Kinoshita becomes more involved in events as things get dangerous for Nobuna.
What They Say:
No episode summary provided.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the opening episode of the series, the Ambition of Oda Nobuna didn’t exactly wow me, but it did some fun things with both of its lead characters, but especially with Kinoshita. I really liked the approach of the guy thrown back in time not being a simpering wimp that’s constantly abused by Nobuna. She certainly does have her impact on him and does her best to put him in his place, but he’s not a meager man before her. She does what she can to torment and humiliate him for the pleasure of all, but he also pushes back, which is a real rarity when you get down to it. Seeing how the two play off of each other and how some of the others do what they can to try and get him to ease up a bit since his life could be in danger gives it a different feeling.
While there is this kind of back and forth, there’s also the larger story that’s going on with the rebellion that’s going on and what it is that Nobuna’s brother wants to accomplish. While Nobuna’s brother has his goals, including the amusing one of bringing all the cute girls to him, there’s the more serious side that’s dealt with it as well. Unfortunately, because of how Kinoshita has handled himself, he’s now found himself in a challenge. One that definitely appeals to his gaming side as he has to do some financial trickery to make sure he gets to his goal of getting a lot of rice at half market value. It’s even described in video game terms by him with the visuals which is utterly adorable and exactly how someone like him would and should think in this situation as he does his best to adapt.
Kinoshita does make some good inroads with Nobuna throughout this as it goes on since she’s one that’s pretty advanced in how the world is viewed. With his historical perspective as well as just understanding geography, it certainly makes an impression on her in a way she didn’t expect. While she doesn’t go on and on about it, others haven’t understood her view about how the country needs to be unified to deal with the coming invasion of foreigners from across the lands. But between that and the tricks that Kinoshita does with the rice and the way that everything else comes together with those that are under her, it’s an interesting episode that shows more consolidation of her position and a growing understanding of just how useful Kinoshita might be.
In Summary:
With the second installment of the series, it’s taking some interesting turns as it deals with some internal strife that Nobuna has to deal with while also firming things up a bit more when it comes to the relationship between her and Kinoshita. I continue to like Kinoshita and the way he’s treating all of this with an air of absurdity that he just has to partake in to survive. But there’s a real thrill and enjoyment he gets out of it which changes the dynamic a bit as he’s not living in real fear. His video game mentality for it may feel a little dated in some ways, but the overall execution of it and the results are pretty good. The show is still missing a certain something I can’t pin my finger on in order to make it really good and compelling, but part of it is also the general fatigue with things from this time period as we get a show like this almost every season it seems. I’m definitely enjoying it, but I can also feel that I’m hedging things on it just a little bit.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
