Whilst the Japanese civil war period seemed to produce many storied and prolific figures that have been recorded over the following centuries, Oda seems to be the one responsible for laying the foundations of the nation's eventual return to peace and order, even if his murder resulted in an arguably more conservative and autocratic society until the Restoration.
However in today's Japanese pop culture, he seems all too often to be portrayed as a cackling, facial hair twirling villain, rather than a Bismarck or Washington-like figure revered for leadership and statesmanship. Manga artists are particularly guilty of using him as a played-out stereotype villain over and over.
Does anybody have some insight into this particular figure from history being depicted in this way? Are there any biographies on the man that down-play the largely positive wikipedia entry on him and elaborate on some of his character flaws that might not be familiar to a non-Japanese member of society?
Um, Nobunaga is also portrayed quite positively in numerous Japanese works. The main reason why he is portrayed as a villain boils down to the fact that he actively cultivated that sort of reputation as a device to discourage his enemies.
For instance, he is infamous for committing several atrocities, including burning the monk temple on Mt. Hiei (although this is thought to be exaggerated for varying propaganda reasons) as well as immolating the fortress at Nagashima (which, to be fair, was probably his best option at taking it). He also liked to brag about the skull cups he had made from members of the Azai clan that he felt had betrayed him, although this was likely an attempt to intimidate anyone else from betraying him as well. In addition, one of his confidants, the priest Luis Frois, wrote about how Nobunaga often referred to himself as the "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven" in missives written to his enemies. In a sense, he channeled the Prince of Machiavelli-he made himself feared by his foes not because he was necessarily evil, but because it would solidify his place of power. For the most part, his vassals loved him.