Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

Introduction

2007-12-31T23:58:00.000-08:00

Updates

April 06 2007

The paintchat has ended peacefully.

Long version:

As you can see this site has... sad to say, died. Yes, this site is dead. Practically d-e-a-d. Not just the info section, the fanart section too.
The reason is because, well - let's just say our interest did end up waning and it wasn't enough to make us spare time these days. We have both been extremely busy with schoolwork and I haven't been able to doodle much presentable work recently either.
Anyway. Slowly but surely we're hoping to move the information bits to the Iroha wiki over at http://iroha.nu/wiki .
To all the people who've been visiting this site all this time, thank you very much, and our sincerest apologies for leaving such a dead site.
So now what? Perhaps a few more small doodles or such will be posted up. Of course, the paintchat results will go up too. And I do intend to do at least one more proper fanart before the subs reach episode 26. But don't expect much...

Once again, thank you and see you around.

March 05 2007
I added screenshots from episode 1-3. I did not comment on them. I will add those later, but right now I am too tired to be remotely funny. I will add more screenshots later.

If any of you is wondering why I put the screen shots on such an ugly, generic layout, it's because I do not want the page to load any more graphics than it must.

And if any of you is wondering why there's no informational updates on this site, it's because wao is very busy lately, and probably will be very busy till the show ends. If you guys want more updated information, please go to the Iroha wiki.

I think from now on, we will only be updating the Iroha fan section (the fanarts section, the screenshot sections, maybe a musing or two, etc).

March 03 2007
Frame Shots is indeed a far superior program.

I put up a Screenshot section. Right now it only has screenshots with crack comments from ep 21. But I will add screenshots from other episodes soon.

Feb 21 2007
Doodles updated.

I have recovered from my unhappy experience with Topaz Moment and am now trying out Frame Shots. Let's hope this program is better.

Feb 17 2007
Put up new paintchat log (DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING CHARACTERS SCREWED AROUND) and new oekaki thing I drew the other day. (I am still trying to update, I swear)

Feb 10 2007
Aaaand we're still on hiatus because wao is an unforgivably lazy bastard. I don't know what to say here...
I can't well up the energy to write anything proper -_-
But I still have time for this sort of crap. (warning: ep 18 spoilers)
Bleah.
Somebody shoot me! Arrrgh!
(Feb 12 addition: Proof that I am (not) studying! Well, at least I tried... and I finished it in the end.)

Jan. 27 2007
Sorry about the hiatus. I am feeling guilty enough about this site that despite the fact I will probably regret updating later when my pile of homework is due... I will still try to update in the coming week by putting up more of Wao's episode review + my own + screenshots (YES screenshots, you did not read wrong).

In the mean time, I updated the doodle page with 4 doodles by Wao and a new paint chat. Go to the fanart section to see them!

Edit: I just added Wao's awsome-must read-oversize-rambly Guide to Iroha Fansites on the Miscellaneous page. Check it out!

Jan. 23 2007
...If you haven't realised by now... this site... is on some sort of hiatus. Not because I've lost interest, but I really need to stop spending so much time on this show. I really do want to get more proper information on this show before the subs get up to around episode 13... -_- *sigh* Please don't hold your breath for updates of any sort for at least a week.

Jan. 17 2007
A new post in fangirl rants section that may or may not amuse you.

Jan. 13 2007
Yeah yeah, it's not the 13th for most other people but it is over here so there :P.
Paintchat session logs - here. G'night folks.
(edit: another paintchat log added in fanart section)

Jan. 12 2007
I posted a fanart. I drew this quite a while back but only had time to ink it now. School started for me this Monday, it looks like a pretty hard term, but then I think I will still have some free time for Iroha, so I will be updating now and then.
(wao also uploaded two scribbly oekaki pics)
(ori also uploaded a scribbly in oekaki section)

Jan. 11 2007
Oh god, it's been so long and I still haven't got any INFORMATION-RELATED updates. Screw homework, today I had a paintchat session with midnightreverie, and have uploaded three pathetic doodles on the Fanart page.
I wish I could promise that I'll get Enomoto Takeaki's page up by Sunday and fill in the relevant spoilers for various people too, but school is seriously worse than I thought, I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. (and here I am having paintchat sessions. Uh.)
==EDIT: Publicity time! Please do take a look at the Iroha-only oekaki board set up by midnightreverie. And doodle something if you like!==

Jan. 04 2007
Wao's new school year officially started yesterday. As such, from now on we will log our fanart updates too because they will come less often (since, let's admit it, Wao does way more fanarts than I).

I posted up another fangirl rant (this one is rather silly, I have to admit). I also posted up 1 new paint chat (I posted up a paint chat a few days earlier without saying anything, you may want to check that one out too because Wao and I are particularly proud of that one). Also, after much procrastination I posted up the MSN doodles Wao and I did a while back.

I also re-organized the update log so that our front page would load faster. You can access the older updates here or click on Old Updates on the side bar.

Also, I guess I may as well say sorry now. I thought I would have lots more free time than I ended up having in my Christmas holiday. In the end, the anticipated new layout never materialized, neither did the fanart update I wanted to make... I will definately make the fanart update, but the layout update probably wouldn't be as thorough as I first imagined (aka I will be re-using codes).

Jan. 02 2007
This is already too late in some parts of the world (including mine), but greetings for 2007, everyone. May it be a nice year for your life and for Iroha. Ah... I ended up scribbling this on paintchat as this site's excuse for a new year's fanart thingamabob.

Un. I think I am falling physically sick because of this anime. Seriously. (Never happened before, and for good reason...) And now I am going to sleep before my sinuses bleedin' murder me nose and me brain, thank you very much. School starts... tomorrow. gg. bye.

EDIT: Nakaiya's character bio spoilers have been reorganised and are up to ep 13. I think most of the character bios need rearranging...
Also, Kakunojou's song has been added to the Lyrics section.

(test rakugakichat)

Fan Art

2007-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

Fan Art

Here you can find some fanart done by Ori and wao. O teh nos!
There is a lot of embarassingly fangirly stuff in there, but we have no NSFW or BL images. (Sorry.)
If you do not like seeing silly pictures please keep away from "Doodles", "Oekaki" and "Paintchat".

Date of last update is in brackets (dd/mm)

Proper Fanart (11/01)

Doodles (21/02)

Oekaki (17/02)
←New Old→
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

MSN doodles (03/01)
←New Old→
♥ ♥

Paint chat sessions (17/02)
←New Old→
♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

Do you find these fun? Do you want to paintchat too? Then have a look at the Iroha paintchat community on LJ!

Regarding usage of images (Whut? You want to actually use them?):

Please do not hotlink them. 画像を直リンしないでください。
You can use these images freely for any legal purpose, including and not limited to reuploading, editing, retouching, etc., EXCEPT hotlinking. このサイトの作品は、直リン以外、法律上の無断転載・複製・加工などは全く禁じていないです。
We release any and all rights to these images. (LOL like we had any over them) 画像の版権とかまったくありません
However if you do use them, we appreciate a link back to http://irohaheya.blogspot.com. でも画像を使ったら出来る限りに←のurlをリンクして欲しいね。

If you really like any of our pics, it would be nice if you left a comment at the individual picture or sent an email (go to "About Us"). You don't have to of course, but still... we have egos too >.>

Art

2007-12-31T21:59:00.000-08:00

Proper Fanart

Contains fanart that is well... not necessarily proper, but better than the doodles at least >.>

Click on the pictures to see a larger version and view comments.

New ↑ Old ↓

Objects

2007-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

Objects

Sword of Moon Tears (Getsuruitou 月涙刀)

The Conqueror’s Head (Hasha no Kubi 覇者の首)

The Letter in Episode 1 (密書)

(This is not an object but I am too lazy to put it elsewhere for now)

The village of Koma

Doodles

2007-12-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

Doodles

Click on the pictures to see a larger version and view comments.

New ↑ Old ↓

Fangirl rants

2007-12-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

Fangirl Rants

Warning: Shameless fangirling ahead.

Further Proves of Ori and Wao's Obsession

Bad Animation Fun

Kanna's Clothing Problem and a Very Logical Explanation

Another Fable concerning Heads, Swords and Revenge

wao's kill list (Last update: 27/11/06)

Episode 8: A comic

The Scene that made me swoon (ep 2)

Fantasy Ending

Characters

2007-12-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

Characters

The Main Character
秋月耀次郎 AKIZUKI Youjirou

The Yuyama Troupe 遊山一座
遊山赫之丈 YUYAMA Kakunojou	茨木蒼鉄 IBARAGI Soutetsu	不知火小僧 SHIRANUI Kozou
恵比須の頭巾 EBISU no Zukin	座頭 Zagashira	案山子の恵信 KAKASHI no Keishin
こばこ Kobako	紅丸 Benimaru

Reappearing Characters
坂本龍馬 SAKAMOTO Ryouma	勝安房守海舟 KATSU Awa-no-kami Kaishuu	神無左京之介 KANNA Sakyounosuke
Ｈ.Ｓ. パークス Harry Smith PARKES	琴波 Kotoha	中居屋重兵衛 NAKAIYA Juubee
西郷隆盛 SAIGOU Takamori	新門辰五郎 SHINMON Tatsugorou	高麗の聖天様 Koma no Shouten-sama
帯刀新佐衛門 TATEWAKI Shinzaemon

Other Characters
河井継之助 KAWAI Tsuginosuke	益満休之助 MASUMITSU Kyuunosuke	大村益次郎 OOMURA Masujirou
沖田総司 OKITA Souji	おりょう Oryou	山岡鉄舟 YAMAOKA Tesshuu
Ｔ．Ｂ．グラバー Thomas Blake GLOVER	雑賀孫蔵 SAIGA Magozou	針生玄番 HARIO Genba

Culture

2007-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

Culture

Oiran

Dodoitsu

Irohaniwhat? (The Iroha song)

History

2007-12-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

Historical Stuff

Here you will find some write-ups on real, historical characters/places/things that either appear in the anime or are referred to. Since it's so chock-full of them. @_@

Please note that so far all the articles here refer only to web sources because yours truly is unable to get the required books.

Furthermore yours truly actually sucks at writing and failed History in school so don't expect it to be a lovely annotated completely-reliable accurate essay. It's only a bunch of pages acting as a start-off point those who are interested in the show's background, and perhaps to understand the setting and characters of the anime better.

Said author also is painfully aware that they could all do with much editing, reorganising and rewording...

And finally, the author also has had no formal training in Japanese so take that as you will.

Contributions, corrections, suggestions etc. are definitely welcome - go to "About Us" on the right and send an email!

A look at what historical figures look like compared to their anime counterparts can be found here.

Historical figures

Katsu Kaishu (勝海舟) - Open-minded Tokugawa navy official and diplomat, later negotiator

Sir Harry Smith Parkes - British consul and minister to Japan from 1865 to 1882

Nakaiya Juubee (中居屋重兵衛) - Merchant, scholar and supporter of Mito-han

Kawai Tsuginosuke (河井継之助) - Important retainer and decision-maker of Nagaoka-han

Historical groups

Tengutou 天狗党 - Extremist anti-foreigner group from Mito-han, largely died out in 1864

Episode Reflection

2007-12-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

Episode Reflections

Warning: the following is written by two helplessly obsessed fangirls and contains a lot of random nonsense and spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

Reading Wao's weekly writeups has been a highlight of my week ever sine I fell in love with Iroha. Since the Iroha thread at Animesuki is getting less and less navigable, I decided to start collecting her writeups here for your convenience.

Notice I broke her writeups up in sections under subtitles to make them more readable and I added some comments in them (these comments are in pink for easy identification).

(wao says: The nature, length and ..."quality" of the "writeups" vary very greatly, by the way. Do yourself a favour and read Henrietta's blog if you want better writeups. [Ori's edit: Henrietta's well written writeups are usually on finer details, if you are actually looking for general summary/episode spoilers Wao's probably is the way to go])

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

old updates

2007-12-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

Old Updates

December

November

Miscellaneous

2007-11-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

Miscellaneous

Kakunojou's Changing Appearances 101

Did I REALLY Look Like That? Anime vs. History

The Real Koma and surrounding areas

Wao's awsome-must read-oversize-rambly Guide to Iroha Fansites

A guide to Iroha fansite

2007-01-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

A guide to Iroha fansites

Some time ago I thought about writing this in case people had some problems going around or looking for Japanese Iroha fansites. So I wrote an unorganised guide based on my experiences with the Japanese Iroha fandom. And here it is for anyone who might find it useful.

If you have anything to correct, clarify, add on or comment on - please feel perfectly free to do so either by commenting, or by sending an email to me. And if you want to repost this/modify this go right ahead. I don't care, really. The formatting sure could be 100x better!

What's inside

Basic manners(READ IT)
Vocabulary (will be updated when I remember more)
The fansite layout
The Iroha fansite indexer

One thing before we start - a lot of fansites you see now, will only be up for a limited period of time. So go do all your searching now, before they close down at the end of the anime.

Basic manners

This section may come across as naggy. I apologize. But please, please read it before everything else if you don't already know the manners. Because the last thing I want is that everyone learns how to navigate Japanese fansites but then piss the site owners off greatly.

We all love fansites. Unfortunately, not so many fansites love us foreigners back. Why? Because we don't respect their manners.

But first you might be asking - why should I follow these manners?

It helps all of us by not cementing this image that "foreign fans are completely tactless and like stealing art". And it also is a sign that you actually care about and respect the people who create the fanart you like.

Also, remember - don't expect to be welcomed by them if you don't follow and respect their manners.

==The Manners==
#0 DO NOT LINK TO THE SITES EVER EVER EVER

Please, for the love of God, Jesus, Mary, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, $deity and Akizuki-sama's hawtness.

DON'T LINK THEM.

Sites may say "Link Free" meaning "feel free to link to this site" or similar phrases. But actually, they only mean linking among fellow Japanese fansites. This is an important point.

Just about every site REALLY HATES being linked to on forums and blogs and stuff because: they don't want to be searchable on search engines. And why? Because they want to avoid being discovered by copyright holders.

I won't say anything about how correct or wrong or paranoid it is but they really do not like it at all. And of course they can find out when you link them because they use tracking services.

Trust me, they really do not like it: I found out the hard way.

If you really, really, really, really have to, make the link un-clickable by changing it to ttp:// or whatever, so that people have to paste it in their browser.

#1 DON'T do anything to their art

The work on their site is the result of their hard work. Please don't go around using it in banners, sigs, layouts, icons/avatars etc. without their permission. (Some of them do not like people downloading it either) That includes throwing tons of effects and stuff on it. I don't know a single Iroha fanartist who wouldn't mind it.

Even if you give the source and post it somewhere it really annoys them (remember, they don't want to be found easily) and it gives us a rather bad impression... and as someone who draws fanart, whether or not you agree with their mentality I think it's only right to respect the artist's wishes if you truly like their artwork. If they don't want it - just don't do it, or stop visiting their site if it annoys you that much.

Of course they won't necessarily find out whether you did it or not - so ultimately I leave it to your conscience.

Regarding ideas for pics (like jokes and things) - I'm not too sure, but they appreciate it if you drop them a message saying you like their idea and if they don't mind you'd like to use it... It seems to me they're quite touchy about jokes/punchlines/ideas clashing (so if some other place came up with an idea of, say, Soutetsu dressing up as Okita, other places will not use it unless they're friends with the person who had the original idea, or they "got permission"... and if they coincidentally come up with the same idea and find out later they get very apologetic.)

#2 Obviously - DON'T hotlink their pictures or give a direct text link to them

I don't need to explain this, I hope.
They want people to see their whole site not just one picture with no attribution or anything.

Once I absentmindedly pasted a link to a picture and the next day the fansite owner turned the gallery into a Flash-based one so that nobody could 'steal' the pictures. So don't think they don't know.

#3 If you like their work a lot, and can type an understandable Japanese sentence - why not thank them for it?

Most websites have a comment form or a webclap section (see site sections). Fansite owners are generally very pleased when they receive comments. In Japanese. Very few understand English well enough but I don't suggest leaving comments in English unless you really, really, really, really like the site. (I've seen it once.)

Try to include some Japanese even if it's broken. And be tactful, of course. Don't mention illegal things (see below). Try not to get too lengthy. Be patient for their reply, some reply very fast on their memo page (see site sections), but some take up to a month.

#4 Always keep illegal things undercover

Some webowners actually are uncomfortable with foreigners because we shouldn't be able to watch the show in the first place. Keep in mind that even the sharing/using of official pics among fandom circles like the Iroha ones, is seen as near blasphemous - so the fact that we're downloading DRM'd shows would be... well.. you guess.

They're very picky about copyright. You'll notice that for the Iroha search site, one of the very first and most constantly repeated rules is that you cannot put any sort of official pics or screenshots or links to sites with those or any sort of association with such things...

So if you ever leave a comment or join a paintchat session or whatever, avoid mentioning how you get the episode or even the process of watching it because it makes them uncomfortable.

Vocabulary
The vocabulary here ranges from the really simple to some Iroha-specific ones.
This list can continually be added to and expanded. If you come across some word not listed here on an Iroha fansite and don't know what it means, post a comment or send an email and I'll find out what it means and add it. But before that try checking with an online dictionary.

==General==
CP/カプ - coupling/pairing.
ノーマル/ノマ - Normal (girl/boy pairings)
リバーシブル/リバシ/リバ - Reversible. I understand it means that the seme/uke relationship can be switched any time rather than it being fixed.
フリル - "Frill". Refers to Kanna.
オンリー/厭離 - "Only". Refers to show-specific doujin events. There's one for Iroha coming up (see ttp://boysblue.lolipop.jp/eventiroha/070304top.html for more info)
wwwwww/ワロス - The Japanese way of saying LOL.
リンクフリー - "Link free.” Means you can link to their site freely. But they tacitly mean only on other Japanese fansites.
オフ - "Off". Short for "offline" - that is offline fan activity. Usually refers to doujin production, methinks.
オフ会 - "Off-kai". Offline meeting. If you've watched NHK ni Youkoso you'd know this.
絵チャ/絵茶 - Paintchat. Do note that they only put up the URL for the place to go to for a very short while. [advertisement]And we have our own paintchat thingy too! Use it, dammit![/advertisement]
アンソロ - Anthology. A fan publication of illustrations for a particular pairing or so. Currently I believe there's one for Kanna/Akizuki, Okita/Akizuki and Katsu/Kanna. I hear there's one for Akizuki/Kanna.
ブクマ - "Bukuma". Short for "(online) bookmark". Not the social bookmarking type, but just keeping an online list of links to sites you like.
本家 - The main oekaki site - oekakibbs.com. Recently Iroha was featured there (mentioned in this post).
夢小説 - Dream fanfiction. The difference between this and normal fanfiction is that it tends to be more... of the guilty-pleasure ZOMG hawt sex *hides in toilet and reads* type. Can totally ruin your image of the characters but can also be incredibly fun.

==Iroha-specific==
よーずろー - "Yo~zuro~". A funny way of saying Youjirou.
ワカメ - "Wakame". Means seaweed. Refers to Soutetsu (because of his hair...)
ワンレン - "Wanren". A common contraction meaning hair that is all cut to the same length, literally "one-length". Also refers to Soutetsu...
セブンティーン/17歳/17才 - 17 year old. Refers to Akizuki.
とっとこ - "Tottoko". Refers to Akizuki. The word describes taking small hurried steps and refers to Akizuki's running in the OP.
密度萌え - "Mitsudo moe". Means super-intense moe. A clever pun referring to episode 12. Soutetsu had brought Akizuki, Kanna and Kakunojou together and commented that it was a 三つ巴 (mitsudomoe - a 3-way fight/struggle). So the fans made a pun of it. By the way most fans would tell you that the mitsudomoe was Akizuki, Kanna and Soutetsu, and not Kakunojou.

The typical fansite: A general layout
A large number of Japanese fansites, particularly female-run ones, tend to be very minimalistic in their site design. (And have tiny font.)

You get two types: the Iroha-only site/section (usually called a 部屋, 別館, 分館 etc.) that is a branch of the person's main fansite (本館); or just a person's fanart/personal site that has a few Iroha works on it.

Most sites share the same few essential elements, so it's quite easy to figure out most of them once you figure out a few. There are variations on the names which I've listed, but in the case of exceptions, just look at the URL or... just figure it out yourself!

Sometimes these elements can be pushed in a small part of the page to be purposely obscure so open your eyes.

==What's in a fansite?==
Top page (Top, Reset, 入り口, etc.)

If not on a sidebar, this is where you can find the name that person goes by, a banner to link with, and disclaimers plus a warning not to reproduce/redistribute etc. their artwork. It's very, very basic courtesy in Japanese circles that if you link people's pages you have to link to this page. Sometimes a comment field can be found where you can leave a few words for the siteowner.

Memo (メモ, memo, diary, 日記, 絵日記, P, 帖, 備忘録, ひとりごと, 独り言, etc.)

Almost every site has this. It's either a diary or a personal oekaki diary. Sometimes the diary is for all their fandoms (本館と共通), sometimes it's Iroha-only. You'll find their impressions and fangirling and memes and stuff on it. Always check it out - you can find a lot of awesome stuff they don't put up in the "pictures" section of their site, mostly very amusing doodles.
They also reply to comments/webclaps here (see below).

Pictures (絵, え, ゑ, pict, ログ, log, IMG, メイン, Main, sometimes it doesn't have a section name)

The standard with most sites is that pictures are organised by clicking on small symbols like squares or circles. Most don't have thumbnails. The different symbols indicate different types of art: some are paintchat logs, some are "proper pics", some are manga, some just doodles, etc.

Links to other sites (Bookmark, BKM, ブクマ, 輪, etc.)

Self-explanatory.

Some are very sensitive and even apologetic about putting links there (they say "I'm sorry I never asked these sites whether I could paste their link, I just did it anyway..."); I think it's probably that Japanese mentality about being 'unworthy' enough to link to better and more popular sites.

Web clap/comments (コメント, 拍手, WEB CLAP, or an image of clapping hands) and replies (レス, RE, 返信, )

There are generally two types - comment boxes with pretty much no limit on how much you can say and a name field as well; and web claps where you send a "clap" and the message is optional. The text box also doesn't allow for long messages (you'd ahve to send consecutive web claps for that). Web claps usually come with their own special images which you see as a thank-you for sending a webclap.

When you send one you'll usually get a reply (レス), some have a separate page but most reply in their memo pages. If you haven't put in a name of any sort, they'll say something like "To the person who said "....."" (where ..... is the first few words of your comment); whereas others quote the time of the comment. Otherwise they'll write the name there, and then their reply underneath - usually in the same colour as the background so you have to highlight to read the reply.

The Iroha fansite index
What is this site (ttp://b-iroha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/)?

An index of Japanese Iroha fansites, often referred to as サーチさん/サーチ様.
Basically, website owners can register their site on this indexer, where they will have to classify their site under all specified categories for easy browsing. Since they want to attract visitors who would enjoy their works I doubt they would lie about their site descriptions.

Currently I think it's the most comprehensive one and well-organised one out there. It is maintained by トクダ (Tokuda).

It is extremely stringently maintained; sites can drop out any time if they infringe directly on copyright by pasting copyrighted pictures or text, linking to sites that do so, describing illegal activities, etc... Sites that haven't updated for too long will also get dropped. Recently if sites have content that's hostile to a particular character or pairing, it gets removed as well. So if you want to find sites that may not be on this site do scroll to the bottom for a list of alternative fansite indexers.

What are the categories?

These are the categories and stuff as they appear on the front page as of 10 Jan 07. And it is how I understand them, so they are not direct translations. I also do not understand everything. >.> If anyone can clarify/reword these then by all means please fire away :D

All are from top to bottom, left to right

=サイト傾向 [Target Audience]=
一般向け (General)｜女性向け (Female)｜男性向け (Male)｜健全 (Clean)｜年齢制限あり (Has an age limit)｜♂♂(BL)｜♂♀(Het, also known as Normal)｜♀♀(GL)｜リバーシブル (Reversible (see Vocabulary))

=作品形態 [Type of Contents]=
イラスト (Illustrations)
WEB漫画 (Web manga)
お絵描き掲示板 (Oekaki boards)
小説 (Fanfics)
夢小説 (Dream fics (see Vocabulary))
詩 (Poems)

レビュー (Reviews)
素材配布 (Materials [chibi web icons, etc.])
お題配布 (Topics [afaik, like they set topics for fanfics. I THINK.])
質問配布 (Questions?... Dunno.)
考察 (Reference/research)
データベース (Database)

企画 (Projects)
同人活動 (Doujin activities)
コスプレ (Cosplay)
オンリーイベント ("Only" events (see Vocabulary))
サーチエンジン (Search engines)
同盟 (Fanlistings)

アンソロジー (Fan Anthologies)
期間限定 (Limited Period Only sites)
休止中 (On Hiatus)
その他 (Others)

=シチュエーション (Situations/backdrops)=
アニメ1～26話現在 (Events in the anime eps 1-26)
投獄中 (During Akizuki's interrogation)
坂本存命中 (While Sakamoto was alive)

一座 (The Troupe)
江戸 (Edo)
京都 (Kyoto)

高麗の里 (Koma no Sato)
横浜 (Yokohama)
過去 (The past)

新選組 (Shinsengumi)
パラレル (Parallel)

=雰囲気 (Mood)=
ほのぼの (Light/fluffy) ダーク (Dark) シリアス (Serious) コメディ(Comedy) ギャグ (Short gags [I don't know how to explain the diff. between this and Comedy.) あまあま (I don't know what this means.) 切ない (Sad)

=キャラクター (Characters)=
秋月耀次郎 (Akizuki Youjirou)
遊山赫乃丈 (Yuyama Kakunojou)
茨木蒼鉄 (Ibaragi Soutetsu)
神無左京之介 (Kanna Sakyounosuke)
不知火小僧 (Shiranui Kozou)
坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto Ryouma)

恵比須の頭巾 (Ebisu no Zukin)
案山子の恵信 (Kakashi no Keishin)
座頭 (Zagashira)
こばこ (Kobako)
赤丸 (Benimaru)
琴波 (Kotoha)

中居屋重兵衛 (Nakaiya Juubee)
針尾玄蕃 (Hario Genba)
河井継之助 (Kawai Tsuginosuke)
勝海舟 (Katsu Kaishuu)
雑賀孫蔵 (Saiga Magozou)
パークス (Parkes)

沖田総司 (Okita Souji)
おりょう (Oryou)
その他 (Others)
オールキャラ (All characters)

==The rest lists various couplings.==
Please figure them out by referring to the character list with kanji names above because every possible coupling is listed there (automatically generated)

Aside from that you just need to know:

受け - uke (submissive)
攻め - seme (dominant)
総攻め含む / 総受け含む - General seme/uke (i.e. not dominant over a particular character or whatever).

Can I get my site there?

I predict - no. Unless you have absolutely ZERO usage of official pics and text (no screencaps, no lyrics, no icons from screencaps, etc. - for any show not just Iroha), and no links to sites with that sort of thing, or any mention of how to do it - in which case... you might. Who knows.

Other Iroha fansite indexers

ttp://naive.in/iroken/ - a general Iroha site search, only by individual characters. (Click on 入室 and then 検索所 on the bottom right on the next page)
ttp://roo.to/kan_na/ - Kanna fansites. (Click 検索. Try figuring out the categories using the ones here. Only until 30th April)
ttp://roo.to/yojiro/ - Akizuki fansites. (Same as above)

Obsession

2007-01-17T22:33:00.001-08:00

Further Proves of Wao and Ori's Obsession

You guys should know by now that both Wao and I are obsessed with this show.

