Brawl ensues, with the guys giving a sterling display of unarmed dinner-table combat, Mugen making good use of skewers and Jin actually breaking off someone’s swordpoint with his teacup. They flee the place, evade capture and then scold Mugen for starting a fight–-what’ll we do if they throw us out of Edo? Guys like that just piss me off, he grumbles, not sorry in the least.

The basket-headed group is seen staring at the kicked-out door of the restaurant...

Our quartet ends up outside a theatre where Yamato Nadeshiko is performing. [--it's a standardized fictional name for the ideal Japanese woman; Jouji’s apparently a fan. Is this her house? he asks eagerly. You’re kidding, right? retorts Mugen. Fuu and Jin remind him that he’s a fugitive and it’s not safe for him to attend the performance, but he says this is the last thing he’ll ask of them; he’ll give back their swords if they’ll see the show with him. Fair enough, says Jin wearily.

Nadeshiko is gorgeous and Jouji is wide-eyed with admiration during the whole performance. She’s beautiful, I have to meet her!-–he cries after the show. Um, that’s not a her, Fuu tries to say, but he’s off. I don’t think he understands, says Fuu uneasily...

Nadeshiko is indeed a man performing as a woman, as was the custom of the time, and for a moment no one is sure how Jouji is reacting. But then the truth, well, comes out. I like men better, he admits. And you’re just my type... will you listen to my story?

At just this dramatic point the troop that’s been chasing him arrives. There’s the foreigner and his friends! Why do you want to arrest me? I’ve done nothing wrong!–-Jouji/Isaac cries. The troop leader coldly replies that even roaches are more free to live in Japan than Westerners. Unacceptable!–cries another voice, and we all turn to see that the basket-headed group has arrived–-and they throw off their baskets to show they’re all Europeans. Arrest them!–-yells the troop leader, and Mugen’s had enough, and clocks the guy with one of his metal-clad sandals. --Better yet, kill them all!

All run out of Nageshiko's dressing room, Mugen draws blood on one of the guards with his thumbnail, and Isaac throws Mugen and (finally!) Jin back their swords. Mugen! snaps Jin, checking the pursuit with a fast glance--Mugen's a step closer and armed a few seconds sooner than Jin. Got it, grins Mugen, clipping the first two militia and buying our gang a little escape time, and off they run with the troop on their heels. Ooh, a samurai sword fight!–- cheers Isaac, running after them. [You have to love him, he’s such a fanboy...]

Mugen in the lead, everyone runs through the backstage area of the theatre and out onto the stage–-Mugen, Jin and Fuu, Isaac, and the militia. Everyone’s swords are out and it looks close for our guys until the Dutchmen bring up the rear, charging in full tilt. Do you know what this is?, one cries, holding up a goshuin (document from the Shogun). It’s Isaac’s permit to be here: he’s Isaac Kitching of the famous Dutch East India company, Governor-General in charge of trade. ("Nanda?" --“Huh?”--asks baffled Mugen. It means he’s a special foreigner recognized by the Shogun, explains Jin.) --Isaac’s countrymen tell him--speaking Japanese-subtitled Dutch!--that they’ve been looking everywhere for him; an important meeting with the Shogun is very near, and they’ve been putting it off saying he was ill, but he must come with them. I don’t want to, he says unhappily. You must, they tell him.

[Historical note 2: even though he has permission to be here, he's only supposed to mingle with two classes of people, other merchants and whores. Wandering the streets and hanging out with the locals is exactly the sort of thing the Shogun would not like to hear he'd been up to, but he's so in love with the culture that he just can't help it. Like I said, such a fanboy...=)]

So he bids his new friends farewell on the bridge. I hoped to live here as a Japanese, he sighs, but I guess that isn’t possible. But someday this country will accept people like me, he says, smiling; someday it will open up its a*****. Who the hell would open their a***** for you?, smirks Mugen, and Jin asks to be excused. They head off across the bridge.

One more thing, says Fuu. Do you know anything about a samurai who smells like sunflowers? I’ve been looking for him a long time. No, he says, but I do know sunflowers were originally brought here by the Dutch. Do you have any more clues? Well, I don’t know if it’s a clue, but I have something of his, Fuu says, and pulls one of the charms off her pink tanto. He picks it up from her palm: a little skull on a cord. He holds it up, looks at it closely, and blanches. Put this away and don’t let anyone see it, he tells her, it’s dangerous in this country. But why? I can only tell you one thing, Isaac says: you’ll surely find a clue if you go to Nagasaki. Nagasaki, she repeats thoughtfully.

And takes off after Mugen and Jin. So, what now? Mugen asks her. You already know, says Fuu, trotting on ahead.

(and in voice-over the credits, they express their bafflement: "Huh?" "We do?" "First I'd heard of it...")

Another location. There’s a banner hanging over the street: “Fourth Annual Eating Contest”. And here’s our trio. Fuu can’t believe their luck: they’ve just arrived in Edo, and here’s free food, all you can eat! Perfect for people as hungry as we are.

They step up to the table and a man asks for their fee. We thought it was free, they say, crestfallen; Jin adds that they wouldn’t be here if they had any money. That’s OK, says the man, just give me something of value; the winner gets all the entry fees. Mugen and Fuu hand over their sword and tanto. And you, samurai?–asks the man. [He calls Jin this because of his two swords; only members of that class were permitted to carry more than one.] Jin-san replies with dignity that he won't part with his soul so easily, but Mugen yanks the swords out of Jin’s obi and lays them on the table. Jin is in shock. Mugen and Fuu blithely insist that it’s just for a little while, since they’re so hungry they’re sure to win; Mugen adds “if we’ve paid this much to enter, there’s no way we’ll lose.” Fuu grabs Jin by the arm and hauls him away from the table, and in they go. Mugen pauses to notice an odd figure waiting in the line, a tall burly guy in a big straw hat and wooden shoes...

