You moron!
I've had it with your incompetence. I'm disowning you!
You're never setting foot in this dojo again!
Music to my ears.
I'll be glad to not have to inherit this run-down dojo.
Is that so?
I bet a rascal like you is more suited to thievery than teaching swordsmanship,
Isao!
Huh? Where am I?
Gorilla Isao's request: Watch this program in a bright room and at a safe distance from your TV!!
Damn. I can't believe I fell asleep during my patrol.
That's right. I'm on my patrol.
I'm definitely not a stalker.
Impressive.
Who goes there?
I like your agility, and your ability to hide your presence.
With your skills, becoming a notorious thief wouldn't be a pipe dream.
What do you say?
Would you like to succeed me and become the second Ape Boy?
The Two Apes
Kondo-san.
What were you up to last night?
Our old friend showed up again. Things got pretty crazy.
Oedo Financing
As usual, the victims were loan sharks.
Ape Boy was here.
The brilliant MO of acrobatically stealing from the targets
while simultaneously exposing their evil deeds,
the beast-like agility,
and the practice of turning the stolen goods into bananas
and distributing them to the poor...
It's the Ape Boy.
The notorious thief who'd been laying low for a while is back in action.
Wait, what's the meaning of this?
Some call him chivalrous or heroic and idolize him,
but a thief's a thief.
We'd better catch him quickly.
Yeah. I swear on the Shinsengumi's honor that I'll definitely catch...
...that monkey's tail.
I'm amazed you mastered a monkey's movements in such a short time.
You have the innate talent to be a robber and a monkey.
I can't tell him!
I can't tell him I'm a cop!
I can't tell anyone that a thief took me, a cop, under his wing!
Japanese Macaque
But I'm too embarrassed to tell him I was simply a stalker!
W-Wait up, Gramps!
I-I'm actually a...
No need to say it. Did you think I hadn't noticed?
You can't be a thief unless you have a keen, observing eye.
You're a wild gorilla, aren't you?
No, that's not it!
Relax. Gorillas are like brothers to monkeys.
You can be Ape Boy, no problem.
That's not the issue here!
You're saying it's weird to call a gorilla a boy, right?
You can get a name change to "Gorilla Man (Large)" if you want, then.
That'd just make me a large man who looks like a gorilla!
A-Anyway, there's a reason why I can't succeed you—
You two there. What are you doing?
T-Toshi!
I came to check 'cause I heard some suspicious men were trespassing here every night,
and what do I find but a monkey boss in hiding?
This sucks!
If I get caught here, my life will be ruined!
Talk about a perfect situation for training.
Let's go, Gori Boy.
Wait a minute!
Rules of Thievery, No. 1:
Consider darkness your friend, and light your enemy.
Target the enemy's lights!
Screw it.
Whatever!
Vice Chief!
Toshi!
Taking away not their light, but their sight? You're good.
Damn those apes! I'm gonna turn them into monkey hotpot!
Rules of Thievery, No. 2:
Howl with the wind, and stop with the wind.
Use every kind of sound to conceal your actions!
Easier said than done!
If you can't use the wind, make some kind of noise to distract them.
I've got it. I'll throw a stone at that cage!
Toshi!
Using the sound of the enemy's bones breaking?
I've never thought of that before!
Wait, wait. I'm innocent, Toshi!
Last rule of thievery! This is the most important one!
Hold it right there!
I'm not letting you escape!
Toshi?!
If no amount of running can save you,
then abandon your friends and everything you're carrying!
Huh?
What?!
Wait—
This is the end for you,
you damn apes!
I abandoned my friends and everything I had.
You're incredible.
You trained gorillas to act as your sacrificial pawns?
There's no doubt about it.
You'll surely be able to...
succeed...
H-Hey, Gramps?
Gramps!
Guess I went too wild for someone my age.
Gramps, are you...
Yeah.
At best,
I'll only last a month...
Oh my God.
He's serious.
He's seriously trying to make me succeed him.
From now on,
you have to distribute bananas as the second Ape Boy, okay?
It's like this is his dying wish!
It's getting even harder to refuse!
The government's lapdogs will probably catch me soon.
After all the bad things I've done,
it's only right that I breathe my last behind bars.
When that time comes,
offer bananas over there in my stead.
