A Toho Production
Okita Soji
Soji!
Soji, take a look.
It's all bruised.
Shouldn't you treat it?
I have Ishida medicine.
That works on bruises?
No one's ever complained about the Hijikata Family's special medicine.
You'll trash me if I say something.
Even Ishida medicine won't get me on my feet.
They meant to pick a fight.
This was their turf until the Tennenrishin Style of fencing appeared.
They livelihood depends on it.
Same here. Kondo and you and I made our school grow.
I can't fight every time we train.
Settle this once and for all.
You can have that one.
Huh? Toshi-san!
Toshi-san!
They were making plans to ambush me tonight.
What are you doing?!
How's you know the ambush be here?
Think like them and it's obvious.
Will kill them.
Your sword can cut?
Well...
I haven't even killed a cat.
Just charge forward.
Hope you're ready.
Okita Soji, Tennenrishin School!
You're something else.
Eating already? I brought food.
Where'd you get him?
Nearby comer.
It took all of us.
Gen-san was bitten.
We'll stay at this bottom like this.
With all the diseases going around,
no one wants to come.
The worse thing is cholera epidemic has started.
We only get commoners as students.
No spine.
We can't keep free loading off of you and Kondo-san.
No way for us to pay you back.
I feel so bad I can't even eat.
Soji, I hear there's a government post for you.
This fencing school's a dead end. Go.
You can make it anywhere.
You had such an offer?
Yes.
No sense staying and starving.
I grew up like this.
I like it here.
I've taken root.
You can't chase me out.
Master Kondo.
Have enough to eat?
Yes. Enough.
Soji, you made it for her but I stepped on it.
I'll make another, okay?
Tama, you're so cute.
Good news!
Kondo-san, look.
They're crating a troop of ronins.
I have copied letter that has come to Tiba school.
All schools in Edo received this notice.
We didn't get it.
You mean...
We're considered nobodies.
What does it say, Kondo-san?
The Shogun's off to Kyoto and need guards.
It's possible to become a hatamoto.
Is that true?!
What do you think?
I'll go if you go. We can eat.
You're working hard, Master Kiyokawa.
How's it going?
These guys don't know a thing about politics.
Which school are you with?
Never heard of it.
Practically peasants.
They're nameless but the whole school is here.
Either very loyal to the Shogun or dirt poor.
I won't allow our school to die from poverty.
We of the Bushu Mitama area have served the Shogun
longer than any of the 250 ronin in this troop.
We're second to none in loyalty.
We're different from the greedy of from the ones
who only want to make a mane from themselves.
How you have dared to offend Master Kiyokawa?!
You started it.
Where Master Kondo, Okita or I happened to be
is where our school is.
Challenge us anytime.
Come!
Rain.
We'll catch cold.
Murakami-san, it's raining!
The rain saved them.
Who was saved?
300 years of Tokugawa rule spawned eerie creatures.
Officials are lucky, drinking and keeping warm.
Look.
Hopeless.
Sarizawa Kamo, a survivor of the Mito tengu Group.
The strongest here.
What plot are you hatching?
I'm not. I'm dreaming.
Isn't it now the time
when living by the sword is worth it?
You can succeed with strength and intelligence.
Never in 300 years of Tokugawa rule
could this large a group of ronin walk in public.
If it were up to me,
I would form the greatest army Japan has ever seen.
Kat-chan dreams of being a hatamoto.
And you?
I've always left things in yours of Kondo-san's hands.
My dream is to eat sweets in Kyoto.
You have no worries.
Clear the way!
I'll kill that Kamo!
Wait!
Kondo-san was at fault,
That he has not taken care of placing Serizawa in hotel.
That's why he apologized.
Can we just watch?
I won't stand for it! Let's go!
Stop it!
Don't take him on until it's kill or be killed.
Leave if it angers you.
Let's go.
Toshi-san...
About that dream.
Kondo-san will be the head?
Of course.
I won't listen to any man but Kat-chan.
Flowers, anyone?
We pretty much covered all of Kyoto.
Your life will depend on how well you know the area.
It's time for my patrol so I'm going.
What about you, Soji?
I'll wander a while.
Be careful.
We're beginning to be hated in some quarters.
Who are you?
Is this part of your land?
For a hundred years, we haven't done much with it.
Come here.
I was getting bored. Stay awhile.
I'm your first aristocrat?
Came to Kyoto riding on the anti-foreigner wave?
Well... Yes.
So much commotion in this world.
A man named Kiyokawa came with troops of ronin
supposedly to guard the Shogun but what he wanted
was to form an alliance with the Court for himself.
The Shogunate was furious and had Kiyokawa assassinated.
Some ronins stayed who hated Kiyokawa.
That's the Shinsengumi.
The garbage of Kyoto!
Serizawa the leader is an evil man.
He threatens, extorts, fires off cannons.
He's especially wrong in hunting good Choshu men.
