Hilarity Ensues.
Nobunaga no Shinobi is one of LA's favorite anime shorts of Fall 2016 and with a 26 episode run spanning 3 minutes each, LA enjoyed this little gem all the way through.
Nobunaga no Shinobi comedy core element is the use of "defying expectations" mainly in the case of punchlines. Be it from a cute girl who happens to be an excellent ninja who can kick ass, to Hideyoshi Kinoshita being a bumbling errand boy turned commander of an army for Oda Nobunaga, to the most unpredictable character of all, Kichou, Oda Nobunaga's wife voiced by Chiaki Takahashi thinking up nonsensical things. If there is anything Nobunaga no Shinobi does right in the comedy department is it's greatly timed punchlines (be it running gags or even in serious situations..you know...WAR, they even manage to make great quips in the heat of battle!).
In terms of animation by TMS Entertainment, the animation has this traditional Japanese scroll effect to it from it's character designs being somewhat chibi sure but the backgrounding makes it like your reading a scroll of Oda Nobunaga's exploits. The character designs albeit chibi, it makes their designs rather noticeable, like you'll never confuse Nene for Kichou and that's usually due to appearance and their accessories they usually wear and with a HUGE cast for an anime short, they did a good job even on that front.
In terms of voice acting, with such a greatly timed comedy anime, the majority of the voice cast did rather well. Special props to Inori Minase as Chidori (our main protagonist), Kappei Yamaguchi as Hideyoshi Kinoshita. Also nice voice cast of Rie Kugimiya as the tsundere Nene..because tsundere.
Nobunaga no Shinobi is a definitely LA's favourite anime short of Fall 2016, it's a perfect mix of comedic timing, historical and moe all in one and LA can't wait for it's second season!