Hiyoshi Monkey God Shrine
It's the second Ape Boy's job.
I'm counting on you.
Hands off, apes!
These are offerings!
Don't underestimate a gorilla's grip. I'll crush you to bits!
Is this it? The Monkey God that the old man worships?
Huh? Where have I...
Do you find it unusual?
Monkeys have long been considered the familiars of Hiyoshigami.
There are more than a few places that worship them.
Toshi! What are you doing—
We both chased a monkey here, right?
Y-Yeah, that's right!
I was investigating Ape Boy on my own, and the trail led me here.
But first, how'd you get those wounds?
Who did that to you?
They'll pay for this! I'll make them pay!
Oh, I just played along with an undercover investigation.
I had no idea you were capable of such masterful acting.
I almost wanted to kill you.
And was it really an undercover investigation?
What if it wasn't? Tell me it was.
That was an undercover investigation, right?
O-Of course!
Never heard of the saying, "To deceive your enemy, first deceive your Toshi"?
My, my. Not every day we have so much commotion here.
What brings you to this rundown shrine that doesn't even have a priest anymore?
Could you be the one leaving bananas and money here every now and then?
Gran, that's not a monkey.
Someone comes here to offer money?
Yes. Not that I've ever seen him.
How eccentric.
But thanks to him, the Monkey God revived after being burned down once.
Burned down? Was there a fire?
It happened a long time ago.
Back then, the priest gathered the neighborhood kids and ran a temple school,
but there was this one problem child.
He was a rowdy kid and a serial thief.
There were even rumors that he was raised by monkeys.
But he stopped stealing once the priest took him under his wing.
He was a kind man, you see.
That very kindness would prove to be his downfall,
as loan sharks took advantage of it
and took away not only the shrine, but also the children.
The problem child tried to repay his debt to the priest
by charging into their base and stealing the kids and the deed to the shrine.
But the sharks took their revenge,
razing the shrine to the ground.
What happened to that problem child?
Who knows?
I haven't seen him since.
Hear that, Kondo-san?
As we thought, this place is connected to the Ape Boy.
That problem child has to be
him.
Toshi, you're wrong.
I think that kid...
I hear that brat was up to no good again.
Apparently he stole radishes from Takosaku-san's farm.
What a horrible child.
They say he was raised by monkeys.
Don't let it get to you.
You're not a monkey.
If anything, you're a gorilla,
Isao.
I'm not even human?!
...was probably me.
I thought this place looked familiar.
I see.
It was rebuilt after the fire, huh?
Why'd you show up in the story?!
Well, I was made to attend both the dojo and the temple school.
Rather than a problem child, I was just going through my thorny phase.
Everything about the world turned me on.
Thorny? More like horny!
For some reason, radishes got me especially aroused.
I didn't steal.
I was just yanking them all out.
And yet they called me a monkey's child...
Yanking? You mean wanking!
Wait, are you Isao-kun?
I thought it might be you...
Wait, do you know each other? Was she your teacher?
Loan Shark lady!
Isao-kun!
You're having a touching reunion with the one who burned down your school?
You got it all wrong.
I was the class madonna, Kori Hanako, a.k.a. Loanie Sharko.
Kori Hanako (Loanie Sharko)
You're as bad with names as ever, I see.
How'd a classmate age so much?!
Also, that's not Kondo-san!
Sorry, sorry.
And you haven't gotten over radishes yet?!
Hey! In the end, who is Ape Boy?
Did this shrine have nothing to do with him?
Nah.
The answer is clear to see.
There was one person who loved this place,
and worshipped the Monkey God, more than anyone.
None other than Sensei.
Who cares if they call you a monkey or a gorilla?
Look.
You need only be like the Sun Monkey God,
and become a man as warm as sunshine.
Can I? Am I really capable of that?
You can.
In this school, you definitely can.
So don't steal anymore.
Sensei!
If you won't hand over the land, then you leave us no choice.
Come by when you've made up your mind to trade the shrine for these kids,
Sensei.
Isao-kun!
What are you doing? Run away already!
Hiyoshi Shrine Deed
The deed!
S-Sorry, Sensei. We...
Don't tell Isao... about this.
You haven't done anything to apologize for.
You simply tried to protect this place in the Monkey God's stead.
