#nobucon

Oh damn, shit is getting really serious now. T_T) Micchi, why are you so tragic?! T_T) He's literally trying to call damnation on himself to save Saburou...

"I was just, uh, greeting the heavens!"

"And did you get a reply?"

"...No. There was... no reply."

The Oda siblings' scenes are always so bittersweet, Micchi clearly cares a lot for Ichi, but Ichi has no idea about anything, and the brother she loves is Saburou, not Micchi... STILL... waaahh.... T_T)

NobuCon chapter 106

I haven’t been recapping the recent chapters because I’m pretty much the only one who cares lol of lack of time/energy and because nothing particularly momentous happened. And technically nothing momentous happens in this chapter either, but there’s one little detail... Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve finally reached 1582.

aaaaaaahhhhhh...

Anyway, let’s go in order.

1. Kichou on the cover. Why is she so pretty.

2. The A part of the chapter is about Saburou arriving in Mikawa to see Ieyasu and discuss how they’re going to defeat the remnants of the Takeda clan. As usual he’s very happy to see Tadakatsu. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring Oicchan today...” “I don’t know why you’re apologizing.” “Yes, that is too bad...” “...”

Yasumasa trolling Tadakatsu with a straight face never gets old. :D

3. Stuff happens, mostly character banter, but the end of the segment has Tadakatsu and Yasumasa musing about how powerful Takeda Shingen was he defeated the Tokugawa forces way back at Mikatagahara). But, as Tadakatsu notes, Shingen is now dead. Yeah, Yasumasa adds -

“No matter how strong someone is, in the end we all die.”

And on this positive and optimistic note we step forward into... the fateful year of 1582.

aaahhhh....

4. It’s the new year, and Saburou is knackered as usual. So when Micchi arrives to offer his formal new year’s greetings, Saburou is quick to ask him to trade places. Micchi is like “...er, this is a bit sudden” but Saburou gives him puppy dog eyes and goes “Please? You just offered me your body and soul”...

And that’s all it takes. :D Micchi just loves Saburou too much.

Micchi gets a hug from Saburou, while Ranmaru looks on being all “aww, must be nice” :DDDD (no, he really says that)

5. Saburou tries to sneak out disguised as Micchi, but he runs into Kichou, who of course immediately clocks that it’s Saburou, and asks to go with him on a date. 

So they go, and have fun, and it’s cute. 

6. Yuki (now officially Saburou’s bodyguard) correctly guesses that 1. Kichou knows everything, including who is playing the role of Nobunaga while they’re running around in town, and who that person really is, and 2. that Saburou knows that Kichou knows. And everyone is OK with the situation. 

And so, the last year has started. There’s still some months until June, but I really, really can’t wait to see how the hell the Honnouji incident is going to happen, because right now I can’t even begin to imagine.

Just, that intro pic. GDI, Hidenaga.

*ahem*

So anyway, in the previous chapter Saburou was about to get assassinated while he was enjoying an onsen during a surprise visit to Hideyoshi. Yuki managed to stop the assassin, who revealed himself to be... 

“’That’...? What do you mean?” “I mean, are you that Ishikawa Goemon?!”

And yes, it is Ishikawa Goemon, whose name is completely unknown to everyone but the star-struck Saburou. Not that Saburou knows why Goemon is famous, mind, but still, 

“He’s all over anime and games and other media! Wow, I had no idea he really existed. Not to mention he lived in the same age as Nobunaga! What a surprise!

Goemon is like “..okay, Nobunaga is seriously weird” and concludes that 1) he just can’t with this guy, and 2) he’s already failed, anyway. So he escapes, and Saburou tells his men not to kill him, because “something tells me he shouldn’t die at this time.”

(He shouldn’t, indeed. While fleeing Goemon runs into Hideyoshi, who is hurrying to the scene as this is all happening on his land. They verbally spar about how assassination should be done with conviction, dammit. Goemon, of course, will eventually die after a botched assassination attempt on the same Hideyoshi, and it’s kind of amusing to think that Hideyoshi’s grudge over this incident and his personal dislike of Goemon might be behind the extreme cruelty of that execution.)

Because oh, Hideyoshi is really, really frustrated, partly because the assassination attempt on Nobunaga happened on his territory making him seem suspicious, and partly because it was unsuccessful. He’s also trying to figure out who sent the assassin. 1) The Mouri? Nah, they have good ninja, they wouldn’t send some weirdo who half-asses the job. 2) Maybe it was Hidenaga going behind his back again?

“This is terrible! That I was not here to witness such an amusing incident... How deeply disappointing!!”

OK, so it wasn’t Hidenaga. And the next most obvious culprit is... 

