http://i.ur.com/1yRyqL9.jpg Events that happened historically will not be considered as spoilers. The fictional twists and turns present in Hyouge Mono however will be and shall be appropriately hidden as spoilers. Oh the hilarity. Perhaps his life may not end as a mere field messenger. Nobunaga Oda A Quick Overview First of all what even is this show? Is it an action show? Is it a comedy show? Is it a show about feudal Japan conspiracies and politics? Is it a show about aesthetics and the tea ceremony? Is it a show about the life of a real actual teamaster/daimy that actually historically existed?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FurutaOribe To briefly answer its all of the above and more. Hyouge Mono is an adaptation of the mangahttps://anilist.co/manga/35380/HyougeMono by Yoshihiro Yamadahttps://anilist.co/staff/99567/YoshihiroYamada and it was done by the studio Bee Trainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeeTrain several Dot Hack anime Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom Blade of the Immortal El Cazador de la Bruja and more and it was their last anime before going defunct/dormant in 2012. Theres a bunch of weird stuff with the anime like how Yamada distanced himself from it partway through despite it seemingly being overwhelmingly faithful to the original mangahttp://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20110616/hyougemonocreatoryamadadistancedfromtvanime or how they had to change the opening twice due to the fact a member of the band that cocomposed the music was arrestedhttp://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20110430/cromagnonbandtsuyoshikosugaarrestedforcannabis and then the band broke up following this event.http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20110502/hyougemonocromagnonbandtobreakup https://www..com/watch?v=qVULv9jIlI4 To be honest even though this was a replacement they had to go with after the band that did the original OP had that aforementioned bit of trouble this is definitely my favorite of the three. Probably one of my favorite OPs overall actually Putting all of that aside Hyouge Mono is a ridiculously enjoyable ride for a 39 episode long anime about feudal Japan political plots and betrayal aesthetics and tea and of course war. That being said though if youre looking for a gory action show about samuraishttps://anilist.co/anime/2216/Shigurui or something of that nature you probably wont find it here. This is not to say that this show has no action but it is done with restraint and dispersed throughout the entire show. Mind you when action does happen because its so much more focused on the characters and the scheming going on it has much more of an impact than if the show was nothing but the action. 440http://i.ur.com/Y3NQhFs.png I think theres two sides to this show. Theres the life of Sasuke Furuta our main character throughout the entirety of Hyouge Mono and his struggle of trying to be both a warrior as well as an aesthete. Then theres everything that happens around and behind Furutas back. Some of which he remains entirely oblivious to until its far too late... Betrayal Blood and Tea I wasnt exactly sure what sort of show this was when first watching it. Its a feudal Japan anime and the main character is obsessed with the tea ceremony. Got it Apart from the aesthetics and the tea ceremony angle of the show which is actually really more interesting than it may sound at first I had a general knowledge of how things ended up turning out with Nobunaga Oda and etc. But initially it doesnt seem like thats the main focus. Sasuke Furuta is the main character after all. Not Nobunaga. So I went okay its about aesthetics and tea and this buffoon who seems like a walking generator of hilarious facial expressions. and continued on. 440http://i.ur.com/YxD45RP.jpg But if this was literally all it was Im not sure I would have stayed the entire thirty nine episodes. A stumbling buffoon of a main character who literally becomes aroused at the sight of a good tea cup tea jar or tea scoop is weird and unique but itd get old if that was all it was. Picture my surprise when it turned out it wasnt and Id end up viewing Sasuke Furuta as one of my favorite overall anime characters. 440http://i.ur.com/7XwgJf7.jpg But then you get into the action the betrayals war the conflict of rivaling ideas of aesthetics the spread of Christianity and its just... and then you remember Furuta/Oribe really existed historically and while its mostly fictional we really do see Furutas progress as a person as a warrior and as an aesthete... its just... its just great After seeing Furutas shenanigans in the first episode I was disarmed and thought while there would probably be a serious plot comedy would end up winning out. Then Nobunaga just brutally outright cuts down a disrespectful merchant and that moment just left an impact on me. I didnt know at that moment this show would somehow manage to strike this great and honestly bizarre balance between Furutas love of aesthetics and tea and the bloody wars politics and schemes of feudal Japan. 440http://i.ur.com/D8nOzmm.jpg Extravagance vs Simplicity 440http://i.ur.com/x7oNjPn.png One of the main conflicts present throughout the entirety of Hyouge Mono is the idea of extravagance vs simplicity. Tea master and eventual teacher of Sasuke Furuta Soueki Senno believes that the an imperfect world of simplicity/imperfection would be best. Yet extravagance runs rampant. Large castles with gold covering the outside gigantic towering warships completely golden tearooms... Nobunaga at one point rides an elephant outright into town. Nobunaga Oda is essentially the personification of everything that goes against the idea of simplicity. This conflict is deeply intertwined with the political conspiracies and rivalries of this show. 440http://i.ur.com/RosHDOp.jpg I want my tea room to be made of gold. Because why the hell not. On Furutas side of the show as he further progresses towards becoming celebrated tea master Oribe Furuta he becomes one of Soueki Sennos students and desperately works in one day surpassing him. But again and again his efforts either derail or backfire or he does little more than what Soueki Senno refers to as mere imitation. 