#senbasa20th

Q16 : Favorite quote ?

"Huh--ho haHA ??? Howd'ja--uh ba--oOO ootah n-n-no no my lord ???? Ukduijj aaAAAA" - Sanada Yukimura

Sengoku Basara 30-Day Challenge

here's the sheet for the basara 30-day challenge!! i'll start at around the 20th to complete it right before the anniversary but feel free to do it whenever!

for the hashtag i'm thinking of #senbasa20th & #senbasa30day, but let me know if you have more interesting hashtag ideas lmao

Day 1: How did you discover Sengoku Basara?

I played Devil Kings a little during a party I was too young to be at in middle school. I cannot say I liked it, but I thought Shingen's design looked extremely cool. And after that I didn't look up anything about it until a few years later I stumbled upon an anime with familiar designs, and what can I say. Nobunaga's introduction blew my tits clean off. I was hooked.

Oh yeah and one more fucking thing: Oichi. Specifically this frame. You understand. (It's the thighs, the doomed by the narrative. The fridged husband. The strive to fight against your nature and do good despite despite despite. The sibling drama. But mostly the thighs.)

1000 years late but in honor of the 20th Anniversary, here’s select prompts for Senbasa!

(大人になる！)

1. How did you discover Sengoku Basara?

I remember when the anime was picked up by Funimation! I kept seeing it on their YouTube and was curious, so I gave it a go! It’s been with me since and the reason I became a history major in college!

2. Favorite Game?

So hard to choose, but I have to say SB2 Heroes and 3! Heroes gave me Kojuurou and Oichi, while 3 was my main introduction to the series as it’s the only one in English (we don’t talk about Devil Kings)

4. Favorite Character?

This is so hard! It’s a toss up between Oichi and Ieyasu currently, but this changes all the time? I can even answer the next question by saying I don’t think I hate anyone?? Some of them I know less due to lack of translations, but really I think it’s a super fun and likable cast!

Oichi is just the perfect example of someone with no control over her circumstances, to the point her own internalized trauma sends her down a path of destruction. She is broken over and over and really embodies that quote “men are judged by the pain they afflict, while women are judged by the pain they can endure”. The point of her character is that she has had fleating moments of happiness, but the impermanence of the Warring States doesn’t allow for it. It’s why I love the relationships she builds with characters like Tsuruhime and Ieyasu, whom genuinely care about her and want her to be better.

Ieyasu is polarizing and for good reason! He is, despite his own denial, an idealist that is run by his own self-righteousness. He cannot COMPREHEND that Mitsunari wouldn’t eventually join him, and is devastated when his friend dies angry with him. He says in 4 that his bonds might just be an excuse to take advantage of others’ ambitions for his own benefit, and I COULD NOT agree more. He is a man trying to push for a goal that will leave a trail of bodies in its wake, but he doesn’t want to admit it, even to himself. He chose to fight with his fists for “bonds” but also this means not only does he have to face people close up and in a particularly brutal fashion, but also destroy his own body in the process. I could go on forever about our Shogun, but yes!

6. Favorite character to play?

Oh, Saika. Followed VERY closely by Tsuruhime. I love me a woman with cool guns, and Tsuru’s ice skating is so cute! Third place is Matsu cause any game with animal summons has me by the throat

9. Favorite character theme?

That’s a tough one, but Hideaki’s! It’s so silly and lighthearted, and makes fighting him or as him very fun! Second place would be Tsuruhime or Oichi💕

11. Fav Army/Clan?

Oh god, probably the Toyotomi (even then I love so many). Mostly due to the fact they bleed into so many other factions, but I will always love the relationship between Hanbei and Hideyoshi. I’m weak for evil gays—

14. Favorite Stage?

Tsuruhime’s in 3! I love the ships and hearing all of her vassals talking about her! I also have a soft spot for Itsuki’s stage in 2(?), especially playing as Nou🥹

15. Favorite Ship?

Oooh Komasa. Lord-Retainer is a big love for me, and their relationship both in game and historically I think is FASCINATING. My other fav is NagaIchi, cause god it’s so good but so painful….I am, however, a fervent multishipper so I don’t really have any I hate?

