Festival Song of the Raven

Tales of Zatoichi
Here he comes.
I'm counting on you, pal.
Excuse me, gentlemen, you could live 10 or 20 years if you want.
You shouldn't waste your lives like this.
Please forgive me. Please.
I'm begging you.
I was hired to kill the guy who's been messing with the gambling parlors.
I never messed around in a gambling parlor. You're just a swindler.
You're absolutely right.
I just needed some money.
They said I'll get 10 ryos for killing you.
My sick wife and her kid are expecting me back home.
Hey.
Where's your home?
Takahagi, in the district of Bushu.
What's your name?
Unokichi.
It's Unokichi.
I'm not lying.
This was gonna be my last job.
I was planning on going back to my sweet sake store.
That's for you.
When the new year comes, I'll stop by your store.
Then I'll have some of your sweet sake.
You can drink as much as you want.
And if I find out you were lying to me...
Be an honest man.
Thank you very much.
I'll go straight from now on. I'll work as hard as I can.
And the next time we meet... you'll see me as an honest man.
Huh?
This is a masseur's flute.
Festival Song of the Raven
Sweet Sake
Excuse me.
This is Unokichi's store, right?
That's strange.
Nobody's home?
Come on, Mama!
Mama. Mama!
Come on, Mama!
Come on! Mama!
Mama!
Come on!
Hey, is something wrong?
Hey, are you all alone here?
My sister went to get the doctor.
Hey, you gotta hang in there.
What's making you uncomfortable?
You...
Came back for me.
I'm very happy.
I don't want you going anywhere again.
Please don't go.
Mama!
Mama!
Mama!
Mama!
Mama!
Sorry for all the trouble.
She was waiting for my brother to come home.
She mistook you for my brother.
But thanks to you... she was able to go peacefully.
It seems like I got here faster than her husband, but...
Did something happen to him?
No, I was supposed to meet him here at the store.
Well, I'll come again.
Have a nice day.
Let's see...
Why did you move it there?
I'll just take that with ease.
Right.
Hey, you don't seem like your normal self these days.
Don't you know? Itaro is sick.
Sick?
What's making you sick?
Even the doctors can't cure him.
Please don't...
You don't have to hide it. Everyone knows except the Boss.
And who is this lady?
Oito from the sweet sake store.
Ah, she's a good girl.
There must be more to him than meets the eye.
If you do it like this, it'll fly even more.
Now...
There.
It's flying.
Hey Shota, where's Oito?
She's around.
Why don't you make it fly?
Oito.
Oito.
Can you just turn around?
What?
-Just turn around. -What? Like this?
What?
A coral?
Where did you get this expensive stuff?
-You gambled, didn't you? -Of course not.
I know you hate gambling. I wouldn't use that kind of money to buy this.
Then how did you get this?
The Boss's wife told me to give it to you.
The Boss's wife?
Yeah.
Why?
Why?
The Boss and his wife...
...told me to give it to you.
But I don't see why she would give this to me.
Why?
So this isn't a gift from you.
It's from the Boss's wife.
What difference does it make? It's all the same.
Sister, the masseur fixed my flying toy.
That's nice.
-Thank you so much. -No problem.
The one you made was bad. It didn't fly at all.
Then, I won't make them anymore.
-Sometimes it flies, so keep making them. -What? You...
If Unokichi comes home, please tell him I stopped by.
Yes.
How long will you be in Takahagi?
I think I might make some money around here.
Please come again.
Thank you very much. Bye.
Who was that guy? You know him?
No, he met my brother while traveling.
I see.
Now, what is it this time?
Heads!
I told you it was heads. I win again.
Damn it.
One more time.
Sure, go ahead.
Here I come.
-Ready? -Yes.
Now, heads or tails?
Tails.
Don't think about flipping it.
It was tails.
I was just gonna put it in there.
You...
You sure you're blind?
I tell you what.
You feel like working for me?
Work for you?
My boss is Manjiro of Takahagi.
He's just as great as Eigoro of Omaeda, and Jirocho of Shimizu.
Is that right?
Out of all the members of the Takahagi family, l, the famous Hansuke...
...is gonna take care of you. So you have nothing to worry about.
Thank you very much. Well, then cheers to us.
Good. That's good.
But I'm gonna be your big brother and you're gonna be my little brother.
Yes, let me join one of your little brothers.
Good.
Then this money belongs to me.
If you need money, you can ask me for it.
Hey, Hansuke.
Yes, brother ltaro.
You seem to be in a good mood.
You're the masseur I saw earlier today.
Yes, we met a short while ago.
Brother.
We just exchanged vows and made him my little brother.
We'll be happy to serve you from here on.
Your little brother?
Hansuke's got a little brother. This is great!
Hey wake up!
Come on!
Rise and shine!
Hey Hansuke!
Come on, rise and shine! Hurry up and wake up!
All right!
Did he run away already? Damn!
Take a look at that, Hansuke. He works much harder than you.
Hey, you know, you can stop doing that.
Try splitting this firewood.
