Although the series title (and the folk-tales on which it is based) refer to ten brave Sanada warriors, at this point, we've only met six, all of them retainers of Sanada Yukimura:
- Sarutobi Sasuke, a ninja, possibly of extra-terrestrial origin
- Miyoshi Sekai, a warrior monk
- Miyoshi Isa, his brother, also a warrior monk
- Mochizuri Rokuro, a martial arts specialist
- Unno Rokuro, a strategist
- Nezu Shinbachi, a sailor
They are the nucleus of a force that Sanada Nobushige, soon given the name that history remembers him by, Sanada Yukimura, intends to use to thwart Tokugawa Ieyesu's seemingly inevitable takeover of Japan. But to understand events, we need to take a brief detour into the years preceding Sekigahara.
As the Sengoku (Warring States) period drew to a close, the famous warlord Oda Nobunaga came very close to unifying Japan under his person rule. When Nobunaga was trapped by an opponent and committed suicide in 1582, his place was taken by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who succeeded where Nobunaga had failed and unified Japan under his rule. He was a ruthless man. To avoid a succession fight between his designated heir, his nephew Hidetsugu, and his young son, Hideyori, Hideyoshi exiled Hidetsugu to Mount Koya, ordered him to commit suicide, and then murdered 31 of Hidetsugu's family members. However, Hideyoshi died in 1598, when his son was only seven. Control passed to a Council of Elders who acted as regents for Hideyori. This fell apart quickly, and at Sekigahara, Tokugawa vanquished the Elders who sided against him. Yet he was nominally acting on behalf of the young Hideyori, and the power of the Toyotami clan remained intact.
These three episodes pick up the story after the Battle of Sekigahara. In the aftermath of the battle, the prospects for the rebel Sanada clan look bleak. But thanks to the intervention of his elder brother Nobuyuki, who had fought for Tokugawa, Yukimura and his father are spared execution. However, they are stripped of their lands and exiled to the monastery at Mount Koya. There, Sanada Yukimura forms a plan to fight the Tokugawas when the power struggle with the Toyotamis resumes. Starting with his six retainers, he forms a secret team of agents, who will recruit allies, look for new weapons, and keep the flame of resistance alive. Yukimura must also attend to the demands of daily life, including the birth of his first son, but he always puts the demands of resistance first. Sasuke has doubts and might prefer to enjoy the ways of peace and his newfound domestic comforts:
but he is loyal to his lord and sets out on his next mission. But meanwhile, where are the remaining four braves?
As I've worked through the DigitalPanic scripts (and the three AonE scripts that follow), I've been making changes to the conventions used in the early episodes. This means, unfortunately, that there will be script revisions to the first three episodes and the special when the series is complete. Fear not, though: patches will be provided to update initial release to final. And better still, the series is now completely translated, so it will get finished provided (as used to be said) the corn don't die and the creek don't run dry.
There are a few new characters, notably Yukimura's wife:
- Ohara Sayaka (Akihime) placed Titania in The Ancient Magus' Bride, Alicia in the Aria franchise, Milly Ashford in the Lelouch franchise, Elsie in Edens Zero, Scarlet in the Fairy Tail franchise, Ozen in Made in Abyss, Kaede in Please Teacher and Please Twins, Yuuko in xxxHOLiC, and numerous other roles.
Although I continue to be surprised at the leisurely pace (kids, be sure and get your second season commitment in writing before setting out at a 24-episode pace), Sanada 10 is moving the story along, albeit slowly. You can get this mini-batch from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news.
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