Hidamari no Ki, Part 3

Here is the next installment of Hidamari no Ki: episodes 14 through 19. We're in the third quarter now, and the pace picks up accordingly. From natural catastrophes like a great cholera epidemic, to man-made disasters like the Ansei Purge, momentous events overtake Manjirou, Ryouan, and many others, threatening to sweep them away.

By the late 1850s, the struggle between the relentless expansionism of the Western powers on one side, and the feudal isolationism of the Emperor and the Sonnou Joui movement on the other, was pulling the Tokugawa Shogunate apart. The Shogunate tacked back and forth, trying to avoid either a foreign war or a civil war. First, it opposed the Western initiatives for open trade. Then, overmatched militarily, it signed trade treaties with the Western powers and began importing Western technology. When internal opponents took up Sonnou Joui as a rallying cry, the Shogunate tried first compromise and then brutal repression (the Ansei Purge). Neither worked, and the chaos inside the country only increased.

Although Ryouan is a doctor, and Manjirou is studiously apolitical, both are caught up in the press of events. Manjirou is arrested, tortured, and nearly executed simply for talking to the wrong people.

Ryouan must again use his devious skills - demonstrated during the Shogun's meeting with American envoy - to rescue Manjirou from a dangerous situation. Ryouan also confronts, treats, and outsmarts a group of wounded ronin assassins, garnering favorable attention from the Shogunate.

By the end of this batch of episodes, both men have experienced deep personal losses, and both have become involved (in Ryouan's case, reluctantly) with the Shogunate's efforts to reform itself before it's too late. Never has the future looked more uncertain. Kind of like current times, huh?

Some notes:

• Ep 14. The great cholera epidemic of 1859 killed an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Japanese. It was part of a world-wide cholera pandemic that impacted Russia and much of southeast Asia.
• Ep 18. The marching song sung by the peasant soldiers is フジの白雪ャノーエ, from Shizuoka prefecture. While the song is famous, its meaning is obscure. In the episode, it is translated to fit the rhythm of the Japanese syllables.
• Ep 19. The Roushigumi was the first of numerous squads of ronin formed by the Shogunate and its opponents to further their aims by violence. It was founded by Kiyokawa Hachirou, a swordsman and dedicated opponent of the Shogunate. Although the ostensible purpose of the Roushigumi was to protect the Shogun, Kiyokawa in fact offered its services to the Imperial court. Two years after the events shown in the episode, Kiyokawa was killed by a Shogunate assassin.

The staff for the show remains pretty much the same. Sunachan translated the dialog, songs, and signs. Eternal_Blizzard did fine timing on episode 14; starting with episode 15, Yogicat took over all the timing. I edited and typeset. banandoyouwanna, Nemesis, and VigorousJammer did QC. Skr encoded the workraws, and M74 the final raws. As a bonus, this set of episodes also includes the DVD booklets for all nine volumes. They were provided by the anonymous benefactor who purchased the DVDs.

You can get the third installment of Hidamari no Ki from the usual torrent sites (although nyaa.si is down temporarily; use nyaa.at instead) or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. What are you waiting for? Go download it and watch it now!