| Musashi | “If they’re targeting Tojiro, it could be due to a dispute over the rights to the house. Do you happen to know anything about that?” |
| Kojiro | “The second son is doing his apprenticeship at a different store, but they are not in bad terms. It’s hard to think that he would target Tojiro.” |
| Musashi | “In that case, it’s a love affair, huh. Are there any other fellows in love with Orin?” |
| Kojiro | “She used to be a popular geisha who was in great demand. Although she’s retired now, many are drawn to her charm.” |
| Musashi | “Enough that it would drive them to kill Tojiro. It must be a person who’s aware that Orin is wanting to distance herself from Tojiro.” |
| Kojiro | “Which means that the men near Orin-dono are suspicious.” |
| |
| Izumi | (In order to gather information, Musashi and Kojiro head to Orin...) |
| Orin | “Tojiro-sama was——!? Is he safe?” |
| Kojiro | “Fortunately, it only resulted in minor injuries.” |
| Orin | “I see...” |
| Musashi | “It’s highly possible that the one who hired the offender is a man who is in love with you. Can you think of anyone?” |
| Orin | “No, such a person doesn’t come to mind...” |
| Kojiro | “Someone well-informed about the relationship between Orin-dono and the master are especially suspicious.” |
| Orin | “There is no one else besides Musashi-dono.” |
| Musashi | “If they didn’t hear about it from you directly, then they probably investigated it on purpose.” |
| Kojiro | “Are you close to anyone in this area?” |
| Orin | “I wouldn’t say we are close, but I interact with my neighbours who live in the same row house.” |
| Musashi | “Let’s start with the closest one.” |
| Kojiro | “Yeah.” |
| |
| Izumi | (Setting their sights on Heiroku who lives in the row house, the two carry out a plan in order to catch the culprit...) |
| Kojiro | “Using the master as a decoy is...” |
| Musashi | “It’s the quickest way. After all, there is no way they would confess if you question them directly.” |
| Tojiro | “It’s fine by me.” |
| Musashi | “——Look out!” |
| Tojiro | “——gh.” |
| Musashi | “——Hah!” |
| Kojiro | “Haah!” |
| Assassin | “Tch——” |
| Kojiro | “Hold it!” |
| Musashi | “As if I’ll let you escape——!” |
| Assassin | “——gh.” |
| Kojiro | “Don’t kill him.” |
| Musashi | “I’ll try——” |
| “Haah!” |
| Tojiro | “What demon-like, ruthless swordsmanship...” |
| Assassin | “Urgh——” |
| Musashi | “Spit it out. Who hired you?” |
| Assassin | “Like hell I’d tell you.” |
| Musashi | “Then die.” |
| Kojiro | “——Oi, wait!” |
| Musashi | “Make your choice. I don’t mind tossing your corpse into your client’s house. Nevertheless, you’d serve a purpose.” |
| Assassin | “——” |
| Izumi | (Hisoka-san’s fight scenes are sharp. He was completely able to hold his own in his standoff against Musashi.) |
| (On the contrary, Tasuku-san is on fire, and their synergy together brought out bloodlust and tension so terrifying that even the audience can feel it in their seats.) |
| |
| Musashi | “I got your hired assassin to confess. So you’re the one who’s after Tojiro, Heiroku.” |
| Heiroku | “——” |
| “I did it for Orin-san’s sake——!” |
| Tojiro | “Do you really believe that such dirty tactics would make Orin-san happy!?” |
| Heiroku | “——gh.” |
| Musashi | “You were the cause of all this, Tojiro. Settle this yourself. You’re aware of Orin’s feelings, aren’t you?” |
| Tojiro | “...” |
| “Orin-san, will you come with me?” |
| Orin | “Tojiro-sama...” |
| Tojiro | “I will cast aside my family. Please, let us become husband and wife.” |
| Orin | “You mustn’t. Tojiro-sama, someone like yourself mustn’t do such things that would put your life to waste——” |
| Tojiro | “I suppose I’m no good now that I have nothing.” |
| Orin | “That’s—— You know that is not true...” |
| Tojiro | “Orin-san...” |
| Izumi | (In the midst of all the high tension scenes, we have a soothing moment...) |
| (Orin and Tojiro’s exchanges feel so natural. The two of them must have practiced so much...) |
| (At the very beginning, everyone in Winter Troupe was all over the place and they had such different degrees of enthusiasm towards acting; but they’ve truly changed.) |
| (They now devote themselves to acting even if they’re not told to. That’s how much they’ve come to love acting.) |
| (Before I knew it, they’ve been infected with Tasuku-san’s and Tsumugi-san’s obsession with theater.) |
| |
| Orin | “I was in your care; I truly thank the two of you.” |
| Tojiro | “Kojiro, you served me well. I’ll relay the rest to the family head.” |
| Kojiro | “Please take care.” |
| Musashi | “You sure caused a disturbance.” |
| Tojiro | “I have no excuse.” |
| Orin | “Thank you very much.” |
| Musashi | “In the end it’s turned out like this.” |
| Kojiro | “Everything is well as long as they are happy.” |
| Musashi | “...Tomorrow morning at Ganryuu Island. You better not have forgotten.” |
| Kojiro | “What? But, that’s...” |
| Musashi | “Don’t break your promise.” |
| Kojiro | “——” |
| |
| Izumi | (We’re finally at the climax –– the duel scene...) |
