"The Tokugawa Shogunate's 400th Anniversary"
"This story has nothing to do with that"
Having set out on a journey in search of the samurai who smells of sunflowers,
Mugen, Jin, and Fuu have at long last reached Edo.
"Stranger Searching (The Red-Haired Foreigner)"
"4th Annual Big Eater Contest Sponsored by Anago Fukuyoshi and Manpukuji"
This is really a free, all-you-can-eat deal?
More to the point, we're going into this thing to win!
We're starving half the time, so this little event is like manna from heaven.
If it's free, there's really no need for us to win.
Next, please!
The registration fee. One shu.
What, it's not free?
If we had money, we wouldn't be here.
In that case, it can be anything worth that amount. If you win, you claim the whole pot.
Got no choice, then...
Fine, whatever! Let's get this thing started, okay?
What about your samurai friend there?
I'm sorry, but I can't simply hand over the embodiment of a warrior's soul to--
--Hey. --Relax, we just need to win, and you'll get them back.
Hold it!
Just think of it as handing them over for safe keeping.
As hungry as we are, there ain't no way we're gonna lose.
Okay, let's stuff our faces!
And they're off! It has finally begun!
The annual eating contest, The Wonderland of Food!
Once again this year, big eaters from all over the city are here in full force today!
The rules are simple. The contestant who eats the most wins!
The winner will collect all the entry fees, and our dish is eel rice bowls
topped with plenty of that main ingredient that all Edo kitchens boast.
I, Ichieimon, will be your announcer today,
and since I sell newspaper prints by reading them aloud, I'm Edo's #1 gossip!
Color commentary will be provided by Father Ingen, known for his catch phase,
"To hell with vegetarianism!"
It is an honor.
Okay, everyone is now underway.
The one to watch out for this year would have to be Izumi, the winner from the year before last.
She seems to be in top form again this year. What's your opinion, Father Ingen?
Perhaps, but she is the Queen of Sweets.
It remains to be seen just how long she can keep this up.
Give me another!
And there he goes! This year's favorite, the man with the bottomless gullet!
Sounosuke of the Mujina tenements!
--I'd expect nothing less from last year's champion! --Another!
Incidentally, to show that you give up,
we have a rather well-mannered rule of putting your hands together
in the traditional gesture of, "I'm done eating."
Oh, my! We have a contestant making the give-up sign already!
This was fast! This was too fast!
Why in the world did this bespectacled man even bother to come here?!
I am ashamed...
Please... Win back my swords...
At this stage, we're now seeing a flurry of contestants retiring!
This is a veritable survival game! Who will be the last one eating?!
Don't even think of stopping. My swords are on the line here.
Eat! Eat, damn you!
Oh, my! Another contestant is down!
That leaves us with only three!
Sounosuke, the man with the bottomless gullet!
Izumi, the Queen of Sweets!
And a newcomer! A mysterious giant!
Oh, I'm sorry! I missed one!
We have one more! We have one more contestant!
And what's more, she seems to be a young girl of tender years!
Okay, all four of them have started on their 22nd bowl, last year's record,
at about the same time.
What's this? Have the Queen of Sweet's chopsticks stopped moving?
An official is going over to her for verification as we speak...
Could she possibly be--
He's signaling " no good "! She's retired!
Impossible... How could I possibly lose?
I won't accept defeat... I refuse to accept defeat!
How can this possibly be?!
Last year's champion, Sounosuke, is finally down!
Another! Another! Another!
T-This girl's stomach is a cosmos unto itself...
It's connected to the void of the universe!
A-At any rate, the unthinkable has happened!
These two newcomers are locked in one-on-one combat!
And what's more, they both have done what no eater has done before,
and broken the 27 bowl barrier!
Ah, we have finally gotten the personal data on these two contestants.
Let's see. The young girl's name is Fuu. Age, 15.
As for the large man, his name is... I can't read it!
And do my eyes deceive me? These two have picked up their pace even more!
The cooks are having trouble keeping up with them!
