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| They totally stole this from a bad Japanese movie. Doesn't make it any less cool. |
3ET: Nobunagun
Warning: the following review contains SPOILERS and bugs that want to eat your face
I nailed what Nobunagun was trying to be in my Three Episode Test. Now, it didn't take a genius to see that it was a more violent Saturday morning cartoon, but I have to take my victories where I can. And for a show with as ridiculous of a premise as this one, there were moments of actual intelligence in this show. Calling it a smart show would be a mistake, but calling it a show that is clever in spots? That sounds about right.
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| "Who wants a hug?" |
But first, I have to talk about the stupid. By which I mean the historical stuff. And the sort of historical revision that takes place is completely absurd. My favorite, which I have to admire with this show's audacity to even put this on screen, is that Jack the Ripper was actually Florence Nightengale. In addition to what we know her as, she also had a superpower of hearing voices to tell her where a horrible nineteenth century biological weapon was hiding in the guts of the women that "Jack" killed. I need to add that I now feel dumber having just typed that. There is also the plot point of an ancient Japanese ruler named Himiko living for two thousand years so she can defend the Earth in modern times. But, when I'm watching a show where teenagers fight aliens using "E-Genes" from historical figures, I should be watching this with my brain's setting on "low".
On the other hand, there is some science that was thrown into Nobunagun's crazy. And I found the science to be quite enjoyable. I liked the rapid evolution of the alien bugs. It provided a capable, dangerous enemy for the E-Gene Holders to fight. That made the fights actually mean something. And in the final battle, while the crazy, warrior kids are off slaughtering bugs left and right, the guy who ends up killing the most is the more reserved and somewhat cowardly anthropologist guy. The reason is that he uses basic biology and concocts a pheromone that makes the bugs kill each other. It was a clever moment of brains over brawn, that I didn't see coming.
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| Well. This looks like a fair fight. |
Also, the protagonist, Sio, is a good character. The show even intelligently shows a certain facet of her personality that becomes important at the climatic battle. Sio is a military fanatic. And this comes in handy, as her encyclopedic knowledge of artillery allows her to suggest the type of tank she wants to support her as she fights the final giant alien. And when she is around military people, she is endearing as she acts like a nervous girl meeting her favorite idol. This point serves to even put her on an arc, where she goes from an enthusiastic newbie in this war to a capable fighter who can make battle plans. She's easy to root for, and that counts for quite a bit in shows like these.
The rest of the cast is fairly decent as well, even if they are little more than standard action archetypes. In Sio's platoon are the pair with the E-Genes of Newton and Gandhi, who are the standard angry girl and pervert guy characters. Although Newton's habit of french kissing anyone she meets is more than slightly creepy. And the main love interest, Adam (Jack the Ripper) is the standard guy whose fiery personality results with him often clashing with Sio. But, as the show goes on, they start to fight together much better, and by the end it's easy to see the sparks developing. The other nice thing about the cast is that they point out how the historical figures' personalities start to influence them from time to time. And Adam brings this up when he is talking to Sio after the last battle where his E-Gene's power, the one that uses a magic voice, and told him to go find her during the fighting. Then, he goes full smooth motherfucker, by kissing her and saying that the kiss was all him, no magic voice.
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| Well played, man. Well played. |
There are a couple of other things that detracted from the show. For one, can we stop having anything with tentacles putting said tentacles up girls shirts and down their pants? Like, could that go away forever in non-hentai anime? And the supposedly funny scenes where Sio is getting creeped on by either a male instructor or her female companions were also quite unnerving and brought me out of the show. As for the look and sound of the show, it gets the look and feel of an American cartoon down. Which is means the quality varies from serviceable to subpar.
In the end, I enjoyed Nobunagun. I was entertained by it. And for a show that wasn't looking to make a great piece of art or say something super important about society, that's perfectly fine. I don't begrudge a show for filling the role of the dumb action show. Those types of anime have just as much right to exist as the ones that ask big questions about the human condition. I just wish more of those anime were as competent and clever as this one.
Final Score: 5/10
In the end, I enjoyed Nobunagun. I was entertained by it. And for a show that wasn't looking to make a great piece of art or say something super important about society, that's perfectly fine. I don't begrudge a show for filling the role of the dumb action show. Those types of anime have just as much right to exist as the ones that ask big questions about the human condition. I just wish more of those anime were as competent and clever as this one.
Final Score: 5/10
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