| Musashi | “...” |
| Kojiro | “...” |
| Musashi | “...You came.” |
| Kojiro | “Musashi, why do you fight?” |
| Musashi | “To earn a place to die... To be judged as somebody worth dying!” |
| Kojiro | “——gh.” |
| Musashi | “Haah!” |
| Kojiro | “Urgh——” |
| Musashi | “What’s wrong? This can’t be all you’ve got.” |
| Kojiro | “A duel like this is meaningless——” |
| Musashi | “Meaning? There’s a strong guy right in front of me. That is enough meaning for me!” |
| Kojiro | “——Guh. You’re going mad...” |
| Musashi | “I don’t care!” |
| Kojiro | “Haah!” |
| Musashi | “Hah!” |
| Izumi | (You can’t take your eyes off this exchange that’s hanging dangerously between life and death...) |
| (The sense of urgency in this scene is completely different from when we were just starting out. The two of them are really fighting each other with the intent to kill.) |
| (You can really feel their piercing vigour.) |
| Kojiro | “*pant, pant*” |
| Musashi | “*pant, pant*... Exhausted already? I’ll go first then.” |
| Kojiro | “Why are you—— No, words are futile.” |
| Musashi | “That’s right.” |
| Kojiro | “...Here I come.” |
| Musashi | “Haaah!” |
| Kojiro | “Haah!” |
| Musashi | “Ggh——” |
| Kojiro | “Argh——” |
| Musashi | “*pant, pant*... That’s right, this is what I’ve always... Now, Kojiro, once more——” |
| Kojiro | “Urgh... Forgive me. Musashi, in your place of death, I’m... Ugh...” |
| Musashi | “——” |
| “...I thought I’d finally met the one... Kojiro...” |
| “Once again... I’m...” |
| Izumi | (As Kojiro falls to the ground, Musashi stands alone, unable to move...) |
| (Musashi’s sadness –– looking as if he’s at a loss for what to do –– conveys his feelings towards Kojiro.) |
| (Musashi’s grief of being unable to live any way else... It makes your chest ache.) |
| (Sword in hand once more, Musashi’s solitary back disappears into the distance...) |
| |
| Izumi | ... |
| (Musashi, who’s stoically striving to master swordsmanship, and Tasuku-san are a little alike.) |
| (Tasuku-san probably understands how Musashi feels.) |
| |
| Izumi | ——Tasuku-san, are you sure this is for the best? |
| Tasuku | What are you talking about? |
| Izumi | When you were offered to join another troupe... That was a very appealing offer for you. |
| I’m happy that you’re staying, but I was wondering if you were really okay with that. |
| Tasuku | I’ve already set my heart regarding that. |
| Izumi | I see... |
| Tasuku | ...But it’s possible that something like this may happen again in the future. |
| I don’t know what kind of conclusion I’ll reach when that time comes. |
| Whether I want to keep standing on stage, or if I want to dive into the film industry... Someday I may choose a different path. |
| I haven’t decided where I’ll die as an actor. |
| Izumi | ... |
| Tasuku | But right now I have things I want to do in Mankai Company, and I want to act together with everyone. |
| This might be selfish of me, but I want you to let me stay here. |
| Izumi | It’s not selfish at all... I’ve understood Tasuku-san’s feelings. |
| Once again, I look forward to working with you! |
| |
| Tasuku | ... |
| Homare | Tasuku-kun, are you perhaps back to normal? |
| Tasuku | ——Stop poking me. |
| Guy | It seems that he’s back. |
| Homare | Good grief, you get into character far too much. |
| Izumi | Good work everyone! It was a huge success! |
| Tsumugi | I was wondering what would happen, but I’m glad we made it to the real performance. |
| Azuma | We should have a big celebration to make up for all that hard work recently. |
| Izumi | We should! |
| Homare | I wonder which establishment would be good. |
| Hisoka | ...Tasuku’s house. |
| Tasuku | Why did it come to that? |
| Homare | I see. That’s a brilliant idea! |
| Azuma | Fufu, so we’re all visiting Tasuku’s house. Sounds fun. |
| Tsumugi | I’ll ask Fuyuki-kun. |
| Tasuku | Geez. Why are we celebrating in the first place? It’s only the first day. |
| I’m not satisfied with our execution today, okay. We’ll make it even better until the final performance. |
| Homare | Good grief. Our leader this time is truly a strict one. |
| Guy | It’s Takato, after all. |
| Izumi | He’s very persuasive. |
| |
| Reni | ... |
| Yuzo | ...Ohh, there’s an unusual guest. |
| Reni | ...I’ve been found by a noisy one. |
| Yuzo | What kind of circumstances brought you here? |
| Reni | The co-lead sent me a ticket, so I thought I’d come here to laugh at their shabby performance. |
| Yuzo | Ohh. Guy did, huh... |
| The reborn Winter Troupe has been brought up splendidly. Their acting still has room for growth, and at times they put on great acts that won’t lose to the first generation Winter Troupe. |
| Don’t you think so too? |
| Reni | ...They’re chicks. They have a long way to go. |
| Yuzo | Geez, you’re a sore loser as always. |
| ...If it were that person –– if it was Yukio-san, I wonder what he’d say. |
| Reni | ...How should I know. Do not mention that guy’s name in front of me, Kashima. |
| Yuzo | ... |
