Welcome to my blog! I like taking photos of nature, do different kinds of craft, make gifs of some less known works, and sometimes pretend I can draw. I can't.
Finished my complete main story+events re-read! I wanted my experience this time to be more immersive, so I decided to keep a spreadsheet where I take notes of dates, both important and completely inconsequential, to give myself a better feel of time progression within the story. And there it is:
(I keep it as a separate Excel file, so there might be issues with formatting after conversion. Feel free to tell me if there are any)
How is it different from the wiki? The point of this document is not to write a history book, but rather to help me better visualize when stuff happens as I read. To do so, I make a note every time something is mentioned to happen on a certain date, no matter if it is a big historical event or a personal anecdote. I do skip some minor dates, but most make it in, so if you just want a list of important events that happened in backstory, it's probably better to check a wiki. In addition, when events have clear division by days, rather than summarizing the event in one line, I take short notes of what happens on each day, so such entries quickly turn into walls of text that may or may not make sense to someone who isn't already familiar with the event.
What sources do I use? This document is mostly based on in-game info and other official sources available in English, and it doesn't include any of the unreleased chapters/events. It has information from every main story chapter and event, profiles/modules/OpRecs I have unlocked, the comics available on the official site, some of the official videos and fantranslations of Terra: A Journey.
How reliable is it? As mentioned above, dates outside of main story/events might be missing. There are a lot of approximations, unless the date is directly stated in the text, I make a comment next to it to explain my reasonings. You can read more about my calculations in the document itself.
How to use it? There are plenty of events where exact year isn't given, but you can tell they have happened before or after a certain date. I use "<" to mean "before or during", ">" - "during or after", and "~" - "maybe a little before or a little after". For example, we know that SilverAsh was born in 1068, which means that Pramanix was born at least one year later, but it could have been two or more, so I list her birth year as >1069 (1069 or after). I use the last known year as a base, so, even if something is known to happen several years after n, I still write it as >n and put the "several years" part in the comment.
This document is colour-coded, I assigned a colour to each nation vaguely based on the Annihilation plaques (you can check them in the "Legend" tab). Some colour combinations are kinda hard to read, so I bolded such entries to make them a little more visible.
I plan to update it after every new event, so feel free to bookmark and check it later!
I was asked to give a more detailed explanation about how the arm guard puzzles work, and I also figured out several others, including Kiwame Buzen's and Tomita's, so I decided to make a post with all of them in one place. Some of these dates might be incorrect; in fact, I've learned that I got the dates for Kuwana and Murakumo wrong. Well, this is a good opportunity to correct them!
General rules: you can treat the digits as individual numbers, parts of a sum or digits of a larger number. I'm not entirely sure if the order matters and if you can repeat the same sequence more than once. You can, however, use the same number in different sums. There is also a pattern that historical dates are fully visible, while personal dates have some parts obscured by clothes (unless both historical and personal dates are present).
Kotegiri
Kotegiri's sequence is the easiest because it has no puzzle. You get 1931, the date when the Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Culture obtained him, and number 108, which is relevant to his Hakkenden role. The digits of "1931" are next to each other, while "10" and "8" are sums of the parts that weren't used in the date; when you put them next to each other, they form 108. This is yet another of Kotegiri's inversions, because it contains a number that isn't a date.
Matsui
Matsui's puzzle both depicts more dates (11 December 1637-12 April 1638, dates of the Shimabara Rebellion, and 1961, the year when the Sano family purchased him) and has more elements. You can read the plate on his hand as either "1" (one plate) or "4" (the four parts of the knuckle). You can count the bracelet as "1", or you can treat it as nonexistent, because you can remove it. The six stripes on his arm are arranged in three rows and two columns, so you can read them as "6", "3" or "2". Finally, there is a figure that consists of "9" squares on his upper arm, and you can read his mon as "1".
As expected of Matsui, his puzzle is well organized and contains a lot of information. Note how the Shimabara dates are fully visible, while 1961 is obscured; with others who have more than one date, both dates are visible.
Buzen
I'm not entirely sure how to read the upper part of Buzen's arm guard. His concept art looks like the stripes are different heights, so they can be read as "2" and "3". In that case, you can get every digit from his puzzle, and there is no way to tell which one is intended. If it is a solid "5", then you can't get a "9", which is a part of Gou's personal dates.
His Kiwame changes numbers (he has "6" on both upper arms), so you can get 28 June 1956, the date of his designation as Important Cultural Property.
Just as they say you can only fully appreciate Buzen (the blade) after you've looked at every other Gou, you need to combine all elements to get "28".
Kuwana
Kuwana spices the puzzle up a bit by adding a bracelet that can be both "1" (bracelet) or "2" (two colours). You can also get every digit there, but the general flow of the puzzle suggests the main solution is Sieges of Osaka (1614-1615), where his former master participated after obtaining Kuwana. You start at the mon, move to the upper arm, skip to the bracelet, and either go down for "4" or up for "5". Furthermore, you can also get 25 May 1937, the date of his designation as Important Cultural Property (the site I've consulted last time lists a different date). I'm not sure if this date is intended or it's just the consequence of having every digit available ("5" and "25" flow well, but "1937" is pretty messy).
Samidare
I'm not entirely sure, but I think his historical date references Matsuo Basho (1644-28 November 1694), and you can also get 1944, when Samidare was donated to the Tokugawa Art Museum. This puzzle has multiple "4s", and both Basho and Tokugawa Museum require more than one "4".
Murakumo
Murakumo's puzzle is kind of messy (just like him), but I think it references him becoming Important Cultural Property (29 March 1952). You can also see in another post that it can be read as 1934, which I erroneously listed as his designation as Important Cultural Property (it's the year of his designation as Important Art Object instead). I wonder if his puzzle will be in a more proper order after Kiwame?
Inaba
Inaba's puzzle looks fancy, but it's actually straightforward! The tricky part is to count round belts as two "0s". His main reading is 21 October 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara (part of Inaba's beef is due to his former master not participating in it), but you can also get the date of his designation as National Treasure (9 June 1951).
Tomita
Tomita has tons of elements even without the dots, so I'm relying on the puzzle flow here. You can get Kyushu campaigns (1586-1587), where his former master participated, and also the date of his designation as National Treasure (28 June 1956).
Kurikara
Kurikara's date is the Honnoji Incident (21 June 1582), when his former master betrayed Oda Nobunaga. This puzzle is fun because almost every number uses an element from the previous number, so the entire puzzle coils around the gauntlet, like the dragon Kurikara does around the blade! I marked the elements that are used in the next number blue to make it easier to see which parts are shared.
Found Kuwana refs! It's not a full photo, so I can't say if the part on the upper arm has a close-up, but I assume it's a "4".
Technically, Kuwana has Buzen's problem of too many elements making it possible to get every digit. However, between his puzzle being almost fully visible (an indicator of a historical date), the ability to get two separate "1"s, the general flow of the puzzle, and Kuwana's former master's only military involvement after obtaining him being the Sieges of Osaka, I think 1614-1615 are the intended dates. I will also demonstrate the Siege of Odawara (1590, another of his master's campaigns) and the year he was designated as Important Cultural Property (1950), because I think it is fun that they share the same digits.
(If the Odawara/date of his designation are intended, it's another parallel to Buzen (all digits) and Matsui (multiple dates))
I don't have anything new to say about the released designs this time, but I guess I may as well talk about my theories for Kurikara's yukata.
Since the Gous use the colours associated with them, he will likely get a gray yukata, but I believe it will have some blue, red and/or purple elements. Since he matches Buzen and Matsui, I wonder if he will also have a yukata based on the birthstones. Or, rather, "deathstones" in his case, because the Honnoji Incident has some really interesting jewels associated with it!
June has three birthstones (pearl, alexandrite, moonstone) and all three could work as Kurikara's colour scheme! Pearl is the most obvious; if there is no additional colour, then the gray-ish pearl would work the best. It also has a bonus of being associated with water (Matsui).
If he gets the "two halves" yukata, then alexandrite will be perfect. This jewel changes colour depending on light and can be red, blue and purple all at once! In this case, I think the yukata will be darker gray with the blue/red gradient on the halves (or maybe different colours on hems/sleeves?).
And if he gets the "gradient" (or the "circle at the bottom", though I think this one is the least likely) yukata, then moonstone would be an interesting choice! With how Matsui's and Buzen's yukatas have the opposite themes of their battle outfits, and with how Kurikara's battle outfit shows both the weapon and the armor, I wonder if in his case it's the colours that will be contrasting instead. Moonstone can be a white/blue gem, with bonus points for often having a cat's eye effect (Matsui) and being named after the moon (Buzen's yukata depicts dawn). If it is used as an inspiration for the yukata, I think it will be lighter gray with blue gradient.
I have also thought about what kind of plants might be depicted, but while I can think of 5, they all feel too obvious and/or inappropriate for the festive costume. The bellflowers and melons are obvious (Akechi and Oda clans respectively), while red spider lilies and camellias would make more sense for another outfit (they are both associated with death, and lily also represents fire; I talked about spider lilies in another post, and camellias were seen by the samurai as a symbol of decapitation (you may remember Kai using them a lot)).
It may also depict water chestnut, which is what the diamond pattern stands in in Japan. This plant is fun, because it can be seen as representing the entire trio: three diamonds are depicted on Buzen's mon, there are diamonds and a water connection for Matsui, and the chestnuts kinda look like baby dragons for Kurikara!
Of course, there might just be flame/wave patterns. Other than that, I think he may retain some kind of a knot. And the last thing, I wonder if his outfit will have any similarities with Fudou Yukimitsu's. They have some shared history, both as characters and as mythological beings they are named after, so there is a possibility of shared elements, and it would complement Kurikara's dual theme (mythological Fudou turns into Kurikara).
Part 1, Part 2, Tomita, Ame+Kumo and Inaba, every puzzle.
Found Kuwana refs! It's not a full photo, so I can't say if the part on the upper arm has a close-up, but I assume it's a "4".
Technically, Kuwana has Buzen's problem of too many elements making it possible to get every digit. However, between his puzzle being almost fully visible (an indicator of a historical date), the ability to get two separate "1"s, the general flow of the puzzle, and Kuwana's former master's only military involvement after obtaining him being the Sieges of Osaka, I think 1614-1615 are the intended dates. I will also demonstrate the Siege of Odawara (1590, another of his master's campaigns) and the year he was designated as Important Cultural Property (1950), because I think it is fun that they share the same digits.
(If the Odawara/date of his designation are intended, it's another parallel to Buzen (all digits) and Matsui (multiple dates))
I don't have anything new to say about the released designs this time, but I guess I may as well talk about my theories for Kurikara's yukata.
Since the Gous use the colours associated with them, he will likely get a gray yukata, but I believe it will have some blue, red and/or purple elements. Since he matches Buzen and Matsui, I wonder if he will also have a yukata based on the birthstones. Or, rather, "deathstones" in his case, because the Honnoji Incident has some really interesting jewels associated with it!
June has three birthstones (pearl, alexandrite, moonstone) and all three could work as Kurikara's colour scheme! Pearl is the most obvious; if there is no additional colour, then the gray-ish pearl would work the best. It also has a bonus of being associated with water (Matsui).
If he gets the "two halves" yukata, then alexandrite will be perfect. This jewel changes colour depending on light and can be red, blue and purple all at once! In this case, I think the yukata will be darker gray with the blue/red gradient on the halves (or maybe different colours on hems/sleeves?).
And if he gets the "gradient" (or the "circle at the bottom", though I think this one is the least likely) yukata, then moonstone would be an interesting choice! With how Matsui's and Buzen's yukatas have the opposite themes of their battle outfits, and with how Kurikara's battle outfit shows both the weapon and the armor, I wonder if in his case it's the colours that will be contrasting instead. Moonstone can be a white/blue gem, with bonus points for often having a cat's eye effect (Matsui) and being named after the moon (Buzen's yukata depicts dawn). If it is used as an inspiration for the yukata, I think it will be lighter gray with blue gradient.
I have also thought about what kind of plants might be depicted, but while I can think of 5, they all feel too obvious and/or inappropriate for the festive costume. The bellflowers and melons are obvious (Akechi and Oda clans respectively), while red spider lilies and camellias would make more sense for another outfit (they are both associated with death, and lily also represents fire; I talked about spider lilies in another post, and camellias were seen by the samurai as a symbol of decapitation (you may remember Kai using them a lot)).
It may also depict water chestnut, which is what the diamond pattern stands in in Japan. This plant is fun, because it can be seen as representing the entire trio: three diamonds are depicted on Buzen's mon, there are diamonds and a water connection for Matsui, and the chestnuts kinda look like baby dragons for Kurikara!
Of course, there might just be flame/wave patterns. Other than that, I think he may retain some kind of a knot. And the last thing, I wonder if his outfit will have any similarities with Fudou Yukimitsu's. They have some shared history, both as characters and as mythological beings they are named after, so there is a possibility of shared elements, and it would complement Kurikara's dual theme (mythological Fudou turns into Kurikara).
Since we are going to Bolivar soon, I wonder if Dobermann will finally get an OpRec. I think she is the only 4* without one left; the other two that don't have one on EN server (Matoimaru and Snegurochka) have them on CN.
Part 1 (Matsui), part 2 (Gous in general), Tomita, Kuwana puzzle+Kurikara theory, every puzzle.
I have found references for Murakumo's puzzle (only Kuwana, Tomita and Buzen Kiwame are left), so I'm back to my Gou design analysis! I have a new theory about Murakumo's theme, and since I haven't given him, Samidare and Inaba their own look overs, I may as well do it now.
For Murakumo, I think his theme might be "Imperial Regalia of Japan" (sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, mirror Yata no Kagami and jewel Yasakani no Magatama). He and Samidare kinda share their names with Kusanagi (aka Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, this might be why they use nicknames), his clouds are often in the shape of the magatama and his design mirrors Samidare in a number of ways. For bonus "hiding" points, no one outside of the Imperial family and their men actually knows what the Regalia look like, and for bonus "ghost" points, Shinto tombstones are made in the image of Kusanagi.
For Inaba, I've dug up some more symbolism and also have a theory for why he mirrors someone else (other than both of them being National Treasures): in Inaba's case it might be because his former master, Yuki Hideyasu, allegedly had a twin who became a priest.
Despite being the most intense-looking of the Gous, Inaba is the only one whose design I struggle to connect to death (unless deified=dead or samurai/bird of prey=killer?). Meanwhile, the 4+1 guys and the doggos form tombstones, Kurikara is connected to the Wheel of Life and Tomita to the soul-stealing yokai.
After some more digging around, I believe Tomita's design is based on a grey heron and a nekomata. Please, check my posts about Matsui Gou's design (part 1, part 2) to see why I believe Tomita is connected to a cat demon, what I am talking about when I mention Buddhist elements and why I consider painted nails a trait that represents animal motif (both Matsui and Inaba are based on animals, it's not just Samidare and Murakumo).
I think the nekomata is self-explanatory enough (it's a reference to the Hakkenden character Tomita corresponds to). As for the heron, it might be a reference to the Sagi Mai, dance of the white heron, which was used for exorcism, among other things. Both of them can also be linked to the dead, with the nekomata stealing souls and the heron guiding souls.
This is part 2 of my analysis of Matsui Gou's design where no conclusion is farfetched enough not to share! This time I will talk about how it compares to other swords that may or may not share some kind of connection with him; if you found this post through another TouDan's tag and aren't interested in Matsui, just scroll down until you see them.
You can check part 1 here. There is also additional info about Tomita, Ame+Kumo and Inaba, Kurikara's yukata theory and everyone's puzzles. Once again, big thanks to @asterparfait for help with references!
We are back to looking at Matsui under the microscope! Since he belongs to one of the largest groups in the game, it's only natural to start with the comparison with other Gous. Let's look at their general trends.
