Mugenro turning him into some sort of Saturday morning cartoon villain for a story event was actually on my bingo card but the fact he really goes out of his way to be a bitch for the hell of it is honestly making me cackle
Hewwo I'm back from the dead, but rather worse for wear as I won't be able to post much again due to getting a hell load of classes for third year.
There's a high likelihood Mugenro is going to move toward a new Act as all the present suitor's routes are done provided that the game continues staying alive.
The barebones were there for Heilong and Shishio with the introduction of Pailong/Bailong/Peilong being associated with a different brothel. Shishio's route had quite a massive lore drop in that regard, and now, well, we can at least say that the actual tower itself is possibly in danger, whether or not it would lead to the group of fightie boys to fight, still in the air though. All the while, I do hope the situation with the Tower Master is actually addressed: is it a situation similar with the god Shishio used to serve in not having worshippers, a matter of trading a physical form to secure the existence of the tower, a severely weakened yokai, or being a tsukumogami stuck in that specific room. The other elephant in the room being whatever the hell is up with Yumeka, girlie is another matter of being built different since Ryo's route, that's not just a special constitution, what the hell is girl.
I am not entirely sure if the team will release new characters or just focus on likely sequels for the routes, heck even the bitchy White Dragon doesn't have a voice... yet or ever.
Also, there's been a funny recent push in ensuring our beloved little hungry skeleton Gashadokoro gets his own stuff like birthdays and chibis since that event he shared with Chevalier 2.0 Yato. Pop off.
Nobunaga's Continuation (Act 3) Summary - Both Endings and All Three Epilogues
SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE THING OBVIOUSLY
Disclaimer that my Japanese is shit and so I may have misunderstood/misinterpreted/just outright missed something.
My thoughts on it are here.
Also Tumblr kept eating changes I made so alas this is not quite as detailed as I was hoping.
So we start in the incredibly typical way of Mai returning from a trip to find out something big has happened. In this case, it's a letter from Yoshiteru demanding they hand over the "lucky princess" (also going to have to get used to that being the beginning of most things in Act 3, it seems like).
Obviously no one is okay with that and to counter it, Nobunaga decides they should get married and have a big ceremony, that way she's not a random member of the Oda clan, she's Nobunaga's legal wife (he does say he was planning to marry her anyway).
We go to the Ashikaga who have a fairly typical antagonist info dump: Nobunaga did not respond to their letter, Kanbei points out that they have to be careful with changing the past since Nobunaga is such a prominent historical figure, Hisahide states they have to defeat Nobunaga to bring about Utopia because he'll never be subservient to anyone and therefore won't follow Yoshiteru's will. We also find out that the plan for everything is Kanbei's, but because of all the changes to the timeline they already did, he doesn't even know everything that he had planned, and only Yoshiteru knows everything.
And then Mai wakes up preparing to go shopping for her wedding and things feel a little off and no one remembers anything about a wedding and instead there's a major rebellion against Nobunaga and everyone has spent these days preparing for that.
Nobunaga believes her about the timeline changing and everyday Mai now quizzes people to see if their memories are different. Sasuke shows up and talks to Mai and Nobunaga, he's been having the same problem (hilariously, it sounds like, and I really wish we got to see his POV on Kenshin's reactions to that).
They are sure someone is manipulating time and that it's most likely Yoshiteru or someone working with him, given the timing.
They can't put off fighting the rebels, though, and Mai insists on going to war so she can warn of any other changes and off they go.
They go into battle and eventually run into Kanbei, who is revealed to be the mastermind controlling the unknowing cannon fodder of the rebellious daimyo. He is a strategist so good he's called clairvoyant and used to work for the Oda (we're later told that, unlike Kenshin and Mitsunari, Kanbei is particularly dangerous because he basically doesn't care about honor or decency). He and Nobunaga have known each other since they were children. After being held captive for a time, when Nobunaga finally managed a rescue, he'd been missing and presumed dead. Mai finds him hugely creepy.
He admits the Ashikaga manipulating time for their own benefit and basically that they can't lose because if they get a bad outcome they can just go and change things. He makes what are seemingly the typical overtures in Act 3 to Mai, trying to convince her to come with him to stop the fighting/spare lives.