3) The shougun. Of course it was the shougun, who just has to keep meddling and screwing up. Hidenaga offers go and tell the shougun that if he wants to kill Nobunaga he should do it right and also not on Hideyoshi’s land. Hideyoshi tells him to get the fuck out. 

And so, we cross into the new year, and HOLY SHIT it’s Tenshou 9! 1581!! 

The new year finds Saburou in Kyoto, taking up residence in Honnouji, as he promised he would. Unsurprisingly, Mitsuhide is really unhappy about this.

“Stop with the sighing, Micchi. Look, I’m just doing my best trying to live Nobunaga’s life until the end.”

But that is exactly Micchi’s problem. Is this really what Saburou wants? To die as Nobunaga? 

No, says Saburou. I’m leaving the rest to the heavens... and you.

“You will break my destiny, right?” “Yes... I swear I will. Saburou, I won’t let you die at Honnouji.”

(´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

The intro page of chapter 94. The caption says “trust and bond” (信頼と絆).

AAAAAAAAAHHHH. What a chapter to close the year with!

1. So, we pick up where we left off in chapter 93, with Kichou noting that Micchi reminds her of the man Nobunaga used to be. Akechi-dono might not know, says Kichou carefully, but when she married Nobunaga he was very weak and sickly, coughed a lot, and he didn’t let her close to him….

And then one day it was like he suddenly became a completely different person.

Come to think of it, Akechi-dono too, has the same illness, and she’s seen him having a painful coughing fit just like…  And just as Micchi opens his mouth to say whatever, Kichou just goes for it.

“Let me ask one thing. The Oda Nobunaga-sama I married… is it you?”

2. And Micchi, my dear, sweet Micchi, takes a deep breath, looks her in the eye and says:

“I know nothing about this. I know nothing about you. And you, too… know nothing about me.”

And Kichou, who understands fully well what this actually means, nods. 

“Indeed… My life at the Oda clan… as Oda Nobunaga’s wife… started when he took me on a date. That’s when it all started.”

“It doesn’t involve you at all… Akechi-dono.”

Aaaaaaaaaaahhh…!!!

And this is it, no? This is pretty much it. This was the last tie he had to his past as Oda Nobunaga, and he just cut it. 

This was so. good. Micchi is awesome. Kichou is awesome. This whole scene is great, and it’s so sweet and quiet, befitting these two, and so bittersweet (despite being overall positive).

“As you say, madam.”

3. AND IT’S NOT OVER YET!

Saburou & Co. come home, and Micchi once again has to wait until Saburou makes himself presentable. Micchi muses about how the world would be a very different place now if he had stayed Oda Nobunaga, and Yuki, who overhears it, asks if he feels any regret. Micchi says no - under him the Oda clan would have been destroyed or taken over by other clans a long time ago.

Yuki asks Micchi if he knows who Saburou is - where he came from, where he was born, why did he appear before Nobunaga… who the hell is he, really? And Micchi goes, well, actually I’ve no idea about most of that, all I know is…

“Saburou came from somewhere far away. Very far away.” “From beyond the ocean?” “Further still. Much further.”

“He came from a place so far away it is beyond our imagination.” “It’s as if he’s not from this world…” “…”

…Huh. We’ve already seen Micchi thinking of Saburou in vaguely divine terms, but that was before he learned that he was actually from the future. Now I wonder how he actually parsed that information. Sure, technically Saburou is from a different world, kind of, but… Here Micchi doesn’t tell Yuki about the “from the future” part, seemingly content to lead Yuki to believe that Saburou is some sort of a supernatural being, but maybe it’s because he, too, thinks that? Being from the 16th century he probably has no real concept of time travel, after all.

4. Yuki kind of leaves this at that, and mentions that it’s kind of weird that technically Micchi is Ichi’s brother. In yet another bittersweet turn Micchi notes that Ichi doesn’t remember him at all - for him her older brother has always been Saburou. 

Then Saburou comes back and they banter a little before getting down to business.

Meanwhile, in the south…

5. Ashikaga Yoshiaki is still at it, lol. The Mouri pretty much told him to go fuck himself, so apparently he decided that if he wants revenge on Nobunaga he’s got to take matters into his own hands. So he decides to buy a ninja. The other guy is like, “uh, kubou-sama, I’m just a merchant? I’m not dealing in assassins?” but Yoshiaki is relentless, so he recalls that he had just heard of a thief who used to be a ninja. For Yoshiaki this is good enough and he orders the merchant to bring the man to him.

And so, a new character appears, heading north toward Azuchi, and being very interested in Nobunaga… just to come across the actual Nobunaga as he happens to be riding by.

Well, it was worth waiting a month for this chapter! It has not one but two holy shit moments in the B part, and some pretty nice scenes in the A part as well. Let’s see...