Inside, it’s like a cross between a sports event and Iron Chef, with enthusiastic announcers commenting on the eating action. All of last year’s best competitors are here again, including the winner, Sonosuke the Bottomless Stomach, and Izumi, known as “The Queen of Eating” and “The Sweet Tooth Queen”. The dish being served is a local favorite, anago-don: barbecued conger eel and rice. The only rule is that the one who eats the most bowls wins; when you’ve had enough, you set down your bowl and press your palms together. And they’re off!

Jin is the first to quit, after only two bowls. Why’d he even enter? –puzzle the commentators. Jin is sweating. I should never have let this happen, he mutters. Mugen, please... [and you know that wasn’t easy to say...] But Mugen starts to waver. Jin glares and orders him to eat, but it’s no use; he reels and falls off the bench. Saving their cutlery is up to Fuu.

And it looks like she might; contestants drop like flies until only four are left: Sonosuke, Izumi, Fuu, and the big guy Mugen spotted in the queue outside. On they plow, easily bypassing “last year’s record-setting 22nd bowl”. Izumi falls behind and quits; Sonosuke too; but Fuu and the big fellow eat on. Her stomach is as big as the galaxy, it is one with the cosmos!–marvel the commentators. Are we witnessing the evolution of the human stomach? 27th bowl and Fuu seems to be going strong, but a pesky fly starts to annoy her, and–fatefully–she claps her hands together trying to catch it. UH-oh: too late. She’s out of the competition. The big guy whoops happily and flings away his hat in elation.

Outside on the steps. Jin is despondent (“..that katana...”); Mugen’s just pissed off. Fuu, grossly bloated and looking miserable, tries to explain about the fly. Up walks the big guy, beaming cheerily and saying what a lovely day it is; he’s very visibly carrying all three swords. Jin is riveted. Mugen and Fuu look him over suspiciously: your accent’s weird, you have blue eyes, and red hair... But he says no, no, I really am Japanese; my name is Jouji.

Whoever you are--says Jin--that sword you have is my life. Please give it back.

No, says Jouji flatly. “I didn’t mean for free,” counters Jin, and Jouji eagerly makes an offer: he wants a tour guide. If they’ll show him the sights of Edo, he’ll return Jin’s katana. Mugen says count him out, he doesn’t know anything about Edo, and Fuu says they need to get about their search, but Jin firmly overrules them both, telling Jouji that he’s so knowledgeable he’s been called “the Map of Edo”. Liar, mutters Mugen, but quietly...

So they tour Edo, though it’s immediately apparent that Jouji knows a lot more about it than any of them do. Mugen and Fuu, to their credit, at least try to give poor Jin some backup. (“Um, that’s Statue #1, and that’s Statue #2...”) Jouji isn’t bothered at all by their ignorance, seems delighted just to be here and loves everything they see, no matter how ordinary (“Wow! This must be Edo sushi!”) Meanwhile, we see a grim-looking bunch of armed men combing the city, asking everyone if they’ve seen a foreigner...and the basket-headed guys are still trooping around as well...

After a fireworks display Jouji buys them all dinner, and Jin suggests that’s enough sightseeing for one day, but the big guy wants to see more. Suddenly the armed men barge in, calling out that they know a foreigner is hiding in here, and anyone who shelters him will be charged alongside him; you’d better turn him in if you know what’s good for you. Mugen comments that a tone like that makes him all the more determined to hide the man. So what if I don’t want to turn him in? The posse stops short. We admire your nerve, says their leader, but you’d better apologize if you want to live. Well, you know Mugen, now he’d sooner die than give in; it’s time to kick butt. Hey, he says to Jouji, gimme back my sword. No, he says. What?! This is no time to argue!–yells Mugen. Too late. The troop leader points and orders the foreigner arrested.

We see Fuu arguing with a ferryman; none of the three can afford the fare. Swim then, he shrugs.

Fuu meets artist Hishikawa Moronobu in a restaurant, a most charming fellow. [Historic Note 1: Moronobu lived from 1618-1694, so he should look older than he does here. He was, however, really one of the stars of the Ukiyo-e school.] He treats her and her hungry sidekicks to a meal. Having eaten, the guys head off to find ways to raise the ferry fare while Fuu gets a tour of Moronobu’s print gallery. She really likes his work, especially one featuring sunflowers. =) He confesses his dream of becoming famous in Europe; no one takes his art seriously here. He says he’ll pay Fuu to pose for him, and she agrees, flattered.

(Small joke: as he frames Fuu's glancing-back pose with his fingers and imagines the painting he'll do of her, he says "I'll call it 'Backwards Beauty.'" The real Moronobu actually did do a painting called "Mikaeri Bijin" which translates as "Beauty looking back over her shoulder" or "Looking-back beauty". However, the figure is fully clothed and bears no resemblance to Fuu, not does it have sunflowers. Still a good bit of art-history trivia.=)

Mugen raises the money his usual way, by kicking it out of a gang of idlers. These particular idlers are yakuza punks employed by the gallery/bookstore owners; they run home to complain. Mugen, having their money, forgets all about the ferry and buys lunch, remembering only after he’s eaten every bit of his profits what he was supposed to be doing. [He really is Instant Gratification Boy.] With a sigh, he trots off to find the same yakuza punks and harass them for more money, stopping in his tracks when he sees Fuu with Moronobu outside his studio. You’re playing around with this guy?, he demands (our sub says “skirt chaser” so I guess Mugen has heard something of Moronobu’s reputation). Fuu proudly says that’s not it at all, she’s been hired to pose. Mugen realizes he’s lost the trail of the guy he was chasing and sprints off. [Oo, jealous much?]

