Oichi (Sengoku BASARA)

""Everyone's dying... This is also Ichi's fault...""

- Oichi

Oichi  is the younger sister of Nobunaga Oda and the wife of Nagamasa Azai, who made her debut as a playable character in Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes. Ever since, she has made an appearance in all of the Sengoku BASARA titles to date. She is often considered as the most tragic character of the series.

Description
She is depicted as a slender woman who is very melancholic and depressed, always thinking that everything is her fault. She was at first sent by her brother, Nobunaga Oda, to marry Nagamasa Azai and spy on him. However, she genuinely fell in love with him and was torn between betraying her brother and her lover.

Role in Games
Oichi's story in Sengoku Basara 2 starts with she and Nagamasa fighting against the Oda army. After witnessing her husband's death at the of hands of Nobunaga and then being forced to fight on in Nobunaga's name, she slowly starts to lose her sanity. In the end, she succumbs to her own dark powers, which leads her to kill Nobunaga's retainers (Nōhime and Ranmaru) and eventually Nobunaga himself. After killing her brother in Honnō-ji, Oichi regains her sanity for a little while, then breaks down in tears at her atrocity to her family and clan. The temple collapses and she is presumed dead afterwards.

Oichi inexplicably returns in Sengoku Basara 3 having lost her memories after suppressing the pain of witnessing Nagamasa's death and being forced to do cruelties under Nobunaga's name in the past. Rather than bearing the Azai crest, she now uses the Oda crest.

In her Red route, Oichi joins Ieyasu Tokugawa - Lord Happy - because he's kind to her and wants to always be there for her. She repeatedly joins him on the battlefield, despite his protests, and him asking her to stay behind. She chooses to kill Mitsunari - Lord Grumpy - to save him from the "hole in his heart".

In her Blue route, she joins Mitsunari Ishida and becomes a pawn for in Yoshitsugu Otani's plans to bring misfortune in the world. In this path, her dark side is fostered and fed on the souls of those she is made to fight. Once Oichi defeats Ieyasu at Sekigahara, she turns against Yoshitsugu, bringing darkness to the world.

In her Green route, she follows a voice, leading to a battle with either Tenkai or Hideaki Kobayakawa. Fighting Tenkai makes him admit that he lured Oichi to him, with the desire to resurrect Nobunaga using the woman's blood. This encounter leads to her Purple Route, where Oichi rushes to get to Azuchi Castle before Tenkai can fully resurrect her brother. Unfortunately, she is too late, and Tenkai is found dead by Nobunaga's hands. The two siblings fight, and at her victory, Oichi drags her brother back down into the depths of hell.

Oichi is prone to calling out the names of those long dead, including her brother, Nohime, and Ranmauru. If the player fights her as Tsuruhime, she is likely to mistake the young girl as Ranmaru, due to their shared weapon. Strangely, the times she utters Nagamasa's names are in her few moments of clarity.

In Sengoku Basara 2 Oichi is the only character with a unique ending sequence; her image song, "Nemure Hi no Hana", which is sung by Mamiko Noto, her own seiyuu. Her theme would return in the fallowing title Sengoku Basara 3, though as a Piano Arrangement. Due to the game being released outside of japan, as Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes, her theme received an official English translation: "Sleep Scarlet Flower".

Weapon
Before Sengoku BASARA 2, Oichi wields two naginata bonded and connected by a cord, which she can separate and chainlink to its bar. In Sengoku BASARA 3, she fights only with her hands of darkness, and is in fact, implied to be the one controlled by them.

Gameplay
Prior to Sengoku Basara 3, Oichi's attacks mainly involve using her naginata or dark hands.

Her naginata attacks all have a decent coverage of the area around her, making them good against groups. Meanwhile, her dark hands attacks not only deal good damage, but also stops enemies (through sinking them to the ground or grabbing them). Additionally, her dark hands also gain some bonuses as her health gets lower (best effect occurs when Oichi is in critical health). However, as the dark hands skills are all Dark-Elemental, this special feature is somewhat "limited" (as Oichi gain health back, reducing the bonus) but can be a safety measure of sorts (when used while health is in red zone). Lastly, her Basara attack is also powerful.

In Sengoku Basara 3, most of Oichi's skills are performed independent of Oichi's current actions. This allows her to do almost anything (move, do normal attacks) while her dark hands attack enemies. This can be used to interrupt enemies when they are attacking Oichi.