When we talk about plot armor, we usually mean something different.

Over recent years we’ve seen seemingly limitless interpretations of Oda Nobunaga in anime, and they’ve tended to fall into one of two categories.  Either they’re played for comedy and/or absurdity, or they emphasize his badass and sometimes evil side.  Kochouki is bending the truth in a different way, casting Nobunaga in a considerably more noble and idealistic light than the history books show.  He is the hero of the series after all, so I guess that makes sense.  But there aren’t many examples of anime that have featured him in that hero role and still been relatively serious in approach.

Of course, who’s to say this version of Nobunaga doesn’t have as much truth as the conventionally accepted one?  It’s not like we’ll ever know for sure, but even if Kochouki was around long enough I doubt we’d ever see this Bishou-bunaga drinking wine from an enemy’s skull.  In order to make this version of the man sustainable narratively, we have Kichou leaving Nobunaga voluntarily (desperate to make him happy) rather than Nobunaga casting her aside for his true love Kitsuno.  And rather than have Nobunaga assassinate his brother for his treachery, here he kills him in self-defense in an elaborate ruse concocted by Nobukatsu to free Nobunaga of the threat his existence poses to him.

For Nobukatsu, the scales fell from his eyes when he realized Kurando was no friend to him or his reputation, but by this stage it’s clear Nobukatsu had already decided death was the only way out for him.  His retainer Shibata is a crucial figure here in many respects.  He’s the only one in Nobukatsu’s inner circle who dares speak out against Kurando, and in point of fact would wind up becoming an important retainer of Nobunaga’s once the younger brother was dead.  Forgiving Shibata and most of Nobukatsu’s retainers and taking them into his service wound up being a very wise decision by Nobunaga, though it must have been a difficult one at the time.

One thing is certain – Nobukatsu’s warning about his older brother’s eventual fate (which there’s no evidence he ever expressed in real life) turned out to be prophetic.  Whatever his reasons for doing what he did, it’s likely both the real and fictional Nobuyuki felt resentment towards Nobunaga for “doing what he likes”, because many people in his time did.  His popularity was a mystery to most, because Japan perhaps more than any other country has had a genuine paucity of truly revolutionary military and political leaders.  That’s just not things are generally done, but Nobunaga was anything but a mass-produced model.

As for the Kichou-Kitsuno angle, that doesn’t get as much focus here but it’s certainly important in the overall picture of Nobunaga’s life.  For all the complications the fall of Saitou Dousan caused, the simple fact that Kichou was infertile was enough to make her problematic as a wife for Nobunaga.  That said, she certainly remained in his life for many years after Kitsuno entered the picture as Nobunaga’s first concubine – it’ll be interesting to see if she returns to the narrative in Kochouki at some point.