#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 14: False Reconciliations

<= Episode 13 | Index | Episode 15 =>

People, Places, Things Introduced and Updated

• Kotoyo Tanokura: Shuusaku's wife and Miyuki's mother. Bedridden.

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Okay, the obvious question: who is the stalker?

• Q2: George is once again an outsider, and the entire town (except Miyuki and Araiguma) wants him gone. Even Master and Sanae. Back to square one. What can he accomplish, here?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

[ep 15 Q1:] >!What exactly is Rin trying to say to Tanokura?!<

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 13: The Man Who Returned

<= Episode 12 | Index | Episode 14 =>

• Rin Shirogane: Released from prison after serving 3 years for a bar-fight killing. Likes guns.

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Who is Rin? Is he a pyschopath? Is he the actual boss of Ginzame? Is he the smart one, or the one t0o dangerous to leave unleashed?
• Q2: How is the return of Rin going to affect the town?
• Q3: Cage deathmatch: George vs. Rin, who wins?
• Q4: Comment on Rin's choice of a revolver instead of a semi-automatic like everybody else?

Tomorrow's Questions, Today!

• [ep 14 Q1:] >!Okay, the obvious question: who is the stalker?!<
• [ep 14 Q2:] >!George is once again an outsider, and the entire town (except Miyuki and Araiguma) want him gone. Even Master and Sanae. Back to square one. What can he accomplish, here?!<

Comment Highlights

Everybody who dug into the revolver / pistol mistranslation back in episode 3. We definitely in revolver territory, now.

More questions and comments to come!

Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 12: The Echo

<= Episode 11 | Index | Episode 13 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: CINE--oops.

This effect was actually tried out a few episodes earlier for George's flashback to the rail crossing in snow, but I like it better, here. Araiguma's memory was more traumatic than George's. And the effect much developed, here.

People, Places, Things Introduced and Updated

• Araiguma (Raccoon): witnessed the train car heist as a child

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: What are your revised theories on the train robbery?
• Q2: Is Araiguma the hero of the day?
• Q3: Thoughts on the use of guns in this episode? And our foray into a more typical action episode?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 13 Q1:] >!Who is Rin? Is he a pyschopath? Is he the actual boss of Ginzame? Is he the smart one, or the one to dangerous to leave unleashed?!<
• [ep 13 Q2:] >!How is the return of Rin going to affect the town?!<
• [ep 13 Q3:] >!Cage deathmatch: George vs. Rin, who wins?!<
• [ep 13 Q4:] >!Comment on Rin's choice of a revolver instead of a semi-automatic like everybody else?!<

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 11: Lurking in the Gloom

<= Episode 10 | Index | Episode 12 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Date Spot

#People, Places, Things Introduced and Updated

• "Junior": implied to be Ohkawa's son, now entering politics
• Kinbara: implied to be the senior officer in charge of meeting WAMU 93125 in Aomori

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: How unseemly is it for a woman to be hunting?
• Q2: Do you think George is actually the reporter?
• Q3: Who is sitting on the gold and not spending it?
• Q4: Do you ship George and Sanae?

Tomorrow's Questions, Today!

• [ep 12 Q1:] >!What are your revised theories on the train robbery?!<
• [ep 12 Q2:] >!Is Araiguma the hero of the day?!<
• [ep 12 Q3:] >!Thoughts on the use of guns in this episode? And our foray into a more typical action episode?!<

##Comment Highlights

FD4cry1 gets the comment of the rewatch because I'm a dum-dum:

> The fish is, I guess, George?

The Fish Is George. He's being defrosted. Time will resume for him! His flavor, and the flavor of the town, will change!

George not beating the Spike comparisons with this observation from salic428:

> But I'm with Miyuki here, this is a bad thing. George is good at combat, but he is so dense (solemn?) to enjoy life. I sincerely wish he can open up and move on, instead of becoming a mindless hired fixer.

SIRTreeHugger and Dull_Spot_8213 reply to the QOTD about George's lost sense of time:

> Probably lost it in a filler episode.

&nbsp;

> He left it in the last town and has still not managed to recover it. My sense of time was also drifting away during this episode.

