Wow, 2009 is closing huh? These years go by quicker and quicker. Thankfully, the year’s ending on a fun note, because CCY has thrown down his Twelve Moments of Anime gauntlet, inviting others to join him from December 14th to the 25th, in recalling their 12 favorite anime-related things of the year. I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s thoughts. In the meanwhile, I’ll kick off my own with my moment #12 – Takeda scales the walls.
Actually, I just rotated this picture 90 degrees the wrong way.
Most shows aren’t memorable. It’s not easy to create a masterpiece that stands the sands of time. But if you’re not going to be remembered as a masterpiece, you might as well be remembered for going down down throwing haymakers. And if there’s one thing Sengoku Basara did, it was throwing those YUKIMURA! OYAKATA-SAMA haymakers. Takeda Shingen scaling the walls of tower while standing on top of two horses was IMO the most epic image from this surprisingly epic series. It’s so outrageous that there’s really no appropriate response but to use your best Masamune accent to yell "Shit!" and go with it. It was quite an impression to make for a show that had fairly little preseason buzz. I mean, I think I only picked it up after reading about digitalboy busting a nut about it.
Chu~
Sadly, Basara was never able to consistently match the intensity and outrageousness from the first couple episodes for the rest of the season. Oh there were a couple moments here and there. The Demon Lord’s wife, Nouhime tossing her puny pistols to mow people down with a minigun. Hondam blasting in from outer space. But when a show packs in 10 tons of outrageousness per minute for a full two episodes, you start to notice when said outrageousness starts getting meted out a little more economically.
This is art. Artist: lily
But that’s no slight on Sengoku Basara, because Gurren Lagann was probably the only show that I’ve seen that was able to continually out-epic the epic all the way through. So Basara simply falls victim to the same trappings of a hundred other action animes. There’s no shame though, because Masamune’s "Get ya guns on", the Yukimura x Takeda beatdowns, the flying, exploding blue and red fireballs, the Kasuga orgasms, the ridiculously cheesy and foreboding music that played every time the Demon Lord entered the scene, and the waves of enemies being blown away will ensure that Basara will live on in my memories for a long time.
3 Comments
I knew dick all about the Sengoku Basara games before watching the anime, so I didn’t expect much aside from an entertaining series (which is what I expect from anything, really), but I was sold when I saw that Masamune’s horse had exhaust pipes. I mean, how friggin’ awesome is that?
Sengoku Basara was just one of those shows that was overflowing with GAR. There was very little character development in the show, but it was always fun to see crowds of regular soldiers being sent flying.
Hopefully the sequel will show up soon.
TJ´s last blog ..Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 36
Yeah, everything about this show was over the top. I think you can never go wrong with “over the top.”