Drifters / First Impressions

「Baba Yetu」

For a slow week, Drifters this time around offered up a surprisingly heavy bit of exposition. From another dive into the inner psyche of the Black King to further discussion on the merits and strengths of gunpowder firearms, everything and then some played a part.

The Saviour of Man Monsters

It’s hard denying the Black King is Jesus reincarnated, and once again more evidence lends credence to the idea. Our hooded leader has some pretty OP powers, capable of replicating anything biological to such a degree that he can invoke cancer at will. Beyond the obvious allusions drawn from such healing capabilities, the Black King also bluntly states seeing no difference between the strongest of rulers and the weakest of creatures. I’ve seen arguments the king could be Moses or another of Jesus’ disciples, but these features point me more towards the son of God than say the saviour of the Jews, especially the king’s remarks about him not being God. These theories turn moot, however, in the face of our king’s plans. He wants a new writing system, to forge a unified religion, and found a new civilization, all for the sake of the demihumans before he meets his end. It’s hard to deny after all what heavily bandaged feet and shedding salt (I’m guessing) mean in the face of previous evidence.

Firearms and Treachery

The other big thing this week was once again firearms, where manufacturing is now transpiring. Muskets are being produced 10 a day, which might be surprising considering Nobunaga’s glee (after all, 10 is a small amount), but it must be remembered that we are dealing with medieval blacksmithing here. 15th-16th Century muskets required a lot of labour to produce, and with no mass assembly lines, all would be carefully handcrafted. This comment leaves me to believe Drifters will minimize the effect of firearms on this universe, largely restricting them to key characters so we don’t suddenly have our protagonists running roughshod over the enemy. Interestingly too, Nobunaga appears hesitant to reveal ubiquitous facts about firearms such as the ease of training, simplification of killing, and reduction of guilt. More than the fear firearms create, Nobunaga has fixated on the change these weapons push, giving an ordinary man with a few hours instruction the capability of downing a warrior with years of training. Nobunaga (for all intents) looks like he fears a day when the elves and dwarves might turn around and use those brand new muskets on him and his compatriots.

Such a day, however, may be far off given Count Germi (who is finally confirmed a Drifter) has now sided with Nobunaga and crew. The Count is determined to sell off the Orte Empire (or at least his share) to avoid war, and of course Nobunaga won’t refuse that offer, particularly given the hint towards a balls to the wall strategy of defeating the rest of the empire in quick detail. Considering Jean d’Arc has properly returned and openly wants revenge against Toyohisa, expect things to get down and dirty in a mighty rush. With only two episodes remaining and enemies on all sides, we will very likely go out with a bang.

Random Tidbits

Holy gay jokes this week. Cherry boy, seductive Yoichi, and two underlings with some striking differences in fetishes. Particularly had a chuckle at the call to hide all the elf boys before the Count appeared.

Really interesting Anastasia suggested Toyohisa spared Jean for a reason other than her being a woman, when we know (from Toyohisa himself) that was the main reason why. Given Anastasia supposedly will set Toyohisa up for Jean to kill, I cannot help thinking she will get Jean killed.

Laughed hard at the Count’s comments regarding Hitler. Efficient bureaucracy, eliminated nepotism? Anyone with more than passing knowledge of the Nazi government will understand the irony behind those remarks.

31 Comments

      1. Black King is Jesus
        Murasaki is God
        Easy is God’s wife

        If anyone watched Supernatural season 11, this fits so much it’s scary, i don’t want to spoil, but they must have got it from somewhere.

        john
        Reply

      3. Okay, let we take this Black King for granted

        but to avoid get the wrong impression or some mix up things, let me explain the real deal

        I do not think that he as a Human would hate humanity for what they done to him. Why? he already knew he would die, and some of his “follower” will betray him. in our religion called being “Judas” is the same meaning like “betrayer/traitor”. So he already knew, that at night fall Judas would sell him out, at this day he hold the last supper.

