"This hot bath feels so good..." "My point is, don't you think this is fishy?" "How so?" "For starters, what the hell are we even traveling for?" "To search for the samurai who smells of sunflowers, as I recall." "That's what I'm sayin'!" "I mean, she ain't told us one damn thing about who this sunflower dude is." "Yes, that's true..." "Not even that one time." "I've been meaning to ask you about that..." "Who is this samurai who smells of sunflowers?" "Well, he..." "And what the hell is a sunflower, anyway?" "Hey, wait a minute..." "You don't know?" "It's a flower!" "A flower!" "What do they smell like?" "Do you have any other leads?" "Like a picture or something?" "What made you decide to come here?" "Oh, for crying out loud!" "Don't you think she's gets kinda evasive when we bring up that stuff?" "And now she says that we're heading for Nagasaki!" "There is only one thing that I can tell you." "If you go to Nagasaki, I am sure that you will find some answers." "Nagasaki..." "All we've got is that guy's unreliable information." "But that man was the chief merchant of the East India Company's Japan branch." "I doubt that information from a man like that would be unreliable." "You think so?" "Besides, with no other information to go on, we have no other choice." "That's my point!" "That's what I'm sayin'!" "No way in hell she doesn't know anything else." "She's hiding something from us!" "Okay, then..." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna snoop around a little while she's taking her bath." "Here we go..." "Hey, don't go through other people's belongings." "Don't sweat it." "It's her own damn fault for not telling us anything." "What?" "I can't read." "Give me that." "It seems to be a diary." "A diary?" "Great, there's bound to be some secrets about that sunflower dude written in there." "Hey, read it out loud, damn it." ""July 1 0th." "Sunny." "It's almost been a year since Mom died. "" "I had always told myself that I would set out on a journey, but I never had the courage, so I've been working and living at uncle 's teahouse." "But the day has finally come for me to set out." "I've made up my mind that starting today, I'm going to keep this diary until I find the samurai who smells of sunflowers so that I won 't forget this journey." "And so, I have now filled out the first page." ""The Disorder Diaries (Learning From the Past) "" "Admittedly, the teahouse burned down, so I don't have any choice but to start my trip." "Parentheses, smiley face." "And the fire was caused by a couple of unbelievable guys." "The first one to show up at the teahouse was a crude and vulgar guy with wild hair." "What, does she mean me?" "The instant I saw him, I thought he was a bad person who would commit all sorts of crimes, and was the type of person that I would never want to be friends with in a million years." "Say what?" "!" "But then, once I talked to him I learned that I was right about him." "Watch it, you bitch!" "What are you getting angry at the diary for?" "I'll admit that I needed help because the stupid son of the governor thought he could do whatever he wanted." "But even so..." "Once he got started, he didn 't know when to stop." "I mean, he really went overboard." "If I knew he was going to be like that, I would've taken my chances with the governor's son." "Why, you little..." "Just then, another man appeared." "One with long hair and glasses." "She talkin' about you?" "Unlike the first one, I thought that this new guy was kinda attractive." "But it was like this new guy refused to stop fighting once he 'd started, too." "Deep down, maybe they're two of a kind." "How rude." "Don't compare me- -to a guy like him!" "Anyway, that was how I came to set out on my journey accompanied by these two men, Mugen and Jin." "The end." "July 1 1th." "Sunny." "Something lousy happened to me because of those two going crazy yesterday." "A guy showed up, saying something about Mugen cutting his arm off." "I can't have you waking up just yet." "And that's how my life as a hostage suddenly started." "Geez..." "Well, I was drunk at the time, so I don't remember much." "The end." "The end, she says?" "!" "She left out a lot..." "P.S. The Joushuu grilled manjuu buns we had were yummy." "July 14th." "Sunny, then cloudy." "I had another terrible experience today because of those two." "It all started when they ditched me and ran away!" "Thanks to that, I ended up in a whorehouse this time!" "A pervert was about to have his way with me, but I was saved by an old fortune teller woman." "I would beware of vases if I were you." "A vase?" "A vase..." "A little vase..." "Take this!" "July 1 9th." "Out of the blue, I was kidnapped and held prisoner!" "Oh, man..." "Don't you think my life is a little too eventful?" "Or more to the point, now that I think about it, why do these things keep happening to me even though I have two bodyguards?" "Those bozos are pretty useless, don 't you think?" "I'm starting to think that I picked the wrong people." "It all started when we had to find work to earn money for the ferry across the river." "I'm Moronobu Hishikawa." "I'm an artist who hasn't quite made the big time yet." "Pleased to meet you." "I thought he was kinda cute, even if he was a bit of a poser." "Maybe that's where I made my mistake..." "I