Yamazaki Sagaru's observation report:
As a Shinsengumi inspector, I've performed stakeouts at many locations
and have written observation reports on them,
but never did I imagine
that the last report I'd ever write would be on this place...
Shinsengumi
The gang of degenerates that plotted to overthrow the bakufu,
Shinsengumi.
That name may well go down in history as a group of traitors.
In case that day does come, I record the truth here so—
No, the truth is...
To be honest, I don't even know if what we did was good or bad.
But there is one thing I can say for sure.
We don't care whether we're called loyalists or traitors.
We just wanted to be
Shinsengumi with him.
Farewell Shinsengumi Arc Part Nine
Farewell Shinsengumi
Watch the Farewell Shinsengumi Arc in a bright room and at a safe distance from your TV!!
Don't look back!
Keep moving, looking nowhere but forward!
No matter what...
We must escape!
The Mimawarigumi,
and the Katsura-led Joi Rebels...
With help from several parties,
we shook free of the Naraku's persistent pursuit
and barely managed to escape from Kokujo Island,
successfully rescuing Chief Kondo.
But it came at a huge cost.
Toshi...
Did either he or I really have to die?
Was there no other way?
Instead of just black and white,
couldn't I have worked with him to bring out a different color?
Kondo-san,
the colors have already mixed.
We have to wear a shade of black that has various other colors mixed in
and keep moving forward.
That's our duty as survivors.
I had no idea
that my brother had someone who would shed tears for him.
I was related to him by blood,
but I never understood Sasaki Isaburo at all.
It seems I didn't know him well enough to cry for him.
I found people I could call brothers where my brother dumped me.
I met comrades I could call family despite having no blood relation with them.
And yet, I don't know why...
But the first person I wanted to show them off to
was him, after all.
If possible,
I wanted to see all of my brothers
having a heart-to-heart.
Contacts Menu Apps
Have you been receiving my emails?
Nobume-san, you are truly discourteous.
If you don't reply to my emails once in a while,
then even as an elite,
I'm going to end up sulking, yo.
Pay your respects to the Commissioner-General!
Isaburo...
Thank you for giving me
Isaburo... Thank you for giving me such a wonderful name, yo.
Sasaki Isaburo vanished into the darkness, never to see the light of dawn again.
But his struggles opened the door for change, if only a bit.
The unprecedented revolt that came from the heart of the bakufu
would shake the newly formed government to its very core.
The mastermind was the Commissioner-General of Police.
And while they had been manipulated,
a lot of police organizations took part in the revolt.
When Shogun Nobunobu heard the news, he flew into a fit of rage.
He crushed every police organization that had been under the influence of Sasaki
and decided to reform the police system from the ground up.
Those who had begun to doubt Nobunobu's methods because of that started to fall apart,
and Lord Matsudaira, who had anticipated this all along,
secretly took them under his wing
and meticulously absorbed them
into the anti-bakufu faction Lord Shigeshige had founded.
A mere three months after the establishment of the new government,
as the people's trust in the bakufu kept falling,
it started a groundswell of sentiment in favor of upheaval.
Wait, wait!
That's reckless!
You can't go back home, Otae-san!
Did you forget that you got into a huge fight with the shogun?!
So what if that stupid lord is preoccupied right now?!
But I can't continue to trouble you all any longer.
Kozenigata-san's wounds have healed,
so he doesn't need my help anymore.
I think it's about time.
No, no!
Boss took an injury to the head that won't ever heal,
his heart's in tatters due to his wife running away,
his feet stink,
and his breath stinks!
Please look after him a while longer!
He's right, Otae-chan!
Even though my wound had almost healed, it opened up again just now.
Feel free to stay as long as you like!
Besides, if something were to happen,
the police force is hardly functional right now!
It's too dangerous!
Yes.
That's exactly why police need to go back to doing their jobs,
and cabaret girls have to go back to doing theirs.
If you're ever worn out from work again, please stop by the bar.
I'll give you special treatment.
Thank you for having me.
Wait, Otae-san—
Haji.
That's enough.
She'll be all right now.
They must have come back...
Her police.
Don't you think it's high time you stopped doing this?
You'll catch a cold.
Why'd you have to say something like that today, of all days?
I wish you'd acted like usual,
called me a perverted stalker,
and hit me like you always do.
You're making it hard to say goodbye.
Abscond from Edo?
You're telling the Shinsengumi to abandon Edo?
