Sengoku Basara—Samurai Kings: The Complete 1st Season

This anime series set in Japan's feudal Sengoku period (also known as the “Warring States era”) is adapted from a popular video game—which comes as no surprise, given the slam-bang nature of the production. Rival leaders Date Masamune (called the One-Eyed Dragon) and Sanada Yukimura initially have little in common, other than their mania for achieving battlefield success. However, the pair form a bond thanks to Oda Nobunaga, the dreaded Devil King, who is eager to defeat all comers and incorporate feuding lands under his control. Date and Sanada will need to overcome previous animosities and differences while making military preparations to defeat their powerful foe. Sengoku Basara boasts violent but impressive fight sequences—fast-paced and featuring some of the best artwork in the genre. Some viewers may be confused when bizarre military anachronisms abruptly appear in the story and surplus characters begin to crowd the plot (is it really necessary to bring in Nobunaga's homicidal wife?). But even when the logic falters, the series' energy never lags. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2009 first season on two dual-language discs, rated TV-14, extras include three bonus episodes. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)