Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Nobunagun: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 1, 2015

Could you imagine an American cartoon featuring our Founding Fathers, or perhaps even more whimsically contemporary youth channeling our Founding Fathers in order to achieve some lofty goal like, say, saving the universe? Or maybe more saliently, could you imagine a successful American cartoon exploiting that time period and conceit? Probably not, as the American multimedia landscape is littered with failed properties that have sought to bring the Revolutionary War period to life (a rare exception was the Broadway musical 1776, at least in its original stage incarnation). Potentially due to the fact that they have more than a “mere” couple of hundred years (plus or minus) of national history to contend with, the Japanese have not been so shy about bringing their long and colorful history to life in animated form. All sorts of anime have either been set in the so-called Sengoku period, or at least have referenced it pretty liberally. While certainly never offering anything approaching outright historical accuracy, popular anime like InuYasha The Final Act: Set 2 and Sengoku Basara - Samurai Kings: Season 1 offer evocative portrayals of a feudal past where warlords ruled the day and vast swaths of the general population were more or less downtrodden (hence the need for heroes). Many anime like The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: Complete Collection hedge their historical bets by either porting contemporary people into a historical milieu, or at least crafting plot mechanics that keep “real” history from intruding too annoyingly into story arcs. Much like The Ambition of Oda Nobuna, the similarly named Nobunagun relies on the epochal historical figure of Oda Nobunaga, the late 16th century samurai who is in a way Japan’s version of George Washington, helping to forge a new nation out of what had been separate (and often warring) regional entities. (In the case of Japan, there wasn’t the colonial aspect with newly minted “Americans” fighting their British oppressors, but more of an internecine conflict between various “tribes” and areas within what would ultimately become known as Japan.)

There are some outright similarities between The Ambition of Oda Nobuna and Nobunagun which aren’t necessarily limited to the character of the iconic warlord of yore. Both anime begin with a depiction of that very warlord which is then revealed to be something at least a bit different from what might initially be perceived. In the case of Nobunagun an “introduction” to Oda Nobunaga turns out to be part of a recurring dream (nightmare?) that sweet if slightly chaotic schoolgirl Sio Ogura has been having, evidently for quite a while, to the point that Ogura is becoming even more distracted than usual by its tenacity. A field trip to Taiwan turns into a maelstrom when alien like creatures emerge from both overhead and the ocean and begin an attack.

Nobunagun is often surprisingly artful in wending its way through fairly arcane plot points to quickly set up both its general premise as well as some of its particular conceits. It turns out this bizarre seaborne alien incursion has been expected and a super secret high tech organization with the acronym DOGOO has been getting ready for it by creating a kind of mutant class of warriors who channel (more or less, anyway) iconic historical characters who have various battle skills. There's a DNA element at play, called E-Genes, as well as a physical totem of sorts called an AU Ball that the channeler holds in order to complete his or her transformation (as well as to magically be presented with some kind of iconic weapon once the transformation is complete).

What’s rather refreshing about this anime is how easily it segues from pure lunatic comedy, a lot of it coming close to pure slapstick levels, and the more dramatic, action infused sequences involving DOGOO (which Ogura ends up joining, of course). The series benefits from one of the most instantly likable heroines in recent memory. Ogura is lovable from the first moment she awakens, screaming after having had yet another dream about Oda Nobunaga. Once she discovers she is Oda Nobunaga (in a way, anyway, being the recipient of his “E- Gene”), she delights in exploring the more ruthless “dark side” of her character, one that is in stark contrast to the shy, somewhat disheveled, demeanor of Ogura in her schoolgirl guise.

The anime is also buoyed by an extremely impressive design aesthetic, one which cartwheels between more traditional looking sequences and ones that vary textures, at times looking like colored pencil drawings and at other times having the “thickness” of something like a tapestry or tempera paint. The color palette exploits deep (as in deep) shades of red and blue a lot of the time, giving Nobunagun a really distinctive and effective appearance.

Nobunagun: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nobunagun: Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, this is an often spectacular looking anime, one which segues effortlessly between fairly traditional looking elements (see screenshot 1) and much more stylized and at times brilliantly suffused sequences (see screenshot 2). The anime repeatedly exploits incredibly deep hues in the red and blue spectrums, resulting in some truly eye popping sequences which look fantastic in high definition. There is a rather large variety of animation styles on display, with some intentionally "distressed" looking sequences offering increased "grain" and other bells and whistles that help to offer at times substantial texture to certain scenes (see screenshot 6). Line detail is sharp and solid, and the entire palette is very brilliantly rendered throughout all episodes.

Nobunagun: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nobunagun: Complete Series features the original Japanese language track delivered via Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and an English dub available in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. (For the record, FUNimation once again proves you can't predict how they're going to author any individual release, as this release does in fact offer the option of having English subtitles on or off, independent of which audio language track is selected.) The Japanese language track sounds fine, though it's just slighty anemic, and of course doesn't offer the fulsome low end and discrete effects placement that the 5.1 track does. While the 5.1 track is perhaps slightly less bombastic than one might assume given the alien invasion element of the series, there's good attention paid to surround activity in the battle scenes. Dialogue is cleanly presented and there is no damage of any kind to report.

Nobunagun: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One:

• Episode 1 Commentary features Christopher Bevins, Mikaela Krantz and Jad Saxton.

Disc Two:

• Episode 13 Commentary features Christopher Bevins, Jason Liebrecht and Monica Rial.


• Textless Opening Song "Respect for the dead man" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song "Chiisana Hoshi Ver. β" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song "Chiisana Hoshi Ver. α" (1080p; 1:32)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:07)

Nobunagun: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are some fairly trite elements at work in Nobunagun, but an extremely likable lead character and a really sumptuous looking animation style help this series overcome any "been there, seen that" tendencies. Some of the sidebar material, including a probably too predictable arc for Ogura and her putative "boyfriend" (who channels Jack the Ripper, no less), is somewhat cliché-ridden, but the anime's delightful blend of goofy humor and balls to the wall action elements is often quite bracing. Technical merits are very strong and Nobunagun: Complete Series comes Recommended.