But just in case you guys aren't totally convinced yet...

Remember this?

Ever since I made this, this has been the wallpaper on my PC (you can find links to various versions of this wallpaper in old updates section).

Of course, this doesn't really make me obsessed, just a fangirl. But last Sat. I took another step toward obsession... I went and spent a whole afternoon making an Iroha theme for my SE 810i.

That's right, now not only can I stare at Akizuki on my PC I can also stare at Akizuki on every single menu my cell offers. In other words... NOW i can stare at Akizuki Every.Waking.Moment.of.My.Day.

Wao, is also showing worrying signs of obsessions in her own way. Not only is she drawing Iroha characters over her notes, when she needed to do a print for art class, she made something Iroha related (I choose this version to link because this way you guys can see that I am talking about stuff on actual paper and not on computer)...

But perhaps the epiphany of Wao's obsession can be summarized by the below picture:

YES, your eyes did not trick you. That is indeed a picture of what Wao wrote on the fogged up window of her classroom while waiting for Math class to start.

In conclusion, I can only say that we are both so whipped by Iroha it's not funny.

Dec Updates

2007-01-04T01:26:00.000-08:00

December Updates

Dec. 29 2006
Wao editted some of the character bios. I added a new fangirl rant, expect more to come... esp with episode 13 being, supposedly such a great episode, and episode 14 a possibly even greater episode (though we will have to wait 2 weeks for it *sob*).

Dec. 28 2006
After much procrastination I finished reorganizing the character page. Go take a look if you guys have time.

Dec. 27 2006
Obligatory Taiwan earthquake update. Um, as half the world prolly knows by now, due to said earthquake internet connections in Asia are rather patchy now. Whole of Singapore was down for a large chunk of time. (~~Why on the day before episode 13?! It's just 2 days before ep 13, and after that there's no ep until 2 weeks later!!~~) That was a very selfish thing to say, lalala... This sort of thing gets me very easily irritated, and because it's the end of the holidays *cue music of dh00m* and I haven't done a jot of work, I figure... that there will not be any big updates for some time now. Not like there haven't been any lately. I am so lazy. -_- I did throw some unfinished stuff in the fanart section and ~~I will be updating the visual comparisons~~ I will not be doing this because a lot of sites still do not load (most notably wikipedia), and I really need to update the episode 11 and 12 info before 13 comes out...
In other news, our thoughts go out to those who may have been affected in Taiwan. (Especially Feelicks. No, we are not being greedy leechers here, but as a fellow person-who-enjoys-the-show we hope you're OK :( and to all other Taiwanese Iroha fans out there too!)

Dec. 26 2006
Woo. Boxing day. I finished writing about Akizuki's hometown of Koma - mostly not on the one in the anime, mind you, but the real one! Insanely long as usual. Have fun.

Dec. 24 2006
I am actually cheating, it's not 24th where I am quite yet but then if you take in account of Wao's time zone and take the average time between the two of us, you would get 24th.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrates this holiday. I present this Christmas doodle as a sort of gift to you all.

I am sorry I haven't updated like I said I would. Christmas is such a busy holiday here, but I will definately make a good update after boxing day.

Once again, Merry Christmas!

Dec. 23 2006
Oh shi-! It's almost Christmas! And I haven't drawn a single Christmas fanart. Too bad, I guess. Early merry xmas to those who celebrate it.
Meanwhile, Ryouma *finally* got a character bio page, and I rewrote the Conqueror's Head part somewhat.
Will probably write that thing on Koma after I finish spazzing over episode 12. So exciting!

Dec. 20 2006
Episode 3 reflection thing up.

If you guys have time please check out the new paintchat entry Wao posted up yesterday. I am particularly proud of this one.

Dec. 18 2006
This site is now Opera friendly. The fanarts section had a make over and the pages should load a bit faster (cross fingers on that). Will come back for an actual update later.

Dec. 17 2006
In case you guys did not notice, Wao put up OKITA Souji and Oryou's character bio yesterday. Also, I managed to put up episode 2 of the reflection thingy.

I want to say thank you to the person who told Wao and I that the site looks messed up on Opera. Neither Wao or I considered testing the site out with Opera so we would never find that out without you!

After many tests, I have concluded that the problem originates from how Opera reads img height/width tags. I can think of a way to fix that problem, but it takes some work (and thus time), so while the site is not Opera friendly for now, I do hope you will be able to see a non-screwed up version of the fanart pages on Opera soon.

Dec. 15 2006
My Exams ended!! I can finally update this site guilt-free.

Anyway, I added a new link on the side bar named Episode Reflections. So far, I only have episode 1 reflection up [I wanted to post more but I really need some sleep] but this section will eventually [in the coming week] include the rest of Wao's [amazing/insane] episode writeups from the AnimeSuki forum. She didn't write any extra for these, I simply re-organized her write ups and posted it up with some comments of my own.

The main purpose of this section is just convenience (since the actual thread is getting quite hard to navigate).

Dec. 13 2006
We told you we won't update for a while, we said neither of us are free until almost the end of the week. But for some reasons we still get about the same amount of visitors. As a "Thank you for visiting" from me (guess who ;P), I am sharing this crappy wallpaper I editted yesterday that I was not planning to share. I know, I know, it's not that great, but I tried (with the limited time I have).

1600x1200 original
1600x1200 textless
1920x1200 original
1920x1200 textless

Dec. 11 2006
Dear everyone. Sorry there hasn't been any new content (apart from the one below) since Dec. 3. I've been in a bit of a rut thanks to my own ego so I haven't written very much. Unfortunately I am starting to run out of time to finish my art coursework preparation and I have to force myself on a 3-day hiatus from doing "fun" stuff tomorrow. Ori has finals until Friday. So I'm afraid you'll have to wait longer for any updates... I did update the fanart section though, finally, so I hope that so-called makes up for it.
To-do list:
~~1. Add in ep 10 info to character profiles~~
2. Add Enomoto Takeaki to character comparison list
~~3. Write Oryou and Okita's character profiles~~
~~4. Write about Koma~~
5. Make a simple timeline
6. Write a short bit about the Ansei Purge
If you'd like to add in anything/help out you're of course free to email us, though I highly doubt anyone wants to...
*sigh*

Dec. 07 2006
I semi-cheated with this new update by simply reworking something I posted on the AnimeSuki forum earlier. Anyway, new to the fangirl rant section you can find "Another Fable Concerning Heads, Swords, and Revenge," within is the story I posted on the forum a few weeks back (with slight modification + a link). I will actually make more constructive updates (including a possible new layout) when my finals end, but until then, it's all up to Wao(I am so tempted to add -sama suffix here).

Dec. 03 2006
Bios for T.B. Glover and Oomura Masujirou have been added. Some bios have been updated with new info from episode 9 (I hope I got them all). Also the chart I mentioned a short while back has been properly updated.

Dec. 01, 2006 Again
I just added bio picture for all characters in the character section (I haven't tested all those pages out yet, so if you guys find any dead pictures please email us). I have meant to put them up earlier, but for the last two weeks homework owned me fair and square.

Anyway, I hope they will help you guys with recognizing who is who.
EDIT: Koma no Shouten-sama and Shinza's bio were thrown in. Plus we had a certain guest at our paintchat session this time - do check the fanart section if you like. Still as silly as usual though...

Dec. 02, 2006
While you are waiting for episode 9 to download (and while I angst at it going at 9.0 kbps...), you may like to see a chart of historical figures that have appeared in the anime alongside pictures of their real-life counterparts, under the Miscellaneous section. It'll be updated again, soon. Pardon my lousy chart-making sk1llz.

Dec. 01, 2006
Added in Masumitsu and Yamaoka's character bios at long last, as well as ~~Mr. Useless Cameo~~ Shinmon Tatsugorou; plus something on the Tengutou in the History section. It badly needs funny pics, but it's 2:33 am and ep 9's out tomorrow so... must rest. (Yes, I realised Nov. 31 doesn't exist. See, that's what happens when you don't sleep enough.)

Nov Updates

2007-01-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

November Updates

Nov. 29, 2006
Finally!
1. Incredibly and impossibly long article on Kawai a.k.a. direct translation of Japanese wiki article - DONE. Please check History section. It is extra long since Kawai isn't covered much on the net in English.
2. Furthermore, some of the character bios have been updated with info from episode 8.
3. The article on the letter from ep 1 has been modified greatly.
4. Finally, a really ridiculous bit of ranting/delusion has been added to the Fan Rants section - wao's kill list. Hmm. It's not funny. It's quite lame.
Now to get some sleep.

Nov. 25, 2006
Inner page links added in the FAQ section for easier navigation. You can expect to see inner page links in Wao's impossibly long historical pages relatively soon too. Fangirl Rants section also updated.

Nov. 23, 2006
Lyrics section up. So far only the op is on. The translation is done by Atashi of {Words of Songs} and {Lighty Lively}. =)
EDIT: The ED romaji and kanji were put on as well... don't ask me to translate it though, even though it's so delicious!

Nov. 22, 2006
Someone has been bugging me about giving this site an actual name. *points at the layout pic* There.

Nov. 21, 2006
Just added a rudimentary FAQ section. It's still a bit clunky, though. And still no Kawai, I'm afraid...

Nov. 20, 2006
Yes we're alive. Threw in anime Saigou's bio and updated some to include information from episode 7. Please hold on for a writeup on historical Kawai Tsuginosuke who was a naughty little kid and has his own fanclub.

Nov. 16, 2006
We changed the blog url from animesongs.blogspot.com to iroheya.blogspot.com to irohaheya.blogspot.com due to some really evil bug. If you find any dead links please refresh the page.

Note: If you go to animesongs.blogspot.com now you would see a very sloppily made page by Ori that links back to this page. So, I guess it's no big deal.

Nov. 15, 2006
Editted the layout so that this site would look the same on firefox and on IE.

Nov. 14, 2006
Added historical Nakaiya's page. Added more fanarts onto the fanart page (It just occurs to me that this is probably the biggest collection of Akizuki/Kakunojou fanart online since most Japanese fans are Akizuki/Kanna shippers).

Nov. 13, 2006
Added a new fanart section. This section has both fanart by wao and Ori. Also updated the character bio section, as well as the history section.

Nov. 7, 2006
A whole bunch of character bio has been added. Including all of the Troupe's bio.

Nov. 5, 2006
Birth of wao and Ori's Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (幕末機関説　いろはにほへと)Fan Site.

Bad Animation Fun

2007-01-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Bad Animation Fun

Most Iroha fans hates out sourced episodes. But I actually don't mind. Why? Because if you take them humorously those episodes are really lots of fun.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Right after this shot:

Comes this:

Kakunojou no Temariuta kanji

2007-01-02T05:24:00.001-08:00

Kakunojou no Temariuta 赫之丈の手毬歌

Composition: Takako Shirai
Lyrics: Jun'ichi Miyashita
Arrangement: TAKAKO & THE CRAZY BOYS
Performance: Rina Satou (ep 7)
Takako Shirai (ep 12, and on the CD)

This is the full version of the song that is sung by Kakunojou. Note that the first syllable of the "counting" word (hitotsu, futatsu, etc.) is the same as the first syllable of the short sentence after it.

ひとつ　日暮れに願かけて

ふたつ　札所に月見草

みっつ　みそらが明けるころ

よっつ　夜泣きの子を負うて

いつつ　いつまでつけばよい

むっつ　迎えに来ぬ母に

ななつ　内緒で恨み言

やっつ　やまんば来ぬうちに

ここのつ　子を捨て山越えて

とおで　鬼子になりました

Return to Lyrics

Kakunojou no Temariuta romaji

2007-01-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

Kakunojou no Temariuta 赫之丈の手毬歌

Composition: Takako Shirai
Lyrics: Jun'ichi Miyashita
Arrangement: TAKAKO & THE CRAZY BOYS
Performance: Rina Satou (ep 7)
Takako Shirai (ep 12, and on the CD)

This is the full version of the song that is sung by Kakunojou. Note that the first syllable of the "counting" word (hitotsu, futatsu, etc.) is the same as the first syllable of the short sentence after it.

Hitotsu - higure ni gan kakete

Futatsu - fudasho ni tsukimisou

Mittsu - misora ga akeru koro

Yottsu - yonaki no ko wo oute

Itsutsu - itsumade tsukeba yoi

Muttsu - mukae ni konu haha ni

Nanatsu - naisho de uramigoto

Yattsu - yamanba konu uchi ni

Kokonotsu - ko wo sute yama koete

Too de onigo ni narimashita

Return to Lyrics

Troupe-Okita

2006-12-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

From Yokohama to the Okita arc

The Troupe has made it through so far thanks to the help of not just Akizuki Youjirou, but the skills of Kanna Sakyounosuke as well. Soutetsu, however, takes a one month sojourn leaving the troupe with nothing to do for a while, completely unaware that he is procuring a vessel to help him obtain the Head.

But he returns and has things come to a close as Nakaiya, the Head, Soutetsu and the Troupe converge after he instructs them to sneak into the house where Katsu Kaishuu and Saigou Takamori are meeting.

It is there that Soutetsu obtains the Head, and the Troupe finally kills Nakaiya and realises their revenge.

But now what? The mission of the troupe is over. Furthermore, Soutetsu is no longer with them and is taking his own independant action. Kanna has sided with Nakaiya and Akizuki is in Edo looking for Okita Souji.

The individual members start having to take up their own jobs to sustain themselves - for example, Kobako works at a quaint Western-styled cafe, and Kakashi does manual labour at the harbour.

Kakunojou comes to the conclusion that it's about time for the troupe to dissolve...

Proceed to the Edo arc (eps 11-)

Troupe-Yokohama

2006-12-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

The Troupe in Yokohama

We are introduced to the Troupe as they introduce themselves to Akizuki Youjirou, who happened to save Kobako and Benimaru in passing. He leaves them silently, but little does he know that they would meet a short while later at the Shanghai Club - where they are exacting their revenge and he is after the Head.

It turns out they aren't about to go their separate ways any time soon - for he ends up as their de facto bodyguard even for a while, against threats like Genba Hario and Saiga Magozou.

Meanwhile with the help of Soutetsu arranging strategic performances at the local pleasure house with the influential Kotoha, the increasingly popular troupe hones in on the real target of their revenge, the man behind it all - Nakaiya Juubee.

This itself brings a hitherto unseen, deadlier enemy than before - a trio of superpowered warriors cursed by the Head and sent by Nakaiya. At the same time, Akizuki starts becoming aware of Soutetsu's real intentions... Will the troupe's wishes finally be fulfilled? And what does Soutetsu really want?

Proceed to the Okita arc (eps 9-10)

Real Koma

2006-12-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

The Real Koma (aka the page that has got very little to do with the show and has tons of unnecessary details but is there anyway because I think it's cool, and there's not enough on it in English!)

At the very end of the production credits that roll after every episode, I noticed that special thanks went out to a "Koma Shrine" in Hidaka-shi, Saitama prefecture. What? ...A real Koma? No way...

Following that, some searching turned up interesting results. There is a real Koma Shrine (and surrounding settlements) in Japan, and it even has more than 1300 years of history behind it to boot! Not just that, there are other fascinating things around it too.
Awesome, huh? Makes nice material if you want to write fanfics too. Or just mere speculation.

Read on and see if you can spot which bits might have been incorporated into the anime.

Contents

The higanbana

Origins of Koma

Koma (高麗), briefly put, relates to a group of Korean nobles that defected to Japan in 668 AD (the Nara period) when the northern Korean kingdom of Koukuri, also known as Goguryeo (高句麗) fell. Of course, it wasn't called Korea back then and Koukuri extended until Manchuria but you get what I mean, right?

It started off when Jakkou (若光, also known as Yakkwang), a Korean noble, was sent as an envoy to Japan in 666 AD. When Koukuri was invaded by combined forces from Silla (another Korean state) and the Chinese Tang in 668, up to 2000 people fled to Japan and more trickled in during the next decade. Jakkou was a leader of sorts for all these immigrants coming to Japan.

In 703, the Emperor Monmu bestowed the kabane (姓 a type of surname) of Koma on Jakkou, as well as the title of kokishi (王 the kanji for king, but he wasn't really a king) and he became known as Koma no Kokishi Jakkou.

After that, he set up the district of Koma (高麗郡 Koma-no-koori, also Koma-gun) in the province of Musashi, in the eastern Toukaidou area. Jakkou brought over 1799 Korean immigrants living in the provinces of Kai, Suruga, Sagami, Kazusa, Shimousa, Hitachi and Shimono, all also in Toukaidou. Within Koma-no-koori it is said there were two villages (郷 gou), Koma village and Kamitsufusa (上総)village; it is said they roughly correspond to Hidaka (日高) city and the neighbouring Hannou (飯能) city areas

Consequently a lot of related things took on the name as well; there is a river called Komagawa and a highlight of the area is its Koma shrine which actually began worshipping Jakkou as a deity after his death. The postal offices, train stations etc. are also called Koma this and Koma that.

Geography of Koma

The area of Koma is near Hidaka city, Saitama prefecture in eastern Japan. The coordinates are 35° 53 N 139° 19' E. It's not terribly populated, and there are a lot of... fields. There is a rather large forested, mountainous sort of region behind the shrines; of particular interest is this mountain called Hiwada-san. (日和田山) It hardly snows in the actual city of Hidaka, but I don't know about Koma itself.

The most prominent geographical feature would probably be the 33.8km long river that runs through the area, called Komagawa (高麗川). It is prone to causing flash floods. Along the banks of one bend are the Kinchaku Fields (see below).

Koma Shrine

The Koma Shrine (高麗神社 Koma jinja) was set up in honour of Jakkou after his death in 730 AD. (So it is very, very old!)

It was run by successive generations of Jakkou's descendents; it was run most recently by the 59th generation Koma Toshio (高麗澄雄) but he unfortunately passed away on the 20th of December 2006 at the age of 79. (That's just 6 days before writing this article...) His son, Fumiyasu-negi (文康禰宜 negi is a title) is expected to succeed him as the head priest. You can see a picture of two of them taken in July 2006 with a short interview in Japanese about the shrine during and after WWII, over here.

Currently they have a lot of cultural activities going on, and many exhibitions/talks with the aim of providing accurate information about the Korean origins of the temple (especially in light of the rocky relations between Korea and Japan). As with many Japanese temples, the autumn scenery around Koma Shrine is a lovely sight. (Check out their official website below!)

Jakkou is worshipped as a deity over there, and he's even known as a Deity for a Good Career because a whole series of politicians (Osachi Hamaguchi, Reijirou Wakatsuki, Makoto Saitou, Kuniaki Koiso, Kijuurou Shidehara and Ichirou Hatayama) became Prime Minister of Japan after paying the shrine a visit.

Interestingly, the nameplate of the Koma Shrine has a small letter "句" carved in between to make its name 高句麗神社 (Koukuri Jinja), a reminder of the shrine's - and indeed the community's - roots. (second picture on this page)

The Koma Family Residence

Not far from the Koma Shrine is the family residence (高麗家住宅) which has been designated as an important Cultural Treasure (重要文化財). Nobody actually lives in it now, though. You can't get in unless you're a staff member. It was built in the early Edo period (1600s) and has a grass-thatched roof. You can see a picture of it here (second picture).

Here's a satellite image of the residence and its distance from the shrine.

In spring there's some lovely scenes of sakura to be seen around it - take a look at this page.

Shouden-in

The Shouden-in (聖天院) is said to have been built in 751. There is a lovely picture of it here. It was built because Jakkou's trusted priest Shouraku (勝楽) wanted a way to wish for Jakkou to have a blessed next life. Unfortunately, Shouraku died before it could be finished and the task was picked up by Shouraku's disciple, Shouun (聖雲), who was also Jakkou's third son.

It is located a short distance away from the Koma shrine and family house. You can see a satellite photo of it here.

A pair of totem-pole like things grace its entrance (though I don't know if these were moved to the shrine recently). They bear the names and stone heads of... I think they are male and female guardians: 天下大将軍 and 地下女将軍. (This page has pics of them from 1999.)
I think the temple is a member of the Shingon Chiyama sect (真言宗智山派), and its real name is Koma Mountain Shouraku Temple (高麗山勝楽寺 Koma-zan Shouraku-ji?).

There is also a section that serves as the family temple where remains of Koma ancestors are buried, and apparently Jakkou's own grave is located here in a structure called the Koma Oubyou (若光王廟), which you can see here (2nd picture).

Do note that unlike the Shouten-sama in the anime, this is read as Shouden. Not Shouten. Although the kanji is the same.

Kinchaku Fields

One of the most famous attractions of the area is the Kinchaku Fields (巾着田 Kinchaku-da). Originally it was just wasteland but the first immigrants to the area managed to cultivate the area into arable land; and when the river occasionally flooded it probably brought along the seeds of flowers. The word "Kinchaku" means "purse", and it refers to the shape of the area along the river (see the satellite image). It's more like a drawstring pouch type of purse, really.

It's most famous for having, in autumn, a beautiful carpet of equinox flowers (Lycoris radiata; in Japanese higanbana 彼岸花, also known as manjushage 曼珠沙華, also mysteriously called cluster amryllis). And I literally mean a carpet of it! How about you look at some nice pics of it? Here, here and here. I think they look best in the shadows, nested among the gnarled trunks of autumn trees... Do scroll down if you'd like to read a bit more about them (and how they tie into the anime).

Other flowers include the Cosmos flowers in autumn, and in spring there's sakura and yellow rapeseed flowers.

You can see a satellite image of Kinchaku-da, courtesy of Google Earth. Notice the shape of the river?

And this is what it looks like from a higher elevation some distance away. The yellow flowers are probably rapeseed flowers.

The higanbana
You might recognize it as the flower Kakunojou mentions in her opening speech in episode 1 - "赤く咲くのは彼岸花それより赤い定めの芝居" (Crimson does the higanbana bloom; but redder still is the theatre of fate). And if I'm not wrong, it appears in the opening sequence at Kakunojou's feet near the end with the winter scene.

It's a flower linked to the pathway to hell and has connotations of hatred and loathing, for it's also referred to as Dead Person's Flower (死人花 shibitobana), Flower of Hell (地獄花 jigokubana), Ghostly Flower (幽霊花 yuureibana), etc.

In Korean, it (along with a few other Lycoris species) known as sangsahwa (相思華 in kanji) - the lovelorn flower, because poetically speaking, while the leaves and flowers yearn to be with each other, they actually never appear at the same time. The leaves come out in winter and dry by summer, while the flowers appear in autumn. :( Is that going to happen to our main characters?! :(

Confusion about the name

While reading up about Koma I was initially confused by one very big thing. The kanji for Koma, 高麗 can also be read as Kourai. You have to be careful because:

Koma (with that kanji) refers to the toraijin (渡来人 immigrants) from around 668 AD, from the old Korean country of Kokuri (高句麗).
Kourai (also known as Goryeo), on the other hand, refers to a later Korean kingdom (918-1392 AD) that apparently took its name from Kokuri.
To make things worse, in Japan Koma was used as a word to describe Korean things in general (for a few centuries?).

For example, Korean court music was called Koma-gaku (高麗楽), and spinning tops were called koma (独楽 or コマ)because they came from Korea. Koma-inu (狛犬) are guardian shrine dog things that originated from Korea too.

(If you haven't noticed they all use different kanji for the same sound!)

Uhuh.

Other similar places

Koma no Jakkou didn't settle down in the area that would become Koma right from the start. Many immigrants that arrived in 668 went first to other places in Eastern Japan as well. Where can you see the traces of their arrival?

Koma in Ooisomachi, Kanagawa
The biggest similar location is another Koma settlement in the town of Ooiso (大磯町) in Kanagawa prefecture.

There's a mountain, Komayama (JA wikipedia), and on the mountain (also called Kouraiji-san) they had their own temple called Kouraiji. The temple was near abandonment during the Muromachi era beacuse of battles in the area, but someone from the Tokugawa family made it a branch temple of the famous Kan'ei Temple in Ueno, and it came back to life.

However, in 1868 with the Meiji government taking over, a law decreeing the separation of Shinto from Buddhism split it up into a temple (寺 tera) and shrine (神社 jinja). Not long after, the temple was destroyed because it had Tokugawa connections, and in 1897 the shrine changed its name from "Kourai (?) Jinja" (高麗神社) to "Takaku Jinja" (高来神社). Coincidentially though, the kanji for "Takaku" can still be read as "Kourai"... You can see pictures of it here.

Ooisomachi is actually closer to Yokohama than the Koma in Saitama, but this is probably not what the Koma in the anime was based on.

Other places
Aside from Ooisomachi, there's also Komae (狛江市) in Tokyo where 3/4 of Mr. Children comes from (official site here), and Koma-gun (巨摩郡) in Yamanashi prefecture where the 2000 J-drama "Ai kotoba wa yuuki" was filmed; both took their names from a similar source as well.

Extra things of interest

Interestingly, in the province of Musashi - which, as you remember, Koma-no-koori was a part of - there was a famine, and subsequently a peasant-led revolt, in 1866 known as the Bushuu Outburst (武州一揆 Bushuu ikki), Bushuu being another name for Musashi province.
That's just two years before the anime starts, by the way. I don't know how it affected Koma-no-koori, but you can use your imagination. Credit goes to Henrietta-dono for originally pointing it out here.

Another thing Henrietta-dono found out was that a Japanese fan went to the real Koma shrine, and guess what she found there? A poster of the anime (with a "Source material: Koma shrine" pasted prominently on it.) Hoho~u.

Getting to Koma

(The following information is correct as of December 2006)

So, do you want to take a look at the beautiful higanbana of Kinchaku fields yourself? Or do you want to get a whiff of the temple Akizuki himself might have looked at? (...Or do you just want to see if that poster is still there?)

This, my friend, is where Google Earth and Google Maps save your life. Have a look at these maps:

Graphic map of the area | Satellite photo of the mentioned areas and the two closest railway stations

As you can see, the closest stations are Koma 高麗 (on the Seibu Ikebukuro 西部池袋 line, quite close to Kinchaku Fields), and Komagawa 高麗川 (on the JR Hachikou 八高 and Kawagoe 川越 lines, closer to Koma Shrine)
Koma Shrine and the family house are practically next to each other, but the Shouten-in is quite a way off. You have to walk down this longish road... Although I hear you can just walk through the forest and it takes only 3-5 minutes that way.

Kinchaku Fields is quite a way off from there. Koma Shrine's official site says it's about 3 km off and at least a 30 minutes' walk away. At least Kinchaku's site says it's only a 10-minute walk from Koma station. You can also take a Kokusai Kougyou bus from either of the two train stations and get off at the Kinchaku-da bus-stop; it's only a three minute walk from there. Remember higanbana/equinox flowers appear only in autumn!

For more details in Japanese do visit their respective official sites.
Note: I have never been to Japan, let alone these places :( I would love to hear from anyone who's been there and would like to share their experiences...

Websites (all Japanese)

Official sorts
Kinchaku Fields official site
Koma Shrine official site
Saitama page on the area
Hidaka city official site
Whatever this is

Other pages referred to
Study of Musashi Province - Koma section (Has pics)
Short writeup of a trip to Koma by a Korean student (in Korean and Japanese)
Toraijin no katsuyaku by Mineko Masaoka (She talked to the head priest of the shrine too)
A page on Shoudenin
This.
Wikipedia's short pages on Koma Shrine, Koma no Jakkou, Koukuri and Kinchaku Fields.
Bit of info on sangsahwa.

