Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga (戦国小町苦労譚 農耕戯画, A Sengoku Period Belle's Labor Story) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kyōchikutō and illustrated by Geko Hirasawa. It began serialization on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō in January 2013. It was later acquired by Earth Star Entertainment who began publishing it under their Earth Star Novel imprint in January 2016. A manga adaptation illustrated by Hajime Sawada, titled Sengoku Komachi Kurōtan: Nōkō Giga, began serialization on Earth Star Entertainment's Comic Earth Star manga website in May 2017.
Synopsis[]
One fateful day, a girl time she slipped into the Sengoku Era. It was an abrupt enough event to be dubbed god’s whim, done to sate hellish boredom. The girl has no power to change the world. She was a very ordinary, common, and plain girl found anywhere. And that girl can do no more than a single thing. Survive the Sengoku Era ——– that’s all.
(Source: NU)
List of Published Books[]
Novel[]
Written by Kyōchikutō, Sengoku Komachi Kurōtan began serialization on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō on January 27, 2013. It was later acquired by Earth Star Entertainment who began publishing it with illustrations by Geko Hirasawa under their Earth Star Novel imprint on January 15, 2016. Sixteen volumes have been released as of March 2023.
| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 15, 2016 | 978-4-8030-0859-3 | — | — |
| 2 | May 14, 2016 | 978-4-8030-0923-1 | — | — |
| 3 | September 15, 2016 | 978-4-8030-0956-9 | — | — |
| 4 | December 15, 2016 | 978-4-8030-0978-1 | — | — |
| 5 | April 15, 2017 | 978-4-8030-1037-4 | — | — |
| 6 | September 15, 2017 | 978-4-8030-1110-4 | — | — |
| 7 | December 15, 2017 | 978-4-8030-1141-8 | — | — |
| 8 | April 16, 2018 | 978-4-8030-1182-1 | — | — |
| 9 | September 15, 2018 | 978-4-8030-1229-3 | — | — |
| 10 | January 17, 2019 | 978-4-8030-1261-3 | — | — |
| 11 | July 16, 2019 | 978-4-8030-1312-2 | — | — |
| 12 | January 16, 2020 | 978-4-8030-1369-6 | — | — |
| 13 | September 15, 2020 | 978-4-8030-1451-8 | — | — |
| 14 | April 15, 2021 | 978-4-8030-1503-4 | — | — |
| 15 | March 16, 2022 | 978-4-8030-1627-7 | — | — |
| 16 | March 15, 2023 | 978-4-8030-1767-0 | — | — |
| 17 | March 15, 2024 | 978-4-8030-1927-8 | — | — |
Manga[]
A manga adaptation illustrated by Hajime Sawada, titled Sengoku Komachi Kurōtan: Nōkō Giga (戦国小町苦労譚 農耕戯画), began serialization on Earth Star Entertainment's Comic Earth Star manga website on May 26, 2017. Fourteen tankōbon volumes have been released as of September 2023.
| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 12, 2017 | 978-4-8030-1134-0 | — | — |
| 2 | April 12, 2018 | 978-4-8030-1175-3 | — | — |
| 3 | October 12, 2018 | 978-4-8030-1233-0 | — | — |
| 4 | March 12, 2019 | 978-4-8030-1277-4 | — | — |
| 5 | October 12, 2019 | 978-4-8030-1345-0 | — | — |
| 6 | April 11, 2020 | 978-4-8030-1409-9 | — | — |
| 7 | September 12, 2020 | 978-4-8030-1449-5 | — | — |
| 8 | February 12, 2021 | 978-4-8030-1489-1 | — | — |
| 9 | July 12, 2021 | 978-4-8030-1489-1 | — | — |
| 10 | December 10, 2021 | 978-4-8030-1574-4 | — | — |
| 11 | May 12, 2022 | 978-4-8030-1643-7 | — | — |
| 12 | October 12, 2022 | 978-4-8030-1701-4 | — | — |
| 13 | March 10, 2023 | 978-4-8030-1759-5 | — | — |
| 14 | September 13, 2023 | 978-4-8030-1834-9 | — | — |
| 15 | March 16, 2022 | 978-4-8030-1627-7 | — | — |
| 16 | March 15, 2023 | 978-4-8030-1767-0 | — | — |
Character[]
The protagonist of the series. She is a former agricultural high school student who loves history. One day, she suddenly slips back in time to the Warring States period and ends up serving Oda Nobunaga. His title is "Oda clan Advisor." She leads the "Shizuko Corps" (which later became a military unit) directly under Nobunaga. She is also an exponent of knowledge and knows in many fields, thanks to her sister, who is knowledgeable about war, and her grandfather Toranosuke, a professional agricultural scientist, and his acquaintance, and is a trump card for the Oda family, which aims to end the Warring States period and beyond by reproducing future knowledge, technology, and cuisine.