Looking at how "painted nails" seems to be a code for "animal motif", I wonder if Inaba also belongs there? His black with dots outfit reminds me of birds of prey and looking for matches (black/white, bare hands with black nails, wing symbols, pointy ends of belts kinda looking like feathers, white streaks of hair around neck, the way his face is framed in general and the cap in casual outfit), he seems to be a falcon. Does Yuki Hideyasu have any association with falconry by any chance? Or perhaps it's just a pun on him being "under the Heavens"?
Also, Samidare is in the "slit eyes" club alongside a vampire, a ghost and an angel, so he may have a supernatural motif as well. With how Samidare blade is associated with Hakkenden, Yatsufusa is the obvious pick, though Samidare's design utilizes more than 8 "balls" and I'm not sure which don't count. The best I could come up with, his collar consists of 6 circles, its shape is the seventh and the paw on his mon is the eighth (or maybe either the shape or the paw don't count and he himself is the eighth dog). However, with how his costumes are having a prominent focus on the stomach (it's likely a reference to Fusehime slitting her stomach to release her unborn babies), I think he might be a reference to Tamazusa's curse in general. He forms a "more masculine dog/more feminine human" duo with Murakumo, and I will talk about it much later, but their colours are likely a Hakkenden reference as well.
For the white shirts, I can only think about how they represent that Matsui, Murakumo and Buzen are next to each other on the height chart (176, 177 and 178 cm respectively). As for the beads, Matsui has a lot going on with both Buzen and Kuwana, which I will talk about more soon, so it's not surprising.
Another thing I have been thinking about is that "green and blue are the same colour in Japan" I mentioned in the previous post: I wonder if the Gous' association with green is another "hiding" trait. As MTL constantly tells me, "Gou" can be read as "river", and rivers are often associated with colour blue. Notably, Pure Cool changed their green outfits to blue for their "visible" debut. This would also make Matsui the "Moon Moon" of the group due to his ties with both water and the colour blue. And it works really well on a thematic level for the two characters it affects. If you see both green and blue as Gou colours, then there are two Moon Moons "double Gous": Kotegiri and Matsui. Yet another Kotegiri's oddity is that, unlike everyone else who have "green+their colour", he only has two greens. But if you see the Gous "attaining visibility" as them symbolically changing their group colour, then his own green will also become "visible". As for Matsui, well you have the entire previous post about how much it would suit him to get the "hidden" colour. It would also give an extra explanation to why he likes Buzen if Buzen's "true colours" are actually blue+red, the colours Matsui is heavily associated with. Maybe this is even what he means after Kiwame? That he realized Buzen is blue and red?
Anyway, you probably got excited about the "coded messages" part, so let's look into it! Unfortunately, I don't have references for Kuwana's and Murakumo's armguards, and it's really hard to decipher anything from Tomita's sprites other than the ring is likely a "1" and we are probably looking at parts of wings again; also, Buzen's date seems to have changed (or, rather, "appeared") after Kiwame, but I don't have reference for it either (from what I can see, my guess is that there is a "6" (might be two sets of "3" if we count both arms) on his upper arm and the whole date is 1956, when he was designated as an Important Cultural Property). The rest are good to go though!
Kotegiri: 1931, the year when he was auctioned off and ended up in possession of Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Culture (I'm not sure if it's the same year)
Buzen: he is doing that "teehee" pose in the artbook because you can actually get every digit from his armguard, which is probably a part of his "disappearing" motif and the reason why he got a new armguard after Kiwame
Samidare: 1944, when he was donated to the Tokugawa Art Museum
Inaba: 21 October 1600, Battle of Sekigahara
Kurikara: 21 June 1582, Honnoji Incident
EDIT 3: every puzzle in one place!
By the way, even though it's not unique to Matsui to form dates on armguards, I still stand by what I said about 1961 being important to him. It is an odd element out in his overall costume, and from what I can tell he is the only one who uses more than one date in his design. All this find did was just provide an extra link to the Gous.
Alright, I'm sure you are all wondering what I mean by Buzen also having an extra "hiding" motif (yes, it's about him being a ghost). But I would like to save his individual symbolism for later, and talk about how his design relates to Matsui's first.
When you see them side-by-side, you can spot that, while they share a very similar colour-scheme, there are a lot of contrasting details. Matsui's straight hair to Buzen's curly. A fully buttoned shirt that gives a more uptight impression compared to the casual feel of an unbuttoned collar. A long cape vs. a short jacket. Covered arms vs. rolled up sleeves. And of course there is the overall elegance of feminine beauty contrasted with the "nation's boyfriend" vibe.
Interestingly, this way of contrasting characters is similar to the designs of the Genji swords, which are supposed to be seen as a set. They even share a number of details, so I may as well jot it all down.
Despite the contrasts, it's also easy to see the similarities. Some are obvious (colour scheme, white shirt, red circle), but I can't help but wonder if there is also a subtle mimicry going on? Admittedly, this is more obvious in the musicals where you see these costumes in motion, so I guess they catch your attention in a similar way? I'm sorry, I'm not an artist, so I can't explain what causes this effect in visual terms, but as someone who did language studies my best analogy is it's similar to why it can be hard to detect misspellings. Your brain sees familiar forms and "corrects" them, even if the order of elements is wrong. Here are elements that I think may play a part in this effect.
Next, let's look at these "vivid red" mons, but I will add one more detail to them.
In case you are wondering, this is the mon of Matsui clan; you know, the one that owned Matsui Gou. Matsui and Buzen have these red elements because their blades both have something written in red on their tangs. As for Matsui clan, IDK??? I guess Matsui's dad just approves of Buzen joining the family???
By the way, Kuwana may or may not be counted here as well (though in a more second-hand fashion) since the figures on his mon can be seen as stylized "cross" and "moving effect". I will later talk about his connection to Buzen and Matsui in a rather "shapely" manner, so for now I will fill it under "might be a reference to Buzen and Matsui".
And now that we are thinking about more abstract shapes, do you know what Matsui and Buzen remind me of? Lilies. Specifically, white lily and red spider lily.
Lmao, I hope this is understandable. Basically, the shapes of the lilies remind me of Matsui's sleeves and Buzen's hairdo, and their colours also suit them (not so much for Matsui after Kiwame, but I digress). While white lilies are associated with Mary, this isn't the angle I'm going for right now. What ties these particular lilies together are funerals.
As you probably know, red spider lilies are heavily associated with death in Japan. They are planted at cemeteries, they are called "flowers of the other shore" (I guess, "other side" would have a more fitting connotation in English) and they are associated with the autumn equinox when it is believed that the gate to the other world opens. They also have an interesting quirk: their leaves wither before they bloom, and their flowers wither before new leaves appear. So, basically, there is always a "hidden" part. Meanwhile, the white lilies symbolize purity and rebirth, making them a popular flower for funeral arrangements to the point some people become superstitious about receiving them in other contexts. And it's kinda fitting for a vampire, whose body dies and comes back, to be associated with rebirth, while a ghost, whose body dies and stays dead, with the afterlife.
And while we are still on the topic of abstract, let's bring back the birthstones from the previous post. Specifically, aquamarine and bloodstone, the birthstones of March.
Also, I joked about Matsui's hairpin being a reference to Buzen, but actually I do think it's intentional: this way both of their yukatas reference each other (Matsui's hairpin = Buzen's mon, Buzen's obi = Matsui's scabbard).
I hope you guys had fun with exercising your abstract thinking, because you will need it again soon. We are finally done with the paired comparisons and are starting to check Buzen solo. And unlike Matsui, who compulsively assigns a meaning to every single detail, Buzen likes it when you look at him as a whole.
First, let's check if Buzen has anything "ghostly" to say in his lines.
Once you start analysing Buzen's design, you will quickly notice that he is very fond of number "5" (often stylized as "4+1"), it's basically his equivalent of Matsui's diamond shapes. There might be multiple meanings behind it; in fact, you will see that this number is used in most of his symbolism. I tried applying various Buddhist meanings of number "5" to him to see which would make my train of thought run the longest and those tracks ended up belonging to the five elements. Let's check my finds.
If you want a non-religious explanation for "4+1", you can read it as "the five Important Cultural Property uchigatanas minus Buzen". NGL, my first instinct when I started looking at numbers was to look for "4" because it's a homonym of "death" in Japan. And with how you pronounce "5" as "go", you can read it as "5 are Gous, but 4 means 1 died".
Buzen's mon depicts Bhavachakra, the wheel of life, which also symbolically makes Buzen himself Yama, the god of death (he was also the first human to die in Hinduism). EN wiki article about it is easy to follow even if you aren't familiar with the terms, so I will redirect you here for more in-depth explanations.
By the way, Yama can be linked to, of all things, motorcycles, since he was used in road safety campaigns in India.
Our next symbol gets pretty macabre since it's about a person being on their deathbed. There is a tradition to put a scroll depicting Amida Buddha with five strings attached to it in front of a dying person, and if the person firmly holds onto them during their last moments, they will reach Amida's Western Paradise (Amida Buddha is the Lord of the Beyond and the Afterlife and Kannon is his attendant; also Kannon is often depicted with an image of Amida in her crown, which might be another evidence towards Matsui's hairpin referencing Buzen). Let's look for these strings!
Now that our souls have left in search of Paradise, let's check what happens to our bodies. I actually couldn't find detailed accounts about Japanese practices (they basically amounted to "wash the body, put on clothes, cremate"), but the Thai Buddhist rituals are pretty interesting! I will quote relevant passages from this article, and you can also read more about the sacred white thread (sai sin) here.
When the body is transferred to the temple, the procession is led by a monk holding a holy thread (sai sin). If cremation is delayed—sometimes by days, sometimes by months or years for prominent figures—monks are invited to chant daily. They may hold a broad ribbon (bhusa yong) connecting the coffin to themselves, symbolically linking the deceased to the sacred recitations. After the bathing, the body is dressed, then ritually tied in a practice called mud tra sung. Three nooses are tied around the neck, wrists, and ankles. Each symbolizes attachments that bind life to Samsara: children, spouse, and wealth. To attain liberation, these ties must be cut. Then, the body is wrapped in a large white cloth, knotted at the head so it can later be easily untied when washing the face with coconut water before cremation. Over this, a raw cotton thread, as thick as a thumb, is tied into five firm knots. On the funeral day, the procession begins at the home. A group of monks walks ahead, holding the bhusa yong ribbon attached to the coffin.
So, the things we are looking for this time are: threads (preferably long and white), ribbons, bound neck, wrists and ankles, and five knots.
So yeah, if Matsui is a hidden metalhead, then Buzen must be a hidden goth who would probably wear entire cemetery on his body if he could. But well, things aren't that bleak and even in the darkest moments you can look for an auspicious sign or eight! The Ashtamangala are sacred symbols that will help you reach enlightenment, and I once again will redirect you to the wiki for individual meanings of each symbol.
Well, that's all I got from his battle sprites! I think that I probably found everything, because he repeats these symbols (minus Ashtamangala) in his suit.
As you can see, the overall theme of his battle outfit is actually very similar to Matsui's: there is death everywhere, but things aren't hopeless. This is also the other reason why I think it would make sense for Matsui to add a prayer to his outfit as well; this way they would match.
Buzen's last costume is yukata, let's try to read what he has to say to us here.
Well, it's pretty gloomy. Black is a funeral colour, red we already linked to blood and it can be the setting sun, willows are associated with both grief and ghosts, and it looks like it's raining, which is the stereotypical funeral weather. While these are definitely "Buzen" symbols, they don't fit the mood at all, so let's try to rearrange the dots!
We may as well read the red-on-black as the rising sun, rain can be seen as a symbol of purification and the willow is actually associated with compassion in Buddhism, and it's not hard to link it to "rebirth". So I think the intended message here is "new life" as opposed to "death" of his battle outfit, similar to how Matsui's outfits contrast "danger" and "safety".
However, there is also that one thing that links Buzen to blood, night and sunrises. It's his duet with Matsui from Paraiso. And I can't stress hard enough how well their yukatas work in that context. Matsui is near water (aquamarine), thinking about spilled Christian blood (bloodstone), while Buzen joins him and tells him they will wait for the dawn (the setting of Buzen's yukata) together (the theme of Matsui's yukata). As if you needed any additional context to make this duet even more intimate…
Anyway, this is what Buzen has to say to us, but he also has a message that is very much not for us. Between the black-and-red colour scheme (bloodstone), the rain (water), the obi (Matsui's sheath) and the willow (you will never guess which bodhisattva this plant is associated with), he is actually spelling "Matsui" in 4 different ways. Hell, you can add "+1" if he also says it out loud. So he is spelling Matsui's name as his favourite number in a code only Matsui would understand? What kind of advanced flirting technique is thaaat???
Buzen's Hanamaru outfit is no slouch either; you can easily spot three symbols and kinda add "aquamarine", or maybe a "bow" or a "cross" as the fourth. Or just the fact that their colours (blue/green) match? You can find some kind of justification without trying too hard!
(this team is so funny if you have watched Paraiso...)
And for the record, you can get 4 "Buzens" from Matsui's yukata as well ("threads" (shoelaces), aquamarine, lilies, hairpin). The odd ones out are "bellflowers", but their meaning in Japanese flower language is "enduring/unchanging love", so, well, yeah…
Cough, alright I feel like I'm kinda intruding here so let's switch our attention to something else. Let's talk about Kuwana! Kuwana is a lot more obviously complementing and contrasting Matsui's design than Buzen, and I think that's the point. He is the "visible" side of Matsui, while Buzen is the "hidden" side. Kuwana and Buzen also thematically contrast each other: Kuwana's "visible" side is associated with daytime activities like gardening (life) and he wears bright sunny colours, while Buzen's "hidden" dead side is associated with night and red evokes a more sinister feeling in that context. Ironically, this is reversed for their hairdos: Buzen's leaves his entire face open, while Kuwana hides behind his bangs. While I don't think he has a specific hidden side, Kuwana still complements both Matsui and Buzen on the religious front by representing Shinto. You can see some Shinto elements in his design, and his overall "nature" motif ties into more naturalistic Shinto beliefs. I believe that each Gou has a certain theme to their design, and in Kuwana's case I think he specifically references an iwakura, a sacred stone that is a home to kami. This may also be what lets him talk with the earth if he can "house" an earth kami (I guess, he is kind of a double kami?), and it would be yet another contrast with "intangible" Buzen. Let's see which of his design elements may tie into either this theme or his relationships with others.
With how many elements can be interpreted as references to both Buzen and Matsui, and with how Kuwana may or may not use their "hidden" tricks (diamond, 4+1, suit repeating his battle outfit), I kinda get the impression that he understands that something galaxy-brained is going on with them, but he is fine with just chilling and supporting his bros. The trio's religious theme also adds another layer to Matsui's manifestation in Utaawase, since the ritual here combined Buddhist and Shinto elements that resulted in a Hidden Christian (it's a bit more straightforward for Kuwana, but then again I feel like that ceremony made more sense for Matsui anyway).
Well, we are mostly done with the Gou designs, but any analyses about the group would be incomplete without looking into Hakkenden. Don't worry; my knowledge of it is very incomplete, so I will keep it brief and mostly focus on Matsui, Kotegiri and Buzen.
Nansou Satomi Hakkenden is a long novel that is tied to the Gous because it may or may not have used Samidare as a prototype for its famous sword Murasame. The Gou swords actually borrow some of its main group's traits, so I think it is a good idea to look into it to explain certain things about designs and relationships. If you have watched Gou on Stage, you at least know which character corresponds to which Gou. I will summarize relevant parts.
In the backstory, there was a witch who cursed the Satomi clan to be "depraved like beasts"; I believe this is what Samidare's theme is. TLDR, a dog that represents this curse (Yatsufusa) married Fusehime, a human woman, and they had 8 spirit babies. Unfortunately, both parents died, but the mom cut her belly to release her unborn babies, who possessed the 8 big beads of Fusehime's 108 beads rosary. The babies then were born as humans with peony-like birthmarks who owned a special bead since birth (but they didn't necessaryly know about it). This is where the idea of 8 Gous with moles originates.