Given the political situation, if you stay in Edo,
the lives of Kondo and Matsudaira that you just saved,
and even your own, will be danger.
Dying without achieving a thing
is what would count as truly abandoning Edo, Hijikata.
Nobunobu definitely won't leave you alive.
If he let the rebels who embarrassed the bakufu and destroyed its image walk free,
the new government would crumble.
He must be desperately looking for you right about now.
At this point, Matsudaira and you Shinsengumi
are symbols of the revolutionary faction.
Should these symbols be lost yet again,
the flame of revolution trying to change this country will surely die out this time.
If you truly love this country,
you must leave it for now and focus on staying alive.
Our role is to leave the political center,
stir up revolutionaries all over the country, take them in,
and secure the revolutionary faction's foundation as its nucleus.
Abandoning Edo to protect it...
While we understood the reasoning,
it was difficult for our hearts to accept it.
Because it meant parting with the people we'd protected all this while.
Because it meant parting with the people who'd supported us all this while.
And because
it meant our parting as Shinsengumi.
We knew things would end up this way, but it's still ironic.
Set Meals
We always fought to remain the Shinsengumi, no matter what happened.
And yet, because of that, we can't remain the Shinsengumi anymore?
So Zura tricked you and sucked you dry, huh?
This is why I told you to be wary of that con man.
What are you going to do?
You helped us out,
so you can't stay in Edo anymore, either.
If even Odd Jobs left after you guys,
it'd make the people of Edo sad,
wouldn't it, lady?
You're saying you'll stay?
Do you really understand the situation?
Edo no longer has...
That's exactly why, huh?
Boss is staying because Edo has lost the Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi, right?
If you stay behind for us,
we'll be able to leave Edo without worry, huh?
You've gotta be kidding me.
Be it our general or yours,
I can't let anyone else die.
What, are you saying we can't protect Edo by ourselves?
Do you wanna see for yourself, then?
The hell are you doing?!
I'm not completely healed yet!
What the hell did you come here for?
Are you here to meekly say goodbye?
Who, you?
Don't you have something else to do before worrying about us?
Both our groups are in equal danger.
But looking at how you're acting, you guys seem likelier to drop dead first.
You're right.
I'd forgotten that I needed to clear something up before leaving Edo...
Which of us is stronger!
Exactly!
There's no need for goodbyes.
After all, so long as you're around,
the Shinsengumi will carry on, no matter where you all go.
After all, wherever you may be,
you'll be fighting to protect Edo and all of us,
and I know that.
So please don't look so gloomy.
Leave with your head held high and a smile on your face.
If you don't, I won't be able to keep my promise to Shin-chan.
I won't be able to say "take care" or "welcome back."
When you come back this time,
don't do it from above the ceiling or under the overhang.
Waltz in through the front gate.
We'd be more than happy to offer you some tea.
I've got some good alcohol stocked up there.
I don't like drinking in a big group,
so I often came here and drank by myself.
You can have it.
They're expensive, so drink them one at a time.
By the time you've finished all of them,
I'll be back.
And I'll repay the rest of the debt then.
I'll gladly take the booze,
but I don't recall ever doing you a favor.
Oh, you did.
Your faulty brain may have forgotten,
but I remember.
I'll never forget.
Even if I did, you repaid me a long time ago.
I'm the one who got help recovering something he'd forgotten.
So don't come back carrying some debt to be repaid.
Bring back a bottle of booze,
not to drink alone, but to be shared with a big group.
That's more than enough.
Here you are. Your usual.
One Uji Gintoki bowl and one Hijikata Special.
Huh? What's the matter, you two?
Not eating?
Nah...
Sorry, lady, but today...
It's the other way around.
Looks like we've both got a ways to go.
Well, duh.
We couldn't do a thing against that incomprehensible crow.
But keep this in mind.
By the next time we meet,
I will be stronger than you and that crow!
So make sure you...
Don't lose to anyone else!
That was awful.
I'll be back.
Take care.
No education, no status.
The only thing we can trust is our own swords.
And we want to make a name for ourselves using them.
So we gathered in Edo.
Today, we will have to leave it,
but our dreams won't end here.
Let's come back, no matter what,
to the Shinsengumi's home.
We'll swear it as many times as it takes.
We're gonna become samurai here in Edo!
That's right.
The Shinsengumi's dream is only just beginning.
The end of our true path is still far, far away.
Thank you for all your support
over the past year.
Our battle has
only just begun!!!