I'm the one who must apologize.
Forgive me.
I'm no teacher or Monkey God.
Just a powerless ape.
I still can't forget Sensei's expression from back then.
Even he disappeared somewhere after that.
How much longer, Sensei?
Oh, dear.
Looks like his temple school was still going.
Even after losing everything and becoming Ape Boy,
he hid his identity and the source of the money
and continued to protect this place.
It's not just the shrine.
Sensei...
Where are you going?
He said he didn't want you coming to the shrine anymore.
Said he doesn't want a hooligan like you coming around.
Sensei was protecting me, too.
And to do it, he even dabbled in the thievery he despised so much.
That might be his way of atoning for his sins.
But things can't stay like this.
We've gotta end this.
What crimes did he commit?
All he did was protect the people being oppressed by villains!
More than that, Sensei doesn't have much time left.
We could at least let him breathe his last in peace—
You're saying that?
After making a promise to him,
are you really going to say that?
Toshi...
I...
What's up?
What? The Ape Boy?
Find him! Sniff him out!
How the mighty have fallen.
Looks like a bunch of rides are here to pick me up earlier than expected.
But I still have something to do—
No need to worry, Gramps.
We're not letting the officials have your head.
The Ape Boy showed up again.
By the time we got here, it was too late.
You even let the small fry get away?
Get your white robes ready.
Check all the shady financiers in the area. There has to be an accomplice somewhere.
About that...
Every single one of them is completely deserted.
It would appear they joined forces and placed traps all over Edo to capture Ape Boy.
At this point, we police aren't the only ones chasing him.
Criminals all over Edo are after his head.
Step on it!
Kondo-san...
Policeman, or a thief's disciple...
Feel free to pick whichever you want.
Wherever you go, I...
We're ready to follow in your footsteps.
I get it, Dad.
I won't ask about the shrine anymore.
In the end, I couldn't protect a thing, right?
But in return, I have a favor to ask.
I want to be strong.
Strong enough to protect everything.
One monkey defied his own teachings and
became a notorious thief to protect all that he cared about.
The other monkey
adhered to his teachings and became a policeman to protect all that he cared about.
Wh-Who are you?
That's the only difference between you two.
Both of you tried to protect something as simply...
An ape.
He took out the lights!
Q-Quit freaking out!
There's only one enemy. Get him!
Wh-What's going on here? Is he really alone?
What are you doing? Turn on the light already!
What's wrong?
Y-You bastards...
You can't be a cop or a thief unless you have good night vision.
But petty thieves like you, who simply prey on the weak,
have no right to live in the day or night!
Throw them all behind bars!
Hey, Gramps!
Pull yourself together!
Can you hear me? Can you see me?
Gramps!
I can't see a thing...
Gramps!
But I recognize that annoying voice.
I'm amazed you overcame that numerical disadvantage.
That's the second Ape Boy for you.
Weren't you the one who taught me the rules of thievery?
But I'm sorry.
I couldn't abandon my friends, after all.
I couldn't leave you as a thief.
I'm a failure as a disciple.
You're not a failure at all.
I was also the one who taught you not to steal, wasn't I?
You came to stop me this time, right?
I knew all along.
A nincompoop like you could never be a thief.
But you've grown into a fine man,
Isao.
Now, cuff me before I die,
with your own hands.
What are you talking about, you senile geezer?
I've had you cuffed for a long time now.
I'm not letting you escape anymore, you hear me?
Sensei...
That so?
These sure are some
warm... cuffs...
Sensei!
Look, there are offerings again!
But we missed him again!
And here we wanted to find out who he was this time...
This isn't a human's doing.
What? Is it a demon?
A monster monkey?
A Saiyan?!
It's nothing like that.
Welcome home,
Monkey God.
Afros of Life and Death
Infiltrate the Shinsengumi? Seriously?
A samurai is always serious, whether he has straight long hair or an afro.
Preview
And you're telling me a new character shows up 294 episodes in?
I won't lose, no matter what kind of afro may appear!
When Katsura Kotaro infiltrates the Shinsengumi,
finally, at long last, after what seems like an eternity,
the Shinsengumi Third Squad Captain, Saito Shimaru, appears before him!!
Actually, his name's been mentioned in the show for quite a while now.