Last Samurai Standing (2025) s01e02 Episode Script

Kotaro. Are you okay?
Can you drink some water?
- Miss Futaba?
- Yes?
Am I going to die?
Don't worry.
My mother is praying to the gods.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
Futaba?
What's the matter?
Mother.
Will cholera really ever end?
Father is already gone,
and the people in town keep dying.
And yet, we're still praying to the gods.
Futaba.
Everything that happens in this world
is arranged by the gods.
That is why all we can do is pray.
As long as we keep praying,
the gods will protect us
from any war or plague.
Let us have faith.
Shall we prepare dinner?
Okay.
Mother?
Mother!
Mother!
What's wrong, Kokushu?
It's not you I want!
Let's go!
Over here!
Go, Futaba! Go!
Go!
Draw your sword.
You're done babysitting, right?
Oh, come on.
Are you bullshitting me?
Have you turned into a gutless bastard,
Kokushu the Manslayer?
How have you been living since then?
Those government bastards are selfish.
They told us to fight and kill.
But when they no longer need us,
they tell us to abandon our swords.
That's why I'm grateful to the one
who came up with this game.
I can go back to the way I was back then.
We shouldn't hesitate to do so.
Come on.
Draw your sword!
Much better.
There's Kokushu the Manslayer.
What's wrong, Kokushu?
That's better.
What the hell are you doing?
Shujiro!
We're not done yet!
Sir Saga, what happened to you?
Come, get inside.
Please rest.
Thank you for helping us.
Not at all.
Let me know whatever you need.
What you have done for me
is much more than I could ever repay.
That was a long time ago.
Well, then. I'll excuse myself.
Still sharp.
You saved me back there.
Thank you.
Thank you for saving me as well.
I'll take you as far as
the Tokaido Road in the morning.
You take your wooden tag off and run.
It's against the rules.
Your life is more important than rules.
I won't stop.
Don't you get it?
A child cannot survive.
But I can't afford to run away.
If I run, there are lives I cannot save.
Cholera?
Who's there?
Calm down.
I have no intention of fighting you.
Why are you here?
Why don't we talk face-to-face?
I'll enter with my hands up,
so don't start slashing at me, okay?
Did you miss me?
What do you want?
Put your sword down first, will you?
If I wanted to kill you,
I wouldn't come through the front.
Come on. You too, miss.
You're so stubborn,
Kokushu the Manslayer.
How do you know that name?
Never mind how I know.
What's more important
is why I came here, isn't it?
You see, I'm here with
an incredibly good deal for you today.
What is it?
I want you to form an alliance with me.
An alliance?
What's your intention?
Don't you think this "Kodoku" game
seems rather suspicious?
What do they gain by making
skilled fighters kill each other?
Why do they make us travel to Tokyo?
Do they really intend
to reward someone with 100,000 yen?
Who is behind it all?
I'm sure you are curious too.
The other participants
said that the government officials
might be using it as a way
to seize the swords.
If that was all,
they could have killed us at the temple.
They wouldn't need
to bother with all this.
That's true.
I heard that the survivors
of the old shogunate forces
are gathering skilled warriors
for revenge.
There's also a rumor that foreigners
are trying to incite a civil war
to crush Japan.
But none of these rumors
have been verified.
We don't know
what the organizer is scheming.
Or what they'll be launching
at us going forward.
What we do know
is that whoever's pulling the strings
has serious power.
That's why joining forces
would enable us
to gather more information.
If we can find out who they are,
we'll get closer to the 100,000 yen.
So? Feel a little more
like listening now?
Will this mess be taken care of?
I hope there's no problem.
It'll be back to normal by morning.
No one will notice anything.
And? How many are there remaining?
One hundred and twenty-eight participants
have passed through the gate.
That's more than I had estimated.
True to form, the samurai
are stubborn to the last breath.
Still, the stench of blood
is overwhelming, don't you think?