Koma

2006-12-24T02:38:00.000-08:00

The Village of Koma (高麗の里)

The village of Koma is where Akizuki Youjirou was brought up and trained to become the Eternal Assassin, ever since he first arrived there at the age of three. There he trained under his teacher Shinza, who in turn serves the high priest of the village, known to everybody as Koma no Shouten-sama.

It is a small village in the countryside and there are some mountains nearby; at the foot of these mountains there is a community of potters who bake their works in ovens carved into the mountains themselves. They are the only people left who know how to reproduce the earthen vessel that Xu Fu carried the Conqueror's Head in when he went to bury it in Japan around 219-210 BC.

The village also houses a collection of old scriptures and books in its temple; some of them are documents to do with the Head.

Is the village based off a real, existing Koma?

Perhaps not the village per se, but as for the name and probably the location - surprisingly, yes! The anime production staff actually visited the real Koma Shrine in Hidaka (Saitama prefecture) and while it hasn't been officially mentioned yet, the anime Koma may very well be intended to be similar to the real Koma.
This would be interesting because Koma was originally made up of Korean immigrants from 600-700 AD. The Head has Chinese origins... but yet the village that raises the Eternal Assassin and has all these Head-related things has Korean origins? Curious. Hm.

Want to learn more? Well, you can read up about the real Koma here! (I took quite some time to put it together...)

Ep 3 Thoughts

2006-12-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

Episode 3 Reflection

This time in perfect chronological order, so I am not splitting this up with titles.

Akizuki visits his home town of 高麗 which is pronounced 'Koma', not 'Kourai'. He gets to meet what I presume are his old teachers who do a little sparring and then seem to advise him on what to do after he has cut the Hasha no Kubi. Akizuki sure is respectful enough to his elders... Sideburns are in style there.

Also, the local brothel (of sorts - it's more refined than that, really) features strongly here. Shiranui's quite popular with the ladies... I found that scene really amusing. We also see Katsu taking refuge in there after a short bit of sad singing by him, mourning the loss of Sakamoto Ryoma and Takasugi Shinsaku. He gets entertained by Kotoha, but is interrupted by H. S. Parkes. Who brings along Mr. Kinpatsu, aka Kanna Sakyounosuke, a gunman of mixed parentage with an eyepatch, and says that this is Katsu's bodyguard. Though it seriously sounded more like "You're bodyguard."

When Shiranui is leaving he notices Soutetsu gets escorted out by Kotoha... Soutetsu?! I really want to know what he is doing there and why is Kotoha so attentive to him? Of all things? He later prods Soutetsu about this and gets no reply.

Besides that we also see the troupe rehearsing; I liked this part very much where the cloths were flapping and two people would get wrapped by it symbolizing them being covered in fire. Silly Kakunojou finally realises that it's a story about her past and says that the revenge is over so this sort of thing is not needed; but Soutetsu politely informs here that there is something darker looming behind (and Shiranui remembers that Hario had paused for a while before he died), and that somebody had already noticed this... It really doesn't look like Kakunojou is all that into revenge herself, in my opinion.

Other than that, on Kawai's side, he's getting his gunsman whasisname, who killed Hario, to continue testing out the rifle. The tests go on smoothly; and it all comes to a climax as the Yuyama troupe decides to advertise on a firework-lit night near the "brothel". They mention that they are related to (or something like that) Kotoha, which is of course great because everyone likes Kotoha. This is when Shiranui realises that Soutetsu had gone to see Kotoha in order to arrange this, not to, y'know, be entertained by her. Of course, all this while, Soutetsu is sitting in his room... being mysterious as usual.

Katsu is also waving from upstairs in a slightly drunk state when Kanna notices something flashing from a watchtower, and pushes Katsu down because that's the reflection of the lenses on a sniper rifle. However, the sniper is not aimed at Katsu, but at Kakunojou... and then, of course, in true samurai anime style, Akizuki comes magically to save the day! He throws a whatdoyoucallit at the sniper and they chase each other off the rooftops. This part is kind of cool - you can actually hear the soudns of the tiles sort of nicely. Of course Kakunojou and co. have enough brains to realise something's amiss because they heard some sort of deflected gunshot, so they notice it (and noticed, at least Kakunojou did, Akizuki jumping from roof top to roof top) and they run off in pursuit. Kotoha, meanwhile, asks one of her little servants to keep watch on Kobako and Benimaru.

And of course, the episode had to end, again in traditional samurai - or even just action - style, with said evil sniper being flanked by the Yuyama troupe on one side, and Akizuki on the other. (See, you know what it's really saying? One Akizuki is worth all or more of you bunch! Ha!... Alright, I'll go to sleep already...) <--We know that from the beginning Wao! With a freezeframe, of course.

How did Akizuki suddenly know all of this within such a short time, I don't know... And his hometime Koma must be pretty close by, too. (We later found out it would take him about half a day to get back from there)

The ending credits are still a tad slow but the illustrations of Yuyama, Soutetsu and Akizuki (in that order) are quite lovely. Lots of parasols. Gotta like the colour set of red, green and blue... Akizuki's pose bugs me. It looks so awfully uncomfortable!

draft

2006-12-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

Characters

The Main Character
秋月耀次郎 AKIZUKI Youjirou

The Yuyama Troupe 遊山一座
遊山赫之丈 YUYAMA Kakunojou	茨木蒼鉄 IBARAGI Soutetsu	不知火小僧 SHIRANUI Kozou
恵比須の頭巾 EBISU no Zukin	座頭 Zagashira	案山子の恵信 KAKASHI no Keishin
こばこ Kobako	紅丸 Benimaru

Reappearing Characters
坂本龍馬 SAKAMOTO Ryouma	勝安房守海舟 KATSU Awa-no-kami Kaishuu	神無左京之介 KANNA Sakyounosuke
Ｈ.Ｓ. パークス Harry Smith PARKES	琴波 Kotoha	中居屋重兵衛 NAKAIYA Juubee
西郷隆盛 SAIGOU Takamori	新門辰五郎 SHINMON Tatsugorou	高麗の聖天様 Koma no Shouten-sama
帯刀新佐衛門 TATEWAKI Shinzaemon

Other Characters
河井継之助 KAWAI Tsuginosuke	益満休之助 MASUMITSU Kyuunosuke	大村益次郎 OOMURA Masujirou
沖田総司 OKITA Souji	おりょう Oryou	山岡鉄舟 YAMAOKA Tesshuu
Ｔ．Ｂ．グラバー Thomas Blake GLOVER	雑賀孫蔵 SAIGA Magozou	針生玄番 HARIO Genba

Ryouma

2006-12-16T01:40:00.000-08:00

SAKAMOTO Ryouma 坂本龍馬

First appearance: Ep 1. Sort of.
A visionary pioneer and statesman, and Akizuki's mentor. Has some unknown link to the Head. Now dead.

Voiced by YAMADERA Kouichi.

An inspiring and important man.

Sakamoto Ryouma is probably one of the most famous persons in recent Japanese history.
He is credited as one of the people who helped bring about some of the biggest changes in the Bakumatsu era: the resignation of the Shogun, the development of a modern navy force, and the ultimate fall of the Shogunate due to his incredible unification of the Satsuma and Choshu clans.
This was all despite him not coming from a prestigious, influential background.
He was a charismatic, truly revolutionary man who did what he truly believed in, and did not stick to mere traditions and conventions just for the sake of doing so.

In the anime, his historical role and actions have been kept intact; he is depicted carrying out negotiations to bring about the above in the show itself. The anime also makes a reference to the commonly-held theory that Ryouma attempted to kill Katsu Kaishuu at first, later becoming his protege, even helping him start a naval school. He also started what was Japan's first shipping company, the Kameyama Shachu, and was very interested in utilizing and adopting foreign technology.

He had once escaped an attempt at his life in the well-known Teradaya Affair, where he famously wielded a Smith and Wesson pistol. His future wife, Oryou, had apparently run out naked while having a bath so she could alert him to the intruders.

Because of his importance and influence - and perhaps some unknown connection to Soutetsu? - Kakunojou's troupe stages a play about him in episodes 1 and 2, with Shiranui playing Ryouma and Kakunojou playing Oryou. The pistol and his company are also referred to in this play.

Relations with Akizuki and the Head

Sakamoto Ryouma's history weaves into the show's plot as such: two months before his assassination in November 1867 (December 10th by our calendar), our main character Akizuki Youjirou burst into the room where he was having dinner with Oryou, since Akizuki's sword had detected something, and its response led to Ryouma. Evidently, Ryouma has some connection to the Head. Furthermore, Shouten-sama describes him as the one person who never fell under the Head's evil influence.

Instead of killing Ryouma, though, Akizuki ended up as his bodyguard. Ryouma's open, charismatic nature moved and inspired Akizuki. Unfortunately, Akizuki could not prevent the assassination of Ryouma which, ironically, happened on his birthday.

By the beginning of the anime proper in episode 1, it has been three months since his assassination.

Return to Characters page.

Oryou

2006-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

Oryou おりょう

First appearance: Ep 9
Sakamoto Ryouma's widow.

Voiced by DAN Rei.

Oryou arrives in Yokohama in episode 9 on Glover's boat, looking for Akizuki in order to pass on the unsaid words of her late husband, Sakamoto Ryouma. She was like an elder sister to Akizuki for the two months he served as Ryouma's bodyguard and couldn't contact him for the longest time since he left without a word after being released from confinement.

In her search for Akizuki she meets up with the troupe - knowing that Kakunojou has actually played as her own self before - and is directed to Edo, but will she find Akizuki?

The real Oryou was described as being very pretty but not particularly bright, and her real name was Narazaki Ryou (楢崎龍). It is said that when Ryouma was attacked at Ikedaya, she ran out of the bath naked to alert him. Later she got married to Ryouma, and they went on what many call Japan's first honeymoon.

Return to Characters page

Okita

2006-12-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

OKITA Souji 沖田総司

(Affiliation: Tokugawa - Shinsengumi)

First appearance: Ep 9
Dying ex-subcaptain of the Shinsengumi.

Voiced by TAKEWAKA Takuma.

Okita Souji (1842/44 - 1868) was of course a real, existing person, most famous for being the skilled captain of an unit of the Shinsengumi, a famous sword-bearing police force that loyally worked for the Tokugawa government during around 1863-1868. I suggest you look them up online.

Before the Shinsengumi

Okita was said to be a prodigy, becoming a master of kenjutsu at the age of 18. He practised the Tennen Rishin Ryuu school of swordsmanship, which he learned at the Shieikan (試衛館), a dojo where many other future members of the Shinsengumi trained (most notably the commander Kondou Isami and vice-commander Hijikata Toshizou).
He became the head teacher at the Shieikan in 1861.

In the anime, Akizuki Youjirou first met him when as a kid, he had "outside training" (degeiko 出稽古) at the Satou dojo in Hino, Tama area (in present day Tokyo). Okita was probably giving lessons there since the real Satou dojo was affiliated to the Shieikan. This was probably around 1861 or 1862, making Akizuki about 10 or 11. The move we see him executing in episode 9 might have been the Sandanzuki, an technique created by him which hit the neck and shoulders in one strike.

Joining the Shinsengumi

In 1863, Okita went to Kyoto with Kondou and Hijikata, where eventually they formed the Shinsengumi with the intention of maintaining peace. They did a lot of things which I won't explain here, but they're most famous for foiling extremist plans to burn down Edo, in the 1864 Ikedaya Incident. Some also blame them for assassinating Sakamoto Ryouma, but in the anime Okita denies this.

It is around the time of the Ikedaya Incident that Okita is said to have been discovered to be suffering from tuberculosis, as he apparently fainted from lung problems during the raid. His condition kept worsening, and as the political tide turned towards the anti-Shogunate side, the Shinsengumi became scattered when the Shogunate finally fell in 1867-1868.

Okita's Last Days (historical)

Okita then moved back to Edo as the Boshin war broke out. Some say he entered a hospital, some say he stayed at a guesthouse of Uekiya Heigorou in Sendagaya (in present day Shibuya district, Tokyo); others say it was both.
Either way, he died of tuberculosis at the young age of 25 (or 27), on the 30th of May 1868 (July 19 in the Gregorian calendar).
He never found out about the beheading of his respected commander Kondou a month ago, and didn't take part in any battles. There is an oft-quoted story that during his last days, he used to keep seeing a black cat in the garden, and wanted to kill it as it was a bad omen, but died without doing so.

Okita's Last Days (Anime)

In the anime, however, while Okita is already quite sick when we first see him (in episode 9), he still is fine enough to be on the streets of Edo, where he is attacked by Imperial Army soldiers and finds out about Kondou's death. Akizuki helps him out of this and takes him back to the Uekiya residence, later asking him about whether he heard of the Conqueror's Head during his time in the Shinsengumi, to which Okita replies in the negative. The black cat makes its appearance as well.

Later, Akizuki has to stop Okita from staggering in vein to the ongoing Battle of Ueno out of guilt and feelings of uselessness. They have a last practise battle, and Akizuki manages to fend off the soldiers who were after Okita; but not long after, Okita passes away, leaving Akizuki with the request to tell Hijikata that he's going first and will be waiting for him with Kondou. (This is not a spoiler because everyone including Okita knows his time is up.)
The anime presumes Okita was born in 1842 by stating that he died at the age of 27.

Return to Characters page

Ep. 2 thoughts

2006-12-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

Episode 2 Reflection

Whoaaaaa. That scene with Akizuki that evil-samurai and Sonhex referred to was SO aimed at the girls, I swear. I literally pointed at the screen and grinned at that moment (sorry, I can't help it!!) What was with that look?! Quick, I need to hide in a hole and giggle girlishly... And I need to stare and the screen and grin stupidly.

It was a good episode; not as good as episode 1 but still went along fairly quickly, no major complaints. The episode seems to be moving quite fast for the second episode. I did not expect the Troupe to get part of their revenge that fast personally, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The Look

It's one of those deliciously ambiguous looks that he has, they're kind of sharp but tinged with a bit of sadness all the time, though here it seemed softened by a bit of a reassurtive touch. Like a "don't worry you won't die" kind of feel.

But you know, the first thing that jumped at me was... why WERE they so close in the first place? Why was he even looking at her when blocking Hario's attack? Ah, but anything's allowed for the name of coolness I suppose. I dedicated a whole fangirl rant on this. So if you want to read my thoughts on the issue please go there.

I can't look at that image too much, it causes me to go awfully silly... and laugh in very weird ways...

The Fight

I'm relieved that the bad guy's gone because then they can move on better. The Jiwariken brings back the ol' memories of Rurouni Kenshin once again... I think there was a character who used something like that.

But the thing that felt the most nostalgic was Akizuki's sword position when he gets ready to fight. Especially that cool cut where they focus on his face and move the camera so that he faces us... I kind of tingled at that moment..

As for me, my favorite part of the fight was when Akizuki initially jump away from from Hario before running toward the wheat field. I loved how we see his face upside down, and for a moment there it looked like I was watching Ergo Proxy's Vincient fighting all over again.

Kakunojou

Frankly speaking though, I was a little disappointed by Kakunojou - I get the feeling that she's not really very much of a leader. Soutetsu seems to come up with all the plans, and the good scripts for the plays, and the guys do most of the fighting anyway. She had to be expectedly saved by Akizuki if she wasn't going to be split in half by Hario. I guess we'll have to expect her to fall head over heels for him, of course :P I just hope she's, well, useful...

Considering Kakunojou was never trained to fight properly, frankly I would find it unnatural if she can actually face off with someone as high level as Hario, so on this issue I must disagree with Wao, I DO hope she gets more useful though, don't get me wrong.

Her seiyuu really doesn't impress me either (the pre-fight dialogue really felt forced), so at least I hope her character improves soon. I'd hate to see a Mary Sue happen, really. That would cheapen the coolness of Akizuki, you see... >_> (and of course it would make the story better.)

And the war paint + pre-fight dialogue really wasn't necessary, it reminded me of typical samurai anime where they talk a lot and be all cool and then get down to fighting.

I thought that scene was for humour, and mirrors their ultra dramatic intro in episode one. I actually like it even though it was silly and unnecessary.

Akizuki

Akizuki is really leet and all. Thank goodness he's refreshingly practical; he isn't interested in the luxury of watching plays or anything and leaves once he's done, only coming back so that he can use them to help get rid of Hario. But at the same time, he's not totally emotionless; we can clearly see that he is perfectly capable of angsting . And he was listening to the play...

I thought the fact Akizuki used water instead of simply hacking at his enemy was really cool.

Also, the animation was not bad but could have been better, I think. More movement would have been nice. And it's really amusing to see that Akizuki's eyes are sometimes drawn in a way that looks very similar to Raul from Ergo Proxy - after all, they do share a few animators.

Soutetsu

The way I look at it, his intercepting the letter is almost a definite indication that he's not in this for peace and is not averse to bloodshed (aka possibly evil ;P)... but from the observations you listed, it does seem difficult to place him on either side.

However, the unexpected earthquake seems to have neutralised the effect of Soutetsu's actions. Has it? It seems that way to me, anyway... Because the Imperial troops couldn't move from where they were...

It would make sense indeed if he was on the side of foreign arms merchants who would benefit most greatly from a prolonged war. It would be very exciting if the conflict escalates into something that seriously affects the lives of hte main characters and causes them to ahve to start living a very different life...

With all of this in mind, it's worth considering how the Hasha no Kubi will factor in. Will the balance of power tip back to the Shogunate or will there be a new faction or what..

The bad guy

I did say I was glad he was gone, but Kaoru Chujo's comment reminded me that I did like his evil confident smile. Although the war paint bit didn't impress me, it didn't leave a bad taste because he then smirked in a VERY badguy smirkish way, but it also genuinely felt like he wasn't impressed either. So I didn't feel like I was supposed to be impressed. Anyway, it was refreshing that, consistent to a character like his, he didn't even bother remembering who he had killed.

I like Hario, at least in this episode because he actually talked here. His speeches really make him very bad ass. I liked what Wao mentioned above and also how he said, "I wonder why." when Akizuki asked why he followed him during their first encounter in the episode.

Mr. Glover

Oh yeah, the guy on the ship in episode 2 is T.B. Glover. He supported the Satsuma/Choushuu factions, even helping send some of their students for overseas study in a time when you weren't allowed to leave Japan. He was primarily an arms merchant, and after the Revolution had to close his company down because he had no business. He still was in charge of Takashima Coal Mines as part of a collaboration with the Hizen han, and stayed on in an admin position even after it got bought over by Iwasaki Yataro, the founder of Mitsubishi (who also sorta bought over Ryoma Sakamoto's company). Quite cool that his son with a Japanese woman was called Thomas Albert Glover -> Tomisaburou Kuraba.

Verdict

Anyway, I don't know how much of this will appeal to the viewer who wants something very realistic and less dramatic. But while I'm ready to admit it has its weaknesses, it's right up my alley so what the heck. At the same time I think I'm probably going to end up going silly over this series, making me incapable of having a proper, level-headed discussion of it... Whatever. I can't wait for next Friday!

So far this series is a lot more amusing/entertaining to me than many other series I watched in the last while. Plus, there's The Look, so what can I say?

Here's another very long post Wao made between episode 2 and 3.

Another Fable about Heads, Swords and Revenge

2006-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Another Fable about Heads, Swords, and Revenge

A good part of Iroha's plot centers around an evil flying Chinese head and a special sword that cuts the head. This trigged my memory of this rather interesting (but disturbing) Chinese fable I read of when I was nine or ten. I dug up the story from 中國童話(五)published by 漢聲出版公司 and this is how it goes...

Toward the end of the Spring and Autume Dynesty (春秋時代), Emperor Wu (吳王), a rather savage king, ordered a sword maker called Gan Jiang (干將) to make a sword. Gan Jian and his wife Mo Xie (莫邪) gathered the rare metal from various places to make the sword. Yet, though they are really skilled they could not melt the metal together even in three months. Finally, remember old teacher from Gan Jiang's teacher, they got three hundred young boys and girls to fan the fire and put Mo Xie's finger nails and hair into the fire. The metal melted instantly and after much hard work they managed to make the Gan Jiang Sword (干將劍) and Mo Xie Sword (莫邪劍). These two swords, a pair, with Gan Jiang Sword as "Yin" and Mo Xie Sword as "Yan," were so sharp it cuts hair in two with mere touch.

Gan Jian hid Gan Jiang Sword and only presented Mo Xie Sword to Emperor Wu. He was then promptly killed by Emperor Wu because the emperor did not want anyone else to possess such a good sword. Mo Xie was really sad about the death of her husband and raised her son (who was born after Gan Jiang died) alone, hoping one day her son, Gan Chi (干赤) nicked named Mei Jian Chi (眉間尺) could take revenge for his father.

When Mei Jian Chi was twenty years old, he took the hidden Gan Jiang sword in hope to take revenge. But he failed and ended up on the wanted list. Just as he thought there was no hope, he met this nameless stranger dressed in black who said he could get revenge for him if Mei Jian Chi is willing to give him the Gan Jiang Sword and his head (yes, you did not read wrong, I am really talking a head). Mei Jian Chi was so desperate and determine to take revenge that he agreed and cut his own head off for that guy.

Nameless met Emperor Wu (who agreed to see him because he had Mei Jian Chi's head). The emperor was alarmed by the expression of pure hatred on Mei Jian Chi's head, so he took Nameless's advice and threw the head into a boiling pot. Unfortunately for Emperor Wu, Mei Jian Chi's head did not melt or sink, it just glared and blobbed up and down in the water. While Emperor Wu was watching the head beside the pot in fear, Nameless sliced the emperor's head Gan Jiang Sword into the pot.

The two heads inside the pot began engaging in a heated - and morbidly humorous - battle. Neither would sink or yield to the other head so they were biting at each other. Finally, Nameless sliced his own head into the pot too and along with Mei Jiang Chi's head took Emperor Wu's head down. Extremely happy that he got his revenge, Mei Jiang Chi's head laughed hysterically before sinking to the bottom of the pot.

Here's a short blurb I copy and paste from a Chinese wiki about the making of the sword, I have incorporated gist of the information below in my retelling of the story so I will not translate this.

傳說中的春秋末年吳國鑄劍名匠﹐妻名莫邪。根據大約成書於東漢末年的《吳越春秋》記載﹐干將“採五山之鐵精﹐六合之金英”﹐以鑄鐵劍。三月不成。莫邪“斷髮剪爪﹐投於爐中﹐使童男童女三百人鼓橐裝炭﹐金鐵乃濡﹐遂以成劍”﹐製成的兩柄劍分別被稱為“干將”﹑“莫邪”。劍身均有花紋。干將劍“作龜文”﹐莫邪劍“作漫理”(水波紋)。這在一定程度上反映了戰國和兩漢時代的製劍工藝。

If any of you know Chinese you can read about the origin of the fable here.

Kotoha spoilers

2006-12-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

Kotoha cont.

In episode 6, the establishment where she had been working at, the Sekkakurou, burns down to the ground.

As a result by episode 9 we now see her working as a waitress in a Western-style cafe where the waitresses are not called "o-kami", but "Mama" (no, I doubt she is really a mother). This is what she looks like. I am still reeling in shock (that is why I took 3 pictures of it). What a waste of all that talent... OTL

She probably wouldn't have ever served the lowly Shiranui before that but now she has to serve him drinks... Also she now has Kobako as a coworker. What a drastic change...

Return to Kotoha.

glover

2006-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Thomas Blake GLOVER

(Affiliation: Nakaiya / Neutral?)

First appearance: Ep 2
An arms dealer who happens to supply Nakaiya with weapons.

Voiced by OOKAWA Tooru.

Glover's character isn't really fleshed out in the anime (apart from supplying Nakaiya with Saiga's sniper rifle, etc.)
By episode 9 we see him heading off to Edo.

However, he is based on the real Thomas Blake Glover (1838-1911), a Scottish trader who is more well-known in Japan than in his hometown.

The Real Glover brought the first steam train to Japan and helped set up the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki. While he might have dealt with some Bakufu officials, he has a notable history of trade with the anti-Shogunate Choushuu domain which you can read about in fascinating detail here.

He also had a Japanese wife called Tsuru with whom he had a daughter Hana. They also adopted a son called Thomas A. Glover (who later adopted the Japanese legal name "Kuraba Tomisaburou" - read more about him here. A pic of him can be found here) whom he had with one of his mistresses. It is frequently postulated that the famous opera Madame Butterfly is based off Tsuru and Glover's relationship.

Glover is very famous for his residences, one of which was turned into the Glover Garden (official site here), now a top tourist attraction in Nagasaki. A lot of modern Japanese people know him because of that.

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Oomura

2006-12-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

OOMURA Masujirou 大村益次郎

(Affiliation: Imperial Army - Choushuu)

First appearance: Ep 9
Military tactician for the Imperial Army.

Voiced by KAWAGUCHI Hiroshi.

Another character based on a real figure. In the anime we first see him as a military tactician, planning out the Battle of Ueno (Wikipedia link) with Saigou Takamori.

The real Oomura Masujirou(again shamelessly translated off the Japanese wiki article on him...)

In real life, he was a scholar of Western medicine and military tactics, and at one point studied under von Siebold. In 1862 he became a military instructor at a school in Choushuu (which if I might remind you was very anti-Shogunate) and made a name for himself by planning battles such as Choushuu's attack against the Shogunate troops in 1866, and most of the Boshin war of 1868 (including the abovementioned Battle of Ueno, ending with the attack on Hakodate and Goryoukaku in Feb 1869).

During this time he happened to be opposed with another military commander, Kaieda Nobuyoshi 海江田信義 from Satsuma. Apparently Oomura told him "You know nothing of war" which made Kaieda show very unusual anger.

When the new government took over in 1868, he became "assistant judge of the defence secretariat" (軍防事務局判事加勢). He was at odds with yet another famous man from Satsuma, Ookubo Toshimichi, regarding the construction of a new army. In a meeting held on June 1869, Oomura suggested that the army be under the government's direct control and not be made up of soldiers from any location in particular; while Ookubo insisted that it should be made up of soldiers from the allied anti-Shogunate domains of Satsuma, Choushuu and Tosa. Despite the famous Kido Takayoshi siding with Oomura, Ookubo eventually won out.
Ookubo even called for Oomura's dismissal from the government and Oomura himself was on the verge of quitting in frustration, but others like Kido knew that there wasn't anyone good enough to replace him and convinced him to stay.

Oomura regained confidence and started out carrying out his own reforms under the capacity of senior vice-minister for Military Affairs (兵部大輔). For example he set up a military boarding school and armoury in Osaka and explosives factories in Uji, Kyoto. With this he was slowly shifting the center of military activity to Kyoto rather than Tokyo, which he claimed was not only a geographically better choice but also allowed him to shake off Ookubo's influence. It also allowed him to keep an eye on the developments happening in the southwest that would later erupt into the Satsuma Rebellion.

Some, however, disagreed with his rapid military reforms - and more importantly his stance that the military should be made up of all types of citizens and that the samurai shouldn't be a privileged group. As such Oomura was stabbed in Kyoto by some disgruntled ex-samurai in October 1869 and he died the month after. There are speculations that his death was orchestrated by Kaieda (see above). In the end, however, Oomura's ideals of universal conscription were taken up by his protege Yamagata Aritomo, who modeled the new Imperial Japanese army after Western models and began conscription in 1873.

You can see a bronze statue of Oomura Masujirou in front of the infamous Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. In his hometown of Hagi in Choushuu domain, he was known as "火吹き達磨" (Hifuki daruma - Fire-blowing daruma) due to his appearance. (Check out the historical comparisons chart to see what he looked like.)

