nobunaga/hideyoshi and hideyoshi/mitsuhide are two obvious ships in ikesen that are both, lol, given a fair amount of tease in the routes, but personally i think a relatively unexplored gold mine is the nobunaga/mitsuhide dynamic. it sticks out to me with mitsuhide's route; first in the scene when mitsuhide is announcing his "engagement" with the mc in front of nobunaga and hideyoshi. afterward nobunaga says he would like to have a word with the mc alone, mitsuhide basically asks if he could stay too, nobunaga reiterates that he's dismissed, and mitsuhide complies without hesitation. (mc's and my reaction was the same here, btw: "...mitsuhide backed down immediately. interesting.") bc i mean yeah, how many people would mitsuhide easily back down against? he also refers to nobunaga as "lord nobunaga" or "my lord" even in his internal thoughts, and while on one hand it's obvious since, yeah, he's nobunaga's vassal, there's clearly a lot of wholehearted respect for nobunaga on mitsuhide's end. like mitsuhide's always taking the piss out of people, but nobunaga's probably one of the few who would be completely unfazed by him, and that's a fun dynamic. it's completely unlike mitsuhide's relationship with all the other warlords and even the mc.
the other thing that interests me is a bit more subtle, but mitsuhide's route delves into how it's affected his mentality to be involved in all this shady and morally questionable stuff, even if it's for the big picture ultimately. the thing is: that big picture is nobunaga's ambition. in other words, it's nobunaga's ambition - a world without classism, a desire mitsuhide shares - for which mitsuhide subjects himself to all That, and he states that he does it without regret despite what it's cost him. i think mitsuhide, like hideyoshi, is deeply, deeply loyal to nobunaga; while it's not that he overly invests his self-worth and identity into serving nobunaga like hideyoshi, he out of all the warlords is by far one of the ones with the most personal stakes in nobunaga's ambition. he has absolute faith in nobunaga and serves him with everything he has. he believes that nobunaga can truly, with the support of the other warlords, bring about the kind of world they both want. and that sort of unbridled trust, that sort of loyalty... it's just fascinating for me to consider that mitsuhide feels that way towards someone.
Hideyoshi my beloved <3 The man deserves a vacation into my arms or at least a decent lunchbreak,
>Girl dad like Shingen, but "cursed".
>5 daughters, all somehow seeming to take after their uncle Mitsuhide in one way or another, at least in Hideyoshi's mind.
>Wouldn't trade them for all the sons in the world though.
>Professional at playing pretty princess dress up.
>Starts fighting off and worrying about boys at a young age. Sees his 4 year old daughter holding lets sayyyy little Nobunaga Oda Jrs hand in the castle gardens and nearly decides to switch sides just to get away from them.
>Such a bragging parent. “well myyy daughter managed to hide the sweets this week and it took lord nobunaga double his usual time to find them.”
>Meanwhile, the only reason Nobunaga found them was because one of Hideyoshi's daughter's is a master negotiator.
>They suckered Nobunaga for some ponies in exchange of goods.
>Thrives for his father daughter dates. He makes sure to do something special with each of them individually every week, even if it's something as simple as fixing her hair while sitting outside as they talk.
>Takes all 5 on monthly father daughter outings to the local tea house.
>Wants his daughters to stay as far away from war and fighting as possible so struggles when they start becoming interested in what he does.
>Ropes Ieyasu into teaching them archery as a distraction and some basic protection skills.
".... Two horses, a new set of Kimonos, and a kitten." The little girl looked up at her father innocently. "That's all I asked for this time!" She sips her tea.
Hideyoshi sighs, rubbing his temples."Girls, you can't just say no to Lord Nobunaga and try and negotiate things with him! He's our Lord! Its not nice."
"But dad! You say no to him all the time! We were just trying to help!" his oldest daughter chimes in, the other 3 nodding their heads eagerly."He was trying to get into the candy again! So we hid it!"
"And instead of telling me so I can stop him you blackmailed him?!" Hideyoshi looks at them incredulously. "What in your right mind possessed you to do that?"
