Title: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings
Genre: Action, Historical, Super Power
Publisher: Production I.G.
Original Creator: Capcom
Director: Itsuro Kawasaki
Producer: Keiichi Nozaki
Series Composition: Yasuyuki Muto
Music Composer: Hiroyuki Sawano
Review copy provided by Funimation.
The thing about Sengoku Basara is that, looking at promo art, you’d think the show is simply a ridiculous romp through the Sengoku Period with bishies aplenty and some implied okay action. When you look past the ridiculousness, though, the anime actually has a decent story to tell with and endearing cast of characters who take themselves seriously. The show isn’t perfect by any means and sometimes betrays its video game background, but it’s entertaining and goes beyond bishies and flashy fights.
Thankfully, your understanding of the story doesn’t require any extensive knowledge about the generals or even the period itself since the bare minimum needed to understand the situation is given at the start of the series. Be forewarned, though, that if you’re not good with names (like me), most of the battles and places will probably go over your head a bit. That said, the main story is pretty simple. The first few episodes primarily focus on establishing the basic personalities of the main generals and their subordinates. Once that’s out of the way, the main plot centers around everyone uniting in order to bring down Oda Nobunaga, a man who’s generally perceived as evil to the core and not the preferred winner of battle for Japan. As you’d expect, the guys fighting for honor and justice eventually come out on top, ready to start battling each other for Japan once again.
I suppose the most disappointing aspect of the story is that despite its mix of fun and serious, I was never particularly invested in it. The main reason behind that is the sheer amount of stuff going on, some of it good, some of it so-so. Though the fights are entertaining, they were pretty shallow in the sense that there was never an overwhelming sense of excitement or danger until the Western weapons came out, and even then, near the end of the series, those didn’t count for much. The fights are so ridiculously overblown that they are often times simply pretty to watch. The lack of investment in the fights, I think, is a result of them feeling like video game fights with the overpowered weapons and bright flashes of light.
The quieter moments, where people sat around talking, are some of the most entertaining because of how revealing and representative they are of the ones talking. The gravity of the generals’ situation also comes across better in these moments and in the more intimate fights. You’d think the series wouldn’t do serious very well, but it actually does an okay job, especially when it comes to the talks on honor, justice, and whatever else the generals are passionate about. The romantic within also appreciated the smattering of romance mixed in with everything else because it often added a sweeter touch to the show.
Though the story has its ups and downs, the characters are the true lifeblood of the series. Each one is as colorful as his outfit and often comes across as larger than life. The one problem, I suppose that I have with them is that they never quite go beyond the set personality traits that you pick up on during the first few episodes. The two who probably develop the most are the youngins, Masamune Date and Takeda Shingen‘s loyal follower, Sanada Yukimura. Even then, their development is pretty minimal and mainly consists of them growing up a bit, learning what they really value, etc. That said, I didn’t mind the lack of growth in everyone else because of how fun all the personalities were.
I loved Yukimura with his honesty and enthusiasm when it came to his lord. Shingen was also admirable with his wisdom and truly larger than life personality. Uesugi Kenshin, the other mature general, with his quietness and sincerity (plus shipping potential with Kasuga) was another great character. And how can I forget the hotheaded Date with his horse decorated like a motorcycle and irregular, frequent use of Engrish? I loved everyone of these guys, ridiculous outfits and all. They were a tremendous joy to watch and easy to get behind, though, their flamboyant personalities made it hard feel anything more for them beyond mild fondness.
I also enjoyed watching some of less frequent side characters like Kasuga, Sasuke, and Keiji. Kasuga, when she wasn’t having her orgasmic reactions to Kenshin, was a relatively strong and competent character whose reactions were more interesting to watch than her fights. Sasuke was just fun to watch, especially when it came to his interactions with Kasuga and Yukimura. Keiji, though, is probably my favorite of the group because of his nice guy personality and desire to let people live out their lives together as they want.
Unfortunately, the characters that irked me the most were the bad guys because their malevolent nature was emphasized too much, and even when it wasn’t, as in the case of the kid archer, the characters couldn’t stand on their own. I understand that Oda is evil; there is no need to have him sitting in a throne room made of human skulls and constantly drink from a skull. He ultimatley felt like the final boss in a video game that isn’t as hard to defeat or as cunning as you had wanted. He’s a perfect example of how the over-the-top nature of the characters can sometimes work against them.
That said, I much prefer exaggerated personalities over under exaggerated ones like Ichi. She was probably the most useless character in the entire show which was annoying since all the other females that popped up were capable of holding their own in a fight. Sure it’s alluded to that she’s somewhat cunning, and she even manages to kill someone, but those are both cancelled out by her behavior throughout the show (crying and looking tortured) and her near instantaneous defeat by her brother. It’s a shame that the villains (and Ichi) couldn’t match up to the heroes they faced because that would have made the show stronger.
As for the animation, Sengoku Basara looks great. I love the character designs and think they move pretty well, especially when it counts. The animation changes (bolder lines, simplified designs, etc.) during some of the fights are okay most of the time, although some definitely looked better than others. I appreciated them, though, because they gave the fights more vibrancy. The one thing that bugged me a bit about the fights in terms of animation is how many of the major ones, especially those between Date and Yukimura, are reduced to quick, colored flashes through the sky.
All in all, Sengoku Basara was a fun watch. Though the anime is full of passion, I could never fully invest myself in the characters or story regardless of how amused I was by either. However, the charisma of the generals and the okay execution of more serious moments made the show more entertaining that I initially thought it would be. I’d recommend this show to those who want something quick but good to watch, unless your not a fan of action oriented shows, in which case you might want to stay away. The show isn’t mind-blowingly good, but it has its points; if you can get past the mediocre villains and overdone fight scenes, I think you’ll find a neat show whose cast compels you to keep coming back for more.