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E12 - Okashira - Aoshi Shinomori

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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.)
[00:02] ---
    I would like to avoid
    unnecessary battle, that I would.
[00:06] ---
    Can you step aside and let me know
    where Kanryu and Miss Megumi are?
[00:12] ---
    You need to ask me the whereabouts
    of those two with that sakabato.
[00:17] ---
    I will answer... with this.
[01:55] ---
    EPISODE 12:
    OKASHIRA -
    AOSHI SHINOMORI
[02:02] ---
    The length of that blade...
[02:05] ---
    You're trying to fight
    with just one wakizashi?
[02:07] ---
    Don't mock us!
[02:08] ---
    Kids should stay back.
[02:10] ---
    Damn you!
[02:11] ---
    I wish the same, that I do.
[02:15] ---
    Oh, um...
[02:17] ---
    Damn it, each and every one of you.
[02:20] ---
    Listen up! You better not have
    a hard time against one little wakizashi!
[02:24] ---
    Hurry up, and get this over with!
[02:28] ---
    If that really was a wakizashi,
[02:30] ---
    I wouldn't have a hard time,
    that I wouldn't.
[02:33] ---
    You seem to know
    of the characteristics of a kodachi.
[02:37] ---
    Kodachi?
[02:38] ---
    Simply put, a sword that is between
    a katana and a wakizashi, that it is.
[02:43] ---
    As it is shorter than a katana,
    it lacks in offensive power.
[02:46] ---
    But as it is light and very adaptable,
    it has high defensive power.
[02:51] ---
    To be on the offensive against that
    would be highly disadvantageous.
[02:56] ---
    I see.
[02:57] ---
    Then I shall be the one to attack.
[03:01] ---
    So quick!
[03:05] ---
    Kenshin!
[03:06] ---
    A kick? Can this man be...
[03:08] ---
    just like Han'nya...
[03:09] ---
    a kenpo master!
[03:22] ---
    I see.
[03:23] ---
    You lay out an impenetrable defense
    with the kodachi,
[03:26] ---
    but attack with the same kenpo as Han'nya.
    That's your style.
[03:29] ---
    I was the one
    that taught kenpo to Han'nya.
[03:35] ---
    The speed and weight of a master's fist
[03:37] ---
    is greatly different
    than that of an apprentice.
[03:41] ---
    Battosai,
    I have nothing personal against you.
[03:44] ---
    But as the most powerful Imperialist,
    I will have you die right here.
[03:49] ---
    It seems like you are not fighting
    for Kanryu's sake, that it doesn't.
[03:55] ---
    Of course not.
[03:57] ---
    Is it for the Tokugawa Shogunate
    that fell with the revolution?
[04:03] ---
    If you are an Imperialist,
    you should know
[04:05] ---
    how Yoshinobu Tokugawa acted
    in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi.
[04:11] ---
    As soon as Yoshinobu,
    the final Shogun of Tokugawa,
[04:14] ---
    found out the Shogunate army was inferior,
[04:17] ---
    he and his top retainers
    left Osaka Castle by themselves,
[04:21] ---
    returning to Edo by battleship.
[04:23] ---
    He abandoned over 10,000 soldiers
[04:26] ---
    risking their lives
    fighting on the battlefield.
[04:30] ---
    After he fled back to Edo,
[04:32] ---
    he decided on absolute compliance
    at Kanei Temple in Ueno.
[04:35] ---
    After talks between Kaishu Katsu,
    who was given full authority,
[04:38] ---
    and Takamori Saigo,
    the imperial Edo Castle
[04:41] ---
    ended up being surrendered
    with no bloodshed.
[04:44] ---
    And the Oniwaban Group ended
    the Bakumatsu Era without fighting.
[04:51] ---
    We don't care
    about the coward Tokugawa anymore.
[04:54] ---
    Our only regret is the fact
    that we could not fight.
[04:58] ---
    There are no ifs in the flow of history,
[05:01] ---
    but had we fought back then...
[05:04] ---
    the victory in the revolution
    would have belonged to the Shogunate.
[05:12] ---
    We would create a huge fire in Edo,
    and then we, the Oniwaban Group,
[05:16] ---
    would kill the Imperial officers
    at the heart of the army in the chaos.
[05:21] ---
    After that,
    what remains is an unorderly mob.
[05:23] ---
    The Shogunate Army, superior in numbers,
    can crush them all...
[05:28] ---
    and that's the end.
[05:31] ---
    No way you'd be able to do that!
[05:33] ---
    We can.
[05:35] ---
    Shall we replicate the incident here?
[05:38] ---
    Right here in Tokyo?
[05:40] ---
    Damn this guy.
[05:42] ---
    But doing something like that
    at this point is completely meaningless.
[05:46] ---
    What has meaning right now is proof.
[05:50] ---
    Proof that superiority
    in the Bakumatsu Revolution
[05:54] ---
    was embodied by us, the Oniwaban Group.
[06:00] ---
    Back in those days...
[06:02] ---
    many threw themselves into battle...
[06:05] ---
    whether Revolutionary warrior
    or Shogunate samurai.
[06:08] ---
    We antagonized each other.
[06:10] ---
    But neither was righteous,
    and neither was mistaken.
[06:15] ---
    We were simply concerned
    for the future of this country
[06:17] ---
    and risked our lives for the peace
    and happiness of the people.
[06:22] ---
    But you have none of that!
[06:24] ---
    What you have,
    calmly saying you would raze a town,
[06:27] ---
    is nothing more than bloody,
    ice-cold competitiveness!
[06:31] ---
    Both as a Revolutionary warrior
    and a rurouni...
[06:35] ---
    I cannot sit quietly
    and let you get away with it!
[06:38] ---
    Say what you want.
[06:40] ---
    Even if you became serious about this,
    you have no chance of winning.
[06:43] ---
    Come on.
[06:51] ---
    Going from Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu Ryuutsuisen
[06:54] ---
    straight into a battojutsu
    without landing.
[06:56] ---
    That's quite an attack,
[06:58] ---
    but you can't break my kodachi
    with anything of that level.
[07:03] ---
    Damn it!
[07:05] ---
    Aoshi is merely a hired hand,
    and yet he makes a fool out of me!