Your training begins by splitting this firewood.
-ls that right? -Yeah. Here.
-ls this it? -Yeah.
Is this okay?
You've fulfilled my expectations.
He gets up early and works real hard.
Even though he's blind, he has good intuition.
Hansuke got a good little brother. He should be proud.
Yes.
What's wrong?
I was watching that masseur split some firewood...
But he's no ordinary fellow.
What?
You're saying...
Maybe he has some experience with sword fighting.
Shota has grown fond of you since you're so nice to him.
Actually, he's the one who's entertaining me.
-Here you go. -Thank you so much.
-May l? -Please.
What are you doing?
It's a rabbit.
Huh?
My, it is a rabbit.
This is a peculiar item.
That's a good-luck charm of Hachiman Shrine.
Really?
When Shota was born, we bought two of them for him and my brother.
Is that right?
Well, Shota...
You and your dad both have this, huh?
Unokichi has such a cute kid.
No wonder he wanted to come home.
Where did you see my brother?
I saw him at Kajikazawa in Koshu...
And he said he had to go back home with 10 ryos.
Oito, you're gonna be a fine wife someday.
I'm no good. No one will marry me.
That's not true. Itaro seems like a nice guy.
He was very nice to me.
He told me I can stay here as long as I want to.
I've known ltaro since I was a child.
He was an orphan.
Boss Manjiro took him in and raised him.
So he says he's willing to die for the boss.
If you get married to ltaro...
You two will make a wonderful couple.
I...
I don't want to be the wife of a gambler.
People who gamble...
...forget about their homes and throw away their lives.
We can be together forever.
Hey Hansuke. What are you mumbling about?
Well, Brother, that masseur went wandering around somewhere....
So I have to be the one to do this.
I was thinking of training him to be great. I was dead wrong about him.
You'll live longer.
Hey Hansuke, take good care of lchi.
Hey.
Oh.
Ichi isn't here yet?
He's not here yet.
Shota has grown fond of him.
Anyway, I wonder where he met Unokichi.
He said he saw him a few times and he was on his way home carrying 1 0 ryos.
That's it?
Unokichi should come home as soon as possible.
I wonder where he's at.
He doesn't know his wife passed away.
You have quite a talent.
Is that you, Boss? Hello.
Is that a masseur's flute?
Yes.
I don't know where I dropped the one I had...
But if I don't have this, I can't make any money.
-Let me see. -Sure.
Wow.
This might sound strange but...
You've been trained doing this, haven't you?
You gotta be kidding me.
I'm just a masseur who travels around.
Well, you see...I don't carry my blade on me now, but...
When I was younger, I was swinging a stick.
Judging from your killer instincts, there's something about you.
I feel you're no ordinary masseur. Am I right?
Everybody's got their secrets. I won't make you say it if you don't want to.
I think it's fate that brought us together under this same roof.
If you need anything, let me know. I'll be happy to help you.
Yes, Boss, thank you so much for everything.
Welcome.
Is this Unokichi's store?
Yes.
Are you his wife?
No, I'm his sister.
Really?
She's very pretty.
Can I help you?
Your brother's dead.
He was killed.
Did a masseur come by here?
The masseur killed your brother.
We're from the Kijin family.
If you see the masseur, tell him we're staying at an inn near House Takahagi.
You're still single, right?
I'll come again.
I found out where he is. He's staying over at the Takahagi family's place.
What do we do, Brother Oto?
We can't do anything by ourselves.
You never know.
You wanna go talk to their rival, the Hidaka family across the river?
It things go well, we can make some money.
-Okay, let's go visit them. -Right.
Sorry to keep you waiting, Tomizawa.
Boss of Takahagi, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.
I understand you're here on behalf of the Hidaka family.
What can I do for you?
Let's get down to business. I want you to hand over the wanderer.
The wanderer?
Zatoichi.
The end of last year, one of the Kijin family's henchmen was killed...
...by Zatoichi at Kajikazawa in Koshu.
As you may know, my Boss and the Kijin family get along very well.
So please...
I want you to hand him over to us without making waves.
We do have a masseur named lchi over at my place...
But do you have any solid evidence that proves he's the killer?
Yes. I brought some witnesses.
Hey, come on out.
They're members of the Kijin family...
And they saw Zatoichi kill one of their own.
Plus I have one other thing to show you.
A traveler by the name of Unokichi was killed while holding this flute.
Can't you just hand Zatoichi over to us?
He's just a wanderer. You don't have to think too hard...
I can't do that.
Even if he's a wanderer staying at my place, if he eats from the same pot...
...then he's one of us.
We'll handle this our way.
Go back and tell that to your boss.
Hey lchi, you said you lost your flute, right?
Yes.
Is this it?
Yes, this is definitely it.
Are you still gonna make up excuses?
I'm very disappointed in you.
You're Zatoichi of all people.
If you did it, then why can't you just admit it?
But if you didn't do it, then I don't care if it's the Hidaka or Kijin family...
I won't let anyone put their hands on you.
I didn't do it.
