Well, the mask has finally come off – hopefully Cyndi Lauper’s pipes aren’t too rusty. Nippon Sangoku continues to be the most interesting series of Spring 2026 visually. And rather fun in a rousing, goofy sort of way. But the simmering pot on the back burner started to boil this week. It’s not as though the politics of the series are going to be a deal-breaker if they stay at this level – the unseriousness of the characters is a bigger problem. But my concern is that there’s no guarantee it is going to stay at this level. In fact it seems very unlikely it will, given the nature of the plot.
It’s kind of an “if you know, you know” deal. While there is a particular lexicography and iconography to Japanese nationalism and revisionism, in the modern social media age the lines between it and general right-wing populism have blurred considerably. Nippon Sangoku gives nods to both – even its title is a dog whistle for the former. When you’ve lived here a while these things are obvious when you see them. It’s all a sort of power fantasy – only an iron hand and purity can stand against bloated corruption which undermines Bushido values by openness and laxity.
Things seem to be trending towards Aoteru in Yamato, executing petty criminals left and right in the name of moral superiority, and the new “talented dictator” of Sei, Wajima Ohga teaming up to take out the bad guys (like leaders who surrender) with swift justice. Remember, nothing was more dangerous than too much democracy as far as Confucius was concerned. And we know Ohga’s strategist is a Confucian thinker. Aoteru is more into Sun Tzu but I imagine he’d align pretty tightly with Confucius too in a pinch. Right now Ohga and Yamato are enemies which makes her Aoteru’s enemy, the whole pretext by which she seized power. But I see “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” in their future.
The problem, of course, is that people like Aoteru and Ohga can’t stay in positions of power without enemies to rail against. So they invent them whether they exist or not – a common scenario being that they arise in response to a real one, then quickly transition to fictional ones. As bad as things are in Sei I imagine it won’t be too hard for Ohga to keep the masses on her side – as long as she can convince them she’s making life worse for whoever is to blame for their sorry lot in life. As such, eventually, the two of them will probably wind up enemies in the end anyway – though I doubt the anime will get this in one cour.
Well, whatever. I can stomach a certain amount of that as long as things are fun and the writing doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s eye candy aplenty here, so much visual flair. And some genuinely funny moments too, which continue to be provided more by Tsune-chan-san (and Fukyama Jun-san) more than anyone else. That bit where he was squirting Aoteru in the bath really got me, because I obsessively do that hand-squirt thing every time I get into a bath (though not at other people).
Henk
April 27, 2026 at 11:42 pmI’m enjoying this one quite a bit. The goofy over the top antics of the characters are pretty fun. I’m able to tolerate the nationalism/populism angle, for now at least. We’ll see if it lasts.
Guardian Enzo
April 28, 2026 at 12:34 amExactly, we’ll see if it lasts.
Joshua
April 28, 2026 at 5:18 amI’m of the opinion that this series is far more interesting focusing on anything that’s not surrounding Aoteru and his really simplistic story imo. From the fridging trope, to how he just outsmarted everyone during the exam, so he can change the military from the inside doesn’t give me that sense of uncertainty that someone like Reinhard from LOGH had that he’s just replacing one thing for another within the government. I find so much of the worldbuilding to be far more interesting than the actual story itself, and the humor is just so off-putting.
Also, why am I getting the sense that this is about to lead to a “women shouldn’t govern” conclusion for this particular conflict?
Guardian Enzo
April 28, 2026 at 8:29 amHeh, it’s funny – Ohga’s role is actually the one thing I was thinking doesn’t really fit with the old-school Japanese nationalist model. But then look at who they’ve chosen as their standard-bearer now.
catterbu
April 28, 2026 at 1:32 amWhile the tones are not always perfectly balanced, I definitely find this to be an interesting one. My hope is that all of the nationalist rhetoric can exist in the series without it being pushed as THE solution that the series believes is best. Of course Legend of the Galactic Heroes is an unreasonable comparison for any anime to receive, but there we see the benevolent dictator vs. the corrupt democracy and it leaves plenty of ambiguity. I think it would be interesting if Nippon Sangoku told its story without suggesting the “right way” to do things. I do not feel like the anime this week explicitly endorsed Aoteru’s actions this week, which gives me hope.
On a related note: Enzo, curious how you see this series vs. Kingdom. Obviously that is explicitly historical but that is very much the story of a King and his top General uniting China through violent war and lots of death. It feels different, but I do think there is an interesting compare and contrast there.
Guardian Enzo
April 28, 2026 at 8:27 amVery different to me. Historical fiction vs. speculative fantasy is a huge difference, first of all. I would also say that Kingdom doesn’t try and whitewash the reality of the world being the way it was in China then and make white coat heroes of guys who killed thousands for a living. In the end there is inevitably an element of glorifying war and warriors in Kingdom, but it’s done in a fashion I find tolerable.
Plus it’s a much better series with far more well-drawn and nuanced characters. That matters.