Bitches Do Love Cannons!: Nobunagun

Hello world!  I’m back with a new anime review for this week.  But first, I do want to give credit for the title to Team Four Star (if you’ve never seen Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, then this means nothing to you).  Then again, if you’ve ever seen the anime I’m reviewing this week, then you would know why I’m using it.  This week, I’ll be delving into Nobunagun, an action-packed anime with aliens, history’s most iconic figures, and yes, bitches with cannons!  So, let’s get on with this then, shall we.

In Nobunagun, Sio Ogura was an ordinary high school student.  Well, if you can call being a fanatic on all things military normal, than you can call her normal.  But during a class field trip to Taiwan, aliens invade and start attacking tourists and Sio’s classmates.  That’s when DOGOO, a secret organization whose sole purpose is to study and destroy these aliens- called Evolutionary Invasion Objects-, comes in.  Now, to break from the plot for a second, I’ll go into more detail on DOGOO- and it is relevant.  DOGOO eliminates Evolutionary Invasion Objects using E-gene holders.  E-gene holders are certain individuals who are reincarnations of historic figures.  Using weapons called AU balls, they are able to use weapons affiliated with their historic figure.  So with all that said, guess who’s an E-gene holder and who she’s the reincarnation of (and I just gave you a hint)?  During the invasion, Sio realizes that she is an E-gene holder and that she is the reincarnation of Oda Nobunaga.  And her weapon of choice? A gun (hence the title)!  And after seeing that Sio would be a great asset to the group, DOGOO decides to take her in.  Sio then becomes part of DOGOO’s mission to eliminate the Evolutionary Invasion Objects.

I have to admit, I did enjoy this series.  But for certain reasons, I give it a three point five out of five stars.  Some good things about Nobunagun include the concepy.  I think that it has a great theme going for it.  Using reincarnations of historical figures to fight off aliens is pretty original.  And let’s not forget there’s a lot of kick-butt action!  If you love action films, then you’ll love Nobunagun.  There’s also a good dose of comedy in it.  Overall, it’s pretty good.

On the other hand, there are some pretty glaring problems with it.  The one that stood out for me the most was the animation.  For something like Nobunagun, I would have expected something a little more well done.  To me, Nobunagun just looks a little too cartoony.  Also, I felt the end of the series was weak- yes, this series is pretty short; about thirteen episodes.  Not to give away any spoilers but, yes, the Invaders are stopped.  And afterwards, it’s just filler.  Even the final moments weren’t all that great.  There is a little wow part, but it’s not all that amazing.  So yes, Nobunagun may be good, but there are still some flaws with it.

So overall, and I know I didn’t say much about it in the reviewing part, Nobunagun is pretty good, but there are some problems that don’t make it amazing.  Regardless, I still recommend it.  And it’s certainly worth it!  If you’re interested in seeing it, the episodes are streaming on crunchyroll.com as well as funimation.com.  And I also found out recently that Madman Entertainment bought the rights to the show, so we may very well see an English dub come out sometime next year.  But yes, to wrap up this week’s post, Nobunagun  is an anime with action, aliens, and yes, cannons, but it doesn’t have quite enough to be considered amazing.  But as I said earlier, it’s worth watching!  Well, with that much said, I guess that’s all I have.  As always, stay tuned for more!

-Hanime on Anime

Now before I forget, I do have one announcement.  Many of you may be aware that I said that Hanime on Anime will be on Pinterest.  I am pleased to say that the Hanime on Anime Pinterest page will be up and running very soon!  I will let you know when it’s available.