As a teacher of children...
...and a fencing instructor...
...it's impossible for me to go begging for money here in Morioka.
But I know full well...
...that without money none of you will live through the winter.
Kaichiro...
Mitsu...
Though I might...
...abandon my clan to earn my living...
...I will never abandon you.
Shizu...
...look after the new baby when it comes.
Kanichiro...
No!
It has to seem like I left without telling you.
We can't have words of farewell!
So...
...I'm going.
Kanichiro!
Father! Father!
Father...
Go home! You mustn't see me off!
I won't.
Only just... hold Mitsu one last time.
She doesn't deserve to have the father she loves...
...go without a word.
Papa...
Mitsu...
Papa...
Mitsu...
Father, please don't cry.
I only wish your departure were a happier one.
Squire Saito returns!
Saito-sensei?
Why?
I don't know.
Squire Saito!
Stand aside!
I was tired of hiding out. I went back to the Shinsengumi...
...though I knew perfectly well how bedraggled it had become.
That was all the more reason for me to return.
My sympathies for the unpleasant task that fell to you.
I don't need your sympathy.
Move.
Saito-sensei...
Miss Nui...
What about her?
She killed herself.
I see.
I took the liberty of arranging a funeral at Koenji Temple.
Mind your own business.
Right then only he knew...
...my innermost thoughts.
You're going to kill me?
A country samurai who doesn't care what happens?
Doesn't anything matter as long as you get paid?
Money-grubber!
Mercenary!
How much are they paying you to kill me?!
I'm truly sorry.
It was all...
...downhill from there.
The Shogun resigned, and political power returned to the Emperor.
The Lord of Aizu, Commissioner of Kyoto...
...was relieved of his post, leaving us with nothing to guard.
Okita was dying of tuberculosis...
...and Shinohara, of the Ito faction, had shot Kondo.
As if seeking its last stand, the Shinsengumi joined in the fight...
...against the southwestern clans.
Fighting was all we could do.
Squire Ono...
Straighten your backs! Stick out your chests!
We are the warriors of Mibu!
Shinsengumi!
Good on you!
Shinsengumi!
Are you properly dressed?
If your clothing isn't good and tight, you will die!
Even if you fall, do not drop your sword!
Keep swinging it!
If you're out of breath, grab your opponent.
Use any means you can...
...and come back alive.
They're coming!
The Shinsengumi's here!
Charge!
Fire!
Forward!
Fire!
It was ludicrous. Swords against guns, a foregone conclusion.
The day of the sword...
...was already far in the past.
Nanbu Clan godown, Osaka
Reporting!
The Shogun's forces are retreating. The southwestern army...
...is in pursuit.
They're winning?
Yes, sir.
The Shinsengumi's no help?
'Shinsengumi'?
Nothing.
We fled with the Shogun's troops.
The other clans deserted us.
On the edge of annihilation, we played our final card.
You all right?
Have some food.
Go on, eat.
Eat slowly!
Saito-sensei...
I got the Aizu people to share their supplies with us.
Please...
Have you eaten?
Uh...
...no.
Was that the last?
Why didn't you say?! You let me eat the last one!
I'm used to being hungry.
This'll do me fine.
You bastard!
I hate your guts!
Why should one shit-sack care if another's full?!
In a world where men hate enough to kill each other...
...why are you trying to fill my stomach?!
Saito-sensei!
I can't breathe!
Yoshimura... get out of here.
We're going to die here...
...whether we like it or not.
But I don't want you to.
Not a man like you.
Mr. Saito...
I am...
...a Nanbu samurai.
A Nanbu samurai...
...lets neither wife nor child sway him from his duty.
When Nanbu fights, I will be there first.
I'm truly grateful for the consideration you've shown me...
...but I will never turn my back on my duty.
Yoshimura!
Saito-sensei...
...my humble thanks.
He was a true samurai.
The enemy!
We're under attack!
Hold your fire!
Stop shooting!
Swords!
Fight or die!
Cut them down!
Retreat!
Retreat! Retreat!
Forward!
The Emperor's standard!
We are the Imperial Army! Withdraw your soldiers!
There will be no mercy for rebels!
Are we rebels now?!
Withdraw!
Withdraw!! Don't resist!
Don't resist! Withdraw!
Hijikata-sensei! Are we rebels?
Hey!
Stand your ground!
Stay here, I said!
I am Kanichiro Yoshimura of the Shinsengumi!
I serve the Tokugawa Shogun!