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Kanna's Clothes Problem and a logical explanation

2006-12-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

Kanna's Clothes Problem and a Very Logical Explanation

I was showing my non-anime obsessed friend this show a few weeks back. Upon reaching the middle of episode 3 my friend snorted. Seeing that corresponded with Kanna's first appearance and earnestly wanting her to like the show, I decided to speak out against the pretty boy. "Yeah, I know, that eye patch is very cliche and silly," I said, knowing my friend generally couldn't stand fan service (and we all know Kanna IS a form of fan service).

She laughed and shook her head, "No, I was not snorting at his eyepatch, I was snorting at his shirt," she paused and then quickly added, "That is definately a lady's shirt."

I took another glanced at Kanna and my mouth opened to pronunce a silent "Oh." From that moment on, I could never see Kanna quite the same ever again.

Let's have a look why, shall we?

Here's a painting by James Jacques Tissot in 1868:

Please take not of what the people were wearing.

Obviously, Kanna is not gentleman and I should not expect him to be that well dressed, but I imagine, even a less well-off person would be able to afford a shirt without frills. In fact, it would be more economical to buy shirts without frills because by then that sort of shirt are considered antiques since the last time frills were in fashion for men was 1750-1770 (aka during French revolution time).

It would be unfair of me to say Kanna is wearing lady's clothes if everyone else's clothes are out of fashion and awfully period inaccurate too. But that is not the case. Every other westerner in the show wore normal suits fahionable during that time period.

Glover did:

And so did random British dude from episode 1:

Notice the lack of frills on the shirts those two were wearing. And then take a look at Kanna:

Notice the amount of frills in his shirt.

But even as I say that, I don't mean that shirt is in style for women in 1860 either. It's not. But at least you see women and frills together.

But having said that, I did manage to come up with a possibly perfectly logical explaination behind Kanna and frills ---

It is, after all, very likely that Kanna is actually Robespierre in disguise.

shouten shinza

2006-12-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

Koma no Shouten-sama 高麗の聖天様
Also known as plain ol' Shouten-sama

(Affiliation: Neutral)

First appearance: Ep 3
The high priest of Koma, Akizuki's village.

Voiced by YAGI Kousei.

A wise and sagely old man of short stature, Shouten-sama is one of the highest figures in the village and is deeply respected by everyone. He was the one who entrusted Akizuki with the duty of finding and eliminating the Conqueror's Head, and provides him with guidance in this area.

Of course, he is quite familiar with the workings of the Head and related objects like the Sword of Moon Tears, and the vessel for carrying the Head (that Soutetsu got a replica of).

As you can see, he is quite the lover of food and likes to pick on Shinza's cooking (or rather, Shinza in general...)

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TATEWAKI Shinzaemon 帯刀新佐衛門
Also known as: Shinza

(Affiliation: Neutral)

First appearance: Ep 3
Akizuki's mentor at Koma

Voiced by MATSUMOTO Dai.

Shinza, as he is referred to in the show, is Akizuki's mentor living in the village of Koma. He reverently serves Shouten-sama with whom he lives an austere and simple life, taking on all household chores. Shinza is also the assistant instructor for the school of swordsmanship known as Kaitenranshin-ryuu (海空藍真流).

Unfortunately, he sucks at fighting compared to Soutetsu. This is a fact.

By the way, those are not dog ears in his picture, they're his long sideburns. Consider the fact that Shouten-sama has similarly long sideburns and Akizuki seems to like leaving his hanging too...

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visual comparisons

2006-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Did I REALLY Look Like That?

(Last updated: 03 Dec 2006)

I'm sure you must be aware at the increasing number of historical people who've turned up in this anime. But have you ever wondered what they looked like in real life - and how accurate their anime portrayal is?

Of course, seeing that it's not meant to be some historical docudrama, one would expect the designer to take a few liberties here and there with some of the characters. Generally, though, Iroha's historical characters look reasonably similar to their real-life counterparts (with one or two obvious exceptions)

(Click to enlarge | 602 x 722 px, 272 KB)

Click here for an *even* larger version. (1200 x 1440 px, 644 KB)

The picture will be updated periodically whenever a new historical character appears in the show.

It's obvious that Nakaiya looks vastly different because, after all, he's mostly fictional here (the real Nakaiya never came back after 1861).

All historical pictures were shamefully filched off the web, btw... If you are wondering where the Hijikata picture came from, it's from a scan of Newtype USA.

Don't paste this in any place that links to the official website, if you don't mind. Anything else is OK. Edit it or reupload it as you please.

Errors so far (that will be updated next time):

3rd Dec - thanks to Aniki Meiski I have found out that the show at first incorrectly put 有栖川宮熾仁 as Takahito (that is his father 幟仁's name) but corrected this in episode 6 to Taruhito.
Also Hijikata technically appeared in episode 9 (it's a long shot though, and you can hardly see his face) so I guess I'll throw that in...

Return to Miscellaneous

Omake: What about the troupe's depiction of characters within the show? Just to put them all together so far...

Na~nte ne.

Return to Miscellaneous

Shinmon

2006-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

SHINMON Tatsugorou 新門辰五郎
(Affiliation: Tokugawa)

First appearance: Ep 6
A firefighter and acquaintance of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, but also a commoner. Existed in real life.

Voiced by BANDOU Naoki.

As explained in the anime, Shinmon Tatsugorou heads the "Wo" unit of the Edo Town Firefighters (町火消 machi hikeshi), which was, interestingly, divided into units according to the Iroha alphabet order. His daughter was a concubine of the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, which is how he is linked to the Tokugawa negotiator Katsu Kaishuu. I'm not sure if the real Shinmon knew the real Katsu.

When we first see him, Shinmon's helping Katsu polish up his plan to stop Edo being invaded by Saigou Takamori, because as one of the native firefighters from there he obviously doesn't want to see Edo go down in flames, as he mentions at the end of the episode. He seems to think Katsu's going to give up after Sekkakurou itself is burned down at the end of the episode, saying the problem'd be moving Edo's residents out and that he could possibly call in his contacts from the army and among other kyoukaku*... But Katsu says he's not going to let what happened to Sekkakurou, happen to Edo as well.

Later he returns when the old Shogunate troops move to the Kan'ei Temple in Ueno (ep 9 - and just as you'd expect from the real Shinmon); and again to help the troupe out in episodes 11-13.

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Shinmon himself (in the anime in real life) is a rather well-known and influential kyoukaku 侠客, which is a term I don't exactly get myself... But it's generally translated as "chivalrous man", I think. It seems to describe a well-known and well-connected commoner who might be involved in humanitarian activities and had like an organised neighbourhood group under him. The more unsavoury of these are said to be the precursor of the modern yakuza. Try reading this film review of a movie involving a kyoukaku which explains the term in some parts.

Extra details about the Real Shinmon (~1800 - 1875):
-His daughter was called 'Yoshi' (芳).
-He became a firefighter because he felt bad that his father died in a fire when he was young while he survived.
-He was specifically captain of the "Wo" unit of the 10th Asakusa division. Asakusa being a region of Edo (and its modern version, Tokyo as well).

-He also was quite involved in security:
--When, in 1864, Yoshinobu had to go to Kyoto in the capacity of... Governor-General Guard of the Imperial Court (禁裏御守衛総督), Shinmon was called along, and he and his henchmen helped guard Nijou Castle in Kyoto.
--He also followed Yoshinobu when he escaped from Osaka to Edo, and then to Ueno (where he helped guard Kan'ei Temple where Yoshinobu was staying), even to Mito and finally Shizuoka in Suruga Province which is where Yoshinobu retired.
--When the Meiji government took over proper he returned to Edo.

Tengutou

2006-11-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

The Tengutou 天狗党

In episodes 5 and 6, you might have noticed a bunch of people in masks who get angry at Parkes' presence and create a ruckus within the Sekkakurou.

Within the anime they're called the Tengutou (天狗党). On the surface this obviously refers to their tengu masks. Tengu are a type of Japanese mythical creature easily recognized by their long nose and round eyes.

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The Real Tengutou

There also was a real, historical group called the Tengutou which was from Mito-han - famous for being a hotbed of anti-foreigner and pro-Emperor (sonno-joi) sentiments and philosophy; and the domain of Tokugawa Nariaki, who had pushed for his son Yoshinobu to become shogun and failed, hence becoming disillusioned with the Shogunate.*

The Tengutou were similarly very anti-foreigner - in 1861, they did attack the British Legation (although Parkes was not the consul at the time). This is also known as the Touzen'ji Incident, I think (東禅寺事件).

They are also sometimes attributed to the asassination of Ii Naosuke in 1860, in the Sakurada Gate Incident. Most accounts seem to describe the assassins as "ronin from Mito-han" so perhaps it really was them. I don't know. The Mito-han really hated Ii Naosuke because he signed treaties with foreigners (apparently without Imperial consent) and blocked their own Yoshinobu from becoming shogun in the early 1860s.

A notable early member was Serizawa Kamo, who later went to become a member of the Roshigumi and then captain of the Shinsengumi (briefly).

1864 Uprising In The West

In 1864, they formed a large force (~1000 strong?) led by Takeda Kouunsai (武田耕雲斎) to travel southwest to Kyoto and make their stance known as well as get the foreigners expelled more quickly. On the way they met resistance, for example at Shimonita in present Gunma province with the Takasaki-han troops, and at Wada Pass against the Suwa and Matsumoto-han forces; but they didn't lose many men and marched onwards.
They started getting pursued though, and sometimes got held up by the snow, and had to detour further west, ending up in a small village in Echizen province called Shinbo where they gave up going to Kyoto.

Most of them - 352 people, including Takeda - were executed just a little south, in the Western province of Wakasa , while 137 were placed into exile and the remaining 130 were sent back to Mito. Apparently this disgusted Ookubo Toshimichi from the Satsuma domain when he heard about it.

It's possible that some remnants of the Tengutou lived on in small cells throughout the country afterwards, who knows - but they became largely defunct/irrelevant after 1864. Perhaps those that we saw in the anime were exiled from Mito and chose Yokohama so that they had more chances to create trouble, seeing that it had a large population of foreigners.

Origin of their name

Their name is apparently a somewhat self-ridiculing one. They were made up of young upstarts who rose through the ranks after Tokugawa Nariaki carried out some reforms that reduced the influence of pedigree, and tended to become a little full of themselves, which led to those who were anti-reform describing these people as "tengu ni naru" (天狗になる - an euphemism for getting cocky). Hence, the Tengu-tou (Tengu Faction).

I'm pretty sure they didn't go around wearing masks, though...

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If you can read Japanese, why not go visit this site to learn a bit more about them? There's a map showing their journey in 1864. Shimonita and Wada Pass are somewhere on the middle right, Mito (in Hitachi province) on the extreme right, and Wakasa province on the extreme left.

Return to History

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(If you are confused as to why Nariaki is surnamed Tokugawa and yet was against the Shogunate, think that the Shogunate was split up into two parties that opposed one another, and one party ended up giving up on the Shogunate altogether and calling for its downfall - as an excuse for them to get back into power, if you ask me... Coincidentially, the real Nakaiya Juubee had sympathies with this domain. And the area Mito-han occupied is currently called Ibaraki Prefecture...)

Yamaoka-Masumitsu

2006-11-30T00:41:00.000-08:00

YAMAOKA Tesshuu 山岡鉄舟
Also known as: Yamaoka Tetsutarou
(Affiliation: Technically Tokugawa - under Katsu)

First appearance: Ep 1
One of Katsu's subordinates.

Voiced by OOKAWA Tooru.

Yamaoka Tesshuu is one of Katsu Kaishuu's trusted men, is entrusted with transporting an important letter from Katsu to Saigou Takamori, when Ibaragi Soutetsu cuts in. He's the guy who goes "SEI SEI SEI SEI". ...Don't ask me about that.

The real Yamaoka Tesshuu

In real life, Yamaoka existed (1836-1888) and did indeed transport the letter under Katsu's orders.
He was said to be unusually tall and was an extremely prolific calligrapher, as well as a skilled swordsman who started the Ittou Shouden Mutou school of swordsmanship. It embodied his notion of there being no enemy but just the mere style and movement of the sword. As befitting a person like this he died in seiza after having composed a death poem.
You can still buy/see some of his calligraphy online. I personally like this one. He was known as one of the three "Shuus" of the Bakumatsu, along with Katsu (Kaishuu) and Takahashi Deishuu.

Despite being an official of the Tokugawa government (and a direct retainer a.k.a. hatamoto no less), he was actually linked to the short-lived sonno-joi (anti-foreigner, pro-emperor) group Kobi no Kai (虎尾の会), started by Kiyokawa Hachirou (清川八郎) who founded the Roshigumi, predecessor to the Shinsengumi. There he was a close associate of Imuta Shouhei 伊牟田尚平. Coincidentially, one of the members was Masumitsu Kyuunosuke (see below)...
The Kobi no Kai carried out activities like the murder of the American consulate assistant Henry Heusken in 1861.

Apparently Yamaoka is the one who brought Masumitsu over to Katsu's residence just in time before his death sentence. But not many places seem to say that.

Check out this page for more on the Real Yamaoka Tesshuu if you like - or an entire Japanese blog devoted to him...

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MASUMITSU Kyuunosuke 益満休之助

(Affiliation: Anti-Tokugawa (Satsuma) -> Katsu's side)

First appearance: Ep 1
Not really Katsu's subordinate but works for him anyway

Voiced by AMADA Masato.

In the anime, Masumitsu goes along with Yamaoka to deliver Katsu's letter to Saigou, as per history. When they are confronted by Ibaragi Soutetsu, the hot-headed Masumitsu is the first to charge at him.

Later, he suggests Katsu make a renewed attempt to contact Saigou, which they end up doing. After that, he goes back to the Satsuma forces... and... well, we'll let you find out the rest.

The real Masumitsu Kyuunosuke

Interestingly, the real Masumitsu Kyuunosuke (1841-1868) was a fiercly anti-foreigner Satsuma country samurai and certainly not on the Tokugawa side at all. He was part of the Kobi no Kai which Yamaoka was linked to, and reportedly had direct involvement in the murder of the assistant to the American Legation, Henry Heusken, in 1861.

Furthermore, Masumitsu was directed by Saigou Takamori to create a ruckus in Edo in early 1868 with 500 (?) other ronin by committing a series of arson attacks. (This is apparently one of the things that provoked the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the beginning of the Boshin War.)
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who had only recently resigned, retaliated by sending his own troops to burn down the Satsuma residence in Edo, as well as arrest the various anti-Tokugawa people hiding in there.

So how did he end up helping Katsu, a Tokugawa official? Well, Masumitsu was caught in the earlier raid and was later sent to be imprisoned under Katsu. But in March, Katsu found out about Saigou's intention to invade Edo and sent Yamaoka with a letter to Saigou, stationed in Sunpu.

He also sent Masumitsu along since Masumitsu was from Satsuma and knew Saigou, and hence could guide Yamaoka along and vouch for him, as well as help converse in the distinctly different Kagoshima/Satsuma dialect. It is said that Saigou believed Masumitsu to be dead, but upon seeing him alive Saigou was thankful to Katsu for not having him killed - something that certainly didn't hurt relations between the two.

I personally think the fact that Masumitsu escored Yamaoka with no trouble is partly due to the fact that they knew each other from the Kobi no Kai - and I wouldn't be surprised if Masumitsu was impressed and respectful of Katsu.

Sadly, the real Masumitsu died in May 1868 (lunar?) at the young age of 28. And I don't know what from. A battle, I would think.

And yes, the anime Masumitsu died in episode 10 also in May 1868 (lunar calendar), at the age of 28, in the war of Ueno. :(

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History - Kawai Tsuginosuke

2006-11-29T01:12:00.000-08:00

Kawai Tsuginosuke in history (1827-1868)

Link to Kawai in the anime.

This page itself is really just a direct English translation of most of the wonderful Japanese wikipedia article on Kawai Tsuginosuke. I didn't even bother rearranging the sections. There is a ton of detail to be found there so if you can read Japanese, please go - the linked articles are chock full of info as well. Do check out the links at the bottom, too.
As with all history articles, sections most relevant to the anime are in red. (last update: up to ep 12)

Omake

Early Life

In 1827, he was born into the Kawai family, in Nagamachi near the Nagaoka castle. The Kawai family were originally retainers (samurai) of the Honda family from Zeze-han in Oumi Province, but one of the Honda females married into the Makino family that was the daimyo family of Nagaoka. A pair of Kawai brothers were made to accompany her to Nagaoka and ended up becoming retainers of the Makino family.

Tsuginosuke was apparently quite the bad-tempered and playful kid when young, and never liked losing. His determined and nonconformist nature would show through in many occasions throughout his life, as you will see later. (Even as a young man he would occasionally disobey orders from the domain administration, get scolded for it, and act like nothing happened.)

When he was around 12-13 years of age he was instructed in the various skills as befitted a samurai such as swordsmanship and horse riding. However he never liked the idea of sticking to one particular style or fashion and caused his teachers much grief by refusing to do things the way they instructed him to, insisting on doing them his own way instead.
Later, he went to the domain school where he became attracted to Neo-Confucianism.

In 1842 he had his genpuku ceremony where he was given the name Akiyoshi. Traditionally he would have had to become known as "____uemon" but he stuck to the name he was given in his youth, Tsuginosuke. (His formal name or gou was Souryuu-kutsu 蒼龍窟, meaning Cavern of the Blue Dragon.)
The next year at the age of 17 he formally became a Nagaoka-han retainer, and in 1850 at the age of 23 married a lady called Sugato.

Kawai's Learning

For quite some time, Kawai had been copying out scripts and texts left behind by Japanese and Chinese (Song and Ming period) Confucianist scholars. Rather than reading as extensively as possible, he preferred to read fewer books but with a more intensive and in-depth reading of them. It is said that if he liked a book, he would meticulously copy it out word by word, which was surprising considering his general dislike for formal things like that. At the same time, if he wanted to, he could easily extract the essence of a text if he wanted to; and he apparently foresaw the collapse of the traditional Japanese hierarchy as well as the Satsuma-Choshu alliance that was brokered in 1867 by Sakamoto Ryoma.

He would frequently get together with four certain fellow retainers of the same age group and have intellectual discussions over all sorts of things. They were such a united group that others called them the Oke-dou (桶党, Bucket Union - because they were so tight that even water couldn't get through). Two others joined in later. This group would go on to be supporters of Kawai's reforms in Nagaoka down the road..

First trip to Edo

In the autumn of 1852 (25 years old), he made his first trip to Edo for higher education, where two of his friends were already studying. He was introduced to a school called Saitou Setsudou (斎藤拙堂, but left as there was nothing there that satisfied or appealed to him, and instead joined another school called Kyuukeisha (久敬舎).

He also went to Sakuma Shozan's school. Sakuma Shozan was a pro-modernisation scholar, and mentor of Katsu Kaishuu and Sakamoto Ryoma. There he learned, among other things, about the science of firearms. Kawai respected Sakuma, but something about his personality did not sit well with him. He insisted that he went to Sakuma's school only so that he could learn about Western technology. And Kyuukeisha? He ended up hardly attending any of its lessons, but instead spent most of his time reading and copying out the Chinese book "李忠定公集" (Richuutei koushuu), earning a reputation as a loner among his peers. When that was done he returned to Nagaoka.

Brief stint as an official

1853 marked the arrival of Commodore Perry's fleet of black ships from the U.S., demanding Japan end its isolationist policies. This was a hotly discussed issue all over Japan, including of course Nagaoka-han. The daimyo was impressed by a proposal written by Kawai regarding how to react to the situation and promoted him, giving him a position in the administration. But Kawai, who was hoping to reform the way things were run in Nagaoka, met with strong resistance from elders who didn't approve of his independant way of doing things.

As such he quit after two months, being unable to do anything substantial at all. His deep dislike for such an attitude of clinging onto old things led him to write another proposal, this time about the removing the emphasis on pedigree in deciding the structure and composition of the government body. He was discontented with the inefficiency of the administration and formed his ambition to become a karou, even though by the current system that would have been difficult since he didn't come from one of the set families that karou were always chosen from. (He did succeed in doing this later.)

Further Education in Edo, Matsuyama, etc.

In January 1859, Kawai returned to Edo and Kyuukeisha, where this time he studied in earnest. At the invitation of Yamada Houkoku, a prominent Confucian scholar from Bicchuu Matsuyama-han, he went to Western Japan for further education in economics and governance. There, the arrogant Kawai - who addressed Yamada in letters by his common name Angorou, because Kawai was a samurai and Yamada was of peasant background - was so struck by how Yamada kept to his words and successfully brought about reforms in his own domain, that he himself began to mellow and became more serious about his plans.

While he was studying under Yamada he also visited Saga and Nagasaki to broaden his worldview. In March the next year, he ended his studies in Matsuyama and returned to Edo. Shortly after that he spent a bit of time at Yokohama, where he got to know Edward Schnell (whom he later bought the two famous Gatling guns from) and then went back to Nagaoka again.

Kawai's travels in West Japan can be found in the one and only work he has authored - a travel journal called 塵壷 (Chiritsubo - "Pot of Rubbish"). It covers his travels from 7th June to 22nd December 1859 (lunar calendar), and valuable insights into his future plans and his mindset can be found by reading it.

Getting his way with the daimyo

In 1862, the Nagaoka daimyo Makino Tadayuki (牧野忠恭) received the position of "Kyoto shoshidai" - which was the shogunal representative stationed in Kyoto, for purposes of liaising with the Imperial court and other nobles. Kawai was taken along as well, and arrived in Kyoto in 1863, where he had recommended Tadayuki to resign. Tadayuki didn't acknowledge this at first, but in the end he quit anyway in April, going instead to Edo.

And then in September, Tadayuki was appointed the prestigious post of rouju, but when Kawai came along with him as an official, he once again suggested for Tadayuki to resign...
The daimyo of Hitachi Sasama-han, Sadaaki Makino (a distant relative of Tadayuki), visited them to persuade Kawai to stop. But Kawai ended up insulting him, and as a way of taking responsibility for it he quit his own post and returned back to Nagaoka.

The road to reforms

Since Nagaoka-han was ruled by a fudai daimyo (briefly explained, a family that is aligned with the Shogunate) Kawai was re-given the task of helping to monitor tozama daimyo (who were seen as outsiders by the Shogunate) in 1865 at the age of 40. In 1857 he had actually been given this job once before. Three months later he became the county magistrate
(郡奉行 gun-bugyou), and finally got to carry out the reforms that he had wanted to carry out so dearly.

He concurrently took on the post of town magistrate (町奉行 machi-bugyou) and brought about regulation of public morals, changes in the managing of agriculture, additional irrigation of crops, as well as military reforms, etc.

Within Nagaoka-han he also tried to equalise the size of individual fiefs (hence combating the problem of pedigree wielding more power than it should) by increasing the size of those below 100 seki, and decreasing the size of those over that limit. This would of course earn him both supporters and enemies. One of the senior officials from one of those pedigree families, Inamura Heisuke (稲垣平助), suffered greatly as his family went from a total of 2000 seki down to 500, and ended up harbouring a severe grudge against Kawai. Of course, Kawai applied these reforms to himself and his own family as well, going from reportedly 1000 seki to a mere 120 by the end of his life.

With the trust of the daimyo, he also centralised military command and power by making the daimyo the ultimate military commander. This again dealt a blow to some complex families that had craftily extended their influence by setting up branches of the family all over the land. Kawai's reforms were most detrimental to the heads of these branch families as they now had less power than before.

Breakout of the Boshin War

Things were heading towards a climax, however, as in late 1867 the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, resigned and returned his power to the Emperor, thus ending Shogunate rule in Japan. At the same time, Makino Tadayuki passed on the role of Nagaoka daimyo to Makino Tadakuni.

Tadakuni and Kawai received the official statement of Imperial restoration, and had to make a trip to the relevant offices in Kyoto. There, Kawai made a proposal on behalf of Nagaoka to take in the Tokugawa family and help protect them. However, he received no response to it. (I am figuring that this is connected to the fact that later during the Boshin war, most others wanted to ally with the Imperial court, and yet in the end Kawai led Nagaoka to fight alongside Tokugawa loyalists, which made him a hated man in certain circles...)

The next year in the 3rd of January, the Boshin War began with the Battle of Toba and Fushimi between the Imperial troops and the old Shogunate strongholds of Aizu and Kuwana domains. When Kawai, who was in Osaka, heard about the ex-Shogunate troops' heavy loss as well as Yoshinobu's undercover move to Edo, he himself hurried back to Edo.

There he got the Nagaoka officials to quickly return home. He had their residence in Edo dismantled, and sold all the family jewellery and other assets. With the money from that, he bought rice cheaply and then resold it for a profit all the way in Hakodate up north. That, and profits made by exchanging currencies, went to a rapidly increasing military budget, part of which Kawai spent on his way back.
He famously purchased two Gatling guns (out of three in the whole of Japan) from the Schnell brothers at the hefty cost of 10,000 ryou. Further more he also bought 2000 of the latest model of French-made rifles, as well as other modern armaments. Then, he finally returned back to Nagaoka by sea.

Military independence and the Ojiya Negotiations

The continuing conflict between the old Shogunate troops and the Imperial Army was coming close to home as the new government's troops pressed onto the nearby Ojiya (now Ojiya city in Niigata prefecture), in a move to eventually conquest Aizu-han, a Tokugawa stronghold.
Just about all the important retainers and elders in Nagaoka supported alliance with the Imperial Court and avoidance of battle. There was still, however, debate about which side to ally with, and in order to solve both sides of the problem, they decided to settle for military independance instead. Meanwhile, Kawai had finally fulfilled his dream of becoming karou in April 1868.

But when on the 2nd of May 1868 (lunar calendar) Kawai went to negotiate this with Iwamura Seiichirou (later Iwamura Takatoshi) from the Imperial Army at Jigan Temple in Ojiya, suggesting arbitration between the new government and the Tokugawa loyalists, Iwamura didn't understand him - and instead demanded that they form the frontier in the battle against Aizu-han. Talks broke down within a mere 30 minutes. Kawai had been hoping to talk to Yamagata Aritomo or Kuroda Ryousuke, but didn't expect to be greeted by the lower-ranking Iwamura.

Both sides deemed the effort as a failure, and with the Imperial Army giving up on them, Nagaoka ended up joining the opposing side, the Northern Alliance (also known as the Ouuetsu reppan-doumei, made up of various northern domains), and took part in the Battle of Hokuetsu 2 days later.

Battle of Hokuetsu

Although Nagaoka never was a domain with an unified outlook, this time the conflict proved too much and one of the important karou, Inamura Heisuke deserted the domain just before the battle began. But the other clans supported Kawai and followed him even though some of them still thought it was a better idea to ally with the Imperial Army. By now, the decision to officially take part in the battle laid entirely in Kawai's hands both in name (as he had now become the overall military commander of Nagaoka), and in fact.

Of course, some things didn't change: three major clans who were only reluctantly following Kawai, namely the Maki (槙), Nose (能勢) and Hikita (疋田), cheated a bit by volunteering to protect and serve the daimyo's headquarters, tended to be far from the frontline and are said to have not lost a single person in the battlefield. Their internal organisation and structure also was unaffected by Kawai's numerous reforms.

Nagaoka was on par with the Imperial Forces for a while, part thanks to their impressive Gatling guns, but the tables turned when on the 19th of May (lunar calendar), Nagaoka Castle was captured. The Nagaoka forces managed to recapture it in 25 days through a well-recorded military maneuver at Hacchou-oki on the 24th of July (lunar calendar), but just then Kawai's left knee got severely wounded by a stray bullet. (This fact is referred to in passing in episodes 11 and 12 of the anime.) The fact that a commander like him got wounded ended up lowering the troops' morale, and furthermore, reinforcement troops from Yonezawa-han got delayed.