Jin is watching foreign ships sail along the skyline. An old fellow with gold teeth, sitting playing shougi (Japanese chess, basically) with himself, asks if that’s so unusual. Jin remarks that he’d thought European ships were only permitted to anchor in Nagasaki. [Historic Note 2: he’s right; in 1638 the Tokugawa shogunate had banned contact with all countries except Holland and China; such contact was allowed only via the port of Dejima, in Nagasaki. The ban lasted two centuries, until 1854.] Oh, we’ve bribed the officials, says the old fellow; European goods may be prohibited, but they sell for a very good price. We can always claim we salvaged them from a shipwreck if we’re caught.

Jin studies the shougi board and suggests a move. The man invites him to play a match, and wagers a purse of coins. Jin says he can’t even pay the ferry fee, much less bet, and the fellow says he can gamble with his life; if he loses, the man will take him into custody.
“I can’t believe you’re sane,” says Jin, but he allows himself a little smile; he sees how he can earn his ferry passage. He accepts the match.

The punks tell their boss, the formidable lady owner of the bookstore/gallery, that they were robbed. She scornfully says that’s shameful for a yakuza and they’d better settle with that guy if they see him again. She then tosses them another pouch of money to replace what they lost; clearly the bookstore business is quite profitable...

Jin and Gold Teeth play shougi. You’re good, he tells Jin; where did you learn? At the dojo, Jin replies. Shougi is like swordfighting; the match is decided by how many moves you plan ahead of your opponent. That’s what my master taught me.
He must have been very skilled too, says Gold Teeth.
Yes, says Jin; I never beat him at shougi.
Were you able to beat him with the sword?

--Absolutely no response to this, not the least flicker of expression to show he even heard.

Gold Teeth tries to close the game by upsetting the board; both he and Jin try to play this to their advantage, Jin by remembering where the fallen pieces had been, and Gold Teeth by disagreeing with his memory.

We see Fuu posing for Moronobu; he persuades her to take her top down, which she reluctantly does. No sooner has he finished the painting than the yakuza punks break in and grab Fuu. She’s horrified to learn that he expected this; he’s part of their racket. He looks distressed but does nothing to stop them as they spirit her off to a warehouse and cram her into a barrel.

(Sakami Manzou was spying on this for awhile, but more as a peeping tom than a cop, it seems. He’s not there when Fuu is taken.)

His painting of her, an elegant nude framed by sunflowers (he must’ve noticed she liked that one) draws the attention of a gallery customer. Good choice, says the proprietress...

Guilt-stricken, Moronobu heads for the warehouse (eluding the amorous clutches of the bookshop proprietress, who says he really should be nicer to her seeing how she’s made it possible for him to live in such style). He finds Fuu, releases her from her barrel, and confesses: he knows what his models are in for. It’s the only way an artist can make a living, he protests weakly. That’s just an excuse, she says, tearful and deeply hurt at his betrayal of her trust. --Uh-oh, in walk the shop mistress and the yakuza punks...

By now it’s night, and Mugen is not comfortable that there’s no sign of Fuu. He goes off to Moronobu’s place, finds it deserted and dark, and is poking around for clues (and thumbing through his porn collection) when the punks dump the battered artist at his front door. If you weren’t the mistress’ pet we really would have done you, they warn. As soon as they go Mugen corners Moronobu and holds up one of his pencil sketches of Fuu. OK, where is she? You’ve got to save her, wails the artist, or she’ll be sold. Sold?!

On the way to the warehouse Moronobu spills the beans: the bookstore/gallery is the front for a white slavery racket. Once a girl has posed, she’s held captive and her portrait is posted; customers browse the walls like a catalogue, pick the girl they want, and she’s packed up and rowed out to the European ships. The old gold-toothed fellow and the bookstore mistress are yakuza, husband and wife, partners in the porn and slavery trade.

But when they get there, the warehouse is empty except for one barrel, and Manzou is in that, dressed only in a sumo loincloth.[“What a big baby,” Mugen comments.]

Mugen takes off at top gallop and catches the boat with Fuu’s barrel in it, jumps off a bridge and kicks the daylights out of the yakuza punks a third time; one grabs her and escapes. Mugen chases him down and with single-minded determination kicks his way through walls and doors to reach the final punk. Manzou scoops up Fuu and declares that he’s solved the case, matching Fuu to her portrait from the gallery. The jig’s up for the yakuza. Teyandee!

But Gold Teeth and Jin are calmly finishing their game oblivious to the big cop’s bellowing. Jin wins; the old yakuza starts to laugh and declares that he deserves it. As Manzou and the cops march him away (and his wife calls after him in distress), he tosses Jin the coin purse he wagered. “So,” sighs Fuu, “it was Jin, who looked as if he wasn’t doing anything, who was the only one to get paid.”

Moronobu calls to her from a boat passing under the bridge; he’s about to smuggle himself on a European ship and seek his fortune. He’s sorry he tricked her, and shows off the sunflower painting he did of her, calling her his #1 fan. Would she please not tell the bookstore mistress where he’s gone? He’ll never forget her... the boat glides off.

Should we let him get away? asks Mugen. Yes, that’s OK, says Fuu happily. she likes the painting, and proudly points out that he gave her very large breasts. He did?--the guys puzzle.

And we end with a footnote about how all the art Moronobu had with him was confiscated except the sunflower portrait, which is alleged to have gotten into the hands of Vincent Van Gogh...

The brothel floor clears as Jin and Mugen go at it. Sousuke bursts into Fuu and Suzu’s cell and tries to get Osuzu to come with him, but, honorable daughter that she is, she refuses. Sousuke is dragged out by Ishimatsu’s chain weapon and faces him and Rikiei (the Nagatomi boss).

Mugen is throwing everything at Jin including roundhouse kicks and brothel patrons’ shoes; suddenly in charges an army of Nagatomi footsoldiers and Jin and Sousuke are surrounded. Mugen is righteously pissed off at the interruption (“Get out of the way! He’s mine! I’m the one that’s going to kill him!”) and, classic Mugen, starts chopping down any yakuza between him and Jin. Terrified Nagatomi scatter before the madman. Jin grabs the fake shamisen case, which is full of smoke bombs, and he and Sousuke escape under cover of the smoke. Mugen gives chase but loses them.

