Episode 356

Introduction[]

Plot[]

The unleashed Altana bursts out of their gates, blasting away both Earthlings and Amanto alike. Enshou's men inform him that the Altana on Earth has gone berserk, a repeat of what had happened to their home planet, and believe that only the Tendoushuu was capable of such an act. Enshou, who is aware that the Tendoushuu were long dead, wonders if it was the same culprit as the one who destroyed his planet.

Utsuro tells Gintoki and the rest that the long night would be over soon and there would be nothing left behind. Gintoki exclaims that he would leave a mark and strikes at Utsuro. Meanwhile, Princess Soyo watches the scene from afar with Nobume, Matsudaira and Sadaharu. Matsudaira instructs Nobume to take the princess to a safe place but Nobume replies that no place was safe now. Later on, Princess Soyo cries alone and Sadaharu comforts her. He remembered Kagura's instructions to take care of Princess Soyo and Nobume, and how everyone had their own role to play in saving Earth. Princess Soyo turns around but Sadaharu has ran off.

On SS Heavenly Bird, Takechi explains that Utsuro was trying to fire a massive amount of Altana at the Flame of Kagutsuchi; the resultant explosion could threaten the whole galaxy. Takechi enlists the help of Hankai, who is left without a body after Episode 321, to infiltrate the ship's system and control the Flame of Kagutsuchi from within. On the bridge, Enshou orders his men to reroute all of the ship's energy supply towards the Flame of Kagutsuchi to accelerate its charging process and to destroy all sectors with enemies inside. Batou and Shoukaku are killed in the explosion.

Hankai reports that the time to firing has shortened to 15 minutes; Takechi instructs the Kiheitai to stall the process by cutting off SS Heavenly Bird's energy circuit and informs Takasugi that he would extend the time to 30 minutes. In a flashback to the night of Takasugi's prison break, Takechi reveals that he was making use of Takasugi to kill the Bakufu officials who have misused their authority. Takasugi spares his life and recruits him as Kiheitai's strategist. In the present day, Takechi prepares to crash a small ship into the SS Heavenly Bird.

Takasugi, Matako and Bansai encounter a heavily guarded gate and recognise that it was the central command of the Flame of Kagutsuchi. Bansai grabs the soldiers with his strings while Takasugi and Matako charge forward. He comments that heroes are sinful beings who never look back but doing so allowed others to chase after them; Bansai saw that Takasugi was still moving forward despite his pain and sorrow. A soldier shoots Bansai and Takasugi turns around. Bansai tells the Kiheitai leader not to look back and throws a sword at the enemy's weapon, causing an explosion that blasts Takasugi and Matako into a vent. Falling rubble blocks off their path and Bansai promises to catch up with them later.

Bansai fights the army on his own but more charge out from the central command room. Bansai collapses due to his gunshot wounds and sees Nizou behind him. He asks his dead Kiheitai comrade if he was here to pick him up; Nizou replies that he was just here to chase after their leader until their bodies burned out. The Kiheitai lives on alongside Takasugi, no matter where he was. Bansai stands up and uses his strings to control the fallen army soldiers. As the flames and smoke subside, the soldiers realise that Bansai was already dead, his body held up by his strings, with grenades strapped to his waist. After the explosion, the soldiers in the central command rush to fortify their defenses, but Takasugi and Matako bust out of the vent above them.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

The TV in the ending theme plays Episode 53 to Episode 78.
Several changes were made to the ending in this episode - the Yorozuya's building is lit up in the first half, in which Kagura and Sadaharu appear, and dark at the second half, in which only Sadaharu appears.