The organizer will join you all later.
Until then, please relax
and enjoy the estate at your leisure.
After leaving Tenryuji Temple,
we pass through Seki in Ise Province,
Chiryu, Hamamatsu, Shimada,
Hakone, and Shinagawa.
I calculated the number
of wooden tags needed to pass
against the number of participants.
There are 292 participants.
And the number of tags required
to pass the final checkpoint,
Shinagawa, is 30.
Which means?
It's possible for more than one person
to reach Tokyo.
That's right.
A maximum of nine people can reach Tokyo.
The 100,000 yen may be divided
among those nine people,
or perhaps they will be
ordered to do something more.
We don't know the organizer's goal.
That being said,
if nine people can make it to the end,
there's no issue with the three of us
teaming up and heading for Tokyo.
So? Not a bad idea, is it?
Why us?
You are different
from the other participants.
Besides, as long as
this little miss is with you,
you won't betray me, will you?
You mean that if I betray you,
you intend to kill her?
That's correct.
She's a hostage, so to speak.
Although, a time may come when
you'll have to kill this little miss.
Well, take your time.
There's an inn called Uzuya in Yokkaichi.
If you're willing to form an alliance,
come to that inn on the third evening.
Oh.
One piece of advice.
It's not that you cannot kill.
You simply choose not to.
A manslayer is a manslayer for life.
You are still a killer, Kokushu Saga.
I'll see you again.
Wait.
Tell me one thing.
Why did you join Kodoku?
Well, I wonder.
Maybe I just wanted to see it for myself.
The end of the samurai.
I'll be expecting good news.
Get some rest.
Mother. Have some water.
Futaba
I'm sorry.
I'll take care of everything.
Please.
Please.
Please. I only need a little.
Please save the children.
No one in this town has any money left.
No one's gonna believe this stuff, right?
No chance.
What's this? You want money?
Yes.
Take it.
I can't deal with this crap.
HOKOKU NEWSPAPER
PARTICIPANTS WANTED
You! Begging is prohibited.
Hey!
Miss Futaba.
I feel sick.
It'll be okay.
The gods are protecting you.
Keep fighting.
Kotaro?
Kotaro!
A ritual dance?
Yes.
What were you praying for?
For everyone to fulfill their lives
and ascend happily to heaven.
My mother taught me.
She took care of children
who had lost their parents.
But now,
she is bedridden with cholera.
The villagers left behind
are also suffering
from cholera and poverty.
Shujiro.
I need money.
But I'm weak.
I cannot stay alive by myself.
So I'm begging you.
Will you please take me with you?
I'll do whatever it takes.
Even if later it means
you have no choice but to kill me.
I want to do everything I can
until the very end.
Please, I beg of you.
I also have family I want to save.
We will survive this, Futaba.
Yes.
I appreciate your help.
Here. Take these with you.
That sword of yours
carved a way into a new era.
Thanks to you, townsfolk like us
have been able to live in peace.
I can't thank you enough for that.
But the times have changed.
Please.
Thank you for everything.
I wish you both luck with your swords.
HOME MINISTRY, TOKYO
Enter.
Sorry for keeping you waiting.
Kawaji. Take a seat.
Home Minister.
What is this matter of concern?
Here.
HOKOKU NEWSPAPER
PARTICIPANTS WANTED
We seized this in Tokyo recently.
I'm aware of this.
I was going to investigate it
a little more before reporting it to you.
One hundred thousand yen
is an enormous sum of money.
Yes.
Last night, we confirmed
many shizoku wielding weapons had
assembled at Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto.
We're still unable to get in touch with
Jinbe Ando, who infiltrated the event.
Are the shizoku scheming a rebellion?
We don't know their goal yet.
However, the shizoku,
doomed remnants of the samurai,
have started something in Kyoto.
Behind them is someone
with enough financial power
to distribute a fake newspaper
throughout the country.
Those are the facts.