Don't ever join the Shinsengumi.
I won't join them. I'm already part of them.
You threw a good one.
Let me dig my grave.
To think I warned one of the Shinsengumi.
Name?
Okita Soji.
You sold me off?
Kondo-san, what did the Aizu Clan want with you?
Something very involved?
Unforgivable?
Yes.
The Shinsengumi will be finished like this. Let's kill Serizawa Kamo.
Can yo, Soji?
Odds are 6 to 4. Of course, I'm the 4.
That's won't do. 3 against one is fine. Just kill him.
Shall I gather strong men?
Just the Tennenrishinryu.
Not enough to kill swiftly without a hitch.
Have Harada-san join us?
He's an expert in spears.
He's not with any style of swordsmanship.
Bring back memories!
It's like back in Tama when we were discussing fights.
In 3 years, you'll look back fondly on Kamo River.
By then, Kat-chan will be a daimyo.
She looks like Soshi's older sister.
She is.
Who is it?
Brigands got Serizawa-han!
Please hurry!
Choshu? We're coming!
Hijikata-san, it's on backwards.
What?
Just kidding.
Your friends aren't with you today?
No.
That's a yuzen?
Yes.
It's pretty.
It's prettier when a woman wears it.
Is that how it is?
For your sweetheart back home.
No such person.
Really? None?
No, really.
What a carefree laugh. Did something good happen?
It's a good day. A new beginning
for the men I consider my brothers.
I see. That's nice.
Ochisa!
I'll see you.
Ochisa. Ochisa, huh?
It's done.
Thanks.
How are you doing, Okita-han?
Can't get over this summer cold.
Thanks for letting me rest here.
They're practicing for the Gion Festival.
Your job's not taking its toll?
It's a bad cough.
It's nothing.
Don't tell Kondo-san or Hijikata-san.
Please.
Do you know Masuya in Shijo Teramachi?
Masuya?
Yeah.
When I go to he Choshu manorto do their hair, I keep hearing the name, Masuya.
Supposedly it's a shop selling secondhand goods.
The present owner was adopted into the family
and plays around every day.
Please inform Yamazaki-han.
I understand.
Shijo Teramachi.
Masuya?
My name is Furutaka Shuntaro!
That's all I have to say.
I'll make you talk!
Enough!
He hasn't cracked after all this torture.
He has a character.
If not talking shows character, making him talk also shows character.
Leave!
Bastard!
You're no samurai.
Soji, you were still here?
No reason for you to stay.
No, I'll stay.
If I run, you end up the sole devil.
Soji, he talked.
They were planning to set fire to Kyoto and take the Emperorto Choshu.
It's dark.
I hate this.
I'm to do this till I die?
I want to see the festival.
The festival...
My chest is burning.
Kondo-san is hard at it.
Are you listening?
Rest your body, eat nutritious food. And get lots of sleep.
You don't listen at all. What do you do?
A little swordsmanship.
Learning it? Stop this foolishness.
Why is the dying learning how to kill?
To protect yourself?
First, save yourself from your illness.
Yeah.
I won't be responsible.
You have 2 years, if continue like that.
Two years, I said!
If you won't rest your body, stop coming.
Hey, fool! Take your medicine with you!
Fools, over here!
Everyone's dead!
Do the dead move?
Don't cluster when fighting in the dark.
You end up killing your friends.
Hold it short, don't swing.
Try surrounding me.
Yes!
You're not serious?
You don't know you'll die?
You're not scared?
We're not scared!
We can't join the Shinsengumi if we're afraid of dying.
Don't be facile.
It's better to be alive.
It's obvious.
Why is it better?
If you die, you say goodbye to all the good things in life.
Can't eat good food, can't sleep with women.
Train so you don't die young!
Half of you attack, half defend!
Yes!
Attack!
Soji, what's wrong?
Oh. Yamamami-san.
What's wrong?
What do you mean?
She's worried you're ill.
I'm fine.
Well if that so...
I was worried myself since you keep to yourself.
Isn't it great Ito Kashitaro came from Edo to join us?
Your smile has returned.
You think so, too? I'm relieved.
You have any idea how worried I was?
You're embarrassing him.
It's odd that Kondo-san is a Shogun loyalist while Ito-san supports the Emperor
but they agree in wanting to chase out foreigners.
There's a new life in the Shinsengumi.
This concentration on might doesn't stifle you?
Shinsengumi needs a rational underpinning.
Just killing isn't our purpose, is it?
It's good Ito-san joined us. Now we'll change.
It stinks!
What are you doing?
Garlic's good for a cold.
Fool! Take the Ishida medicine.
I hate it.
The garlic?
No.
Some are happy Shinsengumi might change.
Even Kat-chan is being duped by Ito.
A new Shinsengumi is no longerShinsengumi.
Will it change while Hijikata Toshizo's around?
That was delicious beef.
Soji. Remember Kiyokawa who took charge of ronin troops before the Shogun did?
