News: A few tidbits from Dengeki Playstation (29th August 2013)

The excitement of Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 2 has yet to subside (and my copy has yet to even arrive!) but already there are a few tiny nuggets of new information to report. Here's a news bulletin to keep everything up to date!

Dengeki Playstation magazine vol. 549 includes a small Sengoku Basara 4 article

I don't believe that anything new was printed in today's Weekly Famitsu magazine other than the news that the game is now 12th in its Most Wanted chart, however Dengeki Playstation has a few comments from the game's director Yamamoto Makoto alongside recycled announcements from last week's reveals. I'm going to translate YamamotoD's statements here.

Gotou Matabee
Look out for the first commander in the Basara series with a chonmage (traditional topknot) hairstyle!

• Matabee vents his seething resentment by making a list in his Enmachou mark book. The first of his grudges is against Date Masamune; this setup is based on Matabee's historical death in battle at Osaka. The names in second and third place on his list are also based on real-life history.
• In addition, we created his silhouette with the image of a ferocious dinosaur in mind.
• While his kabuto (helmet) draws its motif from real history, the round tatemono set off to one side started to resemble a mad scientist.
• Finally, underneath his helmet he actually has the first topknot hairstyle.

Note: I'm ridiculously excited to hear that he's going to have a chonmage. Even though I love the dramatic haircuts sported by the other warriors, I've secretly hoped they'd do this one day. Matabee's hair looked like a short, messy 'all back' style from the pictures so far; now I want to see him remove his helmet (so much so that I even tried to draw what I hoped it looked like)! It's also worth noting that the 'Enma' in 'Enmachou' was emphasised with furigana.

Katakura Kojuurou
He's depicted as though his way of thinking changes after his encounter with Masamune.

• This time around, Kojuurou is advancing without understanding his lord Date Masamune's true intentions in suddenly declaring himself the 'Dragon King'.
• To Kojuurou, a 'King' is a symbol of evil with no regard for the surroundings, just like the Conqueror King (Hideyoshi) or Demon King (Nobunaga). Amidst his concerns, he glimpses something he saw when he met the young Masamune.
• I think it's the first time in the series that Masamune, too, alludes to the significance and responsibilities of rising up to the top.
• Please pay attention to the feelings between him and Masamune from the beginning to the present - as well as the way he demonstrates uniquely Japanese katana movements, too.

Oda Nobunaga
Nobunaga embodied the idea of 'surpassing everything'.

• Along with his new subordinate Katsuie, Nobunaga sets about his 'Tenka Fubu' (conquest by military force).
• Even though I said he was a subordinate, following his earlier betrayal Katsuie is treated indifferently - like a tool.
• Also, in real-life history Nobunaga admired the 'sword saint' Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
• They've tried to create someone who is 'above' Nobunaga for the first time in the series. Yoshiteru's favourite phrase is 'my friends' (with the connotation of a peer or companion, not a literal friend). However, when it comes to Nobunaga, he calls him 'my Demonic friend'.
• In the build-up to the turbulent Sengoku period, Nobunaga embodies the idea of 'surpassing everything'.
• When playing, perhaps people will think "This is..?!" (this sentence is so vague it's almost meaningless, but the idea is that he thinks people will be surprised).

Akechi Mitsuhide
It's worth looking out for the way Mitsuhide treats Katsuie.

• Mitsuhide will be participating in the battle as an enemy warrior.
• There are probably people wondering "What about that guy?" too - well, maybe we'll see about that (this probably refers to Tenkai, as Nine Demons Yoshitaka wisely pointed out).
• Please pay close attention to his attitude towards Katsuie within the newborn Oda army. Katsuie doesn't respond at all even when Mitsuhide treats him with considerable scorn.
• If there's one thing that Mitsuhide likes, it's pleasant people; they make excellent toys - all the better if they're small... 
• This time, I think we'll see Mitsuhide's more playful side.

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For the sake of completeness I'll mention an additional remark I spotted in the description of the new Juugyorin formation I talked about in last week's magazine summaries. It wasn't mentioned before but when ten enemy soldiers stack up in the pyramid shape successfully, they'll be bathed in an intense white light 'as though to symbolise their power'.

There's also an interesting picture showing Mitsuhide trapped between two Nobunagas. The Dengeki Playstation caption says nothing more enlightening than "As the pair face off in a Honnouji wrapped in flames, another Nobunaga appears before them...!?". The two seem to be staring intensely towards one another, and it's possible this was the sight which had both Nobunaga and Mitsuhide so shocked in the previous news reveals. Has Nobunaga found a way to clone himself, or is this trickery of some kind, perhaps involving Yoshiteru's shaku weapon? Is the world big enough for two Demon Kings?

For those keeping score, the game has dropped all the way down to 17th place in the magazine's Most Wanted chart (it had climbed to 14th place three weeks ago).

The official Sengoku Basara 4 website will update tonight

We're due for an update on the official Sengoku Basara 4 website overnight to add character pages for Nobunaga, Mitsuhide, Kojuurou and Matabee. Hopefully the voice samples will arrive at the same time, and it's possible that Yukimura will show up on the site too. It would be nice to have confirmation about his official Sengoku Basara 4 portrait once and for all.

Ii Naotora rumoured to be the next new character to join the Sengoku Basara 4 roster

I tweeted about this earlier as ripples of excitement were spreading amongst Japanese fans, and Nine Demons Yoshitaka has posted the details over on the Koei Warriors forum. Ii Naotora is an interesting choice as the series has generally used her popular successor Ii Naomasa to represent the Ii clan. It's great to see indications that a female warrior might be joining the new additions. I hope the rumour is true.

The next issue of Dengeki Maoh will include Mame Sengoku Basara goodies

This next piece of news comes courtesy of Dengeki Maoh magazine, the monthly manga anthology in which Sumeragi's Mame Sengoku Basara is serialised. Next month's issue will be released on 27th September 2013 and feature a Mame Sengoku Basara front cover as well as a bonus clear file featuring Sumeragi's artwork, obviously designed to tie in with the release of Mame Sengoku Basara volume 4. I wonder which characters will be shown on the exclusive clear file?

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Edit 29/08/2013: It seems that there was a tiny mention in Weekly Famitsu after all. Tousaku tweeted about a small news bulletin describing the Akai Hane/Sengoku Basara 4 charity drive tie-in where it was mentioned that there would be a total of 45 warriors. Before everyone panics, it's worth bearing in mind that the charity campaign starts in October and it's difficult to believe that Capcom will announce another 32 characters within the space of a month. Interestingly 45 is the exact number of playable characters in the series so far if Tenkai and the younger Ieyasu are ignored and Yoshiteru is included instead. It might be that the charity campaign will use a mixture of old and new character artwork and there was a mistake communicating this to Famitsu. I'm not going to buy the magazine for a single line of vague text, but gosh, I'd really like there to be 45 generals in the new game no matter how unlikely it might be!
Edit 29/08/2013: I realised I missed a line thanks to Nine Demons Yoshitaka so I added it to Mitsuhide's description. Oops!