[nice stuff here: Mugen may have hired on but he still has his solo priorities intact, and his first taste of being overruled by his boss and forced to play the obedient soldier just chokes him.]

Ishimatsu protests that Mugen has killed one of their own and should be fired right now, but Rikiei says no, it’s fine–it gave everyone a good look at him.

Jin and Sousuke talk under a bridge. Poor Sousuke is in tears that he couldn’t save Osuzu, but Jin is all business and tactics. The Nagatomi are only hired men, he says, none of them are committed to defending the boss with their lives. If we can take his head, the clan will collapse. It was worth the trouble of getting in there just to have learned that. --This does not comfort Sousuke.

Fuu and Osuzu talk; Fuu doesn’t see why she should feel responsible for her father’s debts. Because we’re family, says Osuzu. You have a family too, don’t you? Fuu gets an odd wistful look on her face; Osuzu apologizes; Fuu looks out the window and says family can cause a lot of problems...

Rikiei tells Mugen he’s not required to use his sword anymore, just stay put. Mugen’s furious: what did you hire me for then? Coolly filing his nails, the boss says that now that they’ve seen what he can do, just having him around will be enough to keep the rank-and-file in line. So you’re just using me to control others? That’s the power you talk about?, asks Mugen. Exactly. Mugen’s having none of it. I don’t give or take orders, I don’t want to rule or be ruled, he says, and turns to go. Rikiei protests: but you can have anything you want if you stay! You’re just tossing that away? Mugen says he believes only in his own strength, and heads for the door. You won’t live long if you betray me!, yells Rikiei. Mugen pauses and grins. If you send someone after me, make sure he’s really strong, he says, or I’ll have the pleasure of slicing him into tiny pieces. Later. –and he’s gone.

Ishimatsu is outside; they talk. Ishimatsu says he too once believed in his own strength, and thought he’d really get somewhere by leaving the Kawara clan to join the Nagatomi. But now he sees the world isn’t like that, and sometimes you have to give in. Stupid, snaps Mugen, quit making excuses; how you live is up to you. And exits, rolling his eyes in disgust. Ishimatsu looks after him thoughtfully.

Brothel customers are pawing Fuu and Osuzu, making nasty remarks; they seem to be stationed in an outside yard to attract customers off the street. Poor Osuzu shudders. Sousuke can’t stand it; he races up and stabs her molester. This won’t go well....the guy’s a Nagatomi...

Ishimatsu walks into the Kawara hall to tell Heitarou what his son’s done. He says he’ll take the responsibility. We see his meeting with Rikiei, who suggests they settle this yakuza-style, not with bloodshed but with the dice. If Heitarou wins, he saves his son’s life but the Nagatomi get his territory. That’s fair, Heitarou says, and if he loses he’ll atone with his own life. But to keep things fair, the Kawara should provide the dealer. Fine, says Rikiei.

(What an idiot, he tells Ishimatsu after Heitarou has gone; all we have to do is lose and the town is ours. But they get to choose the dealer, protests Ishimatsu. Don’t worry about that, their dealer will never arrive, says the boss...)

Mugen, trudging out of town in the rain, tries to forget that Fuu is still in the brothel and Jin is still alive, and can’t. Too much business left unfinished. ***, he growls, looking back.

The brothel madam tells the girls about the news of the big Kawara-Nagatomi gamble, adding that they shouldn’t think any of them will be set free, no matter who wins. Fuu looks stunned.

Jin pays the innkeeper for his free meal of yesterday; the kind fellow gives him an umbrella, and he steps out into the rain. Heitarou is there. Where are you headed, he asks, and they walk to the town bridge talking. He’s a guy with a lot of regrets. He’s shed a lot of innocent blood and lost irreplaceable friends and family. He hoped to hand the clan on to his son, but that’s in jeopardy. He’s wondered if it’s time to quit ever since Nishimatsu left the Kawara. He asks Jin a favor: though Jin has the skill to kill Rikiei, that will only continue the cycle of retribution. Would he please leave the matter to Heitarou? He gives Jin a temple talisman to give Sousuke.

Fuu is making ugly faces to scare prospective brothel clients away, hoping to be fired, but all she does is attract an ugly guy! Momosan to the rescue! The squirrel pops out of her dress when the guy tries to grab her and gives him a good bite; Fuu makes him eat vase and goes out the window. In the street, looking for the gambling hall, she flags down a passing palanquin. They assume she’s the Kawara’s chosen dealer and take her there on the double.

Everyone’s sitting in the hall, waiting for the dealer to arrive: Rikiei and Ishimatsu on the Nagatomi side and Heitarou and Jin for the Kawara. What happened to your bodyguard, Jin asks Rikiei. He left town, the boss says. Jin frowns slightly at this news....

Mugen bursts into the brothel and asks “Where is she?” Um, she ran away. ..”Idiot!” and he’s off.

Rikiei grins sharklike and suggests they’d better choose a dealer themselves, since it looks like the Kawara choice isn’t coming, but suddenly the arrival is announced. Everyone is stunned to see her, the Kawara side since she’s not who they expected (Jin: “You?!”) and the Nagatomi since they obviously arranged for no one to arrive at all. But to the room’s surprise little Fuu steps up, takes charge, and tosses the dice with professional skill. It’s a game called han-chou (odd-even): dealer throws the dice, then covers them with a cup so they can’t be seen, and gamblers bet on whether they came up even or odd. The Nagatomi call han; the Kawara call chou. It’s a seven: odd. The Nagatomi win.

Heitarou stands up and says he’ll settle this, that he has no intention of giving his people or land to the Nagatomi. As promised, he’ll pay with his life. He draws a knife and commits seppuku on the spot.

