2013-2014, 24 episodes:
AniDB
On the Star of the East, Oda Nobunaga fights his local battles against
other warlords (with Giant War Armour, of course). But the Star of the
West is approaching, and the stakes are about to get vastly higher.
All the principal characters here are theoretically historical:
Nobunaga and his generals Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi, Himiko the shaman
queen of Yamataikoku, but also Leonardo da Vinci, Jeanne d'Arc,
Hannibal, Niccolò Macchivelli… if you've ever wondered who'd win in a
mecha fight between Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, this is the
series for you. The show's respect for Japanese history is about as
great as its respect for Western.
There are elements from the history of the real Nobunaga here, but
they're only a very loose inspiration for the plot, which soon
jettisons the historical references in favour of the potential end of
both worlds. There's a well-mannered love triangle, and a less
well-mannered one. There are lots and lots of mecha fights.
By the end, things have become something of a mess, so if you're not
enjoying the show after the half-way point I'd advise you to stop
watching; the writers' reach definitely exceeded their grasp. Some of
the animation, particularly on the mecha, is very well-executed, and
backgrounds are lovely; just a shame it's in the service of something
that ends up not being terribly interesting. There's some fun stuff
here, but overall I can't recommend it.
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