# E1 - The Death Row Convict and the Executioner
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/GX9UQZ1PP/the-death-row-convict-and-the-executioner)
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
**[00:30] Narration**
*Beheading requires a high degree of skill.*
**[00:34] Narration**
*The neck, which is composed of strong bones*
**[00:38] Narration**
* and more than ten layers of muscles,*
* is not easily severed.*
**[00:42] Executioner**
Any last words?
**[00:44] Gabimaru**
No.
**[00:47] Narration**
* Furthermore, beheading a person*
* with a single blow is next to impossible.*
**[00:50] Narration**
* In most cases, several blows*
* are required to behead a person,*
**[00:53] Narration**
*which makes executions a horrific spectacle.*
**[01:13] Executioner**
Impossible.
**[01:16] Gabimaru**
*Why? Why can't I die?*
**[01:18] Gabimaru**
*No, why won't I die?*
**[01:23] Gabimaru**
*I have no attachment to life.*
**[01:29] Gabimaru**
*I've killed countless people until now.*
**[01:33] Gabimaru**
*I don't expect to live a long life.*
***SIGN*** The Death Row Convict and the Executioner
**[03:12] Sagiri**
Your name is Gabimaru.
**[03:15] Sagiri**
Born a shinobi in the village of Iwagakure,
**[03:17] Sagiri**
you studied only assassination techniques
since you were a child.
**[03:22] Sagiri**
Many lose their lives during training,
but in exchange,
**[03:24] Sagiri**
those who survive develop
superhuman bodies.
**[03:29] Sagiri**
I see.
**[03:30] Sagiri**
For someone from Iwagakure,
**[03:32] Sagiri**
breaking a blade with your
own flesh is a simple task.
**[03:36] Gabimaru**
Well, yeah.
**[03:38] Gabimaru**
Someone that shitty
with a sword can't hurt me.
**[03:40] Gabimaru**
I didn't even have to use any ninjutsu.
**[03:42] Sagiri**
You can use ninjutsu?
**[03:45] Sagiri**
Could you show me some?
**[03:47] Gabimaru**
Why?
**[03:48] Sagiri**
As a matter of personal interest.
**[03:50] Gabimaru**
In that case, no.
**[03:51] Police Sergeant**
Burn him at the stake!
**[03:53] Narration**
* Being burnt at the stake is normally*
* the punishment for arson.*
**[03:58] Narration**
*Searing the flesh inflicts incredible pain.*
**[04:01] Narration**
*The heat causes the muscles to shrink,*
**[04:03] Narration**
* bending the body so severely*
* that bones break.*
**[04:06] Narration**
* Ultimately, the person dies*
* when they suffocate*
**[04:08] Narration**
* or are poisoned by*
* the smoke produced by the flame.*
**[04:10] Narration**
* It is an incredibly*
* painful execution method.*
**[04:15] Narration**
* Sometimes the person*
* is killed beforehand as a mercy.*
**[04:21] Gabimaru**
Uh, sorry.
**[04:42] Jailer A**
B-But the flames are enormous...
**[04:47] Gabimaru**
I'm not trying to resist.
**[04:52] Gabimaru**
If anything, I wish you'd kill me.
**[04:54] Sagiri**
I see.
**[04:56] Gabimaru**
If you're gonna look away,
then why not give me clothes?
**[04:58] Gabimaru**
C'mon, c'mon.
**[05:01] Sagiri**
My job is to record events,
and your nudity is no obstacle.
**[05:06] Sagiri**
Please continue.
**[05:08] Gabimaru**
My background's not
very interesting, you know.
**[05:11] Sagiri**
It's my job.
**[05:16] Gabimaru**
My parents? I dunno.
**[05:19] Gabimaru**
I was only told they were killed
by the village chief when I was a baby.
**[05:23] Gabimaru**
I don't know why.
**[05:25] Gabimaru**
I don't have any feelings about it.
**[05:28] Gabimaru**
Dreams? Don't have any.
**[05:31] Gabimaru**
Shinobi don't have any great purpose.
**[05:34] Gabimaru**
They just kill as they're told.
**[05:39] Gabimaru**
Why was I caught?
**[05:41] Gabimaru**
Well, uh...
**[05:44] Gabimaru**
I tried to leave the village.