How old-fashioned, remarks Rikiei coldly; that’s the end of that piece of sh**. No!, yells Sousuke, my dad behaved like an honorable villain--a true yakuza! You’ve done nothing to call yourself a real yakuza! You’re the piece of s***!

And that’s fine with me, says Rikiei, collaring the kid. Now I’ll just have to use force to take this territory. He puts a knife to Sousuke’s throat, warning Jin not to move. Jin freezes, hand halfway to katana–

When guess whose metal-clad geta stamps through the wall. And again everyone in the room says “You?!”

A certain someone didn’t come after me, no one came after me, says Mugen, so here I am. He spins his sword and grins. Rikiei tries to use Sousuke as a shield–-like Mugen cares about that. Here I come!, he says, and charges.

Rikiei throws the kid aside and bolts. Fighters scatter in all directions. Jin and Mugen each take a section of floor and start clearing it.

Rikiei sees none of his guys will face their swords for him, and flees the building, only to find Ishimatsu standing in his path. You never trusted me or any of us, you trusted only money, he says, and stabs Rikiei dead. Jin, Sousuke and the Kawara run up only to find the deed already done. I finally opened my eyes, says Ishimatsu....

It’s later. Jin gives Sousuke the talisman his father entrusted to him. Sousuke asks Ishimatsu to come back to the Kawara, saying his father would have done the same. Thanks, he says, but first I need to atone for what I’ve done. He steps outside and asks Mugen if he’d like to finish their duel.

Fuu and Jin leave, telling Sousuke and Osuzu goodbye. Fuu says they’ll come back for a visit after they’ve found the sunflower samurai.

And Ishimatsu and Mugen face each other. I won’t go easy on you, Mugen says. I thought so, replies Ishimatsu. There’s an unexpected sadness in Mugen’s eyes. They run at each other, there’s one flash, and Ishimatsu falls, blood spilling from his mouth. Silhouette and cut.

The guys tire of Fuu’s chattering, of the whole arrangement in fact, and after a brief conference just ditch her and each other, running off in different directions at the next three-way crossroad (“Live a good life!” is Mugen’s cheerful parting remark).

Crossing the bridge into the next town down the road, Mugen, as usual, walks right up to someone else’s table, sits down and starts eating their food, oblivious to their glares. These guys are the Nagatomi Clan, who run this town (“These are those sort of people,” the proprietor warns him in a frantic whisper. “Ehh? Yakuza?” blurts Mugen, while the table winces.) but Mugen shows them a few tricks with skewers and is hired on the spot. He gets shown around the place, including the gambling hall where they run thoroughly rigged games of chance. Their boss, Rikiei, takes an immediate liking to him and even offers him a partnership. He’ll think about it...

Now we meet little Sousuke and pretty Osuzu, as she helps with Sousuke’s history homework. Osuzu’s father, Daigorou, has just lost a bundle at the crooked gambling, and a bunch of Nagatomi heavies come by the house to see if he’d like to hand over his carpentry business to cover his losses. They strongly hint that if not his shop it’ll be his daughter. The poor guy blanches. Sousuke runs out of the house in distress.

Jin, crossing–you guessed it–the same bridge into the same town, learns the history of the place from an old innkeeper. The Kawara Clan, whose head is the well-liked Heitarou the Merciful, used to run things here and all was peaceful, but since the Nagatomi arrived it’s all changed, and Heitarou seems powerless to resist them.

Cut to the assembly hall, where Daigorou is imploring Kawara Heitarou to help save his carpentry shop. Heitarou says he’d like to help, especially since Daigorou’s daughter has been so much help to Sousuke in his studies, but since they can’t prove the game was unfair Daigorou must honor his debt. Other Kawara clansmen chime in, however, agreeing that the gambling hall is dishonest, that it’s claimed many men’s businesses and daughters. Heitarou looks strained; he seems like a guy who wants peace at any cost, unfortunately...

Jin asks the innkeeper if there’s any way to earn money here, and is told the best way is to hire on as a bodyguard with the Nagatomi–they always have money. (He also gets a bowl of soup, on the house.) Speak of the devil: in walk a pack of same, followed by angry little Kawara Sousuke, who demands they give back the contract Suzu’s dad just signed; evidently he chose to lose his shop rather than his daughter. [Right, Osuzu’s pupil is the Kawara clan head’s son. I’d put him at maybe 10 or 11.] The yakuza laugh at the kid and start roughing him up. Jin puts away the soup at top speed, not missing a word of what’s happening. The Nagatomi get Sousuke onto the floor and start kicking, and Jin sets down his bowl, stands up and asks the kid if he’d like to hire a bodyguard. Stay out of it, you third-rate samurai, growl the yakuza. OH-ho. With one flash of his sword Jin slices the robes off all three thugs, leaving them standing there in their under-wrappings (whatever their name is...) Without a drop of blood drawn. The guys stare, absolutely flummoxed. The Indigo Nemesis stands there glowering, katana-point under the nearest thug’s nose, and they scatter, yelling that they won’t forget this. Jin glares after them. [ah, that samurai sense of justice..]

(Fuu walks over–-yup–-the same bridge into the same town, muttering that she can find the sunflower samurai without those two...)

Mugen, upon hearing that all three Nagatomi were beaten by one guy with an amazing fast draw, snickers and says he’ll take the job. This does not make the boss’ current second-in-command, Ishimatsu, happy, and they have a quick duel which is ended when Rikiei tells Ishimatsu to go and get “the carpenter’s girl”. But she’s too young for this, he protests. Do as you’re told, snaps Rikiei. Mugen does not miss this exchange.

Fuu consults a fortuneteller who tells her she should beware of pots. Sure enough she bumps into someone and breaks a pot whose owner demands 100 ryu in payment. You don’t have any ryu? We have a job for you, they say... same place the busted gamblers’ daughters end up going to pay off their fathers’ debts. Yup, the yakuza run both the crooked casino and the local whorehouse.

