Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi – Episode 12 Review (END)

「がんばれ時行、鎌倉奪還のその日まで」 (Ganbare Tokiyuki, Kamakura Dakkan no Sono Hi Made)
“Hang in There, Tokiyuki, Until the Day You Retake Kamakura”

This was not how I was hoping for the series to end. There was a significant drop in quality, gut wrenchingly so, if you compare the glory of the premiere to what we got for the finale. The CGI was glaring and the background guys didn’t get the benefit of having faces. Those inserted photographs didn’t do much either for the visuals. It’s like they stopped trying. Not to mention the biggest downer- no sequel. This series deserves more than a one and done, there’s so much more amazingness to the story that we haven’t even gotten close to reaching yet. Well, at the least, we did get a very well done adaptation (except for the finale) that was truly breathtaking and blew my expectations out of the water.

With that out of the way, onto the body of the finale. Picking up from last week where Tokiyuki convinces Hoshina to retreat, our Suwa boys tie up the loose ends, successfully evading Kiyohara’s greedy, varnished grasp, and felling Yonemaru while they’re at it.

We can see our lads coming into their own on the battle field. I liked Genba’s tactic of disguising himself as Yonemaru and leading enemy forces astray. Very sneaky- it fooled me until I noticed the ears. The one who really stood out was Kojiro. He has the maturity to realize that as skilled as he is, he still has much to learn. Leading your comrades and building trust with them requires just as much time and tactics as battle formation. Fubuki is right- Kojiro does have what it takes to be a solid leader- he’s got the boldness and the consideration for his men. He even goes so far as to make a plan to remember everyone’s name. On the battlefield itself, Kojiro comes to an important realization. Not knowing your limitations can be the downfall of many a great person. Kojiro rightly realizes he can’t fell the Yonemaru alone, much as he wants to. But he gets by with a little help from his friends. Kojiro definitely learned a thing or two thanks to his face(less) off against Yonemaru- namely the importance of teamwork. Lessons which he is not ungrateful for, going so far as leaving Yonemaru’s head behind out of respect. This kid has a genuineness and integrity that are good match for his young lord’s.

What really stuck out to me (other than the sad, sad art or lack thereof), was the sense of community that is built on the battleground. Not just something that happens, but something that is absolutely necessary for an army to work like a well-oiled machine. Camaraderie builds trust and motivation to push through the odds for the sake of those who believe in you, and lets you have each other’s back in the crucial moment.

There were quite a few chuckleworthy moments here as well. Having very unique features comes in handy when you don’t know the names of the characters, as Kojiro finds out. That is, unless you’re only seeing half the picture. The moral of the story is- don’t judge a book by its cover (or a rectangle by its lines). I almost died laughing when Kojiro’s nicknames for the guys got longer the more features got added on.

Kiyohara’s army was a stark contrast to the Suwa forces. The Suwa have a crop of budding young leaders, like Kojiro and Tokiyuki. In contrast, you have a stuck up noble at the helm and veteran fighters chafing under him. “An incompetent enemy general” is more useful alive- it’s the harsh truth indeed.

Then, you have a lack of trust and camaraderie amongst these fellows. Kiyohara doesn’t care about preserving lives or even strategy itself (much to the chagrin of the seasoned fighters). He sends the remnants of the army after Hoshina, dead set on getting his rewards in women and wealth, not listening to the better judgement of the actually skilled warrior. He learned his lesson the hard way and has to retreat after having a near brush with death.

In spite of the holes in the enemy’s armor, things aren’t exactly peachy for Hoshina’s army. One could say they took a few small steps forward and one large step backwards. Much as it feels like a victory, slaying Yonemaru and effectively getting the other side to retreat, it’s not really a victory in a sense because Hoshina loses a lot of territory in the process by defecting to Tokiyuki against the Ashikaga. What he gains though could be argued to be valuable as well- a wakagimi full of integrity and close comradeship with his new friends.

And with that, it’s time to say goodbye to Tokiyuki and his friends (at least in anime form). As sour as I am over the finale and lack of a sequel, I do want to celebrate what this adaptation got right, which was most things. As I’ve said over and over, the art and direction were just phenomenal in many ways (though not always, but hey, you can’t have your cake and eat it too all the time). The staff really poured their care and talent into it and for that I am grateful.