sakon makes me emotional it's just a fact

NO WILL TO LIVE? HERE PLAY A GAME WITH MEA;SDFJL

oh okay this scene got translated too WELL THEN

ALL OF MY SAKON EMOTIONSD;LFJ

i'm going to talk about sakon here now that's a thing becuase Sakon receives all of my feelings despite my recent Swimming and Idols kicks

SO SAKON IS MY BABY AND THE FUNNY THING IS THAT NOW THE THEORIES ARE THAT WHENEVER THEY'RE COMPARING SAKON TO SOMEBODY, THEY'RE PROBABLY REFERRING TO IEYASU.

And since Ieyasu is my spirit animal, I find this fascinating.

So in essence SB4 is basically a prequel or alternate timeline sort of thing, depending on how you want to interpret the story. In this path, Ieyasu defects before confronting Hideyoshi at all.

This brings many, many tears in Mitsunari's route because he's still attached to his ~friend~ and even more in Ieyasu's when he's trying to figure out the true meaning of bonds.

Also a lot of gay when in the translations of Hanbei's route, he basically uses "don't you want to talk to Mitsunari again?" as his method to get Ieyasu back to the Toyotomi, damn that's something.

BUT SAKON is this hilarious wildcard that they added in as Mitsunari's vassal maybe because Gyobu wasn't pretty enough or because the Toyotomi army would be way too mopey if they left them with their old lineup

And my favorite part is that Sakon hates Ieyasu. So, so, so much. No one in the Toyotomi seems to hate Ieyasu that much tbh. Since in this one, Hideyoshi's still alive so Mitsunari's more like "WHY DID U LEAVE"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE MY FRIEND" which is pretty tragic in its own right, hahahaha.

But these couple posts are interesting!

Because they actually suggest that the people that Hanbei and Mitsunari are talking about when they see Sakon is Ieyasu.

And that's interesting - I always thought that Hanbei was talking about Keiji too because Sakon does have the same kind of flippant, happy-go-lucky nature that Keiji does but. I forgot all about Hanbei and-

Keiji's relationship where Hanbei would probably not be amused to compare someone to Keiji. And since Hanbei does seem to acknowledge that Ieyasu was an asset and isn't so mad but rather disgruntled that he-

defected, it might honestly make more sense for Sakon to be compared to Ieyasu?

How fascinating though, that Mitsunari had thought Sakon to be unwavering and compared him to Ieyasu, though. Especially since Ieyasu's entire storyline in SB4 is basically him unsure what he's actually

fighting for - according to translations, anyway. However that was a flashback and Sakon definitely knew Ieyasu when he was still in the army, so it's entirely possible that Mitsunari meant Ieyasu's

unwavering gaze when he would say over and over that their bond was important (which honestly makes later events even MORE TRAGIC HOW ABOUT NO).

Because the key factor that makes Ieyasu and Sakon so similar is that they both care for Mitsunari a lot, for entirely different reasons. I always played Ieyasu's attachment to Mitsunari as his desire for an

equal because rivals are such a big deal in SenBASA and having a friend in arms really affected Ieyasu. "His actions were both darkness and light to me" or something to that effect in Oichi's route.

However Sakon was more looking for something to live for and he latched onto Mitsunari as a result, which makes his devotion one of servitude. And even though it's like the way that Mitsunari feels about

Hideyoshi, Sakon makes it clear in Hanbei's route that he doesn't exactly see it the same way. "I'm me, Mitsunari-sama is Mitsunari-sama, and you're you!"

And the entire reason that Sakon hates Ieyasu is because Ieyasu betrayed the Toyotomi, but more importantly he betrayed Mitsunari. Sakon really doesn't care about the Toyotomi as a whole, but he's fiercely

protective and loyal to Mitsunari, hence why he's all "LET ME GO AFTER THAT CHEATER BASTARD IEYASU!!" and Mitsunari is like "No, Sakon, shut up."