Little Sousuke, happy to have reclaimed the contract for Daigorou’s shop, trots after Jin with a grabbed katana stuck in his belt. Jin very sternly tells him that’s not a toy and he shouldn’t carry it if he’s not prepared to die. The kid sniffles...

shimatsu and thugs cart Osuzu off to the brothel, and Ishimatsu tells Daigorou it’s because the Kawara hired a bodyguard and took back his contract. He’s stunned.

Heitarou scolds Sousuke for his impulse and tells him that caused Osuzu to be taken away. Kawara clan guys are fed up and eager to fight back but Heitarou resists, and asks Jin to leave. Sousuke blows up, says his dad’s attitude was fine when things were peaceful but not now, and says he and Jin will handle this without the clan’s help.

Jin and Sousuke case the joint: the Nagatomi HQ is in the apartments over the brothel. Jin says that it'll be hard for them to get in, since it's heavily guarded and the Nagatomi know both of them on sight. Sousuke says he has an idea: Jin looks dubious, but it's apparently more of a plan than he has...

Fuu and Osuzu talk; Osuzu says sadly that there’s no way around this for her because of her father’s debts.

Mugen and Rikiei are talking in the Nagatomi HQ. Mugen is itching for a fight or something to do, and can’t wait for this Kawara bodyguard to show up. [It’s hard to believe he didn’t guess it was Jin.] The boss says he’ll definitely show up since they set the bait. They discuss business and how the yakuza infiltrate and take over towns peacefully, without battles.

And how do Sousuke and Jin get into the brothel? Dressed as a little old man and a tall, stately candidate for employment, that’s how, complete with Jin’s katana thinly disguised as a shamisen--a trick also seen in Zatoichi, BTW. (“You don’t look so bad,” Sousuke reassures. “That doesn’t flatter me,” retorts Jin-san. Actually, he passes for female fairly well. Also, trivia note, his ears are apparently pierced.) This doesn’t last long–only as long as it takes for someone to request he actually play the silly thing–and he’s back into glasses and character in a flash, and is promptly spotted.

:shock:

Mugen hears the yell of “Kawara yojimbo!” from downstairs, draws his sword and takes off at a gallop; the women nearby, including Fuu and Osuzu, look up at the commotion; and there follow a succession of absolutely classic double-takes as all three of them realize they’re once again in the same place at the same time.

Mugen grins his slow evil grin. No matter how we try to resist it, this is our destiny, he declares, and hurls himself at Jin.

Jin and Mugen, as they go, pelt Fuu with questions about this sunflower samurai she’s looking for: does she have a portrait of him? Where did he stay when he was here? What is a sunflower, anyway?--But she answers none, gets frustrated and suggests they get something to eat. They pool their tiny cash resources and buy some steamed tofu buns at an outdoor café, but a hawk makes off with them before any can be eaten. Mugen overhears some locals saying that an ogre has been kidnapping people in the area; they approach an older guy sitting there and say, hey you’re a samurai, why don’t you handle it?–-but he’s not too impressive, being scared even by the yap of a little dog. Mugen steps up and says he’ll deal with the ogre in exchange for a meal–-see a Mugen pattern developing here?–- showing them some fancy swordwork to settle the bargain.

While they’re eating, Jin has a few words with the diffident older samurai, who he stares at very hard indeed (“I am a samurai in name only,” the fellow shrugs) and the guys with the ogre problem slip Fuu a cup of sake which she mistakes for water and slugs in one shot, promptly passing out on the table. Yet another helpful local asks the group where they’re staying the night and offers them his cabin by the hot spring. (Of course, all these so-friendly people are working for Ryuujiro...)

So off they go, hauling the out-cold Fuu on a cart. (Mugen offers a very rude suggestion to unconscious Fuu, but she really is out: no reaction whatever.) That guy, muses Jin..no, I’m probably just thinking too much. He decidedly seems to be trying to remember where’s he’s seen the man before. Along the path saunters the next element of Ryuujiro’s plan, a gorgeous brunette walking uncomfortably barefoot; her sandal’s broken. Mugen offers to fix it, but of course he has his price...so when they get to the cabin, Mugen leaves Jin and Fuu, saying he has something else to do. A woman, mutters Jin...

The lady is very direct about what she wants from Mugen, who’s quite agreeable...

Jin goes off to bathe in the hot spring, only to find the older samurai already there. He comments on the fireflies which are everywhere, asking if Jin knows why they glow. It’s to attract females, but sometimes, he adds, males end up attracting each other. He looks at Jin, smiles slightly; Jin expressionlessly says “Excuse me,” and gets up to leave, but the man says he has information that might be useful. He knows something about “the samurai that young girl mentioned,” the one who smells of sunflowers. Jin looks skeptical.--You have to admire Jin’s composure; walking away bare-naked from a guy who’s just blatantly hit on him, and still has the cool to stand and talk business for a minute...

While Jin is gone, Ryuujiro and Wakamaru enter the cabin, knock out the barely-awake Fuu and kidnap her.

Mugen, kissing the brunette, suddenly makes a face and spits. She’s passed him poison. You bi&%, what did you do, he snarls; she tells him that it was in the (large amount of) sake he had as well. It’s called “the single night’s mushroom” because it takes all night to kill you. At swordpoint, she adds that it was “a one-handed man” who hired her, and that he has not only the antidote to the poison but –by now--the girl who was traveling with them. Sh**, mutters Mugen, and heads for the cabin.

As Ryuujiro and Wakamaru are climbing the path with the unconscious Fuu, two officers of the Kanto police stop them with intent to arrest Ryuujiro for the arson of the teahouse and the death of the magistrate’s son. [So, it’s been made clear, I guess, that that’s not Jin and Mugen’s fault after all.] Ryuujiro tells the big guy that here are two of the people who always tormented him, and he gently sets down Fuu and wipes the cops out.

Mugen makes his way along, sweating and looking very sick. He finds the cabin empty.

