Sengoku Basara (Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings)

In the Sengoku period, the struggle for power and unification has brought endless bloodshed to the unstable Japan. Out of all the warring generals, Nobunaga Oda—the "Demon King of Owari"—has established himself as the strongest ruler. Friend or foe, he is determined to crush anyone who stands in his way of creating a tyrannical central government.

The only two who dare rebel against Oda are the "One-eyed Dragon of Oshu" Masamune Date, and the distinguished but hot-blooded warrior of the Takeda clan, Yukimura Sanada. Though they share the goal of preventing Oda from unifying the domains, Masamune and Yukimura cannot see eye-to-eye. Equally skilled in combat, mutual admiration for one another causes these two feuding warriors to forge a fierce rivalry, thwarting any attempts to form a united front against the Demon King of Owari.

With Oda's forces closing in on their respective territories, Masamune and Yukimura reluctantly learn to put aside their differences and fight together against the threatening usurpator.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Sengoku Basara is based off of a series of hack-and-slash fighting games by Capcom.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Sengoku Basara Ranse Ranbu, Sengoku Basara
Side story:	Sengoku Basara: Setonai no Gekitotsu! Hi wo Fuku Umi no Daiyousai - Fugaku!!, Mini Sengoku Basara: Chousokabe-kun to Mouri-kun
Sequel:	Sengoku Basara Ni
Alternative setting:	Gakuen Basara

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Date, Masamune

Main

Nakai, Kazuya
Japanese

Sanada, Yukimura

Main

Hoshi, Souichirou
Japanese

Chousokabe, Motochika

Supporting

Ishino, Ryuuzou
Japanese

Katakura, Kojuurou

Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki
Japanese

Sarutobi, Sasuke

Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito
Japanese

Maeda, Keiji

Supporting

Morita, Masakazu
Japanese

Mouri, Motonari

Supporting

Nakahara, Shigeru
Japanese

Oda, Nobunaga

Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio
Japanese

Akechi, Mitsuhide

Supporting

Hayami, Show
Japanese

Tokugawa, Ieyasu

Supporting

Ookawa, Tooru
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Wada, Jouji

Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue

Producer

Maeda, Toshihiro

Producer

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Opening Theme

"JAP" by abingdon boys school

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Ending Theme

"Break & Peace" by Dustz

Reviews

Jul 19, 2022

lamaraptor

Recommended

Sengoku Basara was my first experience with Japanese historical fiction. Shogun warlords depicted as anime characters with absurd special weapons and finishing moves. That was how someone pitched the games to me and I was sold pretty quick on that concept alone. Unfortunately only the first and third game ever received any kind of Western localization, as the developers were understandably concerned that there was no market outside of Japan for this sort of thing. The journey of Sengoku Basara even coming into existence is somewhat interesting, being Capcom's knockoff of the already popular Sengoku Musou, or Samurai Warriors in the west, which itself was ... the sister game to Shin Sangokumusou called Dynasty Warriors in the west and being a similar concept but with characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's wild.

I'll admit I only ever played the third Sengoku Basara game, which chronologically happens a bit later in the Sengoku period and mainly features the lead up to the Battle of Sekigahara. I loved learning about the real historical events and characters the things in the game were based on, and it's probably the main reason I know so much/anything about Japanese history today.

So going into this a lot of the characters I knew from the later game were present, but in different roles. I'm assuming from the events depicted that this is just an adaptation of one possible route through the game's story, and that "canon" events are the ones that more closely mirror real history. (Ieyasu would definitely still be alive long after the death of Nobunaga.) So as a "what if" story I think this is a pretty good one. It was also neat that they got most of the English voice cast from the last game they localized to come back for the anime dub. I usually hate dubbed anime, and the voice acting here was not great, but my nostalgia made me watch the whole thing in English anyway. You've gotta love the try-hard energy Johnny Yong Bosch puts into his performance.

Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin are both characters I didn't know very well going into it, by the time of the third game they aren't playable characters and are treated more like the stuff of legends. Shingen's relationship with Yukimura was very reminiscent of Might Guy and Rock Lee from Naruto, that is to say, half paternal and half homoerotic. Kenshin and Kasuga's relationship was really funny to watch in English because of how awkwardly every line of dialogue was read. I have to imagine the voice actors were just trying their best not to crack up in the booth at how ludicrous they sounded.

This series is obviously not for everyone. If you happen to have already been a fan of the games somehow despite it barely ever even reaching the west, it's a great time. If not I love that it's at least another entry point that fans could get into to spread awareness of the franchise. Who knows, maybe it will even lead to Capcom localizing other entries in the series, though I doubt it.

For this season, 8/10

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Dec 20, 2020

TamaraZ

Mixed Feelings

I guess I was expecting more from this since it is short, but I got disappointed. Only few last episodes were interesting. And since it is anime of only 12 episodes I guessed it will not be that way
Story:7
The point of the story is to kill the devil king and make ally with other in order to do so. Not that bad, but nothing special. Everyone is focused only on fighting, and barely anyone stood out except the lady night that is supposed to be a man.
Characters:6
Not the worst, but very loud and not likeable. If we except for some reason Date Masamune who ...

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Aug 11, 2020

Srodiam

Not Recommended

Never played the games, so my experience with this franchise is entirely based on this adaptation.

I've never had written a review before, not for the shows i love or to the ones i despise, but i felt the need to do it for this one, the most painfully average show I've seen in a long time.

Sengoku Basara tells a really "romanticized" version of the Sengoku Period (duh), most specifically the rise of the anti-Nobunaga coalition. Some of the most famous points of the conflict are present, such as the rivalry between Kenshin Uesugi and Shingen Takeda or Nobunaga's fondness for firearms. But, as any good ...

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Poll: Sengoku BASARA Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ShanaFlame - Jun 17, 2009	88 replies	by sharosharo »» Apr 19, 5:36 AM
Poll: Sengoku BASARA Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ShanaFlame - Jun 11, 2009	57 replies	by sharosharo »» Apr 19, 5:10 AM
Poll: Sengoku BASARA Episode 10 Discussion ShanaFlame - Jun 3, 2009	43 replies	by sharosharo »» Apr 19, 4:47 AM
Poll: Sengoku BASARA Episode 9 Discussion ShanaFlame - May 27, 2009	48 replies	by sharosharo »» Apr 19, 4:19 AM
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Date, Masamune

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Chousokabe, Motochika

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Sarutobi, Sasuke

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Mouri, Motonari

Oda, Nobunaga

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Synopsis

Background

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