Matsui corresponds to Inuzuka "Shino" Moritaka; he is the main character for the early portion of the story, but later loses prominence. That fits his "losing colour". When he was a kid, Shino was raised as a girl, so he is often portrayed as androgynous (how many explanations for your pretty looks do you need, Matsui?). He has Murasame, a sword associated with water. This sword is famous because it cleans itself, so it can't be stained by blood.
Shino is best friends with Inukawa "Sosuke" Yoshito, who is a servant in the household where the orphaned Shino lived. He is played by Kotegiri, and Matsui has some "childhood connection" with him through their ties with the Hosokawa clan.
Buzen corresponds to Inuyama "Dosetsu" Tadatomo (childhood name Michimatsu). He is an antagonist-turned-friend associated with fire who was buried alive in the backstory. However, as Gou on Stage clued us in, Buzen actually double dips and also takes the role of Hamaji, the girl from the household where Shino and Sosuke grew up and also Shino's fiancée. Her storyline basically goes like this: she is in love with Shino, but Shino lost favour with her adopted parents, so they got separated. Before they can reunite, Hamaji dies in Dosetsu's arms, who turns out to be her half-brother, and she is later buried by Sosuke. Later on, she briefly reappears as a ghost by possessing a girl who is basically Hamaji 2.0 (down to having the same name) except this one is a princess. And in the end, Shino marries that second Hamaji. Not to be a shipper on main, but Buzen would look really good in a princess dress this makes so much sense in the context of Buzen's character? There is the fire, there is the death, there is his relationship with Matsui and this may also explain why his mon has a part similar to Matsui clan's: in the book, both Shino and Hamaji were (either actually or functionally) adopted by the same family, so this time it's "Hamaji" who joined "Shino's" clan.
I'm a lot less clear about other guys' roles, but I will at least mention that Inusaka "Keno" Tanetono, who Murakumo corresponds to, is known to look so feminine he gets mistaken for a woman. So this is where Kumo gets his looks.
Well, we are done with the 8 Gous, but we have a 9th now and he just so happens to have a connection with Matsui: they belonged to Oda Nobunaga's retainers and have history with the Hosokawa clan. Since swords with some kind of connection tend to have similar elements in their designs, let's have a closer look at Matsui and Kurikara!
Kurikara kinda coming out of nowhere while the rest of the Gous are foreshadowed might be an allusion to how Akechi Mitsuhide's life before serving Nobunaga is largely unknown. While Mitsuhide may as well be the most famous traitor in Japan, it's interesting that his sword represents both the weapon of the betrayer and the armour of the betrayed. And that, in the end, neither met the fate Mitsuhide would want: Nobunaga killed himself in fire, depriving him of a victory, while Mitsuhide's beloved sword Kurikara rusted away in water shortly after. Kurikara's dual motif might also be due to his name: he represents both the weapon (sword) and the protector (dragon). As for Kurikara's little talk with Matsui, this may as well be a mini Shimabara, with the religious group being slaughtered down to the last child. I find it peculiar that Matsui seems to fault neither Nobunaga for his violent oppression of Buddhism (TBF, at least he was fine with Christianity) nor Okinaga for participating in the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion. Even in his Kiwame letters, it's less about blaming the Hosokawas, and more about lamenting how they forgot/didn't learn anything from Gracia. With how highly the Hosokawa swords talk about Gracia, I think Matsui sees her as something of a role model and tries to see things through her perspective: both as a Christian and as a member of the warrior class. And with how we established the red=fire connection, it's interesting how Matsui links the infernal flames of the rebellion with his own blood, and, after he returns from the Kiwame journey, he now incorporates red in his design.
Now that we switched attention to the Hosokawas, let's look at them as a whole (Matsui, Kotegiri, Kasen, Sayo, Kokindenjunotachi, Jizou; Kurikara is more of an honorary member). The running theme here is "femininity" (AGAIN?), with them looking androgynous and/or wearing pieces of female clothing. Kotegiri once again doesn't fit this pattern. (My personal theory for the look is a shift in social expectations: the Hosokawa swords tend to be associated with arts, and nowadays arts aren't seen as manly as they were back in the day; men are expected to work to death instead of reciting poetry. But well, there isn't anything in the text that actually supports this theory). Matsui doesn't have a lot of (design) similarities with Sayo (blue) and Kasen (their sheaths use the same pattern, they use capes and ropes/chains (Kasen's base cape is held by a rope similar to the one on Matsui's Kiwame and Kasen Kiwame uses a chain kinda similar to Matsui's)), but things get more interesting when you compare him to the Yukihira swords.
Fuh, I'm finally done with the comparisons! But I like to think that looking at all these designs so closely gave me a bit of insight into the thought process behind how some of the early Gous were created. This is merely speculation, but I will try to trace the general thought process of how this group came to be!
In the beginning, there were obviously two ideas: "ghosts" and "Hakkenden". It just so happened that there were 7 important Gous, so it was simply a matter of assigning them the Hakkenshi roles and picking an 8th to complete the group. Samidare was probably rejected as "Shino" because it was too obvious, which also disqualified Murakumo from being "Sosuke". Meanwhile, Kotegiri had a connection to both Matsui and Inaba, so he was added as the last member and the "Sosuke". I think the "Shino"/"Sosuke" "visible"/"invisible" contrast was added early (and their green/blue colours might have been chosen around this time), so it disqualified Inaba due to being too important.
Since Kotegiri's deal is about inversion, Matsui was likely the first generally finished Gou. Because Kotegiri needed traits to invert, Matsui was created as something of a quintessential "Gou", someone who included the majority of traits and motifs associated with the group (remember the list I did first?) and at least Kotegiri, Buzen and Kuwana were all "reverse engineered" from him. Interestingly, it also made him something of a cipher of the group, which I think is intentional; even though some conclusions like "painted nails = animal motif" require an entire obstacle course in mental Olympics to pick on, once you do, it becomes easy to spot that some other non-obvious individuals follow these patterns. His "Shimabara" armguard puzzle is also the easiest to pick on since it is fully visible and isn't obscured by other elements like Inaba's and Kurikara's, and his obsession with giving a meaning (or ten) to every detail makes his symbolism easier to spot than Buzen's.
Anyway, once the "prototype" was finished, Kotegiri was created as "anti-Matsui", which also led to them barely having anything in common despite sharing two groups.
Since the two of them had the "gaining/losing prominence" theme, obviously they couldn't be the "leader" of the group. Buzen was likely picked for the role because of two reasons: 1). he is the most "ghost" of them all, and what better way to "hide" someone than to put them at the very center where no one would suspect anything; and 2). Matsui being a Hidden Christian was likely among the first ideas, so it made Buzen, who also has a hidden theme, an obvious "Hamaji" to complement him.
Somewhere along the line, the "4+1 elements" and "seen/unseen" concepts were added, and that made Kuwana an easy pick for the next member due to his association with farming. He was created to complement Matsui's "seen" side and to contrast Buzen; Kotegiri was already an "independent" character at this point, so Kuwana generally doesn't match him.
Well, I can't say much about the next four, but I think Kurikara was created specifically because Kotegiri didn't match Matsui. Kurikara is another Gou sword with connection to Matsui, and since "Shino" kind of lost his "Sosuke" for thematic reasons, Kurikara was added as something of a "hidden Sosuke"… wait a minute. With how important "hiding" is for the Gous, what if he was the true "Sosuke" all this time?? What does it make Kotegiri then???
Think about it. Kotegiri has a "mole map" to gather everyone but doesn't follow their patterns. Everyone follows the "hiding" theme, but Kotegiri inspires them to become "visible". Kotegiri doesn't even get the "musical mark" after Kiwame. All of these point to one fact: Kotegiri actually wasn't a part of the group from the start! Instead of "being" a Hakkenshi, he is someone who "has connection" to the Hakkenshi. And who could have a deeper connection to the "eight dog brothers" than their "mom"?
I apologize for my lack of Hakkenden knowledge, since that means that I mostly only have "8, 100, 108 beads" and "sliced belly" to work with when it comes to visual clues for Fusehime, but I will still try to give Kotegiri a nice gender reveal party!
(Let's try to guess who is who among the paired items! I think that if the "missing" lip is Kurikara, then another one is Matsui (both are Hosokawas), red knot=Buzen (red, knot, tied with Matsui), badge=Kuwana (yellow, near Matsui and Buzen, so it's Kotegiri's variation of the "friendship bracelet"), the mons on the hands=Ame+Kumo (they are mirrored), the mon on the black armor with white pattern=Inaba and the white knot that kinda looks like a bird=Tomita.)
I think this "role switch" was also decided early on, around the time the writers were looking for "Sosuke"; perhaps, it was noticed that Matsui had two Gou connections and that gave a nice opportunity for a twist. As for how Kurikara ties into everything outside of Matsui, I may as well make another chart and also summarize the Hakkenden finds while I'm at it.
(Maybe the white shirt with black collar means female clothes among the Hakkenden characters? Buzen=Hamaji, Matsui=Shino and Murakumo=Keno are the three characters that wore female clothes, while Kotegiri once again inverts the pattern by wearing a black shirt with white collar.)
We may as well update the motif list with all our recent finds and add the main themes of the designs. I barely looked into Murakumo since he was largely peripheral to my vector of research; he seems to be the "normal" guy of the Gous with an obvious theme and traits, but maybe there is more going on with him?
EDIT: I think I nailed who Tomita is based on.
EDIT 2: and here is more about the doggos and Inaba.
Finally, let's check if any of Matsui's quotes make more sense now.
And, that's all! This analysis definitely inspired a lot of respect in me towards all the people involved in bringing these characters to life. From writers, to artists, to costumers and actors, there is so much thought put into every step of creation, it's honestly mind blowing. It is very impressive how many different elements intertwine in these fairly simple designs, and just how subtle the parts that are supposed to be hidden are. I hope this post helped you to feel as awestruck as I was when I started looking into these things!
I find Matsui Gou incredibly fascinating; his personality and history are very interesting, and his design in particular has way more hidden in it than you probably realize. In fact, there is so much that, after I decided to write a proper analysis, I ended up dividing it into two long parts. In the first, I will look at Matsui as a sword, a vampire and a Christian, and in the second, I will talk about similarities and contrasts with some other Touken Danshi.
Thanks @asterparfait for helping me with some material!
Part 2, Tomita, Ame+Kumo and Inaba, Kuwana (wrong) puzzle and Kurikara theory, every puzzle.
Lots of images here, so I'm putting it under "read more". Please, don't scroll the pictures ahead; there are a lot of surprises!
Matsui the sword
To start with, let's see which traits Matsui got from his own blade.
The mon on his chest is the same colour as the inscription on his tang. I think his straight, angular hairdo is a reference to his hamon, which looks like a straight line that only thins at the tip: basically, it's a straight line of hair (hamon) that goes around his head under a small angle (the curve of the blade) that only gets interrupted at the end (his bangs). The colour of his hair also looks similar to the blade. I saw some describe this sword as "slender", which might be the reason for his slim body.
His Kiwame adds some references to items that have some kind of connection to him.
He gets his historical scabbard back, and the rope on his leg references the armor of Matsui Okinaga, the former master he is named after. His mon is also a historical reference, but it has more than one meaning, so I will talk about it a bit later.
Matsui the vampire
This one is pretty simple. Matsui displays various (modern) vampire stereotypes; he is a pale beauty with an old-school fashion sense, sharp teeth and obsession with blood. Vampires are also portrayed as the archetypical enemies of Christianity, which fits Matsui, who "drank blood" of countless Christians during the Shimabara Rebellion. So then, let's look at him from the Christian angle.
Matsui the Christian
First of all, I want to show that Matsui is very Virgin Mary-shaped. Literally.
Did you notice how I pointed at a lot of the same traits as I did in the vampire post? Does it mean Mary was actually a vampire?? Kinda yeah, and no, I'm not joking; this is actually important. The main point of this post is to show that, rather than representing Catholics or generic Christians, Matsui's form is specifically influenced by the Hidden Christians' faith, and this example is one of many that demonstrate how it works.
In case you aren't familiar with the term, here is a brief history lesson. Back during the Sengoku period, the Portuguese missionaries reached Japan. Since Oda Nobunaga was interested in trade with foreigners (and was on bad terms with his country's Buddhists), their faith wasn't just allowed, it was outright encouraged, with even some of the daimyo converting and promoting it in their territories. However, by the time of Toyotomi's and especially Tokugawa's reigns, things changed, and the Christians were heavily oppressed. Eventually, Christians got involved in a large rebellion which they lost; afterwards, their religion was fully outlawed and the remaining Christians were forced to denounce their faith. However, some continued to practice Christianity in secret by adapting their rituals and prayers to resemble those of Buddhism. Because of this and how they didn't have any access to the western teachings, these Hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) developed a rather distinct faith over the 200 years while Japan stayed closed.
Needless to say, under such circumstances the Christian "common knowledge" could become barely recognizable. For the sake of my post I will stress two things: the Hidden Christians retained the custom of baptism and their worship became widely Virgin Mary-centric, because 1). worshipping a foreign God or Jesus would be too obvious; 2). the image of Mary was easily applicable to other figures; and 3). Japanese just like Mary a lot.
Since worship of Mary was very important, it's no wonder Matsui's design has a lot of allusions to her specifically (the above is just a start). Ah, but I don't mean that his Mary motif is true and his vampire motif is false. He is both, it's just a matter of perspective. For example, statues of bodhisattvas and folklore characters were used as a stand-in of Mary; they didn't stop being bodhisattvas and folklore characters just because certain people saw them as someone else. This is what I demonstrated in the examples above, where Matsui's vampire and Mary similarities overlapped: for the "outsider" he would be a demonic vampire, while the person "in the know" would recognize the Mother of God. And as you will see in my next post, his non-Christian symbolism is also important and plays a part in matching him up with several other characters.
Matsui exhibits several Hidden Christian traits that are easy to pick on. He hides his chain that likely contains a cross pendant; he treats it as an omamori, and his mon, which is based on a Buddhist symbol, hides a Christian cross. Or maybe even two; there is an interesting theory that posits that Matsui actually represents Yatsushiro Castle and that his mon is a fusion of four mons that belonged to people who were in charge of it (Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Hosokawa Tadaoki and Matsui Okinaga). You can check this theory here; it's in Japanese, but there is a diagram showing how the mons combine, so it will be easy to understand!
As a representative of a faith that is all about looking like something else, Matsui's design includes lots of symbols that are hidden in plain sight. And I will offer you my interpretations of its various elements! I don't claim they are correct and you will see that there can easily be more than one interpretation of the same sequence. But hey, it just makes things more fun, so feel free to join in!
Matsui's internal affairs clothes don't have any unique Christian symbolism (in fact I'm pretty sure it is specifically a "no outside symbolism, it's just me" outfit because it only links him to other swords), but there is plenty in the other three. If I illustrate every point I will quickly run into picture limit, so I will only add images when there is something that isn't apparent from simply looking at the art. Also, when I say something is an "intended" reading, I merely mean that it's the "main" meaning. You will quickly notice that Matsui is absolutely obsessed with symbolism, so it is entirely possible for the same thing to have multiple valid readings.
Battle
Matsui only got two new sprites by his artist after Kiwame, with the other two being edits of his base sprites. Which isn't bad or anything, but it screwed numerical symbolism in a couple of places, so when I talk about Kiwame, I refer specifically to his new base sprite.
Let's go from head to toe. We all saw Matsui's damaged sprite, so we know that he wears a chain that most likely has a cross pendant. His bow can also be seen as a stylized cross.
My best guess for the visible chain is that it crosses over the hidden cross under his clothes for the symbolic representation of how Christianity was outlawed and went into hiding.
Matsui has a red mark on his chest, bracelets on his wrists and the areas marked by 4/8 dots on his boots for Five Holy Wounds (the wounds Jesus received while on the cross). His pose in general can be seen as representing Jesus on the cross. Moreover, the way his legs are positioned may reference the debate of whether Jesus was nailed in each leg or in both at once. His midriff also symbolically depicts the Wounds in the same way the Portuguese flag does (the Portuguese were the ones who brought Christianity to Japan).
Right arm. His sword guard is based on his mon and is more overtly cross-y after Kiwame.