1. So we have Saburou, Ichi, Tsune-chan, Toshiie and Yuki visiting Owari for a nostalgia trip to the Oda home turf. They end up talking about seas, Saburou name-drops the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, and then at Ichi’s prompting he lists some more that the others have never heard about, and it ends in a geography lesson about Italy and other western countries, which are... like... somewhere over there. 

Toshiie and Tsune-chan get pretty fired up and decide that after taking over Japan they should go and conquer the rest of the world, while Saburou is like “uh, guys, I don’t remember Nobunaga taking over the world, so let’s not.” 

2. Apparently now it’s Toshiie’s turn to make his love confession to Saburou. Saburou tells him to just calm the fuck down and go back to his post, but he’s having none of it.

“Your lordship! I am forever your dog!”

(Because “Inuchiyo”, you see.) (Also, one helping of Mirage of Blaze flashbacks coming up!)

Saburou doesn’t budge, though, and after some pep talk from him Toshiie gets over his separation anxiety and announces that he’ll work hard to make him proud and whatnot. Yay.

By the way in this scene Saburou acts almost out of character - like one would expect “Oda Nobunaga” to act. He’s been showing signs of having developed such a side to his personality for a while, and in this scene he was really the sort of genuinely inspiring, insightful leader that Nobunaga is supposed to be.

3. Yuki is wondering about just who the hell Saburou is and where he came from, when Ichi strikes up a conversation and asks her to protect her brother, because he’s all that she holds dear. Yuki is like...

“But Oichi-sama, don’t you have three daughters?” “Their lives are theirs. They should live as they please, it’s none of my concern.”

Yuki’s face is like “...okay.” But she promises to protect Saburou.

Meanwhile, in Azuchi...

4. Mitsuhide comes to visit, but Ranmaru informs him that the boss is out. They talk a bit about how Ranmaru completely understands Toshiie’s feelings.

“You all feel very strongly about his lordship...” “You do too, right, Akechi-dono?” “In my case, though... he tells me it’s ‘heavy’.”

D’aww. Poor Micchi, he just loves Saburou too much.

5. Ranmaru sits Micchi down in a waiting room and brings him a box of konpeito. Thinking he’s alone, Micchi removes his mask, and it’s right then that Gou comes barging in, playing hide-and-seek with her sisters.

Gou of course thinks it’s Nobunaga who is not supposed to be at home. Micchi plays along and asks her not to tell anyone he’s here. He tries to bribe her with konpeito, all in vain, because Gou steps out and the first person she tells that her uncle is back is... Kichou.

"When did you come back?”

Micchi’s face is priceless. :D

6. Kichou immediately notices that something is off, so she calmly closes the door, sits down next to Micchi, listens to him trying to come up with some lame excuse as to why the lord of the castle is here sitting in a waiting room when he’s supposed to be way over in Owari, and finally she takes pity on him and tells him that she knows he’s Akechi Mitsuhide.

And this is so lovely, from start to finish. Micchi and Kichou are such a great pair with great chemistry (not in a romantic sense, but they’re both so ~fuwari~ that I swear I keep seeing stereotypical shoujo manga bubbles every time they share a scene). Kichou calmly and gently explaining that she’s been having this hunch for a long time now while Micchi looks on in defeat, is just adorable and I want to hug both of them.

7. Kichou notes the remarkable degree of similarity between Mitsuhide and Nobunaga, and wonders if it’s just a coincidence or if they’re actually related. Micchi assures her that it’s just a coincidence.

“It’s just a coincidence... It surprised me as well. That said, I can’t see my own face so I can’t tell the true extent of it...  Do we really look so similar? Even to you, his wife?”

And Kichou drops the second bomb:

“Yes, you do. You two look the same. However, your expressions and bearings are different.  You...

You closely resemble to how he used to be.”

...

...

...

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT A MONTH FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER?!

I just remembered that NobuCon is on hiatus this month, and now I’m sad because I was looking forward to it so much. It’s always a bright spot in my month and this time I would have really needed it... So I’ll just write about chapters 91 and 92 (not that anyone cares, lol). They’re not very momentuous on their own so I was waiting for 93 for a write-up/review, but oh well.

Generally I’m getting the feeling that the manga is finally making its turn into its endgame stage. Saburou’s age is referenced more often (even if it still doesn’t show, lol), and the past handful of chapters have had a sort of nostalgic/wistful tone - never mind the fact that Saburou is preparing for his own death. Gah.

Chapter 91

Team Oda has a day off playing in the snow, Kichou is starting to notice things, or rather, starting to react more strongly to the things she notices. 