As a result, the Imperial Army, who was actually preparing to leave, regained their strength and made a comeback. Nagaoka could not withstand this and four days later, the castle they had worked so hard to recapture, fell to the Imperial forces once again. The Kawai clan escaped to the pro-Tokugawa Aizu-han, and the Hokuetsu battle hence ended with the Imperial Army emerging victorious. After that, the war moved onto Aizu-han instead, where we come to the last part of Kawai Tsuginosuke's life.

Kawai's last days

Late July 1868 - Kawai Tsuginosuke was on his way to Aizu-han, crossing the Hachijuurigoe (八十里越) Pass, and was said to have uttered a poem in self-derision - "八十里腰抜け武士の越す峠" (Hachijuuri - the pass that a cowardly warrior crosses).
When he reached Aizu-han, he took a breather at Tadami village. Here, he got examined by the famous physician Matsumoto Ryoujun (松本良順 - who used to be Tokugawa Yoshinobu's very own physician) who came at the request of Nagaoka's ex-daimyo Makino Tadayuki. However, it had become too late to treat Kawai's wound.

Kawai himself was aware that his end was fast approaching, and left behind advice for Nagaoka to ally with Shounai-han and not Yonezawa-han; as well as for the daimyo's successor to emigrate to France (which did not happen). He also recommended one of his sort-of disciples, Toyama Shuuzou (外山修造) to become a businessman, even though he originally intended for him to be a warrior, as he knew that the era of such class distinctions was over. (Toyama went on to become a notable figure in the economic development of Japan.)

At Matsumoto's advice, Kawai left Tadami village for Shiozawa village, where his unstable condition continued. On the 15th of August (lunar calendar), Kawai called his faithful male servant, Matsuzou (松蔵) to his bedside, where Kawai thanked him and asked him to make preparations for his cremation. The next day, on the 16th afternoon, Kawai Tsuginosuke went to sleep after having a short friendly chat with someone, and never woke up again. He died at around 8 p.m. from tetanus at the age of 42.

Posthumous details

Kawai's body was supposed to have been buried at Aizu castle, but Matsuzou was afraid that the Imperial Army would desecrate his grave when they eventually invade the castle, and had Kawai's body buried under a pine tree, leaving a fake grave at the castle instead. Indeed, when the troops came they tried to carry out Kawai's body, but upon realising that it was just sand inside, they apparently became suspicious for a while as to whether Kawai had really died.

After the war, Matsuzou dug out Kawai's remains from under the pine tree and sent them home to Nagaoka, where they were buried at the Eiryou temple (栄涼寺). However, his tombstone would keep getting knocked down by people who hated Kawai and held him responsible for bringing Nagaoka to ruin.

As for the Kawai family, since their main leader Tsuginosuke had passed away, the government pardoned them from the death sentence and, instead, punished them by disallowing them to continue their family name, although in Meiji 16 (1883), this was repealed.

Short appraisals of Kawai

I picked four, roughly translated from this page (there might be errors):
Tokutomi Soho (historian, journalist)
-"Admittedly, he couldn't beat the greatness of Saigou [Takamori], Ookubo [Toshimichi] and Kido [Takayoshi] put together, but Tsuginosuke was a figure greater than each one of them on their own."
Shiba Ryoutarou (famous historical novelist not from Bakumatsu era)
-"Japan's Final Warrior"
-"Looking at Bakumatsu-era figures, Kawai Tsuginosuke is three times better than Kido Takayoshi"
-"He's the sort of person whom, if only he was fighting for the western troops, would have had his face on yen bills by now."
Katsu Kaishuu (If you bothered to read until here, surely you should know who he is!)
-"He was really quite the person, but he made a regrettable choice in the end. There are very few people like Kawai."
Saigou Takamori (And if you don't know him you're hopeless :\)
-I must admit that even in the Northeastern regions there are outstanding people, and Kawai Tsuginosuke from Nagaoka is one of those hard-to-come by figures. Because we had conflicting ideas of right and wrong, I had no choice but to label him as a "rebel", but if he were still around now, he would deserve to be in the Cabinet. Certainly he was a great man of the generation.

Key websites and books to refer to

I referred only to websites while writing this article.
Of course, the Japanese wikipedia article I mentioned.

And if it's Kawai Tsuginosuke, you cannot go without mentionnig the amazing Souryuu ga Yuku page with a literal wealth of information on Kawai. Of special note are: an excellent timeline (at the bottom; the page compares what he was doing during various events depicted in the popular NHK taiga drama "Shinsengumi!".) and a list of quotes by him.
There's a ton of other things such as how to make his favourite food, thoughts and reflections on the Kawai and the various people in his life, a complete list of shows that he's appeared in, etc.

There's also the Official Kawai Tsuginosuke Memorial museum. The actual musuem is situated in Tadami, the place where Kawai died.

The most important book that has served as a basis for most research on Kawai is "Kawai Tsuginosuke-den" (河井継之助伝); a biography written by Imaizumi Takujirou (今泉鐸次郎) originally published in 1910 and most recently a revised and enlarged version was released by Shouzan-sha (象山社) in 1996.
I obviously haven't read it (and probably won't, I'm afraid), but if you're interested in studying Kawai then it seems like this is the obvious resource to refer to.

Other than that there is Chiritsubo (塵壺), a travel diary written by Kawai himself (and mentioned in the article). The original is kept in the Nagaoka City Chuo Library, and there is a typeset, annotated version by Andou Hideo (安藤英男) called "Chiritsubo: Kawai Tsuginosuke Nikki" (塵壷：河井継之助日記), released by Heibon-sha in 1974.

For a lot more, do refer to the wikipedia article, or this list.

Kawai Tsuginosuke in other media

There are a number of books that refer to him, to which I again direct you to the websites listed above.

But the most famous is undoubtedly Shiba Ryoutarou's "Touge" (峠 - mountain pass). It ran in instalments on the Mainichi newspaper from 1966 to 1968, and as soon as it was finished it was compiled and published by Shincho-sha in two volumes. There have been endless reprints of it since then.
Of course, being fiction, it had certain things going on that were not recorded in history, which ended up being stuck in the minds of readers anyway (to the point of being quoted as truth). For example, any references to Kawai saying that he wanted to make Nagaoka-han a neutral independent state just like Switzerland comes from this book; there are no records of him actually having said that. (Did they know about Switzerland back then? o_O)

And believe it or not, Kawai Tsuginosuke has also appeared in his own TV dorama.

Return to History page
Kawai Tsuginosuke in the anime

...Trivia/Omake

I don't know where to stick this, but I find it vaguely amusing so here goes: When there was a prohibition on visiting pleasure quarters, the entertainers there used to light-heartedly refer to Kawai by punning on his name like this - かわいかわいと今朝まで思い今は愛想もつきのすけ. Because Kawai used to be a very frequent visitor until the ban.

Pardon my lousy Japanese, but I believe it's just a neat little song that really says "I've been thinking it was so cute until this morning, and now I think it's disgusting". The song reads 'Kawai kawai to kesa made omoi, ima wa aisou mo tsukinosuke.' (Kawai -> Kawaii -> cute, Tsuginosuke -> tsukinosuke is punning on "aisou wo tsuku" which means getting disillusioned with something). So basically it also sounds like they're saying "I've been thinking Kawai, Kawai all the way until this morning, and now I'm really sickofitsuke." Ho ho.

Also, if you find the name 小林虎三郎 (Kobayashi Torasaburou) linked to this guy, apparently they were relatives. Kobayashi was originally against Nagaoka joining in the battle, but after seeing the violence of the Satsuma and Choshu domains, he supported Kawai's decision to go to war. This guy is famous from the Kome Hyappyo story that got popularized after Junichiro Kobayashi mentioned it in a speech.

It also seems like his favourite food was sakurameshi (桜飯), rice boiled with salt, soya sauce, and sake. Some places put in bits of octopus as well.

wao's kill list - spoilers

2006-11-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

Status of the Kill List as per episode 11:

People who really should kick the !@#$ing bucket
-~~Nakaiya~~ Ep 11: NAKAIYA
Ohhhh yeah, we thought the fat bastard died in episode 8. Fat hope. Very fat hope. He's back alive and kicking in episode 11... What the hell is his problem?!! Sure he looks like he went on a diet but god.... if you're immortal just say so... -___-
-~~Hata Meifuu~~ (episode 8)

People who should die for the sake of the story!
(Very evil section)
-Kanna
-The troupe (Zagashira, Ebisu)
-Soutetsu (weak)

Saigou spoilers

2006-11-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

Saigou cont.

Episode 7 and 8 spoilers.

----
7
We don't see it but he's received another letter from Katsu Kaishuu and agrees to meet up with him at a Satsuma residence.
There, he eventually agrees with Katsu that Edo should not be burned down. He is accompanied by a fairly well known Satsuma retainer, Nakamura Hanjirou (who is nothing more than a cameo here).
But Nakaiya intervenes and under the influence of the Head, he starts cursing Katsu and trying to attack him, while Katsu does the same.

---
8
Saigou continues trying to attack Katsu, but the influence of the Head is removed when Soutetsu takes control of it.
In the end Saigou and Katsu patch up and as they talk at a temple we find out that they are after all going to halt the invasion of Edo. So Saigou's forces do not attack Edo anymore.

---
9
But just as in history Saigou is back at it again, this time planning the Battle of Ueno at Kan'ei Temple, with Oomura Masujirou.

Return to Saigou

Katsu spoilers

2006-11-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

Katsu cont.

Spoilers for episode 7-10.

---
7
Katsu, spurred on by the destruction partially brought about by Parkes' heavy-handedness in episode 6, meets up with Saigou Takamori to discuss Edo.
He puts his skills as a negotiator to work and is about to reach the conclusion of peace, when first of all, Kanna Sakyounosuke - his ex-bodyguard - comes in and holds him and Saigou at gunpoint.
Then, Nakaiya Juubee comes in and exerts the influence of the Conqueror's Head on Saigo and Katsu, and their eyes glow red as they begin to become hostile to each other.

---
8

Katsu and Saigou begin to fight due to the Head brought by Nakaiya. However, Soutetsu transfers the Head to his possession, Nakaiya is rendered powerless, and the influence wears off.
Katsu and Saigou return to normal, realise that they were doing stupid things, and make up the next day after sealing the deal to not make Edo a battlefield. Thus, the same conclusion is reached as in history.

---
9

It is quite some time later. At Ueno we see Katsu standing by as the Tokugawa establishment moves from Mito domain into Kan'ei Temple. When it reaches almost a month after the previous episode (i.e. 14-15 May 1868 - lunar), war at Ueno seems inevitable and Katsu sighs to Shinmon at how it seems like his efforts at reducing the bloodshed are all in vein.

---
10

Katsu can't stop the war from going on. Indeed, he loses Masumitsu Kyuunosuke to the battle... In other news, he also learns of Enomoto Takeaki - a navy commander leading the last of the Tokugawa resistance to the north - starting something that worries him...

Return to Katsu.

wao's kill list

2006-11-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

wao's kill list.

The page in which wao turns into a very dangerous fangirl who is obsessed, self-important, obnoxious and biased to the point of wanting to kill certain characters off for the most cold and vicious reasons. You might look at her very differently after reading this... don't worry, she won't kill you... yet.

Don't take any of the following seriously, of course.

************Warning: Bloody long page full of rubbish ahead. As usual.

In an anime like this, which I think we can all say is unafraid of using archetypes and cliches, there are certain patterns which you can come to expect. And one of those patterns obviously would deal with.... THE DEATH OF CHARACTERS.

There must be some characters who must die, of course. You've got to have death or you're not going to get enough ~~angst~~ dramatic tension in the story to please the fangirls. Duh. ~~I mean, Sakamoto died so that we could all see Akizuki beautifully and stereotypically angst in the rain and have emo flashbacks.~~ (Let's pretend I didn't say that, that was a very bad thing to do... bad wao! Bad!)
And come on, we've got an epic story revolving around a revolutionary period and a Nasty Evil Supernatural Object! What, do you expect everyone to stay alive? Of course not.

On the other hand, there are also some characters whom *I* personally want to die! Either because they're bloody annoying and intolerable or because it'd provide such wonderful angst, or because it fits perfectly with my own delusional world where the anime goes according to what I want it to. (This is where the "wao goes self-important and obnoxious" part comes in.)

Enough of that. Let's cut this short and put up wao's list of people who will, or should, DIE. This is correct as of episode 8. If anyone really dies, it is reflected on this page, not here. But if I find new reasons for someone to die I will put them in here, even if they are spoilers (unless they're really serious).

Summary (Click to see my ramblings on each character/group):

People who really should kick the !@#$ing bucket
-Nakaiya
-Hata Meifuu

People who should die for the sake of the story!
(Very evil section)
-Kanna
-The troupe (Zagashira, Ebisu)
-Soutetsu (weak)

Current state of kill list (Spoilers up till the latest episodes)

----------------------

-NAKAIYA! NAKAIYA JUUBEE!!
Good god. What an annoyingly cliche villain. Alright, he's not as bad as... as the stupid KOROSU KOROSU KOROSU trio from ep 5-6, but it's a pain having him around for so long! And he deserves ETERNAL HELL FOR TRYING TO CONTROL KATSU WITH THE HEAD. Nobody touches Katsu like that. Ass. You should be killed immediately!

-Hata Meifuu (the chanting dude)
I deeply respect your ability to endlessly chant, day in day out, without needing to piss or eat or even take a look outside, man. But you suck anyway. And we could have done without your "KUBI GA YOROKONDERU!!" (The Head is delighted!!) theatrics and all... and well, you're a Bad Guy anyway aren't you! Naughty. Doing those things to the Troupe! *waves sword* Die! P.S. Next time you send out bad guys, pls2 maek them moar creatif than the Korosu trio. Okay? Okay. (You can guess I have an issue with those grunts...)

----------

- Kanna Sakyounosuke
Watch me get bashed and killed by all the Kanna fangirls... Hey, I find his character design cute too. And his perceived Akizuki-stalking is amusing (plus I'm interested to see his interactions with Kakunojou and, yes, Akizuki).
But I think to me it's just plainly obvious that he has to die before the end of the show. Don't ask me why exactly, but he's got that aura. I'll start ticking off a list when the "death flags" (死亡フラグ) appear in the anime as signs that he's going to die.
Although he's one of the biggest fangirl baits - and hence is put in a lot of the magazine scans and is even creeping his way into official pics - do bear in mind that he isn't even as important as the seemingly more minor Soutetsu, because Kanna doesn't appear in the ED (Pardon me while I do a juvenile "naananny poopoo" dance.) And the OP? Just another character sucked into that green thing Akizuki's standing on. Pshah. You're getting booted out, prettyboy. And I'll be waiting here for teh angst (and the explosion on the Japanese blogosphere!) when that happens. Let's just see whether you develop enough of a solid character to make me cry when that happens...
(Y'all can laugh at me if he ends up alive anyway. Yes, that especially includes you, H-dono!)

-The Troupe (excluding Kakunojou and Soutetsu, duh)
(Specifically, whom I want to die: Ebisu, and to a lesser extent, Shiranui. Who will die: Zagashira.)

Don't I sound like some evil delusional fangirl now? Well, I am. So there.
I'm still not sure whether they WILL die in the story - but I won't be surprised in the least bit if they do. To be a little spoilery: the location's going to change from Yokohama to Edo and probably even Hokkaido/Ezo later onwards. The troupe can't possibly be tagging along with Akizuki everywhere? If you use the OP as a gauge then the troupe's not even important enough to appear for more than a few seconds as indistinguishable figures being sucked into some green thing - except, of course, for Kakunojou and Soutetsu.

I think we all know it's obvious from the very start that Soutetsu has his own motivations, and is using the troupe as a mere pawn.
Not just that, they were performing only because they wanted to exact revenge. When that happens (and it's obvious it must - Nakaiya must die! I insist!) ... and Soutetsu is gone, what is the Troupe going to do? Surely, they must disband.

Disband it will be then. But die? This is where it falls purely into the territory of imagination.

Remember I said Kakunojou and Soutetsu are the exceptions? I've explained what'll happen to Soutetsu. But Kakunojou must obviously be surviving - and furthermore, I believe she would be on her own (with or against Akizuki).
And I'm sure anyone she'd be traveling with would be important enough to appear in the OP... unless they're going to die soon!!

Now should the troupe disband, Kakunojou is likely to still travel with Zagashira and Ebisu - they're like family to her. I can also see Shiranui joining in for the ride, though that is less likely. And due to that connection I declare they must all die. (Evil laughter goes here). Sorry folks, but I think you've got to die so that Kakunojou has to fend for herself. Personally I would very much like such a development anyway, which is why I'm hoping they die because then she really has nowhere to go. ~~(except either Kanna or Akizuki <--- :D)~~

Additionally, Ebisu is really quite a flimsy character at this point of time. All we've seen are his shallow bursts of anger at his enemies and a bit of pillar-punching here and there. He's really just the claws of the troupe (literally and figuratively) - helping to kill their enemies and sniff them out. Guess what, after Nakaiya I don't think there'll be any use for you anymore unless you develop a character NOW, and I mean NOW. I don't see that happening, though, so bye-bye! You die. (Plus I'm sure Kakunojou will be very sad at your death, and that's also something I'd enjoy seeing. Uhya-. Why am I so damn sadistic, eh? Next thing I'll be wanting Kakunojou to be r-*is dragged off*)

And Zagashira? Eh, Zagashira just has another one of those "my life here was well spent... thank you for everything, but it was about time I went..." kind of death vibes just radiating from his presence. I somehow think he's just a good candidate for dying. He could die together with Ebisu maybe... ~~more impact...~~

-Ibaragi Soutetsu.
Not entirely convinced on this. This is more of a feeling based on my current evaluation of the show's nature (which I will not go on about here).
Somehow, I get the feeling that while there will be angst and what not along the way, Soutetsu will die at the very end. I wouldn't mind it if he lived on, but he's already gotten into so much potential danger trying to do what he wants with the Head that I won't be surprised if he ends up dying (either as a Misunderstood Good Guy, a Grey-Area Guy, or a Cool Bad Guy).
Ah what the hell, just show us more of him already will you?

Return to Fangirl Rants

Episode 8

2006-11-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a comic strip rendition of episode 8.

As you can see, it got messier and messier and the comic progressed, but that's what you get for staying up till 5.

Ai no Tsurugi Kanji

2006-11-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

Ai no Tsurugi 愛の剣
Composition, Lyrics: Takako Shirai
Performed by: TAKAKO & THE CRAZY BOYS

ちぎれた愛の剣
差し出す先は幾千の
涙が一つになり
明日を輝かせる

光る空の果て
夢はまだ幻
月の明かり
影追うように
走るこの道

ならばいざ進め
混沌の時代の中へ
満ち足りてもなを
足りないもの
見える限り

ちぎれた愛の剣
差し出す先は幾千の
涙が一つになり
明日を輝かせる

欲しいものはただ
あなたの微笑だけ
でも悲しみの日々
止めることも出来ず
壊れそうさ

その手は闇の剣
生き抜くすべは幾千の
命が舞い降りて
あなたの道を照らす

ちぎれた愛の剣
差し出す先は幾千の
正義が一つになり
明日が生まれ変わる

この手は愛の剣
全ての始まりの証
今こそ
信じる道を真っ直ぐ進め!

この空がある限り
この愛がある限り

Return to Lyrics

Ai no Tsurugi Romaji

2006-11-23T04:58:00.000-08:00

Ai no Tsurugi
Composition, Lyrics: Takako Shirai
Performed by: TAKAKO & THE CRAZY BOYS

Chigireta ai no tsurugi
Sashidasu saki wa ikusen no
Namida ga hitotsu ni nari
Ashita wo kagayakaseru

Hikaru sora no hate
Yume wa mada maboroshi
Tsuki no akari Kage ou you ni
Hashiru kono michi

Naraba iza susume
Konton no toki no naka e
Michitaritemona wo Tarinai mono
Mieru kagiri

Chigireta ai no tsurugi
Sashidasu saki wa ikusen no
Namida ga hitotsu ni nari
Ashita wo kagayakaseru

Hoshii mono wa tada
Anata no hohoemi dake
Demo kanashimi no hibi Tomeru koto mo dekizu
Kowaresou sa

Sono te wa yami no tsurugi
Ikinuku sube wa ikusen no
Inochi ga maiorite
Anata no michi wo terasu

Chigireta ai no tsurugi
Sashidasu saki wa ikusen no
Seigi ga hitotsu ni nari
Ashita ga umarekawaru

Kono te wa ai no tsurugi
Subete no hajimari no akashi
Ima koso
Shinjiru michi wo massugu susume!

Kono sora ga aru kagiri
Kono ai ga aru kagiri

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Lyrics

2006-11-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

Song Lyrics

Kouya Ruten (OP)

Ai no Tsurugi (ED)

Kakunojou no Temariuta (ep 7, 12 insert song)

Kouya Ruten Translation

2006-11-22T18:26:00.001-08:00

The Flux of Wilderness
Vocals: FictionJunction YUUKA
Lyrics: Kajiura Yuki
Composition: Kajiura Yuki
Arrangement: Kajiura Yuki

I tumble and push through
The earth that the moonlight freezes
The era of destruction and resurrection begins

Heavily hoisting freedom
Choosing a pathless path
Overcoming the sunset that is brighter than midday

The boat of time sails as if telling a dream
Across the dark road, there’s a new dawn

We were certainly born from the arms of darkness
We’re wandering toward the light
As if falling in unfulfilled love
We don’t have a way to return
On this forever endless path

We’re confused about surviving
Scared about our impending death
And sorrow dwells in our breathing

A shout fades into loneliness
Sipping up the drops of tears
Everyone roams through the wilderness all alone

Is that the moon’s dream? The flower that shines white
At the far side of the hazy hill, a brilliance beckons

Even if you listen closely to the eternal music that echoes in your chest
And like the sand puzzled by the wind
You disappear into the instant
I’ll still go along this forever endless path
To the other side of the wilderness

Is that the moon’s dream?

We were certainly born from the arms of darkness
We’re tempted toward the light
As if falling in unfulfilled love
We don’t have a way to return
On this forever endless path
Going to the far side…

Courtesy to Atashi of {Words of Songs} and {Lighty Lively}

Kouya Ruten Romaji

2006-11-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

Kouya Ruten
Vocals: FictionJunction YUUKA

Tsukikage kooru daichi o
Korogari fumiwakete yuku
Horobi to saisei no jidai ga hajimaru

Jiyuu o omoku kakagete
Michinaki michi o erande
Mahiru yori mabushii nichibotsu o koete

Yume o kataru you ni toki no fune wa yuku
Sono yamiji no mukou ni atarashii yoake

Bokura wa kitto kurayami no kaina kara umarete kita
Kanawanu koi o suru you ni
Hikari e to samayotteku
Doko made mo hateshi no nai kono michi o
Kaeru sube wa nai

Ikinuku koto ni tomadoi
Shi ni yuku koto ni obiete
Bokura no kokyuu ni wa kanashimi ga yadoru

Sakebi wa kodoku ni usete
Namida no shizuku o susuri
Dare mo ga hitori-kiri kouya o sasurau

Are wa tsuki no yume ka Shiroku hikaru hana
Keburu oka no kanata Kirameki temaneku

Mune ni hibiku yuukyuu no ongaku ni mimi o sumase
Kaze ni madou suna no you ni
Setsuna e to kieusete mo
Doko made mo hateshi no nai kono michi o
Kouya no mukou e

Are wa tsuki no yume ka

Bokura wa kitto kurayami no kaina kara umarete kita
Kanawanu koi o suru you ni
Hikari e to izanawarete
Doko made mo hateshi no nai kono michi o
Kaeru sube wa nai
Kanata e……

Kouya Ruten Kanji

2006-11-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

荒野流転
歌: FictionJunction YUUKA
作詞・作曲・編曲: 梶浦由記

月影凍る大地を
転がり踏み分けて行く
滅びと再生の時代が始まる

自由を重く掲げて
道なき道を選んで
真昼より眩しい日没を越えて

夢を語るように時の舟は行く
その闇路の向こうに新しい夜明け

僕らはきっと暗闇の腕から生まれてきた
かなわぬ恋をするように
光へと彷徨ってく
どこまでも果てしのないこの道を
帰る術は無い

生き抜くことに戸惑い
死に行く事に怯えて
僕等の呼吸には哀しみが宿る

叫びは孤独に失せて
涙の滴を啜り
誰もが一人きり荒野を流離う

あれは月の夢か　白く光る花
けぶる丘の彼方　煌めき手招く

胸に響く悠久の音楽に耳を澄ませ
風に惑う砂のように
刹那へと消え失せても
どこまでも果てしのないこの道を
荒野の向こうへ

あれは月の夢か　

僕等はきっと暗闇の腕から生まれてきた
かなわぬ恋をするように
光へと誘われて
どこまでも果てしのないこの道を
帰る術は無い
彼方へ……

FAQ

2006-11-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

Frequently Asked Questions (Or so we think)

(p.s. Please bear with the b0rked anchor links, we're trying to sort it out - blogger in beta version is doing some weird stuff with it... :S)

General Questions
What does this show's impossibly long title mean?
What period is this show set in?
How many episodes does this show have?
Why is the video quality so damn lousy?
Is this based off a manga or a novel, etc.?
Who would enjoy this anime?
Where do you get to watch this anime?

Terms and Facts
What are some key terms I need to know?
What are the important issues of that period?
What are some important factions? (AKA Which side is ________ on?)

Opening
Why the heck is Akizuki pointing a sword at Kakunojou? Why are they fighting?
Why isn't Kanna-sama in the OP?! Heck, where IS everyone? I only see Soutetsu, Akizuki, Kakunojou and Sakamoto Ryouma...

-------------------------------------------

Q. What does this show's impossibly long title mean?

A: Bakumatsu refers to the period of roughly 1853 to 1867-8 in Japan. It means "end of Shogunate" because that is what happened at that time. (See below as to what shogunate means)
Kikansetsu means something like a "theory of governance/power" (It literally means "theory of organisation"). Here, it refers to the structure where anyone who can control the Conqueror's Head gets ultimate power.
Irohanihoheto is the first line of a Japanese poem known as the Iroha uta.

Q. What period is this show set in?

A: Episode one states that the time is early spring in the Japanese year of Keio 4, 3 months after Ryouma Sakamoto's assassination. That places it around early March 1868 (in our Gregorian calendar, yes), which corresponds with the passage of the letter in that episode. The show is expected to span the whole of 1868.

Q. How many episodes does this show have?

A: Twenty-six weekly episodes of around 25 minutes each.

Q. Why is the video quality so damn lousy?

A: This show airs on a free-of-charge online streaming content provider called GyaO. Any videos ripped from there will have low video quality. You want good quality, get the DVDs.

Q. Is this based off a manga or a novel, etc.?

A: No. This is an "anime original story". The original creator is Ryousuke Takahashi who also is the general director of the show, with input from other Sunrise planning staff.

Q. Who would enjoy this anime?

A: It's actually aimed at girls ~~(for one thing, look at all the hawt guys)~~, but I'm sure guys can enjoy it too for the action and historical elements too. However, stay far away if you dislike shows that have ~~cheesy~~ supernatural elements that change history, are expecting something really realistic, or if you hate shows that focus more on the plot than the characters. Also, it's best if you know some of the real history behind the show, or are willing to learn about it.

