Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nine--Arrival in Kyoto
Part 75--Search for a Reverse Blade
On the second day in Kyoto
Misao: Wake up, Himura! It's morning! Oh, you're already up. I thought I'd get to see what you look like half-asleep.
Kenshin: Oro? Miss Misao, your clothes!
(Misao is dressed in quieter shirt and shorts.)
Misao: Normal clothes for Kyoto. Walking around my home ground in battle dress is a little weird even for me.
Okina: If you're ready, let's go, Himura.
Kenshin: Oro?
Okina: Kyoto has changed a lot in the ten years you've been gone. Today I thought I'd show you around. How about lunch
at the sukiyaki place, the Shirobeko?
Misao: Cool! (I've been wanting to eat there.)
Kenshin: Wait a minute, Mr. Okina! I can't walk around Kyoto in broad daylight. Sometime, somewhere one of Shishio's
men will notice me and--
Okina: What? No matter how you run and hide, Shishio will find you.
Kenshin: But--
Okina: Himura, you're fighting Shishio for the people of this country. So stand up straight for all to see! That's the
way of the honest man!
(Kenshin looks shocked; Okina strides on ahead, laughing.)
Misao (whispering): That's all he'll say, but in the old days Gramps was so good he was going to be made the new Okashira.
But he said, "Now is the time for the young," and recommended Lord Aoshi, giving himself the minor role of agent in Kyoto.
Now he's just a worn-out old man, but--
Okina: Oh yes, the people you asked me to look for. The search began yesterday.
Misao: Search? Who for?
Kenshin: It's no one you know.
Misao (attacking): Why are you always like this!!
Kuro: Okina. (handing him a folded piece of paper) Here.
(Okina unfolds and studies the letter)
Okina: Sorry, Misao, we'll have to do the Shirobeko another time. Himura. We've found one of them. Well, more
accurately, we found out about his death. The swordsmith who made the reverse blade, Arai Shakkuu, left this world eight
years ago.
Misao: A swordsmith? Oh, I see. To replace the broken reverse blade, . . . But if he's already dead, there's never going to
be another--
(Meanwhile)
*In the end, they spent the night at an inn.
Kaoru: Here. Tae's home, the Shirobeko. Must be the sister store of the Akabeko in Tokyo. (opening the door) Excuse
me--
Sae: Welcome!
Kaoru: Ta--Tae?? (What are you doing in Kyoto?)
Sae: Tae? Oh, I see. You must be the two from Tokyo. I'm Tae's twin sister, Sekihara Sae. Pleased to meet you.
Tae told me all about you in her letter. It sounds terrible, everything you went through. But now everyone at the Shirobeko will
do all that we possibly can for you. So don't worry.
Kaoru (smiling): Okay.
Yahiko (thinking): Now we just have to find Kenshin before Shishio or Aoshi does. Hang on, Kenshin!
Okina: Arai Shakkuu. At the time of the Bakumatsu he had a name among the Ishin Shishi as the finest of swordsmiths.
Because in his work he dedicated himself to the pursuit of the "sword that kills" not the "sword that cuts," he was
considered something of a heretic in the world of sword-making.
Misao: A swordsmith who tried to make the sword that kills made the unkilling reverse blade? I don't get it.
Okina: A man's life may sometimes contain many contradictions. Right, Himura?
(Kenshin says nothing.)
Okina: According to my sources, Shakkuu passed down all his secrets to his son. There were hopes for him as the
next great swordsmith, but in the Meiji era there were few orders for swords; a swordsmith could barely survive. Now it
seems he makes his living making knives, scythes and other everyday tools.
Misao: Shakkuu's son, Arai Seikuu. Maybe he can make a new reverse blade . . .!
(They approach a house on the outskirts of town.)
Kenshin: Excuse us--
(An incredibly cute baby sits behind a display of kitchen knives. Kenshin, Okina & Misao show deep shock.)
Kenshin (pointing): Seikuu?
Okina: Well?
Baby (holding out his hands): Anfake, anfake.
Misao (translating): Handshake!
Kenshin: Oh, a handshake? Okay, okay.
Baby (happily): Fuah.
Azusa (coming out of the house): Don't play with those, Iori. (noticing Kenshin) Welcome, sir. Were you looking for
something?
Kenshin: Actually, I wanted a kitchen knife.
Okina: Himura?
Kenshin (ignoring him): Do you mind if I try it out?
Azusa: Not at all.
(Kenshin pulls an enormous daikon out of his kimono. He slices it, then carefully matches up the halves. No seam
can be seen.)
Okina: This is the first time I've seen the "return cut." Nothing has been crushed along the line of the cut, so it can
be put back together exactly as it was. When a fine blade and the arm of a master come together for the first time, a
test cut could be of this quality, but that it could be done with a mere kitchen knife shows the skill of Shakkuu's son.
Misao: Wow! Then this is it! Arai Seikuu can make a new reverse blade!
Kenshin: Ma'am, could I speak with Mr. Seikuu? I want him to make a sword for me.
Azusa: Well, I . . .
Seikuu (coming around from the back): Excuse me . . .
Azusa: Dear.
Seikuu: I'm Arai Seikuu.
Misao: You're Seikuu? You don't look like I thought you would.
Seikuu: I get that a lot, actually. (to Kenshin) I overheard your conversation. You need a sword? (bowing) I'm sorry,
but I no longer make swords. I cannot fulfill your request.
Misao (boiling over): WHAT???
Seikuu: I'm sorry.
Okina (restraining Misao): Why on earth not?
Seikuu: People who come to me with requests for swords know about my father Shakkuu's quest for the "sword that kills."
He used to tell me, "The swords I make will bring in a new era." But I didn't accept my father's beliefs. The swords
he shaped with those beliefs stole many lives. What does killing have to do with bringing in a new era? I wasn't convinced.
During those times of violence there was nothing I could do. But it's the Meiji era now. Finally the age of peace has
come. The samurai have thrown away their swords. So I too will throw away the art of swordmaking. I've decided to
earn my living making the tools of everyday life.
Okina: I see. So you're a pacifist in principle, in complete opposition to your father.
Seikuu: Well, I don't know about principles, but I love peace. As would anyone.
Misao: Weak! You're weak! That's not true! There are people in this world who would--
Kenshin (muffling her): I understand, Mr. Seikuu. I'm sorry to have brought you a futile request. Thank you for your time.
(They leave; Iori waves goodbye.)
Misao: That's it? Himura!
Kenshin: Mr. Seikuu desires peace with his whole heart. Even a reverse blade that cannot kill is an instrument of war.
I couldn't bear for him to make such a thing. The search for a reverse blade will have to begin again.
Azusa: That swordsman . . . I wonder why he came all this way. You didn't think that perhaps you could give him your
father's last sword--
Seikuu: No, that's all right. In this Meiji peace, no one needs swords.
(Two men pass each other on the road.)
Man: Tell Lord Shishio immediately Battousai has been sighted.
Man: Roger.
Arrival in Kyoto--End
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 5 august 1999