We also can now look back on watcher theories from earlier episodes.

uhhhhhhhokay_ and FD4cry1 on Kinbara in episode 5

> There’s also the investigator looking into the missing train car (who I thought was some kind of hitman at first

&nbsp; > Last episode, Kinbara said "We" when talking about how the train cars were counted at Aomori, so I wonder if his rather specifically extensive knowledge about the incident is because he himself was part of this I Agency, or at least closely related to the plan, rather than just being interested in it as an "incident hidden by higher powers."

No_Rex caught the Police Chief mentioning issues beyond Kimujuku if he messed with Ginzame back in episode 2!

Honorable mentions go to everybody who think the train gold is hidden in the mine; that's what Ginzame thinks, too. Honorable mentions go to everybody who thought Tanokura was spending the gold to help the town; but there's no evidence that anybody has tried to convert it to cash.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 10: Red Dreams, White Memories

<= Episode 9 | Index | Episode 11 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Cinema

##Places, People, Things Updated and Introduced

• Rin Shirogane: The third Shirogane brother

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: What happened to George's sense of time?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 11 Q1:] >!How unseemly is it for a woman to be hunting?!<
• [ep 11 Q2:] >!Do you think George is actually the reporter?!<
• [ep 11 Q3:] >!Who is sitting on the gold and not spending it?!<
• [ep 11 Q4:] >!Do you ship George and Sanae?!<

Comment Highlights

Malipit says:

> Welp, we're in a stretch of self-contained episodes it seems. As if Georges forgotten why he came to Kimujuku in the first place #kumikouninterested

It sure does. Maybe he really is a bum and he likes freeloading at the Araki Hotel with the hot proprietor.

And also:

> The only good thing here is Raccoon asking if George is gay. Opening up a true possibility for a George/Raccoon ship.

SpiritualPossible is back with:

> ...And why Jean Reno is the priest?

And Malipit comes back with:

> Because it was supposed to be a Leon sequel. With the nun being the girl having grown up #hikariactually

I can see it.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 9: The 15 Year Truth

<= Episode 8 | Index | Episode 10 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Confession

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Was this episode pure filler?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 10 Q1:] >!What happened to George's sense of time?!<

Comment Highlight

Magnafeana envisions a Kaze no Yojimbo in the more typical style of mystery shows:

> Both episodes felt disconnected, but not in a negative sense. Honestly, I’d be fine with the whole series being George taking on various side quests that are seemingly disconnected but we intersperse the overarching plot. I feel like mystery anime like this do better with a good chunk of “mystery of the week” episodes.

and then slips into Suess:

> Would you gamble on a plane? Would you gamble on a train? Would you gamble against the house? Would you gamble with a mouse?

Malipit hoped for some racing:

> A huge gathering at night with a lot of car ? Are we going to have a street racing episode with some eurobeat soundtrack ?

Fansi2022 notes that the authorities could simply deploy the natural enemy of trains to effect a raid:

> What’s funny is that if you just throw a bicycle onto the tracks, it would trap them completely — like catching a turtle in a box.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 8: The Casino Train

<= Episode 7 | Index | Episode 9 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: The trump card

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Did you ever imagine a casino on a train? Even after you saw the episode title, did you believe they would have an actual casino on an actual train?
• Q2: Was this episode pure filler?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

[ep 9 Q1] >!Was this episode pure filler?!<

Comment Highlight

Xbolt90 notes that ruins in Japan need to meet minimum standards:

> Dang, how come all these hundreds of years old structures always start collapsing in on themselves whenever somebody shoots a random pillar? If it's been here this long, no way it's that rickety. Earthquakes happen, y'know?

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 7: The Legend of the Demon

<= Episode 6 | Index | Episode 8 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: It's a lunar miracle

##People, Places, Things Introduced and Updated

• Kimujuku: "A place without demons"

Discussion Prompts

• What do you think about this idea of a secret colony of giant round eyed blue eyed Europeans living as oni in the mountains of Japan? And all the Araki are their descendants?
• Was this episode pure filler?
• Is Araiguma the hero of the day?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 8 Q1:] >!Did you ever imagine a casino on a train? Even after you saw the episode title, did you believe they would have an actual casino on an actual train?!<
• [ep 8 Q2:] >!Was this episode pure filler?!<

Comment Highlights

We had a lot of exposition revealing the central mystery of the series, which naturally spawned a lot of speculation both over what happened to the "money car," and how everybody relates to it and each other.

