#azuchi

[hst432]

なんじゃもんじゃ 沙沙貴神社

[hst432]

信長さん

[odaclan]

安土城復元なるか　20年がかりの「令和の大調査」開始　天主の実態解明へ

戦国武将・織田信長が築いた安土城（滋賀県近江八幡市、東近江市）の実態解明に向け、滋賀県は１１日、２０年がかりの「令和の大調査」を国特別史跡の安土城跡で開始した…

There will be a renewed excavation project planned for Azuchi Castle, and is estimated will last for the next 20 years.

For some reason the excavation of the Azuchi premises is not done regularly. The last project ended in 2009, and since then it has not been updated until now (the project started in October this year).

They're hoping to be able to make enough progress in the research to create a better AR/VR model of Azuchi Castle for its 450th anniversary in 2026.

[gachagachaart]

[odaclan]

Shiga Prefecture officials turns to internet sleuths to search for the elusive folding screen depicting Azuchi Castle.

Nobunaga had commissioned the painting from Kanou Shouei, the father of the famous Kanou Eitoku. This painting was then entrusted to Valignano to be brought to the Pope, which he then did when he escorted the young Japanese Catholics in the Tenshou Embassy. 

Supposedly the painting had indeed reached its destination, and for a time it was displayed in the Vatican’s Gallery of Maps. However, its whereabouts is presently unknown, and nobody could track down any documentations of exchange of ownership. A query had been sent to Rome once upon a time, but it turned up nothing.

Now, the government hopes that with technology and the wide reach of internet, someone might be able to come forward with clues to discovering this mysterious artifact. 

There was a precedent where a then-unknown painting depicting Hideyoshi’s black-lacquered Osaka Castle was discovered in an Austrian castle. They hope that someday the painting of Azuchi Castle will also turn up in a similar manner.

The reconstruction of Azuchi’s tenshu that we have today is an approximation based on written text. As text can very easily be misunderstood, the research team hopes that the painting would give them a better insight of what the famous castle keep looks like. 

For example, one of the somewhat questionable description is the part that describes the sixth floor as being "eight-cornered". Presently it was reconstructed as an awkward octagonal form, making it look very odd and mismatched. For the longest time, people just chalked it up to Nobunaga’s eccentricity, but nowadays people are starting to reevaluate the evidence in a more objective way, free from age-old assumptions and legends. 

Someone once suggested that “eight corners” means that that particular floor looks like this:

Perhaps the structure looks like that because it has jutting balconies, to admire the view from. We hope that we will eventually find the truth.

[literaryeagle]

For my 72nd Evangelion book review, here is Evangelion ANIMA 5, which was published in Japanese by Kadokawa and is also available in English from Seven Seas Entertainment. I have the English version, so that’s what I’ll be using for this review. (EDIT, May 2024: Seven Seas Siren has now released an audiobook of the English version! It’s narrated by Tiffany Grant, the original English dub voice of Asuka.) As explained in my reviews of the first four volumes of Evangelion ANIMA, these books are a collection of all the chapters of Ikuto Yamashita’s alternate ending to the Evangelion TV series. It’s a rather bizarre story, featuring plenty of Eva battles, as well as lots of wacky ideas. Evangelion ANIMA 5 is the last volume, so we’re now at the action-packed conclusion of Yamashita’s tale!

I don’t want to reveal the whole plot of this volume because it would spoil the ending, plus I would like people to support the official English release if they’re interested. Instead, this review will mainly focus on the art and the quality of the English version, but keep in mind that there will still be a few story details shown in the pics and such. Keep reading for the rest of the book review, plus a few more pictures!

Since this book is a light novel and not a manga, it is mostly text, however there are some illustrations. The first eight pages of the book have pictures in full color, and then the other pics in the book are printed in black-and-white. Here is one of the illustrations from the first eight pages, showing an upgraded version of Unit-01 called Evangelion Final Model:

Evangelion Final Model is also the Eva shown on the front cover of the book (shown at the beginning of this review). On the cover, Final Model is wielding a new weapon, the Spear of Lucretius!

Since this is Ikuto Yamashita’s story, many of the illustrations are focused on Eva battles, however there are a few pics of Lilin characters as well. For example, here’s a picture of Asuka wearing a special plugsuit:

Yes, the plugsuit has high heels. According to the notes at the end of the previous volume, Asuka requested plugsuits with heels, because she wanted to be the same height as Shinji. However, that didn’t work out too well for Rei Trois, who ended up tripping while trying to walk in one of those plugsuits. Ouch!

Moving on, here is one of the book’s illustrations that was printed in black-and-white. It shows an attack from Armaros, the enemy Eva:

Yeah, some of the details in that picture are a bit dark. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, this is a recurring problem with the English volumes of ANIMA. And since this book is the final volume of the series, I guess it’s not going to be fixed, which is really unfortunate.

Anyway, let’s take a look at another picture now. This image of Mari, Azuchi, and Asuka has a lot going on, although it’s at a weird angle:

If you’re having trouble figuring out the above image, tilt your head to the left. Once you’re in that position, you’ll see that on the left side of the picture is a little girl with cat ears and a tail (Mari), and a dog with floppy ears (Azuchi) is running in the foreground. There are a couple of other animals running in the pic as well. As for Asuka, she’s the one riding a motorcycle on the right side of the picture.

Okay, I’ll show one more illustration from this book, and this time I’ll choose one that’s easier to see! Here’s a cute pic of Rei Six:

By the way, as mentioned in previous reviews, each Japanese volume of ANIMA has a removable dust jacket with alternate cover art hidden underneath, while the English volumes do not have the removable jackets. However, a black-and-white version of the alternate cover art is provided at the back of each English volume, so at least you’re not missing those pics.

Overall, my opinion of Evangelion ANIMA 5 is similar to my view on the previous four volumes: It’s cool that all the chapters of this story are finally compiled into books, but it’s a bit disappointing that some of the illustrations had to be printed in black-and-white. Also, Hiroyuki Utatane’s character drawings are not included, so even though these books are collecting the chapters of the story, they are still not a perfect ANIMA set. However, I’m glad that I finally got to read this story (despite how weird it is), and I’m very grateful to Seven Seas Entertainment for doing an official English release!

Anyway, if Evangelion ANIMA 5 looks interesting to you, please support the author by purchasing it if you can! Check if your favorite bookstore has it, and if not then ask them if they can order it for you. There’s also a Kindle Edition, if you prefer that. ^_^ (EDIT, May 2024: An audiobook version of the English edition is available from Seven Seas Siren! Check if your favorite source of audiobooks has it!)

Well, that’s it for my 72nd Evangelion book review. I have plenty more Evangelion books to discuss, so keep checking my blog for new reviews!

[amenomiko]

Every Lords Ever

Azuchis: RAWR OAO

Kasugayamas: RAWR OAO

Monk: RAWR REVENGEEEEE OAO

MC: Plis dun fight for mi. If you fight, me will be sad desu. Sob sob (ू˃̣̣̣̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ ू)

Them: K :3

Sasuke: Wow as expected of the "MC" :O

MC:

[odaclan]

This study seeks to clarify the limits of knowledge regarding Azuchi Castle (Azuchi-jō) and, in turn, offers a multifaceted interpretation of its crowning glory―the six-story, lavishly decorated, timber-framed tower known as a tenshu (donjon). Azuchi

I forgot if I have linked to this before.

At any rate, this here is a doctoral dissertation on the subject of Azuchi castle. It’s free to read, and it seems like a useful resource on the castle description and how it impacts the situation at the time. I say “seems” because it’s a huge text, and I haven’t read it yet.