Episode 3: The Entertainer

April 1, 2006

At the inn, Kirara arrives with Kambei. Rikichi asks about Katsushiro, and Kambei says this will be a good chance to re-evaluate himself. Katsushiro wakes up to see Kiku defeat the last of the men. Kiku's body starts to malfunction, and the blacksmith, Masamune, happens along to pick him up. Kiku gripes about his body breaking down again, and Masamune tells him to take more care of it. Retrieving Kiku's arm, Katsushiro leaves with them. In the magistrate's palace, Ukyo whines to his father, Ayamaro, that samurai tried to kill him. He gets up and shoots a mechanical guard, saying that he dislikes all mechanical samurai, and he will kill the one that attacked him. Katsushiro walks in disdain, looking at Kirara's pendant, with Kiku and Masamune. A street performer gets his attention and makes a wager. The performer, Katayama Gorobei, asks Katsushiro to shoot an arrow at his head and if he grabs catches it, Katsushiro has to buy him lunch. Katsushiro shoots the arrow, and Gorobei catches it right as it touches his head. Ayamaro instructs Ukyo's guard to kill the machine samurai and his accomplice, as well as the peasants. At the inn, Katsushiro walks in and sees Kambei and Kirara, safe. Kiku sees Kambei and starts arguing with him, and Kambei tells him to never lose his fighting sprit. Katsushiro thanks Kambei for saving the princess and begs Kirara for forgiveness for not being able to protect her. Kiku listening while being repaired, Katsushiro says that Kambei was right that he would not be able to protect the village from the bandits. Kiku bursts through the wall and starts to yell at Kambei for not helping the farmers. He swings his blade at Kambei, but he catches it with his hands. Kambei agrees to help the farmers, saying he will not let their treasured rice go to waste.

Masamune fixes Kiku, putting him in a better mood. Kambei looks at a map of Kanna Village and looks at ways to defend it. Katsushiro suggests giving farmers weapons and teaching them how to fight, but Kambei tells him how it is harder to defend than attack. Katsushiro and Kiku start arguing, and Komachi calms them down saying that they will need to get along better if they are going to work together. Kambei says that they will not go with them, saying he needs real samurai. Estimating the bandits main force, he estimates he needs seven samurai, including himself. Kirara proposes they start looking, but Rikichi and Komachi say she needs to remain safe and stay there. Kambei asks if she will be careful, and he allows her to go. Masamune suggests the samurai they met earlier, and goes to find him. Returning with Gorobei, Masamune leads him to the inn. Kambei tells Katsushiro to strike the samurai with a stick when he walks through the door. Stopping at the entrance, Gorobei sees through the attack. Kambei explains the terms of the fight, and Gorobei accepts, saying he wants to be on the battlefield with Kambei. Sensing an attack, Gorobei jumps up and catches an arrow before it reaches Kambei. The attackers fire two more shots and Kambei jumps up and slices them in two. Kiku, Gorobei, and Kambei go out side, and the attackers attack. Gorobei jumps at one while the other shoots three shots at him. He dodges two and catches the third. Saying that they are on a payroll, Masamune comments that they caught Ayamaro's attention. Gorobei then proposes a wager with the two attackers.

Well, episode three comes to a close. It seems that they won't be making it out of the city without a fight. The second samurai has been found, and he seems an odd but skilled character. Kambei, being the first samurai, has also agreed to be on the team. Acting as the captain, I think it will end up being him who does most of the work in the upcoming episodes. Katsushiro seems to be a little down about not protecting Kirara, and he seems to take being a samurai very seriously. Kiku is still here, though technically not on the team of samurai. From what I've heard, the city escape arc was created for this series and not in the original movie. It will be interesting to see how it fans out.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Buy the regular DVD or the LE DVD (eps 1-4) from Right Stuf/DVD Empire

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