went ahead and modeled for his Ukiyo-e, but now that I think about it, what did I see in him?" "Still, unlike those two jerks, he said nice things to me." "Yeah, this is definitely all their fault, too." "Don't blame us for your own screwups, lady!" "He said that he was going to go to Holland, but I wonder what happened to him?" "Is he on a ship right now?" "Or maybe he's already arrived over there..." "He, meaning Moronobu Hishikawa, was caught immediately and never made it to Holland." "In reality, he was still in that area." "However, there was no way she could have known that he would be known to future generations as the father of Ukiyo-e painting." "It is as if talent and character are often found in inverse proportion." "P.S. The grilled squid mantles and squid tentacles he bought for me were delicious." "You know, something just occured to me..." "Like what?" "Why were we going to Edo then, anyway?" "I don't know." "Isn't there anything written in there?" ""4th Annual Big Eater Contest Sponsored by Anago Fukuyoshi and Manpukuji "" "Today, I was able to eat all I could for the first time in ages." "I'm so happy!" "I might have to go without food again after this, so I'm gonna eat enough to tide me over." "Is she an animal?" "What I ate yesterday and today includes eel rice bowls, loach stew, and Edo-style sushi." "They were all yummy." "You hear lots of people say, "There 's always room for dessert, "" "but in my case, it's like it should be, "There 's always room for free food. "" "I wonder if everybody is like that?" "It's just you!" "I also got to see kabuki and fireworks, which was neat." "The end." "Hey, wait a minute!" "Isn't there anything about the sunflower samurai in there?" "All that's in there is stuff about food!" "Oh, that reminds me." "Starting today, we are going to Nagasaki." "Well, the only reason I came to Edo was because I'd heard rumors that he was here, so it's not like I had any hard evidence or anything." "She can't be serious." "That little flake..." "She dragged us all that way just on a stupid rumor?" "I can't believe it." "I got taken hostage again!" "Geez!" "In the whole world, who else but me could be taken hostage this often?" "Plus, my wallet got stolen, and I wasn 't able to eat..." "I dreamed about Mom today." "It was the first time that I'd thought about Mom in a long time." "So much has happened to me on this journey that I haven 't had time to miss her, so I haven 't felt this way for a long time." "I don 't think I can write about Shinsuke." "I couldn't bring myself to say anything to his mother, either." "But once some time has passed and I've sorted out my feelings," "I definitely want to write a letter to her." "I want to tell her all those things that I wanted to say then, but couldn 't." "It is difficult for anyone to predict what the future holds." "Incidentally, this is a prediction of the lives of people in the future, taken from Mudaiki, a speculative fiction work by Edo dime novel author Harumachi Koikawa." "As you can see here, predicting the future is something of a tricky business." "Or more to the point, what's up with those dumbass hairstyles?" "We left Edo and headed for Nagasaki." "Well, that was the idea, but we're still in Edo." "We can 't make any headway at all 'cause we 've got no money." "But we managed to get a meal thanks to the money we got from pawning Jin 's glasses." "It was yummy." "But they went tottering away after some older woman, the louses." "It's not like I'm jealous or anything." "It's just that it's a problem when they don 't carry out their duties as my bodyguards." "Well, I guess she was kinda sexy." "She had big boobs." "Is that the kinda women they go for?" "But I got hit on today, too." "Admittedly, he didn't make a lick of sense..." "This woman is going to take some work." "But the thing is, that only makes her all the more worthwhile." "Yo, honey." "Who, me?" "I'm a man who's gonna be big." "My name is Nagamitsu Sakon Shogen!" "I kinda get the feeling that I only attract weirdos." "Geez, what's a girl to do?" "In the end, we earned some money with a street performance, and were able to leave Edo." "But it feels like I've lost sight of my objective..." "We're supposed to be looking for the samurai who smells of sunflowers, but we 're always trying to scrounge up enough money to cover living expenses." "I guess what I'm trying to write is, "Getting by in life sure is hard. "" "The end." "P.S. The pear was yummy." "By the way, there has been a recent uproar over rampant sexuality in the country's youth." "However, the Japanese people originally had a rather open-minded view towards sexuality, and it was especially liberal during the Edo Period." "They only became prudish in the Meiji Era after the influx of Western culture." "On the contrary, then, one could say that they have merely returned to the values of the Edo Period." "And if we delve into world history," "Japan 's Edo Period can be placed alongside ancient Greece in that it was an era in which gay love flourished, and in which homosexuality was considered to be more noble a pursuit than heterosexuality." "Incidentally, please forgive my extremely delayed introduction." "My name is Manzou the Saw." "I'm a secret policeman who fights night and day in the name of peace." "I got taken