19. A scene that made you laugh

Any scene with Kanbei or Tsuruhime. They both are doing their best but god—

20. A scene that made you cry

God the Nagashino scene in the first anime. Solidified why I love NagaIchi. The shot of the bullets flying by Oichi’s head as she watches Nagamasa take bullet after bullet just broke me and still does 😭

21. Favorite Character Design?

This is so hard, but probably Ieyasu post-SB3! I love how they aged him up and make him look like a hunky boy with his lil mid-drift. A+++ choice. Also the shift from spear to gauntlets is so fun and indicative of who he is now versus then! Could go on forever honestly—

22. Favorite Alternative Outfit?

Either Oichi’s from 2 Heroes and 3 or Tsuruhime’s from SB4! Give my girls cute clothes pls

23. Favorite Weapon?

Muneshige’s chainsaws! Super fun way to do his infamous weapon, while also adding some humor with mentions of Ginchiyo using them for gardening🥰 other than that, I adore all the different gun movesets (Nou, Saika), Oichi’s shadow hands, Kojuuro’s sword, and Hanbei’s whip-sword!

24. Favorite Voice Actor performance?

I’m going to say Motochika but only in JP! The ENG voices overall I adore, but his just doesn’t do it for me (sorry Travis, it just ain’t the same!). I love yankee slang in general, so I love how they incorporated it with him!

As for ENG voices in general, definitely Ieyasu. The benevolence comes off really nicely while also sounding performative and like a politician which is PERFECT.

28. Favorite piece of official art?

That one piece of Masamune doing Yabusame. I really wish it was used in his character more (could also go on one about how horses are a crucial part of his character and yes I’m a horse girl), and seeing him use something other than his swords is a fun twist! Also the way it’s painted looks so freaking good—

29. Tell us what you’d love to see from the series!

I want a new HD collection localized! I have all the main games in JP and SB3 in ENG, but I would love to have them all easily playable on new consoles. Also, can I have a new game please?? WITH THE INAHIME DESIGN FROM THE MOBILE GAME??

30. Tell us why you love Basara!

Basara is why I am who I am, which sounds dramatic, but it’s true. It made me start trying to read JP websites about these people irl, and especially want to give voices to the women of this era. So often, they are simply named “sister/daughter of so and so”, and only within the last several years have many of them had ENG wiki pages. Japan in the Muromachi/Azuchi-Momoyama period was a wild place with insane changes, and Basara was the catalyst for my own journey with history. Heck, I plan to eventually teach students about this era if I’m lucky! I’ve also gotten to meet my people, whom love this era and this series as much as me❤️ @norageonlypancakes @nexu101 @drazudrazz you are my angels

Thank you so much for this opportunity and happy 20th!

We’re at the halfway mark of the challenge girlypops (gender neutral), what a journey! This is you odd numbered post reminder to check out @doredoree for the full challenge, or just in general, because they’re cool. Bonus after answering:

What is your favorite ship?

Aw man, THIS is a juicy question. I don't even know if I have the luxury of being picky in this day and age of saying I can have a favorite to be honest. Maybe if I was more fluent in Japanese and lived there in the heydays when the franchise is/was more popular I could have gone to Comiket twice a year to load up on doujinshis, and probably understand Pixiv and other fan-oriented sites much better than I do, but in the West? It's a lot slimmer of a pickings to say the least.

I guess anything where Mitsunari is happy? Like Mitsunari and Sakon, or Mitsunari and Yoshitsugu, post Motochika green path Mitsunari and Motochika, even Mitsunari and Ieyasu where it's not Doomed By the Narrative and toxic for both parties. I'm not much of an angst person, I just want to see my blorbo happy.

Which is why it also hurts to love NagaIchi, who are practically Doomed By the Narrative incarnate, because, you know. History. It's really hard to think of Oichi with anyone else when Nagamasa means so much to her, though I love stuff where she has a strong platonic bond with Kanbe, as rare as it is. Misery loves company indeed.

Today's Weird Senbasa Merch I Found Online is a break from the weird, but is kinda shippy, it’s these acrylic stands!

you know because Ieyasu is on top and Mitsunari is on the bottom

Something about Capkorons kill me. Like they’re very obviously Tsum Tsums But For Capcom, but even cuter? Disgusting. I’m far too weak to the Mitsunari one, he’s just so angy (^｡^) Major tangent but could you imagine Mitsunari crying his blood tears using the Sakon Capkoron like this image

my heart belongs to both masamune and oichi equally

oichi's the one who got me into the franchise, and she's very near and dear to my heart.

she has a lot of nuance and it makes me very enamoured with her. she looks like a typical meek gloomy girl at first but she has a lot more going on

i love seeing her interact with other characters because they all care such different vibes, they show off different aspects of herself (btw if the franchise continues, i want to see her interact with tsuruhime again!!!!)

on the gameplay aspect she's very fun to play LOL which is strange because i usually prefer fast character she's slow but she's super powerful. and her shadow hands are super cool

all in all i have mega brainworms when it comes to ichi and i'm super glad she's the poster girl of basara LMAO

Day 6: Favorite character to play?

UM