Q. Where do you get to watch this anime?

A: Sorry but you'll have to find out yourself. We're not saying anything besides the fact that the first DVD (Region 2) is coming out in Japan on the 26th of January with the first two episodes in it. (You can see a whole list of releases on the English wikipedia page for this anime.)
I hope some kami-sama releases it legally in Singapore. Even if the translation was shit I'd so buy it. T_T

********

Q. What are some key terms I need to know?

A: OK, here's a few super-basics.

Shogunate - In Japanese, bakufu 幕府. A form of government that Japan was under for a very long time, until it was officially abolished in 1868. The ruler is a military leader appointed by the emperor and is called a Shogun 将軍.

Tokugawa Shogunate 徳川幕府 - The Shogunate that was ruling Japan just before 1868, all from the Tokugawa family or its branches. Because it started faltering around 1853 and ultimately fell in 1867-8, that period is known as bakumatsu. (baku - refers to Shogunate, matsu - end) The last shogun was Tokugawa Yoshinobu. In between the changing of Shoguns it is run by a tairo, the most recent and relevant one being Ii Naosuke.

Han (and Japanese feudalism) 藩 - It is translated into English as "domain". A han is an area of land that is run according to a somewhat feudal structure. The ultimate lord of the han is called a daimyo, and he answers to the Shogun and the emperor. Under the daimyo there are other lords, and people serving under them called vassals or retainers (in this context they were samurai). These titles were largely passed down in families. Below them was everyone else - merchants, peasants, craftsmen etc., although some farmers were powerful enough to own their own land.
For example, Satsuma-han was ruled by the Shimazu family. The last daimyo was Shimazu Hisamitsu, and Saigou Takamori was a samurai under him. Masumitsu Kyuunosuke was a lower-ranking samurai.

Imperial Army - For purposes of this anime, it's the same as the New Government's Forces, and later on the Meiji Government forces, and the Eastern Expedition Troops (touseigun). If someone says the "flag of brocade" then they're talking about things related to the Imperial Court (and hence possibly the Army).
They were called the Imperial Army because after the Shogunate fell and an army was consolidated, it was given the Imperial stamp of approval when one of the Imperial family members became commander in chief of the army.
The name 'Eastern Expedition' refers to the fact that a number of the areas supporting this army were from Western domains, and they were stamping out Tokugawa supporters in the Eastern areas.
Just remember for now that Saigou Takamori is one of the military commanders and an important force in the army.

For the rest, go look for Shinsen-subs' handy historical notes on their forum. Go google for it, I'm not linking to it here (not because I hate them, but uh.. don't ask.)

********

Q. What are the important issues of that period?

A: The way I see it at least, there were two points of conflict which sometimes overlapped:
1. Succession and continuation of the Shogunate system, and
2. Response to foreigners after Commodore Perry forced Japan to open up.

By the start of the anime, the Shogunate is officially no more - but there is still a lot of resistance from groups who were loyal to the Shogunate.
Also, Japan has opened up, but there is still a whole gamut of opinions as to the idea of foreigners coming in, both among the ordinary populace and also within the government.

*********

Q. What are some important factions? (AKA Which side is ________ on?)

A: For the purposes of simplicity let's split it into "pro-Tokugawa", "Imperial Forces" and "Others". And then I will just throw in a bunch of associated groups (some have overlaps).

Pro-Tokugawa - Supported the Shogunate all the way and still resisted after the Shogunate fell.
Shinsengumi (a very famous group of fighters...) (Hijikata Toshizo, Okita Souji, etc.)
Aizu-han (daimyo: Matsudaira Katamori)
Kuwana-han (daimyo: Matsudaira Sadaaki)
Ii Naosuke/Kamon-no-kami
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
?Nagaoka-han (Tried to be neutral but got dragged to Tokugawa side later). (daimyo: Tadakatsu Makino. Important ppl: Kawai Tsuginosuke.)

Imperial Forces - Went against the Shogunate at some point of time and later helped to set up the new (Meiji) government.
Imperial family (Emperor Meiji, Prince Arisugawa)
Satsuma-han (daimyo: Shimazu Hisamitsu. Important ppl: Saigou Takamori, Ookubo Toshimichi)
Choshu-han (daimyo: Mouri Takachika. Important ppl: Kido Takayoshi/Katsura Kogorou)
Tosa-han (daimyo: Yamauchi Yodo. Important ppl: Sakamoto Ryouma)
Mito-han (daimyo: Tokugawa Nariaki.)
British consul H.S. Parkes
Historical Nakaiya

Others (Please understand not everyone falls into one of the two above categories)
Anime Nakaiya (appears to have his independent agenda)
Katsu Kaishuu (Tokugawa official, but wasn't entirely on their side either)
Yamaoka Tesshuu (High-ranking Tokugawa retainer but was more on Katsu's side)
And just about the rest of the characters.

**********

Q. Why the heck is Akizuki pointing a sword at Kakunojou? Why are they fighting?

A. Watch the show and find out, silly! That's the point of the OP and that is also precisely one of the biggest reasons why we are watching this show. We want to know what's going to happen to the two of them. Now shut up and enjoy it. (I can't even spoil you since we're only 7 episodes into the show at time of writing...)

Q. Why isn't Kanna-sama in the OP?! Heck, where IS everyone? I only see Soutetsu, Akizuki, Kakunojou and Sakamoto Ryouma...

A. Kanna plus the rest of the troupe, Kotoha, Katsu and Nakaiya are in the OP - watch the bit where Akizuki is standing on this green thing and a bunch of people get "sucked" into it. They're there.
You might say that this is a blatant hint that Kanna, despite his hordes of loving fangirls, is not nearly as important as Akizuki, Kakunojou and Soutetsu (also the only ones who even appear in the ED...).

---------------------------------------------

Nakaiya spoilers

2006-11-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Nakaiya cont.

Yokohama arc (eps 1-8)

After unsuccessful attempts to quash the Troupe, he makes a deal with Kanna Sakyounosuke, whose background he is familiar with. Very strangely, he meets up with the troupe's playwright, Ibaragi Soutetsu in episode 7...

Not long after Nakaiya and Kanna infiltrate the house in which Katsu Kaishuu and Saigou Takamori are about to close a deal to bloodlessly surrender Edo Castle and not wage war there.

Nakaiya uses the Head to make Katsu and Saigou start fighting each other; meanwhile Soutetsu is in the vicinity with a special vessel for the Head, and the Troupe, as well as Akizuki, are nearby too, looking to kill him/seal the Head...

End of arc (highlight to view spoilers)

At the end of episode 8, Nakaiya has the Head taken away from him by Soutetsu, who fatally wounds Hata Meifuu before escaping with it. Meanwhile, the Troupe has cornered Nakaiya, and Zagashira and Ebisu deal a fatal blow to him. Kakunojou is about to finish him off with a final stab but Kanna shoots her sword out of her hand.
.

Scroll down for later spoilers

.
Okita arc (eps 9-10)
We hear nothing of Nakaiya because everybody presumes he is dead.

End of arc (highlight to view spoilers)

Until Soutetsu sends in a script to the troupe, mentioning Nakaiya in it again - so is he alive?!
.

Scroll down for later spoilers

.
Edo arc (eps 11-13)

As the Troupe moves to Edo they figure out that Nakaiya is alive because of Soutetsu's script.
Soutetsu's complete script strangely indicates for the real Nakaiya to play his own role in the play.

Indeed, he is alive and is on board Enomoto Takeaki's ship, presumably in order to help him settle some outstanding payments. Kanna is still escorting him, and Soutetsu, also on the ship, is absolutely unsurprised that Nakaiya is alive.

He is pretty much powerless to go after the Troupe without the Head in his possession, and tries to take it back from Soutetsu in episode 13, but...

End of arc (highlight to view spoilers)
He managed to get the Head off Soutetsu - despite Kanna's betrayal, which he somehow knew was coming, but then as per Soutetsu' script, halfway through the play the Troupe and Akizuki barge in running towards them. Nakaiya tries to escape in his own rowboat, but loses his hold on the Head, as cannons fired into the water by Parkes' secret soldiers disrupt matters.

Ebisu manages to tie down Nakaiya with his chains, but then both of them are hit directly by one of the shells and most probably have died for good - although Nakaiya claims that he will not die until he has seen hell on earth or something to that extent a short while ago.

---
.
Return to Nakaiya

Kanna spoilers

2006-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

Kanna cont.

Contains spoilers for episodes 5 - 8.

-----
5 and 6
At the very end of episode 5, we see him standing on Glover's ship to meet Nakaiya. In episode 6 they talk, and while he seems hostile to Nakaiya at first, he is invited to see Nakaiya's cave where the Head is being manipulated by Hata Meifuu.

Despite this he later ends up shooting one of the posessed beings Nakaiya sent to kill the Troupe - either out of his own conviction or because Nakaiya asked him to, we don't know.
By this time he is MIA around Katsu, who doesn't seem to care...

----
7
It appears that Kanna has gone onto Nakaiya's side. (For now at least.)
We see him hanging around more with Nakaiya and Glover... and near the end of the episode, by request of Nakaiya he breaks into the Satsuma compound where his ex-'master' Katsu has finally completed hard-earned negotiations with Saigou Takamori.

He holds them at gunpoint and thus allows for the entry of Nakaiya and the Head.

---
8
Kanna finally has a battle with Akizuki. However, after quite some time of creative fighting, Akizuki shakes him off under the cover of smoke. Furthermore we see that Kanna's eye gets blurred for a short while. He also sees Kakunojou in her normal appearance for the first time and is shocked by her similarity to his mother.

Also, at the end, when Kakunojou is about to drive her sword into Nakaiya, Kanna shoots her sword away, saying "Don't think badly of me; I'm only doing what I was paid to do."

(Current Affiliation: ? -> Nakaiya? -> Independent??)

Return to Kanna

Saigou

2006-11-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

SAIGOU Takamori 西郷隆盛
Also known as: Saigou Kichinosuke ('common name'), Saigou Nanshuu (formal name)

(Affiliation: Imperial Army - Satsuma)

First appearance: Ep 3
Leader of the Imperial Army. A fairly accurate depiction of the real Saigou Takamori who is a very famous historical figure.

Voiced by SUGINO Hiromi.

Saigo is a fierce samurai from the Satsuma domain, which used to be on the Shogunate side but had joined forces (against the Shogunate) with their ex-rival Choshu domain in 1867 thanks to Sakamoto Ryouma. Now he's strongly anti-Tokugawa.

At the start of the anime (1868), Saigou has become one of the most important people in Japan thanks to his position as a commander of the new government's Imperial Army, also known as the Eastern Expedition Troops (touseigun, 東征軍). He historically was one of the main personalities behind the Boshin war that year.

By episode 1 (March 1868), as per history, he was in the imperial stronghold Sunpu (with Prince Arisugawa), going to send troops towards Edo in order to force the ex-Shogun, Yoshinobu, to give up everything and commit suicide. However, he is stalled by the onset of an earthquake, which also delays Katsu Kaishuu, who is concurrently trying to negotiate with Saigou regarding Edo by sending him a letter.

At the same time, he seems to be interested in the Head as well...

Click here for more information (episode 7-9 spoilers).

Being born in Kagoshima (which was in Satsuma and now in Kagoshima prefecture), he would speak with a Kagoshima accent (JA Wikipedia), which is known for being quite different from standard Japanese, so it is diluted for the anime to make him more understandable (If I am not wrong).

(Some short extra historical details about the Real Saigo Takamori (wikipedia)until a proper page comes up:

-He was a very strong believer in traditional samurai values and took much pride in being a samurai
-Also was very much involved in military and war affairs...
-He is known as one of the "Ishin no Sanketsu" (Three Greats of the Restoration), along with fellow Satsuma countryman Ookubo Toshimichi, and Kido Takayoshi (aka Katsura Kogoro) from Choshu.
-But despite playing such a key role in the setting up of the new Meiji government and getting a position in it, he did not agree with all its policies
-He wasn't comfortable with the continuing modernisation and the abolishment of the old class systems (so no more samurai class).
-Later he quit from the Meiji government and then rebelled against them in the famous 1877 Satsuma rebelllion (which the film The Last Samurai is based on).) Where he died.)

Return to Characters page

Epsiode 4 Thoughts

2006-11-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

Tying up last week

It starts off with a very short recap of the previous episode (no narration), and then we come to where we ended off last week. TO cut things short, Magozou escaped by exploding some small explosives in the air and running away in a smokescreen. Akizuki is being as... Akizuki-ish as usual, and when Kakunojou thanks him again for returning to save them from such a situation, he had to reply that "I didn't really return just to save you all"... Shiranui, of course, doubts him on that.

The rehearsal

After that, we see the troupe rehearsing (specifically, they're acting out Nakaiya talking to the tairo (=Ii Naosuke). In fact, they're unconsciously using his own words... except it's the tairo himself saying it: なにごとも、表もあれば裏もある。天下の御政道とて同じ。心得ておろうな？To which Nakaiya, acted out by Zagashira here, says 恐れながら、ご大老様が表で打てぬ、逆賊薔薇。裏できっちりお打ちいたします(?)。かねて、手練(てだれ )も揃えておりますれば. And then the 手練 appear - 我等、天下に現す不逞の輩を打たんがたね(???) 悪鬼羅刹となりし物! And who's the first of these 'rasetsu'? None other than 地割剣が使い手、針生玄藩 [The user of the jiwariken, Hario Genba...]. ).

Going by the play, Soutetsu seems to already be quite clear that Hario was sent by Nakaiya and the root lies there.... But anyway, Akizuki si watching and Soutetsu says they're still not up to standard, and have much room for improvement. Some have already speculated that this was a sublte message on his part to Akizuki, for him to sharpen his skills a little(since we see him practising later), although I don't know if that's reading too much. EDIT: And yeah.

Angst on the rooftop

Well, either way... Soutetsu seems a little bent on having him, because he drops the magic words "kubi" (the head), and later, when Akizuki is angsting on the rooftop about Sakamoto Ryoma (who, by the way, looks pretty cool), he also mentions his sadness about a man who placed "Japan's Future" in the center of his life, and utters the UBER MAGIC WORD "Sakamoto Ryoma".... I must mention that Soutetsu also addresses him as "Akizuki-sama". This gets his attention, and I assume this is where the show decides to be subtle and insinuate that Soutetsu proceeds to tell him about their need for a bodyguard because of the nature of their play.

You wa misshot

In a British ship, Glover is lamenting at how Saiga Magozou could miss shooting just some girl, but Nakaiya says he still has faith in him, referring to his lineage all the way from his predecessors in the Sengoku period (see earlier posts). Magozou doesn't seem too happy at this mention, though, but perks up in glee when Nakaiya shows him the building plan of the place where the Yuyamas are staging their play (I forgot its name).

Who the hell sent the letter?

After this, we see Akizuki practising his sword. I really loved the way he took in that deep breath and then let it out, to me I could really feel it. But then Benimaru appears from behind a tree to pass him a letter addressed to "Akizuki Youjirou-dono". Akizuki showed a nice bit of softness here in the tone in which he addressed Benimaru, asking if everything was okay on the play's side.

Now the thing is, call me slow but I can't figure out who sent this letter. In the next sequence, you see, Akizuki goes to visit Katsu, which would make you think it was a letter from Katsu. But would Katsu send a letter through Benimaru? Or even through the troupe at all? Unless, of course, Soutetsu and Katsu have been talking a lot more than we think they have been. I can't tell. Was it Katsu who sent the letter, or Soutetsu describing exactly what he would like from Akizuki?

Katsu and Kotoha singing

Anyway, we see Katsu being entertained by Kotoha in the Sekkakurou again. He sure loves that place . He and Kotoha seem to be singing this sort of 'pair song'. Kotoha's voice was so deep for a moment I was wondering if this was a different oiran, but later she goes back to her normal voice. Thank goodness Katsu and Kotoha don't sing badly! I kind of enjoy hearing them sing, especially with Katsu's tired but somehow loving expression.

I tried typing out the lyrics and googling them, and I think it is a dodoitsu. It's just that Katsu was cut in halfway so we only hear the last two of the 7-7-7-5 structure (you can hear it with Kotoha's verse).
Katsu:
切るに切られぬ腐れ縁 (7-5)
kiru ni kirarenu - kusare en
Kotoha:
表向きでは　切れたと言えど　蔭でつながる　蓮の糸 (7-7-7-5)
omotemuki wa kireta to iedo kage de tsunagaru - ren no ito

Like I was saying, if you google these lines, you will come up with a fair amount of results. The full version of Katsu's verse is, I believe, どうせ互いの身は錆び刀切るに切られぬ腐れ縁. (Douse otagai no mi wa sabi katana(?) kiru ni kirarenu - kusare en) You can find both lines separately on the same page here. And you can see both of them consecutively lined up together in a string this person created here.

Now, I can generally get the meaning of these lines (about bonds that cannot be broken regardless of the relationship, and will always remain intact despite looking broken from the outside), but it's sort of screaming "symbolism" without me understanding it. I'm sure there is some euphemism behind the phrase "錆び刀", and the 連の糸. But what is it? And to go deeper, what could it be referring to in the show? Now it's going too far to suggest it extends to Akizuki and Kakunojou, but perhaps they are singing about themselves.

Kanna (I refuse to type Sakyounosuke all the time) is sitting through this with his eye closed until he senses someone coming and gets ready, but...

The old times

It's just Akizuki. Katsu has invited him over, obviously after noticing (again, I don't know if it's through the letter). I think it's just me, but I sort of got the feeling Kanna was intrigued by Akizuki since they seem around the same age and here's another guy doing something like what I'm doing. Furthermore, he probably recognized him as that cool guy running along the rooftops against that hidden sniper. So he must be at least curious and would have felt a little glad helping him out later... Yes, I am aware that like >50% of the Japanese fandom is rooting for both of them, but I think it's quite interesting to consider the way they would view each other, especially considering the ending part of this episode. Are they really rivals? Or is it just a brainwashing ploy set up by the people who write the character profiles in Newtype and on the website? :P Perhaps they think of each other as rivals in that they don't want to lose to each other, but they are not enemies either.

Enough of that. Akizuki humbly bows to Katsu and says it's been a long time, to which Katsu says that well, the same goes for him too (i.e. he has also failed to keep up). He asks Kotoha to bring some sake and then talks about... dun dun dun dun, Sakamoto Ryoma. If I got it right, he asked Akizuki why he didn't call for his assistance when Sakamoto was murdered, as investigations could have proceeded faster, leaving Akizuki to be able to cope better, but Akizuki retorts that the matter's over (i.e. let's change topic). And then Katsu evilly asks him if it's really over,... Which ensues in this really cool and emo flashback sequence of Ryoma getting killed, where of course everything is monochrome except for the blood, which was very well animated, I must say. The bit in that where Akizuki is panting in shock is like... totally for the fangirls, I swear He looks a few years younger, too (though he couldn't have been more than 3 months younger than where we are in the show now - it's probably the stress that built up and made him look older...).

Akizuki tries to banish the scene from his mind, and then notices Kanna's gaze from behind, which he retracts. Why am I starting to sound like a BL manga? Anyway, Katsu asks him what he's doing in 'Hama - checking out the local kabuki scene? - and I really like his facial expressions here. It really endears you to the character. Akizuki of course deflects this by asking what Katsu(-sensei) is doing here himself, and he seems to imply he's here on something other than his official duties for once, after which he picks up his shamisen (that is a shamisen, right?) and goes into song once again.

右を立てれば左が立たず左右立てれば身が持たず (7-7-7-5, so I suppose this is a dodoitsu as well.)
Migi wo tatereba hidari ga tatazu Sayuu tatereba - mi ga motazu
I don't know how one translates 立つ in this context, but the idea of this verse is about balance, I guess. If you hold up your left, the right won't stand. If you try both together, your body would fall apart. Perhaps he is talking about the difficulty of balancing work and pleasure? It is more likely, however, that he is hinting at the futile prospect of trying to strike a compromise between the Shogunate and Imperialists. He knows that it's impossible and that Yoshinobu should just step down (again, which is why he sent the letter, I guess.)

Especially since after that he says that he migth be able to work out something with the British (and then Parkes' head appears), and then he says after that he's just got to meet up with the 錦の御旗の知恵袋 (the brains behind the Imperial flags - i.e. Saigo Takamori) while gazing at the sakura at Atagoyama (which appears to be a place in Edo/Tokyo)... but also comments about that earthquake happening now of all times, but then says that well... this is probably supposed to be good for him (since the Touseigun are held up?).

A bit of a break

As usual, I can't figure out what the hell Hari- I mean, Shiranui as Hario is saying. Besides vaguely something about "If you must hate something then hate politics and yourself". Uh, okay.
Is that guy clutching his face really Ebisu?!!! Or is it some younger kid who is acting as a 'young ebisu' just like Kobako is acting as a young Kakunojou? Because he doesn't look burnt at all... which would imply that the bandages are merely for show >.>

And in the ship, Glover mentions that the Yuyama troupe seems to be doing pretty well in terms of bijines... Nakaiya says that Ii Naosuke is long dead but for the troupe to continue this, it will indeed be a thorn in his side which should be get rid of asap.... Ah yes, he says all this replete with Evil Laughter (tm)...

Sure are doing well

Back to people chatting about the Yuyama's new play. Are they the only troupe in Yokohama or something? Visitors see a sign that says the show's sold out... Inside, Soutetsu is briefing the troupe. It's been three days since their first performance (which is the day after the fireworks + sniper incident). Kakunojou's face looks very unusual but cute here. Soutetsu says that as long as the play continues gaining popularity / getting heard of, the enemies will definitely take action. (Compared to an obscure play nobody'd watch). He says he wrote the script, but that it is them who are going on stage (and would be in more danger), so he tells them that it is their choice whether they want to stage the play or not. Of course, the answer is obvious (and I think he knows this, but he asked it so that he seems like a good guy anyway >:3) - they've been steeled up to do this since 10 years ago after that incident. What about Shiranui and Keishin who have tagged along for reasons other than revenge? Well, after having come such a long awy they're not going to pull out just like that.

OK, says Soutetsu. But once the curtain opens the show must go on... And most of the time these days, the enemy will come bearing firearms (rather than swords - so it's a lot harder to dodge, etc.). Kakunojou says that everyone else is also aware of that. After which she turns to Akizuki (who suddenly looks very different here) and says that everyone's lives are entrusted to him now, which makes him feel important, I'm sure... And Kakunojou has this very intense look here which I quite like.

The play!

I love the dramatic opening of this. Knowing the dangers involved, the audience watching this anime (not the one watching the play) can feel the tension coming up... Especially with the lighting and everything. I was already very intrigued by their practise of everyone bowing down on their knees at teh end of the play (and I love the way the curtain is drawn by hands! Er, I mean, drawn as in pulled, not animated. Punny!)
So it was quite nice seeing everyone all lined up here (including the non-extras who were not part of the troupe, it adds to teh sense of reality), and somehow it really captured that mood of seriousness and anticipation that precedes a play you've been waiting for, especially with the music. But I really noticed how small Ebisu is only now... When in that position he seems to be only slightly bigger than Kobako...

Here we go again with the wonderfully convoluted lines I love hearing... Moushiage tatematsurimasuruuuuuuu! I still don't get Hario's lines, but that facial expression is really awesome. It makes those Edo-jidai prints of kabuki actors look like they've come alive or something! All those cross-eyed angry faces...

And this is the part where I laughed because they used Hario's very own lines This should be an easy one for the translators, just reuse the stuff from episode 2 Hey, they even have "Warera Kanagawa bugyousho de aru!" ..

The rest of the episode

I'm lazy so I just cut and paste the rest of what I said in that earlier post here (why does it have a box?):

Magozou attempted to kill Kakunojou during the play itself, but the fscking awesome thing was that they had partially expected it. The amazing thing was that Magozou was about to shoot her during the very bit when they were reenacting out their face-off against Hario and Hario got shot down by the sniper (who was Magozou). But that was probably a coincidence. No, the real cool bit was when Magozou was going to try shooting her from the stage when they sent in a whole bunch of extras to start a fight (which again was probably in the play), and Magozou was hence blocked from getting on stage to shoot Kakunojou... and he got angrier and angrier until he actually went on the stage and started acting. WTF.

And then he pointed his gun right at Kakunojou... and then Akizuki went up and killed him. The next few seconds had no music at all which heightened the tension even more because the audience was just frozen for a while, like... O_O .... and then erupted into applause.

He was going to try his last tactic, however, shooting at a bunch of explosives he had hung ready on the ceiling, but Kanna helped them there thankfully by shooting at the same time Magozou did, such that the bullet was deflected. (He and Katsu had noticed something was going wrong even before Magozou appeared because Keishin got injured and one of the stage props moved in a funny way.)

And then Magozou was just like, frozen there, bleeding real, red blood (compared to the red feathers that came out when people were 'killed' in the play). It was also only then that Kakunojou realised that he had really been killed.

After that it was just entirely speechless, and relied just on facial expressions, which was quite good. Katsu had appeared and gave Akizuki a kind of "You better thank me but I'm relieved you're alive and I'm also proud of you" kind of look, and then Kanna, who was having a similar look, had this cute "eh?" expression as Katsu turned to leave, and then returned to his previous look before leaving as well. I'm surprised that Kanna is more expressive than I thought. Also, then there was a nice subtle bit when Kakunojou unfroze, turned to look at Akizuki and he immediately turned away. As he sheathed his sword in his usual "I'm a STOIC COOL PERSON!!!1" manner, and walked off, Soutetsu was looking at him silently, ever exuding that aura of "I planned all of this"...

And then it ends.

Additional bit on Kanna

He shot the bullet out of the air o_o Gee. And Kanna's look over there really betrays his youth, doesn't it? Especially with him stylishly blowing the smoke off... Sheesh.

Concerning Kakunojou being saved AGAIN
I was perfectly fine with Kakunojou being saved again, because frankly speaking it would be difficult to er, act and save yourself at the same time especially with al that stuff on. And it was brave of her to keep her calm even though she saw Magozou aiming a pistol straight at her, or even to go on stage at all knowing that there's a near 100% chance that there would be enemies against her.

But........... I seriously hope she doesn't get saved all the time, especially not in ways that involve some crazy ESP (I insist that's how Akizuki knew exactly when to appear in episode 3 )

Episode 3 Thoughts

2006-11-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

Akizuki visits his home town of 高麗 which is pronounced 'Koma', not 'Kourai'. He gets to meet what I presume are his old teachers who do a little sparring and then seem to advise him on what to do after he has cut the Hasha no Kubi. Akizuki sure is respectful enough to his elders... Sideburns are in style there.

Also, the local brothel (of sorts - it's more refined than that, really) features strongly here. Shiranui's quite popular with hte ladies... We also see Katsu taking refuge in there after a short bit of sad singing by him, mourning the loss of Sakamoto Ryoma and Takasugi Shinsaku. He gets entertained by Kotoha, who I mentioend earlier, but is interrupted by H. S. Parkes. Who brings along Mr. Kinpatsu, aka Kanna Sakyounosuke, a gunman of mixed parentage with an eyepatch, and says that this is Katsu's bodyguard.
When Shiranui is leaving he notices Soutetsu gets escorted out by Kotoha... Soutetsu?! Of all things? He later prods Soutetsu about this and gets no reply.

Besides that we also see the troupe rehearsing; I liked this part very much where the cloths were flapping and two people would get wrapped by it symbolizing them being covered in fire. Silly Kakunojou finally realises that it's a story about her past and says that the revenge is over so this sort of thing is not needed; but Soutetsu politely informs here that there is something darker looming behind (and Shiranui remembers that Hario had paused for a while before he died), and that somebody had already noticed this...