[07:10] ---
    First Megumi, now him.
[07:12] ---
    Each and every one. Each and every one!
[07:14] ---
    But now I figured it out!
[07:17] ---
    That man, like Battosai, is the type
    that I can't control with money.

[07:21] ---
    He's a dangerous man that can
    turn into a foe at any point in time!

[07:25] ---
    Battosai and Aoshi...
[07:27] ---
    is there a way for me
    to get rid of both of them?

[07:30] ---
    Think, Kanryu. Some way? Some way?
[07:33] ---
    Something, something,
    something, something!

[07:36] ---
    Um, Mr. Kanryu, what should we do
    about the test of you-know-what?
[07:41] ---
    That's it!
[07:48] ---
    No matter how many times you attack,
    it's useless.
[07:50] ---
    When concentrating on defense, my kodachi
    will even protect me from rifle bullets.
[07:56] ---
    Not even Kenshin can land one blow on him.
[08:00] ---
    That, and, no matter how much
    of an advantage he gains,

[08:03] ---
    he doesn't show one smile.
[08:05] ---
    That's truly
    an ice-cold competitiveness.

[08:08] ---
    Damn it. My knees feel so weak.
[08:11] ---
    Kenshin!
[08:13] ---
    It's all right, that it is.
[08:15] ---
    I'd feel very sorry for Miss Megumi
    if something like this defeats me,
[08:18] ---
    and I'd be too ashamed
    to see Miss Kaoru again.
[08:21] ---
    And who knows what Sano would say to me?
[08:23] ---
    Besides...
[08:25] ---
    I finally see a way
    to get past that kodachi, that I do.
[08:29] ---
    I'd like to say that's a bluff...
[08:32] ---
    but you're not one
    to say things of that nature.
[08:36] ---
    So I'll have you show me...
[08:38] ---
    this so-called way.
[08:41] ---
    Too slow!
[08:43] ---
    What? He's holding
    the bottom of the blade.
[08:49] ---
    Aoshi, the secret of your power
[08:52] ---
    is completely controlling the reach
    between you and your opponent.
[08:56] ---
    Reach.
[08:58] ---
    Listen up, Yahiko.
[08:59] ---
    "Reach" is the distance
[09:01] ---
    in which you can make an attack
    on your opponent in one move.

[09:05] ---
    The key for combat between higher-ranked
    masters is to fight inside your own reach.

