News from Neo-Venezia

As expected, 9 being an odd-numbered episode, Kirara-ikkou catch their last one. And he's a badass. (I'm pretty sure he has the exact same line as movie Kyuuzou.) This is also the first time we see our boys in full-out battle mode, and ... well, I guess the ironmongers of that era save the good steel for the katana and the slag for the Nobuseri.

The bad guys are of course armed with only the finest in firearms. Well, the biggest, at any rate.

However, bullets seem to be made out of the same pig iron as the Nobuseri, so...

So you gotta wonder, why do the Nobuseri even bother modifying themselves with flimsy armor when (A) it cuts down on their mobility and (B) it does no good against katana? There's one whacking big plot hole that hasn't been addressed yet. (I guess it's possible that they just want to stop bullets.) And on a side note, after taking one for the team, Katsushirou's back on his feet and Kirara and Komachi acknowledge that.... he's just not scary. Poor Katsu-no-oji.

And then there were 10. So now that they've found each other, the first thing they do is split up into 3 groups to journey back to Kanna, so they are less likely to be detected.

Lesser production companies would have given in to the temptation to stretch this out (three groups! three journeys! wackiness ensues!) and thus have to spend less on the fight scenes in Kanna - but this is Gonzo we're talking about.

Hence they keep the journey to one episode... and concentrate all the wackiness into one group.

Now that they've got that out of their system (and honestly it wasn't as bad as it could have been), on to save Kanna! ...that is if they still want saving. And poor Katsushirou's upset because he saw Kirara... fixing Kyuuzou's jacket!! Why, that hussy!!! (That just goes to prove that he is, after all, a manly man. Women would understand that you just can't leave a gorgeous jacket like that in such a state.)

...Oh, OK, here's the beautiful still from episode 9 to make up for those last 2 shots.