Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings 2

This anime series is set in feudal Japan, where young rival warlords Sanada Yukimura and Data Masamune are forced to become unsteady allies in the fight to dethrone the powerful Oda Nobunaga. The second season picks up where the first ended, with the main characters in a fierce battle against the Nobunaga forces; but adding to the confusion is the arrival of an army under the leadership of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who's seeking to transform Japan from a chaotic collection of rival states into a single unified nation. Sengoku Basara is inspired by historic events, and the screenplay spends a serious amount of time on military planning while also detailing the shaky roots of the various alliances that come and go. If the story sometimes seem overly-complicated, the series compensates with richly detailed animation (the battle sequences are extremely violent), vigorous editing, and stirring music. Presenting all 12 episodes originally aired in 2010 (plus an OVA) in a dual-language set, rated TV-14, extras include audio commentaries and mini-episodes. Recommended. (P. Hall)