Sengoku Choujuu Giga: Otsu

I'm really not the right person to be reviewing this. While I watched all of it after watching the first season (subtitled), I'm not Japanese and my knowledge of the Sengoku period is moderate at best (a few documentaries, a couple of books, and too many hours playing the original Nobunaga's Ambition on the NES). So a lot of the historical references that I imagine most (if not all) Japanese people would easily get don't reach me enough for me to completely appreciate.

All that said, the episodes are cleverly written, and there are a couple of original songs which are really enjoyable (and unexpected given ... each episode is only 3 minutes). I really love the art style, it's worth watching for that alone. The idea of having these larger-than-life historical figures as animals works for some strange reason. And the voice acting is really good as well.

My recommendation is mixed because this definitely isn't for everybody. It's going to work really well for a niche audience, and likely fall completely flat for just about everyone else. You either want to watch short vignettes poking fun at historical figures and events of Sengoku Japan, or you don't. It's a very particular kind of comedy.

Also this is season 2. You should probably watch season 1 first, because it does go chronologically. The show does remind you which animal is which person in every episode, but you may need a refresher as to how the relationships have progressed up until this point (either historically or in the eyes of the show).

Overall I really enjoyed it. Weirdly you absolutely know what's going to happen in the last episode (It's called "The Honnoji Incident" and it was over 400 years ago... if you think that's a spoiler, I can't help you), but it was still kind of emotional, which was a bit tonally different than the rest of the series. Or it could just be me because I'm also watching Clannad right now? Who can say?