Guy/A Soldier's Understanding
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< Guy
What a Samurai Is
Backstage Stories
| Guy | ... |
| Azuma | ...Oh my, you've got such a serious look on your face, what are you thinking about? |
| Guy | Oh, it's just...I was thinking about "samurai" for the upcoming performance. |
| I've learned a lot about "samurai" as a profession, but I couldn't really grasp the spirit of it since I grew up abroad. | |
| Azuma | It's a social status from the olden days to begin with. Even those of us who've lived in this country for a long time might have a hard time understanding that area. |
| I'm not that familiar with it either, so why don't you ask the others about it? | |
| I think some of the student group are currently studying the history of samurai's life. | |
| Guy | I see...I'll try asking them. |
| Taichi | Huh? Samurai? |
| Kazunari | Oh~, the upcoming Winter Troupe's play is about samurai~! |
| Taichi | I see, so you're looking into it. |
| Guy | Yes. |
| Kazunari | Ah! Why don't you try speaking with "gozaru"[1], then? The Summer Troupe also tried it to get into our ninja roles! |
| Guy | ...Hm, to understand the mind of a samurai, you should start with their usual speech pattern, huh? It's worth a try. |
| Taichi | "Gozaru" certainly sounds very samurai-like! Huh? Wait, but we did it as a ninja, right? |
| Kazunari | It's fine, it's fine. They're not that different! Anyway, you should try it, Guy-Guy! |
| Guy | Understood, I'll give it a try. |
| Omi | Tsuzuru, can you prepare the vegetables for me? |
| Tsuzuru | 'Kay. |
| Guy | Is there anything I can help with, de gozaru? |
| Tsuzuru | G-Guy-san? |
| Omi | What's the matter? |
| Guy | In order to understand the mind of a samurai, Miyoshi suggested that I should try to use "gozaru" on a regular basis, de gozaru. |
| Omi | I see... |
| Tsuzuru | The script doesn't even have "gozaru" in it! |
| Guy | Hm, now that you mention it...you're right, de gozaru. |
| Tsuzuru | Seriously, that guy just says whatever comes to mind... |
| Guy | I wanted to understand about samurai a little bit more, but it's quite difficult. |
| Omi | The word samurai is a bit vague, so why don't you look into your role, "Sasaki Kojiro"[2]? |
| Tsuzuru | Oh, that might be good. Having a model as reference is useful for this kind of thing. |
| Guy | Hm... |
| ...I see. | |
| Chikage | Hm? What are you up to? |
| Guy | I was researching about "Sasaki Kojiro", my role for the upcoming performance. |
| Chikage | Heh... |
| Oh, come to think of it, I heard that Sasaki Kojiro's favorite sword was a clothesline pole. Did you know that? | |
| Guy | No—is that so? That's an amazing swordmanship. |
| Chikage | Hope that's somehow useful. |
| Guy | You were a great help. |
| Guy | —Ha. |
| —Fuh. | |
| Izumi | G-Guy-san?! |
| Guy | — |
| Izumi | What on earth are you doing?! |
| Guy | Utsuki told me that Sasaki Kojiro's favorite sword was a clothesline pole. I was swinging it to prepare for my role. |
| Izumi | Chikage-san, that's such a confusing way to put it...! |
| Guy | Was that a lie...? I thought I could get something out of it. |
| Izumi | It's not a real clothesline pole, but the common name of the sword was "The Clothes-Drying Pole". |
| Guy | I see. So that's how it is... |
| Muku | Ah, Director-san, Guy-san. Dinner is about to start. |
| What are you doing with that clothesline pole? | |
| Izumi | No, that's... |
| Muku | I see... |
| Guy | I wanted to study up on samurai and Sasaki Kojiro, but it didn't go very well. |
| Muku | In that case, I went to a ninja workshop with Director-san for our ninja performance, and it was very helpful. |
| Izumi | Now that you mention it, that's true! |
| Muku | Why don't you try going to a samurai workshop, Guy-san? |
| Guy | A workshop, huh... |
| Izumi | It's not exactly for a samurai, but I think I might have seen a flyer for a kendo workshop in Veludo Town. Would you like to go, Guy-san? |
| Guy | Yes, please. |
| Excuse me. | |
| Izumi | We'll be in your care. |
| Instructor | Hello~ Please sit down in order from the front~ |
| Izumi | There are quite a few people here. |
| Guy | From children to adults, men and women of all ages, that's quite a wide range. |
| Instructor | Well then, first of all, let me demonstrate to you what kendo is like~ |
| Students | ... |
| Instructor | ... |
| —Yah! | |
| —Men! | |
| Izumi | (That's one amazing vigor...) |
