Original subtitles

And so, we Miburo set out to fight the Blood Risshidan, who wanted to set the city ablaze.

Who does Kondo Isami fight?

I wanna hear what Okita Soji does.

What about Hijikata Toshizo?

No one cares what I did?

Wait, you fought, too, Old Man Shinpachi?

Yes. If not for the battle that night,

I might not be living as a samurai should now.

Sounds awesome.

I can't wait to hear what happens next, Sensei!

It was a windy, moonless night.

BLUE MIBURO

So you're worried about this Nagi-san lady who has a bun in the oven,

and you want to go check on her?

Well, purely in terms of how I feel, that's what it boils down to, yeah.

Okay!

Forget the nitty-gritty. Let's go, Nio-kun!

Th-Thank you.

Talk about simple. Is that lady okay?

Heisuke! Soji!

We ain't got swords.

Lend us something! We'll settle for daggers!

Please!

Wh-Why?

Oh, right. You pawned your swords and lost the money gambling.

Guess we have no choice.

I owe you one.

You'd better return it!

All right, all right.

They wanna set Kyoto on fire? What a bunch of showoffs.

We'll show 'em what the Miburo are made of.

Stay on your toes, Yamanami.

I don't need you to tell me that.

I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!

Shut up.

It's the second bridge after the corner.

I know.

Noguchi, you're with me.

Don't fall behind.

Y-Yes, sir! Sorry!

This wind is a problem.

If they start a fire on this side of the bridges, it'll spread in a flash.

Look.

The Sanjo Bridge!

Smoke signals!

They're going up all over the place!

Here they come!

Spread out!

Yeah!

And so, the Miburo split into seven teams,

GOJO BRIDGE | MATSUBARA BRIDGE | SHIJO BRIDGE - and raced to the seven bridges targeted by the Blood Risshidan.

SANJO BRIDGE

NIJO BRIDGE | MARUTAMACHI BRIDGE - Okita and Todo, both fast runners, went all the way to Kojin-bashi.

KOJIN BRIDGE

Hijikata sent Nio's team across the Sanjo Bridge

KYOHACHI DOJO - to the enemy headquarters at the Kyohachi dojo.

Follow me, men!

Yes, sir!

To battle.

I don't even care anymore!

Fire! They're here!

The hero arrives!

Out of my way.

Congratulations. You hit the jackpot.

Naozumi-san!

So you're the boss of these rebels!

Serizawa-san, we're counting on you.

Who do you think you're talking to?

Go.

That sword looks like...

Don't stop! Run!

B-Break through! Break through!

Those little...

Who cares?

Ignore them.

That scruffy guy could be bad news.

Huh?

I've got myself good steel.

I'd know that silver sheath anywhere. My master made it.

It's a one-of-a-kind long sword.

The black blade, Tsugumori.

It's hard to follow that blade with your eyes, and the new moon only makes it harder.

Wh-What the hell? How do you block something you can't see?

I can't believe anyone can use that heavy thing.

F-Fall back!

He'll hit us, too!

Serizawa Kamo, right? You're famous.

Oh?

The toughest braggart in Mito. The Miburo's biggest star.

But you're a walking contradiction.

What?

You trampled anyone in your way. You crushed vested interests.

You were leading the anti-barbarian charge.

And look at you now. You're the polar opposite. A shogunate lapdog.

Clearing the way for your comrades?

Saving the weak?

What leg does your "justice" have to stand on?

He... He blocked it.

No way. Does that mean he can see that blade?

What does it stand on?

You've got it all wrong.

What's right changes whenever I shift where I'm standing.

Don't worry.

Huh?

Serizawa-san will not fall.

Right now, Serizawa Kamo and his Mibu Roshigumi...

are the sole arbiters of justice.

NIJO BRIDGE

Hey, Shinpachi.

We hold Nijo Bridge, the first bridge.

Don't get it mixed up.

I know that.

You keep your eyes peeled, Sanosuke.

Can we really count on you guys?

Hirama and Hirayama!

Only a real blockhead loses his sword just before an emergency.

You're the Miburo's resident nincompoops!

Shove it! You're just Serizawa's lackeys!

That's right! Mind your own business!

- Excuse us. So sorry. - Excuse us!

Our bridge is farther ahead!

Best of luck!

Those guys can really move.

Don't screw up, you hear?

Shut up! Same to you!

This is it. Nijo Bridge.

You must be Miburo!

Stay out of our way!

One, two, three of 'em.

I expected more.

Hey, look. They don't have real swords.

You're right. They only have wakizashi.

I thought they were samurai.

Let's decide who handles this.

Yes, I agree.

Tails.

Too bad. It's heads.

I see.

Which one's heads?

How should I know? Decide that before you flip it!

And isn't that the money Nio and Taro made?

I... I only borrowed it.

You never change. Always leaving things to chance and failing.

You didn't think so when you agreed to join me!

That's enough out of you clowns!

You'll pay for that!

Whoops.

All bark and no bite.

They should've trained harder.

Sanosuke! You're on fire!

Hurry up and put it out!

That was a close one.

You let your guard down too soon.

Well done.

Are you the boss here?

I know you!

I hoped you wouldn't come.

No, honestly, I hoped you would.

The old guy from the gambling hall!

This goes beyond bad luck. It's fate.

You're in the Risshidan?

I-I had no idea. You acted all buddy-buddy.

I'd heard you were Miburo,

but I didn't know we were to become enemies, either.

We had a great time chatting with you.

Why would you make us fight you now?