He kind of moves ahead without orders and in his drama route he even skips out for a while all, "I'll be back in a bit, Mitsunari-sama! I've got something to take care of!" and he goes to help Katsuie because

BROS. /o/

But it seems like Sakon and Hanbei really don't have a very antagonistic relationship at all - going back to the whole does Sakon resemble Ieyasu or Keiji? thing - if Hanbei's route's translations imply

anything. Sakon thinks Hanbei is super cool and they do have communication issues, but there isn't anything about Hanbei's disposition that seems to imply animosity toward Sakon?

Now I admit that I haven't analyzed Hanbei and Keiji's relationship much but I almost sincerely doubt that Sakon would've gotten Hanbei's blessing to join the army if he was super reminiscent of Keiji.

Ieyasu, however, who Hanbei even wonders if he could've done anything differently to keep him from defecting - that is a bit more likely. Especially when you're storming Osaka and come across Sakon and Hanbei

like "doesn't he remind you of someone?" kind of like another guy that normally would've been on their side, super happy go lucky to greet their intruder first thing and then kick ass.

But really now I'm just. Amused a the idea that Ieyasu and Sakon are that much alike because honestly, it's - Hm. I've thought about it before because I really do want to play Ieyasu in a game still because

Ieyasu is my spirit animal and as much as I love Sakon, Ieyasu will probably continue to be my favorite SenBASA character for a bit longer (because SUN METAPHORS).

It's sort of like - I explain it as Sakon isn't as inherently genuine and straight forward as Ieyasu is. Ieyasu is infinitely more forthcoming and says whatever comes to mind and he's also definitely more

considerate of the grand scheme of things. Sakon, for all his loyalty to Mitsunari, is just going through the motions. He declares himself on behalf of the Ishida army, not the Toyotomi.

But the fact of the matter is that the Toyotomi are the ones who are seeking to dominate the land and Sakon really, really just. Does not seem to care about that what-so-ever. He's like "Toyotomi-ruled land,

eh? I guess that's alright..." and then jumps 20 feet in the air when he realizes that Gyobu overheard him. But he's always eager to serve Mitsunari instead. Anything for Mitsunari.

It's almost like Sakon is a bigger believer in bonds in practice than Ieyasu, since he'll stick by his bonds no matter what happens or what they do. But that's because Sakon prefers thinking in small scope.

Ieyasu's that shounen hero who takes on the fate of the world on his shoulders and believes that it's his responsibility to make sure that everyone is capable of the best life - and he decided that the Toyotomi

not foster smiles or laughter or bonds and then broke his own bond to the Toyotomi in order to ensure everyone else. Mitsunari, as always, says it the most honestly. Ieyasu chose the faceless masses over the

people who actually spent time with him on the battlefield.

So it's like - Ieyasu talks a big game about bonds (and only comes to an actual conclusion in the very end of his drama route, tbh) but Sakon's the one who will actually stick with people until the very end.

/cough.

It's almost closer to a matter of responsibility. Ieyasu thinks on grand-scale and Sakon thinks on small-scale. But they are similar in other ways.

They are almost naturally friendly to everyone - I mean. Ieyasu gets compared to the sun because of his cheerful disposition alone. Sakon is kind of just excitable. He's got a different kind of charm, I think.

Maybe it's not that much of a surprise that I picked up Sakon after all, considering how so many people in the Toyotomi think he's like Ieyasu in the first place. But he's like a more blindly loyal Ieyasu.

Also one that seems to talk about Mitsunari's grumpiness with no shame. "Huh? Don't be short-tempered, you're not Mitsunari-sama!!"

It's almost as though Ieyasu is the leader type and Sakon is the follower type - two sides of the same Mitsunari-obsessed, ridiculously cheerful despite being in the Toyotomi coin.

... I never really thought about it and now I'm amused. Huh. Ieyasu and Sakon really are quite similar in certain ways. I don't know how I didn't catch it before.

Also this plurk isn't complete without his fanart.