Malipit thinks outside the box:

> Why bother to steal one train car ? Why not stealing the whole train ? Is there a possibility they intercepted the train with the cargo and send another identical one.

LeminAsua goes out on a limb:

> I have a two theories: 1) the whole situation was probably pretty complicated, and 2) we'll likely find out the truth throughout the course of the show.

Malipit also speculates that the town has hidden a treasure...under the city! How...how did they know?

> Malipit: By having a whole secret organization on my payroll so they could detach that train car during the 30 minutes stop. And take it on a secret railway underneath the city. [](#hikariactually

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 6: The Gate Wouldn't Rise

<= Episode 5 | Index | Episode 7 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: The Real Triangle Rivals

##People, Places, Things Introduced or Updated

• Taizo Ohkawa: former Prime Minister who died in the midst of a bribery scandal and investigation
• "I" Organization aka Division 9: a group within the JSDF sympathetic to Ohkawa and helped conceal his assets
• Genzo Araki: Engineer on the train pulling WAMU 93125
• WAMU 93125: A train car allegedly containing Ohkawa's money converted to gold, went missing from the train

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: The last two episodes interleaved investigation and exposition. Would you rather a single full episode of each? Or less exposition overall? How would you have substituted?
• Q2: Assuming Kinbara's story is true, how would you steal a train car full of gold?
• Q3: Favorite train robbery?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 7 Q1:] >!What do you think about this idea of a secret colony of giant round eyed blue eyed Europeans living as oni in the mountains of Japan? And all the Araki are their descendants?!<
• [ep 7 Q2:] >!Was this episode pure filler?!<
• [ep 7 Q3:] >!Is Araiguma the hero of the day?!<

Comment Highlight

Today is our first comment from the past, where Malipit predicts today's screenshot of the day back in episode 4:

> If Kaze no Yojimbo was a visual novel, there would be a Raccoon route. And it would be hilarious.

&nbsp; > I'll be honest, Raccoon falling for Georges is one of the biggest plot twist in all of anime

Yesterday Tanokura showed his darker side. Mailipit and FD4cry1 comment:

> All that matters is that Tanokura is portrayed as an actual crime boss. Scheming with the police and punishing anyone who dare to defy him. Rather than a lovable dad that want a good bodyguard for his daughter.

&nbsp; > Speaking of, the Tanokura parts are split between that and him getting some payback on that driver, and as before, I think the latter does a nice job of characterizing how Tanokura operates as a criminal. Namely, that he's hardly afraid to get violent and dirty if needed, but unlike the Ginzame faction, he cares a lot about maintaining an outwardly cleaner image

LeminAsua thinks Kinbara is narrating unreliably:

> One really fascinating thing about the way this story is told is that all of the words comes from Kinbara telling this story to Tanokura, but what's scene in the animation often shows a black-and-white flashback of what was happening at the time of the story. And most notably, there are some discrepancies between what is shown and what is talked about.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 5: The Pursuit

<= Episode 4 | Index | Episode 6 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: A family of devils

Places, People, Things Updated and Introduced

• Tomoyuki Kinbara: A cold-case investigator of cover-ups

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: How do you lose a train car?
• Q2: What could be the significance of nail polish remover?
• Q3: Where is this investigation into Kiuchi and Sanae leading? Is it misdirection?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 6 Q1:] >!The last two episodes interleaved investigation and exposition. Would you rather a single full episode of each? Or less exposition overall? How would you have substituted?!<
• [ep 6 Q2:] >!Assuming Kinbara's story is true, how would you steal a train car full of gold?!<
• [ep 6 Q3:] >!Favorite train robbery?!<

Comment Highlights

Many of you commented on the renewed experimental visuals (and also Sanae's LSD flashback). FD4cry, and also uhhhhhhhokay_ both get a hat tip for pointing out that this episode was directed by Yutaka Yamamoto and storyboarded by Yashuiro Takemoto, who both went on work on KyoAni stuff (until Yutaka was fired!):

> Somewhat worth noting is that this episode had the late Yasuhiro Takemoto of KyoAni fame on storyboarding (Director of Disappearance, Hyouka, most of Lucky Star, Dragon Maid S1, etc. On episode direction here, we have the somewhat infamous Yutaka Yamamoto, the person Takemoto replaced on Lucky Star.

