Amazing drama. It really is. This is my first taiga and with certainty I can say that I'll never find some better Japanese historical drama than this one. A real epic tale about war, power, family, betrayals, friendship, loyalty and above everything story about three glorious historical figures who made their mark in this world for a big time. Oda Nobunaga, Kuroda Kanbe and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I've never watched some drama where the side characters were so interesting too, all of them, where villains are amazingly written, where the whole cast is beyond superb. Kanbee is such drama. I met one man who was worth every praise, whose mind was so ahead of time, who was loyal, brave, with pure heart filled with love and courage. Yes he was ambitious but never to the point where he'd become sleazy backstabber. In time of war you had to be ambitious and prepared for anything from everyone. Okada has won me forever, with his portrayal and acting Kanbe really came to life, with all of his expressions, gestures and thoughts, I was glued to the screen 100 % all the time. His three vassals were something the best in drama, they carried the whole show constantly. Relationship between four of them I'll remember whole life and strongly believe that such friendship does exist, with such unquestionable loyalty and care. Yes maybe there was over idolizing Kanbe in this drama but still those men were loyal to him till the end. Zensuke, Tahe and Kuroemon are people whom we all need in our lives. Kuroemon became my all time fav. side character in drama, I like his coldness and emotionless in tough and difficult situations, his intelligent moves, his funny and sometimes sarcastic sayings, he was indeed the sweetest and most caring guy. Like Kanbe said, those three really were his rare treasures and without them he wouldn't succeed anything. I don't know which actor to choose as the most outstanding one cause it's just impossible. Every one of them was brilliant, all of them gave their maximum without flaw to portray their characters. I love some of them, some I like, some I hate, some I respect and admire so much and for some my heart broke. They all brought all these emotions to me. Takenaka Naoto, Eguchi Yosuke, Tanihara Shosuke, Tanaka Kei, Shibata Kyohei, Takahashi Issei, Hamada Gaku, Hayami Mokomichi, Nakatani Miki, Kiritani Mirei, Uchida Yuki- just WOW. So many incredible folks in one drama, I still can't believe. They gave penetrating performances, they made all their characters alive in front of me, they manage to pull very difficult performances and to be excellent without flaw. But one thing is sure- Eguchi-san is the best goddamn Oda Nobunaga ever. EVER. I expected that from him, grand and marvelous performance as usual and he did it, the guy is a genius. I love women in this drama too, they weren't maybe main characters and they weren't in fights but for sure they carried so much heaviness and difficulties in their lives, standing proudly beside their husbands and sons, always ready for battle and protect their loved ones. Teru, Dashi, One, Nou- amazing women indeed and very smart. ? Battle scenes were definitely the most realistic ones, pace was very slow and then after some time and certain episode, the next period is after 3,5 or 10 years. But it was nicely done. There were some things that bothered me but they definitely didn't spoil my excitement and overjoy from watching this astonishing drama. One thing I specially appreciated here is relationship between Kanbe and his dad, I think this is the most wonderful relationship between father and son I've seen so far. How he always consulted his dad, how he always asked for advice from him, their endless conversations full of wise and caring moments, it got me teared up so many times. I could write so much and talk about Kanbee all day but I want to leave that for you guys, you just need to watch this drama. Especially if you're into realistic historical dramas with amazing cast and characters. If you give a chance to this drama, I guarantee you'll want more of Japanese history to see and watch and suddenly history will sound cool. ;)