We're told (with a bit of a flashback, but no sprites) by Nobunaga about his first meeting with Kanbei, who was the son of an (ally?) of his father's. Kanbei was doing a recreation of a recent battle and Nobunaga caught not just what it was, but figured out a new maneuver. Kanbei is shocked, as not even adults tend to understand him, and feels something odd about it, saying that Nobunaga is basically the first person he hasn't found "cute" (like a little animal). So he calls Nobunaga creepy and they get in a tussle.
Next time we get a battle scene, the Uesugi-Takeda crew show up (well, not Yoshimoto or Kanetsugu, regretfully, who were forced to hold down the fort back home, Yoshimoto is once more denied shopping in Azuchi)! Nobunaga believed that the more prominent historical figures were involved, the fewer and smaller the changes made would have to be to avoid any serious consequences from fucking with the timeline or the timeline righting itself. Shingen is pissed, but still went along with it, Kenshin doesn't care as long as there is fighting, and Sasuke is impressed by how logical Nobunaga acted.
A scene with Kanbei and Yoshiteru reveal Nobunaga was totally right and now, instead of completely changing things in their favor, they can only make changes that make it harder on the Oda and their allies, not that can have the Ashikaga forces win easily.
During battle suddenly the scene shifts. Instead of being in the midst of fighting on Nobunaga's horse, Mai is now in an empty field with an escort of soldiers. Time has, of course, changed. Kanbei from the old timeline had given Yoshiteru a message for himself and now knew where to find Mai, so he meets up with her, threatens her escort, and eventually takes her off for a talk.
He reveals more of what they're doing: There's pathways within the wormhole one can take to specific times, to change specific events or even people, and Yoshiteru is highly sensitive to them and how to make changes/what those changes will result in. He quizzes Mai on if she thinks people are the way they are inherently or because of experiences.
We then find out the plan for Nobunaga: go back to just before his first kill (the assassin sent by his brother) and prevent it. Basically softening Nobunaga and making him less ruthless and ambitious, and more accepting of "Utopia". Kanbei knows the exact time for it, too: The assassin sent against Nobunaga when he was 13, by his own brother, aka Nobunaga's first kill. Kanbei had known him before and after that event and said there was a clear change in Nobunaga.
Kanbei is trying to manipulate Mai into doing their dirty work: wouldn't it be so much better for Nobunaga if he hadn't been so hurt? If he hadn't had to close off his heart? If he hadn't gotten so bloody?
Meanwhile, Nobunaga had already realized something was off and was partway to Mai when he found out she'd been taken by Kanbei and left her guards with the confusing message about the timeline having changed. He finds her and Kanbei and confronts him/gives her time to try to get away, though Nobunaga has to keep moving to protect Mai, something that Kanbei finds fascinating. Mai gets on Nobunaga's horse, but Kanbei intercepts her, and she falls hard to the ground, but Nobunaga attacks again and she gets back up.
It starts to rain and the worm hole appears. Kanbei reveals the spot for the rebellion itself was chosen because a worm hole would be appearing nearby. Mai is caught up by the wormhole and Nobunaga yells after her.
Blissful/Blessed ending:
Mai goes back to when Nobunaga is a child (sooo cute). He's initially suspicious, but then drags her off where no one else will find her.
There's lots of adorable moments that show parallels to adult Nobunaga: She notices he's injured (from training, he says) and gives him a handkerchief with Bearsace embroidered on it and he calls him a "raccoon dog" just like adult!Nobunaga had. He offers her a colorful treat and complains that it wasn't tasty or exotic enough, not like the konpeito that Nobunaga would be known for loving (which is fairly new and from a foreign source in his time). He also apparently has been raiding the kitchen for treats, just like adult Nobunaga when Hideyoshi tries to hide them! He also has some reactions and commentary that is very reminiscent of his adult self.
She considers maybe warning him because he's so adorable and is torn about what to do, to the point of tears, and he goes to wipe them away--then Adult Nobunaga appears and runs off with Mai. She thinks he's figured out what she was sent back to do, but the first thing he does is get jealous over his younger self. THEN he reveals that he figured out what was happening. They discuss what Kanbei wanted and it's clear that Nobunaga is Not Okay with the idea, even though he does insist he'll love Mai no matter what changes in him.
When child Nobunaga finds them again and confronts them, Mai has to cover his ears as adult Nobunaga continues his declarations of love. Finally, he acknowledges his younger self, and spends the rest of their time together training him to fight better and giving him advice that will help him with the night ahead.
