日本三國

Loved the nighttime scenes only illuminated by the stars and lanterns inspired by ukiyo-e and shin-hanga prints. That was some interesting role-reversal with Aoteru being the hothead and Tsune-chan being the cool-headed one. It reminds me of episode 1 when Saki shut down Aoteru over-analyzing and rambling about her wedding dress. Tsune-chan finding Ouga pathetic for seeking to avenge her father is quite ironic and funny given his own desires and how he is currently working on his mother's biography. The **"Wait, hold on" or "Cho, mate-ya (ちょ、待てや)"** by Tsune-chan is a Kansai version of Takuya Kimura's "Cho, mate-yo (ちょ、待てよ)" from the TV drama Love Generation, which everyone loves to say when imitating the actor. Their back-and-forth at the end was yet another manzai act with Tsune-chan interjecting ("tsukkomi") with common straight-man quips "You don't know? You don't say? (わからへんのかい)." This episode in particular was full of Chinese references and I know we have some Three Kingdoms experts here who can hopefully expand on some of them. The **"self-torture ruse/self-injury stratagem" or** **"kuniku no kei (苦肉計)"** is the 34th stratagem in the Thirty-Six Stratagems and was used by Huang Gai in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the Battle of Red Cliffs to deceive Cao Cao. The general pretended to have been tortured by his leader Zhou Yu to convince Cao Cao that he had defected to his side, bringing with him warships secretly filled with fuel to set fire to Cao Cao's own fleet. In our scenario, both Ouga and Ryūmon are Zhou Yu, with Mūton and perhaps involuntarily Moriyama as Huang Gai, but does that make Aoteru Gan Ning?  The **"alienation strategem/strategy to sow discord" or "Rinkan no kei (離間計)"** has a number of Three Kingdoms examples, such as Cao Cao turning Ma Chao and Han Sui against each other. We see Denki taking advantage of the discord between his son and Ryūmon, but we also know that Ryūmon and Kaku had the foresight to anticipate Denki's plans and employ their own stratagems. When Aoteru thanks Tsune-chan, he quotes from the 8th chapter of the Tao Te Ching.  Kaku's last words to Aoteru come from the 5th century BCE Chinese idiom **"Sleep on firewood and taste gall" (gashin shōtan 臥薪嘗胆)** from the war between the Southern states of Wu and Yue about enduring great hardship and humiliation to achieve revenge. It also appears in Su Shi's 11th century poem, "Imitation of Sun Quan's Reply to Cao Cao," where the author writes as Sun Quan rejecting Cao Cao's proposal for surrender. In Meiji era Japan, it became a national slogan used by the government to counter criticism of their handling of the Triple Intervention and to encourage the public to endure hardship to eventually take revenge on Russia. But rather than tasting gall, Aoteru must persuade the heavens.

I always appreciate the subtle art of war and the strategem that goes along with it. There's really something to be said for when an anime is able to constantly keep me on my toes. Hands down the best of spring thus far. Denki be like god sending his (only?) son to save the people of Seii from their sins Lmao. Trap or not, blood will surely be spilled and it may ultimately come down to Aoteru to pick up the pieces.

Kaku tearing down Wajima's "benevolence" is so relevant to the state of politics today. Those elected in public office are first and foremost, public servants. Not idols. It is their job to serve and live up to the public trust given to them. So while it isn't bad to praise them for the good things they do, we should also never forget how exactly they came to be in power. It's also a matter of time before the Taira's hubris gets to them. I really wanted the Emperor to grow some spine during Ryumon's audience, but it's understandable that his fear towards Taira would cloud his judgment. It was an open secret that they poisoned the previous Emperor after all, and they could easily replace him if they wanted to. The rot within Yamato's governance is reiterated more in this episode as it was so unnerving that they let a literal child lead a whole government bureau due to his name. Even more so when the said child could freely act impudently in front of Yamato's figureheads without consequences. But then again, he never stood a chance with the elder Taira as his father. I really need Aoteru to lock in and succeed in his goals and I'm glad that despite working for the government, his ideals remain unchanged. And I could just hope that the same would remain intact as he reaches for the future he and Saki desired.

Oh my GOD how does every fucking character have so much charisma. Kaku and Ryumon are just casually aurafarming every moment that they're on screen. And Kaku is right. I'm ashamed to say that I fell for Ohga's propaganda last episode.... Now the Grand Archivist may be a brat but I'm certain that he's as evil as his dad. It'll be interesting to see how Aoteru and Misumi'll deal with Denki's advances while Kaku and Ryumon are not home. That departing message from Kaku leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have a feeling that shit is not going to go well for them on the frontlines...

Geez, the Grand Archivist is literally a snot nosed brat and Taira’s son? Despicable. On top of that, this little shitstain is walking them right into a trap and Ryumon’s the one who has to keep this fool alive. I don’t envy the man’s position. But I trust him and Kaku to come up with a plan to unfuck this situation the Tairas have dragged them into. I think what we saw this week might have been a passing of the baton to the next generation of leaders. Those two may end up dying in this trap, but they leave behind two capable leaders ready to rise up and take charge.

Lol the fact that one picture of Wajima was enough for Moriyama to ask them to defect lol. I like how Kaku shared what Moriyama had heard but from a more truthful perspective, that was interesting to see.  I wonder if Kaku will start to be more active in mentoring Aoteru. I feel he won't be around too long with how great he is as a strategist.  The audacity of Taira threatening Ryuumon if something happens to his son, when he chooses not to take Ryuumon's warnings seriously.

