The basic setting and time period is the Sengoku period in Japan when there were many different small nations that always were fighting for supremacy in the country. The main character is a general of one of these armies named Date Masamune, also called the One-Eyed Dragon due to his missing one eye and his six swords called the dragon claws. The other main character is named Sanada Yukimura, a general in a rival army to the one led by Date Masamune. Through the series, these two become rivals and clash with each other numerous times.
Through the series, we learn that while all of these nations are vying for power, there is another general, Oda Nobunaga, who is supposedly a demon king, and who wants to destroy all of the nations and create his own militaristic state. So, to bring down this threat to all of them, the nations decide to form an alliance in order to combat and destroy the demon king. The storyline itself was not all that interesting with the exception of the relationships between the different nations and how they reacted to the situations presented to them as the show went on. The basic reason that the show was made was for the fighting scenes and that was obvious throughout the whole show.
The fighting was awesome. In the show, though it is never explained, the stronger people in the armies have special powers, usually having to do with a certain element that they are attuned to. The awesome fact about this show is that it doesn't have to be explained. The scenes are so action packed that after watching for 5 min, you forget about wondering how they have these powers. The reason is probably because the show was an adaptation of a video game instead of a manga, but the action in this anime is so cool that you don't even care anymore how they do it, you just go with it because it's that awesome.
Here is the first example of this: The wife of the demon king coming out to fight the army.
Did I mention that the people use guns and robots in this universe as well? Also, part of what I was talking about before, where does she keep them? Look closely, no pockets!
The next example is a basic fight scene for the show. This is how the fight scenes usually go. The awesome part is that every fight is different, even down to how they fight. The fight choreography is amazing in this show.
Date Masamune vs. Sanada Yukimura
One of the aspects of the show that was not the best was the dialogue. A lot of the dialogue was very well written, but some of it was leaning more towards the cheesy side. Mainly Yukimura's dialogue in both the English and Japanese adaptation sounds very official and formal all the time, which, granted, is there to combat Masamune's laid back style, but I do think they took it a little bit too far. What was really amusing about the dialogue was how they constantly used English phrases in the show even in the Japanese version.
This is my favorite example. Date Masamune using the best phrase in the entire show. He really was the only one to use English in the show, which was more to his advantage showing that he really didn't care about tradition and being formal which added to his character.
The show as a whole worked really well for what it was, a basic action and violence filled show filled with some of the best fighting that I have seen in a while. The action is good and the characters are good. Being a more recent series as well, the animation of the show was very well put together. The fight choreography is amazing and I can't wait to watch the second season. If you are looking for a series that is just pure action then this is definitely one to watch.
Final Rating: 9.6/10
Total Episodes: 12
Recommended Watch Format: Japanese Dub with English Sub (I have heard that Funimation did a decent job on the English dub though)
Most Reliable Streaming Site: www.nwanime.com
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