I do not wish to raise my arm against His Majesty the Emperor...
...but my duty bids me fight!
I stand against you!
Yoshimura!
Don't die!
Yoshimura!
Don't die. Yoshimura!
Yoshimura!
Yoshimura...
So you knew Yoshimura-sensei...
I assume he died at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi...
No.
What, is he alive?!
After that battle...
...the war went in favor of the southwestern clans.
My father, Jiroemon Ono...
...had been sent to Osaka...
...as godown manager, to steer the clan through the crisis.
Leave to speak!
His Lordship the Shogun...
...has fled Osaka Castle, left his army and taken ship for Edo.
We know who's going to win now. The way forward is clear!
We can either join the Emperor and his southwestern clans...
...or be destroyed with the Tokugawas!
I agree!
Calm down...
...or the lower castes will get excited as well.
It is important that we remain absolutely neutral.
We must not take sides.
All we need do is dress normally and strengthen our gate.
We aid no fleeing soldiers...
...and we say nothing about the war's outcome.
Understood?
Yoshimura-sensei picked that time to appear before my father.
Kanichiro?!
Yoshimura's here?!
He's in front of the gate, badly wounded.
Yoshimura!
What should we do?
All right, bring him into the back garden.
Yes, sir!
Why did he have to come now?!
Why?!
You bloody fool! You should be ashamed.
Yoshimura!
Squire Jiroemon...
While our battle has ended...
...in total defeat...
...to die here at the hands of some villain...
...would be a wasted death.
If I may, I would like to be of service to my own land.
I would like to return there.
Now?
A true Nanbu samurai...
...would go back to the Shinsengumi and die there like a man.
I beg you!
Yoshimura...
...after what you've done...
...I couldn't possibly ask the clan to take you back!
At least...
...until my wounds heal.
For the sake...
...of all our years of friendship.
To all the men of all the clans!
Report all rebel soldiers...
...to the Imperial Army!
Conceal them...
...and your clan will be suppressed!
I say again...
Report all rebel soldiers...
...to the Imperial Army!
Conceal them and your clan will be suppressed!
Yoshimura...
...you're a disgrace.
We will leave you alone.
Kill yourself.
This is not an entertainment!
Begone!
I'm sorry, Sasuke.
Kanichiro...
...why did you fight at Toba-Fushimi?
Why didn't you join the Shogun at Osaka Castle?
Together, you might have had a chance.
The way you are now, how could you escape anywhere?
It was...
...out of duty I fought.
We lost, it's true...
...but I'm not dead yet.
While I'm still alive...
...I want to go back to Morioka.
I want to see Shizu...
...and my children.
Nanbu is my land.
I can't put you on the scales against all of Nanbu.
If it were only me, I would die for you.
But I can't make Nanbu the enemy of His Majesty just for you.
That sword of yours won't cut any more.
I'll give you mine.
It's made by Yamato no Kami Yasusada.
Use it to cut open your stomach like a samurai should.
Please help him! Father!
Sir?
A hungry man can't meet death properly.
I'll give him some food.
I didn't realize. I'm sorry.
I'll do it.
I didn't think about it until just now.
Take him some hot water as well.
Is it snowing...
...in Nanbu now. too?
Powder snow...
Oh, dear...
Now what?
Here.
This rice...
...comes from Nanbu...
Nanbu rice...
It's so good...
So good I drool to think of it.
Enjoy it.
Take your time and enjoy it.
Thank you.
First...
...one ryo.
A kimono sash for Shizu.
This one ryo...
...is for Mitsu's Doll-Festival stand.
This one's for Keijiro's baby robe.
Well, what do you know?
Here I wanted to buy Kaichiro a sword...
...but I don't have the money.
Kaichiro...
...nothing could make you cry, could it.
I didn't...
...deserve a son like you.
Kaichiro and Mitsu...
...and Keijiro, who I've never seen...
I want to...
...hold you.
Shizu...
...what are you doing right now?
Can you hear the words my heart speaks...
...that I never could say?
I fell...
...completely in love with you.
I tried...
...as hard as I could.
I did all I could.
You...
...don't mind, do you?
Shizu?
It's all right if I...
...kill myself?
Forgive me.
'Let's go to the peach tree.
'lf there are any peaches, we'll pick them.
'Five for Uncle... '
I can hear Mitsu singing... such a sweet little voice...
Mitsu...
...you were never out of my mind...
...even for a single day.
It's as if...