Wakamaru is standing guard over Fuu when she comes to. He tells her not to look at him because his face is so horrible. Compassionate little Fuu tells him that she’s not afraid of him, and that he has very sad eyes. He tells her his story: he was in jail because he killed a gang of men who called him a monster and hunted him down. He didn’t really mean to, but he was afraid and confused. (We’ve been seeing his repeated flashback: Frankenstein-esque scenes of pursuing mobs with torches.) They watch the fireflies together until Ryuujiro arrives, saying it’s time for the feast to begin.

Jin and the older samurai are walking into the woods; I assume on the pretext of sharing the aforementioned information, but they both seem to know better already. The man tells Jin that he’s a hired assassin, which Jin had guessed, and that killing him is nothing personal, just his job. Jin wants to know who sent him, but he only says, let’s go. The guy's quite good, a traditional duelist like Jin; his first rush is so fast that Jin's eyes go wide, and he never lets up from there. He's delighted with Jin's skill: “It's a long time since I've faced an opponent of your caliber. Just as the rumors say!” [--First mention of these. He's heard more than just rumors about Jin, too: what he actually says is, "You are even better than the rumors have it. Maybe in a dojo I would not be able to beat you, but this isn't the dojo anymore, eh?"--arigato to Neko-san for giving me this line.] --There follows much elegant swooshing and flashing of swords in the bright moonlight.

Something is still distracting Jin about this guy, he's a stride off his game and the man takes the advantage, backing Jin into the bamboo. Was I wrong about not standing a chance against you?--he smiles. Jin stares at him, trying to get it. The guy darts off, Jin gives chase; he turns, again launches into Jin with a furious barrage of slashes. Jin, who's used to making his kill within half-a-minute, is having one of the fights of his life: he's decidedly pressed to the wall and starting to look anxious. The guy's next swing gets close enough to crease the front of Jin's robe--

Mugen finally finds Ryuujiro, Wakamaru and the tied-up Fuu. Ryuujiro taunts him with the antidote to the poison. It’s soon made clear that Mugen has no memory whatever of this guy or of what happened to his hand (though Fuu does), and no clue what all this revenge business is about, which seriously ticks Ryuujiro off. He sics the giant on Mugen, who’s getting shaky, but plunges in headfirst anyway–

[And: the two battles are going on at opposite sides of the spring/river on a clear moonlit night, each visible to the other. Nice cinematography there.]

Fuu is terrified for Mugen’s safety, calling out to him, and when the giant knocks Mugen out and Ryuujiro drags him to the waterside, she hurls herself at Ryuujiro and pushes him in. Ryuujiro, furious, delivers an insane monologue about how much he loves the pain of others and wants to extend their suffering, but he thinks Fuu might as well die right now. He puts his sword to her throat. That’s too much for big Wakamaru, who won’t see his little friend harmed, and throttles Ryuujiro then and there. Dizzy Mugen, seeing the dangling feet of the giant’s victim, charges Wakamaru. Fuu cries out for them to stop; Wakamaru hears her and drops his weapon; Mugen doesn't, and punches his sword straight through him.

Across the water, the older samurai sees Ryuujiro fall. Oh, look at that, he says calmly; my employer is dead, so I now have no reason to kill you. Of course I won’t get paid for having fought you, but that can’t be helped. [Jin is standing there with the most priceless “WTF?” look on his face.] The man sheathes his sword. I have a feeling we’ll meet again, he says, and off down the path he goes, just like that. Leaving Jin staring after him, completely mystified.

And Fuu kneels beside the dying giant, sadly asking him why he defended her. Because you weren’t afraid of me, he says; because I don’t feel alone anymore. A firefly lands on his hand and its light plays across his face. He smiles...

We open at dusk of a summer evening in Edo, Japan, late in the 17th Century. Two young men, "the vagabond Mugen and the vagrant swordsman [or 'rogue samurai'] Jin," are kneeling at the execution block, about to be beheaded. Do they want to beg for their lives?–-taunts the magistrate. Mugen defiantly replies that if bastards like this one are going to be in charge, he’d just as soon die. Dry chuckle; Jin calmly adds that that sounds fine, and he agrees. The furious magistrate orders the executioners to proceed, the swords swish up, the guys look around for any exit–

cut to the flashback. 24 hours earlier....

It’s a busy day in the teahouse where teenager Fuu works, and she’s not happy: a gang of bullies, led by the son of the local magistrate–a spoiled-rotten bleach-blond with fancy earrings--is hanging around the place, yelling at the staff and harassing customers. One of them, Ryujiru, is just itching to find something to test his new sword on. Fuu’s steamed at the guys’ rudeness, but her boss tells her to have patience.

Meanwhile, the magistrate himself is doing the rounds, nice guy, collecting taxes from overburdened townsfolk and threatening the lives of those who can’t pay. Backing him up with ferocious scowls are three large swordsmen. A tall, lean fellow in indigo-blue is among the crowd watching the magistrate at work. He takes a step forward; a local stops him and explains in a whisper that it’s not a good idea, because the magistrate’s guards are the cream of the crop of Edo’s famous Yagyu fighters, and even a group of samurai wouldn’t stand much chance against them.

A shaggy young guy with a fancy sword enters the teahouse: Mugen, who we met in the flash-forward. He asks for water; Fuu says they don’t serve water to anyone who’s not buying food; Mugen beckons her closer and tells her that for 50 dumplings he’ll take care of the bullies. She’s tempted, but asks if he’ll take 20; he’s insulted. As she turns to go, she trips, and spills hot tea all over, you guessed it, the magistrate’s son–- who says he’ll let Ryujiru test the new sword on her. They pin her down and Ryujiru draws the sword, considers. Should she lose some fingers? Her nose? An ear? --Mugen, meanwhile, is lounging on the table coolly waiting for her to make up her mind.