        So you know the true history to this event here, it was not for enjoy an delicious meal, no there was an serious background to it
        https://randomc.net/image/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma%20-%20ED%20-%20Large%2003.jpg

        So in a nutshell, this version of him here is really born out of the “Drifters” mind, and nothing compared to the real deal.i do not want to conquer you know here, i just want to point out that Black King here is really pure Anime faction for Drama.. And i am not mad or against it. as long you keep it fiction

        Amen

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

  2. Genesis 19:24-16
    24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

    AzureDivinity
    Reply

    1. I like the part that follows where his two daughters get Lot drunk and rape him in order to get pregnant. This results in the founding of two tribes so it infers Lot and God did not mind to much and had a bunch more children with his daughters.

      RedRocket
      Reply

  3. Show Spoiler ▼

    AzureDivinity
    Reply

  4. https://randomc.net/image/Drifters/Drifters%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    What this Count are talking about. What Country could be mean in our History? Of course you all guessed right, Germany after WW1 and occupation of the allied forces, but this leaded to WW2 or Show Spoiler ▼

    .. So our timeline here is not important, they take them and mix it for their “Drifters” soup, and seems like it is delicious

    But i must admit, this anime here have “many” Nippon important History peoples.. and they are about to add one more to them. Well i can not blame them, they need to get the audience in their own TV. Where is the well knowing War tactics Chinese General?

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

  5. Considering that the author has twisted versions of historical figures or modified them to his own liking for the sake of the manga/anime it’s really not that far off to see that the Black King is supposed to be Jesus.

    For those still not convinced google Drifters Ch 035.005 Luke-and-Jan-s-Corner

    AzureDivinity
    Reply

  6. Still liking show.

    I see ends as negative copies of historical figures who died. Joan knew that it was the English who captured her and that the priests condemning her were English controlled so her anger should be against England not humanity. But this is a copy who only has emotion and doubt not the logic of the original. Rasputin would only hate his enemy not the world. Anastasia would have cursed the Communists not the world and there was nothing special about her compared to other family members except some scams claiming she had survived.
    The ends have magic powers they did not have in life and thus have been granted.
    Jesus that man had doubts but Jesus’s powers were all divine and he could have prevented the crucifixion instantly by summoning a heavenly host. If in this story he was a fake then his powers now only sort of mimic the ones he supposedly had without the total power a real son of god had. A real son of God could summon heavenly hosts, do anything like moving mountains around, and as temped by the Devil command all earthly rulers to obey and they would obey. This stories Jesus can heal but leaves scars which the Bible Jesus would not. And of course bible Jesus allowed his execution, the execution the main part of his plan. With the butterfly staff I wonder if we have a combination of characters. I don’t mind the story having a negative copy Jesus like the negative copies of the other ends.

    RedRocket
    Reply

  7. It might be because I have read the manga that I understand the joke, but they are actually calling the clerk guy “Cherry boy” because he hasn’t lost his virginity, a fact that he was defending himself with when the drifters took the castle with the female elves.

    The manga is a bit more blunt and call him “Virgin human” though.

    Cruiser
    Reply

  8. >Laughed hard at the Count’s comments regarding Hitler. Efficient bureaucracy, eliminated nepotism? Anyone with more than passing knowledge of the Nazi government will understand the irony behind those remarks.

    Ah, but this is Drifter Hitler! He’s presumably as awesome a Hitler as this version of Nobunaga.

    I was pretty disappointed Saint-Germi’s subordinates didn’t make a better showing. Give us some actual sword moves, please! That line of Toyo’s about their swordsmanship being excellent but their bloodlust weak was interesting. It makes sense, right? They’re Orte nobles, they’ve probably been trained from youth but not on the battlefield.

    Guile
    Reply

    1. well, at last this “Black Girl” and this “Light Bureaucrat” have the power to connect Dimensions, or access to other Worlds

      Perhaps they are working in the “Universe HQ Office” 🙂

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

  12. I have not read ahead in this series so anything I suggest is just my own ideas. No spoilers.

    We already know that the Drifters are people who are taken out of our reality at the times of their deaths and dropped into this fantasy world along with others as well. They are 100% human but all extraordinarily capable ones. The Ends seem like they were brought to this world under the same circumstances with one notable difference, they have “abilities”. These abilities tend to be relevant to the means by which they died or popular belief in them. They also seem to be made of salt. I suspect that they are very different than the Drifters. In fact, I would say that they never were the historical figures but are creations infused with the popular belief of the world. Sort of like and American Gods thing if you have read that book.

    Bob
    Reply

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