Many of you were disappointed by the direction of episodes 2 and 3, and TehAxelius notes:

> Yeah, felt this a lot as well, especially in the contrast between this and episode 3. Taking a look at MAL's staff list there are including the overall director 6 people credited with Episode Director. All but one of them also have Storyboard credits. However, going through the list none of them (or the other storyboarders) are credited with episodes 2-3.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 4: Beauty and the Poison

<= Episode 3 | Index | Episode 5 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Marry Me

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: This is a natural pausing point to ask about your opinions of the show so far.
• Q2: What do you think about George taking up a bodyguard job with the Hotel instead of either gang? And what about Miyuki, who is the one who actually needs protecting?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 5 Q1:] >!How do you lose a train car?!<
• [ep 5 Q2:] >!What could be the significance of nail polish remover?!<
• [ep 5 Q3:] >!Where is this investigation into Kiuchi and Sanae leading? Is it misdirection?!<

Comment Highlights

Back in episode 2, several people picked up on some hidden issue between Miyuki and Sanae other than George, thus passing the Bechdel Test in spirit, if not in literal words. E.g. from Malipit:

> Malipit: That pout of Miyuki when she see Sanae can either be a sign of jealousy or some history between them.

We also had a lot of people point out that a semi-automatic is not a revolver. This was very important to a lot of people! TehAxelius summarizes:

> The subs I have (which I believe are the official subs, given that they're bundled with the dub) say .35 caliber revolver, but as the /u/JustAnswerAQuestion mention in their comment the dialgoue says "35 caliber pistol". Since in American gun parlance revolver calibers are commonly denoted in inches and many pistol calibers are denoted in mm, I would assume that this is a translation assumption error, where the translator(s) has assumed that a .35 caliber pistol must be a revolver, and that it would be in .38, a much more common revolver cartridge size and most of which actually are .35 caliber. Notably .35 is also the caliber of 9mm Parabellum, the most common automatic pistol caliber in the world.

The_Draigg invents a word:

> Yojimbodyguard

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 3: The Bodyguard

<= Episode 2 | Index | Episode 4 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Miyuki PUNCHI

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Should George have kept his bodyguard job with Tanokura?
• Q2: What do you think of the depiction of the Ginzame and Tanokura groups?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 4 Q1:] >!This is a natural pausing point to ask about your opinions of the show so far.!<
• [ep 4 Q2:] >!What do you think about George taking up a bodyguard job with the Hotel instead of either gang? And what about Miyuki, who is the one who actually needs protecting?!<

Comment Highlights

I'm going again with LeminaAusa pointing out the significance of Miyuki's nickname:

> One note that I found a bit interesting, given my aforementioned paying attention to names (when I remember anyway), is. that Miyuki chooses to go by "Miyu" as a nickname. This effectively cuts off the "ki" at the end, when "ki" (in the form of the onyomi of the 鬼 kanji, anyway) is related to other names that have been important so far, both Kimujuku the town and Araki the common family name.

Thanks for making up for my atrophied media literacy. FWIW, Miyuki is written with mi (beautiful) and yuki (snow). It's all about the sounds.

ArtiomSnack says:

> Well that's fun, isn't it? Imagine spending just 3 days in town and you are already being shot at.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 2: Snake Swamp

<= Episode 1 | Index | Episode 3 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: Dog Tag

Places, People, Things Updated and Introduced

• Samekichi Shirogane: CEO of Ginzame Industries
• Fukajiro Shirogane: Executive Manager of Ginzame Industries
• Detective Saeki: A detective attached to the main police station.
• Police Chief: Dude doesn't even have a name.

###銀鮫興産

Ginzame Industries is written with the characters shirogane/GIN ("silver") and same/KOU ("shark"). Obviously a combination of Samekichi Shirogane's name. Interestingly, Fukajiro means next-second-son, rather on the nose, but fuka is also the Japanese reading of another kanji meaning "large shark."