[09:12] ---
    It's easy to think that I'm
    at an advantage with a katana.
[09:17] ---
    You can't help but create a blind spot
    at one's center with a long reach.
[09:21] ---
    And you attack right at that blind spot.
[09:24] ---
    Then I shall just switch over
    to the same reach as a kodachi,
[09:28] ---
    and the blind spot
    should naturally disappear.
[09:30] ---
    So I see.
[09:31] ---
    Simply gripping a Japanese sword,
[09:34] ---
    especially the bottom,
    where it is most dull,
[09:37] ---
    won't dig the blade
    all the way down to the bone.
[09:39] ---
    Lose a battle to win the war, huh?
[09:42] ---
    I have now seen the essence of a hitokiri.
[09:47] ---
    In return, I will take you down with
    the essence of the Oniwaban Group leader.
[09:56] ---
    So slow?
[09:57] ---
    What is this slow speed?
[10:04] ---
    This is...
[10:06] ---
    a sword dance?
[10:08] ---
    This is different
    from a ritualistic sword dance!

[10:14] ---
    Stop it.
[10:15] ---
    You are used to swordsmanship
[10:17] ---
    that clearly differentiates
    stillness from motion.
[10:19] ---
    You cannot possibly catch the movement of
    flowing water, fluctuating speed at will.
[10:23] ---
    A practical sword dance
    that combines movements of kenpo

[10:26] ---
    with techniques of the kodachi...
[10:28] ---
    this is how Aoshi Shinomori
    truly fights!

