Date Bashira

Date Bashira explores the Sengoku era through stories about the people and customs surrounding Japan’s famous historical figures, rather than focusing on shoguns and celebrated leaders. Its episodes examine subjects that are often left out of conventional histories, including the young men who accompanied warlords into battle and the role they served in the absence of women on the battlefield. Other stories focus on shoguns’ wives, many of whom enter arranged marriages as political offerings or spies. With husbands often dying young in wartime, these women face questions of remarriage and whether their relationships involve love or the performance of a wife’s role. The series presents these lesser-known aspects of the era as informative stories, with artwork and touches of comedy.