Kunitori Monogatari (1973)

Original title

国盗り物語

Directed by

Endo Toshio

Cast

Matsuzaka Keiko, Sugi Ryotaro, Mita Yoshiko, Hira Mikijiro, Takahashi Hideki, Kondo Masaomi, Hino Shohei, Shishido Jo

Genre

drama

Country

Japan

Length

1 season, 51 episodes

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This series follows the rise of two warlords in 16th century Japan. It shows a ruthless revolutionary's ambition and the brutal cost of unification.

episodichistoricalreflectivedeliberateatmosphericnuancedintensesomber

What happens

Kunitori Monogatari (国盗り物語, lit. 'Tale of acquiring countries') is a historical novel by Japanese novelist Ryōtarō Shiba. It was serialised in Sunday Mainichi (Mainichi Shimbun Publishing Inc.) from August 1963 to June 1966. It consists of a first part starring Saito Dōsan and a second part starring Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide. Initially, Shiba planned to write only the story of Dōsan, but the series was too popular to be finished and Shiba was forced to write the second part, the story of Nobunaga and Mitsuhide. Shiba skilfully incorporated the results of post-war historical studies into his novels, positioning Nobunaga as a revolutionary with a clear will, a rarity in Japanese history, and establishing an image of Nobunaga in which light and shadow coexist by not only evaluating his innovativeness but also criticising his brutality. Thanks in part to Shiba's contributions, Nobunaga, who had not always been popular before, became one of the most popular historical figures in Japan. Two TV drama adaptations have been produced by NHK and TV Tokyo. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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