“Things like this, that none of us have seen before... I wonder when and how he got to know them.” “Eh?”

“Well, he’s visited many places... and the Christians taught him a lot about their ways... And maybe he thought some of them up himself.” “Yes... you may be right. But still...”

“I wonder why, at times, he feels so far away.”

WAAAAH. orz

In the meantime Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Ankokuji Ekei discuss the situation - Yoshiaki is eager to destroy Nobunaga, but Ekei shuts him down, saying that unlike Yoshiaki who has nothing to lose anymore, the Mouri must be careful. They’re not about to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Yoshiaki’s revenge.

Also, Mitsunari is now completely a Hideyoshi fanboy, calling him beautiful. :D;; Oh Mitsunari, this is where you always end up, isn’t it.

Chapter 92

This time we get a flashback of Ekei and Mouri Takakage (uncle of the Mouri lord, Terumoto) discussing what to do with Nobunaga. There’s a lovely monologue where Takakage reflects on the changing times, and how Oda Nobunaga changed everything. With his strong drive to unite the country under his rule he’s brought about the end of the warring era, while the old guard - Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, Mouri Motonari - have all died. 

Takakage says he wouldn’t recommend his lord Terumoto to strive to unite and rule the country.

“Terumoto-sama is young, but he doesn’t lack talent. Still, there’s a difference, compared to Nobunaga. A minor daimyou in Owari who set his aim on ruling the country, and in just one lifetime achieved so much... Nobunaga is on a completely different level.”

Takakage concludes that as the times change the Mouri have to change as well. Back in the present Yoshiaki is not impressed, and he’d rather assassinate Nobunaga, except he has no assassins so tough luck. :D

In Azuchi, Hideyoshi is doing his best to regain Nobunaga’s trust... but at the same time he’s convinced that Nobunaga is in on his ambitions (which is true insofar as Saburou very much seems to expect Hideyoshi to turn on him, but he’s pretty nonchalant about it) and is making preparations to move against him. Hideyoshi concludes that this is a war - a war between him and Nobunaga. 

Later, Saburou sends Tsune-chan to take over the governance of Settsu, and on this note Tsune-chan and Toshiie get nostalgic and reflect on how the clan has grown - they used to be so close to Nobunaga but now they’re all far apart. 

“Back then...we were always next to you, fighting together... To think that now I spend so much time away from you...”

So Saburou decides to have a nostalgia trip with the whole gang back to where it all started - Owari.

Also, he outs Yuki to everyone. *facepalm*

.......

So like, I’m reading the chapter, innocently thinking it’ll be one of those breather chapters with mostly character banter and no real plot development. I mean, we have:

1. Takenaka Shigenori arriving at Hideyoshi’s camp as Hanbee’s replacement, and having to deal with Hidenaga being a dick and Mitsunari being... well, also a dick. :D;; Just a less malicious one. Also, gdi Saburou, THIS HAPPENS WHEN YOU INTRODUCE MODERN WORDS IN THE SENGOKU PERIOD.

Congrats Shigenori, you’re officially part of the Sengoku Bro-Con Club.

2. Saburou visiting Tsune-chan who is currently leading the siege of Arioka Castle. The younger Mori brothers in his retinue finally meet Nagayoshi. As usual, Nagayoshi and Ranmaru proceed to be dicks to each other.

And so on, there’s a little timeskip to 1579 October, and I’m sitting here lulled into a feeling of safety, when...

3. ...Saburou just casually mentions to Micchi and Hosokawa Fujitaka that he’s planning to make Honnouji his permanent Kyoto residence.

And then it all escalates from there. Because Micchi goes HEY NOW WAIT A FUCKING SECOND, Saburou is like “oh yes, there’s a thing called the ‘Honnouji incident’ lol, no big deal”, and then Micchi puts two and two together, and realizes...

“Saburou, don’t tell me... Are you planning to die in that Honnouji incident?”

. . .

Look, I expected this, but just seeing it spelled out like that kind of breaks my heart. 

Saburou is like “well it’s not that I want to die, I kinda have to because history? it’s complicated” and Micchi is not having a second of that, because he wants Saburou to live damn it, and he wants Saburou to want to live himself instead of being so fatalistic. And if it’s Nobunaga’s fate to die at Honnouji then he’s going to change that fate.

Saburou is kind of surprised that Micchi believes so much in his “prophecy” of Nobunaga’s death at Honnouji (of course he doesn’t know that Micchi knows that he’s from the future). And Micchi is just like...  

“I told you, I live only for you. What would I do if I didn’t believe you?” 

MICCHIIIIII----!!!

SABUROOOOOOOU----!!!

Just, the two of you.... ;_____; )

This is going to be really sad, isn’t it. ;_____; )

Three years to go...