prisoner again!" "Geez!" "We finally left Edo and got as far as the Hakone Checkpoint, but we got conned by a scalper." "It seems like I've been tricked a lot on this journey." "Am I too trusting?" "Maybe I ought to be more suspicious of people..." "Am I a bad judge of character?" "I had a lot to think about today." "The worst part of it all is that jerk, Mugen." "I believed in him, thinking that he 'd come back for us." "What kind of rescuer ends up needing to be rescued, huh?" "Anyway, I've decided never to trust him again." "Suits me fine!" "Go ahead and don't trust me, see if I care!" "By the way, I spent a lot of time with Jin because that jerk Mugen didn't come back." "Now that I think about it, that was the first time that I had spent any time alone with Jin." "I thought to myself, "We 're going to have a deep, heart-to-heart conversation, "" "but that Jin kept his mouth shut the whole time." "At times like that, don't guys usually open up and start telling you all sorts of stuff?" "I tried to break the ice a few times, but all he 'd say was, "Hmm, " and "Mmm "!" "What's his problem?" "!" "Does he hate me or something?" "Or is he just shy?" "I mean, it's been a while since we started our journey, so when is he finally gonna open up to me?" "It's kinda sad, really." "The end." "Hey." "As a man, what do you think of her?" "Hmm..." "This guy's hopeless." "The 1 950s, San Francisco." "The youth of the so-called Beat Generation were profoundly influenced by Zen." "And that influence was inherited by the Hippies of the 1 960s." "The youths who dropped out of society turned away from civilized society, tripped on psychedelic music, and searched for true freedom." "It is said among these Hippies were some who approached Zen as a counterculture, chanted Buddhist sutras, burned incense, and practiced meditation." "Elsewhere, in Edo Period Japan..." "Although they weren 't searching for anything in particular, here we find people deep in mediation." "And if one were to ask why these people are doing this...?" "Sorry, friend, but we don't even have money for lodgings." "We don't have anything to give you as alms." "I'm glad to hear you say that." "Starting today, we will be staying at this Zen temple." "They're letting us sleep and eat here for free, so I thought it was more than we could hope for, but in return, we have to follow the rules of the temple." "I've been hard at work since the crack of dawn again today." "Boy, am I beat..." "Man is naturally born into a state of freedom." "He is not born so that he might submit to rules or a master." "This thought has occured to me." "But does this not contradict the duties of a warrior?" "Freedom is neither won through painful struggle, nor can it be forced into existence." "What's more, freedom has absolutely nothing to do with one's social status or profession." "To simply accept yourself as you are, and as you live, to let it be." "In this is freedom." "Because of those guys, I've had lots of terrible things happen to me." "I sometimes ask myself if I picked the right people to travel with." "All encounters happen but once in a lifetime." "If you have met these two men and are traveling with them, then that is your destiny." "Whatever the outcome of your journey may be..." "Hey, I wanna make myself stronger, chrome dome." "I wanna beat that bastard." "Hey, are you listening to me, baldy?" "What I can do to beat him?" "Start talking, cue ball!" "Katsu!" "Ow!" "The moon's so big..." "Well, I'm heading out for a bit." "Hey, you haven't forgotten, have you?" "You're gonna help me look for the samurai who smells of sunflowers, right?" "Yeah, I know." "Don't forget." "I will be the one who kills you." "Looking back on things now, I might have gone through a lot of lousy things, but it was neat to experience all sorts of new things." "If I hadn 't met them in the teahouse that day, I might still be working there right now." "When I think of it that way, maybe it's just like Father Zuikou says, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime, chance encounter." "I don 't know how much longer it will take to reach Nagasaki, but I hope that the three of us can keep traveling to the very end." "I'm positive that those two are thinking the same thing." "Yeah." "That's the decision I've made." "Don't make up other people's minds for them..." "Right?" "Hmm..." "I'm just kidding!" "Those two might peek at my diary without asking, so I made all this up." "Serves you right, you jerks!" "You..." "You little bitch!" "Take me along to where you are" "I'll be like the wind and breathe quietly" "Take me with you, where have you gone?" "I'll open up my heart and cross over time" "A shimmering sunny place, white and so far away" "I'll unravel those aimless memories" "The fragrant sunflowers are still patiently holding on to their petals" "Please tell me" "I'm nervous about learning everything" "So why do I still want to know about these uncertain emotions inside me?" "Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter play their tunes" "Each on its own journey towards tomorrow" "And before I know it, I'm with you at the end of my dream" "Take me along to where you are" "I'll be like the wind and breathe quietly" "Take me with you, where are you going?" "I'll open up my heart and cross over time"