Introduction[]
Katsura, his faction and the Yorozuya are in Akiba hiding from the bakufu before encountering Nobume, Matoko and Takechi.Thus weaves a tale of the Kiheitai's fall, the Tendoushuu's birth and a surprising secret of Shouyou.
Plot[]
The episode starts with the Yorozuya moving to their new airing hour schedule as a late night anime as they announce the series continuation.
In the Shouka Sonjuku dojo, Gintoki struggled to beat Shouyou. Hours later, the badly-beaten child asked his teacher how he could be as strong as said teacher. Shouyou was the first person to ever defeat Gintoki and he wondered where that power comes from and who he was. Shouyou answered that they were both the same, Shouyou the monster and Gintoki the monster's child, creatures born in blood and sin and that monsters cannot cut down other monsters. He told Gintoki to not try to imitate him or earn Shouyou's swordsmanship, but to develop his own style, the sword of a human. Shouyou had high expectations for him and he looked forward to the day where Gintoki's human sword cuts down Shouyou the monster. Gintoki's life goes by as he trained and fought until the moment his present self strikes at Utsuro. It was ineffective and Gintoki watched in horror as Utsuro grabbed Gintoki's sword which then rusted and disintegrated. Utsuro chided the samurai for still being a monster, reminding him that monsters cannot cut other monsters, before striking down on Gintoki's head.
Gintoki awakened from the memory/nightmare to find himself somehow underneath Elizabeth's costume, his genitals over Gintoki's head. The two were sleeping with other men in a cramped room. Outside, Katsura and his men saw Elizabeth burst through the shoji doors with Gintoki's bokuto shoved up its behind. Katsura misinterpreted Gintoki's anger of having male genitals near him, as the bakufu trying to reach their hideout in Akihabara and so orders his men to protect their "prized asset". Gintoki berated them for being clueless in the concept of hiding and told them he needed no protection. Katsura retorted that thanks to his involvement in humiliating three successions of Shoguns along with helping with the Shinsengumi's rebellion, Gintoki ironically became a bigger terrorist than Takasugi and Katsura and is now the symbol of the rebellion. He also added Gintoki was never going to go back to Kabukichou after this incident before revealing Gintoki's wanted poster. The silver-haired man was horrified to see a picture of him looking like a psychotic knife nut. Worse, it was actually Katsura dressed as Gintoki posing with cake meant to replace his original picture. He saw Kagura and Shinpachi passing out these posters, using them as Yorozuya's business calling cards. As Gintoki berated Katsura and the kids for being fools, a few otaku secretly called the police but ended up having their cellphones sliced apart by a passing figure. The figure, Nobume, walked up to the Yorozuya and Katsura and asked for a request.
Sometime later, the quintet hide in an alleyway dodging the bakufu police. Gintoki wondered why Nobume was here instead of with the Mimawarigumi. She responded that she did not have the ability or right to lead them. Some of the ex-elite cops chose to join the Shinsengumi, inspired by Kondou's charisma, and have left Edo with the former policemen. Nobume herself stayed behind because of her mission, as Isaburo's friend and as Shouyou's student, to stop Utsuro. Surprised at the admission, Gintoki asked her about the side of Shouyou that he and Katsura did not know about. They are interrupted by the arrival of Matako, who angrily asked about Nobume's betrayal of the Kiheitai and Gintoki's presence. She corrected her that the Kiheitai had an alliance with Isaburo, not the Mimawarigumi, but both entities were now gone. A hidden Takechi tells Matako to stand down as Nobume's statement confirms his fears that they no longer have allies to help them. Nobume stated that they still have Shouyou's students and the Yoruzuya present to help before asking the two Kiheitai members what happened to one of the other Shouyou student, Takasugi.
Takechi's story was that the weakened Kiheitai, carrying a comatose Takasugi, as well as the former Harusame Yato division, lead by Kamui, were constantly being chased and attacked by the Harusame. Kamui was able to capture one of the Harusame's strongholds. But it turned out to be a trap that wiped out much of their numbers. Instead of escaping, Kamui instead ordered his men to attack the ship firing at them and the division invaded. Takechi called Abuto about their fighting but the elder Yato responded that they will distract the pirates while the Kiheitai flee. He reasoned that the Harusame's change of tactics were unusual and ability to defeat the Yato army meant that someone with knowledge of the Yato's fighting style was helping them. He and Kamui found a corridor filled with beaten Yato, and Kamui surmises that only one other person could be responsible - his father, Umibouzu. Takechi told the surprised Yorozuya that the Umibouzu/Harusame alliance ended up scattering the Kiheitai/Yato division group. Both Kamui and the unconscious Takasugi, who was last seen being protected from the pirates by Bansai, were missing in action but they were sure that the two were alive. Gintoki refused to help them, thanks to their past antagonism, but Nobume remarked that Haursame, along with Utsuro's other group, the Naraku, must be destroyed to help save this country and only Shouyou's students were capable of doing so.
