Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku

 
 Oda Nobunaga being the most famous historical figure in Japanese Warring states period obviously received many pop culture adaptations and Realm of Darkness has covered several of them. But if you want to single out the craziest adaptations of all it would be Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku by Hiroshi Motomiya sensei, Mangaka who produced works like Tenchi wo Kurau which was adapted as famous arcade game by Capcom known as Warriors of Fate.

Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku (Like a Fleeting Dream) stands out among Oda Nobunaga stories by presenting a straightforward tensei (reincarnation) narrative. While many adaptations explore "what-if" scenarios where a protagonist intervenes to change Nobunaga's fate, this manga throws Nobunaga himself into the spotlight—he survives the Honnō-ji incident, is transported back in time, and decides to finish what he started: unifying Japan and embarking on a fantastical global conquest.

In this series, readers witness Nobunaga rally warriors from diverse tribes—Jurchen, Mongols, Rus—and wage over-the-top campaigns that crush empires like Ming China and even Europe. It’s an extravagant, larger-than-life take that trades historical nuance for spectacle.

Overall, Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku is a mediocre Nobunaga adaptation if you’re looking for depth or historical intricacy, especially when compared to something like Nobunaga no Chef. However, it holds a certain appeal as a power fantasy—perhaps a reflection of the lingering echoes of Japan’s cultural golden age of the '80s and early '90s. If you're missing Nobunaga no Chef and want something to fill that gap—even with a more fantastical twist—Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku might just do the trick.