Other than that, on Kawai's side, he's getting his gunsman whasisname, who killed Hario, to continue testing out the rifle. The tests go on smoothly; and it all comes to a climax as the Yuyama troupe decides to advertise on a firework-lit night near the "brothel". They mention that they are related to (or something like that) Kotoha, which is of course great because everyone likes Kotoha. This is when Shiranui realises that Soutetsu had gone to see Kotoha in order to arrange this, not to, y'know, be entertained by her. Of course, all this while, Soutetsu is sitting in his room...

Katsu is also waving from upstairs in a slightly drunk state when Kanna notices something flashing from a watchtower, and pushes Katsu down because that's the reflection of the lenses on a sniper rifle. However, the sniper is not aimed at Katsu, but at Kakunojou... and then, of course, in true samurai anime style, Akizuki comes to save the day! He throws a whatdoyoucallit at the sniper and they chase each other off the rooftops. This part is kind of cool - you can actually hear the soudns of the tiles sort of nicely. Of course Kakunojou and co. have enough brains to realise something's amiss because they heard some sort of deflected gunshot, so they notice it and they run off in pursuit. Kotoha, meanwhile, asks one of her little servants to keep watch on Kobako and Benimaru.

And of course, the episode had to end, again in traditional samurai - or even just action - style, with said evil sniper being flanked by the Yuyama troupe on one side, and Akizuki on the other. (See, you know what it's really saying? One Akizuki is worth all or more of you bunch! Ha!... Alright, I'll go to sleep already...)

With a freezeframe, of course.

How did Akizuki suddenly know all of this within such a short time, I don't know... And his hometime Koma must be pretty close by, too.

The ending credits are still a tad slow but the illustrations of Yuyama, Soutetsu and Akizuki (in that order) are quite lovely. Lots of parasols. Gotta like the colour set of red, green and blue...

>Wao also rambled on about Dodoitsu but since there's already a long write up on them on this site, I will not copy what she said on the forum here.

Kawai

2006-11-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

KAWAI Tsuginosuke 河井継之助

(Affiliation: Neutral)

First appearance: Ep 1
One of the most high-ranking samurai of the Nagaoka domain, Kawai is a real historical figure. His brief depiction in the anime is (so far) similar to his figure in real life, which you can read about here..

Voiced by ONISHI Takeharu.

Under the capacity of karou (家老, a senior retainer), Kawai administered the domain of Nagaoka, in the northern province of Echigo. He was in the process of trying to reform the local administration as Nagaoka was choking on debt, but then war broke out in 1868, between the old Shogunate's supporters and the Imperial army in what was the beginning of the Boshin War.

Kawai did not want to get involved in it, hoping instead for Nagaoka to maintain military independence. He therefore stocked up on arms, which included buying two Gatling guns from Nakaiya's secret auction in episode 1. Hario is temporarily assigned to him as a bodyguard to ensure the safe passage of the guns. (Note that in real life, he famously bought two Gatling guns in Yokohama around the same time as the anime, but from the Schnell brothers.)

Whether he is ultimately successful or not remains to be seen...

Kawai Tsuginosuke in history (warning: super long page)

Return to Characters page

Iroha uta

2006-11-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Irohaniwhat?

In case you've been wondering what on earth the last third of this anime's impossibly long title is, it's actually the first line of a poem!

That's right, and it's no ordinary poem, it's the Iroha poem, which has every single letter of the Japanese phonetic alphabet inside (except "n", which did not exist in the time it was created, believed to be the Heian era.)
In fact, it was used as an ordering all the way up till the Meiji era (so the first letter of the alphabet would be "i", then "ro", etc.).

At the same time, it's not a mere ABC, because the poem has a very deep and poetic meaning: it is said to refer to the Mahayana Buddhist Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which is about key concepts in Buddhism, namely the impermanence of all things and overcoming one's notion of Self. The first line means something along the lines of "Although flowers may be beautiful".

It can be read in two ways: the original reading without any voiced syllables, and the modern reading with voiced syllables that make more sense of course. So "Irohanihoheto" would become "Iro wa nioedo".

If you would like to know the details, do check up the Wikipedia entry on it. (Since it's really got everything in there.)

The key question is... Why use this in the title? We'll see. Expect this to be updated.

Return to Culture

About us

2006-11-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

About Us

Revamped! (Not.)

This site is run by two whacky fangirls called Ori and wao. Ori does the site design and HTML, and occasionally contributes some fanart and writing. wao does the rest.
We're shameless het fangirls (also known as normal coupling, ノーマル). No, we have absolutely nothing serious against BL, it's just that... we're this way. Why do I have to explain this?

Currently, the information section of this site has been in a practically dead state because it's a real pain writing some of those articles (and many need re-writing); plus the both of us are students (wao has a national exam at the end of 2007!...) so we find ourselves running out of time for this. Still have time for making the odd doodle and paintchat, though.

To contact us regarding this site (corrections, contributions, dead links, etc) or anything at all, please send a mail to wao though the following address...

We hope this site has been of some entertainment or use to you!

Left Hand

2006-11-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

The Look and Etc.

The Akizuki saving Kakunojou scene in episode 2 made me squeal out loud. That was a historical moment not only because that was the first time I squealed for this show but also because I generally don't squeal for anime period. The exact cell that made me squeal, as most people can guess, is this:

In short, that cell made me the extremely faithful supporter of Kakunojou/Akizuki that I am today.

From episode 2 thoughts, Wao said, "But you know, the first thing that jumped at me was... why WERE they so close in the first place? Why was he even looking at her when blocking Hario's attack? Ah, but anything's allowed for the name of coolness I suppose..."

I was thinking exactly the same thing, and I am sure lots of us were. It's because of this fascination that I rewatched the scene and subsequently realized Akizuki's left arm seems to be missing for a good part of that scene.

So, I decided to watch the scene cell by cell and this is what I found out:

Akizuki's hand was on Kakunojou's left shoulder in the end, but the cells are not conclusive as to where his hand was before he grabbed her shoulder.

Below are screenshots that depict my speculations of what happened there:

Akizuki's left hand is no where to be seen, but base on the shadow on his cloak it's possible his hand is in this position:

This would explain why their faces ended up so close to each other.

Although... that can simply be because Akizuki wants to make girls swoon (sorry i can't help but show this screenshot again)...

We actually don't see Akizuki's hand on Kakunojou's shoulder in the beginning...

But his position did change a moment later, we can clearly see his hand is now on her shoulder in this screen:

And this:

I imagine, Akizuki being Akizuki, simply finished steadying her and then stepped away.

But nevertheless, in my heart this is still consider a rather romantic scene.

Ep. 1 thought

2006-11-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on Episode One

An excellent first episode!

The production values were great: the backgrounds were wonderful and the pictures were all drawn well. I particularly liked the fight in the beginning because of the colour scheme - it had a slightly unnatural tone but in a very good way. Of course there was the dance section which was very detailed (I was particularly impressed by the introduction of the troupe. I really like how introduced themselves with poems and how they used the umbrellas in different ways); the background art again is excellent in that it doesn't feel oversaturated but harmonizes well with the characters' colours. The falling petals and all were well done (and the timing of when Akizuki got brought up was good, too.) Brought back memories of Millenium Actress, yes, and Ayakashi - Bakeneko as well. The real power of Sunrise?

The pacing of the first episode was exciting; the turn of events may sound silly to people who want hardcore Bakumatsu, but it's so engaging that I just want to watch it anyway! I'm already in complete love with the character designs.

Setting

The setting in the beginning is in Sunpu, which is in the province of Suruga. This is present-day Shizuoka-ken, which is right next to Kanagawa-ken, where Yokohama (the main setting of the story) is. In other words, we're not that far away from the Yami no Auction and all that. It was fairly well-protected back in the day, and the building of bridges over or the crossing (by boat) of the river, Ooigawa, was prohibited. This slowed down any invaders as they would have to go on horseback or something.

The Players

The royalty you see there is Taruhito Arisugawa, a relation of the emperor's who was anti-Shogunate, so he'd have sided with Saigou Takamori. Later after the Meiji Revolution, however, he suppressed the Satsuma rebellion that was started almost 10 years later by the same Saigou.

The big guy in the beginning is that Saigou Takamori. So he is allied with the emperor and against the Bakufu as well as foreigners, and at the same time is proud of his samurai class. He seems like a warmongerer so it wouldn't be unusual if he was after the Hasha no Kubi himself. I still can't catch what they're talking about, though.

After that is Katsu Kaishuu, also known as Awa-no-kami, drinking sake. He was on the Tokugawa side, but was sympathetic to the anti-Shogunate cause (e.g. by actually negotiating with Sakamoto Ryoma when Ryoma tried to asssassinate him). He was in charge of handing Edo over to the imperialists and hence had to negotiate with the anti-Shogunate forces constantly.

The Letter Scene

Next are the two guys galloping down the mountain path, in the early spring of Keio 4 (1868). This probably happened after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, one of the first parts of the Boshin civil war.

One is Yamaoka Tesshuu, one of the key negotiators as well, on the side of the Shogunate. He lived past the Meiji Revolution and produced a great quantity of artwork/calligraphy, and also a master of combining Zen and the sword in later years.

The other is Masumitsu Kyuunosuke, a Satsuma man (=anti-Tokugawa) who later caused unrest and rebellion in Edo, provoking the Shogunate to send troops over there, which eventually resulted in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi - which has already happened.
They're riding towards Sunpu, on an errand from Katsu Kaishuu - this is an event that happened in real life! Katsu sent Yamaoka to Sunpu so that he could negotiate with Saigou Takamori, and got Masumitsu, whom they had captured after the Toba-Fushimi battle, to act as a guide since he knew his way around. (In reality, this event succeeded.)

Ibaragi Soutetsu comes out looking like the dude from Utena but with straight hair, and recognizes them. He asks them to hand over Awa-no-kami (=Katsu Kaishuu)'s secret letter. Yamaoka Tesshu later goes and fights with Soutetsu, asking for his name and school (of kenjutsu). Soutetsu doesn't reply either, saying it's not needed, to which Tesshu says that then he doesn't need a posthumous (honorary) name, either. From what I read on 2ch, his "Sei! Sei! Sei! Sei! Sei!" thing is a part of the style of kenjutsu he practised, that is, the Hokushin Ittou-Ryu... and it's called the "Sekirei no O" (鶺鴒の尾) although I didn't manage to find much about it on google.

As it turns out, the secret letter was a letter from the 15th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, pledging allegiance to the Imperial Court. The narration explains that he had to send this (by hand?) othwerwise Edo would not be able to stand. (I guess he was a. getting too much pressure and as such, b. Katsu Kaishuu persuaded him to) I believe eventually in March of the same year, Katsu Kaishuu facilitated the handing over of Edo to the anti-Shogunate forces (i.e. Saigou, etc.) I'm a bit confused though, I thought this letter would have been sent in 1867, and not early 1868? They clearly say Keio 4, early spring... By then hasn't the "Restoration" been announced? (Although it wasn't really the end yet because the Shogun forces hadn't given up, the Shogun Yoshinobu simply resigned)

Shortly afterwards there is an earthquake, which causes matters to get stagnated because the Touseigun (rebellious forces, I assume) got stuck in Sunpu, and the reinforcement troops that were in another province, Hokurikudo (39, 46-49, 65 and 66) got held up as well.

Akizuki Appears!!

Sorry I've got to fangirl about it, but it would be a waste if I were not to say that Akizuki is sooooo cooooooool ~~and perfect~~. Really. I mean, he just looks so swoonably cool, and he has that irresistable combination of Being Good To Innocent People Despite A Cold Facade. Not to mention he is polite, which is always a + in my book! When he has that angsty faraway look I want to shamefully melt in my chair.

And the sequence where he went to cut the Hasha no Kubi was so cool! They sure ended the ep in a place where you want to see more... really badly.

The Sea Port

After Akizuki's nice angsty little bit, we have a little exposition about the Bakufu opening Japan to Commander Perry in 1853 with the arrival of his black ships, which I think we all know enough about. The seagull bit is probably supposed to be symbolic... The west of Yokohama was for Japanese while the foreigners lived in the east of it, where they created a little (very cool)microcosm that had a mix of things.

Soutestu and His Manipulative Ways

Next we have the whole confrontation thing where the two kids very stupidly got caught in the middle... and then Akizuki seeing the performance and being disinterested (however, it looks like Soutetsu was intentionally getting them to perform in a particular way; he seems to plan things very well, including the exact content and timing of his scripts... (he screams Evil!) I have a suspicion he'd easily betray the group to satisfy his own, hidden desires because he could very well be using the group as a mere tool now.

The Ryoma Play

While the troupe is advertising their play, we see a guy walking up with some people. He is Tsuginosuke Kawai, the 家老 karou (daimyo's minister) of Echigo Nagaoka-han (there was a separate Yamashiro Nagaoka-han elsewhere, it seems). He wanted Nagaoka to be militarily independent, without having to rely on other hans for arms and stuff, which is why he procures a Gatling gun (and needs Hario to be a bodyguard for that). He was on the shogunate's side and fought against the Meiji forces in the Boshin war, but was thoroughly defeated, despite the soldiers even being trained by foreign people. It was probably because the Meiji side, despite having less people, was even better equipped.

As for the play, the part with the gun might be showing Sakamoto Ryoma making his narrow escape from being killed, the day after he got Satsuma and Choushuu to sign a pact, at Teradaya where his fiance/wife Oryo worked. After that event he was prompted to go with her to Satsuma for medical treatment (how romantic, haha). He did, in reality, set up a what some consider the first corporation, that is the "Kameyama shachu". He worked with Saigou on this, and it's about this time that he was appraoched by Choushuu about weapons, which led him to come up with the idea of the pact. However, they probably put that part about "setting up a company" after that event, because it's after that that he reorganised the Kameyama shachu into "kaientai", a naval force (I guess thats why some call him the father of the Japanese Navy?) Coincidentially, there was a ship among his regiment called "Iroha" which acccidentally got sunk by one of the Shogunate-loyal clans, Kishu.
However, he died shortly after that...

Getsuruitou

I wonder how his sword works? Evidently he has to get into the swing of things (no pun intended) and his eyes do that whole glowy thing (ahh, brings me back to the good ol' days of Kenshin... sorry) (personally I think the eye glowing thing has no purpose other than to make Akizuki look cool) and then he can properly face the Hasha no Kubi. When it does that it seems to start "crying" - hence the name "Getsuruitou"/Sword of Moon Tears.

Red light in the sky

It's pretty cool how that red thing in the sky disappeared at the end. They brought the main characters back together pretty well, and generally it was a great setup.

Opening

The OP is also very intriguing - it's pretty, of course, and is synchroed well with the typically FJ-Yuuka song, but that last scene...! ;_; I want to see the resolution! Is it linked to the Getsuruitou as well, I wonder.

I must rewatch it now to get the gist of what was going on with regards to the fight in the first part (what was that paper exactly?)

I have always been a huge Kajiura Yuki fan, so I love the opening song more than my own good. I don't really like the flying leaves and flying butterflies and I think they look a bit cheap. I thought characters movements made up for them though since they were very well done, especially Kakunojou's dance and Akizuki's sword pulling.

The last scene was of course the favorite part of the opening. I love the falling snow and the nice harmony of colours. I think the whole scene (Akizuki pointing his word at Kakunojou, the unidentified object in Kakunojou's hand, Kakunojou's tears) baits watchers' curiosity the way a good opening should (though I think it's rather evil of them to show us that scene is early seeing it seems like something from the end of the anime).

Quirks

To make a pathetic attempt at being balanced, there were of course some quirks with the show. The English was of course not spoken by natives - but hey, it was a good try, actually. Considering the English actually sounds like English. And well the whole Nasty Westerners Using Guns! thing Sonhex thought about, but it showed how cool Akizuki is so who cares. Heh. Also the idea of two kids getting caught in the middle of a fight is a tad contrived, but again, it's not really that bad. And it's made a lot better by the fact that the kids are actually much less annoying than I expected them to be! Yay!

Something I liked is the way they actually portrayed some actual kendo moves in this anime. You don't see this in every anime.

Kakunojou's Voice

Kakunojou's voice acting - it sounds a bit too strained and like she's not really used to this kind of thing. But at least she brought the vigour across, which is what you'd expect from a woman like her.

I thought her voice was okay.

Verdict

I don't care how this turns out, I gotta watch it till the end. It exploits my weaknesses, dammit! And it's good in its own right.

I think I've just found my most enjoyable anime of the season right here. Thank $deity it's released weekly! I feel so happy right now.

History - Nakaiya ref

2006-11-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

Nakaiya in other media (all Japanese of course...)

Nakaiya Enjou (Nakaiya In Flames) by Sofue Ichirou - a fictional account of Nakaiya's life where he gets called to Abe Ise-no-kami Masahiro's residence by Abe's well-known right-hand-man, Matsudaira Kawachi-no-kami Chikanao. There he meets up with other people regarding Japan's economic situation in light of its opening up and how Nakaiya could exploit Western demand for silk. It details his many encounters and tribulations with numerous other figures like: the Tosa-han daimyo Yamauchi Yodo who was trying to exploit John Manjirou (a Japanese who had beached up in the US), Mito-han's Tokugawa Nariaki, and of course Ii Naosuke. (They even threw in the obligatory Sakamoto Ryouma.) You can read a description and review of it here.
Original name: 幕末士伝中居屋炎上 by 祖父江一郎. 313 pages. Published 2002.

Shinpan Honoo no Kiito-shou Nakaiya Juubee (New Edition: The Blazing Silk Merchant - Nakaiya Juubee) by Hagiwara Shin - A detailed, non-fiction account of all of Nakaiya's life in detail, examining existing evidence and sources, as well as utilising newly discovered material. There are 5 sections: 1. Life in his hometown, 2. Edo period, 3. Preparation to depart for Yokohama, 4. Yokohama period and 5. Mysterious last period of life as well as the family he left behind. Here's another link.
Original name: 新版炎の生糸商中居屋重兵衛 by 萩原進. 216 pages. Published 1994.

Shingan - Nakaiya Juubee no Maboroshi (Authenticity - The Illusion of Nakaiya Juubee) by Matsumoto Ken'ichi - Non-fiction. While the author was examining and verifying the authenticity of various documents related to Nakaiya that are owned by a certain Nakayama Nobuo, he came to the conclusion that the historical figure Nakaiya never actually existed. If historical evidence was fabricated, then who did it for what purpose, and who is this Nakayama Nobuo? That is what the book is about.
Original name: 真贋中居屋重兵衛のまぼろし by 松本健一. 198 pages. Published 1998.

Douten (Moving Heaven) Directed by Masuda Toshio, originally by Nakanishi Rei - A movie featuring Nakaiya. WTF, you say? Well, I say WTF to you too.
Here is a description of the plot roughly translated from goo movies. (Alternatively, you might like to read a more concise one at the New York Times online here).

While beginning his life as a merchant, Nakaiya meets up with and studies under Sakuma Shozan (who coincidentially is Katsu Kaishuu's real mentor), excelling in his learning of the science of firearms, gunpowder, medicine languages. In fact he was so good that even Katsu acknowledged it. Deciding he wanted to take on the global market (zomg!), he closes his shop at Nihonbashi (in Edo), and sets his sights on the newly-opened Yokohama port.

Through Katsu's connections he gets to rent some land from an official called Iwase Higo-no-kami, and proceeds to build a shop that would be a match for other grand foreign establishments. Just then, the head of the "Shungetsu-rou" pleasure quarters, O-ran, moves in from Shinagawa to Yokohama. Nakaiya gets O-ran to instruct his wife, O-sono, about the art of entertainment, with the intention of having his new shop be not only a place for trading with The World, but to make it a godo social location managed by O-sono. The completed premises, replete with dazzling bronze tiles, quickly became known as the "Akagane Ten" (Bronze Palace).

However, Iwase Higo-no-kami loses his position/job and his stipend due to his objection to the feudal policies of the Shogunate. To complicate matters Nakaiya himself gets a sudden summons from the local magistrate regarding his use of bronze tiles for his shop's roof when bronze was a restricted item. And then three British sailors are killed in front of his own shop.
The foreign authorities were angered at the government's standard way of dealing with the situation, but because Nakaiya treated the dead bodies with care and respect, the ties between them and Nakaiya became stronger.

In 1859 Katsu is set to go to America, and Nakaiya meets up with him again. Jubilated at their reunion he boldly talks about his dream of investing 3000 ryo into building a good, sturdy ship and doing business with the peoples of other nations. However, the Shogunate's infuence on Yokohama was getting more and more oppresive and the merchants there could be hit by some detrimental policy any day. Finally, on the 3rd of March 1860, the tairo Ii Naosuke is attacked. It was a divine calling for Nakaiya Juubee, a man who believed in the opening of Japan and freedom of trade, to quietly support the activists in Mito-han.
Original name: 動天, directed by 舛田利雄. 122 minutes long. Screened 1991, released on VHS 1995. Nakaiya is acted by Kitaooji Kinya 北大路欣也. Osono by Kuroki Hitomi 黒木瞳, Oran by Shimada Youko 島田楊子, and Katsu by Saigou Teruhiko 西郷輝彦. Script by Ashizawa Toshirou, Kasahara Kazuo, Masuda Toshio.

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And believe it or not, he's the namesake of Kappou Nakaiya, a restaurant in Nakaiya's birthplace. Cool, eh?
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Return to Nakaiya in history

History - Nakaiya

2006-11-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Nakaiya Juubee in history (1820-1861)

Link to Nakaiya in the anime. Sections that would be most relevant to the anime are in red. Since there is next to nothing on Nakaiya in English there is a lot of (sometimes insignificant) detail here.

Sections

Early Period
Silk Trading in Yokohama
Politics and Disagreement with Ii Naosuke
Nakaiya in other media

Early Period

Nakaiya Juubee was born in 1820 in Nakai village, Agatsuma, Kamitsuke Provice (now Tsumagoi village in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture). "Nakaiya" was actually a yagou (屋号), a sort of guild-name, and his real name was Kuroiwa Sennosuke 黒岩撰之助. Going by the fact that he is wearing not one but two swords in this picture, we can assume he was from a samurai family (or one that became a samurai family).

In 1840, at the age of 20, he moved to Edo where he immersed himself into studying under the bookstore-keeper Izumiya Zenbei, and learned many things including Confucian studies, medicine, Western studies, general science, and firearms. He also had the Western scholar Kawagi Yukio and Philipp von Siebold (the first man to teach Western medicine in Japan) as his mentors. Nakaiya succeeded in actually making a gunpowder that was on par with, if not better, than foreign versions.

He finally set up a shop in 1854 at Nihonbashi, and in 1855 at the age of 35, published the book "Kodomo Kyousou (子供教草, Teachings for Children)", in which he wrote the line "One gains nothing with intentions of profit, only with intentions of honour" (利を以って利となさず、義を以って利となす), an expression of his own philosophy in life.

At the same time he published "Shuuyou Houyaku Shinsho" (集用砲薬新書, An Essential New Collection of Firearms and Gunpowder), a book that had all the secrets of the business written inside. The times were heading towards unrest and conflict and as such Nakaiya would be approached by samurai looking to learn something about firearms.

Silk Trading in Yokohama

After the port of Yokohama was opened as a result of the Harris treaty in 1858, Nakaiya arrived from Edo, at the invitation/suggestion of Shogunate officials who were looking towards the development and enrichment of Japan through foreign trade.

There he famously set up a shop so large and extravagant it was known as the Bronze Palace (銅御殿, Akagane Goten). It was so extravagant, that according to here, the upper part of the courtyard had birds flying within wire mesh, and the walls of the rooms had glass fish tanks in, with goldfish swimming in them... and in the zashiki (座敷, a traditional tatami room), he had placed a music box with Western music streaming out from it.

He was a pioneer in the trade of raw silk at a time when the material was in demand in European countries, and in fact had a sort of monopoly on it. It is recorded that out of the 35000 kin (about 21000 kg) of raw silk exported between July to October 1859, Nakaiya sold about half of it. Since trading of this sort was quite impossible prior to Perry's arrival in 1853 due to isolationist policies, one could say that he placed the foundations for all future trade in silk from Japan.

Incidentally he dealt in Joshuu raw silk, which came from the area around his hometown (Joshuu was another name for Kouzuke, the province where Nakaiya was born.)
As such an important businessman who was at the same time a learned scholar, he was sometimes respectfully called "The Head Priest Of 'Hama" (浜の門跡様, Hama no Monseki-sama)

Politics and Disagreement with Ii Kamon-no-kami Naosuke

I don't know which han or domain Nakaiya came from, so I can't say anything about the probability of his political loyalties stemming from his birthplace as within Kouzuke Province there were domains with varying loyalties.

It is a fact that he did sympathise with the Mito-han, ruled by the daimyo Tokugawa Nariaki, who was pushing for his son Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu to become the next Shogun after Tokugawa Iesada passed away. However, Tokugawa Yoshitomi, renamed Iemochi, become the next shogun instead, thanks to Ii Naosuke. Furthermore, Ii also shut up those who opposed him during the following Ansei Purges. This greatly insulted Nariaki, who was already at odds with Ii, and thenceforth Mito-han became even more anti-Shogunate than it already was, turning into a notable hotbed for sonno-joi philosophy.

Despite Ii being responsible for the signing of the Harris treaty which Nakaiya commercially benefited from, the political maneuvering regarding shogun candidates greatly insulted the Mito-han and therefore insulted Nakaiya as well. He believed Ii was doing the country injustice ("国を誤るもの").

It is therefore not a surprise that Nakaiya supported the warriors from Mito-han who eventually assassinated Ii in 1860 at the Sakurada-mon Incident. It is said that he provided them with crucial firearms (a pistol?).

However, in the following year (1861), Nakaiya mysteriously disappeared at the age of 42 and never returned again so we can only conclude that he died some really mysterious death. According to here he was being persued by Shogunate officials and left his shop in Yokohama... And of course, this sort of ending is perfect material to make a story out of.

His grave in Tsumagoi-mura (in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture - i.e. his birthplace) is a designated cultural property and you can see a picture of it here with a close-up of the text on it.

Nakaiya in other media

Please click here.

Links referred to while writing this:
The writeup next to Nakaiya's grave
A writeup on Nakaiya at Kappou Nakaiya, a restaurant named after him
Wikipedia entry on Nakaiya
History trail writeup for Nakaiya's shop, at Yokohama's Naka-ku website

Nakaiya Juubee in the anime

Return to History

fantasy ending

2006-11-12T01:14:00.000-08:00

Perfect Ending?!

At episode 6 of a 26 episodes show, I really shouldn't be thinking about the ending. Unfortunately for me, that is a dictate of fangirlism.

I read a few speculations about the ending that illustrated some plausible bittersweet endings. But I, not being a fan of tragic endings (since life brings enough tragic endings as it is) is determined to dream up a happier alternative for our casts.

It is my earnest desire for Kakunojou and Akizuki to get together in the end (because this way Akizuki would find some emotional support through someone other than the dead Ryoma). But wishes and desires aside, I am also a rather practical person, and I refuse -- yes refuse -- to simply think up something that has no hope of ever becoming cannon in the show. I can't simply speculate that Akizuki would sweep Kakunojou of her feet in some awfully mellowdramatical scene straight from a soap opera. Nor can I see by any realistical means, Akizuki and Kakunojou ever settling down at all. Simply put, they are both travellers who have travelled too long to ever cease their travelling.

