English Dub Review: Kochoki “Marriage”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

In 1548, Nobuhide’s health takes a turn for the worse, leading Saitou Dousan, the “Viper of Minou” to concoct a plan with his daughter Kichou. At the same time, it seems to be about time for Nobunaga to take a wife as the heir apparent to the Oda line, with the best candidate being Kichou. Nobunaga flat out rejects the idea because of her father, as well as him still holding feelings for Kitsuno Midono from so many years ago. Even worse, he feels more detached from his own feelings than ever, which unnerves him. So, he and his aide Tsuneoki go to take a look at Kichou for themselves, inadvertently almost causing an incident that could start a war. The two run into thugs out for their blood, but are saved…by a masked Kichou. Unfortunately, during the fight, she uses his defective pistol and is injured by the shrapnel that come off the exploding gun. Everyone returns home and Kichou recovers from her injuries, but feels an aching in her heart she has never known.

The next year arrives and Kanjuuro comes of age, taking on the name Nobukatsu. Spring comes soon after and Nobunaga’s wedding to Kichou comes with it. He very quickly recognizes her as the masked woman from before and is convinced that she’s arrived to kill him, but everyone laughs off his fears. It also doesn’t help that she is able to sneak into even his most heavily guarded chambers and leaves food for him that he is certain is poisoned. And it seems that they can’t just kill her, as that would instigate her father to cross the river to battle.

His fears turn out to be true, as an agent of Saitou tells Kichou to hurry up with the murdering. Right on time, Nobunaga takes her to his favorite spot, the Nirvana Tree, and tells her that if he’s to die, he’d rather it be here. To his surprise, however, she plans to kill herself first, as she cannot return home without completing her mission. So, instead, Nobunaga tells her to stay with him as his real wife, which she accepts.

OUR TAKE

I think I’m starting to get a better handle on these characters, if only a bit. With Nobunaga ostensibly the shonen protagonist archetype and Tsuneoki being the nagging best friend out for his master’s best interest, Kichou is a secretly adept housewife who can kick ass with the best of them. It also speaks a bit to Nobunaga’s influential powers that he was able to win over someone who was tasked with assassinating him, meaning she’ll be a valuable asset later on in his conquering years. He’s amassing quite a valuable treasure trove of powerful allies who will likely come into play in future episodes as the years fly by more notable events in Japanese history take place.

Still though, I have to admit I have some concern about lionizing historical figures like this. As has become rather common lately, the heroic portrayals of seemingly ideal individuals in history have very rarely been accurate to what has been documented, and I doubt that Oda Nobunaga is an exception to that. Even as important as their contributions are to their countries of origin, people in history are ultimately just people, for all the good and bad that comes with that. That’s why it makes me feel a bit iffy that this series seems like it will be pretty much fanservice for all the fans of Nobunaga, which is apparently a sizeable enough group that it would warrant making this series in the first place. That’s not to say any negative or villainous portrayals of the guy are necessarily more accurate than this, just that the truth likely lies somewhere between the good and the bad…though likely at the considerable cost of entertainment value, which is what we’re ultimately here to see.

On the bright side, it seems that we are almost out of the period chronicling Nobunaga’s young adulthood and moving closer to the period of unification that he is most famous for. And frankly, I’m more interested in seeing how that’s written than having to watch more Feudal Japan political squabbles. Let’s get some Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Game of Thrones style drama and bloodshed going! Or at least just some more combat in general would be nice! I’m not asking for much here, just something to keep me from dying of boredom for the next ten weeks! Again, I’m expecting to be getting that pretty soon anyway, but these are just my thoughts at the moment.