Then they run off into the forest and make out. Mai wishes a worm hole would appear to them and…it does, causing Nobunaga to start speculating on the phenomenon and remind Mai he's a total nerd. Holding each other, they go through the wormhole and see visions of Nobunaga's past, starting with his first kill that night. Nobunaga states that he wouldn't change anything because now he's so close to his goal of bettering Japan.
They end up where they had left, Kanbei there waiting for them. He immediately realizes that they didn't change the past because of how Nobunaga looks at him and reveals that it was a one-time opportunity: Once someone goes back and inserts themselves into that moment, no one can ever change it again.
Nobunaga goes to attack, but Saizo appears and fights him. Kanbei decides they're done there and orders Saizo to retreat with him. Mai and Nobunaga get back to find out that the Ashikaga forces had left the rebels and that it was only a matter of time before they'd be defeated.
Everything gets wrapped up neatly with the rebels and they return to Azuchi, where Mitsuhide eventually reveals the reason he's been MIA is because he's been undercover there, despite the tightly controlled travel in and out of the city, and that Kanbei returned and holed himself up with Yoshiteru and co.
Fast forward to Nobunaga and Mai on a beach vacation, Mai apparently has never been before and stumbles in the sand and is surprised by how cold the water is, much to Nobunaga's amusement. He gives her a pretty shell, something he found beautiful because her love opened him up to such things, and she talks about making an accessory out of it.
She states she wishes she could have spent more time with the adorable younger Nobunaga and he gets jealous again. She asks for a memory of his childhood and he talks about how he used to ride to the beach with his first hawk and stare at the sea, how when he found out there were other lands beyond it he'd dreamed of what could be found there.
Epilogue:
Sasuke has invited them to Echigo (mostly because he clearly wants to talk with Nobunaga about wormholes, reading between the lines) and just Mai and Nobunaga are sailing from Sakai, visiting various spots, and ending in Echigo. Pirates attack and after defeating them, Nobunaga offers them jobs, because they're clearly quite skilled sailors to manage what they had with the resources at their disposal. He says what Mai had been thinking off and on, that she basically DID soften him, and a bunch of other very heartmelting romantic stuff.
At night, Mai has a dream of an even younger Nobunaga's first meeting with Kanbei. But then child!Nobunaga addresses her directly! She remembers how when she'd traveled back in time before, child!Nobunaga had insisted he recognized her, and realizes she is somehow back in time again at an earlier point. She COULD change the past, make life easier for him, but she doesn't, and she wakes up in their cabin on the ship. They talk some more and Nobunaga proposes to her.
Passion/Love Ending:
Nobunaga goes after Mai into the wormhole and pulls her out, to Kanbei's shock at his recklessness. Saizo appears and attacks, but Nobunaga manages to sense him just before he strikes and fights him.
Mai tries to take off to get help, but Kanbei distracts her with promises of changing Nobunaga's past again making her hesitate, then grabs her. Saizo throws down a smoke bomb and drugs Mai unconscious. Kanbei threatens Nobunaga saying he won't follow if he doesn't want Mai getting hurt.
Mai has a vision of the night young!Nobunaga makes his first kill, then wakes up in the main camp of the Ashikaga forces. The vision along with Kanbei's earlier words constantly have Mai thinking of hopping in the next wormhole and non-consensually changing Nobunaga's past.
Kanbei throughout the next parts continually gaslights and manipulates Mai. For example, since she hesitated, he insists she chose to come with him and shouldn't be asking to return to Nobunaga.
She meets Hisahide and finds out they'll be taking her to Kyoto (aka "Utopia"). Kanbei states that it's unlikely for any of the enemy armies to follow, since they're worn out from the war and the Uesugi-Takeda forces will definitely return home. We immediately go to Nobunaga shocking Ieyasu and Masamune by stating they will not take time to recover because that will be what Kanbei expects and that he'll lead the vanguard against the Ashikaga lmao
In Kyoto, Yoshiteru has told everyone that Mai is the "Princess that brings luck" that they "rescued" from the "Devil King" and the citizens are all very excited. She meets the rest of the Utopia gang (officially).
She stares at Yoshiteru, who is beautiful but blank and doll-like, and is teased by Hisahide who asks if she's interested in him and then mock-scolded by Kanbei for immediately denying it. Rikyu trolls her by suggesting she dump Nobunaga for Kanbei, as the citizens would love the story of the "princess" falling for the "warrior that saved her". Mai points out that Kanbei can't see anyone as special since he thinks everyone is a cute little animal and he says he's particularly interested in her since she's captured Nobunaga's heart.
Rikyu I believe says that they're all together because they believe Yoshiteru's powers can help them accomplish their own goals.
Kanbei takes her aside to the upper floor of the imperial palace and tries to manipulate her some more, then Nobunaga attacks! He's set fires and invades with his army and, naturally, the high walls and controlled entrances to Kyoto means that the citizens are also more or less trapped.
She almost gives into Kanbei's manipulations again, as he points out the horrible things he's doing to the enemy town to get at her, but snaps out of it and realizes that she doesn't hate that Nobunaga is willing to go to such lengths to rescue her, that she herself has changed since getting back in time.
Mai goes out on the roof and starts going to a point near the edge where Nobunaga will see her. Kanbei admonishes her and tries to get her back in, especially as she trips and nearly falls. When Nobunaga does see her, he's grinning and hurrying towards her, and Kanbei seems intrigued by the two of them and decides to make things more interesting...by sliding a bomb down the roof towards Mai.
At Nobunaga's behest, she jumps off the roof and he catches her. The bomb explodes above them.
Of course, they both survive and capture Yoshiteru and Kanbei (the others getting away) and they're put under house arrest (separately).
Staying in an inn, Nobunaga wakes Mai up from a dream where she's talking about "adhesion" and she explains it's future sewing related, though she doesn't remember her dream. She'd passed out as soon as they'd captured Yoshiteru. After talking about the fates of those two, Nobunaga and Mai have sex.
Six months later they are helping to rebuild Kyoto, which is under Oda control, people still don't trust Nobunaga (he has to drink the clean water in front of them to prove it's safe), and Kanbei and Yoshiteru are still confined. Mai and Nobunaga visit Kanbei because she wants to try to convince him to help them rebuild, as he had said he believed in the idea of Utopia, a paradise where the weak won't suffer or fear. (Kanbei and Nobunaga have an adorable exchange that's similar to their first meeting where Kanbei trolls him and Nobunaga threatens to hurt him.)
When they are alone again, Mai laughs at the idea of Nobunaga not being cute and when he insists on knowing about it, she talks about his face when he is tickled or when he's eating konpeito. He insists he's not cute and challenges that perception by pouring sake on her and licking it off. He promises that he'll make her happy, that they'll be happy together.
Epilogue:
Mai took another month for herself in Kyoto to help out and is just returning to Azuchi. She runs into the guys and talks about how she wants to give Nobunaga some sort of present, but they all basically insist she's the best present she could give him.
She eventually goes to him with a tea set borrowed from Hideyoshi (which Nobunaga reveals is hilariously expensive) and some konpeito, then offers cuddles, then they make out. When asked what she'd like, she says she'd like to see his famous Atsumori dance. They make out some more. He proposes to her.
Shared Epilogue:
It starts with Mai measuring Nobunaga for his wedding outfit and reveals she has some secret she's keeping from him, but no matter how much he tries, she won't tell him it. A few weeks later they have their private night time wedding ceremony in the garb she made (he is almost overwhelmed by her beauty, very cute) then have a celebration with the Oda forces.
They have letters from various loyal and allied daimyo, including one from Sasuke (it's revealed that while going around on missions for Kenshin, Sasuke has been checking for changes in the timeline in case the Ashikaga are up to something).
Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide very heavily suggest that they take a walk in the garden and they joke with Mai about how she'll have to be Nobunaga's bodyguard.
Out in the garden, Nobunaga gives Mai an entire sakura tree, because he didn't just want to give her flowers that would wilt but something that would bloom every year. Mai then reveals that her secret was that she was learning the Atsumori and she dances for him. They snuggle under the sakura tree, Nobunaga having been moved near to tears and Mai actually crying.
That night in their wedding bed, Nobunaga dreams of being on a ship with Mai and a child that resembles him, but has her smile.
And yours truly only manages to get the Nobunaga card from the collection event not even halfway to +99 despite reading both of these during it lmao
Also, feel free to come talk to me about these things or ask questions (I'll try to answer)! Clearly I'm very obsessed.
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