Nobunaga the Fool
Nobunaga is back from the great beyond! And he’s as foolish as ever.
Naru: …Unsuccessful joke aside, this was the first time that I’ve tried out an anime with historical figure Nobunaga as a character, which I’ve noticed has become some sort of trend in the anime industry (and also video game industry) for a reason I ignore.
Instead of following the adventures of a moe Nobunaga in the Sengoku era like the last adaptation I have heard of, this time we’ll be following a hot-headed and impulsive daimyo (lord)– and this is not far off from how the real Nobunaga was – who seemingly enjoys putting him and his two trusty comrades in dangerous situations.
However compared to other Nobunaga anime, in Nobunaga the Fool European historical figures join in such as Da Vinci and the girl which quirked people’s curiosity to try out this anime, Jeanne Kaguya d’Arc.
Freaking Jeanne Kaguya d’Arc. I’m offended as a French person
Yeah. I don’t know what they were going for.
I admit that the reason why I went and viewed Nobunaga the Fool was mainly to take a peek at how they adapted the female warrior who had led troupes of men into battle to push the English away from France in the Middle Ages. Before watching, I was hoping that Jeanne would be a kick-arse and impressive character, but the first impression I got from her after finishing the episode was…not bad, but not good either. Not of what she’s done, since nothing memorable happened in the first episode, but the personality she was given. She was shown as fragile, uncertain, and that wasn’t what I wanted to see from her. Especially in an anime where she might be the only relevant female character.
I can’t say the same from Nobunaga and his friends (like the one guy who suspiciously looks like Yamato from Sukitte ii na yo) since I sadly don’t know much about his real self apart from what I’ve learned in Japanese history class, but then again, I didn’t have any expectations regarding him and the others.
Regarding the story, we’ve learned so far that there are two planets: one called the Planet of the West, which I believe is highly inspired by Europe back when there were kings and queens, and the Planet of the East, where we have Nobunaga with dragons and robots fighting against other daimyos for territories.
In the Planet of the West, demon-possessed Jeanne Kaguya d’Arc (will we ever learn why she is also called Kaguya) can not only can hear voices, but also has visions of a Messiah who will one day save the planets and restore peace. Kudos to whoever guesses right about the Messiah And with the help of Da Vinci, she travels to the Planet of the East to find said Messiah and help him in his mission.
For such a crazy plot, the first episode of Nobunaga the Fool was rather difficult to understand (or hard to get over the fact that there were dragons and robots) and as I have mentioned earlier, and nothing note-worthy happened until the very end.
For the moment, I’m not sure if I’ll be interested enough to see more of the hot mess this anime might turn out to be. Guess I’ll have until next week to make up my mind.
D-Frag!
AnimeEmily: Truth be told, the first time I watched the episode, I wasn’t really impressed and was prepared to write the show off and move on. However, the more I thought about it and after watching most of the episode again, D-Frag! kind of grew on me. It’s not a great comedy, but it managed to keep me amused with a cast that was surprisingly fun to watch.
The story, as many of these comedies do, centers around a guy getting roped into joining a club of eccentrics and running around doing silly stuff with them. For this particular comedy, Kenji Kazama is forced to join the Game Creation club by its oddball members, Chitose, Sakura, Minami and Roka. Over the course of the episode, Kenji, who easily fits in among his future friends, finds the members aren’t as bad as he initially thought and that he doesn’t mind being a part of the club.
Admittedly, the moments that I enjoyed the most in the episode where those that played on the characters’ eccentricities the most. The girls’ “elemental” powers were surprisingly funny, especially Roka’s moe/darkness element. I also liked the skit near the end of the episode since Aturo was so weird and the “conflict” itself was ridiculous. As a lead, Kenji was pretty fun and he really grew on me over the course of the episode. As for the girls, they were entertaining enough, with Roka being my favorite thus far, although I suspect the majority will turn out to be relatively fun characters in their own ways. The only ones I didn’t care two much for are Kenji’s friends (minus Aturo) and I wouldn’t be too heartbroken if they showed up less.
On the animation side of things, D-Frag! looks okay. The worst part of it is probably the CGI which sticks out like an ugly sore thumb. The character designs are alright, although they move a bit awkwardly at times. Sound-wise, most of it was relatively forgettable.
All things considered, D-Frag!‘s first episode actually wasn’t too bad. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Cuticle Detective Inaba which I sort of liked back when it aired. Though I”ll be giving it at least another couple of episodes for the eccentric characters alone, I can’t quite recommend it to others. I suppose if you’re curious about the show, check out it, but other than that, I can’t really say it’s a must watch.