| Instructor | ...Well, that's what kendo is like. |
| Guy | There's not a single wasted movement. |
| Izumi | When you see it in the flesh, the power is completely different. |
| Instructor | Now, I'm going to explain to you what kendo is, so would you all please sit in seiza[3]~? |
| Kendo begins and ends with courtesy, so to speak! | |
| Guy | Seiza, huh...I haven't done it much... |
| Instructor | Onii-san, can you do it? |
| Guy | It's not impossible. But I can't do it for too long— |
| Instructor | Then, let's do a challenge and see! |
| Izumi | (The instructor had a refreshing change from the way he fought earlier.) |
| Instructor | First of all, about the origin of kendo— |
| Izumi | ... |
| Guy | ... |
| Instructor | As a swordsman, you must never drop your sword! It would be a foul if it did~ Be careful! |
| Izumi | ... |
| Guy | ... |
| Izumi | (Uu...I think it's going to be quite long... My legs are gonna go numb if I keep this up.) |
| Instructor | ...So that's a brief explanation of kendo~ |
| Izumi | (That wasn't brief at all...!) |
| Instructor | Next, we're going to have you change into your kendo uniform~ We've prepared the uniform here, so please check your size~ |
| Izumi | ...Phew. |
| (Anyway, I'm glad it's finally over...if it went on for a little longer, I would've definitely gone completely numb...) | |
 |
|
| Guy | ... |
| Izumi | ...Guy-san? |
| Guy | ... |
| Izumi | A-are you okay? |
| Guy | ... |
| Izumi | (Did Guy-san malfunction...?!) |
| Guy | ... |
| Izumi | (W-what should I do? In this situation...should I press the switch that Citron-kun usually does?) |
| (No, no, Guy-san is a human...!) | |
| Guy | ...Sorry. The neural circuits in my legs seem to have shorted out so I can't move... |
| Izumi | Your legs shorted out...? Ah! Did your legs go numb? |
| Guy | ...I see. So this is numbness in my legs... |
| Izumi | Are you okay? |
| Guy | Yes, I should be able to move if I calm down a bit more. |
| Izumi | (...It's rare to see Guy-san looking so perplexed. It's a little refreshing and cute.) |
| Instructor | What's wrong, Onii-san? |
| Guy | My legs seem to be numb. |
| Instructor | Ahh, it's inevitable if you're not used to it~ When that happens, the quickest way to fix it is to just grab it with a quick grip~ |
| Izumi | Ehh?! |
| Guy | —Stop it, I don't want to put my hands on an amateur. |
| Izumi | It doesn't sound like a joke when you're the one saying it, Guy-san! |
 |
|
| Are your legs okay now? | |
| Guy | Yes, there's no problem. |
| Izumi | You look great in that uniform and bamboo sword, Guy-san. You look like a samurai. |
| Guy | Except for when my legs went numb from doing seiza. |
| Izumi | Ahaha. There's no opportunity to do seiza on the Kingdom of Zahra after all, so it can't be helped. |
| Guy | Let me redeem myself. |
| Instructor | Now, we're going to start the actual battle~ I'll show you an example, so please try to imitate it~ |
| Guy | — |
| Izumi | (Wow—he has a great form. It looks so cool.) |
| (Because he has good posture and training, he looks great even just holding a bamboo sword.) | |
| Instructor | Heh, you've got talent, Onii-san~ Would you like to enroll here? |
| Guy | I'm sorry, but I belong to the Mankai Company. I can't belong anywhere else. |
| Instructor | The Mankai Company Dojo? Is it an overseas dojo? |
| Izumi | Ah, no... |
| (I feel like it won't matter much even if I explain that we're a theater company, though...) | |
| Participant A | Ah—! |
| Participant B | Watch out! The bamboo sword—! |
| Izumi | ?! |
| Guy | —Yah! |
| Instructor | Ohh~ |
| Participant B | Wow! He flicked off the flying bamboo sword with his own! |
| Participant A | I'm sorry! It slipped out of my hand...! |
| Guy | Are you okay, Director? |
| Izumi | Y-yes. Thank you very much. |
| Instructor | As I thought, you really are promising, Onii-san~ |
| Izumi | You really looked like a samurai just now, Guy-san! |
| Guy | I think I'm getting there little by little. |
Menzo
Notes
- ↑ Gozaru (ござる) is commonly known as a more polite way of ending a sentence, but it's also common in historical dramas because it is a bit archaic-sounding.
- ↑ Sasaki Kojirō, often anglicised to Kojirō Sasaki, was a prominent Japanese swordsman widely considered a master of his craft, born in Fukui Prefecture.
- ↑ An upright kneeling position which is traditionally used in Japan in meditation and as part of the preparation in martial arts.
