Rakuin no Monshou

Volume 4, Afterword

Oda Nobunaga.

– probably the most famous warlord from the Warring States period of Japanese history.

In his childhood, he was conspicuous for his eccentric behaviour and was even called “the great fool of Owari”, however, after his father died, no sooner had he succeeded him that he displayed talent in a variety of fields. He didn't only suppress the many internal struggles within Owari, but with the motto of “Tenka fubu”[1] , he came very close to unifying the whole nation of Japan.

He who was called a “fool”, how was he able to achieve supremacy in the warring states by the time he reached adulthood?

Many historians and storytellers, past and present, have brought their own interpretations, and have enjoyed the mystery of this “historical fact” as a “story”.

For example, in a situation where there were many enemies within the Oda household, maybe Nobunaga deliberately played the “fool” to throw those enemies off their guard. Or maybe he had from the start been a man who excelled at using his wits, but because his way of thinking was too far ahead of his time, those around him couldn't understand him and simply treated him as a “fool”.

Furthermore, Hirate Masahide who was in charge of Nobunaga's education killed himself with his sword as soon as Nobunaga's father died, and it is rumoured that his reason was “to remonstrate against Nobunaga's eccentric behaviour”. Deeply grieved by Hirate's death, Nobunaga reflected on himself and achieved considerable growth – after all, a story is more interesting if it has an element that can “make you cry”.

Because Nobunaga has been featured as a character in many novels and manga, the true fiction ones are outnumbered by the ones with fantastical plots. Among other things, that in the latter part of his life, the real Nobunaga was a different person, or that someone was manipulating him through sorcery, and one of my favourite mangaka even has a piece in which he was said to be “captured by aliens”.

All of you, my readers have already figured out that Oda Nobunaga is definitely the model for “Rakuin”'s Gil Mephius. Prince Gil who was called a “fool” was replaced by the sword slave Orba and just like Oda Nobunaga, his name will resound within a world of war.

In the last volume, he will be known in the distant future as “the Dragon Emperor of Mephius”, but – you who have only just finished reading the fourth volume probably think that description is contradictory. So until volume five comes out, everyone, I hope and wish that you will rack your brains like actual authors and historians in order to find that missing link.

-- Tomonori Sugihara

References and Translation Notes

1. ↑ Since there are so many ways of translating Nobunaga's seal (天下布武), I decided to leave it in Japanese. Translations found around the web include "Spread military force under the heavens", "Unify the nation by force", "All the world by force of arms", "The realm under one sword", "The realm covered in military glory", etc. However you prefer to word it, the idea is the same.

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