Don't underestimate Anago's cooks!
How much food can a human being eat?
Where have we been? Where are we going?!
Their forms are like unto the gods themselves!
Truly awe-inspiring! I am moved beyond words!
It may be that we are now bearing witness to the very instant
that the human stomach evolves and takes itself to a new level.
Stupid fly!
Oh, my! She gives up!
I don't believe it! She's made the give-up sign!
Here in this coliseum of food, this holy war of the stomach,
our winner is the large mystery man!
I win!
Yay!
This can't be happening...
Why the hell did you put your hands together when you were doing so well?
There was a fly!
Who are you, anyway?
Get off my case...
My swords...
Hi! Good afternoon, you people!
Those swords!
Little girl, you put up good fight.
Are you girl ninja?
Huh? No, I'm not a ninja.
Oh, you are not? Then you should have said so in first place!
Why would I even need to point that out to you?
Is it just me, or does this guy talk kinda funny?
He does! He sure does!
And do his eyes look blue to you?
They are! They're blue!
You talk nonsense.
And does his hair look red to you?
It is! It's red!
M-My name is Jouji. I am a Japanese.
Do you not believe me?
More importantly...
Those swords are my life. Will you return them to me?
I won't.
Didn't give it much thought, did ya?
I'm not asking you to return them for free.
--Then... Will you work? --What?
I want to do Edo sightseeing.
If you be my tour guide, I give them to you as pay.
Sorry, no can do. We don't know anything about Edo.
We'll go wherever you want.
Hey, wait a minute! If you've got time for that,
we could be spending it looking for the sunflower--
I used to be known as The Edo Tour Map.
You liar.
We've received reports that a European is wandering around here in disguise.
Have you seen anybody like that?
Huh? A European?
I'm not sure... I don't think so.
I haven't seen anybody like that.
"Kaminarimon"
No, this is--
Kaminari Man! So impressive!
Hey, would you say something to the man?
Oh, so this is called Kaminari Man, huh?
That one's Man #1, and that's Man #2.
Wow...
Here you are, sir!
Oh, so this is Edo-style sushi, yes?
Do you have to make such a racket all the time?
I swear, what are their stomachs made of?
Oh, that stings! This is wabi-sabi, yes?
No, that's--
Leave'em be, leave'em be.
A European? There was really one here?
We received a tip that a man fitting that description was in the eating competition.
Oh, there was a large man about this tall who talked awfully funny. Is that who you mean?
That's him!
Yay! Tamoyo!
Kagiyo! Yay! Yay!
I swear, I can't believe how much you two can eat.
I always have room for free food.
The sun has set. Surely you've seen enough of Edo by now.
No, not yet. I see more. There is lots more!
This is great!
Listen up, people! Pay close attention.
We've received a report that a European is in this restaurant.
Hiding him wouldn't be in your best interest.
Harboring him makes you an accomplice! Is that clear?
When a man talks to me like that, it puts me in a harboring kind of mood.
What?
What do you think you're doing, punk?
Interfere in police business, and you'll live to regret it.
Hey! You've got some guts.
I almost respect you for that, but it's in your own interest not to resist.
If I were you, I'd apologize while I still had the chance.
A man talks to me like that, and I wanna resist even more.
Hey. Gimme that sword on your back.
I do think not.
Wha--? This ain't no time to be stingy, you bastard!
You! You're the European!
Arrest all of'em!
Whoops!
Let's go!
Damn it! Where'd they go?
What were you thinking? Why do you have to stir things up?
Guys like that piss me off. I can't help it.
What'll we do if we won't be able to stay in Edo because of this?
We won't be able to look for the sunflower samurai!
Geez!
"Norieimon Nakamura"
Of course it isn't.
You do realize that people are after you, right?
This is no time to take in a play.
This is last! This is last!
After I see, I give back your katana swords.
We have no choice, then.
Hey, wait a minute!
--Nakamuraya! --Norieimon!
How beautiful!
Um, that was--
Ouch!
