Nobunaga the Fool Episode 6: Strength

OH MY GOD I AM SO MAD RIGHT NOW! FUCK YOU MITSUHIDE! HOW DARE YOU KILL OFF NOBUKATSU! NOBUNAGA JUST LOST HIS FATHER, NOW YOU JUST KILLED OFF HIS PRECIOUS BELOVED BROTHER (WHO HAD SUCH A HEART TO NOT BE MAD AT HIM – BE IT PLANNED OR NOT, I DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS, I AM STILL UPSET ABOUT THIS), OR HELL THE KID PROBABLY EXPECTED IT WHEN HE TOLD MITSUHIDE THAT HE WILL BECOME THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY, UNITE EVERYONE AND THEN STEP ASIDE FOR NOBUNAGA TO TAKE OVER!!!

I CAN’T! Two characters I absolutely adore were freaking shot! I can’t believe this shit. Oh my god- Mitsuhide I knew you were going to turn into trouble, ARG- it makes my blood boil! But on the other hand, I absolutely love the twist where when Da Vinci implied (as per usual) that Jeanne was going to be the woman who embraces the beast in the tarot card Strength, instead it was Himiko who took the shot when Nobunaga was targeted to be assassinated. I don’t know whether both Himiko and Nobukatsu will die, or one or the other will live. It’d be great if they both survive, but that would defeat the purpose now, wouldn’t it?
Nobunaga had a tough episode, he acted out rashly at his father’s funeral, though doing probably what he had felt right by sending his father’s ashes flying onto their clan’s emblem. Naturally the men of the war council were not happy about it. But that says a lot. Mitsuhide’s plan to make Nobunaga hailed as a hero completely backfired, and continues to do so as the men nitpick every little problem with Nobunaga and take full advantage of the situation to push Nobukatsu into stepping up in his brother’s place. Now that Nobukatsu’s most likely a dead man, it is hard to speculate on how the clan will be united. With both his father and his beloved brother gone, Nobunaga is given control, forced to take the reigns and protect his clan. However that will be extremely difficult to do when the most influential men of the war council are openly rebelling against him. Regardless of the new circumstances, I am having a very difficult time believing they would willing serve under Nobunaga’s command. They have been doing everything in their power to get rid of him, and even the men who don’t have the authority to say anything went as far to refuse to obey Mitsuhide’s order to arrest the guy who threatened Nobunaga on the spot. If anything, I can only see more internal conflicts. It will take a lot to unify the men in such grim circumstances.
In the mean time, while the men of the council thought Nobunaga was out doing something foolish, Nobunaga was actually training, taking in all this grief and turning it into resolve and determination to become stronger. That’s why when Jeanne finally found him, she became all emotional because she finally understood that he isn’t the inconsiderate fool she had thought him to be.
Ichihime has a inheritance that is to be given to Nobunaga when the time is right. I am quite curious to see whether it is actually a regalia or not. Given that Nobukatsu had now been shot, perhaps she will give it to him sooner than later.
However while the episode was very strong, there were moments of confusions. It is difficult for me to understand the purpose and the symbolism for the cherry blossoms to be blowing wildly blow around Nobunaga when he glared at the man who wanted to kill him right on the spot. Either this is supposed to represent his power and presence that had developed since his father’s death, life and death, the spirits of their family watching over them or it’s something else entirely.
Last but not least, there was a huge improvement with the animation as whole. I don’t even care if there’s flaws here and there, the fact it was fucking consistent for once, made it gold. Satelight, I beg of you- I hope you keep it like this for the rest of the series. It wasn’t distracting at all!