**[05:45] Gabimaru**
I was captured on a job
when my cohorts betrayed me.
**[05:49] Gabimaru**
The village chief probably
put them up to it.
**[05:52] Gabimaru**
The village doesn't allow anyone to leave.
**[05:54] Gabimaru**
It's not like they had a choice.
**[05:57] Sagiri**
Why did you try to leave
the village in the first place?
**[06:01] Police Sergeant**
Have him torn apart by bulls!
**[06:04] Narration**
* In execution by bulls, ropes tied*
* to a person's legs are pulled by bulls.*
**[06:09] Narration**
* Human legs can withstand up*
* to 500 kilograms of force,*
**[06:13] Narration**
*but bulls exert 950 kilograms of force.*
**[06:16] Narration**
* The method not only*
* removes the person's legs,*
**[06:18] Narration**
*but also splits them from groin to chest.*
**[06:40] Gabimaru**
Oh, uh...
**[06:45] Police Sergeant**
At this rate, the magistrate's
office will be disgraced.
**[06:48] Police Sergeant**
Bring more bulls!
**[06:51] Sagiri**
It's strange.
**[06:53] Gabimaru**
My shinobi's body?
**[06:55] Sagiri**
No.
**[06:57] Sagiri**
Despite saying you want to be killed,
it seems to me as though you were resisting.
**[07:02] Sagiri**
Why would someone with no will to live...
**[07:05] Sagiri**
Never mind.
**[07:06] Sagiri**
Why did you try to leave the village?
**[07:10] Sagiri**
Will you answer the question
I asked you yesterday?
**[07:14] Police Sergeant**
Who cares about the record? Just kill—
**[07:16] Sagiri**
I'm working.
**[07:18] Jailer A**
Um, the bulls—
**[07:19] Sagiri**
I'm working.
**[07:20] Gabimaru**
Whatever.
**[07:21] Sagiri**
I'm work...
**[07:22] Gabimaru**
It wasn't for an interesting reason.
**[07:25] Gabimaru**
I was the best in Iwagakure.
**[07:29] Gabimaru**
I had the chief's recognition,
and married his daughter.
**[07:35] Gabimaru**
But his daughter was a real idiot.
**[07:39] Gabimaru**
I don't know how a shinobi's,
**[07:41] Gabimaru**
much less the chief's daughter,
ends up like that.
**[07:46] Gabimaru**
She was a carefree, naïve,
and sheltered girl.
**[07:49] Gaibmaru**
She turned my life upside down.
**[07:53] (Flashback) Yui**
Remove your shoes when you come inside.
**[07:56] (Flashback) Yui**
Pray once a day.
**[07:59] (Flashback) Yui**
Say "thanks for the meal" together and
express gratitude for the life we've taken.
**[08:05] Gabimaru**
I was totally bewildered,
and I got fed up with her.
**[08:08] Gabimaru**
I didn't want to lose my edge.
**[08:12] (Flashback) Village Chief**
If that's the case,
then there's no helping it.
**[08:15] (Flashback) Village Chief**
But could you do one last job for me?
**[08:25] Gabimaru**
I knew I'd been set up.
**[08:28] Gabimaru**
But I also knew the people of Iwagakure would
follow me everywhere, even if I escaped.
**[08:33] Gabimaru**
It was over the moment
I was caught in their trap.
**[08:36] Gabimaru**
It was stupid of me to defy the chief
in the first place, so I gave up.
**[08:43] Gabimaru**
Well? Not a very interesting reason, is it?
**[08:51] Jailer B**
Perhaps I should mind my own business,
**[08:54] Jailer B**
but a woman shouldn't
get involved with him.
**[08:58] Jailer B**
Do you know what his name is?
**[09:02] Sagiri**
Isn't he Gabimaru,
former shinobi of Iwagakure?
**[09:06] Jailer B**
I mean his other name.
**[09:13] Jailer B**
Gabimaru the Hollow.
**[09:15] Jailer B**
He's a hollow man, without blood or tears.
**[09:20] Jailer B**
A monster who killed 20 men
when he was arrested.
**[09:25] Jailer B**
Rumor is the shinobi of Iwagakure
consume an Elixir of Life.
**[09:30] Jailer B**
The medicine of immortality
that comes from Shinsenkyo.