[10:32] ---
    Die.
[10:38] ---
    Kenshin!
[10:42] ---
    Kaiten Kenbu...
[10:44] ---
    this technique has disposed of every
    insurgent who snuck into Edo Castle.
[10:48] ---
    Ken...
[10:51] ---
    ...shin.
[10:53] ---
    This is the end, boy.
[10:55] ---
    Himura Battosai is dead.
[10:58] ---
    Shut up!
[11:00] ---
    I'll take you on now!
[11:02] ---
    Even if it kills me,
    I'll make sure to take you down!
[11:07] ---
    That's good spirit.
[11:10] ---
    It feels a bit shameful
    to kill you here.
[11:14] ---
    Yahiko is Kamiya Kasshin-ryu's
    precious successor, that he is.
[11:20] ---
    I won't let him die in a place like this.
[11:23] ---
    Besides, I can't allow myself
    to die in a place like this, either!
[11:29] ---
    Kenshin!
[11:30] ---
    Are you immortal?
[11:32] ---
    Hardly.
[11:37] ---
    Kaiten Kenbu, eh?
[11:39] ---
    I didn't think it would slice apart
    my metal sheath like it was a log.
[11:42] ---
    I see.
[11:43] ---
    You halved its effects with your sheath
    in the spur of the moment.
[11:47] ---
    You are quite the man.
[11:49] ---
    I can see why they call you
    the strongest ever.
[11:53] ---
    No, I will acknowledge myself as such.
[11:57] ---
    And this makes me want the title
    of strongest within our ranks once again!
[12:02] ---
    Be careful, Kenshin!
[12:04] ---
    There's a Kaiten Kenbu coming!
[12:05] ---
    I told you. This movement of flowing water
    is something you cannot capture.
[12:10] ---
    Furthermore, you are wounded all over,
    and your movement is slowed...
[12:13] ---
    This is the end, Himura Battosai!
[12:32] ---
    Kenshin!
[12:35] ---
    Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, Ryuukosen.
[12:39] ---
    This is the only unarmed technique
    in Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, that it is.
[12:44] ---
    Indeed, I cannot grasp
    your movements similar to flowing water.
[12:49] ---
    However, if it's the moment where you
    switch to attacking with Kaiten Kenbu,
[12:53] ---
    I can counter it, though barely!
[12:55] ---
    Aoshi, if you want
    the title of strongest that badly,
[12:58] ---
    I can give it to you as much as you want.
[13:00] ---
    Such a title is annoying at best for me.
[13:04] ---
    For my current self,
[13:05] ---
    those that await my aid
    and those that wait for my return
[13:08] ---
    are tens of thousands of times
    more important, that they are!
[13:19] ---
    RUROUNI KENSHIN
[13:27] ---
    Lose? Me?
[13:30] ---
    Don't overdo it. Pull back!
[13:33] ---
    After two blows to the throat,
    not even you—
[13:35] ---
    Not done yet!
[13:38] ---
    Kenshin!
[13:40] ---
    I'm all right... that I am.
[13:42] ---
    More than me, Aoshi...
[13:45] ---
    Is he... dead?
[13:47] ---
    No, he is just unconscious, that he is.
[13:50] ---
    After I hurt his throat
    with two powerful blows,
[13:54] ---
    he unleashed an attack
    that required a deep breath.
[13:58] ---
    It's only natural that he suffered
    great pain and had difficulty breathing.
[14:03] ---
    In the end, the competitiveness
    that never backed down...
[14:07] ---
    brought his own defeat, that it did.
[14:14] ---
    Your soulful words
    when I fell to Kaiten Kenbu
[14:18] ---
    were really reassuring, that they were.
[14:23] ---
    All right!
[14:24] ---
    All we gotta do now
    is take Kanryu down and rescue Megumi!
[14:30] ---
    That's quite the recuperative power.
[14:33] ---
    I fell unconscious?
[14:35] ---
    Well, for about 10 seconds, that you were.
[14:38] ---
    Why won't you deliver the final blow?
[14:41] ---
    I am currently a rurouni.
[14:42] ---
    I am not a hitokiri, that I am not.
[14:44] ---
    However, even without a final blow,
[14:47] ---
    someone of your caliber
    should know who was victorious.
[14:53] ---
    Aoshi, answer one question.
[14:56] ---
    Though from the shadows,
[14:58] ---
    you took on the important role
    of Oniwaban Group leader...
[15:02] ---
    there should have been
    more than just one or two offers
[15:05] ---
    for officer positions
    after the revolution.
[15:08] ---
    If you wanted a place to test your skills,
[15:11] ---
    surely there were other places
    to choose from.
[15:15] ---
    There were plenty of offers
    for officer positions.
[15:18] ---
    From intelligence in the Ground Troops
[15:20] ---
    to bodyguards of prolific politicians,
    the entire spectrum.
[15:24] ---
    But they were all for me.
[15:28] ---
    Those that excel at one unusual power,
    like Hyottoko and Beshimi,
[15:32] ---
    betrayers like Shikijo, and Han'nya's case
    is obvious once you see his true face.
[15:39] ---
    Not one offer for officer positions
    came in for others in the Oniwaban Group.
[15:45] ---
    As the leader,
    how can I serve as an officer
[15:49] ---
    after abandoning all my subordinates?
[15:52] ---
    I don't want to perform a betrayal
    as ugly as that of Yoshinobu Tokugawa.
[15:57] ---
    Yoshinobu was—
[15:58] ---
    I know that.
[16:00] ---
    Yoshinobu's absolute compliance,
    that was a powerful political decision
[16:03] ---
    in order to not lessen
    our power as a nation.
[16:07] ---