She is said to be a descendant of the Ayanokoji family, an official family that was severed after Nobunaga and Maehisa used Shizuko's family name as a strategy of the Imperial Court. She was given the title of "Nihime" and the official rank of the fourth cousin by Emperor Shojinmachi for letters and offerings written by Maehisa and Princess Nohime on his behalf. He was known as the "hooded chancellor" because she dressed in men's clothes and wore a hood over his head when addressing foreigners, including Luís Fróis. Nobunaga ordered this disguise, but since she has not been instructed to lift the ban since then, she has continued to do so.
She has contributed to the development and stability of the Oda domain centering on Owari. She is adored by the people of Owari to the point of near worship because of the development of Owari over the years since she served Nobunaga. She is an animal lover and tames not only the Wittmann family but also local wild species and exotic species donated by Fróis, and anyone who has harmful intentions is eliminated even if they approach her.
In the Web novel series, it has already been more than 10 years since she went back in time, and although she is on the verge of her thirtieth birthday, she is single. Shizuko's wealth and her position within the Oda family have increased, and she is unable to accept a suitable son-in-law.
Abilities[]
"It's the best to win without fighting...
Even if you achieve total victory in a hundred battles, it still isn't the best strategy. The best strategy is to crush your enemies' morale without even fighting. "― Shizuko Ayanokouji said to Oda Nobutada
Shizuko attends an agricultural high school under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, horticulture, and Fisheries even Animal Husbandry. She is so talented that she entered the school at the top of her class and was appointed as the representative for new students, and even after entering the school, she has maintained a good score within the top three. Although she has outstanding knowledge and experience when it comes to agriculture, having been given a gifted education by her grandfather, Shizuko Ayanokoji herself claims to be an "ordinary agricultural high school student".
Her hobby is history, especially the Sengoku period, and she reads books related to it to the extent that she loses sleep. She is so passionate about her that she has compiled information on military commanders she would like to serve, and has written several volumes of her "fantasy notebooks." Her schoolmates ridicule her as a "farming woman."
To survive, she promoted herself as having the latest Nanban agricultural technology, cuisine, medical, and she ended up serving Nobunaga. Her later successes were remarkable, and she brought innovations not only in agriculture but also in many fields such as advocating for a rich country and strong military, promoting meat culture, encouraging bathing, and developing weapons, making her famous in history less than two years after her time slip. And thus Shizuko prefers to share her knowledge of agricultural tools and mundane goods. In Sengoku Japan, many of these become important luxury goods that immensely increase the Oda Clan's wealth.
When the Oda Clan retainers think that Shizuko is running one of these. When she explained the concept of a logistics train to them, they assumed that all her actions up to that point were nothing but steps leading up to the realization of one for the Oda. Given that, this would allow the Oda to maintain a field army of much larger size and for a much longer duration than their rivals, it is certainly a decisive edge.
She was given a seat next to Nobunaga's remaining senior vassals as "Advisor". In addition, the items that Shizuko Ayanokoji had when she time-traveled, such as a smartphone and a manual charger, have also been transferred to the Sengoku period, and some books are directly connected to technological innovation, such as "List of Weapons from Ancient to Modern Times" are also being brought in. The seeds of crops that Shizuko's grandfather had independently bred were of great help even in the early days when the level of technology was low.
Although aware that her actions have greatly contributed to the Oda's clan military success, making her indirectly responsible for plenty of deaths, Shizuko still cannot bring herself to take a human life even when threatened personally. This is no longer the case as of chapter 49 when she takes the life of the Ikko-Ikki commander in the Asakura army.
Shizuko has tamed a male gray wolf (Honshū wolf) and a female. She gave birth to five cubs (Kaiser, König, Adelheid, Ritter, Lutz) the wolves born between Wittmann and Baltei. He couldn't find a wife, so he bred with an imported German shepherd and became a wolfdog, but died at the end of her lifespan in the 3rd year of Tensho, but Shizuko has 30+ wolfdog in the Shizuko territory. She likes the Destoria warhorse she imported from Nanban and she names it "Matsu-kaze." Shizuko holds two known samurai blades made by Mikumo Mitsutada and one of the most famous is Jikkyuu Mitsutada.
Reception[]
The series has 2 million copies in circulation as of March 2023.
External Link[]
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga ─ Web novel at Shōsetsuka ni Narō (in Japanese)
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga ─ Work information (Light novel official website) | Earth☆Star Novel
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga ─ Work information (Manga Official Website) | Comic Earth☆Star
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga Author's (@NeriumIndicum13) - Twitter
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga ─ Wikipedia JP
- Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga ─ Wikipedia EN
See Also[]
- Bakemono no Ko, is another light novel series with the same illustrator.
Trivia[]
to be added.