**[09:34] Sagiri**
The Elixir...
**[09:36] Jailer B**
Forgive me for speaking such nonsense.
**[09:39] Jailer B**
In any case, he's dangerous.
**[09:42] Sagiri**
Are you sure about that?
**[09:45] Sagiri**
Why would a hollow man fight back so
hard that he killed 20 people?
**[09:54] Sagiri**
* Despite saying you want to be killed,*
* it seems to me as though you were resisting.*
**[10:01] Gabimaru**
*She's right. What am I doing?*
**[10:05] Gabimaru**
*Why don't I just die?*
**[10:08] Gabimaru**
*I have no attachment to life.*
**[10:11] Gabimaru**
*Tomorrow. I'll end it all tomorrow.*
**[10:15] Gabimaru**
*With tomorrow's execution...*
**[10:23] Narration**
* Death by boiling, also known as death*
* by cauldron, uses a large quantity of oil.*
**[10:32] Narration**
* Because oil combusts at a temperature*
* of over 370 degrees, however,*
**[10:37] Narration**
* it could not be kept boiling long in*
* the earthen pots used during the Edo period.*
**[10:43] Gabimaru**
*Why won't I die?*
**[10:46] Gabimaru**
*Why am I still enduring this?*
**[10:49] Gabimaru**
*I should have no lingering attachments.*
**[10:51] Gabimaru**
*I should be empty.*
**[10:54] Police Sergeant**
Damn it! Why won't you *die*?
**[11:03] Sagiri**
Sir, the arrangements have been made.
**[11:07] Sagiri**
I'm ready to start at any time.
**[11:16] Gabimaru**
What kind of execution is it this time?
**[11:18] Gabimaru**
Honestly, I'm getting tired of this.
**[11:21] Gabimaru**
When are you going to...
**[11:24] Police Sergeant**
This will shut you up.
**[11:36] Gabimaru**
What is this?
**[11:39] Police Sergeant**
She's no mere inspector.
**[11:44] Police Sergeant**
She's a sword-tester sent here from Edo.
**[11:50] Police Sergeant**
The executioner Yamada Asaemon Sagiri.
**[12:04] Narration**
* Yamada Asaemon is the trade name*
* of the Yamada Clan ronin*
**[12:11] Narration**
* who have served as sword-testers*
* and executioners for generations.*
**[12:16] Narration**
* They are master swordsmen*
* capable of testing swords*
**[12:19] Narration**
* and beheading criminals*
* with a single blow.*
**[12:21] Gabimaru**
You're an Asaemon... and a woman?
**[12:24] Sagiri**
Yes, a woman.
**[12:27] Sagiri**
Runaway shinobi Gabimaru from Isshu,
**[12:29] Sagiri**
the shogunate has charged me
with your execution.
**[12:33] Sagiri**
You said you wanted someone to kill you.
**[12:36] Sagiri**
I shall grant you your wish.
**[12:46] Gabimaru**
*She's the real deal.*
**[12:53] Police Sergeant**
Sagiri-dono, kill him, quickly.
**[12:55] Sagiri**
At once.
**[13:05] Sagiri**
Why did you evade my blow?
**[13:07] Sagiri**
You'd have died if you hadn't moved.
**[13:11] Gabimaru**
*Could I have died?*
**[13:18] Gabimaru**
*Do I not want to die?*
**[13:25] Sagiri**
Through my job, I've been present during
the final moments of many.
**[13:29] Sagiri**
I've learned to identify how people
truly feel when they're dying.
**[13:33] Sagiri**
A person's true nature
is reflected in the blade.
**[13:37] Sagiri**
Some put up a brave act
until just before their death.
**[13:41] Sagiri**
Some desperately beg for mercy.
**[13:44] Sagiri**
And some lie to themselves
and claim to have accepted death.
**[13:50] Gabimaru**
What?
**[13:51] Sagiri**
Gabimaru the Hollow.
**[13:53] Sagiri**
There's certainly a great
emptiness inside you.
**[13:57] Sagiri**
I'm certain of it after listening
to you describe your history.
**[14:01] Sagiri**
But you lied about one thing.
**[14:05] Sagiri**
You *do* have an attachment to life.
**[14:07] Sagiri**
No, you love your wife.
