NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓻ Kyoto 後編

And here we are for the last day of this challenge that celebrates Nobunaga's birthday!

Eheh, you are surprised, aren't you? For this "Kyoto Final Part" I didn't pick the Honnoji Incident but another event that I favoured over the expected tragedy-- The Parade of the 28th Day, 2nd Month of Tensho 9. I used the description from the The Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga by Elisonas and Lamers and I want to focus on two details.

NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓺ Nobunaga - Daitokuji Ver.

Ah, almost done with this year's celebration of Nobunaga's birthday!

Today I interpreted another famous portrait of Nobunaga: This is preserved at Daitokuji, and a copy of this painting dating the Edo period could be seen at Soukenji.

More Demonic Nobunaga! He's the "boss" in "Tousouchuu: Great Mission"!

I decided to go back to my usual otaku self, and during the current anime season I decided to watch as many anime as possible.

One of those is the actually mediocre Tousouchuu: Great Mission (逃走中 グレートミッション, On the Run: Great Mission, also anglicized as Run for the Money: Great Mission), that I was curious to watch because of certain premises. --Anyway, as I was lazing it off, Nobunaga appeared on screen!

NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓹ Nobunaga - Kobe City Museum Ver.

It's a bit late, but I still managed to contribute a new Nobunaga portrait for 5 weeks straingh!

Today's picture celebrates Nobunaga in his maturity. This was presented to a temple in Azuchi, and like in the previous portrait, it was released some time after his death.
Currently it's preserved at the Kobe City Museum.

THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY (2023)

So, I finally managed to watch THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY, the TOEI colossal featuring Kimura Nobunaga! Looks like the movie was featured in the Far East Film Festival this year, promptly followed by an international released over Amazon Prime Video! Lucky!

Ok, this movie is a perfect example of the "Watch before you speak" attitude that should be our first priority in judging media.
Is this historically correct? No.
Is it politically correct? Maybe, but probably no.
Is it a "feel good" Sengoku movie? No, by any means.
So, is it a good movie worth watching? Yes, oh, yes, it's quite good. As long as you pay attention and read through the lines.

PLEASE MIND THE SPOILERS. If you didn't watch this yet and plan to do, ignore this review for now.

COOMODEL is on a Nobunaga spree! New figure dedicated to Takuya Kimura!

So, as I was drawing this Nobunaga, I stumbled on a serie of new Nobunaga figures by COOMODEL!
Apparently this "Oda Nobunaga 2.0" is inspired by the performance of Kimura in THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY: As you see it's a renewal of their first Nobunaga figure, with the addition of Kimura's head.
I was a bit perplexed because the figures (it's four of them!) don't appear on their official website, but I assume this was a release limited to Taobao only. This wasn't the first time they collaborated with the platform for exclusive releases.

NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓸ Nobunaga - Chokoji Ver.

Continuing the celebrations of Nobunaga birthday with an original artwork 'til June 23!

At first I intended to draw my version of Nobunaga from popolar dramas, then I decided to go with something more "cultural" instead, and picked his most famous portraits.
The first one, of course, it's the portrait of Nobunaga preserved at Chokoji Temple, in Toyota. I tried to interpret the artwork as to portray a lively Nobunaga, just how I imagine he was in his daily life.

Those who betray and those who don't--

Kento Iwasaki shared this picture on his Twitter to promote an exhibition dedicated to the relationship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu, fueled by the current taiga drama Dousuru Ieyasu and probably the upcoming Kubi--
"What the heck is this?! Interesting!!"

NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓷ Kyoto 前編

Still celebrating Nobunaga's Birthday and training with traditional artworks!

I apologize if this picture is not so different from the previous one, but I wanted to focus on Nobunaga's expression and mood, this time.
On November 1968, Nobunaga marched on Kyoto to instaurate the shogunate of Yoshiaki Ashigaka after the betrayal of the Miyoshi & Co. When people compare Nobunaga to Cao Cao, probably this event is what came to their mind first: the military authority settled "a puppet" and governed in their stead. I'm not sure this was the intention of Nobunaga, but I believe he was quite aware of what this act meant. Nobunaga was in 34 in this period. I was quite aware of my place in the world when I was 34 too, I realized that I had no way to make my wishes come true, unless I started to fight for them. "Fighting" meant "work hard, work harder" and on the opposite of Nobunaga, I could give it up and survive in some other way. Nobunaga didn't have this choice. He wished for a peaceful land to live a better life, to allow his subordinates to live a better life.

NOBUNAGA BIRTHDAY PROJECT ⓶ Okehazama

Going on with my tribute to Nobunaga Birthday event! Every week, from May 12 to June 23, I'll produce an original artwork dedicated to our favourite demon lord!

For this second picture of this serie, I decided to go with Okehazama, an event that in my opinion marked the "Lost of Innocence" of nobunaga, that for the first time had to face a huge external threat. It's a legendary battle that evokes all kind of feelins and imageries, event contraddictions and contrasts of interpretations... A carefully planned attack? A matter of good luck? Was it all about the skills of the lord, the ability of his armies, the mastery of the locals--?
It's a battle that it's still surrounded by mystery and doubts, and it's still a source of clatter in the community.

Personally, I decided to draw Okehazama mostly because of the current rainy weather... Apparently it was raining in the eve of the battle, too. "Battaglia bagnata, battaglia fortunata", maybe--?