=============================================================== Episode Summaries by Lynne (tougei@hotmail.com) Note from Key 2 Anime: I got these summaries from the RK Archive (http://rka.crosspaths.net/index.html). All these summaries are done by Lynne. If you have any questions of would just like to thank her for her wonderful efforts please email her at tougei@hotmail.com Episodes #43-46 =============================================================== Episode #43 Between Life & Death! Succession Technique, Mastered. Ama Kakeru Ryuu No Hirameki. Kenshin and Hiko are fighting (teacher/student stuff!), and Hiko is beating the crap out of Kenshin. He tells Kenshin that if Kenshin cannot even scratch him, then he will not teach Kenshin the succession technique. Kenshin tries so hard that he lands wrong and knocks himself out, but he scratches Hiko. Hiko begins by showing Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen, what Hiko calls his "coolest move". Kenshin assumes it is the succession technique, but when Kenshin tries the move against Hiko, Kenshin's Kuzu Ryu Sen is not effective. Kenshin thinks he did something wrong, but Hiko tells him no; the only effective move that would cancel out the Kuzu Ryu Sen is the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu succession technique, Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki. Kenshin won't even try it. Hiko leaves in disgust, but tells Kenshin he will give him time to find what he has been blocking inside of himself that prevents him from performing the Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki. The next morning, Hiko confronts Kenshin. Since Kenshin still has not figured out what he is blocking, Hiko tells Kenshin that, as his master, it is Hiko's duty to put Kenshin out of his misery. Kenshin has the choice of dying or doing. Kenshin chooses doing and performs his ougi (succession technique). Hiko collapses, telling Kenshin not to worry, that Hiko also took his master's life back when he became 13th inheritor of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu succession technique.......... Note: Throughout this episode Hiko and Kenshin remember different parts of how they met each other. To summarize: as a boy, Kenshin was traveling with slave traders when the slave traders were attacked and killed by bandits. Three women who were kind to Kenshin, Kasumi-san, Akane-san, and Sakura-san, tried to protect him when the bandits came, and likewise, Kenshin tried to protect them. The women were killed. Just before Kenshin was killed, Hiko appeared and killed the bandits, saving Kenshin's life. Hiko told Kenshin to go to the nearest village. He returned later to check on Kenshin, but Kenshin was not at the village, so Hiko went to the site where he saved Kenshin from the bandits, and found that Kenshin had dug graves and put up crosses for everyone that was killed........... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #44 Battle of Indignation, Gathering His Strongest, Juppongatana! Sano is in Saitou's jail waiting for Saitou. Saitou tells the jailer that he does not know Sanosuke and the jailer should keep him there. Sano uses his Futae No Kiwami on the cell door. Saitou is slightly impressed. The two go to a high security cell and talk to Katanagari Cho (remember him?). Saitou tells Cho that 50 people associated with either the police or the army were killed the previous evening in Kobe. Saitou wants to know if any of Shishio's men could have done this. Cho says it was probably Usui, master of the Shin Gun (mind's eye). Meanwhile, Usui arrives at Shishio's headquarters, kills Shishio's guards, and attacks Shishio, but is not successful. Saitou asks Cho about Operation: Holocaust of Kyoto. Cho tells Saitou that Shishio plans to burn down Kyoto to make the citizens of Japan lose all faith in the Meiji government. Back at Shishio's headquarters, Soujiro has arrived along with all the other members of the Juppongatana. Soujiro gives Shishio a secret message written on the underside of a snack box. "The ship is ready...." Shishio gives a pep talk to the Juppongatana and tells them it is time to begin their "kunitori" (national domination). Operation: Holocaust of Kyoto will begin the next night at 11:59. Hiko has recovered, and Kenshin tells him that he does not want to inherit the name Hiko Seijuro the 14th; he only wants to inherit the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu discipline. Hiko calls him selfish. As Kenshin leaves, he asks Hiko to watch over his friends and protect the Aoiya while Kenshin is fighting Shishio. Kenshin arrives at the police station where Saitou is waiting........ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #45 Blown Away!!! The Battleship Rengoku, Stop Its Sails! Saitou tells Kenshin about the Holocaust of Kyoto. Kenshin believes there is a hidden agenda to Shishio's plan. He deduces that Shishio's real goal is to invade Tokyo by sea. The closest harbor is Osaka Harbor. Kenshin rushes out the door and into Sanosuke, who slugs him. Sano, Kenshin, and Saitou take a carriage to Osaka. Saitou tells Kenshin that he has posted 5000 policemen in Kyoto. Kenshin had Saitou send a letter to the Aoiya telling Misao and company about Shishio's plan. Misao rallies the Oniwabanshuu to assist the police. Kenshin tell Sanosuke that Shishio is not out to destroy Tokyo, but to discredit the Meiji govern- ment. If an unknown ship appeared in Tokyo harbor, the people who still remember the Black Ships that Perry arrived in back in Kaei 6 (1854) would panic, and there would be chaos! The Meiji government would fall. Kenshin and company cannot afford to let Shishio's ship leave Osaka harbor. Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the Juppongatana and Shishio's troops are getting ready to engage Saitou's police force. The Oniwabanshuu and the citizens of the town are assisting the police in preventing the fires from starting. On a ship in Osaka harbor, Shishio and company are discussing whether the Battousai will figure out Shishio's plan. One of Shishio's men spots a carriage coming very fast. Kenshin and company stand on the dock and look across the water at Shishio and his wooden ship. Sano pulls the pineapple bombs Katsu had given him, out of his pocket. Saitou ridicules Sano and his bombs. Then Shishio blows the wooden cover off of his ship, revealing the iron naval battleship Rengoku........ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #46 Burning "Rengoku!" Shishio Makoto's Fortune. Kenshin and company are speechless. From the battleship, Shishio aims an Armstrong cannon their way. Saitou and Kenshin jump into the water to swim to the ship. Sano is suppose to find a boat to row to the Rengoku and use his pineapple bombs when he gets there. There is no boat, so Sanosuke uses the broken pieces of wood left over from the ship's wooden shell as stepping stones and starts a run 'across the water' to the ship. Shishio pulls out his Gatling gun and aims it toward Sanosuke. Kenshin shouts a warning! Sano uses his Futae No Kiwami on the board he is standing on and puts up a wall of water, effectively halting the bullets from the gun. Sano tosses the pineapple bombs, and they blow a hole in the hull of the ship. The Rengoku is sinking--Shishio is pissed! He realizes he must eliminate Kenshin, Saitou, and Sano before he can begin his kunitori. He tells Kenshin and company to meet him at the small Shinto shrine with 6 archways near the NE side of Hiei Mountain. At that site, Kenshin and company will fight Shishio and the Juppongatana. Kenshin accepts the challenge. Saitou returns to Kyoto to write reports, and Sano and Kenshin go to the Aoiya. Misao tells Kenshin she is now the leader of the Oniwabanshuu. Okina awakens and asks Kenshin to kill Aoshi, but Kenshin refuses. He tells Okina that Aoshi is not all evil yet, and promises he will bring Aoshi back to the Aoiya. Misao cries. Sanosuke brings a message from Saitou: the three will journey to the shrine to fight Shishio in the morning. That night, Kenshin is sitting on the roof of the Aoiya, and Kaoru joins him. She asks about his training, tells him they all care about him, and gives him the medicine Megumi gave her for him (oops....did I forget to tell you about that?). The next morning, as Sano, Saitou, and Kenshin are walking away, Kaoru stops Kenshin and makes him promise that they will all go back to Tokyo together. He promises!