(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but 0-2 episodes per week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)
I usually try to not post these here unless I think I said something that is non-obvious, but this episode had just been so much fun, that I hope this write-up will convince everyone to give this show a try!
Well, I’ve certainly been excited by last episode, and this one is going to start with us ass-kicking some alien scum, while soon we’ll meet with Newton and Gandhi, what could be more fun than some maniac action, and interesting direction? Let’s dive into this.
Thoughts and Notes:
1) A Study of (Visual) Motifs:
- Red and blue are the stuff of nightmares.
- See? Madoka holes. Hee hee.
- “Evolutionary invasion objects”, is this a metaphor for sperms, with them coming out of an exploding larger mass? I kid, I kid :P Don’t shoot me, Ogura.
- Gandhi’s headgear is super dorky, the gun is so “geometric”, the “Suit” design leaves much to be desired, but since so much effort had actually been spent on this show, then let’s take a whirl here as well – the evolving alien invaders are sleek, they’re biological. Those luminaries reborn from ages past? They’re mechanized, they’re unnatural, they stick out like a sore thumb, from the pages of history. They are the barrier to stop the advancement of nature, just as they had been pulled from the march of time.
- Such magnificent ashes, such a beautiful remains. This show knows how to hit just the right spot with its visual direction.
- Data-man! This is actually pretty nice, as in many places news anchors aren’t allowed to have personalities, but are merely teleprompters mouthpieces. They are overwritten by the text.
- The Shaft/Mawaru Penguindrum level visual motifs are a nice thing. There is no escaping, this is like a theater, where the characters in the front are shadowed and sit unmoving as we see and hear a scene from the past, for instance.
2) A Theater fit for Butchers:
- Great face, great attitude! – “Protect her!” – “But I’m injured!” – “But, you’re still not just a “mere human, are you?” – Throwing his own dismissive lines back at him. You go girl.
- Go girl! Go, go! Monsters? I am Nobunagun!
- “Just do as I say!” – Well, she’s a military-leader, but she’s also a blood-thirsty maniac. Wait, no “but”, you follow the bloodthirsty maniac who’s the only one with offensive power. Do you want to get riddled with holes?
- I actually had a feeling she’ll use Newton to dampen the recoil, I just didn’t figure out how she’ll do it and still move the gun, heh. I thought too hard, obviously :>
- “If one gun isn’t enough, get two! If two aren’t enough, get three! Do not let any enemy pass you by!” – We’re now in Trigun-land! Heh, over the top Nobunaga, over the top mass slaughter, that is. Just because they’re monsters doesn’t make this any less… obscenely over the top, less of a massacre.
- When all a girl has eyes for is a crazy killer like Nobunaga, then you should be worried, especially when she not only sees him, but sees the world through his eyes, when he speaks through her. “Alien invaders”? How will you deal with this hero?
- “With contemporary common sense, we have no way of evaluating his battle-skill.” – That’s actually a very good line, along with a quote by Newton of all people “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Sometimes coming up with something new is hard, but afterwards it seems obvious, and many things we take now for granted hadn’t existed before. Mathematical geniuses, and yes, military geniuses, armed with modern knowledge, who knows what they could do – perhaps they wouldn’t be anything special, but if what they had was a sense, then with all the accumulated knowledge they lacked, they might tower even further above the men who surround them. Nobunaga will not fall again :P
- Ah, that beautiful ballet, as she vaulted through the air, killing dozens of enemies, turning them into mincemeat. Here is a gif of the beautiful slaughter, thanks to /u/IgorJay.
- When even Jack the Ripper is astonished by someone else smiling at the mayhem she unleashes, you know you’re dealing with someone who is more than slightly… unhinged.
- You know what this show is making me think of, and feel like? I want to laugh out loud as endless amounts of bullets are being fired. It’s making me feel like Apocalypse Now’s Ride of the Valkyries should be playing!
