3ET: Nobunaga the Fool

Oda Nobunaga living the dream of piloting a giant robot with a large breasted girl in his arms.

Studio: Satelight

Director: Satou Hidekazu (Kiss Dum R: Engage Planet)

Writer: Kawamori Shouji (Tenkuu no Escaflowne, Sousei no Aquarion)

Main Cast:

Miyano Mamoru as Oda Nobunaga

Hikasa Youko as Jeanne Kaguya d'Arc

Character Design: Marufuji Hirotaka (Aquarion Evol, Hokuto no Ken Raou Gaiden)

Music: Yokoyama Masaru (Acchi Kocchi, Arakawa Under the Bridge)

Nobunaga the Fool is the newest show that illustrates Japan's deep, undying, obsessive love for its Sengoku period, wait, shit, I used that intro already this season. Also, that love is not exclusive to the Sengoku period this time. Instead, it's combined with a bunch of references to European history. Jeanne of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, King Arthur, Julius Caesar; the cast list reads like a who's who of an Intro to Western Civilization syllabus. And it all takes place in a dual planetary system with giant robots and space travel while most people live with medieval technology. Because, of course it does.

The protagonist though is none other than a young Oda Nobunaga. And he's sort of likeable in this form. He's more hot-blooded and eager to defend his home nation rather than insane with bloodlust and the urge to conquer, like I've seen him portrayed in other anime. He meets Jeanne d'Arc when she and da Vinci crash land a stolen ship carrying da Vinci's new mecha near him while he's out hunting. He climbs aboard the new mech, later named The Fool, and slaughters a pair of mechs sent after Jeanne and da Vinci. The action looks fine, much like the rest of the show, and I quickly wished there was more of it.

Historically accurate account of warfare between the Takeda and Owari.

The problem is that between the battle in the first episode and the battle that happens when the Takeda clan attacks Owari in the third episode, not a lot happens. Yeah, a lot of talking happens, mostly about nothing interesting. Sometimes it's comments about Jeanne's rack. Julius Caesar is apparently a knight under King Arthur, and is going after da Vinci's mech for... reasons. And there's some point about Nobunaga's little brother coming of age that is completely tangential to the plot. Really, all of this could have been summed up in a few minutes rather than the episode and a half, and this plodding pace made it difficult to get excited once the action started up again.

In fact, it was impossible. By the time the battle in the third episode started, I just didn't care. Part of it was that Nobunaga went full Gary Stu with his lobbing arrows into the slits in the Takeda's mechs to kill their pilots. But, the bigger part was that I was bored. A show about giant robots should not be boring, especially with well-designed mechs that are reminiscent of the Guymelefs of one of my favorite shows of all-time, Escaflowne. It's not a terrible show, but I have to fail Nobunaga the Fool.