=============================================================== 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 #79-82 =============================================================== Episode #79 Katsu Kaishu and Kenshin... Fated Survivors From the End of The Edo Dynasty. The Kenshin-gumi finally get back to Tokyo. They come upon an old man and his student being attacked by a group of masked thugs. The student is a young man who is obviously without confidence in his ability to defend himself or his sensei; he hides behind the back of the old man. The Kenshin-gumi come to the rescue. There is something creepy and calculating about the way the old man looks at Kenshin as Kenshin fights the thugs. The Kenshin-gumi are defeating the thugs when another of the old man's students shows up (in a carriage, no less). The other student is Okubo Tetsuma. Tetsuma threatens the thugs......the thugs run. (It is soooo staged.....) Diagoro is the fearful student. The old man disowns Diagoro because he is a chicken. Kaoru offers to accept Diagoro as a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. The old man asks Kenshin his name. Kenshin tells and the old man introduces himself to Kenshin as Katsu Kaishu. It turns out that Katsu Kaishu was the man who reconstructed the Edo government once they surrendered Edo Castle. Diagoro starts working out at the Kamiya dojo. Kaishu's daughter, Katsu Itsuko, gets angry with her father for disowning Diagoro and goes to retrieve Diagoro from the dojo. (She is obviously smitten with him). Okubo Tetsuma drives her to the dojo in his carriage. Tetsuma makes some very insulting comments about the dojo and Kaoru. Kaoru gets mad and challenges him to a match. Kenshin intervenes with a calculated fall that disrupts the intended match. Okubo Tetsuma leaves, and Itsuko announces that she is staying until Diagoro gets good enough with a sword to be accepted again as a student by her father. Itsuko can cook....................... Kenshin goes to visit Katsu Kaishu late at night to tell him that his daughter is staying at the dojo. Kaishu calls Kenshin 'Battousai', then corrects himself and calls him Himura Kenshin. He asks Kenshin to insure that Itsuko and Diagoro stay safe. Kenshin promises. On his way home Kenshin is followed, then surrounded, by the same group of thugs that initially attacked Kaishu and Diagoro when this whole story began....... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #80 The Never Ending of Edo Dynasty...Kaishu's Mission of Fate. The bad guys tell Kenshin that he better leave Kaishu alone. They mention the 'Beni Aoi', but they sense that Kenshin does not register what they are talking about and when they find out that Kenshin was not 'hired' by Kaishu , they decide it would not be necessary for them to involve (beat up) Kenshin. They leave. The next day, Diagoro is practicing Kamiya Kasshin Ryu with Yahiko, Itsuko is cooking, and Kenshin is thinking to himself.....he finally figured out that the original attack on Diagoro and Katsu Kaishu was staged. Tetsuma goes to visit Katsu. Tetsuma is worried about the government questioning his sensei concerning the missing money. (A lot of money wound up missing 10 years ago when Edo Castle fell, and Katsu is a suspect.) Katsu asks Tetsuma where he could hide so much money. (There is so much "single shot" symbolism in this episode that it is almost redundant, i.e. moths being eaten by ants, butterflies caught in spider webs, dragonflies, the sun, the moon, moths and flames, moth cut in pieces by a sword, etc.) Meanwhile, back at the dojo, Kaoru is setting up a sparring match between Diagoro and Yahiko. Diagoro tries to wimp out, but Itsuko puts her two cents in and Diagoro gets inspired to fight. Diagoro is just about to whack Yahiko on the head when he throws his back out. Itsuko then gets to play nurse and offers to teach Kaoru how to cook. Then, that night, Itsuko, daughter of Katsu Kaishu, is kidnapped....................... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #81 Ben Aoi's Trap... Ghosts of the Edo Dynasty Haunt Kaishu! Kenshin and company are out searching for Itsuko while Katsu is holding a letter from the kidnappers and remembering what happened at the end of the Edo dynasty. Katsu Kaishu was ordered by Lord Tokugawa Yoshinobu to do whatever necessary to save the innocent people of Edo. Kenshin arrives at Katsu's home. Katsu shows Kenshin the kidnappers letter.....the Ben Aoi will be at Ryouger Temple in Shinagawa at 2:00 a.m. Katsu tells Kenshin the hidden money really exists, and that he, Katsu, holds the money on orders from Lord Yoshinobu. If the Sacchou alliance knew of the money, it would give them means to start another war. Kenshin offers to go the temple with Katsu to rescue Itsuko, but Katsu declines the offer and tells Kenshin not to worry, that he, Katsu, will not let the Beni Aoi have the money nor will he let them kill Itsuko. As Kenshin is leaving Katsu's home, Diagoro and the rest of Kenshin-gumi show up. Kenshin tells them that Itsuko was kidnapped. They stand around and argue about whether to call the police or Tetsuma, and finally the Kenshin-gumi and Diagoro decide to head to the temple to rescue Itsuko themselves. Meanwhile, Itsuko wakes up at the temple in the company of her kidnappers. The kidnappers tell her they intend to kill her father because he is responsible for all of them losing their jobs, homes, and families. The kidnappers have been forced to live in remote areas in squalor for the past 10 years. They know that Katsu has the money and they believe Katsu convinced Shogun Yoshinobu to surrender 10 years ago for selfish, greedy reasons. Kenshin and company are hiding in the bushes outside the temple. The kidnappers come out with Itsuko. Itsuko looks around, then breaks for the woods, trips, and falls flat. Diagoro jumps up out of the bushes and rushes to save her and is stabbed in the gut by one of the kidnappers.......... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode #82 The Decision of Katsu Kaishu. The Truth Beyond the Era. Diagoro falls, Itsuko rushes over and cries. The Kenshin-gumi stand around in shock. Kenshin steps forward to question and fight the leader, Shibata. Shibata tells Kenshin how he found out about Katsu having the money. A muffled stranger (Tetsuma) visited Shibata's hovel and told him about the money and Katsu's "betrayal" of Lord Yoshinobu. Meanwhile, the Kenshin-gumi finishes off the rest of the Beni Aoi before gathering around Diagoro's prone body to bemoan his untimely death. Kenshin finishes Shibata. Itsuko cries. Diagoro wakes up and they all discovered that he was stabbed through a Jules Verne book. The police arrive. The chief tells Kenshin that the police department received two letters reporting the kidnapping. Kenshin is suspicious. He knows that Katsu sent the first letter, but who sent the second? (Tetsuma.) Meanwhile, Tetsuma is searching Katsu's house trying to find the map leading to the hidden money. Katsu walks in and is not surprised to see Tetsuma. Tatsuma wants the money for 'honorable' reasons, to assist the government, to further his political ambitions, to give himself more power so he can assist his country, etc. ad nauseum. Katsu tells Tatsuma that he will not tell him where the money is located. Tatsuma draws his foil. Katsu starts to draw his sword, but is stopped by Kenshin. Kenshin and Tatsuma fight. Kenshin defeats Tatsuma easily. Tatsuma draws a gun and Diagoro jumps in front of Kenshin and convinces Tatsuma to give himself up.