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waterscrollI am glad I get to keep the reincarnation ending, because I've been playing it over and over.
I think this is working with a model of reincarnation in which in every lifetime you make more or less the same mistakes, except if you are going in the right direction they get progressively less and less bad.
The epilogue replays a lot of the character moments from Nobunaga's Act 1. He meets MC at her restaurant, likes her sweets, nearly immediately demands her companionship, takes her to a place with a beautiful view, then insists on sex with her without bothering to ask if she wants it. And then she headbutts him. It's a lot of the same things, but I think there are enough differences to show progress.
First of all, his political role. He's the youngest elected member of the Diet. So great, good for him, he clearly has a great deal of talent in leadership. But when he yells at everyone he just gets escorted out. As disconcerted as I am by his comments about corruption in America (please don't come here and Drain The Swamp, we have enough problems already thanks) the epilogue doesn't show a way forward for him that doesn't involve normal political processes. Which means at minimum doing enough things for people that they vote for you.
His stated goal in politics is to make the people of Japan happy. This is pretty far from the goal of ending war by conquering everything, which was his stated goal for most of his route. Also, it's the goal he actually wants. In his Act 2 he spends the entire time conquering things and killing leaders who actually were giving people what they wanted and were beloved for it - Kennyo and Shingen. And then he's all, oh noes, people don't like me and aren't happy with what I did. Dear Nobunaga, if what you wanted was to make people happy, you could have actually worked towards that goal rather than towards the goal of owning everything. At least this time his goals are aligned with his true desires.
This is a minor thing, but I really liked that he took care of MC's injured ankle, because I don't think he does anything like that anywhere else in the route. And you know who does? Mitsuhide, in the first really romantic scene he has with MC on his route. So maybe all of Nobunaga's wishing that he could be more like Mitsuhide next time actually had some results.
And this is a more major thing - when she headbutts him he immediately stops trying to have sex with her. Which exactly the opposite of his behavior in his Act 1, where he keeps pressuring her and sends his vassals to pressure her more. He also doesn't get mad at her for rejecting him like he does in his Act 1. Instead he leaves. It feels more like he's mad at himself.
It's not made clear when he remembers who he was and who she was, but maybe that was the moment, after the headbutt. And what he remembered was that she had loved him and he had loved her but he had consistently treated her terribly, so it was time to let go and not do that again. If that's the case, maybe he only changed his mind at the very end, when he saw that she remembered everything and still wanted him.
And then their final love declaration:
MC: I swore to you, I would serve you until death.
Nobunaga: Then in return, even if I die I will love you always.
She swore to serve him until death, but that vow is already complete, because they already died. She is under no further obligation to serve him. But his love for her still endures and that is what their new relationship will be built on.
So yeah, I'm happy with his progress. He's still got a ways to go but I think he's going in the right direction, and maybe he'll achieve his goal of making his woman happy better in this lifetime.
I think this is working with a model of reincarnation in which in every lifetime you make more or less the same mistakes, except if you are going in the right direction they get progressively less and less bad.
The epilogue replays a lot of the character moments from Nobunaga's Act 1. He meets MC at her restaurant, likes her sweets, nearly immediately demands her companionship, takes her to a place with a beautiful view, then insists on sex with her without bothering to ask if she wants it. And then she headbutts him. It's a lot of the same things, but I think there are enough differences to show progress.
First of all, his political role. He's the youngest elected member of the Diet. So great, good for him, he clearly has a great deal of talent in leadership. But when he yells at everyone he just gets escorted out. As disconcerted as I am by his comments about corruption in America (please don't come here and Drain The Swamp, we have enough problems already thanks) the epilogue doesn't show a way forward for him that doesn't involve normal political processes. Which means at minimum doing enough things for people that they vote for you.
His stated goal in politics is to make the people of Japan happy. This is pretty far from the goal of ending war by conquering everything, which was his stated goal for most of his route. Also, it's the goal he actually wants. In his Act 2 he spends the entire time conquering things and killing leaders who actually were giving people what they wanted and were beloved for it - Kennyo and Shingen. And then he's all, oh noes, people don't like me and aren't happy with what I did. Dear Nobunaga, if what you wanted was to make people happy, you could have actually worked towards that goal rather than towards the goal of owning everything. At least this time his goals are aligned with his true desires.
This is a minor thing, but I really liked that he took care of MC's injured ankle, because I don't think he does anything like that anywhere else in the route. And you know who does? Mitsuhide, in the first really romantic scene he has with MC on his route. So maybe all of Nobunaga's wishing that he could be more like Mitsuhide next time actually had some results.
And this is a more major thing - when she headbutts him he immediately stops trying to have sex with her. Which exactly the opposite of his behavior in his Act 1, where he keeps pressuring her and sends his vassals to pressure her more. He also doesn't get mad at her for rejecting him like he does in his Act 1. Instead he leaves. It feels more like he's mad at himself.
It's not made clear when he remembers who he was and who she was, but maybe that was the moment, after the headbutt. And what he remembered was that she had loved him and he had loved her but he had consistently treated her terribly, so it was time to let go and not do that again. If that's the case, maybe he only changed his mind at the very end, when he saw that she remembered everything and still wanted him.
And then their final love declaration:
MC: I swore to you, I would serve you until death.
Nobunaga: Then in return, even if I die I will love you always.
She swore to serve him until death, but that vow is already complete, because they already died. She is under no further obligation to serve him. But his love for her still endures and that is what their new relationship will be built on.
So yeah, I'm happy with his progress. He's still got a ways to go but I think he's going in the right direction, and maybe he'll achieve his goal of making his woman happy better in this lifetime.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-02 07:48 pm (UTC)And the parallel between their vows are very cool and very romantic. O.o
no subject
Date: 2020-02-03 11:31 pm (UTC)