After much consideration I finally came up with the perfection solution....

*drumroll*

They can start a Kampanii together!!!!

Think about how merry they can be by sailing and trading together after killing Nakaiya (hopefully in the very near future) and the flying evil head!!

For one Ryoma has always been an advocate of trades, so Akizuki must have some wishes, however slight, to trade too. And for another Kakunojou's father was a merchant, so trading is definately in her blood right from the start. As an added bonus, if they have a ship they can sail to Britain and have tea with Kanna any time.

On the side note, Soutetsu will not be part of the company because he is evil and horribly manipulative but the rest of the troupe can take part. Though, I have to admit, I secretly want the troupe to die since that would give Kakunojou a very good reason to grow stronger and better.

But I digress... here's my [poor] attempt at drwaing this scenario:

Yes, they are sailing into the horizon. ;)

History - Parkes

2006-11-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

Sir Harry Smith Parkes in history (1828-1885)

Who was Parkes?
Support of an Imperial Government
Working with others

Link to Parkes in the anime. Sections particularly relevant to the anime are in red.

Who was Parkes?

H.S. Parkes was a British diplomat who had earlier worked in in China from 1841 to 1864. He was important as he could understand the Chinese language fairly well and thus communicate with government officials. During this period, he experienced many hardships, including being imprisoned in Peking for a while. He was extremely faithful and proud of his country and would not yield to the Chinese. At the end of his service there he was knighted by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir Parkes.

Support of an Imperial Government

He took over Sir Rutherford Alcock as the British consul in Japan from around 1865 to 1883, later becoming the British Minister to Japan. During his stay there, he supported the anti-Tokugawa Imperial rebels prior to the fall of the Shogunate in 1867, in contrast to the French powers who supported the Tokugawa cause. This was probably more because a government unified under the Emperor offered a better alternative to the highly divided and faltering Shogunate government, whom with he had previously dealt with in demanding another trading port to be opened at Hyogo, Kobe. He even managed to stop foreign powers from interfering in the issue of Edo being taken over until Katsu Kaishuu's negotiations concluded.

Eventually the rebels won and Parkes was supportive of the new Meiji government that emerged, and managed to push his country's agenda at the same time by pushing for modernisation and the continuation of trade between the two countries.

Working with others

It seems, however, that he was not very liked by contemporaries from other foreign nations, possibly because of his (successful?) push to make Britain the foremost foreign power in Japan. Of course, he would be directly opposed to his French counterpart, Léon Roches, who arrived in Japan around the same time, advising and assisting the Tokugawa loyalists even until the very end in Hokkaido.
The notable Ernest Satow (Wikipedia link), a keen observer of events during the Bakumatsu, worked under Parkes as a translator.

He returned to Peking in 1882-3 and died a few years later from malarial fever.

Some links you may like to follow:

The Story of China - How a Poor Boy Made A Name by R. Van Bergen
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan - Letter II - A letter with a short interesting description of Parkes by Isabella L. Bird
Wikipedia Entry on Harry Parkes
Relationships between Bakumatsu Japan and West Europe (Japanese) - has a small section on Parkes with a comment on his personality by the novelist Shiba Ryoutarou.

If you're really interested, you can try writing in to look at letters and documents related to Parkes from the Cambridge University Library here.

Harry Smith Parkes in the anime

Return to History

Parkes

2006-11-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

Sir Harry Smith Parkes

(Affiliation: Imperial forces)

First appearance: Ep 3
H.S. Parkes was the real British consul in Japan during the Bakumatsu. You may like to read up about him in real life. Most elements seem to have been carried over into the anime version.

Voiced by NISHIMURA Tomomichi.

Sir Parkes came to Japan in 1865 and took on the position of British ambassador and consul, settling in Yokohama. In the interests of his own nation, he supports the Imperial forces represented by the Satsuma-Choshu alliance, but also balances that out by dealing with Katsu Kaishuu from the Tokugawa side. Such a daring diplomatic tactics are noticed not only by the new government, but by Katsu as well, who still treats him with caution.

He appears to be one of Kotoha's customers, and also enjoys the Yuyama troupe's performances very much.

Sir Harry Smith Parkes in history

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Saiga spoilers

2006-11-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

Saiga cont.

Saiga fails at his first attempt at killing Kakunojou due to Akizuki's intervention. He then attempts to kill her through an opening in the ceiling above the stage during her performance at the Ushioza, but is again discovered by Akizuki.

Frustrated, he eventually breaks onto the stage itself with an impromptu introduction as one of the bad guys of the story, and aims a gun at Kakunojou but is fatally stabbed by Akizuki in front of the audience who thinks it is all part of the play and gets very excited.

His last attempt to cause an explosion by firing at some explosives he hung over the stage also fail due to Kanna deflecting his bullet with one of his own.

Return to Saiga

Saiga

2006-11-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

SAIGA Magozou 雑賀孫蔵

(Affiliation: Nakaiya)

First appearance: Ep 2
A snarky and eager sniper working under Nakaiya.

We first see him in episode 2, where he fires a crucial shot at Hario during his skirmish with the Troupe in a field. It turns out he was sent by Nakaiya.

The three-scope sniper rifle he uses is provided by T.B. Glover and he is later sent to kill Kakunojou with it.

Magozou is a descendant from the Saiga clan, experts in using gunpowder and ranged weapons. They famously served against Oda Nobunaga (Wikipedia link) during the Sengoku period.

Click here for more information (spoilers up to episode 5)

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Hario spoilers

2006-11-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hario cont.

In episode 2, the troupe attacks him in a wheatfield with the help of Akizuki. However, he is startled by a bullet shot by Saiga Magozou, assumedly sent by Nakaiya to 'shut Hario up'... has his sword broken by Akizuki, and is killed by the troupe.

Return to Hario

Hario

2006-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

HARIO Genba 針生玄番

(Affiliation: Nakaiya)

First appearance: Ep 1
The first obvious enemy of the Troupe.

Voiced by SUGINO Hiromi.

Hario is the one who, ten years before the anime starts, killed Kakunojou's parents and caused the place to burn down. His distinctive face is remembered by Ebisu who spots him, and the troupe, looking to exact their revenge on him, trace him down to a fateful auction.

At the auction he is acting as Kawai Tsuginosuke's bodyguard, sent by Nakaiya to accompany the purchase and transfer of a very valuable and expensive Gatling gun, but takes a greater interest in the Head and the man who seemed to cut it.

He is an user of the jiwari-ken (Earth-Splitting Technique), a (...imaginary) fighting technique where one causes a continuous fissure in the earth with a vertical movement of one's sword. The fissure is stopped if some body of water is put in its path.

Click here for more information (episode 2 spoilers)

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Kakunojou Looks

2006-11-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

Kakunojou's Changing Appearances 101

Kakunojou - an awesome actress who knows how to put on make up. So amazing is her make-up skill that many of us (including me), did not recognize her when she appears again after her initial appearance.

You can't blame us, really, I mean in any other anime how can these two girls:
possibly be the same person?

But alas, she turns out to be the same girl. So, what am I to do except to make a page dedicated to her different stage looks?

Episode 1-2:

Episode 4-6:

Her favorite costume:

Check back for updates for her newest look!

Dodoitsu

2006-11-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Dodoitsu 都々逸 - a type of poem

The dodoitsu is a type of non-rhyming Japanese poem that originated during the late Edo period, commonly recited with a shamisen accompaniment. Sometimes a few connected verses are sung in turn by a man and woman. The dodoitsu was popularised by a popular singer called Dodoitsu Senka.

Its general structure is four lines with a total of 26 syllables, the most common arrangement being 7-7-7-5. Furthermore, this is sometimes broken down per line as 3-4, 4-3, 3-4 and then 5. Of course it is not a very strict framework and there are many subtle variations.

There are a few sung in the series, which have been spaced out into 7-7-7-5 format, transliterated below and given a rough translation, along with its possible relevance (purely according to yours truly).

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Episode 3

Sung by Katsu Kaishuu
三千世界の烏を殺し主と朝寝をしてみたい
sanze sekai no - karasu wo koroshi - nushi to asane wo - shitemitai
I would like to kill all the crows in every mortal world, and sleep in late with my master.

This is apparently written by Takasugi Shinsaku, a famous figure in the Bakumatsu era. Katsu laments his all-too-early death (at age 28) after singing this.

The sadly wishful tone of this dodoitsu might be reflective of Katsu's inner thoughts regarding the unstable situation. He was not one to get involved in battles or war in any way except for the stopping of them. The negotiations with Saigo over Edo (through the letter in ep 1) are probably weighing heavily in his mind, and I imagine he would like to see it reach a peaceful conclusion so that he, and the citizens of Edo, may sleep late without worry for another day...

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Episode 4

Sung by Kotoha and Katsu

Katsu: (We only hear him singing part of it. The sung parts are in bold.)
どうせ互いの身は錆び刀切るに切られぬ腐れ縁
douse otagai no - mi wa sabitou - kiru ni kirarenu - kusare en
Either way, both our bodies are but rusted swords: linked by a foul connection that we try to cut but cannot.

Kotoha:
表向きでは　切れたと言えど　蔭でつながる　蓮の糸
omotemuki de wa - kireta to iedo - kage de tsunagaru - ren no ito
On the surface, you may say we have separated; but we are tied in the shadows by a string of lotus.

Frankly speaking I still haven't figured out what the rusted sword is an euphemism of. But it's quite fascinating that they talk of these 'seen' and 'unseen' linkages that remain intact whatever the condition. Katsu is singing about an unwanted bond that cannot be broken, while Kotoha is singing the opposite - of a seemingly broken bond that is really and thankfully connected in places nobody sees.

A bond that cannot be broken - an obligatory bond like that of blood relations - can hence be either a boon or a bane. Perhaps Katsu is thinking of his obligation to the Tokugawa family as he is a direct retainer of the family, so he is obliged to save their face and get them out of sticky situations, although he himself knew they would fall long ago and didn't agree with them on many occasions.

-

Sung by Katsu
右を立てれば左が立たず左右立てれば身が持たず
Migi wo tatereba - hidari ga tatazu - sayuu tatereba - mi ga motazu
Try to hold up the left, and the right will fall. Hold up both sides and you yourself will not hold.

I believe this is something that Katsu (or rather, the scriptwriter) made up himself. It's quite a neat little dodoitsu, because the very obvious theme of balance here is very applicable to his role as a negotiator. Sometimes, compromises cannot be made because either side is so different from each other - so when you establish good relationships with one, you lose contact with the other...

And I think of the second line in two different ways. 1. sometimes the man caught in the middle - Katsu himself here - after finally getting both sides to agree on something, will not be able to live too long due to all the stress (although Katsu lived till a healthy 70something...); or 2. Sometimes it seems like you can finally get both sides to come to an agreement - but then the overall situation gets affected, either by a stalemate or an overly uneasy balance.

Return to Culture page

Oiran

2006-11-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

A little bit about Oiran (花魁)

(For pics, try visiting the links at the bottom)

What they did

Oiran were a type of courtesan that arose around the 1600s, and tended to cater to people in the higher classes of society - even up to daimyo! They entertained their customers in a variety of ways including refined arts such as calligraphy, poetry, dancing and singing of various kinds of verses. Furthermore they also played musical instruments like the shamisen. To be an oiran you had to know these things before you applied; there was no real training period.

Unlike the more well-known geisha, however, they also offered sexual services as part of the deal. They also differed in being extremely formal in both speech and action, and lived very restricted lives, to the point of being unable to leave their workplace while they were oiran.

Their clothing and way of walking

Another thing that obviously differentiated oiran was their numerous layers of ornate clothing and their many elaborate decorations. And it was heavy - according to Tsukasa-tayuu's site, the head ornaments + hairstyle alone could come up to 3 kg, while the kimono etc. could be from 20 to 30 kg! They even had particular ways of walking due to their unusually high triple-support geta (clog sort of footwear) also known as mitsu-ashi, that could weigh up to 2 kg.

You can notice Kotoha's deliberate way of walking in episode 3, during the periodic douchuu (道中), a procession of the various oiran. Do look at the youtube vid at the bottom too. Interestingly, though, they did indeed go around without tabi (sort of socks), even in winter.

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This occupation, however, began dying out in the 1700s as the oiran became more and more removed from normal, everyday life, and remained relevant to fewer and fewer people. Instead there was the rise of the geisha, whose entertaining was much more easy to enjoy and was more widely appreciated.

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Links to follow if you would like to know more about them:

Tayu no Dochu - lots of pictures of oiran!
Wikipedia article on Oiran
The Oiran - a page with depictions of oiran and a bit of comparison between them and geisha.
Japundit - Oiran vs. Geisha
FAQ on Maiko, Geisha and Oiran at Immortal Geisha
Tsukasa-tayuu's website (Japanese) - the website of a modern-day "tayuu" in Shimabara, Kyoto.
Video of an oiran walking at Youtube - Short, but very fascinating! Compare with Kotoha's walking.

Kotoha

2006-11-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

Kotoha 琴波

(Affiliation: Allies with Troupe)

First appearance: Ep 3
The top oiran (a high-class courtesan) at Sekkakurou.

Voiced by Mie SONOZAKI.

Kotoha is a tayuu (太夫), the highest level of oiran. She is the most influential and famous at the Sekkakurou, the pleasure house within the yuukaku or pleasure quarters of Yokohama, and has many admirers who are unafraid to yell out "Kotoha-dayuu! Nippon ichi!" (Kotoha Tayuu, #1 in Japan!) during processions.

Her large clientele includes VIPs such as Parkes and Katsu, and as such is in a position to pick up hints regarding the character of these big players, as well as their possible actions. At the same time, she is a staunch supporter of the Yuyama troupe, and later collaborates with Soutetsu to have the troupe provide entertainment for a night at the Sekkakurou.

As the lead oiran of the Sekkakurou, Kotoha is a strong-willed and determined lady when it comes to household affairs or the reputation of the house; but with her customers she is a gentle yet witty companion, often up to par with them in holding a good conversation. Of course, she also accompanies them in singing dodoitsu if they please.

Her speech is characterised by a lyrical intonation and the copula "de arinsu" (used in place of "desu", "de arimasu", etc.).

Click here to find out what happened to her after episode 6.

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Nakaiya

2006-11-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

NAKAIYA Juubee 中居屋重兵衛

(Affiliation: Evil!!)

First appearance: Ep 1
A very shady merchant who is first seen with the Head. Seems to have all sorts of connections... Based off his real-life counterpart Nakaiya Juubee.

Voiced by KOMURA Tetsuo.

When we first see him in the anime, he is attempting to sell off the Conqueror's Head in a secret auction at the Shanghai Club. He is often seen with the Englishman T. B. Glover, with whom he buys weapons from.

About ten years ago, he is said to have had a disagreement with the Kamon-no-kami Ii Naosuke, and may have been involved in his assassination in 1860, which in history was carried out by warriors from the Mito-han. The real Nakaiya also had a similar disagreement as he had sympathies with the Mito-han.

Nakaiya was a successful merchant even then, and was famous for his luxurious shop in Yokohama called the Bronze Palace (Akagane Goten), which burned down during that point of time. The shop existed in history although it was not burned down.

Like the real Nakaiya, he mysteriously disappeared shortly after the assassination, in 1861, but only in the anime does he come back in evil style, to the surprise of those in the secret auction.

The real nature of his relationship with the Kamon-no-kami is still shrouded in mystery to most, although Soutetsu seems to be in the know...
And after the Troupe starts leaking his secrets through kabuki plays based off Soutetsu's script, he makes an enemy out of them and sends Saiga Magozou, and later the Akki Rasetsu, with the intent of silencing them forever.

For a little more information on him (spoilers ahead!)

Yokohama arc (eps 1-8) || Okita arc (eps 9-10) || Edo arc (eps 11-13)

Cronies under him include:
-Hario Genba
-Saiga Magozou
-The Akki-Rasetsu
-Hata Meifuu
-????? (see spoilers)

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Kanna

2006-11-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

KANNA Sakyounosuke 神無左京之介

(Affiliation: ? -> spoiler)

First appearance: Ep 3
A (really) quiet gunman born to a British father and a Japanese mother. Unknown age.

Voiced by TORIUMI Kousuke.

Kanna was born in London to a well-known tayuu from Yoshiwara, a famous red-light district in Edo, and his father was a vice-admiral in the British Navy.

He is introduced by Parkes as a bodyguard to Katsu Kaishuu. He uses two guns, which come in handy at rather convenient times.

While he ought to be maintaining neutrality, he inevitably interferes in the troupe's affairs. Kakunojou's face also reminds him of his dead mother...

But early on in the anime, he starts to make certain moves...

Click here for spoilers (eps 5-8)

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Kobako and Benimaru

2006-11-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Kobako こばこ
Voiced by MATSUOKA Yuki.

A child actress at the troupe who was picked up as an orphan. She has a firm character and seems to have taken a liking to Akizuki after being saved by him.

Benimaru 紅丸
Voiced by KOZAKURA Etsuko.

A playful kid who was picked up by the troupe as an orphan. He does errands for the troupe such as distributing flyers and passing letters to people. Is also fond of Akizuki.

Both of them can perform acrobatic tricks as a pair for entertainment. They are looked after by Kakashi.

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Kakashi

2006-11-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

KAKASHI no Keishin 案山子の恵信
Other names: ICHIMURA Kaito? 市村海斗(stage name) (Affiliation: ? – Troupe)

First appearance: Ep 1
The strongman of the troupe. Doesn’t talk much. Unknown age.

Voiced by NOMURA Kenji.

Kakashi joined the troupe for the same reason as Shiranui – he was helped out after one of Soutetsu’s plays revealed the truth of the matter.

Despite his gruff appearance and brute strength with which he moves the heavy props around, he is good-natured at heart and looks after the two kids of the troupe, Benimaru and Kobako. He practices Ryuukyuu-style karate.

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Zagashira

2006-11-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Zagashira 座頭
Other names: ICHIMURA Genshaku?市村鴈雀　(stage name）

(Affiliation: ? – Troupe – Yuyama household)
First appearance: Ep 1
The manager of the troupe, who oversees its logistics. Also a kabuki actor.

Voiced by NAGASAKO Takashi.

Zagashira means “troupe head” and is a general term, so I believe it is not his real name.

He used to work at the Yuyama household, as the head clerk of the family’s business. After Kakunojou lost her parents through the incident, he filled in as a parental figure and will do anything in his power to help her out. As a result he is very involved in the troupes’ business and uses the skills he had managing the Yuyama finances in managing the troupe.

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Ebisu

2006-11-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

EBISU no Zukin 恵比須の頭巾
Other names: ICHIMURA Tobisuke? 市村鳶助 (stage name)

(Affiliation: ? – Troupe; Yuyama household)

First appearance: ep 1
A ninja-like person who is also a kabuki actor. Possibly the same age as Kakunojou.
[p.s. If you can think of a better description, please do so – this is pathetic!]

Voiced by YABE Masashi.

He used to work as an apprentice at Kakunojou’s household where he was treated well by her parents. However, while protecting Kakunojou from the fire that burned their house down ten years ago his face was burned. As with her, this fueled his very intense desire to take revenge on Hario and anyone related to that incident. He is also quite loyal to Kakunojou, and calls her "ojou-sama".

Ebisu is quick to get excited and is always ready to fight with his claws. However, he does not seem to trust Akizuki. He does, surprisingly, act in the troupe's kabuki plays.
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Shiranui

2006-11-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

SHIRANUI Kozou 不知火小僧
Other names: YUYAMA Seijuurou 遊山清十郎(stage name)
(Affiliation: ? – Troupe)First appearance: Ep 1
A flamboyant playboy probably around his 20s. The other main kabuki actor.

Voiced by SUWABE Jun'ichi.
He decided to travel with the troupe after one of Soutetsu’s plays got him out of being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. He loves women and is an ardent fan of Kotoha.

The good-natured Shiranui usually plays the nimaime, a romantic and handsome young lover in kabuki terminology, but occasionally he shines on the stage as the main character of a play.

He is not obliged to carry out the Yuyama households’ revenge, but does so because he is a part of the troupe after all.

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Letter Spoilers

2006-11-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Letter Cont.

Spoilers from episodes 5 to 8. There is a comparison of events in real life and history at the bottom, covering episodes 1-8.
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5
In episode five, Yamaoka and Masumitsu return to Yokohama to tell Katsu that Saigou’s forces are divided as to whether they should proceed through alternative routes, or stay where they are. They suggest trying negotiation again.
Later, Yamaoka identifies Soutetsu as the one who stole the letter. Katsu now knows that the person who stole the letter is the troupe's playwright.

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6
In episode six, Katsu's determination is renewed after chaos happens at Yokohama, because he doesn't want to see the same happen to Edo.
So he sends Yamaoka and Masumitsu to make another attempt to reach Saigou. Assumedly, this is congruent with the letter that was sent in real life, for it's roughly a month after the destruction at Yokohama.

On the way they bump into the Imperial Forces headed by Prince Arisugawa on the way, with Yamaoka yelling his way through. Will they be successful?

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7

Well, by episode seven, it seems like they are, because one month later, Katsu and Saigo are in a Satsuma residence and it seems like they've finally decided not to make Edo a battlefield - just like in real life.

...

Except that Kanna jumps in holding Katsu and Saigo at gunpoint, and Nakaiya pops in with the Head. The Head causes Katsu and Saigo to become hostile to each other as their eyes glow red with evil... bummer.

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8

Katsu and Saigo start fighting each other at the Satsuma residence while Yamaoka is left helpless thanks to Nakaiya keeping him restrained. However, Soutetsu transfers the Head to his control and Nakaiya is killed.
Katsu and Saigo regain their sanity, and knowing that was all a bunch of screwed up shit, patch up immediately, and the conclusion is the same after all - Edo is saved from war. Yay.

Conclusion: peace (But hey, there's other stuff coming up - we've still got 18 more episodes to go, y'know...)

Comparison of History and anime events
Follows the lunar calendar, OK?!

The end.

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Objects - The Letter

2006-11-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Letter!

Soutetsu wants your secret letter, biatches!

In short:
The passing of this really important letter in episode one of the anime is related to a similar event that happened in real life, in early 1868.
But while the situations are very similar, they are not the same.
In real life only one letter went in March (April in our calendar). In the anime one letter went in February (March in our calendar) and another in March (really April), because the February one got stolen by Soutetsu (see above). Got it? Good.

For a comparison of what happened in real life and in the anime up to ep 8, you have to look at the spoilers page.

Not in short:
Oh. So you don't get what the letter is for? Well read on, maybe you might get it...

All dates henceforth are written according to the lunar calendar, which is generally one month slower than the calendar we use (Gregorian). To convert dates from lunar <-> Gregorian, please use this online tool. (新暦 is Gregorian,
旧暦 is Lunar, and you must enter the date as year / month / date. Years must be like 1857, 1900, etc. and not "Keio 4", etc.)

1. Why need the letter? Events leading to it (1867, 1868)

Prior to this, Tokugawa Yoshinobu had already relinquished his power as Shogun and a new government had taken over, but on both sides there still were factions that either did not want to back down or wanted to stamp the other side out. The hardcore factions in particular didn't like the fact that despite Yoshinobu resigning, the Tokugawa family still had considerable clout and power. No - they wanted to completely strip them.

In January 1868, an edict was read out demanding the death of Yoshinobu. The new leaders gave him the deadline of 15th March, and if he wasn't dead by then their Imperial Forces (led by Saigou Takamori from Satsuma) were going to attack his stronghold Edo Castle.

This would have resulted in the city of Edo being decimated, however, which was something Katsu Kaishuu, a Tokugawa negotiator, wanted to avoid for many reasons (instability, foreign aggression, the future of Edo, etc.).

2. The letter itself (February - March 1868)

In history

As soon Katsu he found out their intentions he sent this very letter to Saigou (who was indeed in the Imperial stronghold Sunpu at the time) through his subordinate Yamaoka Tesshuu. Along with Yamaoka he sent Masumitsu Kyuunosuke, a man from the Satsuma clan who was captured earlier, to act as a guide. This happened on the 9th of March 1868, which was drawing very close to the planned invasion on the 15th.

The contents of the letter did contain something to the extent of Yoshinobu pledging allegiance to the Emperor and calling for Saigou not to attack Edo, pleading for cooperation between both sides.

In the anime

Episode 1 - the letter has the same contents, and is sent in exactly the same way as mentioned above; to Sunpu with Yamaoka and Masumitsu.
However, this isn't the same letter as the date is set as 3 months after Sakamoto Ryoma's murder, which makes it February 1868, not March. You might be wondering why the narrator says that it is "early spring" in February, but keep in mind that it's really March by our calendar.
Also, it gets intercepted by Soutetsu.

Episode 6/7 - a second letter is sent - presumably with the same contents. They don't make it clear, but I think this sent around the same time as the real letter. Yamaoka and Masumitsu actually bump into the Imperial Army on their way to Sunpu.

3. What happened afterwards (March 1868)

In history:

Saigou received the letter, and sent Yamaoka and co. back with details regarding the surrender of Edo. On the 13th and 14th of March 1868, Katsu and Saigou met at the Satsuma residence in Edo and brokered a deal in which Katsu would peacefully surrender Edo Castle in return for Saigou not attacking it. Of course, more Tokugawa privileges would also have to be given up. This was just a day before the planned attack, mind you!

Conclusion: peace (but the conflict would continue in other locations)

In the anime:

For the first letter, Saigou received nothing, but his movements were slowed down greatly by the earthquake as well. Masumitsu and Yamaoka reccomend Katsu try again in episode 5, and by episode 6 he's sent them off...
...But does it reach in time?
Does Saigou meet Katsu?
Will Edo become a battlefield?
You want to know?

You'll have to click here for more details about the anime version of events (Warning: Spoilers mostly for episode 7-8). There is also a comparison of history and real life regarding this letter.

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Katsu Kaishuu

2006-11-05T23:17:00.000-08:00

KATSU Kaishuu 勝海舟
Other names: Awa-no-kami 安房守 (honorary title – Protector of Awa Province) Katsu Awa 勝安房, Katsu Yoshikuni勝義邦, Katsu Yasuyoshi 勝安芳

(Affiliation: Technically Tokugawa, but really just wants peace.)

First appearance: Ep 1
Katsu Kaishuu was a real historical figure of the Bakumatsu. His depiction in the anime is similar to his figure in real life. You may like to refer to both to get a more complete picture of him.

Voiced by KASHII Shouto.

Katsu is primarily an intermediate between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Imperial Forces. To prevent the destruction of Edo, he wrote a letter in episode one, sent through Yamaoka Tesshuu and Masumitsu Kyuunosuke to the one of the Imperial Forces leaders, Saigou Takamori. (Please click on the “letter” link to find out more about it.)

He has connections on both sides due to his open-mindedness. Despite being a navy officer for the Tokugawa army, he used to be the mentor and close associate of Sakamoto Ryoma (who attempted to kill him at first). Furthermore, Masumitsu isn't even pro-Tokugawa but worked briefly under Katsu anyway.

We first see Katsu in Yokohama incognito, presumably to meet up with other important people. While he’s there, he conducts his meetings within the Sekkakurou, but also greatly enjoys Kotoha’s company there, with whom he likes to sings dodoitsu.

He has a laidback sort of personality, speaking in a fairly casual manner.

Kanna is later assigned as his bodyguard by H.S. Parkes, the British consul who seems supportive of his negotiation efforts, but also directs certain somewhat brash actions that cause Katsu to be cautious of him.

What is to become of this character? A lot...

Click here to find out more (episode 7-10 spoilers).

Katsu Kaishuu in History

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