Nobunagun

Aired: 2014

Anyway, here’s a fun nobunagun fanart/oc thingamajig that I may or may not have had since I watched the anime those years ago; the colors were surprisingly fun to play around w/.

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Inheritor of William Wallace’s E-gene, Will is at a cross roads; stuck between the raging call for independence from his emerging memories of the notorious freedom fighter, dogoo’s expectations for him to be an obedient soldier in this strange war, and the peaceful protestor against violence that he once was.

Spoilers for Nobunagun

Content Warning: Discussion of sexual harassment and assault

You never know when a series you watch on a whim will turn out to be one of your favorites. That’s how I discovered Nobunagun: I just plopped it onto my Crunchyroll queue after seeing my favorite voice actress, Asakawa Yuu, tweeting about it.

The plot of this 2014 science fiction series is as generic as it gets: super-powered reincarnations of famous historical figures known as “e-gene holders” save the world from aliens called “Evolutionary Invasion Objects” (EIO) by using “AU weapons” created from the genetic material of their former lives. Ogura Sio discovers that she is the e-gene holder of everybody’s favorite warlord, Nobunaga Oda, after the EIOs attack her class trip to Taiwan and she taps into Nobunaga’s powers. Shortly after, she’s discovered by DOGOO, a secret organization of e-gene holders that fights the EIOs.

Funnily enough, I wasn’t immediately enamored with Nobunagun, even though it does contain many elements I enjoy: a female lead, flashy fight scenes, cool superpowers and historical figures. Still, many of the early story beats felt average and fairly predictable, save for a wonderful heart-to-heart scene in the second episode where Sio opens up to her friend Asao Kaoru about her very real, relatable fears about suddenly becoming someone else for the sake of a cause she doesn’t fully understand. It isn’t until she finally begins to interact with her fellow e-gene holders and grow into her newfound role that the show really took off for me, as it really allowed Sio to shine as herself.

Annon-Guy: This is the opening to Nobunagun.