Left arm. Matsui's armguard references the dates of Shimabara Rebellion (11 December 1637 - 12 April 1638; btw in case you want to double check, EN wiki currently lists them wrong). If you are into puzzles, you can find the solution yourself! I was specifically looking for patterns with these dates, so they were easy to spot.
Here is the solution:
The part on the hand can be read as either "1" (plate) or "4" (the part that represents fingers).
The bracelet is detachable, so you can treat it as either "0" or "1".
There are "2" rows of "3" columns (or vice versa depending on how you look, the position isn't important).
The total of the 2x3 figure is "6".
If you don't count the bracelet, the total with the plate on the hand is "7". If you count it, the total becomes "8".
For dates, you will end up with "month-day" for one and "day-month" for another, but remember that you can move your arm; if you read one with your hand down and the other with your hand raised up, they will be both in correct order.
Here is the visual; first shows how to get years, the others are "11 December" and "12 April":
(Just to be clear, for "3" and "2" you don't necessarily count these blocks specifically, but rather the amount of rows/columns)
And we are still not done with the armguard! Adorably, Matsui also marked the year when he was obtained by the Sano family, which currently owns him! You can't see it in the game though, because the part on the upper arm never fully appears on his sprites, but it has a 3x3 figure for a "9". If you start with the mon ("1"), move to the upper arm ("9"), then the lower arm ("6") and finish at his hand ("1"), the sequence becomes 1961!
I actually really like this find! While playing "spot the pattern" is a lot of fun, all the other symbols are shared. But this date is uniquely his; it has nothing to do with Christianity, yet Matsui's design incorporates it in Kakure-code, which suggests the Sano family/Sano Museum are very important to him. Hell, maybe this is why we never properly see it - it's too personal. It says something that the guy that can exhibit layers (and I do mean layers) of hidden meanings like it's nothing would hide his own feelings like that. Or maybe this is the omamori he talks about in his lines? Most if not all symbols on this outfit reference some kind of tragedy; even a cross/crucifix pendant is a symbolic depiction of murder. And it would suit Matsui to misdirect you by drawing attention to an obvious symbol when he means something else. This also gives credence to the idea that he is close with Tonbokiri and Kashagiri, and I always loved fanarts with them even though they are rare!
Our next stop is the puffy shirt! This one represents the end of the world. Well, a prelude to it.
Matsui's shirt references both the Tribulation in general and the Great Tribulation specifically. Tribulation is the time of great unrest that precludes (or even partially coincides) with the end of time. There are various views on when to expect it and when it occurs in relation to other end of time events, but that's beside the point of my post. Tribulation is associated with two numbers: "7" and the "broken seven" aka "3 and a half". Matsui's shirt has 7 buttons and 7 stripes that are divided into two groups of three with one in the middle, forming the "broken seven". Also, "7" is a recurring number in the Book of Revelation, so if you read the stripes as two "3 and halves" instead of a "broken seven", then the 7 buttons may represent other things. I think they would be a nice stand-in for the Seven Seals (which seal various disasters like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), since you can "seal" and "unseal" them.
His Kiwame also keeps this symbol, though it shortens 7 buttons to 3 and a half: the "stripes" part is 3 buttons long and the frill adds a half. However, it also added a reference to the second coming of Christ and the establishment of the Millennium Kingdom! The new stripe pattern is arranged as "5+5=10", with the 3 buttons indicating it's 10³ or 10x10x10=1000.
So, I guess the meaning changed to "Tribulation will pass", but I like to think he wanted to keep the "3 and a half" as a fashion statement. Basically, Matsui is like that guy whom the others see as a classic music enthusiast but he is actually a hardcore metalhead who wears shirts with apocalyptic imagery on the daily (and may or may not listen to Tribulation band). Also, it just cracks me up to think that even though he changed the shirt design after Kiwame, he still kept the "BEWARE OF THE APOCALYPSE" part and simply added more frills to it.
Midriff. First of all, Matsui seems to consider the diamond shape a stand-in for a cross and uses it pretty often. It is especially obvious here, with the facets of the diamonds forming visible crosses. Also, in Japan, the diamond pattern depicts water chestnut, an aquatic plant, so you may count it as a reference to water.
Secondly, I don't know about you, but to me the triangle really makes it look like there is more to this pattern than what I already mentioned. You can brute force some symbols into it if you try hard enough; here are my guesses (some are inverted):
If you squint hard enough, you can even try to get the entire "Maria" name. A triangle similar to the "large A" designs above should form naturally if Matsui buttons his jacket up. His jacket's buttons are round, and "circle" is "maru" in Japanese. So by buttoning the jacket, he would put a "maru" at the center and it would form an "A". Maru-A -> Maria? Oh, and this "circle as a part of Maria" trick was actually used by the Hidden Christians. I got this idea from Ask Historians Reddit, check here to see that my guess isn't even that farfetched!
Overall, I think the intended reading here is Chi Rho (the XP pattern, it means "Jesus Christ"; the side that represents the back of "P" is more prominent in both normal and Kiwame designs, and the way the button looks on the battle sprite may hint that it's supposed to be rounded), which combines with the Five Holy Wounds to form a crucifix. However, personally I interpret it as AM for "Ave Maria" (partially because it would tie into "Mary" motif). You might have already noticed, but the theme of this outfit is "tragedy"; most if not all (visible) symbols reference injustice, oppression and death. And as a sword, it is exactly what Matsui represents: a weapon for murder that took plenty of innocent lives. But while it is a fitting motif for the battlefield, I like to think that the message here isn't supposed to be "doom and gloom", but rather "there is a ray of light in the darkness", represented by the addition of a prayer.
Next are legs. I think his choice of using heeled boots might be a way to avoid stepping on a fumi-e as much as possible. Fumi-e were depictions of Jesus or Mary; one of the measures the government did to try and root out the Hidden Christians was to make them step on images they considered sacred. So the elevated foot and a thin heel would let Matsui be as unsacrilegious as possible while doing so.
The 2x2 patterns can obviously be read as X, but since there aren't any indicators you are supposed to do that and the shape changes after Kiwame, I think they are numbers. For normal, we can get 0, 2, 4, 8, 40, 44 and for Kiwame (there is another 2x4 pattern on his leg guard) 0, 2, 3, 4, 8, 16, 24, 80, 88, 160, 888. Looking at the meanings of these numbers (NGL, researching biblical numerology was the most annoying part of this analysis; if you think I'm overthinking everything, just check any article about it for comparison) and keeping in mind the overall theme of the costume, I think the intended number for normal is "40" (one 2x2 pattern represents "4", the other is arranged in a circle (well, square) for "0"), which appears in various trials, while for Kiwame it's "888" which symbolises stuff like salvation and new beginnings.
The triangle and circle pattern he (and Kuwana) get after Kiwame on their legs might be an Omega (the white cloth may indicate you aren't supposed to see this part) and an inverted Alpha. Which would fit with the other two additions ("Millennium Kingdom" and "888") as symbols of beginnings. And I know where ya all's minds went when I mentioned this symbol the first time, so I will just point out it's about being the Alpha here.
I think the "small circle in the large circle" accessories of his sword might also be Alpha and Omega in lower case (α, ω). The circle looks not quite round, but the gem gives it a more round feel to represent the shape of α, while the slightly protruding part that holds the gem makes it look like a ω.
If you look at the design as a whole, you can get 30 silvers for that Judas symbolism! However, his Kiwame design incorporates silver colour a lot more, so the symbolism shifted to his extended chain alone.
And, we are finally done with the battle outfit. Next one will be his yukata, which has a lot fewer elements, so we will finish faster, right? RIGHT?
Yukata
Let's do this one in reverse order. In general, I think his colour scheme is evoking a feel of water. Both his personal history and Hidden Christian identity have some important connections to water, so it is only fitting for him to represent it in some way.
…No, don't worry, I don't have anything new to say about his boots (for now). His obi though… First, let's see what this pattern symbolizes in Japan.
Asanoha is a stylized depiction of a hemp leaf. It became a fashionable pattern among the women during the Edo period, and because hemp grows very quickly and doesn't attract parasites, it is a common pattern for baby clothes. Pretty fitting for the "Mother of God". The circles can also be seen as temari, decorative balls that can be given to children as toys and are considered lucky charms.
If we look at this picture in a more abstract manner, it can look like a star. If it's a generic star, it may represent the Star of Bethlehem, which is connected to both a massacre (Massacre of the Innocents, when all male children from around Bethlehem under the age of two were killed) and Mary (it's a story about Jesus's birth). If it's specifically a "six-pointed star in a circle", it might be Ring of Solomon, which gave Solomon the ability to command supernatural beings, tying it into the vampire motif. However, I think the most likely inspirations here are… buildings.
The white and gray pattern may be seen as generic stained glass, but I'm pretty sure the prominent dots allude to Amakusa Shiro Memorial Hall (also note how it uses red and blue).
The pattern may also allude to churches connected to Hidden Christians; there isn't a complete match (at least from the sides I can see from photos), but it gets pretty interesting if you see them while using both the obi and the mon patterns together. On the left is Sakitsu Church, established in 1569 by the Portuguese; it was the center of Christianity in Amakusa during the mid 16th century (the current building was constructed in 1934). On the right is Oura Cathedral, where Kakure Kirishitans first revealed themselves.
I also thought that maybe depending on how his obi is tied, there might be 12 visible circles to represent the 12 Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region that are recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO (Mary also has a 12 connection, and it is a very prominent number in general), but if Matsui's musical actor and costume are anything to go by, you will end up with around 15-17. So my current guess is that the entire obi may have 26 circles for 26 Martyrs of Japan, which is who the Oura Cathedral is dedicated to (you can also read the ones in front as "2" complete and "6" in total).
This one has nothing to do with Christianity, but while researching the six-pointed star, I came across this piece of trivia about western (and not so western) swords, so I may as well leave it here. Certain UK/US swords (used to?) have a six-pointed star symbol that is called Star of Damascus which marks the sword as battle ready.
If we don't look at this pattern as a star, then maybe it's a lily? White lilies have six long petals and they are a symbol of, you guessed it, Mary. I also have a theory that lilies have a personal significance for Matsui, but I will talk about it in the next post.
It might also be a Iota Chi (IX) monogram (it means "Jesus Christ"). I find this one particularly interesting in the context of musical Paraiso, because they added it to Amakusa's costume (at least I presume it is meant to be IX) even though the picture I think it's based on didn't have it. So at least in the myu canon you can count it as another allusion to Amakusa Shiro.
Это "Ж" неспроста. Alright, we are finally done with the obi! Next one is the scarf. Matsui wears it for the sake of hiding his chain. As for the floral pattern, as someone who regularly sees Sakamoto Ryoma-related fanart, I'm pretty sure these are bellflowers. Bellflowers -> church bells, this one was easy.
Hairpin. Wait, I know! There are secretly three diamond shapes and if you remove the stone and put it between two frames, you get Buzen's mon! …Well alright, this is (probably) not the intended answer (but it is in my heart). What we are looking at here is likely Lhq.
There are some lanterns (that are nicknamed "Christian lanterns" nowadays) which bear a certain symbol that looks like "Lhq" if turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise (there are various theories about what it means). While the post-reveal Hidden Christians denied that this symbol had anything to do with them, other people believe there is indeed some kind of Kakure meaning here. Let's look at it "properly".
Out of curiosity, I also tried to fit the Lhq onto Matsui's hairpin, and while it's probably not supposed to work this way, you can do it if all letters overlap on one side. I also tried to picture it not as drawings but as flexible three-dimensional figures and I think you can legit shape them into such a hairpin?
The position of the hand is also meaningful! It is theorized that this symbol was used to mark gathering spots for the Hidden Christians, so it makes sense for Matsui to draw attention to it to attract people who understand its meaning or perhaps to signal that they would be safe with him. Or maybe he is just doing the maneki-neko pose.
"But what does it have to do with Christ"-- hold on, this one needs a bit of backstory. As I mentioned in the beginning, one of the reasons why Mary was so popular was the ease of passing her as other figures. In particular, she was linked to bodhisattva Kannon (I will talk about her more in part 2). And there is a version of maneki-neko origin story about how Kannon, in the form of a cat, saved a noble by motioning with her paw to make him follow her to the temple. Or maybe she saved the temple from bankruptcy by bringing a wealthy noble. Or both. The point is, maneki-neko is linked to Kannon, who is linked to Virgin Mary, who is linked to Matsui, who is doing the maneki-neko pose to call you to a "temple". So what I'm saying here is Matsui's Hidden Christian persona is yet another front that obscures that he is actually a hidDEN CATBOY. And he will bring you financial luck by not letting you spend too much!
(I also went ahead and gifed that Hanamaru scene for, ugh, research purposes)
And now that we have outed Matsui as a catboy, he actually matches his Sano Museum buddies better!
It's also worth noting that Kannon is depicted as either male or female depending on the sect, so this might explain Matsui's androgynous look.
Going back to yukata, I think the design as a whole is supposed to evoke a feeling of a "safe place" as opposed to his "tragic battlefield" attire. Perhaps, it's a church that only existed in Hidden Christians' imagination? Matsui is inviting you to this world of bells and stained glass and tells you that you are safe here.
And now we finally got to his last outfit! This one will be short.
Suit
Oh come on, this "totally diamond-shaped" brooch on a white-blue cravat is way too obvious! Were you even trying, Matsui? And yet, there are at least three more symbols. The shirt has 6 and 6 stripes and there are 6 visible buttons between the shirt, the vest and the jacket for 666 (another Book of Revelation reference). Though it is possible that the entire shirt has 8+8 stripes and 8 buttons for 888. If he buttons his jacket up, his buttons would form an obscured "Five Holy Wounds" shape. If we leave it as is, but turn it 90 degrees, there is a Chi Rho. This is that sneaky crucifix I mentioned earlier (this actually points at the "XP" being the intended meaning of his battle outfit, since there is a bit of a pattern to repeat battle symbols on Gou suits).
(The true Kemono...)
Aaand, we are finally done with the outfits, but there is one more item I want to look into. Let's try to pinpoint what kind of jewel Matsui uses for his accessories!
…Well, it is probably not cateye. Let's check what the Good Book has to offer when it comes to blue stones!
Turns out, not a lot, or at least not a lot that modern people can agree on. Due to thousands of years of linguistic shifts, a lot of stone names mean different stones in our time, so there is a lot of debate about exactly which mineral was meant in the text. I did notice a couple of interesting things though: the tribe of Judah from which Jesus descends was associated with the colour blue, and there is more blue/red dichotomy with people usually suggesting the stone they were associated with was either some kind of blue or some kind of red.
Even though this one was a bust, while going down this particular rabbit hole, I ended up in a different neighbourhood entirely. Namely, the birthstones!
While the birthstones aren't a Christian concept, they originated from biblical ideas, so I think they fit the overall theme just fine. For the Touken Danshi, fans usually treat the day of their implementation and the day they were assigned status of some kind of important property as their "birthdays", so for Matsui those would be December and March. As you can see in the picture above, the entire December can be blue, with the bonus points for including turquoise, which is a very common guess for the stone that is associated with the Judah tribe. However, I find March a lot more interesting. It has two stones associated with it: aquamarine, which can represent water, and bloodstone, which people used to symbolize the blood spilled by Jesus on the cross. And not only would "water that hides the blood of Jesus" be a very Matsui thing to implement, it may have an additional meaning which I will talk about in my next post. It may also be why he says that he likes red, but in fashion blue suits him more. So yeah, my guess is it's aquamarine!
And we are done. Let's summarize all of our finds (I didn't include "Mary" and "Kakure Neko-tan" since they already have entire pictures to themselves).
…Yeeeah, it's no wonder he prefers to pick his accessories himself.
Join me for even more overthinking in the next post, where I compare Matsui's design with other sword boys!
Because both Horikawa's and Hizen's musical actors show off their guitar skills during performances, I like to think their characters have musical rivalry going on. Normally friendly Horikawa and disinterested Hizen get all worked up around each other, so people usually think it's because their former masters were on different sides. But no, they don't care about that, and this tension is entirely because they are a little too intense about their hobbies.
