[Today's episode is a double-feature showcasing the "Kabukicho Snow Festival" and "Fireworks In Winter"!!]
[We also have a new ending song, so stay tuned!]
Huh? What happened? The sky is all white.
Huh? I'm the one all white...
Huh? Why am I sleeping in a place like this?
Huh? Has something like this happened before? Huh?
["Only Children Play in the Snow"]
I'm not sure if there's an abnormal climate system this winter or what, but...
When it's raining, you wash yourself in an outdoor tub!
If it's raining spears, you'd do a bamboo dance!
We, as Edoites, believe that whatever happens, we might as well enjoy it!
So...
The First Chiki Chiki Kabukicho Snow Festival will commence!
Gin-san!
I brought some snow.
Oh, leave it there.
Wow, everyone is making great sculptures.
They're all pretty risque snow statues, though. Well, that's Kabukicho, for you.
We, of the Odd Jobs, are...
Well, this looks good... And I'll put the column in the middle...
Our show will be taken off the air!
Hey, hey, what are you doing?
Don't you know how hard I worked to make that ball on the left?!
What about you?!
Don't you know how pissed off the producer will be if you do something like that?!
Gin-chan, I made the column.
Whoa! What are you holding, Kagura-chan?!
What, Shinpachi?!
I don't know what you think this is, but...
This is the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.
You said Armstrong twice! There's no way such an obscene cannon exists!
You're in early adolescence and you always have dirty thoughts.
So whenever you see a pole and couple of balls, you immediately imagine something nasty.
You're really disgusting. Don't talk to me for a while.
Then, what is it, huh?
Oh, you guys are here, too?
Oh, Hasegawa-san.
Please stop them. Those two are making something really...
Hey, isn't that a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon?
It's got a very high-quality finish.
What?! How do you know?! Does it really exist? Seriously?
Am I the only one who doesn't know anything about it?!
It was the Dog Star clan's ultimate weapon.
They used it to blow up Edo Castle Tower and force Japan to open up the country.
What? Our country was beaten with this ugly cannon?
Anyway, what are you doing here?
Well, I've created my own sculpture for the contest.
I heard the winner gets a big cash prize.
Wow!
What's this?!
I'm not sure what it is, but it looks great!
Well, it's nothing really.
I tend to get immersed in anything I do, so I couldn't stop... I call it "Flight."
It's fantastic! Are you the model for this, Hasegawa-san?
Huh? Well, I put a lot of my heart and soul into it, so it ended up looking like me.
This is too buff to be you. Let me scrape some off around here.
Hey, what are you doing?! Give me a break! That's the only thing holding it up.
Is this bit true to life too?
I wonder if that part is like DORK's, too.
No! You're not supposed to point out that part!
Hey, what dirty things are you showing to our Kagura-chan?!
Just a minute!
It's art! You see things like this in art textbooks all the time!
Bastard! Are you trying to get Gin Tama canceled?!
Hey! Watch where you throw that snowball!
Take that!
Whoa! My Dandy Outstanding Refined Knob. In short, DORK!
It's stuck!
Hey! How could you stick that dirty thing onto our masterpiece?!
They're coming! Do something!
[Flight (crossed out)]
[Hey, Lady. Pant pant.]
[How you doing? Pant pant.]
[You're pretty. Pant pant.]
This is great work.
Oh, really?
Hey, you two were so callous! I bet you did that on purpose.
No, I didn't mean it.
But if we had left it as it was, I'm sure the PTA would've complained.
Yours is a hundred times worse.
Hey, I just came up with a great idea. Let's add some wings. Wings.
Gin-chan, that sounds great! How did you come up with such a great idea?
Well, I don't know, but it just came to me.
Oh? You guys are here, too?
Katsura-san...
Oh? This is the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.
It has a very high-quality finish.
And, how do you know?
Another name for it is "Running Thunder."
It caused "The Seven Days of Fire" during the Balkans Campaign.
That's not the story I heard.
What are you doing here?
I'm participating just for fun.
Wow! Great! It's like an amusement park!
Something like this should be fun for children. I hope you guys like it.
Hey, that's not the right way to play with it.
You mean this isn't for rock climbing?
No, this is a slide.
Don't slide with those on!
Hey, Zura, where're the stairs?
What are you guys, mountain goats?! And you were just on the stairs, fool!
Geez, the slide is all scratched up. I'll smooth it out.
You bastards!
I know! You're trying to ruin my work so that you can win the grand prize!
I won't let you win that easily!
Hey, isn't it amazing?
You must be a genius. What made you think of attaching a slide to this?
I don't know, but it just came to me. It was perspiration, uh-huh.
You mean, inspiration.
Oh, hi, Gin-san. What a surprise to see you here.
I swear I had no idea you were here. It's not like I was following you or anything. It's just...
Nobody asked you...
Huh? This is a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon. It's got a very high-quality finish.
