Recap

Sio keeps up the fight against the aliens, but with Jack injured, combined with her own lack of experience, things go south. Luckily, Newton and Gandhi arrive to provide support. Together, they work to eliminate the remaining foes. Later, Sio must come to terms with the reveal of her identity and decide whether to join DOGOO or not.

Gee’s Thoughts

I apparently gave Nobunagun too little credit. While I had expected the show to be a fun dumb show, this episode showed there’s a little more going on under the hood than I initially assumed. It’s still basically a shonen, no denying that, but Sio’s struggle with her newfound powers as well as some smartly written elements had me surprised. Right off the bat, the show acknowledges the crazy amount of recoil a giant minigun would create and how hard it would be to control it accurately, so that’s a point in the show’s favor. And it continues to keep things exciting, as we meet two more E-Gene holders in the form of Newton and Gandhi. Rather then have any one of them steal the spotlight, Sio works with the others to effectively fend off the remaining bad guys in a ridiculously awesome fight scene that also manages to reference Oda Nobunaga’s actual historical usage of firearms against the Takeda cavalry during the Battle of Nagashino.

Additionally, I quite like that DOGOO goes public and reveals the existence of the invaders early on. Shows like these usually hinge on the characters maintaining secrecy and fighting a war alone. With their existence public knowledge, it means that support from the world at whole is a thing, but it means that they’re now beholden to the public perception of the E-Gene holders as well. It also has the secondary effect of placing quite a bit of pressure on Sio, forcing her into the public space. Still, I gotta give the girl props for showing some pretty steely resolve in the face of a rather traumatic event. Overall, Nobunagun continues to be an enjoyable watch. I look forward to seeing the other historical figures in action. As a history buff, I can only ponder as to what kind of powers the likes of François Vidocq and Antoni Gaudi posses.

Jel’s Thoughts

The first half of this episode made me giddy like a 12 year old school boy and I mean that in the best possible way. I seriously was sitting in my living room going “teeheeheehee” as Sio’s number of guns kept increasing and increasing. I’m not really a big fan of action anime at this stage in my life, so to get that kind of reaction out of me is a testament to how much fun Nobunagun has been so far. I agree with Gee on the second half as well, as it does a great job of establishing a simple but rock solid emotional center for all the madness. I’m not really shocked that Nobunagun has turned out to be so entertaining, but I am pleasantly surprised at how well crafted it’s turning out to be.