HOLY SHIT KAKU COOKED!!! The strategy is absolutely brilliant. It's so out of the box that it would probably fly right over Taira's head. In fact he might even think that this is favorable to him since it looks like Ryumon's own army is collapsing. Ryumon is the only one who can send more soldiers but Taira would completely block that. So with Ryumon knowing full well this is a trap that will become an all out war, how can he get more soldiers there to make sure it's not a complete massacre? Exile generals under the pretense of them defecting and send a lot of soldiers with them as "escort". Who is the perfect person to execute this plan? Aoteru since he's shown to completely abide by the law and punish those who breaks the law. It doesn't matter what your rank is, Aoteru will bring down the law on your head. Absolute cinema. It's such a genius plan.

Ok so it's 120% a trap. So the snot nosed brat is Tiara's son. Makes sense. The Emperor can't choose but I mean he has to side with Tiara if he values his life. He did send Ryuumon with the son though so maybe they can still figure a way out or win? What's the plan here? Kaku did get some advice/hints to Aoteru but I got no idea still really besides that they have a plan and what we saw all that was predicted/planned. Really hyped to see more I want the next episode already now ngl. Also quite liked how Kaku teared down Wajima's "benevolence" but damn people really about to turn over cuz of one drawing huh? Simps really to change sides cuz she's pretty lol. I mean I get it the situation in Yamato is pretty bad with the fatso controlling everything so quite tempting to change sides to a beautiful dictator but she is still a dictator. Also yeah really all revenge at the end of the day huh? i also yeah she came to power killing the previous governemnt etc so you know as much you wanna praise her keep that in mind and she's getting ready to start a war right away already. Also I hope Kaku doesn't die cuz they might be too op having two geniuses on their sides? Like Aoteru already right but then having Kaku as well. I hope he doesn't die or Ryuumon we need both cuz there's so much disadvantages already with the Tiara's controlling everything.

The BGM immediately after the OP was really good. And the one before the OP was so unfittingly upbeat with all the killing going on. I’m wondering if Taira Senior actually believes Muuton is defecting. He’s probably considered the possibility of it being a ruse, and could have Ryumon sent alone to take the bait and suffer the consequences. Why endanger his own son as well? Maybe he doesn’t really care for this kid… It seems that Ryumon and Kaku are not expecting to return from their expedition, if they’re briefing the remaining officers. But they didn’t nominate someone to be in charge during their absence, so what could they be planning? Ryumon asking Aoteru to cite the other officer’s crime and punishment shows you how high he’s risen. And he’s got Kaku’s endorsement too. I hope Ryumon and Kaku get to show off their capabilities in battle. We’ve only seen it demonstrated once. Maybe Seii will capture them instead of kill them, and they’ll be released or get a chance to escape later. That sort of thing happened all the time in Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories, right? I feel like I should have a map of Japan open while watching the show. It was a clever decision to have the story take place in the future. Characters are able to reference history, and it’s technically not anachronistic.

Strategies straight from The Three Kingdoms! Chief Clerk Moriyama's exile is no doubt also a ruse, but what would the 200 soldiers be used for is the big question. Are they going to ambush the ambushers? Or are they trying to pincer the Seii "defectors" at the meeting point? Another question I have in mind is, what is Taira trying to achieve by sending his son? Is he going to use Seii as a blade to get rid of Ryumon? Aoeteru's responsibility at the fort looks like Kaku preparing him for ultimately defecting from Yamato. Other than joining Seii, it looks like they may even consider starting their own kingdom. Could Ryumon and Kaku even be thinking of using the Taira kid as hostage or a means to have Seii join them?

The beginning of the episode again showcased that Taira just has too much influence. As such, there is the issue of both him and Ouga. Ouga's charisma is definitely a notable part of her rise as a dictator. As someone like Moriyama's proclamation to ally with her is a good showcase of it. The key for Ryuumon and his men is to find their own path, but it does appear finding that opening will be tough. The most interesting character in this episode is Kaku. He definitely has something up his sleeve that I am curious about.

This one relies in the cool and absurd factor a lot, from character actions to dialogs. And that is what I love about it, and the reason for the disclaimer on each episode. Because cool and absurd is a way to present real issues (corruption, nepotism, weak/incompetent leadership, even a bit of jingoism), so the viewer can think "somehow this relates to real life". Is good writing, perhaps even GREAT writing, and, you can apply its ideas to almost every modern country.

The shit apple doesn't fall very far from the shit tree. Looks like decency eludes the Taira clan. It's terrifying enough that Ryuumon and Kaku predicted Aoteru's judgement and used it to send Moriyama to exile. It's even more terrifying that they predicted Moriyama would consider defecting. Those were the actions of two independent sides, and they used them as part of their strategy. Wonder what Ryuumon and Kaku had in mind. They had clearly anticipated the possibility of being sent to an ambush that they could not back out of. I hope their plan included them returning alive, because there's the possibility of them going on a suicide mission and a major part of their plan was leaving the troops in Aoteru's & Yoshitsune's hands.

I really like Kaku as a character. He basically flipped our entire perception about Ouga on it's head. We were possibly brainwashed like Moriyama. She **might** not be as good-natured as we thought (but, to be fair, something in me told me that her tears were performative last episode). It sucks that Kaku and Ryumon set so many deathflags for themselves. It's like they are knowingly going on a suicide mission and leaving everything in Aoteru's hands. This show is steadily becoming my favorite of the entire season. It's perfect in so many ways!