Utaawase is the most plot-heavy of the Toumyu concerts. The Touken Danshi hold a ceremony to call forth a new comrade, which is done in the form of an utaawase (competition of waka poetry). Well, it isn't a traditional utaawase but rather the Touken Danshi tell eight stories inspired by poems, light eight flames (they don't do it for two stories (I presume they were there to signal the end of act 1 and the start of act 2), these are ignited during the opening and ending ceremonies instead) and sing live songs in-between. The stories are little vignettes about life in the Honmaru, and they are done in styles that complement their performers; for example, Nikkari tells a kaidanbanashi (a rakugo ghost story), while Tonbokiri's is a comedy skit where he plays the straight man to the absurdity around him. Which means that you very much need to see what's going on to fully appreciate it, since a simple retelling won't be able to relay things like the amazingness of the konpeito song or the elegance of the fox dances. Therefore, if you plan to see Utaawase in the future, I advise not to read this summary and to watch it unspoiled. However, if you think about checking out the musicals but aren't sure if it will be your thing, watching this beautiful, lighthearted yet heartfelt story with a varied cast and situations might be a good start.
Before the story starts, Kotegiri Gou practices doing hand seals for the ritual, and Horikawa Kunihiro and Monoyoshi Sadamune remind him the ones he forgot. Kotegiri is worried, but the other two assure him he will be fine, and Horikawa reveals Izuminokami Kanesada wrote a haiku to cheer Kotegiri up. The wakizashi teach the viewers the hand seals and tell them about how to behave during the concert. Horikawa warns that using the lightsticks at the wrong time will be punished by seppuku, but assures spectators that he will assist it (his former master enforced a strict code in the Shinsengumi, where transgressions were punishable by seppuku). The other two comment that it's too scary, and Kotegiri asks the audience to follow the rules so that Horikawa won't be involved in something so painful.
The Touken Danshi, who are dressed in priest-like robes, perform a dance in front of a sword. They are separated into two groups, the Left and the Right. Tsurumaru Kuninaga is the judge; he talks about how every creature, whether living or spiritual, can sing. It's the same for the Touken Danshi, so Tsurumaru starts the ceremony by lighting the first flame, and the Touken Danshi sing while having a symbolic battle while dancing.
(Horikawa and Imanotsurugi are the ones who provide topics (poems) before the stories)
The first story. Ishikirimaru is sitting in front of a Go board and listens to the rattle of the Go stones. The sound reminds him of something, but he can't put his finger on what it is. Kogitsunemaru walks by, and Ishikirimaru invites him to join. Nearby, Kotegiri wonders how to get better at his lessons, and Otegine says he won't join him because his body hurts all over afterwards. Kogitsunemaru warns that it's not good to do something in excess and advises Kotegiri that blindly repeating the same lessons won't help him to improve. Ishikirimaru says that when people hit a wall, they pray to gods, and suggests doing one hundred pilgrimages, where believers walk between two stones that are put some distance from each other and pray (this practice originated from Ishikirimaru's shrine). Kotegiri asks if he needs to do it a hundred times, but Ishikirimaru says it's enough to do it as much as he feels like. Kotegiri and Otegine leave to look for suitable boulders, and Ishikirimaru keeps wondering what the sound reminds him of. Tsurumaru joins them and says it's similar to the sound of hailstones falling (his former master died in winter, and Tsurumaru was buried with him). The Sanjos say they couldn't detect him, but Tsurumaru points out they are never surprised when he approaches them. While Tsurumaru and Ishikirimaru play Go, Ookurikara reminds Tsurumaru about their farmwork. Ookurikara also finds the sound of the stones familiar; they remind him of cannonballs. Ishikirimaru says it's just like him to think of war. Monoyoshi joins the conversation; the sound reminds him of how he used to play with Ishikirimaru and Ookurikara during their mission. Yamatonokami Yasusada and Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki join as well; Mutsunokami says the sound reminds him of an abacus (his former master was a trader), and Yamatonokami thinks about the crackling sound of the sparklers.
As Ishikirimaru continues to think about the sound, things get livelier around the Honmaru. Izuminokami Kanesada and Hachisuka Kotetsu share sake, Yamatonokami takes Ishikirimaru's place as Tsurumaru's Go opponent (Yamatonokami wins), Akashi Kuniyuki lays down a mat to take a rest, Ookurikara works in the fields, Kotegiri and Otegine bring the boulders, and Imanotsurugi wants to train, so he joins their pilgrimage. Ishikirimaru finally remembers that this is the sound of many people treading on gravel at the shrine. Kogitsunemaru says it's nostalgic (a possible Kogitsunemaru blade used to belong to a shrine), and Imanotsurugi offers Ishikirimaru to join them. Together with Ishikirimaru, everyone (minus Ookurikara) joins the prayer. Ishikirimaru notices that the "stones" are actually Ojizo-san statues (statues of Jizo bodhisattva, who protects travelers, children and suffering souls of the dead, are common along the roads) covered in moss; Otegine starts to panic, but Ishikirimaru reassures him that Ojizo-san is smiling, so it's fine. Everyone continues their prayers, and they finish the pilgrimage.
The second story. Tonbokiri is training. Nagasone Kotetsu compliments him, and Tonbokiri says he needs to live up to the Saniwa's expectations. Nagasone comments that it can be hard to manage equipment as a captain, so it makes sense to strengthen your body instead. Because of that, Nagasone offers to take care of Tonbokiri's konpeito. Tonbokiri denies, and Nagasone leaves while putting his fist in his mouth (it's something his former master could do). Tonbokiri wonders if Nagasone was after his konpeito but dismisses the thought. Tomoegata Naginata walks by while snacking on a dango. Tonbokiri asks him if he wants to spar, but Tomoegata refuses because he is fatigued from an earlier battle. He says he may need to replenish his sugar level and asks if Tonbokiri has any konpeito. Tonbokiri points out that Tomoegata is already in the middle of replenishing his sugar, and Tomoegata says it's too bad while shoving the rest of the dango in his mouth. Nikkari Aoe greets Tonbokiri as "Konpeito", and Tonbokiri asks if he is also after his konpeito. Nikkari admits that he craves it, but Tonbokiri refuses to give it to him. Yamatonokami and Horikawa approach Tonbokiri, but before they can even start, Tonbokiri asks if they are also after konpeito. Tonbokiri tells them that konpeito should only be eaten during emergencies. Yamatonokami starts pretend-crying that you can get 200 konpeito for 200 yen, but Tonbokiri still refuses. Yamatonokami pretends his words wounded him and tells Horikawa to leave him and escape, and Horikawa does just that to Yamatonokami's surprise.
Tonbokiri suddenly feels exhausted and takes a nap. He wakes up and feels that something is different. The Saniwa announces that the konpeito appeared once again! The era is konpeito. Because konpeito appeared in Konpeito, they need to protect the konpeito. Tonbokiri wonders what is going on and realizes it must be a dream. The next team is: captain - Konpeito (Horikawa clues Tonbokiri in that it's him); the others are Konpeito (Nagasone), Konpeito (Nikkari), Konpeito (Yamatonokami), Konpeito (Horikawa) and Konpeito (Tomoegata). Everyone konpeitoly introduces themselves, and Tonbokiri decides to just watch how the dream will go while konpeito along with their act. The team is attacked by a large group of konpeito. Tonbokiri suggests to konpeito, much to everyone's surprise, but they decide to follow his plan. The konpeito against the konpeito ensues; the team is overpowered, but in the end they manage to KONPEITO! Everyone is exhausted, and Tomoegata even hurt his konpeito muscle and can't walk. Tonbokiri suggests returning to konpeito and konpeito immediately, but everyone is shocked he would say something so heartless. Then Nagasone suggests returning to konpeito and konpeito immediately, and everyone agrees with his reasonable assessment. Tonbokiri decides that he needs to rethink how he acted as a captain and once again falls asleep.
Others come back, and Tonbokiri wakes up. He thinks he is still in a dream and wants to rally everyone together because he is one of the Three Great Konpeito, Konpeitogiri. He konpeitos everyone else, who don't understand what he is saying, and they realize he must be upset about their earlier behaviour. They apologize, but Tonbokiri is fine with that; he offers them his konpeito (real), and together they sing a song about the awesomeness of KONPEITOOOOOOOOOO.
The third story. Nikkari talks about there being a tale with a "you should not become attached to frivolous people" message. He wonders how it feels to be attached to someone, because it's something he doesn't experience. He sits at the small table and observes disembodied souls gather around him. It's night, and Nikkari wonders why they don't manifest during the day. He talks about the difference between a soul and a ghost, one looking like a flame and the other having a form. Some may think that the flame-like shape is the real form of the soul after it kept wandering past its death, but actually, because of how hard it clings to this world, you can still see its original outline.
Nikkari performs Kikka no Chigiri (The Chrysanthemum Pledge), a story from Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain).
Samon the scholar nursed a traveler named Soemon. Soemon came to this province on orders of his lord, but his lord was betrayed and killed. Falling ill, Soemon was prepared to accept his fate, but since Samon saved him, he wanted to repay him. The two became sworn brothers, Soemon as the older and Samon as the younger. After some time, Soemon decided to check how his home was faring. Samon was worried about his departure, but Soemon promised he would be back on the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival.
The days passed, and the season changed. Finally, it was the day of the festival. Samon got up earlier than usual, cleaned the house, brought white chrysanthemums and waited for Soemon's return. He kept waiting even after the sun set and the moon rose, but once even the moon hid in the mountains, he gave up. However, once he returned home, there was a black shadow. Samon recognized Soemon and happily invited him in, but even though he served his brother food and sake, Soemon didn't touch them and remained silent. After a while, Soemon finally spoke: once he returned to his province, he was taken captive with no way to escape. Since the Chrysanthemum Festival was growing near, and Soemon didn't want to break his promise, he came to the conclusion that he could only get there in time as a ghost. He committed suicide, and thus the vow was kept. The two men wept, and once it was his time, Soemon disappeared.
The fourth story. Kuniyuki finds a zabuton (a floor pillow) and decides to play a storyteller. He introduces himself and plays with the audience by saying "zabu zabu" and the audience responding with "ton ton". Kuniyuki talks about how when humans make a mistake, they often try to conceal it, only to end up making it worse.
The days are getting warmer. Imanotsurugi approaches Kuniyuki and says it's plum season. Kuniyuki complains that in such warm weather he just wants to rest, but on the contrary, Imanotsurugi wants to move even more. Kuniyuki sees how energetic Imanotsurugi is and asks him for a favour: his towel got stuck on a plum branch, and he wants Imanotsurugi to retrieve it. Imanotsurugi points out that it's low enough for Kuniyuki to reach, but Kuniyuki can't be assed to do so much work. Imanotsurugi agrees to do it, but, as he unties Kuniyuki's towel, the branch breaks. Imanotsurugi panics, and Kuniyuki points out that this tree is very important to the Saniwa. Imanotsurugi decides he needs to apologize, but Kuniyuki assures him that, since he was the only one who saw the accident, they can keep it a secret. However, without such a big branch, the balance of the tree is a little off. Therefore, for the sake of Imanotsurugi, Kuniyuki breaks a branch on the opposite side.
At that moment, Kogitsunemaru passes nearby. Kuniyuki makes Imanotsurugi sit on his shoulders and asks him to put the towel on the upper branch. Kuniyuki puts the broken branches in a pile and greets Kogitsunemaru. Kuniyuki tells him that the wind blew his towel on the tree and asks Kogitsunemaru to retrieve it. Kogitsunemaru jumps after the towel, but breaks a branch in the process. Kogitsunemaru starts panicking, and Kuniyuki claims that Kogitsunemaru actually broke three branches. Imanotsurugi tries to say that the other two were his fault, but Kogitsunemaru believes he broke them all. Kuniyuki reassures Kogitsunemaru that he did him a favour and shouldn't blame himself so hard; Kuniyuki and Imanotsurugi will just pretend that they didn't see anything. But the balance of the tree is off once again, so Kuniyuki offers to break another branch. Imanotsurugi and Kogitsunemaru are still unsure, so Kuniyuki proposes another solution: instead of only having half of its branches, wouldn't it be better if the tree wasn't there in the first place? Imanotsurugi and Kogitsunemaru panic and say the Saniwa will get mad, but Kuniyuki argues that it will be worse for the tree to disappear piece by piece. Kuniyuki gives them saws, and the other two go to take the tree down. At this point, Kuniyuki reveals to the audience that five minutes before Imanotsurugi arrived, he was admiring the plum tree and accidentally broke its branch. He panicked and hastily tied the broken branch back with his towel. So, from the very beginning, it was all his fault.
Kuniyuki admits that he actually made this story up. He knows that Imanotsurugi and Kogitsunemaru are too honest, and they would have apologized to the Saniwa if they broke the branches. But when Kuniyuki is alone and bored, he likes to come up with stories like this to kill time. And thus, he passes his storyteller baton to the next.
The fifth story. Tomoegata tries to understand what makes a good harvest. He sees an unusual plant growing in the fields and tries to elegantly pull it out, but it doesn't work. Mutsunokami and Yamatonokami return from their farm duties. Yamatonokami wants to feed the newly gathered carrots to the horses to see their eyes shine, but Mutsunokami argues that they need them for dinner. They see Tomoegata and are surprised to see the large plant. Tomoegata guesses that some seeds might have been mixed up, and Mutsunokami points out that it seems to be ready to be harvested. Tomoegata demonstrates that he can't pull the plant out by himself, so the other two join him. However, even with their help, the plant won't budge. Mutsunokami wishes there was one other person to help, and at that moment Ookurikara comes to the fields. Ookurikara sees others and immediately tries to leave, but Yamatonokami "enchants" him with the steps he learned from Kotegiri, and Mutsunokami restrains Ookurikara. Mutsunokami comments that ever since Ookurikara returned from his mission, he has been into farming, working in the fields early in the morning. Thanks to him, the fields look great, and this huge plant must have grown due to his care. Ookurikara says it's a sweet potato and claims he can pull it alone, but fails. The others join him, and together they pull out the potatoes that kinda look like a horse. Tomoegata giggles at learning a new fact about potatoes, but that weirds the others out. Mutsunokami exclaims that they are going to have a potato festival that night so they can give the carrots to the horses. Yamatonokami is happy that he will see their eyes sparkle, and Tomoegata is glad to be friendly with the horses. They carry the vegetables away while pretending that the potatoes are a horse (Yamatonokami admits it looks creepy in motion), and Ookurikara is left alone to question what the hell just happened.
The sixth story. Matsudaira Nobuyasu and Nagami Sadachika talk about their duties as Mononobe. There are many ways in which the HRA may attack; things like assassinations and interferences in wars are better left to the Touken Danshi, while the Mononobe methods are more subtle. They see a HRA soldier pull out a sea bream. Sadachika doesn't know what a fish has to do with anything, but Nobuyasu starts to panic. After all, the HRA are going to assassinate their father, Tokugawa Ieyasu! Sadachika is confused, but Nobuyasu reveals that Mikazuki Munechika told him that Ieyasu might be poisoned by a sea bream tempura. Sadachika is bewildered to hear that, but Nobuyasu assures him there are many theories (there is indeed a theory that Ieyasu died from food poisoning after eating tempura). The soldier puts the sea bream on the road and leaves. Before the brothers can do anything, they see Ieyasu walk by. He sees the sea bream and decides to make tempura. Nobuyasu demonstrates his skills by performing a lightning-fast fish steal!
Unfortunately, the HRA have another sea bream ready. Ieyasu picks it up, but Sadachika approaches him with his face covered by the first fish. He claims that he has been swimming for ten years and has grown limbs. Ieyasu is holding his son, and he fishes to take him back. Nobuyasu pretends to be the voice of the "son" and calls out for his "father" to save him. Ieyasu wants to return the "son" but drops him, and Nobuyasu starts crying about being filled to the bream with hurt. Sadachika yells at Ieyasu for seamingly disregarding his "son's" safety, and, after a quick back-and-forth, he finally secures the second fish.