Meanwhile, Utsuro visited a spaceship that held a group of elderly Amanto, the leaders of the Harusame, surprised at his visit. Utsuro thanks them for attacking the Kiheitai/Yato division, which allowed him and the Tendoushuu to attack their other enemies on Earth. The group instead insisted on keeping their agreement with the Tendoushuu, to work together only if their interests aligned. Utsuro is amused of their wariness of his group and asked if they believe this "youngster" was plotting something. One of the elders responded that it is Utsuro who was the elderly person in this meeting. On Earh, Nobume told the Yorozuya, Katsura, Takechi, and Matako about the history of the Tendoushuu and Utsuro. They were beings born from Altana, a revolutionary energy source from planets that is sometimes called ley lines on Earth. Shinpachi remembered that someone told them that the Terminal was powered by it. When a way to convert Altana into usable energy was invented, it led to rapid technological, scientific and social advancement like easier interstellar travel, but also created planet-destroying weapons and wealth for those who controlled this energy. After multiple wars, the states signed a pact that makes holding the Altana reserves forbidden and formed an organization that monitors the Altana Gates, or "Holes", called the Altana Preservation Society, which later became the Tendoushuu. Gintoki and Katsura noted that the Tendoushuu, thanks to their monopoly on Altana, were able to conquer countless planets for Altana unopposed.
Nobume then added that besides the untapped Altana, Earth was taken due to a strange phenomenon. It had been known that the Altana can somehow influence the principles of life. The example of this influence was Utsuro, a name passed down through the generations given to the new leader of Naraku. However, the truth was revealed during the time when the Naraku worked with the Tendoushuu. When Utsuro went missing, the assassins searched all over the country to find and execute him for desertion. They ended up finding him teaching children under a new name and appearing different then he was before. His students sparked a failed uprising to save him but Utsuro was executed. During his funeral pyre, he ended up reviving in front of his shocked former assassin underlings, unharmed and seemingly different from before. The Naraku had thirteen leaders in its history, yet in reality, they were all led by one man, an immortal due to the Altana. Shouyou was one of his many faces.
In space, despite Utsuro's denials, they revealed that the Tendoushuu used to do extensive research on Altana and it would not be a stretch that they may have found the secret to immortality, the universe's greatest wish. Utsuro instead retorted that life is meaningless without death, that immortality was a hollow void (hence the name "Utsuro", which means empty). Both an immortal's happiness and sadness would lead to the same wish for an end. Utsuro's constant resurrections did not free him of this void and thus the present version of Utsuro was born, to destroy himself and all "Utsuro" (void). During his speech, the Elders find themselves surrounded by the ships of the Harusame twelve divisions. Utsuro declared to the stunned Amanto that he will now lead the Harusame and mockingly told them, "the brats", to sit down and shut up before signalling the ships outside to fire. The ships blast the tower and only Utsuro survives the blast and the vacuum of space. Nobume admitted that she did not know how long Utsuro lived or if Shouyou was still a part of him, but she declares the Utsuro is the most dangerous creature in the universe.
Characters[]
- Sakata Gintoki
- Yoshida Shouyou (flashback)
- Jouishishi
- Shimura Shinpachi
- Kagura
- Imai Nobume
- Kondou Isao (mention)
- Sasaki Isaburo (mention)
- Kiheitai (cameo)
- Kijima Matako
- Takechi Henpeita
- Takasugi Shinsuke (flashback)
- Kawakami Bansai (flashback)
- 7th Division (flashback)
- Umibouzu (flashback)
- Harusame
- Harusame Elders (debut)
- Tendoshu (mention)
- Tenshouin Naraku (mention)
Trivia[]
- The thing Kagura picks up in the beginning of the episode is one of the two control devices Saiki Kusuo wears on his head.
- When Gintoki calls Shouyou a giant, Shouyou replies that he is a Hanshin fan. This is a reference to the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League's two oldest teams: the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers.