Princess Usagi
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「盗め綸旨、小笠原館の夜」 (Nusume Rinji, Ogasawara-kan no Yoru)
“Steal the Imperial Command from Ogasawara’s Residence at Night”
Genba and Tokiyuki make it out safe from Ogasawara’s storehouse with the edict, but not entirely sound. Ogasawara’s lackey, Ichikawa Sukefusa turns his supersonic hearing on the boys to sus them out quickly, but thankfully, his aim isn’t as sharp as his ears. I thought it was a clever move when Genba used the birds to confuse Sukefusa’s hearing. This back and forth between the two sides isn’t just visceral instinct (though that too), there’s a fair deal of wit involved, which certainly keeps me on my toes. Just when the kids think they’re out of the woods, Sukefusa brings in Ogasawara, who scores a hit on Tokiyuki when the boy dives to protect Genba. That whole scene, dodging between “will they won’t they make it out” and “will Genba won’t Genba betray him” sucked my nerves into this high stakes game of hide and seek.
Sukefusa has quite the swagger to go with his outsized hearing, showing deference to no-one, much to Ogasawara’s chagrin (“Why does he speak so casually to me?!”). Despite that, the two men make for a pretty formidable combo. The swagger fits so well with what I imagine as the samurai image. I mean, with the whole warrior spirit and having to be formidable on the battlefield, you’d have to have a big personality. No room for shrinking violets there.
Our crew succeeds, two times over. Not only do they burn the storehouse and destroy the edict, Ogasawara can’t apply for a second one. The influx of demands from the hoard of opportunists seeking to cash in on the chaos forces Emperor Godaigo to put the kabosh on land redistributions, which includes the Suwa land Ogasawara’s been drooling over. I think that’s some just retribution there, Ogasawara getting foiled by the same power-hungry tactics he tried to pull on Suwa.
The art was a feast for the eyes, particularly the illustrations of Tokiyuki being backstabbed. It played out like a haunting shadowbox, a glimpse into the child’s internal hell that did not end with the burning of his home. That Tokiyuki chooses to trust Genba, given the circumstances where it would be natural to not trust anyone, speaks highly to the child’s character. His good nature and willingness to believe is part of what draws people to him. And right now, drawing people in is what he needs more than anything.
Someone who has no trouble pulling in the followers is Ashikaga Takauji, much to Prince Moriyoshi’s (Suzuki Ryouta) (rightful) concern. If someone attracting more love than your emperor father and that someone already has “betrayal” on his resume, I’d be making some hasty contingency plans too. Unfortunately, Prince Moriyoshi could have used Yorishige’s sage advice “Don’t kill an enemy you can’t fathom”- he saw up close and personal what happens when you try to do so. You can outnumber Takauji, but you can’t outclass him- more opponents just means more clean-up afterwards. Not killing Moriyoshi was the final crippling blow- you can’t serve up a greater demoralizer than dismissing a prince like that. The man is a terrifying monster, even more so with how unstoppable he is. Yet, the masses eat it all up. That sequence of wooing the masses was gloriously trippy, as if parallelling the hypnotism Takauji holds over the people. I think that rings true- so many human monsters in RL have/had enormous charisma to garner massive followings to carry out their agendas.
It strikes me that Tokiyuki is the polar opposite to Takauji. Takauji deals in deceit and underhanded cunning, while Tokiyuki disarms with earnestness and transparency. Tokiyuki’s response to Genba’s threats of “I’ll track your descendants down if you don’t pay up” with “So, you’ll play tag with them too!!” is the Hojo lad at his peak. Like, how could you say “no” to a face like that? Tokiyuki is an odd bird, but to make it in this wild game with even wilder characters like Sadamune and Sukefusa (and they’re only the tip of the iceberg), you really have to be one- a normie would never stand a fighting chance against these guys.
One of the trademarks of Matsui-sensei in this series is to not leave things heavy for too long. Like stored energy that explodes if pent up too long, the goofiness gets released at the end courtesy of a drunken, flashing Genba. Tokiyuki gets his first lesson in the responsibility of a lord for controlling their retainers, which was probably more than he originally bargained on when roping Genba in. I appreciate that Nige Jouzu Wakagimi can serve both sides of the dramatic coin (serious and funny) equally well.
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