Yuki Hideyasu comes back and sees a third sea bream. He catches it and wants to turn it into tempura to share with his father. His brothers are exasperated, but can't do anything. Ieyasu joins Hideyasu, and they agree to have a drink with tempura. Nobuyasu uses paralyzing darts to immobilize them and take the last fish. After posing with the sea breams, Nobuyasu and Sadachika congratulate each other for protecting history.
The seventh story. Izuminokami just finished bathing and comes outside in his yukata to dry his hair with a fan. Hachisuka and Nikkari (also in yukatas) join him, and they talk about how they often end up here together because it takes a long time to both wash and dry their hair. Izuminokami comments that someone is missing, and Hachisuka responds it's Sengo Muramasa. Nikkari adds it's because he is still on the mission from which Nikkari recently returned.
Hachisuka asks Nikkari what he is using for his hair, and Nikkari says it's camellia oil that he got from Muramasa. It reminds Nikkari of a prayer, and Hachisuka comments it helps with the dryness in the ends of your hair. Izuminokami says he just leaves his hair to nature and dries it with the wind; if he rides a horse right after the bath, it will dry in no time. Hachisuka says it's just like him and complains that when he is on farming duties, his hair gets in the way. Nikkari agrees, and Izuminokami asks what they think about their hair during battles. Nikkari says if it gets messy in a fight, it's fine. Hachisuka asks what he uses to keep his hair in place, and Nikkari says it's once again the camellia oil. Izuminokami doesn't like when his hair feels sticky and explains he tried to use sesame oil in the past. His hair smelled delicious!
Hachisuka believes it's a common practice to wash hair in lukewarm water and wonders what would be good for hair strength. Izuminokami says you just need to brush your hair properly, and Hachisuka adds you can use more protein in your diet. Izuminokami also heard that you shouldn't drink too much sake, but that wouldn't be fun. Hachisuka asks others about what they do with their hair when going to sleep, and Nikkari explains he likes to sleep face down. Izuminokami says that during winter you can use your hair to keep yourself warm. Suddenly, Hachisuka wonders about Kogitsunemaru's hair care, and Izuminokami realizes they never went to the springs at the same time. In the end, they just chalk it up to the Sanjo's mysteriousness.
Izuminokami asks Nikkari what he meant by prayers earlier, and Nikkari responds he was praying for Tonbokiri and Muramasa's safety, so he kept using the camellia oil. Hachisuka tells him that he would like to try it as well, and so does Izuminokami, but in a more tsundere manner. As Hachisuka and Izuminokami apply the oil (Izuminokami really doesn't like it), there is a sound of music coming from elsewhere. It's revealed that Horikawa is playing the guitar (real), and the other three sing a song about the evening like the one they just had with his accompaniment.
The eighth story. Kogitsunemaru admires the full moon and asks if Kuniyuki agrees it's beautiful. Kuniyuki is surprised that Kogitsunemaru detected him all the way from his room, and Kogitsunemaru asks if he needs something from him. Kuniyuki explains their meeting is just a coincidence; he was going to the bathroom, saw Kogitsunemaru leave and decided to see where he was going. Kuniyuki notes that the weather is so clear, you can see the moon reflected in the pond, so it looks like there are two moons. This reminds Kogitsunemaru of a strange incident that happened before Kuniyuki joined their Honmaru.
It was another night with the moon as beautiful as this time. Nagasone returned from the expedition and was surprised to be greeted by Kogitsunemaru, because he just saw him elsewhere. Kogitsunemaru told him that he was admiring the moon there entire time, and Nagasone decided it was probably his imagination. Otegine passed by and was surprised to see Kogitsunemaru, because he just saw him eating aburaage in another place. Kogitsunemaru was offended that Otegine would claim something like that, and Nagasone noted how it looked like Kogitsunemaru appeared in different places at the same time. Horikawa found Kogitsunemaru and reprimanded him for taking aburaage from the kitchen. It was intended for their breakfast, so Nagasone and Otegine agreed it was a serious matter. The others explained Kogitsunemaru's situation, and Horikawa got scared that it might had been a ghost. Tsurumaru spooked everyone (minus Kogitsunemaru). He found their story surprising and suggested they might have been tricked by a fox. This made Kogitsunemaru realize that his companions were strange: even though they were dressed for battle, they didn't have their swords. The four reappeared with fox masks on their faces and danced with Kogitsunemaru. Once they were done, Kogitsunemaru's doppelganger revealed himself; he looked and moved just like Kogitsunemaru, but had a fox mask covering his face. Kogitsunemaru shouted at him and drew his sword, but the double only pulled out his fan. Kogitsunemaru understood he wasn't there to fight, and the two danced together until the double gave Kogitsunemaru his mask.
In the present, Kogitsunemaru explains that only the face of the double was left. The other Touken Danshi that were involved in this incident don't remember anything. Kuniyuki asks if, in the end, the double was just a trick of a fox. Kogitsunemaru explains that it was his other self. There was a time when Kogitsunemaru was banned from eating aburaage; he wouldn't be at ease until he ate ten a day, so, to sever himself from his greed, he started to study dance (Kogitsunemaru puts on a mask and starts dancing as he speaks). Kuniyuki asks if that means Kogitsunemaru's greed got a face of its own and says it's hard to believe. Kogitsunemaru says that the heart doesn't have a defined form, and his feelings were in conflict, so his desire for aburaage split itself from his heart. Fiction and truth are two sides of the same coin, but if Kuniyuki doesn't believe him, it's fine. However, Kogitsunemaru believes and therefore accepts the other him. Kogitsunemaru excuses himself, and Kuniyuki muses about the concept of "front and back" when he is greeted by Kogitsunemaru. Kuniyuki is surprised, and Kogitsunemaru asks if he was tricked by a fox. Kuniyuki decides he is seeing things because he has worked too much, so he will ask Otegine to do his farming duties tomorrow.
With all the stories finished, the ceremony reaches its climax. The HRA soldiers approach the sword, but they are repelled by light. Tsurumaru ignites the last flame, and the Touken Danshi sing about seven stages of new life interspersed with smithing-related chants (the heart starts to beat, the blood starts to circulate, the eyes that haven't yet seen the light, the limbs that split to form fingers, ears that don't yet understand the sound, the mouth that is yet to speak, the lungs that make its first breath to produce the first cry). The Touken Danshi call out to the spirit and perform the ritual for which the wakizashi at the beginning taught the audience the seals. They evoke the eight sword gods created from the blood of Kagutsuchi, and with this prayer the last, eighth, stage is complete. After a pause, there is a heartbeat, and a hooded, masked figure appears. He was called by the eight flames, and he was given a body and eight sufferings. He questions why he was called, and the others answer it's to fight and fulfill their mission together. They ask him to lend them his power, and he says he will continue to ask why he was created while writing the story of this body. The Saniwa calls the new warrior, and the Touken Danshi finally removes the mask. He is Matsui Gou (or Kuwana Gou during other performances), the famous blade forged by Gou no Yoshihiro. Matsui introduces himself and joins the celebratory song.
After the song is over, Tsurumaru tries to talk about the utaawase, but the others don't pay attention. Izuminokami and Mutsunokami are planning to start drinking, with Mutsunokami and Horikawa reminding Izuminokami that he got drunk during the last festival (Izuminokami doesn't care). Imanotsurugi is excited about the party, and he and Monoyoshi babyun to prepare the banquet hall. Otegine, Tonbokiri and Nagasone promise to help with heavy lifting, and Hachisuka joins them. Yamatonokami, Ishikirimaru, Ookurikara and Nikkari are in charge of bringing food. Kuniyuki attempts to slack off, but Tomoegata and Kogitsunemaru bring him with them to help others. Tsurumaru decides that their contest is now on hold and leaves the two Gous alone. Matsui tells Kotegiri that he has heard the songs. It was a nostalgic feeling, and, before he knew it, he was singing along. Kotegiri tells him they will sing and dance even more together from now on. Imanotsurugi calls them to join the celebration, and, as they go, Kotegiri asks Matsui to join his lessons.
Very quick TLDR about the historical figures, so I won't need to explain who is who in the text. This play is a sequel to Mihotose no Komoriuta, I've already talked about some characters in its post (Tonbokiri and Muramasa still play the roles of Tokugawa retainers). The story about Mototada (Monoyoshi) from Nikkari Aoe Tanki Shutsujin is concurrent to the events of this play.
Yuki Hideyasu (his childhood name was Ogimaru): the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the former master of Otegine. His mother was a handmaiden of Ieyasu's wife, who didn't allow her to become an official concubine, so she was sent away. The handmaiden presumably gave birth to twins, but because of the superstition that it was unnatural for humans to have twins, one of the boys was declared dead (it is believed that he was taken by his maternal family, took the name Nagami Sadachika and succeeded his grandfather as a head priest; ironically, despite completely different lives, both twins died pretty young and only two years apart). At least at first, Ieyasu disliked Hideyasu; he didn't even meet him until the boy was 3, and it was actually his first son, Nobuyasu, who arranged that meeting. 10-year-old Hideyasu was given to Toyotomi Hideyoshi for adoption (Ieyasu may or may not have given him Doujigiri Yasutsuna as a parting gift). Once he came of age, he got the name "Hideyasu", which combined characters from the names of both his biological and adopted fathers. Even though he proved himself a capable warrior before he was even 20, once Hideyoshi got a biological son, he gave Hideyasu away to the Yuki clan. After Hideyoshi died, Ishida Mitsunari got in trouble with other daimyo, and Hideyasu provided him shelter, for which Mitsunari repaid by giving him Ishida Masamune. After Ieyasu decided to leave Hideyasu in Aizu before the Battle of Sekigahara, he gave him Inaba Gou (along with his armor and war fan).
Tokugawa Hidetada (his childhood name was Chomaru): the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the second Tokugawa shogun. He was born shortly before Nobuyasu committed seppuku. Hideyoshi oversaw his coming-of-age ceremony, and Hidetada got the "hide" character from him. Hidetada was supposed to regroup with Ieyasu's troops before the Battle of Sekigahara, but he got delayed due to resistance from the Sanada clan and weather conditions, so he didn't make it in time. While he wasn't a good general, Ieyasu trusted him to keep the shogunate stable during peacetime. That being said, he could be rather brutal with his policies, like ordering executions of entire Christian families, little children included, and he only grew more trigger-happy over the years.
Yuki Hideyasu sees a dream about the past. In it, Tokugawa Ieyasu orders his firstborn son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu, to commit seppuku. As Nobuyasu cuts his stomach, he gets enveloped in a blue light with muffled theme of Tsuwamonodomo playing in the distance a single pink petal falling from the sky.
Hideyasu wakes up. He takes out his sword and calls it a silly dream.
August 1600, Koyama, Shimotsuke. Sengo Muramasa holds a purple flower and asks Tonbokiri about the current battle. Tonbokiri explains that it's the Subjugation of Aizu, a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara, but Muramasa tells him he is asking about its purpose. Tonbokiri responds it's to subjugate Uesugi Kagekatsu. Muramasa agrees that it's the official reason, but asks again about the real reason. Tonbokiri admits that some historians think it's to tempt Ishida Mitsunari to start a war in Ieyasu's absence. Muramasa points out that Monoyoshi Sadamune, that is, "Torii Mototada" will die. Tonbokiri says this is how history will proceed, although Monoyoshi will escape unharmed. Muramasa reminisces about how fun it was when they were all together and wonders what Ishikirimaru and Nikkari Aoe, who already "died", are up to. Tonbokiri explains that they can't further help with the mission because the more foreign bodies gather in one place, the higher the chance of Kebiishi's appearance. Muramasa is reminded of their battle against the Kebiishi and snaps that he can't forgive Ieyasu for causing Nobuyasu's death. Muramasa wishes Ookurikara was around to blow off some steam (and strip), and at that moment Ieyasu comes back.
Ieyasu received a report from Fushimi that Mitsunari raised an army. Muramasa asks him if he will send people to help "Mototada", but Ieyasu says they won't make it in time and that "Mototada" knew it would happen. He asks Muramasa to formulate a plan of attack and leaves. Muramasa tells Tonbokiri that ever since Nobuyasu died, he has hated Ieyasu. He gives his flower to Tonbokiri and points out that it's an aconite.
At Honmaru, Kotegiri Gou dreams about performing on stage. He is joined by the newcomer Akashi Kuniyuki, who compliments his performance. The two introduce themselves, and Kuniyuki comments that Kotegiri has soft and beautiful hands, but says it was a joke before leaving. Otegine joins Kotegiri, and Kotegiri asks him to practice together, though Otegine says singing and dancing aren't his forte.
In the past, Muramasa tells Ieyasu the plan for the upcoming campaign. He suggests splitting the army into three camps: Ieyasu will take the main force back to Edo and then head west; the second camp will head west via another route as a feint against the Sanada; the third group will stay in Aizu to subjugate the Uesugi and restrain the Date. Ieyasu asks who will lead the other camps, and Muramasa suggests it should be his sons Yuki Hideyasu and Tokugawa Hidetada. Ieyasu yells at him that he understands this much, and rather he wonders which son should lead which camp. Tonbokiri says he has a premonition that this will be a decisive battle and points out that whoever heads west with Ieyasu will likely be regarded as the Tokugawa heir; therefore, Ieyasu should make the choice himself. Ieyasu notes that if Nobuyasu was still alive, it would have been an easy decision and asks Tonbokiri and Muramasa for an evaluation of his other sons. Tonbokiri says that Hideyasu proved himself in battle, and Muramasa agrees that he seems to be the better choice. After hearing that, Ieyasu orders Hideyasu to stay at Aizu and Hidetada to follow him west to Sekigahara.
At Honmaru, Kotegiri and Otegine have dancing lessons. They talk about how Hideyasu lost the opportunity to rule twice; he was Ieyasu's second-born son, so he became the heir apparent after Nobuyasu's death, but later he was adopted (that is, held hostage) by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. While Hideyoshi did consider him a potential heir at first, after Hideyoshi got a biological son, Hideyasu was adopted again, this time by the Yuki clan, which owned Otegine. And then, after Ieyasu came into power, he chose his third son, Hidetada, as the heir. Kotegiri notes that this means Hideyasu actually lost the opportunity to rule thrice: despite becoming Ieyasu's eldest son, he was taken from his clan; even though he was adopted by Hideyoshi, he ended up in the Yuki clan; and finally Ieyasu chose his third son over him as his successor. Kotegiri guesses Hideyasu might have felt like he had lost even more opportunities than this and points out it would be more correct to say he was the son of the ruler twice. Otegine watches his OCD tirade and tells Kotegiri that he has changed, but Kotegiri only asks him who hasn't. After they share a laugh, Otegine asks Kotegiri why he is always practicing, and Kotegiri answers it's because of his dream to one day sing and dance with the other Gous. Hearing about a dream, Otegine suddenly gets a nightmarish vision of flames, but Kotegiri snaps him out of it.
The Saniwa welcomes back Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who has been away on a mission for a long time. Tsurumaru notes that there are a lot of new people at Honmaru, while some of the old ones have different looks on their faces. The Saniwa lightheartedly tells Tsurumaru that he hasn't changed at all, and Tsurumaru asks about how Mikazuki Munechika has been behaving. The Saniwa doesn't answer, but it is fine with Tsurumaru. He knows that when the Saniwa is stressed, he likes watching the Touken Danshi perform before him, so Tsurumaru offers to show him a dance. After he finishes, the Saniwa thanks him and asks for a favour. Tsurumaru knows that the Saniwa is going to send him on another troublesome mission, but he is fine with that.
In the past, Hidetada believes it's Hideyasu who should have been chosen to go west, but Hideyasu tells him not to think too hard about it. Hideyasu notes that Hidetada should stop calling him "brother", because Hideyasu will one day call him "Lord". Hideyasu overtly politely excuses himself, leaving Hidetada in silence.