We don't know what may happen
if funds gather under the shizoku
dissatisfied with the new government.
We must launch
an investigation immediately.
Maejima, the shizoku are like
tigers without fangs now.
- We need not be afraid
- We must not underestimate them.
Just how much damage do you think
we suffered in the civil war last year?
Our nation has just been reborn.
Should there be another civil war now,
it will diminish our nation's strength,
and we will be swallowed by the West.
Kawaji.
Contact the Police Bureau to investigate.
Find out who is behind this
and what their purpose is.
- I want every detail.
- Yes, sir.
Didn't you hear me?
I asked if you saw a samurai
with a little brat passing this way.
Useless.
Please, have mercy. I beg you!
Have mercy.
Brute!
Don't attack non-participants.
Who the hell are you?
Ukyo Kikuomi.
Yeah?
So you're the famous
Guardian God of the Court Nobles.
Hurry and leave now.
I've heard rumors about you.
What a pitiful creature.
Serving your master so well
only to get ditched so easily.
That means you and I are the same.
Silence.
Don't count me
among the vile breed you belong to.
Let's play.
Enough of your squirming about,
you twitchy bastard.
What's wrong? Is that all you can do?
Are we done here?
I don't have the time
to fight someone like you.
Mr. Ukyo! You cannot see Lord Kazanin!
Mr. Ukyo!
Lord Kazanin.
What do you mean
by abandoning the Kikuomi family?
I'm eating.
We, the Kikuomi family,
have risked our lives many times
to save you court nobles.
This is how you repay us?
The samurai who have been stripped
of their swords have no use now.
The government took away
your property too, didn't they?
If you bow your head, I might
consider hiring you as my servant.
You insolent bastard.
Don't move!
Put your hands down!
Hurry up and take him away!
Don't touch me!
I'll leave on my own.
He should know his place.
My Lord, we cannot go on any longer.
We have sold off everything we can.
All we have left is this.
We've been deprived
of our purpose to live.
Now our country
asks us to sell our pride as well?
We have endured long enough.
In order to protect our honor,
we have no choice but to commit seppuku.
I understand well
what you have in your hearts.
The Kikuomi family
shall be restored by my hand at any cost.
My Lord.
You survived too.
I have a favor to ask.
Don't come any closer.
What?
No, wait! We don't want to fight anymore!
We're going to abandon Kodoku!
We just want you to join us!
What are you saying?
We were tricked into this. Weren't we?
Yeah! That's right! We've been tricked!
Some of the participants
are as strong as monsters.
All the wooden tags
we grabbed were taken away!
The 100,000 yen is all a lie!
So, please. Join us.
I'm begging you.
Please, join us.
You can't drop out
once you've joined the game.
You'll be killed if you break the rules.
No.
Even for them,
it would be impossible
to attack so many of us.
Wouldn't it?
Why do we all have to kill each other?
Just for this?
All I wanted was some money.
I only wanted to feed
my children enough food!
Don't do it. Stop.
They're watching us.
I want to go home.
Don't. Don't take it off.
Don't do it. Don't do it! Stop!
It's over.
Are we done here?
Don't take it off.
- Home I want to go home.
- Don't.
Wait. Don't take it off! Wait!
Don't!
It's okay.
It's safe. Come on, take yours off too!
Wait. Wait!
- If you
- Stop. Wait!
Take yours off too
Why?
It's so cruel.
"Anyone who takes off their own
wooden tag will be punished accordingly."
Is it clear to you now?
To hell with you.
What makes you think you're superior?
You think you can do anything
to the samurai
because we are useless now?
What's wrong with you?
Mr. Sakura, sir.
What should we do?
Report to the organizer.
Understood.
Kokushu the Manslayer has awakened.
This
is who I used to be.
What?
All I knew was how to kill people.
That wasn't enough.
Not enough at all.
There you go.
117 REMAINING
Subtitle translation by: Daisy Savage