Forum - View topicAngolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (TV).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (TV) Genres: action Themes: historical, war Plot Summary: In the year 1274, the invading Mongols have their sights set on Japan. The exiled samurai Jinzaburō Kuchii is in Kamakura when he finds himself face to face with the invasion. (from manga) |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#1
The title literally translates to Chronicle of the Yuan (Dynasty)-Pirate War, so the premise is of the exiles (most of them pirates) forcibly conscripted to fight for the Seo clan inhabiting Tsushima. I cannot remember if 1274 was the scouting expedition which did land in Kyushuu to fight a few battles before withdrawing or the full-blown invasion which never came to pass. I assume it might be the latter if that first scene is any indication. Kuchii is the former general in charge of pirate hunting, but if he says he committed a sin so grave that exile was a light punishment, then he must have committed some form of treason to get commuted from outright execution. Exile in his time was behind only execution in the severity of punishments available. The small squad charged with kidnapping the princess is speaking either Korean or Mongolian, but the voice is too muffled to clearly make it out. The most interesting thing is the leader having blonde hair, speaks multiple languages, recognises Kuchii's fighting style for what it is and is capable of superhuman jumps from a beach to an anchored ship. I wasn't intending to watch this, but there's enough action to keep anyone with a taste for blood satisfied regardless of the historical setting. It's only one quarter, so might as well see how it turns out. |
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vonPeterhof
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#2
With this episode, viewers now know why it's Teruhi who's in charge of the ragtag band of exiles rather than the ostensible head of the Sou clan. Despite friendly relations with the Koreans across the sea, it seems the greatest military secret of the Mongols didn't leak out to the Tsushima Sou until now. For viewers unacquainted with the topology of Tsushima, this episode does a great job of giving a rough illustration of what it looks like from the air. If it was a big round circle like Kuchii drew to start with, the Mongols would have finished everyone off within 72 hours. Because of the mountains and number of easily defensible chokepoints and potential ambush sites, holding out for seven days in the hopes of an unreliable reinforcement army from Kyushu goes from absolutely impossible to highly improbable. Kuchii now has to make his way back to the rest of the evacuees and report the defeat to the princess. That should give an interesting reaction. Speaking of reactions, Kuchii probably finds women clinging to him like the acting princess more of a pest to be warded off rather than something flattering and attractive. Makes viewers wonder if he was single when he was exiled. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#4
So Teruhi was seriously injured but not critically so. Fortunately for Kuchii and co. the local independent defence force showed up to lend a hand and buy them enough time to recapture some of the abducted village women and children. It doesn't look like the defence force has sufficient numbers to do more than raid the Mongol expeditionary force in favourable terrain, but if the commander is right and the Emperor himself ordered Kuchii to receive reinforcements then he's obviously highly rated despite the crime that got him exiled in the first place. A quick look at the commanders of the Mongol expeditionary force indicates its multi-ethnic composition. A Korean in charge of one division, the vice-marshal is a Jurchen, the special forces commander sent to kidnap Teruhi is European while the Marshal is Mongolian. Only notable absentees from this makeup are representatives from Western Xia and Song China. I wonder what Kuchii is planning to do with the bamboo. Obviously they're using their auxiliary swords to cut it down, but to ask smiths to work it suggests he's probably going to use it as some kind of weapon or defensive work. I'm not surprised the capital is in flames. The previous raid showed the Mongols knew how to sail up to it the same way the exiles eventually made. With the defences bare, it would not have been difficult to send a small force to kill anyone and burn everything down. OP animation showed the burning palace as well. Unmistakably a blow for the weary travellers, but the Mongols want to set sail by Day 7 which is right around the same time Japanese reinforcements from Kyushu are set to arrive. If they are delayed from departing, those who know what did happen eventually in the historical record won't be too surprised at the eventual outcome. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#5
Teruhi can fight! She's not a bad shot and her willingness to fight on despite losing everyone serves to rally everyone else to her side. Kuchii recognises this, so as the totem of the survivors she needs to survive. If she contributes to the kill count, all the better. So the bamboo from last week was used to make spears. As expected from Kuchii Jinzaburou, he exploits the terrain to maximise his chances from any battle. The survivors are doing a good job taking down one of the Mongol army's 1000-men battalions and they've now seen how the Mongol divisions fight as well as the equipment they use. The survivors from Sasu Bay recognise what gunpowder explosives can do so if they can stay alive after the initial blast they won't run disorganised from the field. Now viewers know why someone like Kuchii Jinzaburou would endure exile. He gets caught up in the factional infighting of the Kamakura Shogunate and is supposed to die but is reprieved to fight for Tsushima because both the imperial court and the Shogunate learn about the threat from Korea and need to send someone up to buy time. Just as well Kuchii doesn't play Shogi with a mentality to sacrifice pieces; the current war he's in requires him to hold on to every piece he has for as long as possible. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#6
