Sengoku Basara: Judge End

Let me just start off by saying that I am a HUGE Sengoku BASARA fan. Like, seriously big. I have all the video games including all the games that haven't been translated into English, I have several of the manga spin offs both in English and Japanese, I have the whole anime series AND I even have a freaking Date Masamune cell phone charm, So when I say I'm a mega-BASARA freak, I'm not kidding. Pretty much the only things I don't have are action figures (because they creep me out in general) and maybe a few miscellaneous items such as the alarm clock, stickers, etc. It's pretty much a mania borderlining obsession (and a little embarrassing in all honesty).
So, with all that said, I absolutely adore Sengoku BASARA but I was completely disappointed by the third season.
*Note: this review may include spoilers

Story (4/10):
BASARA has never been a historically accurate series and it's obvious to people who didn't even know it was supposed to be historical fiction in the first place, however, in my opinion I feel that it was this inaccuracy that gave BASARA its charm. I've had a lot of fun with this series watching it and then Googling everything to see how much is true and I've learned a lot of interesting facts about Japan's Sengoku period.
Season one was by FAR the best in the series, but slowly but surely I found that it was starting to lose its charm as they continued making seasons. The story started losing quality until it got to season three, which was definitely one of the poorest written storyline I've seen, which is really saying something considering how much anime I haven't liked but have forced myself to watch.
During season three, I felt like I was watching a really badly written fanfiction and I just couldn't get into this plot. There was a lot of, not quite "fan service", but a lot of fluff that didn't make sense in the overall story and it was just BAD. It really pains me to say this, but I was not impressed by season three (obviously). It just seemed to have lost the novelty that it started out with.
It basically said, "none of season 1 or 2 or even the movie happened, so this is the new story" and then retold the whole series in a completely different, unappealing way. I mean, for God's sake, there were ZOMBIES in the finale. WHERE did that even come from? It made really no sense in any way. (Although I will admit, I do have a slight interest in zombies and kind of briefly wondered what it would be like to see the BASARA cast fighting them.... But you didn't hear that from me.)
I get that it was trying to follow game 3's storyline, but it just wasn't executed well. I think if they really wanted to use the third game' story, they should have picked it up from the end of season 2 again and fixed BASARA's Last Party into a more coherent series.


Art (6/10):
I'm not quite sure why BASARA switched from Production I.G (animation company that produced all the seasons up 'til now) to Telecome Animation Studio, but it shouldn't have. While T.A.S uses really nice, vivid colors unlike I.G studios, the style is just too different and a lot of times I felt that the proportions looked really awkward or not realistic.
With the different style too, even though it was the same characters, after seeing the same style for two seasons and a movie this season looked like a fan drew the whole thing in an attempt to look like the original.

Sound (9/10):
I will say the sound was as nice as ever. BASARA does make a point of getting all the "big seiyuu" and they're all really good at what they do (duh). I was really glad that none of the voices changed, especially from game to anime (I mean the Japanese cast). All the voices from the game got their respective roles in the anime, so that was really good.
The soundtrack this time round was aslo really different in style, but it kind of worked out anyway. Hiroyuki Sawano is an amazing composer and I'm disappointed I didn't get to hear his music this time round, but Masahiro Tokuda is not one to be under-estimated either and has a very cool, unique style that seemed to fit.

Character (5/10):
I felt that all the characters seemed too OOC (out of character) and none of it felt "right". I am glad that this season included some of the characters from the third BASARA game (brand new characters at the time) but on the other hand, I think that with all the new characters, they kind of took away from the "original" cast like Masamune, Yukimura, etc.
In addition to this, there is one brief moment when Masamune and Yukimura are talking alone, and it felt kind of like they were on a date and I was watching a shounen-ai or something. I mean, BASARA has always had a "man-crush" kind of theme like, "respect thy rival" and all that, but this was just too much and WAY overdone.

Enjoyment (5/10):
None of the characters made sense and it was kind of hard to like them, and this is coming from someone who has played all the games and seen the anime at least 3 times. I just couldn't get into this season, and I pretty much consider it the "ba****d" season of the show because I refuse to accept it.
I think the overall reason that I disliked this season was because it was so different from everything that already came out. I'm kind of orthodox that way; I hate change and I hate things that change drastically - which is how I would describe season three in the nicest way possible.

Overall: (6/10)
Overall, even despite my BASARA mania, I REALLY couldn't get into this season and I honestly don't recommend it. If you don't want your image of the BASARA cast shattered into a million tiny pieces or if you liked the original story and cast the way they were, AVOID THIS SEASON AT ALL COSTS.
Go back to season one, is my suggestion.

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Trust is a minor word.
War is just beginning.
Bonds are needed to be alive.
Courage to keep fighting.

I must write that I'm quite disappointed this time.When I was watching previous Sengoku Basara anime I just fell in love with that anime and made me to study more about Japanese history etc .I've also did a lot of web research finding everything related to Sengoku Basara and things that really happen in Japanese history.Back then I started to like and desire character in anime and person that was described in history : Date Masamune. As for this day I like to read and know more about him.In first anime Sengoku Basara I enjoyed watching parts that was related to Masamune-sama.
Going back to Sengoku Basara: Judge End that anime as from my point it was sometimes " ridiculous " .In middle of anime repeatedly had uncomfortable feeling watching it.Don't know how I can describe it more but for me there was like " something is missing ".
In previous Sengoku Basara that anime was awesome like warped in some strange but interesting magic that made me sucked in.
Watched all 12 episodes because I'm a person who like to watch to the end , story was genuine , they fixed a little bit art especially Sanada Yukimura was made more handsome.

