Sengoku Basara began life as a Capcom video game franchise and has characters named after real people from the Sengoku era of Japan. The series spawned two anime seasons in which the various samurai warlords and their armies faced off a larger army led by a more powerful warlord.
Sengoku Basara: The Last Party is a movie that comes in at the end of season two. This is a movie for fans who already know the characters and who already know they like the series. Some anime movies are ones you can watch to discover whether you should watch the series – The Last Party is not one of them.
Spoilers are a tricky issue given that Sengoku Basara: The Last Party is based on real events. Assuming you know nothing of the Sengoku era then The Last Party will have season spoilers for you. Alternatively, if you know the series then it begins with a very useful catch up. Besides, the characters and events in the anime are only very roughly based on actual history.
This is an anime in which Date Masamune fights with six swords – at once – and Sanada Yukimura can all but fly through the air. There are characters with magic, steampunk Asian fusion machines and who fly around on giant jet samurai. Sengoku Basara is for escapism not historic accuracy.
The Last Party we reach the end of the Sengoku period. It feels like a fitting end to the series. We’ve to see how Ishida Mitsunari continues Toyotimi’s legacy, a cruel man who cuts a bloody path through the country. Meanwhile other warlords are trying to put an end to the constant wars and battles.
This is a Production I.G. works and therefore typically in safe hands. The animation is crisp and although the background is often barren and bleak the action scenes, often involving hundreds of soldiers, are dramatic. Funimation has the license in the States and in the UK Manga have the rights.
The movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray, due out on November 4th in the UK and found on Amazon.
Disclaimer: My copy of Sengoku Basara: The Last Party was provided for review.
