The gag manga centers on a young female ninja named Chidori, whose dream is to help the Warring
States-era warlord Oda Nobunaga to achieve his goals.
(Source: Anime News Network)
~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/OPS5vOa.png)~~~ Nobunaga no Shinobi was a really, really enjoyable ride throughout the entire year I watched it. Every single week, I still managed to come back and was overjoyed when the first season led into an immediate continuing second season. No third season, but hey, fifty two (fifty three including the [prequel one](https://anilist.co/anime/97969/NobunaganoShinobiEpisode0)) episodes is quite a bit, even for a short. Admittedly, I didn't think much of it prior to watching. As a matter of fact, I think I only actually made the decision to watch it as it aired because it was a short (and feudal Japan stuff is I guess a subject I have a [tendency of liking](https://anilist.co/anime/9996/HyougeMono)). But the neat opening caught my attention, and I really liked that there was an actual progression from episode to episode. The two other TV short series I really like, [Teekyuu](https://anilist.co/anime/15125/Teekyuu) and [Tonari no Seki-kun](https://anilist.co/anime/18139/TheMasterofKillingTime) are more or less complete random craziness or daily tomfoolery respectively. ~~~img(https://cdn.anilist.co/img/dir/anime/reg/15125.jpg) img220(https://cdn.anilist.co/img/dir/anime/reg/18139.jpg)~~~ Nothing wrong with that at all (in fact I love both series), but an actual serious progression of events is nice in addition to the comedy. Like looking at this show's surface, I really would have thought it'd just be a typical run of the mill cutesy take on Nobunaga and feudal Japan. "Let's make a series about a cute shinobi girl who tags along on Nobunaga's quest to unify Japan!" img440(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A1SMps-vvso/WPkdSWj-JqI/AAAAAAAAC50/Ku_y9oIoi-c3egdn-OLpB7wih1_ywbvgQCLcB/s640/nobun%2Bno%2Bshinobi.gif) But then the cute shinobi girl just outright kills people because she actually __IS__ a shinobi and helps out in Nobunaga's battles. Hell, Chidori straight up gets at one point punched in the face and actually generally becomes wounded throughout all of the battles in the show. You don't expect a show that looks like this to actually have action scenes and not only action scenes, but BLOODY action scenes. Not only are they acceptable for a short, but I actually really like them! Of course, the comedy is still definitely the main focus of the series. Every episode is quick to the point and go down easy. Sometimes there's action and political happenings, sometimes there's just funny interactions among all of the different characters. Though, a part of me kind of still wonders how this series would handle the eventual ~!HonnÅ-ji incident and Nobunaga's death!~ because later on in the second season, it's made clear that this series actually wasn't gonna steer away from some of the serious events like ~!Nobunaga's sister siding with her husband after Nobunaga goes to war with the Azai clan.!~ img440(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/RecklessQualifiedAquaticleech-small.gif) The character designs, the art style, the animation of the action scenes, the comedy, the openings... I honestly really enjoyed watching this short through and through. it's really hard to pinpoint exactly why I loved it as much as I did. Because it really does seem like it should just be another generic feudal Japan thing. I mean, nevermind the fact that the [original manga](https://anilist.co/manga/86954/NobunaganoShinobi) by [Naoki Shigeno](https://anilist.co/staff/119633/NaokiShigeno) (also really liked their [mahjong manga](https://anilist.co/manga/86895/JansounoSaekosan), _just saying_) is in the same magazine as Berserk and 3-Gatsu... ...It's worth at least noting. Because as a part of the Berserk fandom I was kind of shocked to see an advertisement posted on the Berserk Reddit and my first reaction being "oh hey wait woah what's Chidori doing there??" youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_atLzry_Zfk) An easy __8.5 out of 10__ or __85 out of 100__ for me. I recommend at least giving it a try if you're not at the point of "feudal Japan fatigue." At worst, if you don't like the characters or the comedy, the episodes are like three minutes long. There's not much harm in trying a short. ~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/BLsYi4d.png)~~~