    But even then, I want none of it.
[16:14] ---
    It's been 10 years
    since I've been herding the Oniwaban Group
[16:17] ---
    after being tossed out into Tokyo,
    the new capital in Meiji.
[16:20] ---
    I have seen off
    those that found new lives.
[16:24] ---
    I only have four subordinates left.
[16:27] ---
    Four miserable souls that only know
    of battle and can do nothing but fight.
[16:34] ---
    Then at the least,
[16:35] ---
    I could add the brilliant flower
    of "strongest" to the Oniwaban Group
[16:39] ---
    and turn it into their pride.
[16:44] ---
    Give me the final blow.
[16:46] ---
    If you don't,
    I will come after you countless times.
[16:54] ---
    How pitiful you are, Aoshi Shinomori!
[16:59] ---
    I came out,
    as I just couldn't wait anymore!
[17:02] ---
    Kanryu.
[17:03] ---
    That saves us the effort
    of searching for you, that it does.
[17:06] ---
    That's quite the confidence.
[17:09] ---
    However...
[17:10] ---
    can you keep that confidence
    even after seeing this?
[17:15] ---
    That is—
[17:15] ---
    It can't be...
[17:17] ---
    a Gatling gun?
[17:19] ---
    Indeed!
[17:20] ---
    Developed in 1861 by Gatling,
    an American doctor,
[17:24] ---
    the ultimate weapon
    that brought the Northern army
[17:26] ---
    the victory in the Civil War!
[17:29] ---
    In Japan,
    the Echigo-Nagaoka Domain purchased it.
[17:32] ---
    In the Boshin War, the Third War,
    and the Battle of Hokuetsu,
[17:35] ---
    this became a great threat
    in the Imperial Army!
[17:38] ---
    A destructive force that can move history,
    a great ability that creates a generation.
[17:42] ---
    Let's take our time to try this out!
[17:50] ---
    Wh-What was that just now?
[17:53] ---
    Ken-san...
[17:56] ---
    That was loud.
[17:57] ---
    What the hell was that?
[17:59] ---
    There seems to be some anomaly upstairs.
[18:02] ---
    Han'nya!
[18:03] ---
    Don't be so alarmed.
[18:06] ---
    Both Shikijo and I
    had fair fights and lost.
[18:09] ---
    I have no intent on being the victor now
    by attacking someone off their guard.
[18:14] ---
    Anyway, I am worried about Lord Aoshi.
[18:18] ---
    I will head up with Shikijo,
    but what will you do?
[18:21] ---
    You know, you're a pretty good guy.
[18:25] ---
    I only hear that as sarcasm.
[18:28] ---
    No doubt.
[18:30] ---
    Wake up, Shikijo.
[18:35] ---
    Oh, it's you, Han'nya.
[18:37] ---
    Your face right when I wake up
    really gets me going.
[18:40] ---
    Sheesh. Each and every one of you...
[18:44] ---
    Hey, shrimp.
[18:45] ---
    What is it, fatso?
[18:47] ---
    Did you hear that booming sound just now?
[18:49] ---
    If you heard it as well,
    that means I wasn't imagining it.
[18:54] ---
    Looks like this ain't the time
    to be takin' naps.
[19:00] ---
    How's that? Isn't it wonderful?
[19:03] ---
    I can fire
    an amazing 200 bullets in one minute!
[19:07] ---
    That guy is not hitting us on purpose,
    because he wants to torture us to death!
[19:12] ---
    Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat!
[19:14] ---
    If you stay still, I'll hit you with this!
[19:17] ---
    Kanryu! Why the hell
    do you have something like that?
[19:19] ---
    That's Lord Kanryu, you insolent fool!
[19:24] ---
    Aoshi!
[19:26] ---
    Really.
[19:27] ---
    But, oh, well.
[19:29] ---
    I will let you know
    as part of my smoke break.
[19:34] ---
    My ultimate ambition is to become
    the most profitable dealer in the world.
[19:40] ---
    And that is a dealer of death...
[19:42] ---
    an arms dealer!
[19:46] ---
    Gathering funds through the new opium and
    with this Gatling gun as the main product,
[19:50] ---
    I will make an assault on my competitors!
[19:53] ---
    That is the scenario for the birth
    of the great merchant, Kanryu Takeda!
[19:57] ---
    You're going to go that far?
[19:59] ---
    You will ravage human lives and souls
[20:02] ---
    in order to get your hands on money,
    that you will?
[20:07] ---
    Himura Battosai.
[20:09] ---
    How many years and sacrifices did it take
    for you to gain that incredible strength?
[20:15] ---
    That surely was not gained
    through extraordinary effort, was it?
[20:19] ---
    But still, if you have money,
[20:21] ---
    you can easily gain power
    that surpasses even that!
[20:24] ---
    In an instant!
    Without paying any sacrifices!
[20:27] ---
    Money! This is truly the proof of power!
[20:30] ---
    What was that about the Oniwaban Group
    or the legendary manslayer?
[20:35] ---
    The true strongest is yours truly!
[20:37] ---
    There is nothing more wonderful
    in this world than money!
[20:41] ---
    And I will prove that right now!
[20:44] ---
    Die!
[20:46] ---
    What the hell is that?
[20:51] ---
    Shikijo!
[20:52] ---
    - Wha—
    - Now!
[20:53] ---
    Run, Battosai!
[20:57] ---
    Which... Which one should be the target?
[20:59] ---
    Damn it, I'll start off
    with the immobile Aoshi!
[21:02] ---
    I won't let you do that!
[21:04] ---
    Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat! Gat!
[21:10] ---
    Shikijo!
[22:45] ---
    NEXT EPISODE
    BATTLE'S END
[22:46] ---
    Next episode, "Battle's End."