Nothing says a party like a spicy piece of cake.
What They Say:
Yoshiteru has planned the ultimate revenge against her former classmate Yagyuu Sekishuusai. But Sekishuusai seems to be one step ahead, until Nobunaga appears. less
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series having a bit of an uptick once again for me as the second half has gotten rolling, this episode brings us to the characters of Yoshiteru and Yagyu. The two are certainly amusing characters to watch from the start here as we see that they both have some animosity towards each other but couch it well in politeness and dialogue, effectively stabbing at one another in short and deep ways just in how they talk and go back and forth. It’s not exactly brutal in how its done, but there’s a really neat sense of elegance and design to it all as they go on and spar with each other.
The first half of the episode spends a good bit of back and forth between the two with these kinds of jabs and ways of getting at each other and there are amusements to be had in a very restrained kind of way. Where things change up though is at the halfway mark as Nobunaga shows up saying she’s there to take their treasures. At least to the servant since the other two are off in their sitting room going at it. With Nobunaga now present, and their understanding of why she’s there quite plan, the two hope to turn the tables on her a bit with a game involving cake in order to secure their treasures from her so she doesn’t take them by force. Using spicy cake is certainly an amusing method.
The whole thing turns into a bit of back an forth between the three as it gets down to a Russian roulette of cake that’s fun to watch as they all hope to avoid the bad pieces through some creative cheating in their favor. Of course, it doesn’t always work and things get more complicated. It’s a very mild episode overall, but one that’s definitely fun to watch just for the way that Nobunaga manages to insert herself more than usual with events. And of course, there has to be a little twist along the way to bring everything where it needs to be.
In Summary:
While I do like this episode of Sengoku Collection overall for its particular sense of style and animation and the fun of the characters with how they spar with each other, it is one that doesn’t really work in a big way. Yoshiteru and Yagyu are fun to watch but there’s something missing from all of it to really drive home what it’s all about. We do get the obligatory Nobunaga material with what she’s up to and all but when it comes to the two leads for this episode, their story really doesn’t feel like it’s explored all that well or given enough meat to it to really work.
Grade: C
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.
