Starting it off with whats-her-name killing a rat snake was very silly. Like imagine trying to look badass because you killed a garter snake or something. Gives off unsupervised-teenager-with-a-weapon energy.

I have just binge watched this from the start, and I love it!

It's a classic Warring States TV drama set in the backdrop of the ruins of a nuclear winter Japan.

Military technology seems to have degraded to katanas and a few flintlock rifles.

Strangely enough, everyone seems to have forgotten what computers, analog electronics, radio, industrial machinery, or even electricity are.

It's all there: The generals, the strategists, the stupid castle politics, the maps of territories and units moving around.

The Twin Engine animation and direction is really great, and the thought processes of the characters really come across.

The believability of the characters' decision making is logical and hard to find fault with.

This episode, Ryumon's tea ceremony gambit was a little too over the top for me to believe, like why couldn't the Seii army send some scouts past him to find a possible ambush.

@[email protected]

edit: But a big part of Japanese culture is presentation, with great presentation seemingly able to triumph over anything, so this is totally "in character" for a story set in a samurai drama.

Ryumon's name Mitsuhide is likely a reference to Akechi Mitsuhide, a TokugawaNobunaga-era general, briefly shōgun, and popular character in historical dramas.