"Kochōki 〜Wakaki Nobunaga〜" First Impressions

So, the first episode of that new anime about Nobunaga was just released a few days ago, and here's a first, light-hearted comment before a proper review once the series is over.
I must say I'm really sick of these series where Nobu is a vapid bishounen, I just can't take that character design seriously, but I made an effort to put this series on my watchlist, if just because of its brevity, and the obvious curiosity derived from any Nobu's adaptation.

The series starts with a preview of Okehazama Battle that shows us this super-pretty Nobunaga leading his troopers with inspiring words, pretty much borrowed from the Shinchōkoki:
"Everyone listen carefully! Luck is for Heaven to decide!
If the charge, retreat, if they retreat, press forward.
If we win this battle, the names of those who fought in this place will be remembered down through future ages!"
I like the sound of Yūsuke Kobayashi as "older Nobunaga"... Actually, I wonder if it's even the same voice actor, but the official page doesn't seem to specify that, so it's safe to assume that it's always Kobayashi.

Following, we have an introduction by Kichou about how different the "Devil King" of the popular imagery is from her memories of Nobunaga; we are then led in the the young days of Nobu, where he's portrayed conveniently as a bookworm and rabid collector of Western goodies, inspired by Takugen, or as a delinquent who doesn't hesitate to led the young orphans of the town into fiery robberies.

The image of Nobunaga wearing modern glasses in the countryside of 1545 is terrible enough, but let's go ahead.

During this first episode, we got a taste of Nobunaga's troubled family situation.
First, is his relationship with his mother and his younger brother Nobuyuki, here called Sanjuuro (and later on "Nobukatsu"):
Lady Dota is almost disgusted by her older son, in a typical Sengoku fashion. Sanjuuro looks sincerely affectionated to his older bro, but he's continuosly influenced by his mother.
Also, it's kinda unsettling to have all of them living together, since, as the story goes, Nobunaga was left alone in Nagono Castle as the heir of the clan, as the rest family moved to Furuwatari Castle following Nobuhide, the actual head of the clan.
I guess they did so to improve the family drama, making it a harder situation for Nobu:

So, next we have Nobu's father, Nobuhide. His duty in this series is to create multiple challenges to his son to prove his worth:
Again, typical Sengoku fashion. But it's nice to see that Nobuhide appreciates when his son outwits him. It's never an obvious reaction.

Also Nobunaga's older brother, that he's merely considered anywhere, got some screentime:
Nobuhiro was a faithful retainer of Nobu since the earliest hour. Despite being the older brother he couldn't inherit the clan because he was the son of a concubine.

Speaking of concubines, in this episode we enjoyed the first meeting between Nobunaga and Kitsuno, his famed true love:
The deal with the first meeting of Nobunaga and Kitsuno is always vague, but the most probable story goes that Nobunaga had economical ties with the Ikoma clan, and met with Kitsuno only later. Well, it's not actually written in stone, so I can see that the authors want to increase the romantic vibe by making of Kitsuno a "childhood love" of Nobu.
Also, I liked how she was rendered as a little older than him, it looked accurate.

So, the story looks heavily fictionalized, but not something that doesn't make any sense in the context.
--I just hope that during the watch I'll manage to stomach the character design!