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Below are summaries of the episodes of the Tsuioko Hen which I wrote up. With the other summaries that I wrote for the Tokyo arc I tried (without much success) to keep each one as short as possible. W/ the Tsuioko Hen each episode is very 'rich' in plot points so I'm pretty sure that these will turn out to be a little longer than the others. |
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Episode 1 A little boy named Shinta is traveling with a group of people during the night when suddenly the group is attacked by bandits. All are murdered except for Shinta who is rescued by a man named Hiko who happens to be passing by. Hiko decides to take Shinta in as his apprentice and renames him Kenshin. Kenshin spends the nest several years being trained in the swordsmanship style of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Eventually Kenshin and Hiko part ways because of their opposing views on how the teachings of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu should be used. Kenshin is then scouted as a promising fighter by a man named Shinsaku Takasugi and eventually goes on to become the ‘Shadow Assassin’ for the Inshin Shishi, a rebel group led by Katsura Kogorou that is fighting against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kenshin assassinates many people for the rebel cause, including a man named Akira Kiyosato who manages to slash Kenshin on his left cheek before dying. Time goes by, but the wound on Kenshin’s cheek still does not heal. Kenshin’s friend Iizuka lightheartedly suggests to Kenshin that this might be because Kiyosato is trying to seek revenge on Kenshin even in death. Later on while on his way to guard Katsura during a secret nighttime meeting Kenshin is attacked by an assassin of unknown origins. They begin to fight just as a young woman comes walking down the street. She sees Kenshin kill the other assassin but does not run away. Instead she solemnly tells Kenshin that he caused the bloody rain to fall. Kenshin is shocked and lets one of his swords slip out of his hands. The two stare at each other… |
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Episode 2
Kenshin and the woman are at a standoff, neither one knowing how to react to the other. Before Kenshin can decide if he has to kill her the woman suddenly faints. Kenshin decides to take pity on her and takes her back to the Ikedaya (the inn which serves as the Inshin Shishi headquarters). The woman's name is Tomoe and after a background check done by Iizuka, she is allowed to stay and work at the inn as a maid since she claims to have no family to return to. Kenshin and Tomoe begin to learn a little more about each other, and Katsura recognizes the positive impact that Tomoe could potentially have on Kenshin's downtrodden soul. He instructs her to stay close to Kenshin, telling her that Kenshin is a "sword" and that she must be the "sheath" that protects him. Despite her new task to become close to him, Tomoe questions how Kenshin's killing so many people could possibly lead to a better Japan when the Inshin Shishi isn't even telling him why these people need to be killed. Meanwhile there is growing unrest within the Inshin Shishi as early suspicions that there is a traitor in the group are confirmed. After being ambushed by the Shinsengumi at the Ikedaya in the midst of a large Kyoto festival, Katsura decides that the surviving members of the Inshin Shishi must temporarily separate. He instructs Kenshin and Tomoe (who had been out trying partake in the festival) to go into hiding, posing as husband and wife. And so the couple escape Kyoto and set off together to an uncertain future... note to readers: The attack on the Ikedaya inn by the Shinsengumi actually did happen. You can Google "Ikedaya" to learn more about it. |
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| Episode 3 |
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| Episode 4 |
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