...you're the only one...
...I wasn't apart from for even a minute.
So Mitsu...
...even though I kill myself...
...I'll always be by your side.
Now I'm going to die.
Shizu...
Kaichiro...
Mitsu...
Keijiro...
I'm not going to hell, or to heaven.
I'm...
...going to be with you...
...every second...
...with you!
I was there when Yoshimura-sensei died.
Sir...
''Take these two things...''
''...to my home.'"
He didn't use the sword!
You didn't touch the rice...
...you stubborn mule!
Kanichiro!
Eat!
It's Nanbu rice.
From Morioka, grown with Kitakami River water.
Eat!
Kanichiro...
...because of you...
...Shizu and the children eat their fill.
It's your turn now.
You dreamed of Nanbu rice.
Eat, Kanichiro!
It's good!
Kanichiro!
He was named one of Lord Tokugawa's advance guard...
...and served well.
Rather than suffer dishonor...
...he asked to commit hara-kiri.
That was his choice?
Yes.
He refused a second...
...and bravely, alone...
...cut open his stomach.
With that sword?
No.
He wanted to give it to you.
He didn't want it stained.
He used another.
I see...
Husband...
...thank you.
You worked so hard...
...to support us.
Thank you.
So that's what happened...
Ordering him to do that must have broken your father's heart.
Suddenly, after that...
...my father was like a different man.
They must never become the Imperial army!
The southwestern clans started this war.
They are the rebels!
He had always been so cautious...
...but when Akita went over to the southwestern clans...
...he led the attack on it.
I call on the samurai of Nanbu to do their duty!
I can only think...
...that he was looking for death in battle himself.
And, sadly, he found it.
May all be well with you.
Squire Chiaki!
Kaichiro...
I'm going to Hakodate to fight.
At the fort there?
Yes.
You'll never come back alive out of there!
I don't care.
That's not very smart. Why go if you know you won't come back?
The duty of a Nanbu samurai is to fight until the very last.
Don't go! Don't go!
Mitsu...
...you can't stop him.
This is far enough, Squire Chiaki.
Thank you.
This is pure spring-water. Let's drink from it...
...for luck.
Drink from my hands.
Now you drink from mine.
Here.
I won't take it!
When everyone else is trying to stay alive...
...you're going to die!
You're only 16! You haven't lived yet!
Why do you have to die?
Squire Chiaki...
...I can't leave the father I love to cross the River of Death alone.
So please... drink.
Kaichiro...
...don't die!
Kaichiro!
Chiaki...
Chiaki!
Kaichiro...
...don't die!
Don't die!
Brother! Don't go away!
Mitsu... I have to.
Brother!
Look after her, will you?
I will go and fight for Nanbu.
Brother! Brother!
Brother!
Kaichiro never came back to Morioka.
He died in the Battle of Hakodate.
Brother!
Mitsu!
I'll be your big brother now.
And then, later on...
...I married Mitsu.
There!
All finished!
Well done!
Sorry to keep you.
Minoru...
I don't think it's serious. Just a cold.
I've mixed some medicine for his symptoms.
Give it to him after meals, and see he gets lots of rest.
Make sure you take this. OK?
My humble thanks, Yoshimura-sensei.
Well...
Thank you for your help.
Take care.
Come on.
Morioka, in Nanbu. It's a beautiful place.
Away to the south is Mt Hayachine...
...with Mt Nansho and Mt Azumane to the west.
In the north are Mt Iwate and Mt Himekami.
Out of the high mountains...
Grandpa, carry me!
No! A samurai walks!
Yes, sir.
Ah, it's pretty as a picture!
There's nowhere like it in all Japan!
May all be well with you.
Mitsu has lost so many who are close...
...that even now in sleep she holds my hand and won't let go.
Words can't express how much of a help Mitsu has been to me.
After my father died in battle...
...my family were treated as rebels and suppressed.
But perhaps that was luck, as it made it possible for me...
...to marry Mitsu.
Sasuke, who has become the boss of a gambling syndicate...
...looks out for us even now.
Mitsu and I have decided to move to China...
... where we will practice medicine in Manchuria.
We will cross the sea and live in that empty land...
...and do the best we can there.
Morioka, in Nanbu. It's pretty as a picture!
There's nowhere like it in all Japan!
The Morioka cherry blossom splits through rock to bloom.
The Morioka magnolia blooms even facing north.
So I want you to run ahead of the times.
Go wild. Bloom.