In this year of seemingly endless elections, many voters have probably found themselves staring at a ballot paper and thinking, ¡°Are these really the best options available?¡± Hideki Takeuchi¡¯s clunkily titled ¡°What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister¡± indulges in some wishful thinking on that front. Rewinding the clock to 2020, it imagines an alternative timeline in which the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic claims the life of Japan¡¯s premier, plunging the country into chaos.

As the government collapses, it enacts an emergency plan to create a unity cabinet, comprising some of the most illustrious figures from Japan¡¯s past. Sadly, this doesn¡¯t involve black magic or time travel; rather, the dream team consists of digital revenants made using AI and 3D imaging, like the love children of ChatGPT and Hatsune Miku.