Abiru Yajirou's REALLY unlucky to get killed by the primitive firearm. Not only were these experimental, the design meant they were equally likely to blow up in the user's face and weren't really good at hitting something specific beyond a certain range with accuracy. His death however unfortunate does serve a purpose: assuming anyone survives this war with the Mongols they will pass on the knowledge to mainland Japan. The "Teppou" used to refer to the bombs here eventually gives its name to matchlocks when the Portuguese show up 2 1/2 centuries later in Tanegashima (which is the other name the European matchlocks ended up being called). I've got to hand it to Kuchii. Just two encounters and he can already tell the difference between the Chinese/Mongol army and the Korean division. He even managed to use Onitakemaru's love of plunder as a distraction to get the two armies to squabble over the spoils instead of keeping up the pursuit. With nightfall, the Japanese can put some distance with their pursuers since they're not as hindered by lack of light for navigation. That old man is a retainer to the emperor?! He's fast enough to outrun an active general so he's more than what he seems. If that is indeed the emperor who has made the trip from Kyoto, he's gone to some lengths to make it to the summit of Tsushima's highest mount. Not sure how it goes from here, but Kuchii will probably use the opportunity to look at the terrain with a panoramic view and figure out something to keep going for the next five days. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#7
So the emperor from last week is the child-emperor who reigned during the final stages of the Genpei War. If I remember correctly, he was supposed to have drowned together with the original imperial regalia during the chaos of the battle. In this adaptation, he is supposed to have survived and lived to a ripe old age when the Mongols come calling. Not just that, his progeny includes Teruhi as his great granddaughter, so the imperial bloodline has a presence in this battle. This is obviously lurching towards the realm of legends, especially if the short sword Kuchii now wields was the one the emperor gifted Minamoto Yoshitsune in that fateful battle. Another unsubtle hint that Kuchii might be descended from the Minamoto clan itself or from a retainer family which learnt the secrets of Yoshitsune's way of warfare. Just an ambush featuring the Toibarai and the Jurchen component of the Mongol horde this week. The Jurchen were supposed to be expert horsemen, so it's unusual to see them on foot. The Vice-Marshal is a Jurchen himself, but his ethos is very different from the common soldiery. As clever as the Toibarai tactic is, it doesn't work if an invading force gets through the maze in large enough numbers. The Toibarai themselves are an interesting lot with their hidden castle. Six hundred years ago would mean the 7th century, not to mention they have stone walls and trebuchets which are clearly not an indigenous Japanese way of fighting. In addition, Nagamine calls the Jurchen by a different name, one which is not too dissimilar to what the Toibarai call themselves. Just a guess, but the Toibarai are most likely immigrants from Korea or what is today Northern China and brought the technology of stonemasonry and siege engineering to mainland Japan. Centuries ago it was the minority tribes (now called Jurchen in this timeline) who tried invading the Japanese islands, hence the "barai" (払い）in Toibarai which invokes sweeping away. As always, Kuchii Jinzaburou loses no opportunity to take in the lay of the land of his new hosts. The biggest defence of the castle is its remote location which is still unknown to the Mongols, however that defence is gone now that the Mongols have acquired a traitor within the walls. The other problem with the standing walls is their huge vulnerability to gunpowder blasts (which is why European castles eventually stopped building tall and straight walls and went for walls with sloped inclines to mitigate the force of gunpowder explosions). His gruff and blunt assessment wins him no friends, but Nagamine knows Kuchii isn't all talk and if he doesn't intervene the ladies will slit Kuchii's throat. Just over halfway for this adaptation, but I still can't see how viewers end up with the very first scene of episode one. Plenty more surprises to come. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#8
Without this week's betrayal the series literally would have meandered to a conclusion with the Mongol invaders setting sail as they were told on the seventh day without incident. That's no longer the case so this week just sets up the siege to come from next week onwards. Although Kuchii has a point about not wanting to get holed up like a rat in a trap, he knows the Tooibarai will fight to the end so long as they are within their ancestral walls so it's best to work with the hand he's been dealt. Viewers are only given a glimpse of what he's ordered to reinforce the defences, but if it's anything like the deathtrap he set up on the mountain pass it will be effective to either delay or stop the Mongols from sneaking through an undefended entrance. The Toibarai magistrate already suspects Shiraishi of betraying the castle to the Mongols, but before he could voice out his suspicions the subject's timely return with an alibi stops the matter from being pursued further. It won't matter now that Shiraishi is pictured at the last wearing a Mongol helmet, but will the revelation ruin the hitherto united front presented by the exiles and the castle residents for the upcoming defence? Even with 3000 men from Kyuushu, the Japanese are still badly outnumbered (at least four to one) by the Mongol expeditionary force. They aren't going to be doing ship to ship fighting like the climatic battle of the Genpei war, so even if the reinforcements do land they'll need to make a stand somewhere against overwhelming numbers. Is that how the scene in the very first episode comes to pass? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#9