Hideyasu knows he is being childish, but he can't help it. He sees a petal fall from the sky, fails to catch it, and wonders if he once again missed his chance to rule. He has a flashback to the time when Nobuyasu was still alive. Little Hideyasu is crying because he wants to see his father, whom he has never met, and he is wondering if Ieyasu hates him. Nobuyasu assures him it isn't the case and promises to arrange a meeting between the two. He tells Hideyasu to hide until Nobuyasu brings Ieyasu, but once Ieyasu sees him, he isn't pleased. Even though Nobuyasu asks him to talk to Hideyasu, Ieyasu only tells him to remember his face before leaving. Nobuyasu once again comforts his crying brother and assures him that Ieyasu must have reasons for his behaviour. He tells him that whenever Hideyasu feels bad, he should think about him. At the present, Hideyasu bitterly laughs as he remembers Ieyasu's words. A supernatural voice asks him how he could ever forget that look of rejection. Hideyasu is angry at being treated like an object and a hostage; he is fine with not being a ruler, but he can't forgive that look or how Ieyasu took Nobuyasu from him. As he talks about how he can't forgive Ieyasu, the HRA gather around him, with a distinctive soldier following after Hideyasu.
A Kebiishi once again appears in the past.
At Honmaru, after the Saniwa has asked Kotegiri to join the next mission, Kotegiri runs into Kuniyuki. Kuniyuki asks him if something bothers him, but Kotegiri denies it and excuses himself. As Kuniyuki wonders if he should keep an eye on him, he gets spooked by Tsurumaru. The two introduce themselves; Tsurumaru says he already knows his name and points out that Kuniyuki's hands are soft to demonstrate that Kuniyuki isn't the only one who is good at sneaking around. Kuniyuki asks if there is a meaning here, but Tsurumaru says he just likes surprising people and points up just as the Saniwa gives the signal to gather. Tsurumaru claims it's their turn, and Kuniyuki muses that Tsurumaru is like a monster.
The new team consists of Kotegiri, Otegine, Kuniyuki and Tsurumaru (captain). They are going to the year 1600, a little before the Battle of Sekigahara, with Hideyasu being the target of the HRA. Otegine once again remembers fire, though others don't notice, and Kuniyuki points out that Hideyasu was Otegine's former master. The Saniwa explains that Tonbokiri and Muramasa are already in that time period because of a different mission, so they should join forces.
In the past, Ieyasu catches a petal falling from the sky. He remembers how Nobuyasu explained to him that it's a petal of hollyhock, though of a different kind from their mon. They talked about how there were different kinds of hollyhock and that even the same flowers didn't have identical petals.
Hidetada approaches Ieyasu. He thinks Hideyasu should be Ieyasu's successor, since Hidetada doesn't have what it takes to rule the country, but Ieyasu just laughs and tells him Nobuyasu said the same thing. Ieyasu is firm in his decision and doesn't plan to change it. A horse breaks loose in the camp, so Tonbokiri and Muramasa ask Ieyasu and Hidetada to go inside. Once the humans leave, the real reason for their request appears: the HRA. During the fight, they are joined by the newcomer Kuniyuki, with the rest of the reinforcement team following suit. After they finish off the HRA squad, they feel another presence: Hideyasu with his soldier and more HRA. Tonbokiri and Muramasa are surprised that he, a human, joined the other side. Kotegiri sees Hideyasu's sword and instantly recognizes it as one of his senpai (it's Inaba Gou, though he is never named in the play). Hideyasu joins the fight against the Touken Danshi, and the soldier mirrors his moves. Tonbokiri and Muramasa are resolved to defeat Hideyasu without killing him, and Otegine hesitates a bit but also joins them. The two yari manage to subdue Hideyasu, but Otegine hesitates again, and Hideyasu breaks free. Kuniyuki wonders if the sword controls Hideyasu and provokes him. During the fight, he tricks Hideyasu and manages to disarm him, but before he can strike the sword, Kotegiri stops him. Hideyasu takes advantage of the confusion and retakes his sword. At this point the team feels an even greater presence: the Kebiishi, who starts attacking everyone else. Muramasa channels more strength the same way Ishikirimaru did in the past and fights both the Kebiishi and the HRA to avenge Nobuyasu. However, eventually he runs out of power and loses consciousness. Tsurumaru orders the team to split into two and retreat. After everyone is gone, a figure with a hat obscuring their face appears.
Tsurumaru notes how even before the Kebiishi appeared, they were already outnumbered. Tonbokiri is worried about the others, but Tsurumaru tells him that for now it is important to rest and lies down for a nap. Muramasa regains consciousness and is upset about how the fight went. Tonbokiri yells at him to not be a slave to his emotions and reminds him about what happened to Ishikirimaru. Muramasa says he can never be like him because Ishikirimaru has a beautiful heart while Muramasa is a stained, cursed blade. Muramasa notes how the rest of their old team had strong convictions, but he can't fight for someone else's sake. Tonbokiri is surprised about how strongly Muramasa feels for Nobuyasu. Muramasa admits that he often played with him when he was little (while being disguised as a naked passerby), and he would show him various flowers. Muramasa nearly falls from exhaustion, but Tonbokiri catches him in time. Tonbokiri asks him if there is anyone he wouldn't kill, and Muramasa answers there isn't; he will even turn against his master if he needs to. Muramasa notes that Tonbokiri couldn't attack Hideyasu, and Tonbokiri apologizes because even though he was mentally preparing himself for this situation, he couldn't bring himself to do it in the end. Muramasa assures him he doesn't need to prepare himself for something like that again, because this indecisiveness is one of his charm points. It doesn't suit him to act like that; he always fought for the Tokugawa, so he doesn't need to change. Instead, it should be Muramasa to raise his blade against the Tokugawa. Both of them have things they are more suitable for, and it's fine to do what they can for each other. After all, they are family. Tsurumaru suddenly interrupts their bonding time because the HRA and the Kebiishi have caught up. Muramasa tells Tonbokiri he will only slow them down, so he should leave him behind, but Tonbokiri refuses to abandon him. Between the number of the enemies and Muramasa's wounds, the team is at a disadvantage, but before things get too dire, a figure in a hat appears, throws a smoke bomb at the HRA and leads the Touken Danshi away.
Kotegiri and Otegine reassure themselves that the others are safe, but Kuniyuki calls them cowards. Otegine was ready to escape when he saw his former master, and Kotegiri stopped Kuniyuki at the most important moment. Otegine and Kotegiri agree with him, but Kuniyuki encourages them that their actions weren't necessarily wrong and that they should take it easy. Otegine agrees with Kuniyuki and promises not to make the same mistake. At that moment a human figure approaches them… and the Touken Danshi recognize him as Hideyasu! The human gets offended at being compared to Hideyasu, but, after some swearing, seems to recognize who the others are. The HRA attack, and he asks them, the Touken Danshi, to defeat the enemies.
Tonbokiri thanks the person in the hat for saving them, and the person starts laughing. He says he has missed this sincerity, removes the hat and reveals that he is Nobuyasu. Tonbokiri and Muramasa are shocked to see him alive, and Nobuyasu explains he now lives as Gohei the farmer. Muramasa falls to his knees and starts crying, and Nobuyasu apologizes for not revealing himself earlier. He explains that Ishikirimaru patched him up after the fight against the Kebiishi, and Tonbokiri is surprised that he knows Ishikirimaru's real name. Nobuyasu also knows Tonbokiri and Muramasa's names, but before he can explain himself, they need to defeat more HRA. Nobuyasu helps Muramasa to move, and Tonbokiri follows them. After Tsurumaru finishes his fight, he looks at the crescent moon while muffled theme of Tsuwamonodomo is playing in the distance and says that he was really surprised this time.
Otegine's team isn't over the fact that their new companion looks exactly like Hideyasu. After the man hears Otegine's name, he recognizes him as Hideyasu's spear and comments it's no wonder he looks so plain. The human introduces himself as Nagami Sadachika, Hideyasu's younger twin. The Touken Danshi are surprised to learn that Hideyasu had a twin brother, and Kuniyuki points out that if even Otegine doesn't know him, Sadachika must be lying. Sadachika responds that his face alone should be enough of a proof, because it is even less likely that two completely unrelated people would look the same. Otegine comments that this means Sadachika is also Ieyasu's son and asks why his name isn't in history books. Sadachika explains it's because he is a twin, and when others don't understand what he means by that, he asks if they can name any historical figure with a twin. Twins aren't that rare, and yet there aren't any records of famous twins in Japanese history. Otegine and Kotegiri still don't understand what he is getting at, so Kuniyuki explains that they were erased. It was believed that only animals would give multiple births at once, so the children would be treated as beasts. Moreover, if someone important had twins, it would likely lead to a bloody war of succession. Otegine and Kotegiri start pitying twins, but Sadachika gets offended and tells them it doesn't mean the twins must lead unhappy lives. After demonstrating how happy he is, he says that family isn't always about blood connections. He grew up in the Nogami family and became a splendid priest. Otegine points out that priests shouldn't be so foul-mouthed and that if he is really a priest, he needs to show them more respect. After all, they are a type of kami, whom the priests revere. That pisses Sadachika off, but Kotegiri changes the topic to how Sadachika even knows who the Touken Danshi are. As a crescent moon appears in the sky, Sadachika says he can't reveal it yet, but promises that he isn't an enemy. Someone told him he needs to save his brother, so he calls the Touken Danshi to go to Hideyasu's side. After some arguing, Kotegiri says they need to regroup with Tsurumaru first, since no one can handle a Kebiishi on their own. After the others leave, Kuniyuki muses how now that their natures are exposed, the history has been changed, and he can't agree to that.
Hidetada keeps asking Ieyasu why he chose him and not his older brother. He reveals he knows that Hideyasu was born a twin and that twins are regarded with disgust. He asks if this is the reason Ieyasu doesn't like him, but Ieyasu angrily denies it and claims he could never hate Hideyasu.
The two teams regroup while fighting through the HRA. Sadachika is shocked to see Nobuyasu again, and Nobuyasu is surprised he still remembers him. While the two are having a reunion, the Touken Danshi catch up on who the humans from the other group are. Kuniyuki points out that Nobuyasu should be dead, and Muramasa unconvincingly claims he is actually Gohei. Tsurumaru warns others there isn't much time, so he summarizes the developments so far: they are in trouble because a lot of foreign elements ended up in this time period, summoning the Kebiishi. Their main priority is to snap Hideyasu to his senses, and the one in charge of that will be Kotegiri. The humans will also play their parts, but Tsurumaru doesn't elaborate because they are about to be attacked by the Kebiishi. Tsurumaru engages in a fight with the Kebiishi and tells the others to go look for Hideyasu, since it's best to act in multiple groups. Tonbokiri protests that it's too dangerous to fight a Kebiishi alone, but Tsurumaru assures him he will just act as a distraction and avoid direct combat as much as possible. Left alone, Tsurumaru says it won't be surprising if he lost, and that would be boring.
Kuniyuki understands that Kotegiri knows why Hideyasu acts so crazy, but says it's fine if he wants to keep it to himself. Kotegiri says that, since they are tsukumogami formed from people's feelings, sometimes they get a response to an emotion a human keeps hidden. Kuniyuki asks him what the difference between the Touken Danshi and the HRA soldiers is. Kotegiri says there is no difference, they are just fighting for their idea of justice. Kuniyuki tells him he is overthinking it and that the clash between principles is the normal part of war. In the end, what is right and what is wrong depends purely on the victor and the loser. Kotegiri argues it's not that simple, but Kuniyuki retorts that if you don't keep things simple, your mind will break. You can only kill the enemy without guilt when you think they are wrong. Kotegiri says he doesn't like this kind of thinking, but Kuniyuki calls him a hypocrite. Kuniyuki knows that the sword that responds to Hideyasu's feelings is related to Kotegiri and asks if Kotegiri wants to save him because of his history. He points out that by that logic, their enemies have no historical value at all, and that's why Kotegiri has no problem with breaking them. Kuniyuki says that not saving everyone is the same as saving no one.
Sadachika isn't happy about being stuck with Otegine. He points out that he is a normal human, so Otegine should protect him. Otegine doesn't like his attitude, but says that he would protect him even if he didn't ask, because otherwise the history would change. Sadachika reminds him that he was erased from history, so his death won't affect it at all. Otegine asks him how it feels to be erased from history, and Sadachika says it makes no difference to him. Even if everyone else forgets about him, he knows that he exists. Sadachika wonders why he asks him something like that, but Otegine sheepishly says there is no reason. Sadachika shouts that in that case he should be the one to remember him, and Sadachika will remember him in return. After the two promise to remember each other, they are attacked by the HRA, and Sadachika says he will be counting on Otegine.
Under a crescent moon, Muramasa complains about Nobuyasu and Ishikirimaru not telling him about Nobuyasu's survival. Nobuyasu says it's better if not many people know the truth, and besides, he wanted to start a new life. Nobuyasu apologizes, and Muramasa says it's fine. Nobuyasu tells them how he has been working on a farm since then and shows how rugged his hands have become. Tonbokiri notes that he also kept practicing sword. Nobuyasu explains that after Gohei died, he couldn't use a sword anymore, but because the war continued, he needed to pick it up again to protect people around him. He can't be like his father, who thinks about the entire country, but he can at least protect those close to him. Muramasa asks him if he has met Ieyasu, but Nobuyasu points out it would change history. Muramasa asks him why he helped them then, but Nobuyasu doesn't answer. Tonbokiri asks about Ishikirimaru, and Nobuyasu says he hasn't seen him since he recovered. Tonbokiri wonders why Ishikirimaru would reveal their identities, but Nobuyasu says it wasn't him. There was that guy he didn't know, but he called himself "a friend". He said that the history burdened Nobuyasu with a tragic role and revealed the truth about Tokugawa "retainers". Tonbokiri wonders why he would do something like that, and Nobuyasu says he was also the one who told him to help the Touken Danshi.
Muramasa warns Nobuyasu that someone is coming, so he should hide. Hidetada sees Muramasa and Tonbokiri and asks what happened to the horse from earlier. Tonbokiri panically tells him that it will take some more time to catch it. Hidetada tells them to be careful, and Tonbokiri thanks him for his concern. Hidetada is still bothered about being chosen as a successor, and Nobuyasu decides to talk with him, since Hidetada wouldn't remember him. Nobuyasu asks Hidetada about his dream. Hidetada says he wishes for a peaceful world his father desires. Nobuyasu says it's his dream as well. He tells Hidetada that he used to be a warrior, but he gave up the sword because the war scared him. Hidetada admits he also doesn't like battles. Nobuyasu continues that he chose to become a farmer instead, but even as a farmer he couldn't escape the battle. He would cultivate the fields, then fight off bandits, again and again, while asking himself why the war never ends. He has come to the conclusion that wars start because people are hungry. One year he had beaten the bandits, told them that from that point they would harvest his rice, and promised to pay more the harder they worked. And the bandits were happy to accept. Since then they have been living in that village and helping with cultivating the crops. The war isn't a scramble for land; it's a scramble for food. So if there is enough food, there won't be wars. As a warrior, Nobuyasu gave up his dream of a peaceful world, but as a farmer he has found the same dream again. So now he dreams about bringing peace to this country as a farmer. He wants to build fields for every village so that the whole country can eat its fill. Hidetada weakly tells him it's an admirable dream, and Nobuyasu firmly tells him that statuses alone won't grant their dreams; they need to work hard to achieve them. Hidetada says he will approach Ieyasu again, and he will keep asking him why he didn't choose Hideyasu until he understands. Hidetada runs away, but immediately returns to ask for the other man's name. Muramasa introduces him as Gohei. After the humans leave, Muramasa compliments Nobuyasu for becoming such a good man and claims it's because of Muramasa's secret teachings. Horrified, Tonbokiri asks what he has taught to Nobuyasu, but Muramasa says he will take it to his grave.
