Episode #12 The Birth of A Junior Samurai! First Disciple, Yahiko's Battle. Overall Rating: B
Yahiko is down by the river, trying to smack some boards with his shinai as a training exercise. The boards, tired of this shoddy sort of treatment, avoid him, and he falls down, breaking the strap on one of his shoes. A cute little girl who is passing by stops and fixes his shoe, and we have *love*. Later, everyone goes to the Akabeko to eat, and whaddya know, the little girl is a waitress there. She goes out to draw water, and Yahiko follows her and helps her. The others follow and spy on Yahiko and the girl, who is named Tsubame. Tsubame heads back into the restaurant and is stopped by a group of men that are forcing her to do nasty things, like help them steal. One of them backhands her, and it's Yahiko to the rescue! Except he gets beaten down. Well...you can't win them all. The next day, he's down by the river again, smacking more boards (and today, they're smacking back). Kenshin stops by and tells him a good way to defeat multiple opponents...so that night, when the nasty guys come for Tsubame, Yahiko is there. Yahiko to the rescue! (for reals this time!). He becomes Yahiko-chan (Don't call me chan!), the hero of the day.
Episode #13 You Can Do It Toramaru! The Dosukoi Journey... Overall Rating: C
There's this sumo wrestler named Toramaru. He's slightly wussy, gets beaten up in the street by some other sumo wrestlers, and tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge into shallow water. Kaoru stops him (kind of), and brings him home with her. He immediately becomes VERY popular with her, since he likes her cooking. Kaoru then sets out to make him into the best sumo wrestler he can be. In the end, he fights the other wrestlers, and wins against their leader, who was trying to keep him off the team. He gets back on the team, the leader sumo wrestler chills out, it's all warm and fuzzy and nice. Yay.
Episode #14 To Save a Small Life! Challenge! Doctor Megumi! Overall Rating: C
Genzai-sensei throws his back out one morning, so he can't run things for a while. Megumi takes over and starts caring for the patients, with a little help (if you could call it that) from Yahiko and Kaoru. One of Sano's friends gets hurt, and Megumi works long into the night, fixing him up. (some people claim that this is the beginning of the Sanosuke/Megumi thing, but I resist the idea, cause frankly...I don't see it. At all. I just cannot see Sano and Megumi. Anyways.) Megumi starts to get a good reputation because of this...but then...She's walking home from the Akabeko, and a man falls down in front of her, pretending to be sick. Megumi, no idiot she, knows this, and walks on by. Then some scary guy shows up and does some kind of quasi religious thing, and the (not really) sick man pretends to get all better. You find out that this is a plot between some Yakuza and the scary guy to make money by discrediting Megumi, since people will pay mucho for a fake cure. Then they go after one of Megumi's really sick (and rich) patients. Megumi runs to rescue the little girl, while Sano, Kenshin, and Yahiko fight off the Yakuza (god, Sano is so great). In the end, real medicine triumphs, and Megumi pulls a fast one on the scary guy. Revenge is sweet. Genzai-sensei's back heals, and everything is all good again.
Episode #15 The Operation Starts! The Terrorist Group Jinpu Tai.
Another normal day dawns on the peaceful (haha!) Kamiya Dojo. Everyone is lounging on the steps when a friend of Sanosuke's (a teacher named Sasaki) comes running up with a sick little boy. Megumi fixes up the little boy. Sasaki hangs around for a little while, and Sano tells everyone about he used to be a samurai, but now lives the dirt poor life, teaching poor children to read and write. Kenshin gets that niggling feeling that he knows Sasaki, but doesn't really recognize him yet. Meanwhile, some faceless guy is talking to a member of the Jinpu Tai, telling him to go recruit an assassin equal to the Hitokiri Battousai, so the next assassination they can commit will make a REAL impression. (as if simply killing someone isn't enough) Later again, Kenshin and Sanosuke are walking around town, when they pass Sasaki, who is working in a field. A guy in a black cloak runs out of nowhere and attacks Sasaki...and Sasaki immediately defends in a style similar to his attacker. Kenshin suddenly realizes where he's seen Sasaki before--he fought him in Kyoto! Later (again!) Sano is on his way to Sasaki's when he sees the nice guy get hauled off by more of the black cloaks. They stop a carriage and give Sasaki a sword, trying to make him assassinate the man within. Sasaki has no choice, as the nasty guys have threatened the kids...and then Sanosuke jumps out of a tree and attacks some of the Jinpu Tai. Then Kenshin shows up (as always, he's brought his theme music) and defeats the leader of the Jinpu Tai. Sort of. It's more of a draw...and the leader guy manages to mark Kenshin on the neck. But things are safe...for now.
