Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu Episode 3 Discussion

mimiiria said:
For me this episode was the best one so far, as it felt more grounded than the earlier ones that were just about introducing saniwa magic and spooky time travel monsters. Mutsunokami's and Horikawa's ex-tempore infiltration was interesting, I'm glad that the bad guys weren't just monsters but also regular people. Can't wait for next ep which probably shows the citadel and new swords.

mimiiria said:
For me this episode was the best one so far, as it felt more grounded than the earlier ones that were just about introducing saniwa magic and spooky time travel monsters. Mutsunokami's and Horikawa's ex-tempore infiltration was interesting, I'm glad that the bad guys weren't just monsters but also regular people. Can't wait for next ep which probably shows the citadel and new swords.

agilityredfox said:
I don't think this episode was dull or anything, just more dialogue to give the characters some development.

The animation is incredible as expected with Ufotable, I don't know anything about Japanese history or anything, I imagine if you do it adds a lot to the show.

To me, it's just time travelling samurai, i'd prefer if the after credits were about the characters places in history so I could learn something.

agilityredfox said:
I don't think this episode was dull or anything, just more dialogue to give the characters some development.

The animation is incredible as expected with Ufotable, I don't know anything about Japanese history or anything, I imagine if you do it adds a lot to the show.

To me, it's just time travelling samurai, i'd prefer if the after credits were about the characters places in history so I could learn something.

ShadowfrostZen said:
Still waiting for Tsurumaru and Munechika.

emilyhime19 said:


Some history information here. (Forgive me, I am a history otaku) By the way, the men in the ending were their former masters.
The first 2 characters appeared are Izuminokami Kanesada and Horikawa Kunihiro. Both were the swords of Hijikata Toshizou. Hijikata Toshizou was the vice captain of the famed Shinsengumi, a police force that serve the Tokugawa Bakufu. Hijikata found a swordsmith from Kanesada school, and asked to be made a katana (Izuminokami) which had similar characteristics to his wakizashi (Horikawa). This makes Izuminokami the youngest of the cast. Hijikata later fought in the battle of Hakodate against the Imperial Army and was killed while in combat on horseback by a bullet that shattered his lower back.

Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki was belonged to Sakamoto Ryoma. He united Choshu domain and Satsuma domain to overthrow Tokugawa Bakufu and this put him as an enemy of the Shinsengumi. Sakamoto Ryoma was ultimately attacked and murdered at an inn in Kyoto. Initial reports accused members of the Shinsengumi for Ryōma's deaths, and Shinsengumi leader Kondō Isami was later executed on this charge.This is the reason Mutsunokami and Izuminokami dislike each other.

Tonbokiri is one of three legendary Japanese spears created by the famed swordsmith Fujiwara Masazane, said to be wielded by the daimyō Honda Tadakatsu, a leading general of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was referred at Sengoku strongest warrior because he never once suffered a significant wound, despite being the veteran of over 100 battles by the end of his life,and because he was never defeated by another samurai.

Yagen Toushirou is a Tantou owned by Oda Nobunaga, a powerful Daimyō of Japan in the late 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period. Nobunaga is regarded as one of three unifiers of Japan along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was killed when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against him at Honnō-ji. It is thought that Yagen has perished along with Nobunaga when the Honnō-ji burn down.

Inugirlz said:


you and me both. MUNECHIKAAAAAA!!

Ylenie said:
I like this episode, in my opinion it's better than the two previous.
I liked how if they avoid changing story, inocent deaths will happen anyways (the ronin) and the little reference Mutsunokami made to the Shinshengumi, showing his opinion. In a way, the ronin remind me the Shinshengumi. They fought for their beliefs but the change (accept foreigners or not, support the shogun or the emperor) went in the opposite direction.

Kaio_chiii said:


Its actually he was reminded of his former master sakamoto ryoma; he was the same as the ronin and was willing to kill foreigners until he got convinced by some guy and changed his thinking.
the shinsengumi too fought for the bakufu but i think he felt the connection to ryoma.

Farabeuf said:
I'm not getting much out of this show to be honest. I wish things slowed down a little and we got background for our characters and a bit more context.

I'm also somewhat miffed at how casually the ronin are described as being good men, just misguided, for what by all intents is their murderous assault on foreigners.

emilyhime19 said:


Well, to be fair, with them foreigners are enemies that come to corrupt and invade Japan. As a samurai, their duty is to protect their country

Farabeuf said:


What foreigners are attacking them here? It comes off as plain xenophobia to me.

matias067 said:
Did I just saw Heizo Hasegawa from Onihei!? (on the scene 17:46) LOLZ
4/5.

emilyhime19 said:


Foreigners brought new things, things the Japanese never seen before. They afraid that those things would replace their traditional values, turn them into some kind of slaves to the foreigners. Those fears are not without reason you know. Like my country in the past, the French came in, trade and brought modernization but after that, they turned my country into a colony. People that opposed them was thrown into a prison in the middle of the ocean and were tortured there. There are also the fact that in that time period, the US sent 4 warships to force Tokugawa Bakufu to open their country for trading.

Kaio_chiii said:
^
This series does not explain everything; because it based on history and year 1863 there were views against foreigners. Also; there is no expanding on background history; almost everything in this franchise is up to the player to check up; read and learn history.
so of course you wont get the history lesson here.

MikazukiRanbu said:


Well, this is supposed to be a Historical anime. While the game doesn't explain that much history, thisanime does but you can feel their views are a bit bias and the lessons being learned here are obscured rather than going more into depth. For a serious anime, its not wise of them to leave out that kind of information especially since ufotable is going so heavy on exposition in the wrong places.