Ito reminds me of Kiyokawa.
Doesn't Ito intend to take over Shinsengumi?
Not intend to, it's already half his.
Talk about a stink!
It stinks!
What a stink!
Soji, Yamanami deserted. He's going back to Edo.
What do we do?
We want to look the other way...
but we can't allow this in the Shinsengumi.
Soji, go after him.
What happened?
He fell off a horse.
Fell from a horse?
The poor soul.
Somebody knows him?
Soji!
Got some sleep?
Come here and drink.
Some pursuer you are.
Want to run with me?
Why there is no... I thought, that will go smooth.
I want to see Hijikata turn white.
You should've killed me.
It's still not too late.
I'm sick of blood.
What will you do in Edo?
I had all sorts of plans before I deserted
but now that I'm running, I realize I have no aim.
I just wanted to cut all ties with the Shinsengumi.
I don't understand.
You were so happy when Ito-san joined us.
I thought the spirit of hating foreigners and loving the Emperorwould retum.
What Ito brought was politics. Trading horses.
There's no place for me in the Shinsengumi.
I'm happy to have returned to a Yamaniami Keisuke.
Soji, I'll return to Kyoto once you're well.
Kondo and Hijikata have gone mad,
but you're haven't changed at all.
Yamanami-han.
You even abandoned me...
So why did you return?
Okita-kun, if you will.
Soji, I'll crush Ito and all those who are destroying the Shinsengumi.
Soji, help me.
If I don't, it makes no sense why I killed Yamanami-san.
I don't understand.
But... what is this Shinsengumi?
Shinsengumi is soaked blood.
Their rules have become too strict.
Use up a little money,
break curfew,
and it's cut your stomach.
Sure, they'll desert.
Not that anyone succeeded.
Their strongman Okita Soji catches up and...
Ito Kashitaro entered Kodaiji with 15 of his men.
Maybe Shinsengumi is falling apart?
Turn back the boat!
What are you saying? I can't!
You taught us it's better to be alive than dead.
What's wrong with wanting to stay alive?
After teaching me that, you'll kill me?
Mommy, I don't want to die!
I don't want to die!
I don't want to die...
I'm embarrassed to say I'm still alive.
Are you awake?
It's not much but please have some.
Ochisa tells me you're not well.
Why not recuperate in this peaceful setting?
It's Ochisa's late mother's house. Make yourself at home.
I'm sure you've never been out to the country.
It's a dirty place.
I grew up in such a place.
Tama in Edo.
It stirs memories.
Okita!
What is it, Okita-san?
I shouldn't have worried.
Okita-san don't need to be underestimated. Where did you hook her?
She's not like that.
I won't ask.
Being with a girl suits you better than swinging a sword.
Thank you!
You're late, Soji.
You would've been saved for posterity.
No. It's nothing.
Saw that plastered mug? What royalty is he now?
Weren't you making him a daimyo?
Yes. But not a daimyo clown.
He's mad. You too.
We haven't gotten rid of Ito but you're love sick.
I'm not. It's just feels wonderful to be alive.
Falling apart.
We're falling apart.
What did you pray for?
No. If I tell you,
it won't be granted.
You have to go back? I'll see you.
The next time we meet...
I'll be yours.
I'm sorry! Please come in.
Your kimono might be stained.
Please sit down.
You're Okita-han's?
I'm really sorry.
Divine punishment!
I saw her with Soji.
You're one of them?
Ochisa!
Ochisa...
Soji.
Toshi, Soji isn't back yet?
Bigger than most futons. Soji has really grown.
You remember how when he was a kid,
we nursed him when he almost died?
You and I watched him through the night.
We were the youngest in our family.
We loved him dearly.
Now he hardly talks to us and wanders alone.
What's on his mind?
How would I know? That's why I'm waiting for him.
Toshi, we always took it for granted Soji would always be with us.
He acted as if he would be.
What's your point?
We have too much ambitions.
He'll fall to hell with us without a though.
But when we reach our goal,
won't he just disappear?
I want to give him a place to return to.
I'll make him the 5th Master of Tennnenrishinryu.
Soji, the 5th Master?
I'll look forSoji.
A peasant from Tama will become a daimyo!
But first I'll kill Ito!
Soji!
Soji! Soji!
Soji!
You taught me how to fight.
So why would I die?
We'll die together.
You!
That was a bad joke!
Fire!
Otake-chan!
Mommy.
Are you all right?
Damn! It's no longer the age of the sword.
Even you admit defeat?
Are you kidding?
I'll make them eat lead the next time.
It's the last sword fight for Tennenrishinryu?
The fighting spirit's the same
whether you use rocks or swords or bullets.
I'll show them that even to the far end of Japan.
Drink Ishida medicine before we charge them.
Let's go.
4 Months Later
I'll kill it today.
If I can't kill it...
I'm finished.
Another fight...
Toshi-san?
Be right there.
THE END