440http://i.ur.com/GnnyNT3.png The spread of aesthetics into the political struggles could perhaps be shown best through the changing of castles as the show progresses. Nobunaga Odas Azuchi Castle is grandiose and the sides are covered with gold and painted in black. Following the Honnji Incident which resulted in Nobunagas death the traitor responsible Mitsuhide Akechi paints Nobunagas Azuchi Castle white as if mirroring Akechis belief that he was right in betraying Nobunaga whom greatly favored his own family over his other retainers including the Akechi clan. Following Mitsuhides defeat Soueki Senno who was the one to recommend the original Azuchi Castle be painted in black recommends to outright burn down the castle as if Mitsuhide had defiled it. It mirrors Mitsuhides very short lived reign being put to an end. When Hideyoshi comes into power following this he claims one of the other castles Nobunaga had built which could be seen as a representation of Hideyoshis rule overall. He has ended up taking over from Nobunaga and his reign and behavior is similar to Nobunaga much to Soueki Sennos chagrin. The castle when compared to Nobunagas Azuchi Castle is much flashier and less imposing. 440http://i.ur.com/M0zOEzA.jpg 440http://i.ur.com/6bsmyba.png 440http://i.ur.com/aAlNaPE.png 440http://i.ur.com/e6Z0jIP.jpg Aesthetics aside the clashing of different ideas and mindsets throughout Hyouge Mono is really interesting and great. Moving on to the meat of this review the characters... Sasuke Furuta later known as Oribe 500http://i.ur.com/L2TMxpg.png Furuta is probably one of my favorite main characters of all the different anime/manga Ive watched/read. Hes probably not at the top but hes up there. Hes just so... not like what youd expect a main character to be. Hes not some skilled samurai that can take down dozens and dozens of other samurai. Hes a scheming and conniving buffoon at times but when its called for hes completely loyal and willing to do whats asked of him. 440http://i.ur.com/7Xw8yDS.png 440http://i.ur.com/KHq9IeE.png 440http://i.ur.com/EpxU977.png 440http://i.ur.com/fIjkhtx.gif While others are seeking to procure more military accomplishments for theyre more focused on their duties as warriors Furuta goes around looking at others masterpieces and trying to further his own success as an aesthete. Whereas others are scheming to overthrow and betray those in power Furuta is swapping a masterpiece tea scoop with a counterfeit one of his own making. His schemes are so minuscule in comparison to that of the other characters yet he even successfully swipes the lid of one of the three legendary tea jars that are said if one collects all three they essentially own all of Japan. He even captures a castle by persuading the enemy to accept a tea bowl a crude valueless tea bowl at that and surrender the castle to Nobunaga using the threat of execution to cloud their judgments long enough to accept his deal. 440http://i.ur.com/mlYkxwI.png The anime doesnt actually cover the entirety of Furutas life the manga is still ongoing at 23 volumes and the anime only covered the first 9 or so but we do see him progress steadily further and further towards his goal of becoming a teamaster. In the first episode we see him as a mere warrior with only a small amount of land to his name literally stumbling around picking up the shattered pieces of an exploded masterpiece teakettle for his lord Nobunaga Oda. By the end of the anime he has numerous masterpieces in his possession he has craftsmen making his own works and is in good standing with the one who takes over following the inevitable fall of Nobunaga. 440http://i.ur.com/lIiaM0a.png 440http://i.ur.com/0ExZFFa.png Yet even when he becomes more successful he remains more or less the same at heart. His buffoon or even his scheming moments never grow tiresome to watch especially after witnessing the other hidden faces of some of the other characters. But thats not to say Furuta doesnt actually possess any character development. There are various moments that causes him to either change or make difficult decisions that test him. One such moment almost even causes him to give up on the idea of becoming a master aesthete entirely. There is one in particular that while its subtle is a clear indication that Furuta has been deeply changed. In the first handful of episodes Furuta is seen in awe of rather grandiose works. But following the fall of Nobunaga Oda the lord he was serving and deeply loyal to he begins to favor simpler and more imperfect things and stops looking at the works he had obtained previously with as much admiration he had been. To such an extent that he values the beauty of a mere flower blooming in the rain more than the masterpieces he had been so infatuated with. 440http://i.ur.com/JzTgZv3.png 440http://i.ur.com/ypG9ZwD.png 440http://i.ur.com/vRLwuZt.png 440http://i.ur.com/BWwV3GZ.png Its such a simple yet subtle change in character I just love it. It just clearly shows how loyal he was to Nobunaga as his lord that he undergoes such a change following learning the news of Nobunagas demise in the Honnji incident. Other Characters As this is a thirty nine episode long show there are numerous other characters beyond Furuta. Far too many to cover all of them. Hence Ill only focus the major/important