天下制覇

Nowhere near as dirty as the song.

Impressions:

Ah, the buddy team-up episode. Of course, since Washizu’s menace is pretty much completely fabricated, it lacks some punch, but it was pretty much inevitable. It’s certainly no Superman/Lex Luthor at any rate. Washizu’s just been too much of a creampuff since day one for me to really swallow that he used to be some kind of rabid street fighter. The only cliche we’re missing now is Ibuki and Ayame getting into an argument over Yoichi ending with Ayame standing sadly in the rain. Mark my words, it’ll happen on episode 11. I’ll stake my lunch on it.

Pretty much nothing on the plot front this week. No, Washizu doesn’t even consider Ayame for a moment, nor does she really do much of anything regarding him either. The assassin siblings didn’t even show up and I’m not sure the punks even had names. If they did, then I don’t remember ever hearing them. I’ve just about come to terms that I’ll have to learn Washizu’s lacky’s name eventually since they’re pairing him off with Chihaya in third banana gallery, but he still has yet to do anything worthwhile.

Washizu wanders through the city, thinking of Ibuki and that today he’ll express his feelings. He’s written them all in a… LOVE LETTER (letter letter letter…) to her.

Three guys come upon THE LEGENDARY WASHIZU and stand in a mixture of fear and wonder as they discuss him. They watch as he helps an old man on his way, and greets his lackey, ALL WITHOUT VIOLENCE. Shocking. Apparently his image isn’t quite right.

At the convenience store, Washizu grabs a drink at the same time as Ayame. They start wrestling over it since it’s the last of that kind. A pair of punks come in during the argument. Ayame tricks Washizu into letting go and ‘wins’ the drink. The argument continues. The punks recognize Washizu, but wonder about the woman. They snap a photo of the two of them together.

Practice at the dojo takes a break. Washizu goes for the letter, but Ibuki surprises him and throws him off his game. He loses his courage and she scampers off to get snacks. Washizu turns to see what Yoichi’s doing and notices Ayame lurking nearby, too shy to give a towel to him.

Chihaya and Kagome cheerfully illustrate and narrate the situation.  Ayame flips out and cowers when Yoichi turns around. He asks her what the matter is, and she evilly and angrily tries to give him the towel, overplaying the reluctance by about 80 steps. Yoichi cowers in fear and then Ayame kneels in despair herself.

Washizu asks her what that was all about, but she tells him to butt out. He gets up to leave and drops his love letter. Ayame picks it up, but Washizu freaks and shreds it before she can figure out what it was. He stumbles forward on top of her.

Tsubasa happily trots up to the dojo, happy that she’ll get to see Washizu. 

She opens the door and sees Washizu on top of Ayame, both arguing. Tsubasa slips into a delusion about the two together. J’etaime! Bon jour! Tsubasa freaks out and runs off. Ibuki and Yoichi run in, but the two have separated and claim it was nothing.

Eventually they get the money and all sit down to eat. Kagome runs out of tea, so Masashi gives her his. Washizu gets barraged with questions from his lackeys. Yoichi’s envious of all the attention, and Ibuki lavishes attention as well. Chihaya reminds us of Washizu’s legendary mace-hand reputation. Washizu looks down at his hands and is surprised at himself. He looks around at all the happy and smiling faces and realizes how much things have changed. 

At Tsubasa’s, she’s in tears. Angie tries to comfort her, but gets laser beamed through the wall. Angie wonders what was going on as she walks to the front of the restaurant where Yoichi has come in. Nosebleed ensues.

Once changed into real clothing, Angie makes sure everything was okay, and blushes when Yoichi compliments the food. Some punks come into the restaurant and Yoichi goes to leave. They bring up Washizu’s name and he holds up. They talk about how Washizu’s going to some dojo now. They’re going to take down Washizu, now they have his weakness… looking at the snapshot of Ayame and him together. Yoichi glares at them from the doorway. 

The students leave the dojo and everybody bids their farewells. Ayame gets ready to shower in the dojo when the punks come in. They recognize her and tell her that she’s coming with them.

Washizu happily walks home, thinking about Ibuki. The punks stand in front of him with Ayame in their arms.

He wonders what the deal is and they show the picture of the two of them together. Washizu angrily denies it, pissing off Ayame as well. The punks get pissed, but then they up the ante by pulling off Ayame dress.

She tries to cover herself,but the punk stops her. He threatens her further, starting to lift her shirt. The punk tells Washizu to behave and undoes Ayame’s shirt. She falls to her knees to cover herself, but he grabs her and pulls her up again. He again tells Washizu to behave as he snaps pictures of Ayame’s strangely large chest and other exposed areas. She begs him to stop.

Washizu threatens him, but the other punks attack en masse. Washizu takes the blows without fighting back as the punk continues to taunt him and threaten the dojo. Ayame yells at Washizu that it doesn’t matter what happens to her, he needs to fight. Washizu still refuses and takes an unblocked shot to the gut.

They keep beating on him as he thinks about what he’s got to protect. He slips back into the past when he just fought people for whatever reason. He remembers his lackey and the Ikarugas, and what he left behind. 

As he gets ready to fight back, Yoichi leaps in and knocks out all the sub-punks at once.

He swings at the head punk but stops just short, telling him to let Ayame go and stop being such a coward. The punk says that Washizu is the same as him. Yoichi denies it, saying that Washizu has Ayame’s feelings, his lackey’s feelings, and everybody at the dojo too. They’re all watching over him and making him stronger. Washizu realizes what he’s got to protect, and Yoichi says that he’s protecting the same.

The two stand back to back and fight off the punks effortlessly as the boss helplessly watches on. The two tagteam finish him. Washizu angrily crushes the cell phone with the picture of him and Ayame. Yoichi apologizes for saving him, but Washizu denies that he was saved. Yoichi calls him a friend and extends his hand. Washizu goes to take it, but Ibuki comes running up and he seizes up. 

Ibuki and Yoichi see Ayame all disheveled, and he nosebleeds. Ibuki assumes that it’s his fault, so beats him senseless, which Washizu believes are just love taps. He runs off in tears. Ayame stops him, and offers him a towel. She apologizes, saying it was her fault, but he just tells her to properly talk to Yoichi and walks off.

Washizu rubs his wounds as his lackey runs up. He asks if Washizu is okay, but Washizu smiles to himself and says that it’s nothing. As he thinks about being friends with them, Ayame successfully offers the towel to Yoichi.

Preview:

Festival days.