**[14:13] Sagiri**
To you, is she not your reason to live?
**[14:21] (Flashback) Yui**
Pray once a day.
**[14:24] (Flashback) Yui**
Say "thanks for the meal."
**[14:26] (Flashback) Yui**
We should always strive to be ordinary,
**[14:29] (Flashback) Yui**
so that we can be a married couple,
like normal people.
**[14:33] (Flashback) Yui**
You...
**[14:42] Sagiri**
I'm right.
**[14:44] Sagiri**
Why do you lie to yourself?
**[14:46] Sagiri**
You couldn't die during your executions
because of your feelings for her.
**[14:51] Sagiri**
Are you not just telling yourself
that you have no attachment to life?
**[14:57] Gabimaru**
Shut up!
**[14:59] Gabimaru**
I have no attachments!
**[15:01] Gabimaru**
You know nothing about
the world I've lived in!
**[15:06] Gabimaru**
I am hollow!
**[15:09] (Flashback) Yui**
You're not hollow.
**[15:13] (Flashback) Gabimaru**
No, the nickname suits me.
**[15:17] (Flashback) Gabimaru**
I've grown too accustomed
to terrible, ugly things.
**[15:20] (Flashback) Gabimaru**
I can only show you the same.
**[15:28] (Flashback) Yui**
That's not true at all.
**[15:31] (Flashback) Yui**
You're kind.
**[15:32] (Flashback) Yui**
After all, you're the only one
who wasn't repulsed by this face.
**[15:40] (Flashback) Yui**
Maybe being accustomed to ugly
things isn't so bad after all.
**[15:46] (Flashback) Yui**
In Iwagakure, men are soldiers,
and women bear children.
**[15:51] (Flashback) Yui**
We're not allowed to live as people.
**[15:55] (Flashback) Yui**
That's what happened to my face.
**[15:59] (Flashback) Yui**
My father burned it so I'd give up on trying
to live like an ordinary woman.
**[16:05] (Flashback) Yui**
But people's hearts don't die so easily.
**[16:11] (Flashback) Gabimaru**
But...
**[16:22] (Flashback) Gabimaru**
What are you...
**[16:25] (Flashback) Yui**
Look at how much you're blushing.
**[16:27] (Flashback) Yui**
Someone like you couldn't
possibly be hollow.
**[16:31] Gabimaru**
I am Gabimaru the Hollow!
**[16:36] Gabimaru**
I'm a heartless monster!
**[16:40] Gabimaru**
Try as I might, I can never be human!
**[16:55] Gabimaru**
* I'll quit making*
* a living by killing people.*
**[16:57] Gabimaru**
*The two of us will live a quiet life.*
**[17:01] Gabimaru**
* It's what's best for his daughter.*
* The chief will understand.*
**[17:07] Gabimaru**
*I won't kill anyone.*
**[17:09] Gabimaru**
*We'll live in a quiet place.*
**[17:12] Gabimaru**
*And live an ordinary life.*
**[17:19] Gabimaru**
*Like normal people.*
**[17:21] Gabimaru**
It's impossible!
**[17:24] Sagiri**
It's possible!
**[17:28] Gabimaru**
What?
***SIGN*** Official Pardon
**[17:31] Sagiri**
This is an official pardon.
**[17:34] Sagiri**
Not only does it dismiss all charges,
**[17:37] Sagiri**
but it even grants you
the shogun's protection.
**[17:40] Sagiri**
With this, neither the magistrate's office
nor the village's shinobi could harm you.
**[17:47] Gabimaru**
What are you talking about?
**[17:48] Sagiri**
But it comes with a condition.
**[17:51] Sagiri**
You will go to the Underworld.
**[17:53] Gabimaru**
What?
**[17:55] Gabimaru**
The Underworld? You mean the Other Side?
**[17:58] Sagiri**
Yes.
**[17:59] Gabimaru**
Are you telling me to die?
**[18:01] Sagiri**
No.
**[18:03] Sagiri**
There is a land brimming with fertility
and joy, where there is no pain:
**[18:07] Sagiri**
Shinsenkyo.
**[18:09] Sagiri**
Believed in since ancient times, people have
**[18:12] Sagiri**
called it Paradise,
the Other Side, and Heaven.