I love that person! I go to see!
What do you mean, go see? Wait a minute!
Do you think he knows?
No way. You are a man?
Oh, it was a guy under all that.
You didn't know that?
How can this be?
Hey, don't take it out on him! Come on, cut it out.
I... like man... even better.
And you are exactly my type.
Will you listen to my story?
I am not really a Japanese. I come here from Holland.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind...
In my country, they treat me like deviant.
I was very depressed.
The book of Saikaku Ihara of Japan. "The Great Mirror of Male Love."
The book, it was very shocking.
"The path of sexuality is not something that causes chaotic, carnal desires to gush forth.
Just as with calligraphy, the tea ceremony, and flower arrangement, it is a means by which
a moment of one's life may be transformed into an aesthetic, extraordinary time and space.
It is in no way a vulgar thing.
On the contrary, it is a relationship built on rectitude and respect,
which are also to be found in bushido, but is even more profound.
In the first place, bushido was built around the solidarity and cohesiveness
of a male group that had expelled all women.
They pledge loyalty to their oath brothers, prepared to lay down their own lives,
and spill their red blood in the act of ritual suicide.
In this respect, the philosophy of bushido has much in common with the path of male love. ¤¤
Japan is wonderful! Wonderful culture of man love!
When I read that, I think that Japan would be country like heaven on Earth.
You! The European and the insolent bunch who are sheltering him!
Surrender peacefully!
Why do you arrest me? I do not do anything wrong.
Here in our land of the rising sun, even if dogs, cats, or even worms are allowed to live,
there's no law saying that foreigners are allowed to!
What insolence! I won't stand for it!
T-They're all Europeans!
You bunch of monsters! All of you, surrender peacefully, too!
Aw, screw you!
You can kill that one if you want!
Mugen! As I promise, I give your sword back!
Jin, too!
--Mugen! --Yeah, I know!
Wow! Samurai sword fight!
Sir! Please wait!
What's with those guys? Are they the next act?
Samurai!
Damn it, hold it right there!
This is more like it!
Nakamuraya!
Hold it, hold it, hold it!
Can't you see this official order?!
That's... the scarlet seal of the Shogunate!
Allow me to inform you of this man's true identity.
This is the chief merchant of the Dutch East India Company's Japan branch,
Governor-General Izaac Titsingh!
W-We humbly beg your forgiveness for our insolence!
What's that mean?
That means that he's a special foreigner who has official dispensation from the Shogunate.
Allow me to introduce myself.
I am Sukeemon Tanaka, assigned by the Shogunate as their interpreter.
Governor-General, we have been looking for you. Come, let's go.
I... don't want to go.
Governor-General, the day of your audience with the Shogun is almost here.
We've told him that you had fallen ill.
--I can't stay? --No, sir, you can't.
I see...
I had hoped that I could live in this country as a Japanese.
But I suppose that is not possible yet.
Hey, cheer up.
But eventually, the day will come when this country will accept people like me.
I am sure that this country will stop being so tight-assed one day.
Who's gonna relax their ass with you around, buddy?
I want to show you my gratitude.
We didn't really do anything to earn it.
If you'll excuse us.
See ya!
Hey, wait for me!
I want to ask you something.
Yes, what is it?
Do you know anything about a samurai who smells of sunflowers?
I've been looking for him for a long time.
No, I am sorry.
However, it was we Dutchmen who bring sunflowers here.
Do you have any more clue to go on?
Oh, right!
I'm not sure if it's a clue, but I do have something that belongs to him.
Keep this hidden away.
It is very dangerous thing in this country.
Do not let anyone see it.
Why not?
There is only one thing that I can tell you.
If you go to Nagasaki, I am sure that you will find some answers.
Nagasaki...
Hey, wait!
So, what do we do now?
Isn't it obvious?
Huh? Hey!
--Huh? --Is it?
" Next time, Part 2, the Nagasaki Chapter starts!"
What, seriously?
I wasn't told of this.
"Check it out!"
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