If I’m being totally honest, if it were a regular series I might very well be dropping Nippon Sangoku at this point. But it’s a Patron Pick, and that does matter. I’ve never dropped one, true. But more to the point I’ve never really wanted to. I liked some better than others but never felt any desire to not finish one. I do feel a responsibility to stick it out – that’s an implied part of the deal, seems to me. It would probably bother me more than any of the people who voted, but bother me it would.

It’s not the politics of this series that have really worn me down, though there have been a few dodgy moments. More, it’s just the general silliness of the writing. A few weeks ago I said Nippon Sangoku was a serious story populated by unserious characters. Well, that imbalance has been corrected – but not in the direction one might have hoped. I wouldn’t call the plot remotely serious at this point, it’s just wish fulfillment and fanservice.

The whole thing with Ohga was a trainwreck for me, starting with the preposterous tea ceremony gambit. To have her entire rule come apart over that was beyond ridiculous. Her whole subplot is a big misfire for me. Ohga is like a teenaged chauvinist’s idea of what a “powerful” female character is. Men are constantly cooing and pissing themselves over her and she weeps at the drop of the hat. Then she gets done in by a hilariously lame stratagem. And it takes a heroic man – Hei – to take the fall for her and look incompetent so she can look competent. Blech.

Maybe things will improve when the story moves back to Osaka, although Aoteru is hardly a favorite of mine either. Denki eventually getting pitted against his son could prove interesting, and if we get Tsune doing something that actually matters to the plot that can only help. With Kaku obviously about to punch his ticket from TB or whatever he has Aoteru is destined to step into his shoes, which might work narratively and might not. My expectations are pretty low across the board at this point but after the last two episodes, I’m of the mind that any change is welcome.