OK, I noticed this before, and I’m gonna bring it up now…unless this is in the present (which it’s not) or a post-apocalyptic future that rid us of technology (which it probably isn’t or else someone would probably be wearing a tee-shirt or something)…I don’t think Buddhism was that big a thing in feudal Japan. I’m not saying it wasn’t a thing at all, but I doubt two, totally unrelated strangers from opposite sides of the country and totally different upbringing would be Buddhists. Shintoists, maybe.
http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
Oh geez, I love this comment, and this is generally true. Although Buddhism was really put under lock and key after the Tokugawa shogunate took control, I believe. Shintoism was allowed to flourish as much as it liked because it was the ‘native religion’ and Japan was going all isolationist aroung 1590 or so. NN4B takes place around 1580, during the rise of Nobunaga. We kind of play up Hirotomo Wataro as NN4B’s alternative to the big Oda N. So Buddhism would still be around, although not in full force. And since Murasaki Maru (aka. Purple Samurai or Captain Indigo) is always going on about Kami, we know Shintoism is certainly a thing too. NN4B’s far from historically accurate, but maybe we’re not too off base on this one.