3) On Power and Helplessness, on Pressure…
- “Right now this world’s good intentions are gathered in this place, but whenever someone tries to help anyone else, they are crushed by their helplessness.” – Talk about a message of despair. This is very Kyubei of him, the common people can’t do anything, they can only die. It’s up to the superhuman, and perhaps inhuman E-Gene holders to save the day. How will Ogura be together with Asao? One is helpless, one is nothing, and the other is a maniac who brings forth death and destruction. So much for the world, with its “best intentions,” for they cannot do anything. I actually prefer it to have been “anyone”, to truly have a choice, but eh, it’ll do.
- “Of course, I won’t pressure you.” – After showing her how terrifying the Invasion Objects are, after telling her only the E-Gene holders can defend the world, after telling her she can turn her will into reality, and after she had experienced the highs of channeling Oda Nobunaga. He’s like Lestat, in Interview with the Vampire. I do not trust this bunny.
- So the leader of the resistance force thingy thinks of Ogura as being like herself, and the galactic soul-sucking bunny admits he’s being heavy-handed, because the need exists.
4)… and Conformity, and on Love:
- This scene is “important” – This is what will make Ogura take up the mantle of madness, the blades of the butcher, the weapons of the warlord – it is the person she’s in love with and will want to protect. Yes, show, I am wise to your ways!
- “I’ve always admired you for not conforming to everyone else.” – Well, there’s a teeny tiny bit of a problem here. Being a tad quirky/independent is one thing, until you start seeing everyone around you as a target for shooting practise :3
- Those enemy-classifications, the pacific ocean, very Pacific Rim, and yes, I thought of Pacific Rim the moment the HQ in the 1st episode talked of the “theater map”, heh. Everyone informs everyone else, and it’s good.
- Now they even brought forth “With great power comes great responsibility.” – They know and appreciate their sources, their contemporaries. This show is so much fun.
- Ooooh. “Everyone is just saying whatever,” and now the sad face after she said “You’re going, aren’t you?” which ties to the earlier, “I like how you don’t conform to everyone else.” – She just wants her to stay! This is love!
- Yes, this is a show where I’d say it’s legitimate to be scared you don’t even know who you are anymore, especially for Sio, with her oh-so heroic-spirit.
- Now, this is something I don’t like – “I killed all those monsters, I even threw my body on top of yours in a meaningless gesture, except that I’d die for you, but since I didn’t do everything on my own, I’m meaningless and didn’t save you!” – It’s like blaming someone who missed the last shot in basketball for losing the game, when the loss is shared by all those who missed shots during the game. Asao would’ve died if you hadn’t done all you’ve done up to that point. This is an annoying trope, but considering how often we see it in sports, for instance, I guess I can’t get too mad for it being false. In fact, I get annoyed due to how prevalent it is.
YES! YES! Thank you Asao-san! I could kiss you! Exactly so. I like it when characters speak sense in shows!
- Friends! I could’ve gone for a mental shot of her skipping in the air about now :)
- When you’re Oda Nobunaga, everyone else is but smoke and shadows, ashes and dust, ready to fall into the background, ready to be saved or killed, as the whim strikes you.
Misc:
- “Dogoo”. I’m sorry, it’s hard to take a group called “Dogoo” seriously. What awful branding :P
- Ok, so “Respect for the Dead Man!” is the OP, we’ll have to see what the ED is like. The art style of all the luminaries of ages past is a tad too blocky-cartoony in the OP, but OPs aren’t always indicative.
- ED – Yeah, it’s actually pretty annoying to me. Guess some people like this sort of electronic chiptune-esque music, I’m not one of them.
Post Episode Notes:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How else can you respond to a show that is so unabashedly proud of its over the top nature, of its action, that revels in the madness, and seems to do so ably, retaining more than a sense of fun? Fun and style ooze out of this show as blood oozes out of a corpse, as those biological invasion objects ooze out of the big monster after it had been slain!
We’ve also had us going through the steps here, with her coming to grips with her role, with finding a reason, aperson it’s worth fighting for.
The preview had me wonder, but it makes sense, now we have the training. I wonder how they’ll manage to keep the wild sense of fun this show has going for it. I also hope we won’t have too much fanservice that feels out of place. Well, we’ll see. Don’t fail me now Nobunagun, lest I unleash Oda Nobunaga upon you!
Return to the Nobunagun Episodic Notes page.
Geekorner-Geekulture. 