Otegine and Sadachika confront Hideyasu. Hideyasu greets Sadachika and offers to kill Ieyasu together. Sadachika laughs at him and says he isn't interested. Sadachika refuses to join Hideyasu, and Hideyasu attacks him. While Otegine intercepts attacks, Sadachika asks Hideyasu if he plans to claim the country after he kills Ieyasu. Hideyasu says it's not a bad idea since he is tired of always missing out. Sadachika says he isn't fit to be a ruler, and Hideyasu reminds him how he was treated like trash just because he was a twin. Hideyasu asks Sadachika if he holds a grudge against Ieyasu, but Sadachika gets angry at Hideyasu for looking down on him. He is happy the way he is; his life may look miserable from the perspective of someone of high status, but from his point of view the elite life is strict and rigid. He doesn't resent Ieyasu, and he isn't interested in ruling. If anything, he is grateful he was allowed to live. People can't always become who they want; they become what they can be.
Kotegiri and Kuniyuki join the fight. Kuniyuki points out that Kotegiri's friend is already beyond saving, but Kotegiri retorts he will do it anyway. Hideyasu is about to strike Kuniyuki, but Kotegiri takes the hit for him. Kotegiri repeats Kuniyuki's words about hypocrisy and how not saving everyone is the same as saving no one. After that, Kuniyuki takes a hit for Kotegiri and fights a whole bunch of enemies. At that time, Tonbokiri and Muramasa catch up with the group. The six Touken Danshi disarm Hideyasu, and Kuniyuki gives the sword to Kotegiri. Kotegiri lifts the sword, and its spirit starts influencing him. Otegine is concerned about him, but Kotegiri says to leave it to him. It becomes a battle of two dreams: Kotegiri's to perform on stage and Hideyasu's to stand on top. Kotegiri calls out to his senpai, and he asks who it is. Kotegiri introduces himself and calls out to the sword to remember him. Everyone talks about dreams; if there isn't anyone Hideyasu/the sword can reach, then Sadachika/Kotegiri will be the ones to take their hand. In the end, the sword is pacified, and its spirit leaves. Kotegiri returns the sword to Hideyasu and thanks Kuniyuki. Even though he can barely stand, Hideyasu says he needs to talk to Ieyasu, not to ask about the country but rather to ask about why he took Nobuyasu from him. Nobuyasu greets Hideyasu; he says that he thought that Hideyasu was feeling down, so he came to him, just as he promised. Hideyasu starts crying, and Nobuyasu comforts him. Suddenly, a heavily injured Tsurumaru surprises everyone by reminding them they are still dealing with the Kebiishi. He jokes that all the blood is due to falling off a cliff, but luckly the Kebiishi also fell with him, so it's a perfect opportunity to finish it off. Muramasa asks if Nobuyasu will join them, and Nobuyasu nods. Everyone attacks together, and they defeat the Kebiishi.
Ieyasu tells Hidetada that he is right about Hideyasu being more talented on the battlefield. Ieyasu admits that he was happy about getting twins because it meant he was blessed with two sons at once, but he knew that it would lead to troubles in the future, so he distanced himself. Ieyasu calls himself a coward, but because he dreams of bringing a peaceful future to this country, he distances himself from those who may hinder him. Because of that, he was awful to both Hideyasu and Sadachika. In the upcoming battle he will finally seize the power to banish war, and that's why he chose Hidetada. If the wars were to continue, Hideyasu would be the more suitable choice, but Hidetada is a better option for peaceful times. Hidetada is moved by Ieyasu's words and agrees to succeed him. At that moment, a messenger arrives. He brings the news that Torii Mototada died in battle. After a brief silence, Ieyasu laughs and tearfully tells Mototada that he is still laughing.
At Honmaru, Kuniyuki yawns and looks at his injured hand. Kotegiri pesters Otegine to join his lessons again, but Otegine tells him he doesn't want to and that Kotegiri should wait for his senpai to manifest and ask him instead. Kotegiri says he is too inexperienced to ask him to join, but he will do it one day. Kotegiri notices Kuniyuki and asks about his hand. Kuniyuki says it's not serious, but Kotegiri tells him to take proper care of it because they aren't humans. Kotegiri tries to ask him to join his lessons, but Kuniyuki refuses. After Kotegiri leaves, Kuniyuki muses about not being a human.
Tsurumaru reports to the Saniwa that he learned that Mikazuki recruits humans that aren't important to history to help the Touken Danshi. He calls this group "Mononobe". And Mikazuki acts as a mechanism that guides the world.
Muramasa complains about Monoyoshi escaping from him, while Tonbokiri thinks about how to name the record Ishikirimaru compiled about their mission. Tonbokiri shows Muramasa a picture of Nikkari, and Muramasa calls it very accurate. Ishikirimaru asked Tonbokiri to come up with a name, but he can't think of anything. Muramasa instantly comes up with a name, and after some trouble with taking the record from Tonbokiri, writes it down. Tonbokiri reads it as "The Blossoming Hollyhock" (Aoi no Hanasaku), but Muramasa points out that the character for "blossoming" has another meaning. Muramasa refuses to elaborate, but after he leaves, Tonbokiri reads it again as "The Chronicles of Laughing Hollyhock" (Kisho Hongi).
I've always found Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne (A Dying Echo, the Sound of a New Beginning) very melancholic and bittersweet. As its name suggests, it's a story about endings and beginnings, and this theme is omnipresent in everything from its setting to its cast.
To preface, I want to share my favourite fan art of this work (the log also has pictures of scenes from the play). I really like the composition here, with Mutsunokami facing the light (the sound of the beginning), Nagasone and Yamatonokami being in the middle but looking back, Izuminokami and Horikawa facing the darkness (the echo of the end), and Tomoegata being the outside observer.
Bakumatsu was a period of rapid change; in the span of less than 20 years, both political and social status quo were upended, the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled the country for over 250 years was dissolved, and the increased contact with the foreign nations led to quick modernization and changes in people's mindsets. It was truly the end of the era, and I think it was an interesting choice to contrast the swords of this period with the "newborn" Tomoegata.
At the start of MusuHaji, most characters find themselves in a "suspended" state, where something that greatly affected them has happened and they don't know how to move on from this point. Because of this, for them it becomes a story about finding closure.
This theme is most prominent in Hijikata's storyline. He would do anything for Kondo in the past, but now that Kondo is dead, he is lost. He continues to fight as he did before, but even the battlefield is alien to him now due to the prevalence of guns and cannons. Yamatonokami comments on how cheerful Hijikata was during the party, and I think it's because of nostalgia. He had this weird kid that knew his moves and was low-key fanboying over him while he was interrogated, a guy that looked similar to Okita seriously, couldn't Yamatonokami and Kane-san at least remove the haoris or something, and another guy with convictions so like Kondo's. Considering how it was Horikawa's idea to solve problems by throwing a party in BakuTen, it's only natural that his former master would do it the same, Shinsengumi, way.
After the party, Hijikata outright tells Izuminokami that he doesn't know his own purpose in life. Before, he simply followed Kondo, but now he is so unsure he refuses to give Izuminokami a definitive answer to his question. However, the next time Izuminokami meets his former master, Hijikata has everything figured out. And the reason for that is his meeting with another "Kondo."
During the Battle of Bonari Pass, we see how desperate Hijikata feels on the modern battlefield. He leads his blade-wielding troops against men with guns and looks in shock at how they are getting killed. But before he can succumb to despair, he meets someone who promises him that things aren't over yet.
The play isn't at all subtle about how similar Enomoto is to Kondo. He has some of Kondo's mannerisms (laughing things off and putting his hand on another person's shoulder), he dreams of giving his people their own place to work for the future of the country, and just like how in the past Kondo showed a star to Okita and declared that the newly formed Shinsengumi would be just like it, Enomoto shows Hijikata a star(-shaped fort) and declares it their new beginning. During their last meeting, Hijikata outright acknowledges that he sees Enomoto as his second chance to save Kondo.
And Hijikata truly believes that, even though the whole "Republic of Ezo" thing didn't work in the end, Enomoto is capable of bringing the new beginning to the country. Enomoto is a "dreamer"; he knows a lot and has a solid vision of how to build a better future. Meanwhile, Hijikata is a "fighter"; he only knows how to fight and lead people to their deaths. This is why he chooses to save all the people who have something to look forward to (Enomoto, Shimada, Nakajima), but invites the three HRA soldiers, people who won't be needed after the age of swords ends, to share his fate.
I like how Hijikata's promise to take half of Enomoto's samurai spirit to the last battle so Enomoto could use the other half to build the future parallels Kondo's metaphor about stars. Just like how Kondo saw the Shinsengumi as a star whose light would take a long time to reach people, Hijikata understands that the "fighter" era needs to end to serve as a foundation for Enomoto's "dreamer" era. After all, the future is built on the actions of the past.
Nagasone's arc is similar to Hijikata's in that he is also searching for a "Kondo", but because he is himself a "dreamer", he comes to a different conclusion. He sees Mutsunokami, another "dreamer", and understands that he wants to reach a similar conclusion to his. Mutsunokami has long accepted how his former master died and the age of the swords ended, so Nagasone spends the play trying to figure out how he has arrived at that point. Mutsunokami's advice in the end, to uphold his former master's legacy, is once again similar to Kondo's words about stars, so Nagasone accepts it and decides that, to truly start over, he needs to figure out what that legacy even is. And as we see in the game, it turns out that that legacy is him, so Nagasone gains a new resolve to serve the Saniwa even better than a real Kotetsu would.
Both Yamatonokami and Tomoegata start the play at the end points, and their arcs are about realizing they need to let go of the past that defines them to "walk an unknown road" of their own future. Yamatonokami is so hung up over Okita's death that even his appearance is heavily based on Okita's, and he has spent half of Bakumatsu Tenrouden once again getting close to him. He is defined by his history as a sword that belonged to Okita Soji, a young warrior that died outside the battlefield, and because of that inconclusiveness, instead of moving on, he keeps looking back and asking himself various "what ifs". Seeing Tomoe, someone without a story, also struggle with finding his own way forward and hearing Nagasone talk about similar feelings and experiences helps Yamatonokami to find the resolve to properly face Okita again. Not to desperately cling to his memory, but rather to say good-bye so he can start over with the new master.
In contrast, Tomoegata has no story to claim as his own. Compared to the Bakumatsu swords, who all have strong connections to their historical masters, he is the ending point of the "nameless corpses [that] faded into one", which makes him empathize with the HRA, whom he similarly sees as historical dead ends. It's only when he sees Mutsunokami treat the HRA in the same manner as he treats other people, not as a faceless army but as individual soldiers who deserve to live, that he realizes that there is a meaning even in such irregular existences. By the end, he thinks of the HRA as people who write their own stories and learns that even people with stories can have something missing about them. In fact, getting closer to a conclusion can make you feel like you miss more and more, so being someone who only just starts out on their journey can be a fulfilling experience on its own. This helps Tomoe to stop considering himself as the end of many and begin to treat himself as the story of one.
Izuminokami is obviously on the course to see his former master die. He hasn't experienced such a loss yet, so he doesn't understand why people react differently to deaths of people that are dear to them. Even though he is similar to Hijikata, it still catches him off-guard that Hijikata feels equally lost about the death of Kondo as Izuminokami is about the prospect of losing his former master. During their duel, Izuminokami can't bring himself to end Hijikata's life, but Hijikata assures him that it's not wrong; it's simply a different ending from the one Izuminokami envisioned. And it is important that it's Mutsunokami that finishes Hijikata off. Izuminokami criticized him earlier for taking his enemies too lightly, but it showed that for Mutsunokami lives have weight. He won't kill someone if he can help it unless there is an important purpose to it, which unfortunately means he can't let Hijikata live. And of course there is the symbolism of ending the age of the swords with a gunshot.
Horikawa is a more static character than Izuminokami, but the play still shows why he doesn't need to change as much. Namely, he already has a "Hijikata." Izuminokami got more of Hijikata's sentimental side; he sees Hijikata the way Hijikata saw Kondo, so his death greatly affects him. But for Horikawa, who got Hijikata's more ruthless and practical side, it's Izuminokami who is his most important partner, so it is easier for him to accept Hijikata's passing. It's even reflected in their Kiwame letters, where Izuminokami chooses to watch Hijikata die again and finds closure in his sentimentality, while Horikawa is more analytical about why the age of the swords has ended, and the answer he comes up with still involves Izuminokami to a degree.
Compared to others, Enomoto and Mutsunokami don't have arcs per se; instead, they are used more as symbols of change and new beginnings. They openly embrace modernity, yet don't completely abandon the past. They inspire their companions to move forward, yet they don't forget about the lives that were lost along the way. They contrast other characters, particularly Hijikata, who all struggle with letting go of their pasts and starting anew.
In conclusion, this is a story about many endings. The age of swords, the Tokugawa shogunate, the Edo period, the Shinsengumi - all of that needed to go for the sake of the new era. However, change isn't a bad thing. It's alright to take your time to grieve for people that were lost and to adapt to the new environment, but it is important to come to terms with your struggles and to move on.
One of the things I enjoy in Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne is its use of "Yosakoi", a track based on a folk song from the region where Mutsunokami is from. In general, it is a "let's talk about our former masters" song, but in particular, it also expresses the bond between Mutsunokami and Nagasone.
The original "Yosakoi-bushi" is about a monk and a girl who eloped but were caught and exiled to never meet again. There is also a more modern song, "Nangoku Tosa wo Ato ni Shite" (Leaving the Southern Land of Tosa), where the homesick person sings the song from their home. Both the feeling of missing people and the knowledge that you won't meet someone again are heavily evoked in MusuHaji. It's also notable that, in modern times, this song (as a part of "Yosakoi Naruko Odori") is associated with the Yosakoi Matsuri, and with how SRS established that during festivals the boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead are thin, it is fitting how this track is used in the scenes that talk about the Touken Danshi's dead (or soon to be dead) masters.
Mutsunokami sings this song three times, and every time it shows how close he is with Nagasone (or at least that Nagasone wants to be close with him). In the first scene, he sings the part that translates to: "At the Harimaya Bridge at Tosa, Kochi, I saw a monk buy a hairpin. Come at night, come at night." Since monks aren't supposed to get cozy with women, there is usually a note of surprise when his profession is revealed. Shipping biases aside, it can be interpreted as "a meeting between two people that aren't supposed to meet because of their statuses." This fits the situation between Nagasone and Mustunokami, who belonged to people from enemy factions during Bakumatsu and were shown to not get along because of that in the past. Also, every time this song is sung, it's night.
During this scene, Nagasone surprises Mutsunokami by joining the song from his home. He shows that, unlike Izuminokami, he understands that Mutsunokami does grieve his former master, he just doesn't let it get in the way of the mission. Even though Mutsunokami dodges the subject of the former masters' deaths throughout the play, it is notable that Nagasone tries to talk about it at all. It's emphasized in Bakumatsu Tenrouden that Nagasone keeps things to himself, but here not only is he willing to talk about something so personal, it is implied that he regularly chats with Mutsunokami. There is also the fact that this sequence happens right after Nagasone talks about how their former masters must have been similar people, and during this scene Mutsunokami puts his hand on Nagasone's shoulder, which is a gesture Nagasone (and Hijikata) seems to associate with Kondo.
The second scene shows how comfortable the two are and how they have no problem with adapting to each other's habits. Mutsunokami compliments Nagasone's drinking, and it's probably worth noting that people from Tosa were stereotyped as never getting drunk (unless you are Chouson's master, who was known to be bad at holding his liquor). The song becomes a blend of "Kappore" (associated in the musicals with the Shinsengumi) and "Yosakoi-bushi" (a Tosa song). The two play hashiken, a game from Tosa, and it's Nagasone who initiates it. During the game they drink from the same cup. And despite Nagasone once again raising the uncomfortable topic, Mutsunokami stays with him for the rest of the night (according to theatergoers, they did different stuff after their scene ended but they were still on stage, and on the recorded last day it looks like they are stargazing while leaning on each other).
During the third scene, they don't interact, but Nagasone once again shows that he is willing to see things through Mutsunokami's perspective. He understands that Mutsunokami's experiences are different from the Shinsengumi swords', and tries to understand what Mutsunokami went through. He also encourages Izuminokami to talk things out, despite usually being the "actions over words" kind of guy (though, I guess, "talking" probably is the "action" here).