"Uncle Mitsuhide said to make every moment an opportunity! He thought it was a good idea and even helped by showing us a good hiding spot!"
Hideyoshi sighs, running his hands through his hair anxiously. "Of course he did." He groans, but he can't help but let a small smile slip onto his face as his girls giggle around him... "
The sun lied to you. The winter day is just as frosty as the rest of them all this past month, with the coldness being able to get to you all the way under your thick futon back in your room. So what's left for actually being out there in the open?
If anything, the sun could at least be on your side for a task it's best at, drying a row of freshly washed clothes hung on the line. And you're not even asking for the whole thing! Right now it's just you and one freshly completed kimono that needs a miracle to be available for wearing on time for tomorrow night's event.
You didn't feel like bothering anyone with this, so you thought you could just wash it yourself and hang it... and while you are positive that the temperatures aren't low enough for it to freeze, your hands are absolutely numbing right now.
"What are you doing out there?"
Uh-oh! The clothes washing winter olympics will be right back after the commercial break.
While still crouching down, you clumsily take a few steps to the other side of the basin so you can face Hideyoshi. He's got his hands on his hips and everything.
Defeated, you rise to your feet as your partner approaches you. One look at things is enough for him to get the gist of the situation, as he's familiar with your latest project and your concerns about getting done with it on time.
He extends his hands.
Puzzled, you hand him the soap.
Hideyoshi's brow furrows as he throws the soap into the basin and takes your hands instead.
"They're freezing, as expected. Please don't do that again. I'd personally take care of it if I have to. I don't want your hands enduring this. Let's stay like this for a while."
Hideyoshi's hold is so gentle yet the heat is so intense; you know it's the significant difference in your body temperatures right now, but you swear you feel his love radiating from the touch. And he'll remain sandwiching your hands between his for as long as you're thoroughly dyed in its colors, but you have the feeling it's going to take shorter than expected with how flushed you're beginning to feel...
Ikesen thoughts again you know how people say that mitsuhide( and also Hideyoshi’s) route are like Mitsuhide x mc x Hideyoshi I feel like people don’t give enough attention to a similar dynamic with yukimura x mc x Sasuke in Sasukes route. They are hilarious and so wholesome and adorable
Dont mind ma fangirling brain taking out mc in the equation
Suddenly thinking about how one day, the azuchi castle warlords turn into kids. Now mai and the other castle workers have to look after super hyperactive and naughty children. The castle is in an uproar because
1) lord nobunaga is trying climb the stove to get his sugar candies and hideyoshi is trying to pull him down. Danger danger! Because they're in a kitchen. With a stove that was recently burning.
2) masamune is riding his pet tiger while dragging his long sword. Without the scabbard. Then he goes to the kitchen because something sounds fun! He finds nobunaga and hideyoshi doing whatever they were doing. Anyways, being the hype man (kid) that masamune is, he spurs nobunaga to "get those sugar candies!!! You can do it!!!"
3) Ieyasu tries to lick wasabi. Does not end up well, he accidentally rubs it around his eyes and is now crying. Mistunari tries his best to help him but is pushed away (not on purpose, Ieyasu can't see what's happening due to all the tears). Poor boy falls on his back and is crying too.
4) Mitsuhide tries to eat the hydrangeas in the garden. And the leaves. Thankfully a maid finds him and makes him spit it out.
He was already a love rival in Hideyoshi's route. And it was so sad and painful… I think one of the reasons I don't reread Hideyoshi's route is because I don't wanna go through it again.
Yes, Mai used to be called Ichiko…. What can I say… at the time of choosing her name, I only knew that name)
And now again in the Kicho's route!
You are merciless!
I expect it to be Motonari. They're at least somewhere nearby. But why Mitsu?
Do you think it's funny to make relatives fight over a girl? Literally shooting at each other? Do you think it's funny to make this perfect man suffer? I don't think so! Yes, I was very happy to have the opportunity to see him more often than usual, but not at that cost! Mutsu, honey, I love you! And despite how sweet and wonderful your cousin is, I still prefer you!
Now that I think about it… Ieyasu was a love rival in the Masamune AND Keiji routes… So this is not something uncommon…