree with me
here, that while Yukimaru is far cooler than the average anime character, but
unfortunately for him, Masamune’s manliness is so excessive that even Manowar
would, without hesitation, invite him, even if it meant incorporating shamisen
into their music.
While overshadowed by the general coolness of the characters, thee music is
not actually bad. Lukewarm soft rock for the opening, and similarly lukewarm
themes throughout. There is one exception, what appears to be Nobunaga’s
theme. That track is pretty well done, and is actually quite enjoyable.
I simply can’t say any more about the graphics. The design definitely has
style, loads of it. It is not only the infinite coolness that boosts the
style. The animation is generally smooth and rich. The quick movements, such
as the lightning attacks of some characters especially are well done, with
style. They had special regard to the battles, which are very enjoyable, in
other words, loads of people die bloody deaths very quickly.
The final verdict is in favour of Sengoku Basara. I don’t know if the notion
of ‘not Death Note’ has an epitome, but if it does, it is probably Sengoku
Basara, where anything less than macho either dies or has luscious figure,
huge tits, like really huge tits.
Do I recommend it?: Ain’t it obvious?
Sengoku Basara (Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings) | |
| Genre | Action |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 12 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Apr 2, 2009 to Jun 18, 2009 |
| Producers | Dentsu, Shochiku, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Movic, flying DOG |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Rating | PG-13 - Teens 13 or older |
| Themes | Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai, Super Power |
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