i do agree with the bit about displaying bravery/skill... (i imagine so they - the peasants.. get noticed and promoted into joining the samurai gravy train)
and according to the comic... honor in sengoku, as in serving only one master, etc, is over-rated. it's a concept more prevalent in the following edo/meiji period (or i guess.. well before sengoku)..
it quoted from various sources (eh.. translated from jp->cn->en.. so something is probably lost somewhere):
Tōdō Takatora
"if you haven't served 7 different lords, you ain't no samurai" (eh.. he served 7 of them..)
Asakura Norikage
"call it beastly/animalistic if you want.. but victory is the basis of being a samurai"
ie... loyalty to one's liege is over-rated... staying alive with whatever means is more important is being truer to bushido
quite interesting, his stuff. mini ice age... caused shortage of food, creating conflict (grabbing food from next door), bringing about rise of financial services (bartering with coinage... wealth based on coinage than food). lower "rank" nobles booting out higher rank ones and taking their place, etc giving rise to sengoku daiymos... siblings/families warring with each other upon death of family head to become the new head.
Much the same as the western concept of chivalry, the concept of Samurai being educated cultural and artistic comes from later ages.