Did not like a opening at first but in middle started to actually be fond of it , as for ending it was pure disaster listen it , was annoying and made my ears bleed after hearing squeaking voice of female musician " I'm gonna hate word Polaris for rest of my live ".I'm completely a Seiyū freak and it was pleasurable to hearing so many popular and my favorite voice acting.

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Sengoku Basara Judge End


This is an alternate setting of the 3rd Arc in the Sengoku Basara Video Series the Sekigahara hype train and an alternate setting of the The Last Party that Production I.G did a while back.

Story (7/10) Good

Now as an anime adaptation of the hack n slash video game Sengoku Basara 3, would personally say that this anime does a great job staying as accurate to the story source material as purpose in comparison to The Last Party. (Yes I will be comparing it to Last Party a lot in the review)

Characters (8/10) Very Good

Judge End definitely cares about the characters in this series more than The Last Party did. Obviously one could say well one is a movie and the next is a 12 episode series. True but the Last Party (just like Sengoku Basara Season 1 and 2) care mostly on Masamune Date. And although I enjoyed The Last Party more because I am a Masamune Date fan boy I do respect Judge End for nerfing Masamune quite a lot in the adaptation because according to the video game The Last Party asrays a shit ton from how things go.

Art (8/10) Very Good

The Art in this adaptation I would say is (at it's best it would be a 10) actually looks better than anything Production I.G has done in their versions BUT this version is definitely not consistent with it's art style one minute it'll look amazing and the next it'll look average or even worse than Production I.G's version (at it's worst I would say it's like a 4 or a 5). (Not saying Production I.G's version was bad I'm just saying this one was better but P.I.G was indeed more consistent)


Sound (10/10) Outstanding

There's nothing really wrong with the sound in anything Sengoku Basara related is outstanding so there's that. Especially the opening music to my ears


Enjoyment (6/10)

Everything up to episode 9 was average the enjoyment up to the point was obviously all setup for the Battle at Sekigahara the fact that they have a count down the the days until that battle happens is reason enough to believe anything up to episode 9 was just setup. And by the time we get to the battle I personally feel the hype wasn't really worth it. Yeah it stayed true to the video's story but I felt way more hype watching Production I.G's version than I was this one.


Overall (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.8/10) Good+

Sengoku Basara Judge End I feel it better than Season 1 of Sengoku Basara by P.I.G but I don't think it's better than Season 2 or The Last Party (AS AN ANIME). As an adaptation I felt it was the best staying true but as an anime (especially for someone who doesn't really character or know the characters before watching Judge End) can feel lack luster. I know and care about these characters I'm a big fan of Sengoku Basara so I just wanted to watch it so the sake for saying I've seen it as a Sengoku Basara fan.

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OH YEAH! JUDGE END! NO MAJOR SPOILER ATTACHED!

It certainly feels ages when I last saw the last release of Sengoku Basara. I've been a fan of this genre; historical figures, historical story and of course, the addition of shounen elements resulting into one blast-filled, blood-pumping sword-clashing title. Frankly in my opinion, this has got to be the best Sengoku Basara arc in which they focused on a single historic event. The fateful Sekigahara battle. However, a watcher ought to spit out the reality factor and focus on enjoying the fiction content, unless you want to waste your enthusiasm and will end up giving a premature judgment.

First is the story. To those who have seen, the Last Party version. Don't be too attached to negative perspective. While the 90 minute version failed to reach the "impressive" boundary, the alternate version offers more enjoyable watch with various additions of plot background, more vital characters, wise threading of events and more fluid writing. I'm obliged to give a passable 7 for I've been given a good run of watch-time.

The next was the art and sound. Like in any other Sengoku Basara titles, the animation content was always superb. Good character design upgrade, better animation effect, it's an undoubted high quality even for the 2014 standard. That goes the same for the soundtrack, the usual amount of quality was retained, letting me enjoy the bgms and the song themes as well. Art is 10 and the Sound goes 8.

Characters, oh! They're fabulous! Most especially, Ishida Mitsunari. From the get go to the final act, he's awesome. From my perspective, he implanted himself as the main character of the title. Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune served like chaperones as they played second fiddle the entire running time. On the other hand, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who will all know emerged victorious on the real event, played the sacrificial lamb to build a country with views to each other's need. He was the standard good guy who ends up being made the lousiest hence, in short, the most boring main character. The other characters fulfilled their roles in a satisfying fashion, nothing can be said like a minus except for Oda Nobunaga's early exit. Aside from the omission of a major bad-ass villain, the other character aspects were pretty much acceptable. The dirty politics is really something that moves a country onwards, hard fact proven. Clash of ideals resulting wars is a sacred thing way back in the past, however, at least they plunged themselves forward in believing what they are fighting was the right and just thing. Characters deserves a 9, for solid dialogues and wonderful voice acting of the seiyus.

Enjoyment? Heck, Judge End is one hell of a ride. I'd no other choice but to felt compelled to give an 8 for it. Aside from the re-used tactics, recycled revenge drama, reduced battle effects, I saw myself getting drawn every episodes meaning to say, it's a good show worth seeing.

But the most important point is still yet to be discussed...

Why the prejudice? It's painful to see a show getting undeserving scores from the watchers who did not bother appreciating what Jude End has to offer. I imagined that some of those mention had at least locked their eyes on a show which contained ecchi vitals and graded them higher because of the inclusion of stripe panties and bare stark naked melons. Good grief.

Concluding, Judge End has what it takes to stay worth the time every episode. I can genuinely recommend this to watchers who wants an interesting show. Give it a try, folks. You might find some good time watching the entire 12 episodes.

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