How do you even know that? You can't even see it's original shape anymore.
During the interstellar war between the planets Tuezzhan and Casshern,
this "Method Cannon" ultimately led the Tuezzhan to victory,
and has been long since abandoned in a storehouse.
I don't care! That story's crap!
Are you making a sculpture, too?
Well, it's nothing really...
Oh, really? I see something that has your name all over it.
Don't get me wrong. Th-That's not Gin-san.
Um... I'm not violating Shueisha's or any publisher's copyrights or anything.
Its legs are far too long. Gin-chan's are shorter.
It's a glorification of him.
Well, that's about right. Great. It looks exactly like me.
I bet this will win the grand prize. I can't possibly destroy it.
Eh? Really? Are you giving me a compliment?
Well, I just said what I thought.
Why are his arms positioned out like that?
Oh, that is...
For this...and now it's complete.
What are you doing? Gin-san's arms! Fix them quickly! Hurry!
S-Sorry! Oh, my glasses...
I'll put them right back on!
What...
...are you doing, you dirty old geezer!
Why me?!
How strange. I thought you really were touching me, Gin-san. Sorry.
Sis, what are you doing here?
Well, the store I work at is entered in the competition.
Oh?
This is a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon.
It has a very high-quality finish, too.
No! It looks nothing like it did before!
It looks so stupid. And there's nothing we can do with this Armstrong.
What? What the heck is an Armstrong Cannon?!
By the way, do you want to see our sculpture, Shin-chan?
We worked really hard on it.
See? Isn't it great?
What kind of work did the Odd Jobs do?
Huh? Well... Um...
I'm too embarrassed to say. What did we do?!
What is a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, anyway?
That's just porn.
Ah. The truth at last.
There's no way we'd win the grand prize, or even a prize for participating.
Let's go home, before we publicly humiliate ourselves.
Huh? Where are you going?
Don't you want to stay just a little longer to enjoy our snow statue?
What's that?! There's something weird on the snow statue!
Who cares about the grand prize!!
If I can't have it, no one can!!
It's all gonna melt, anyway.
Into oblivion!!
There's the pervert!!
It's futile! Even if we made a new slide, they'd just destroy it again!
I don't want the slide anymore! I wish all the slides in the world would collapse!
Oh, my! Everybody is fighting! What a mess!
What should we do, Otae? We'd better give up on winning.
Otae?
Hey, what are you doing?
Give me a break! No way will I give up! I'll win!
We promised to share the 100 cups of Bäagen-Dash!
Bäagen-Dash? The winner gets 100 cups of ice cream?
Hey, you've got to be kidding.
I worked so hard on a cold day because I thought we would get a cash prize.
Damn you, granny! You tricked me!
How dare you treat us like fools!
Otose-san, what's everybody doing? Is this a snowball fight competition?
Nope...
It's a festival.
You see that?! You see that?! I made those fireworks!!
It's a tiny bit lopsided...
Quit nitpicking!
Fireworks sparkling in the summer sky...
Like a flower that blooms and disappears in an instant.
But then... aren't we like that, too?
["Eating Ice Cream in Winter Is Awesome"]
Hey, hey, hey! What's this?!
This looks like snails. Is this some kind of punishment?
This may be...escargot or whatever you call it. It's a delicacy...I think. And very expensive.
Really?
Hey! That means this job's gonna be great!
I mean, if they start feeding us all this fancy food...
Idiot! Don't flip out too much.
They're testing us. To see if we're classy enough.
Look at the butler. He's smirking at us, isn't he?
You're right.
What? But... what are we supposed to do with this snail thing?
It's a plate! I think we put food on top like this then eat it.
Plate... But it's already on the plate.
We put a coffee cup on the plate. It's like a saucer, right? It's classy.
You guys are real hicks. Watch how I use it.
Excuse me.
More water, please.
I see. We use it to call the butler. That's why it's disk-shaped.
Can I have some chopsticks, please?
I don't think that's right.
Yes, it is. Because he stopped smirking. Wait? Is he crying?
Who's that guy? What? Some mollusk demon?
He's got a snail on his head.
Huh? Is that what we're supposed to do with it? Wear it?
Sorry I'm late, Mr. Odd Jobs. My mother is feeling ill and I...
What are you guys doing?!
I'm sorry. We're not used to this kind of thing...
That's all right. By the way, I'm glad to see you're getting along so well with my father.
Huh? Father?
Yes. That's right, he's my father.
The reason I called you over here is to take care of him.
You escargot old fart! Quit poaching my...
Who's an egg, eh?!
Sorry, my father hasn't been himself for some time now...
When he was younger, he was the greatest pyrotechnist in Edo. A master of fireworks!
But after he retired to take care of my mother,
who had become ill, something strange came over him.
Junk Board Wandam. You're hairy today.
[Note: word play on Gundam robots]
[Note: Kuso means crap]
Hmm... He's Janno Kuso Gundam. It's a pretty name.