They've survived the siege assault and managed to whittle down part of the Mongol Great Army, but at what cost? The betrayal is now known to at least Kuchii (which I assume to survive the upcoming duel) and it will create suspicion between the Toibarai and the exiles. I'm not sure what was done exactly to strengthen the perimeter defences, last week had a brief shot of trunks and brushwood being laid on the base of the walls. It turns out all they ended up being used for was to drop on Mongol soldiers attempting to scale the walls. Not sure if there was more to it, but with limited time and resources that was probably the best Kuchii could manage. Although the Horde is led by a Marshal, there is considerable autonomy granted to each battalion commander to lead his 1000 men as he sees fit. It seems commanders like the skirt-chasing general are also responsible for the material well-being of their charges since there is no common loot pool or allocation mechanism in this huge army. The invasion goes ahead as ordained by the Mongol gods, so what the commanders do with their spare time is up to them provided they join the Marshal when he gives the signal to leave. A brief respite, but if the main Horde learns of the castle's location and goes all out to take it there's no way a defence can be successfully executed. Will that happen, or will something else take place which leads to that climatic field battle from episode 1? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#10
Unsurprisingly, Shiraishi loses his head against Kuchii in the duel. Although the betrayal is known and the traitor is executed, the damage has been done since the biggest weapon the castle had was its unknown location. Once the Mongols found out where it was, surrounding it and laying siege was always on the table. Last week the commander fled so it's only natural the Marshal will spare nothing to crush the island's remaining resistance and make an example of what would happen. Onitakemaru and the merchant are literally sailing in the direction of the Mongol fleet, so the only way the pair of them can survive is to fight for the Mongols. They'd certainly do so, but will the Mongols think of taking them on? The patriarch in Hakata has completely underestimated the threat of the Mongols. Although his reasoning isn't illogical, it would only apply if the Mongol fleet was one quarter of its current number and easily handled by all of the clans in Kyushu. The Mongols have brought enough men and supplies to take on all of Japan so the son has a good point of holding them off before they make landfall. Unfortunately the decision has been made and no reinforcements are forthcoming, so it's hard to see how anyone in the island is going to survive. Kuchii won't care though, he's been looking for a suitable battle to lay down his life and has now found one. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2960 |
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#12 End
It takes a Deus Ex Machina to keep Kuchii alive, but survive he does and he even gets a victory against the Jurchen vice-marshal in the bargain. Either the footsoldiers were gutless minions, or they recognised and acknowledged Kuchii's struggle for what it was. It's grim for anyone who survived last week's episode. Those who weren't killed this week might have an even worse fate as slaves to the Mongols. The sacrifices of Kano and Amushi do ensure Teruhi and some of the captive villagers under the other vice-Marshal escape death or captivity respectively. Like the Emperor foretold, survival in this war of hopeless odds was the only victory for those on the Japanese side. Because it's a final episode, there's a lot left unsaid about the ultimate fates of some of the cast. I'm surprised the other vice-Marshal didn't make it back to the ship on time since he wasn't exactly engaged in something life-threatening at that cliff battle. Likewise did Sana drown in her attempt to retrieve Amushi from the depths? Kano's fate isn't really something to think about though. As announced several weeks ago, the source material intends to continue as the Mongol fleet makes its way to Kyushu. The reinforcements which never arrived will be put to good use anyway once the Mongols make landfall, unfortunately without any advice from those who survived on Sasu island (notably Kuchii Jinzaburou) the defenders will have to fight with no prior knowledge to help them in the struggles ahead. Of course, whether or not that will see an adaptation is up in the air for now. It's been a good series and one I hadn't planned to watch initially. I'm glad I did though, this isn't the everyday run of the mill genre and it's not going to be repeated any time soon. |
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yuna49
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Historically, the Mongols never took Kyushu. They were making progress until their fleet sunk in a typhoon. A second invasion about a decade later ironically met the same fate.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_Japan#Battle_of_Tsushima_Island_–_Mongol_victory |
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