We even drank together!

Now, who wants to be first?

Or I can take you both at once, if you'd rather.

A spear?

This battle is inevitable.

KOJIN BRIDGE - It is a battle in the all-out war between the Miburo and the Risshidan.

SHIJO BRIDGE - It is a battle in the all-out war between the Miburo and the Risshidan.

MARUTAMACHI BRIDGE - If you lose even one bridge, it will spell your defeat.

MATSUBARA BRIDGE - If you lose even one bridge, it will spell your defeat.

GOJO BRIDGE - Formidable and devious fighters are meeting your comrades as we speak.

SANJO BRIDGE - Formidable and devious fighters are meeting your comrades as we speak.

Hurry! Faster!

Samurai these days are a rotten bunch.

Sloth is human nature.

No one can control himself forever by virtue of his office alone.

Too many samurai strut around, trampling peasants underfoot.

Sounds like you have a bone to pick with samurai.

Just who are you, old man?

My ancestor was Kudo Suketsune, a Heian samurai.

I have a real warrior pedigree.

But I was nothing but a lesser samurai, growing rice in the northeast.

A samurai killed my son and grandson.

I assumed he'd be ordered to slit his belly,

but he got off with the slap on the wrist that is exile because he'd "avenged an insult."

I left my homeland to seek revenge.

And what did I see?

Scoundrels who pulled old priests off the road to test their blades.

Animals who'd stop at nothing to sate their lusts.

Vulgar grins.

The reality of samurai in name only.

The likes of them make the weak suffer.

So I decided to get rid of them all.

To exterminate them.

I honed my skills to send as many samurai to hell as I possibly could.

I was a bodyguard by day, an assassin by night.

I chose as best I could and killed more than twenty men.

I felt satisfied, but I didn't smile.

For each one I killed, a sliver of guilt built up in me like silt in a river.

And then, I met that man.

Don't blame yourself, old-timer.

I knew at a glance that he was different.

Blame the times.

Haven't you ever thought of changing them?

He speaks in anachronisms.

Maybe it's nothing but daydreams and crazy talk.

But if the alternative is wasting away without ever setting foot on a battlefield,

then there's something to be said for his ravings.

This old man's tough.

No one at our dojo could even—

I'm known as the Hound, and I hunt the beasts called samurai.

Now, draw your weapons!

Do it, if you're real samurai!

Old man.

Are you dead set on doing this?

Of course.

Oh, well.

I understand.

If you want my head, take it. It's yours.

Hey!

This is no time for jokes, Shinpachi!

It's no joke.

Whoa! Watch out!

You almost ended up skewered!

I don't mind.

Well, I do!

What are you playing at?

You wish to avenge your son and grandson.

But the shogunate forbids parents from avenging their children.

Yes. That's why I left my domain and my home.

But that was 30 long years ago.

My target must be dead in some ditch by now.

You resent the samurai and wish to kill as many as you can.

I just told you that.

But there are no samurai in the Miburo.

Most of us are farmers or ronin. Some, I don't even know.

But only Serizawa Kamo and I come from proper samurai lineages.

I can bear your grudge.

I can't kill you.

What you're trying to do is wrong,

but I understand your frustration.

Would you take the head of Nagakura Shinpachi and leave it at that?

Then you die first!

What do you think you're doing, Sanosuke?

Shut up.

You've got rotten luck, old man.

What?

How many decades have you been at this?

You've got no talent for it.

You cocky brat!

What?

What did I tell you?

I can see it all.

People tell me I've got good eyes.

I'm not a softy like Shinpachi.

I don't care what your deal is.

When it comes to killing, I won't hold back.

Just kidding.

I'm not bad with a sword, but this comes so much more natural.

I've been rowdy since I was a kid.

I acted out. I brawled. Basically, I never got along anywhere.

But I've finally found...

a place I can belong.

What kind of group are you?

Why do you grow your beards and wear your hair loose?

Why not try to look the part of a samurai?

Tell him.

I don't like to share this,

but I felt sensitive about being a samurai in the Miburo.

Even when people don't mean to form cliques or put up walls,

those on the outside have a way of feeling them anyway.

I wanted to at least look the part of a ronin.

And, well...

I've started feeling like a fool since he joined up.

"He"? Who?

Oh, this kid from a dango shop.

A child? From a dango shop?

Indeed. He's awfully soft, you see.

Not cut out for battle.

But he still shows off, and he cries all the time.

And he's stubborn, too, so he can be a real pain.

He's so green and reckless that you can't take your eyes off him.

- Taro, pick up the pace! - You're slower than me! - He's never at the center of things,

- This way. - but somehow, he brings everyone together.

Yeah. And we've got an even brattier kid.

A mini samurai.

And a beggar boy we took in to help with odd jobs.

We're outcasts, but the Miburo make us feel like we belong.

Unlike you guys, we don't fuss over birth or breeding.

You should've come to us instead, old man.

I wish you had.

I see. You may be right.

Oh, hey! I know.

I'll put in a good word for you if you switch sides.

True. We're a gaggle of outdated swordsman.

Those skills you've honed won't go to waste.

A PLACE TO BELONG

NEXT TIME

Hijikata Toshizo here.

Nagakura and Sanosuke are fighting a formidable foe on another bridge.

I can't afford to lose, either.

The sword Sakura made for me is holding up well.

No matter how skilled my enemies are, I'll do things my way,

and keep swinging my blade.

Next time: "Man of the Soil."

Watch. That is all.

MAN OF THE SOIL