[Note: Mamire means covered, so JUMP covered in crap.]
No, no. JUMP Kuso Mamire.
He sometimes wanders around at night and leaves home for a couple of days.
Hmm...Kuso mamire. It's a pretty name.
He's getting to be a handful...
Right. It's Michael J. Dogs.
They seem to be getting along well.
Kinda sad though. Old men... they get senile so quick, y'know?
Old ladies do fine after their husbands die.
But if a man's wife dies first, he usually just comes apart.
But his wife isn't dead yet.
She grew ill three years ago, so she's been bedridden.
He stopped making fireworks to take care of her,
and, as a result, now he's behaving like that.
I bet he loved fireworks.
Seeing him in this light, I feel really sorry for the old man.
Old fart! What are you doing?!
He said he's going to meet his lover.
No way! He's already got one! Get him down before he escapes!
Get out of the way!
There!
You've gotta be more careful.
Hey, wasn't that a bit much?
I thought we were supposed to take care of him... not kill him.
Ah! He hasn't given up yet!
What?!
Why the heck is he so energetic? I thought this guy was old!
Hey! You're destroying the house!!
There!
Father, please stop this.
Mom is really sick! Can't you tell the good from the bad in these situations?!
I'm sorry. We got carried away, too.
Don't worry about it. You fought well.
Will you shut up, old fart!
From now on, Father, Mom is going to the hospital.
She's gotten a lot worse.
We can't take care of her at home anymore.
Then he won't be with his wife at all.
Father...
Don't you have anything to say?
I'm going out to see my lover.
Good grief... I wonder if he even remembers mother at all.
Excuse me.
Please let him be.
I'm the one who made him this way.
I took away his fireworks... So please...
Let him make his own choices.
He's done enough for me.
He gave up the fireworks career he loved and worked very hard to take care of me.
But I can't stand to see him miserable because he can't do what he loves anymore.
I don't mind if he forgets about me... His mind was filled with fireworks from the start anyways.
There is no place for me in his life now.
And that's the man I fell in love with.
Mom...
Hmm, so this is the place he hides his lover.
That's right.
She's quite a special woman. We had better not interrupt them, Sakata-san.
Butler... So how do you come to be here?
Hey, hey! Isn't the old man just a bit too energetic?
What kind of position is he trying?
Well, that was a failure!
There...
Fireworks... Just as I thought...
How long have you known about this, Butler?
Quite a long time...
I heard that he left the house for a couple of days, but it was to come here, huh?
What a man! He forgets most things, but not his fireworks.
Fireworks are his life. They are part of his soul.
Even as his mind deteriorates, his great skills do not.
I feel sorry for his wife in saying this, but Master is an artisan.
And it's always made him less of a family man...
Please...leave him alone. Let him die as an artist.
You're saying that he's forgotten his wife, but the great skills he learned still burn strong?
That's a sad story.
I think humans are better than that.
Even if you lose your memory, you still retain it in your heart.
You never lose the memories in your head, they are still deeply entrenched in your heart.
That's what I believe.
Hey! Did you see that? Did you?
Shut up! Of course I saw it!
Why do I have to watch fireworks on such a cold day?!
Fireworks in winter are special and so dazzling!
Just watch this, all right?
I don't care about your new fireworks...
why do I have to come and watch your test fireworks?
I'm sure he was trying to say "Come be my bride,"
but he misspelled a word and it said "Come be my mound."
My goodness! Father hasn't changed a bit.
So true...
Aren't you cold, Mom?
I'm all right.
Right... that was 58 years ago today... I wonder if he still remembers...
Well, I don't suppose he could...
Matsu! Every year this date, I'll light up the sky for you!
Such a liar. That was the only time he ever did it.
Matsu, you said that people and fireworks
bloom like beautiful flowers for an instant and then fade away.
That may be true.
But Matsu, even if it's only for a moment, I want you to bloom by my side.
And when you fade away...do so at my side.
In return, I will...
...make beautiful flowers bloom by your side again and again.
Hey, Mom, look over there! Fireworks! At this time of the year!
It's so beautiful... Someone set off fireworks in winter.
There's a person who knows the very best.
Yes indeed.
It's a tiny bit lopsided, but... it's so beautiful.
Gin-chan! Look! Look!
Wow!! So beautiful!
Are there any fireworks festivals scheduled today?
Hey, are you watching?
[Preview]
My name is Katsura.
I'm a Ramen Hunter, who travels to all the ramen shops in Japan.
I've fallen in love with your ramen.
Please teach me how to make ramen under your tutelage.
The next episode: "Ramen Shops with Long Menus Never Do Well."
[Chased by the Shinsengumi, Katsura finds shelter in a ramen shop.]
[Ikumatsu, owner of "Daigo Ramen." Her husband was killed by Anti-foreigner Rebels.]