**[18:16] Sagiri**
It was said to be far to the southwest,
beyond the Ryukyu Kingdom.
**[18:22] Sagiri**
And it's finally been found.
**[18:27] Sagiri**
Butterflies and flowers dance.
**[18:29] Sagiri**
Beautiful voices can be heard singing.
**[18:33] Sagiri**
It is as the legends describe.
**[18:37] Sagiri**
It is said that the immortality-granting
Elixir of Life can be found in Shinsenkyo.
**[18:42] Sagiri**
The shogunate sent a search party
there to acquire the Elixir.
**[18:47] Sagiri**
However...
**[19:16] Sagiri**
Five more expeditions were sent,
but no one returned...
**[19:25] Sagiri**
except for the things they became.
**[19:29] Gabimaru**
W-Wait a minute.
**[19:31] Gabimaru**
What kind of story is that?
**[19:33] Gabimaru**
It sounds like a fairy tale.
**[19:34] Sagiri**
Yes.
**[19:36] Sagiri**
Everyone believed it was
merely a fairy tale
**[19:39] Sagiri**
until they saw *that*.
**[19:42] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
Humans became flowers?
**[19:46] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
How mysterious. How mystical.
**[19:48] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
That land must be real.
**[19:51] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
The Elixir of Life must be there.
**[19:54] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
Choose expendable people
for the next expedition.
**[19:57] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
Gather criminals condemned to death from
**[19:59] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
around the country
and send them to the island.
**[20:02] (Flashback) Nariyoshi**
Whoever brings back the Elixir
of Life will be pardoned.
**[20:06] Sagiri**
I came here looking
for potential candidates.
**[20:11] Sagiri**
Someone with skill
and a fierce desire to live.
**[20:16] Sagiri**
On my way here, I heard your
wife is still in Iwagakure.
**[20:23] Sagiri**
Since the day you were captured,
**[20:25] Sagiri**
she closed herself off
and hasn't spoken to anyone.
**[20:29] Sagiri**
She must believe you'll return.
**[20:35] Sagiri**
I'll ask you again.
**[20:36] Sagiri**
Do you have any attachment to life?
**[20:39] Sagiri**
Traveling to a mysterious island
with heinous criminals
**[20:43] Sagiri**
condemned to death and competing
with them for a pardon
**[20:45] Sagiri**
is the only way for you
to be reunited with her.
**[20:50] Sagiri**
Will you risk that
**[20:52] Sagiri**
for a life with her, Gabimaru the Hollow?
**[20:58] Police Sergeant**
This is ridiculous.
**[21:00] Police Sergeant**
I'm not releasing him over such nonsense.
**[21:06] Sagiri**
The shogunate has commanded it.
**[21:08] Police Sergeant**
He's merely a man condemned to death.
There are plenty more like him.
**[21:12] Police Sergeant**
If you interfere, you'll go down with him.
**[21:17] Police Sergeant**
Are you listening, Hollow?
**[21:19] Gabimaru**
Heartless, hollow...
**[21:22] (Flashback) Yui**
People's hearts don't die so easily.
**[21:35] Gabimaru**
You said you wanted to see ninjutsu.
**[21:48] Gabimaru**
If this'll do, then watch this.
**[21:51] Gabimaru**
Ninpo: Ascetic Blaze.
**[22:08] Sagiri**
Impressive.
**[22:14] Gabimaru**
I'll do it. I'll find this Elixir of Life.
**[22:22] Gabimaru**
So, what should I do now?
**[22:25] Sagiri**
Come with me. First, we'll go to Edo—
**[22:28] Gabimaru**
What?
**[22:29] Gabimaru**
Why don't we go directly to the island?
**[22:32] Gabimaru**
Edo's a detour. What a pain.
**[22:34] Sagiri**
* He's complaining more now that*
* he's out of his funk.*
**[22:37] Sagiri**
If you don't want to go,
then we can call off the deal.
**[22:39] Gabimaru**
I'll do it, I'll do it.
**[22:41] Gabimaru**
I'll do anything now.
**[22:44] Gabimaru**
It doesn't matter if I have to face
condemned criminals or mysterious islands.
**[22:48] Gabimaru**
I'll make it back alive.
**[22:52] Gabimaru**
For you.