Hey.
Where's lchi?
He went to visit sister's grave with Shota.
I see.
Itaro.
Is something wrong?
It's nothing.
You have nothing to worry about.
Hey, pour this onto your mama.
Ma'am...
I'm terribly sorry.
You were waiting for your husband Unokichi...
...but someone killed him.
Itaro!
Shota, go play over there.
Ichi.
What were you doing at her grave?
Well, something unexpected happened...
So I just went to tell her about it.
Our Boss is a good man, so he didn't give you up.
But this isn't over yet.
We're gonna have to deal with both the Hidaka and the Kijin.
I have to kill you in order to protect our family.
I need you to die!
Shit!
Itaro!
Don't come any closer! This is between us two.
But you don't have any evidence.
I have the evidence.
Itaro.
What?
I didn't want to say this but...
Unokichi came to kill me so he could get 10 ryos.
What did you say?
After leaving the gambling parlor, I was surrounded by members of...
...the Kijin family at Kajikazawa in Koshu.
Unokichi was one of them.
I killed three members of the Kijin family.
But I didn't kill Unokichi.
He told me he was gonna go straight for his kid and sick wife.
He was being so honest.
So I gave him 10 ryos.
He asked me to stop by the store if I came to Takahagi in Bushu...
But it turned out like this instead.
Oito, I didn't kill him.
I didn't kill Unokichi.
Please believe me.
Yay, it's flying!
Shota!
You're bleeding.
Yes.
Ichi.
This type of wound will heal on its own.
-Are you okay? -Thank you so much.
Sorry for all the trouble.
Thank you so much.
I can do the rest on my own.
Sorry.
Ichi saved Shota's life.
Shota likes him. If he's liked that much, then he can't be bad.
Plus if he killed Unokichi... why would he stay here this long?
He was happy since you told him he can stay here as long as he wants.
Shota said something strange.
The ronin who attacked Shota had a good-luck charm from Hachiman Shrine.
A good-luck charm?
Sir, hold on just minute.
I saw you at the graveyard.
We need you to do something for us.
My gambling buddies know me as Zatoichi...
Or the killer masseur.
People cursed at me, and they also tried to kill me.
But I never used my blade willfully.
I wanted to protect myself...
...so I forced myself to learn how to fight.
Now I'm nothing but a bad blind man.
But you know what, Oito...
Even though my blade is tainted by blood...
I can't lie to warm-hearted people like you and Shota.
I can never lie...
Do you believe me?
I believe you.
Thank you very much.
After you said that, I feel so much better inside.
Thank you very much.
Ichi...
I want you to forgive ltaro for what he did before.
Sure.
Itaro's a fine man.
In order to protect you and his boss, he tried to kill...
Yay, it's flying!
He's just talking in his sleep.
We use the woman as bait to lure him out.
And that's when you come in for the kill.
You want me to kill him?
How much do I get?
So they made Zatoichi responsible for Unokichi's death?
Yes.
I get rid of the sinner, and also get the money.
Okay, I'll do it.
-Brother ltaro! -What is it?
Come here for a second.
What?
"l get rid of the sinner, and also get the money."
-That's what the samurai said? -Yes.
I heard the entire conversation.
All right.
Hansuke, don't tell the Boss and others about this.
Got it?
Yes.
You're from the Takahagi family.
Stay back, you maggots.
I'm here to talk to the samurai.
Show me that thing hanging from your sword.
You mean this?
Come over here and take a look.
Stay where you are.
Itaro!
Master.
Master. Master!
We're counting on you.
Ichi.
He's the guy who killed Unokichi.
He has Unokichi's good-luck charm hanging from his sword.
Hey samurai.
Even if you have that charm, the god of Hachiman won't protect you!
Itaro, stop it! Stop it!
If I don't kill him, I'm gonna lose face.
Hey, it's Dad's good-luck charm, Sister.
Ichi, I made that sweet sake.
I want you to taste it.
Okay. Thanks.
Is this sweet sake?
Yeah.
Hey, ltaro.
What the hell is this?
Did I do anything bad to deserve this treatment?
You drink it.
What? That's strange.
I think I put in too much malted rice.
You bastard.
Boss, thank you so much for everything.
-So, you're leaving now? -Yes.
Well, you can stop by Takahagi anytime you like.
By then, I'm sure this couple will be making the best sweet sake in Japan.
Next time I come here, you can make me a sweet sake, Oito.
Did you hear that? That's not nice, lchi.
Ichi.
Please come again.
Yes.
Hey kid, give me your hand.
Here's your new flying toy. Try it.
Thanks.
Mister!
Mister!
To Be Continued...
Next Episode
Chuji came down from Akagi mountain.
In order to repay his kindness, lchi travels to Kunisada village.
Little by little, they surround them.
With the wind of Akagi mountain at their backs, lchi and Chuji head...
...for the government office.
With Ryutaro Tatsumi and Tatsuo Umemiya as the special guests...
Tune in for the next episode, "The Winds from MountAkagi".
See you next time!