ones. But there are supporting characters such as Ieyasu Tokugawa Masamune Date and Mitsunari Ishida that while are only minor supporting characters more or less in Hyouge Mono or at least what the anime covers they arent exactly minor historical figures. Lets start off from the top. Nobunaga Oda 440http://i.ur.com/kqjinCi.png Hyouge Monos version of Nobunaga is probably hands down my favorite iteration of the legendary historical figure. From his appearance to his attitude to Rikiya Koyamashttps://anilist.co/staff/95113/RikiyaKoyama awesome Nobunaga laugh that remained burned into my head long after actually watching the show. Additionally Nobunaga probably has one of the most notable moments of the entire show... ...and given what happens to him historically hes only present for about ten or eleven episodes of Hyouge Mono but his impact and legacy does not leave the mind of any of the characters that outlive him. 440http://i.ur.com/onAAqYM.jpg Im willing to bet real life Nobunaga probably never actually really rode around on elephants. I mean thats just a guess but. As Sasuke Furuta Hideyoshi Hashiba and Mitsuhide Akechis lord in the first section of the show Nobunaga is coming close to having essentially conquered the whole of Japan and even comes close to obtaining all three of the legendary tea jars commonly referred to as the Triumvirate. He talks of expanding beyond Japan in the future and one day conquering the Ming Dynasty and the barbarian lands but of course a fall lying at the end of a deeply spun web of conspiracy awaits him. Its interesting to note that while mostly Nobunaga found Furuta to be an entertaining person Nobunaga could see the hidden potential within him and would speak with him regularly as well as test him. He once went as far as asking Furuta if he thought the Hiragumo Teakettle the teakettle Furuta had desperately collected the shards of the lid following it exploding paled in comparison to Nobunagas warships almost immediately after cutting down a merchant who had made a disrespectful comment but then rescinded it due to his fear of Nobunaga. 440http://i.ur.com/AK6oA7B.png Soueki Senno 440http://i.ur.com/CRtv21o.png Though you wipe your hands and brush off the dust and dirt from the vessels what is the use of all this fuss if the heart is still impure? Sen no Riky Soueki Senno later known as Sen no Riky is unquestionably the most famous tea masterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SennoRikyC5AB and the eventual teacher of Furuta in the tea ceremony Riky is present from the very first episode. A towering and somber presence almost always clad in black clothing Riky is arguably one of Hyouge Monos very best characters. I of couse say character because while yet another historical figure as with most of this show a lot of details of Rikys life that are shown are very much fictional. As the most well known and influential tea master of the time having served both Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi who followed him Riky has both power and influence over various events. While he takes on Furuta as a student Riky and Furuta more than once butt heads especially when Furuta cannot realize on various occasions that Furutas actions and decisions as an aesthete displease or disappoint him. 440http://i.ur.com/658E9iG.png Hideyoshi Hashiba 440http://i.ur.com/n381gTo.png Later known as Hideyoshi Toyotomi along with Furuta and Mitsuhide Akechi he served Nobunaga Oda until his death. Similar to Furuta Hideyoshi is scheming and conniving. But in a different way than Furuta. Following Nobunagas death Hideyoshi takes Nobunagas place and seemingly take after Nobunaga beginning to live extravagantly and begins to talk of expanding outside of Japan and doing what Nobunaga didnt have the chance to conquering the Ming Dynasty. But even after defeating Nobunagas betrayer he finds himself still caught within the same web that ensnared Nobunaga. Hes relieved when Furuta decides to stand by him... 440http://i.ur.com/2KvAt01.png 440http://i.ur.com/dJvEVPG.png Mitsuhide Akechi 440http://i.ur.com/J3UoZv6.png Mitsuhide Akechi was another warrior serving Nobunaga Oda. He was unlike both Hideyoshi and Furuta. While not originally the sort that would scheme against his lord he found himself pushed between a rock and a hard place. Encouraged by another to rebel and betray Nobunaga yet also feeling frustration at Nobunaga favoring his own family over those others loyally serving him such as the Akechi clan Mitsuhide is eventually pushed into committing the infamous Honnji Incident resulting in Nobunagas death. For a very short time he took Nobunagas place but ended up inevitably being killed and replaced by Hideyoshi. 440http://i.ur.com/bHUirzn.png Conclusion Hyouge Mono is without a doubt my favorite anime. I give it a 10 out of 10 while acknowledging for one there are certainly shows out there that are better looking or have better animation. The art more or less matches the original manga perfectly and the animation is as good as it needs to be better than I thought itd be actually considering its a 39 episode long show to present the story and characters. For two I dont foresee a majority of people watching/liking Hyouge Mono. Putting the fact its 39 episodes aside its definitely a slow moving show. Additionally while the show has its share of blood/action the focus remains ever present on aesthetics and the tea ceremony which I simply dont think will be interesting to most. All that being said I would absolutely recommend it if youre looking for a strong story and strong characters and dont mind slow moving shows. In my opinion its probably hands down the best/most interesting take Ive seen so far on Feudal Japan and the downfall of Nobunaga and etc. http://i.ur.com/DlKXP3q.jpg