Episode #16 Take a Pledge! The Hidden Sword Technique, Shiden No Tachi!
The faceless guys is at it again. He tells the leader of the Jinpu Tai, Toma, that he needs to kill Kenshin and Sasaki. Meanwhile (sort of) Sano is at Sasaki's school, protecting the man's students, and Sasaki spills the little secret that Toma is more skilled than Kenshin. Sanosuke immediately rushes back to the dojo, to find Kenshin missing, laundry half done. Kenshin is out in the words, arguing with Toma. Toma is about to start fighting him again, when some Jinpu Tai members run up and tell Toma that the new assassination target has been found. Exit, Toma and Jinpu Tai members, leaving a thoughtful Kenshin behind. Later, Kenshin once again vanishes, and a bunch of Jinpu Tai show up at the dojo, and get beaten down. You find out that the next target is Yamagata (remember him? Mustaschoid man!). The Jinpu Tai stop his carriage as it's leaving a party...and...Kenshin steps out. Sasaki and Sanosuke make an appearence, having found Kenshin, and a fight ensues. Sasaki and Sano take out the faceless minions (there's one point where Sano throws one off of the bridge...I love it) while Kenshin fights Toma. Kenshin wins easily against Toma's most powerful technique...just in time for the faceless guy (not so faceless anymore) to drive up with Yamagata and the glasses-man police chief. Kenshin tries to tell Toma that the faceless guy was just using the Jinpu Tai, but Toma won't listen...until the faceless guy basically says it himself. The Toma first tries to kill the faceless guy...THEN tries to kill himself. Which of course, he doesn't. Sasaki stops him...and everything turns out all good and warm and fuzzy, as always.
Episode #17 Blast to Your Dream. The Adventure of Marimo the Flying Bullet. Overall Rating: C
Since I'm not really all that fond of this episode, I'll make it brief. This is about circus people. There's the good circus (with Marimo, who is the human cannonball, in it) and the bad circus. The bad circus wants the people from the good circus to come back (the good circus guys borrowed money from the bad guys). So they do some nasty stuff, like hurt Marimo's dad (the ringmaster) and steal her gunpowder. Yahiko, who has a thing for her, decides to help her, and Kaoru drags the rest of the Kenshingumi into it. While Yahiko and Marimo go get gunpowder (Marimo needs it so that she can perform, so that they can make money and pay the badguys back) the rest of the Kenshingumi entertains the crowd (a few laughs there). The bad circus people attack, and Kenshin beats them--using only an umbrella. This is the only worthwhile scene, IMO. Marimo gets launched from her cannon, the good circus makes enough money, the end. Bleh.
Episode #18 Run! Yahiko, Bring The Sakabato Back! Overall Rating: B-
The scene opens...a guy with a butcher knife is trying to rob the Akabeko. Yahiko beats him down, and thus gets an inflated opinion of himself, thinking he's too sexy for his shinai, etc. Hiruma Gohei makes yet ANOTHER appearence, and sees this. His diseased mind gets an idea for revenge, yadda yadda. He hires two strangely dressed, nasty assassins to kill Kenshin, then fools Yahiko into stealing Kenshin's Sakabatou. Kenshin and Kaoru receive a ransom note, and Kenshin arrives on the scene, weaponless. The assassins start beating on him. Yahiko, who's been tied up all this time in an abandoned shrine(?), gets free and brings Kenshin's sakabatou back. He has to fight with Gohei once more, and racks the guy hard enough to make even girls wince, thus assuring Gohei as the winner of the Most Pathetic Villain award. Yahiko tosses Kenshin his sword, Kenshin frees himself and kicks some ass. At the end, in the scene that makes the episode worth it in my estimation (I'm a sucker, I'll admit it. I just about cried.) Kenshin hugs Yahiko, and Yahiko cries, apologizing for stealing the sakabatou. Happy ending.