Back with the tax-collecting magistrate: he’s just ordered the Yagyu to execute a man too broke to pay. (Note, BTW, that what the man offered is a mixture of old Chinese coinage--the center-pierced round ones--and the new oblong Japanese gold, which was just coming into circulation at the time. Hence the Daikan's snide comment that "this (the Chinese coinage) isn't money".) The tall guy in blue walks straight up to the swordsmen and asks if they really honed their skills all this time just to do the will of an irksome master (or: "even if that master is trash?") and kill innocent men. That, he says, is just stupid. He takes off his big straw hat, which has been hiding his face all this time, and we see it’s our vagrant swordsman Jin. The Yagyu are outraged by his insolence, and charge as one. Jin stands there...

Back to the teahouse. The sword point gets very close, and terrified Fuu yells, “One hundred dumplings!” Mugen, satisfied, stands up and comments that the guys’ sh$%y lives are being bought pretty cheaply, at about five dumplings a head. [No, there are not 20 of them–I think Mugen just didn’t count.] Ryujiru decides to test the sword on him instead, and Mugen lops off his hand. Brawl commences, with Mugen putting on a pyrotechnic display of acrobatics while spraying blood in all directions.

(At the same time, Jin draws his katana and slices up all three Yagyu in two fast strokes.)

The blond kid sneers. You don’t get it, do you, he says; my father is the local magistrate and no one gives me any trouble without paying for it. Mugen swings and cuts off the topknot of his hair, a huge insult. What do I care about your society, he says: I was born in Ryukyu. [A prison-colony island; as tough as they come.]

Jin whips the blood off his blade, silently sheathes it and turns to go. The quaking magistrate asks what does he want, is it money or what...Jin just leaves, scooping up, in passing, some of the coins the magistrate refused as payment of the man’s taxes (note he takes only the Japanese coinage). The magistrate yells for someone to stop him, but none dare budge.

The magistrate’s kid, sweating in fear, tells Mugen that right now daddy’s in the company of three amazing Yagyu swordsmen, thinking that should scare him at least a little. Uh-huh, right. Mugen, grinning ferally, grabs the kid’s hand, tells his remaining flunkies to bring those swordsmen here right away, and he’ll just break a few fingers while he’s waiting,. Crack. They scurry. Crack...

He’s up to the fourth finger and getting bored when someone steps into the tearoom. Jin. “Would you happen to be a Yagyu master?” blurts out blondie, hoping rescue has come. Jin sizes up the situation and excuses himself. So, purrs Mugen, are you one of those amazing swordsmen? And charges him without further ado. A terrific, off the walls-ceiling-and-furniture fight ensues, with a great dialogue passage included:
“Those amazing swordsmen died a short while ago.”
“Died?!”
“I killed them.”
“That’s great!”

Ryujiru, who seems to have lost his mind along with his hand, pours oil on the tearoom floor and sets it on fire, howling “Burn in hell!” Jin and Mugen, still fighting, are nearly caught in the blaze but escape (and Mugen has a momentary, very strange hallucination in which his sword catches fire and he sees Jin sitting in a bathtub...) --Everyone scatters...

As it turns out, the magistrate’s son died in the fire, so he’s now without his heir and his Yagyu masters because of these two, and he’s not the forgiving type. He sentences them both to beheading and adds they’ll be tortured while they wait.

The tearoom is now just so much steaming debris, leaving Fuu both homeless and jobless. The tearoom owners, who know she has no family, offer to let her live with them, but she says no, this has caused her to make up her mind. She smiles.

Sunset; they’re marched to the execution block, and we’ve caught up with the opening scene. Jin asks Mugen, have you made your peace; are you ready to die? Mugen grins and says he does that with every sunrise. Fuu is scrambling to come up with a plan B, and finds it in some firework bombs and a ladder. As the executioners' swords swish down, Mugen bursts loose and disarms the guards with a feet-flying backspin; Mugen’s own sword flies and lands in the ground behind Jin, who leans back, slices the ropes off his wrists with it, uses it to slash two guards, then chops Mugen’s ropes and tosses him his blade. Hey, Mugen says, our fight is on hold till we’re outta here. They prepare to hack their way out. Blood flies in every direction...

Fuu covers their tracks by tossing the fireworks off a roof, and they make their escape. Now can we fight? Fuu comes running up, saying hey, I saved you, you have to keep your promise to me. After I kill this guy, they say. No, insists Fuu, you have to come with me, and suggests they toss a coin: heads they can kill each other now, tails they have to come with her on her quest. Mugen pitches the coin straight up so hard it nearly vanishes from sight (“You’re a guy who doesn’t know his limits,” observes Jin) and when it comes down it’s nearly embedded in Fuu’s forehead. Tails! And voices yell “There they are!” As one they take to their heels...

Always cheerful and curious with much vitality. Fuu is a girl that has moved from job to job countless times. Also, she keeps a flying squirrel in her sleeve, which sometimes saves her

And why has she had so many jobs?

She has always been searching for a certain man: â€廣 Samurai who smells like sunflowers.â€? If she does a wide amount of jobs, she thought she might be able to catch the trail of that man. At any rate, to find that man she has resolved to tour around to various countries.

She realizes that traveling alone is dangerous, but luckily for her Jin and Mugen crash into her life and become her yojimbo's... but through no choice of their own.

In order to disguise himself, he wears badass glasses.

In the Edo period, there was a swordsman who held an incredible record that he was not once defeated in over a thousand contests between different schools of swordsmanship. According to a Japanese monastery clerk, there was a phantom of sword fighting that mastered things to the ultimate, recording until nothing has been left behind, and then disappearing, and Jin was the best student at the dojo that had been opened by that swordsman, he was called the young genius that surpassed the practitioners.

But, there was a certain incident that gave him enough reason to leave the dojo. Ever since, he has become a rounin. He has forsaken the swordsmanship where you cross swords with your opponent, and kills with a single stroke of the sword instead.