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: You think Miyuki is into George? Does she see Sanae as a rival?
• Q2: What do you think of the three police officers we've seen so far? Is Konichi under orders to not get involved? Or is he just working towards retirement?

Tomorrow's Discussion, Today!

• [ep 3 Q1:] >!Should George have kept his bodyguard job with Tanokura?!<
• [ep 3 Q2:] >!What do you think of the depiction of the Ginzame and Tanokura groups?!<

Comment Highlights

As today's episode opens, Master emphasizes that the patrolman is not "from around here." So yesterday's commentary on this from LeminaAusa deserves a mention:

> It'll be interesting to see exactly how the small town aspect of Kimujuku unfolds throughout the course of the story, but one core characteristic about them is abundantly clear here: dislike and distrust of outsiders.

Malipit and FD4cry1 mentioned this as well.

Also a late quip from mischievous_shota:

> The hat says Sherlock but the beatdown says Batman.

Mentions for xbolt90 and Dull_Spot_8213 for an apt comparison to Spike Spiegel.

#Kaze no Yojimbo Rewatch Episode 1: Gone with the Dust

<= Index | Episode 2 =>

##Screenshot of the Day: DIVX

Places, People, Things Updated and Introduced

• George (Joji) Kodama: a drifter who rolls into town looking for a man.
• Genzo Araki: ??? drove a train 15 years ago, probably an old man now.
• Araiguma (Raccoon, Arai Kumakichi): lead tough of the Ginzame gang.
• Tonbo's Master: Someone who has been in Kimujuku for a long time. His ramen shop is neutral territory.
• Sanae Araki: Widow who adopted her husband's name and operates a large and empty hotel
• Shuusaku Tanokura: A boss of the town
• Miyuki Tanokura: a joshikousei ojousama
• Konishi: the only cop in town, or at least, downtown. Doesn't seem to be interfering with the turf wars.

###荒鬼

Araki is written with the characters for ara/KOU (laid waste, rough, rude, wild) and oni/KI (ghost, devil, often translated as ogre).

###鬼無宿

Kimujuku is written with the characters for ogre, nai/MU (none), and yado/SHUKU (inn, home). In the preview for episode 2, George says "This is Kimujuku. So wasted not even ogres live here."

###荒鬼館

Arakikan, "Hotel Araki". Upon arrival, George makes a pun about ogres/devils appearing.

###旋風の用心棒

The first two characters are more literally translated as "whirlwind," and also "sensation, commotion." Yojimbou, of course, means "bodyguard."

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: How blind are you going into this show? (Of course, you've probably never heard of the show itself.) But, what variations on the Yojimbo story have you seen?
• Q2: Did you notice the tricks played with the scene composition? Are they interesting? Annoying? Didn't notice at all?
• Q3: Okay, we didn't even get to the bodyguard part, yet. Are you disappointed, or do you #mugiwait?
• Q4: What is up with the cop arresting George and not the obvious culprits?
• Q5: Yojimbo features katana, and Dollars features quickdraw gunslinging, did you expect George to be a melee expert?

Tomorrow's Discussion Prompts, Today

• [ep 2 Q1:] >!You think Miyuki is into George? Does she see Sanae as a rival?!<
• [ep 2 Q2:] >!What do you think of the three police officers we've seen so far? Is Konichi under orders to not get involved? Or is he just working towards retirement?!<

Episode 1 in 2 minutes, set to music. Taken as-is from the Japanese DVD release of episode 14.

##Kaze No Yojimbo / Bodyguard of the Wind (2001) Rewatch starts May 6th and runs to May 31!

Kaze no Yojimbo is a 25 episode seinen show, set in a modern rural Japanese town not unlike Hinamizawa, with a basic premise taken from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. George Kodama comes to Kimujuku looking for a man, but finds himself caught between two rival criminal organizations.

Index Thread is Here

Interest Thread is Here

This anime is not officially streaming anywhere, and there really is only one source, and one subtitled version available. There is also an (uninspiring IMO) English dub version on Youtube.

I don't know if I will make daily questions for the show, but if I do, they will start in the 1-day reminder.

Posting time will be at 2:30 PM PDT (11:30 pm CEST), that's my compromise!