H: Here's your ramen!
I: Late on New Year's Eve,
I: that scruffy-looking man ordered not New Year's soba, but a bowl of ramen.
I: "I can't eat this much."
I: Saying that, the man took two extra cups, divided his ramen into three portions,
I: and shared them with my husband and me.
I: And after devouring his portion in an instant,
I: he left, walking down the wintry streets with his stomach rumbling.
I: The next year, and the year after that...
Sign: Hokuto Shinken
I: Every New Year's Eve, that man would visit.
I: He would always use what little money he had
I: to order a bowl of ramen and share it with us.
I: Each time, my husband would divide it into three portions,
I: load one of them up with pork topping, and serve it to the man.
I: Meanwhile, he would slurp on ramen that was nothing but soup.
H: Ikumatsu.
H: This is our restaurant's year-end tradition now.
H: Should anything happen to me, make sure you keep it going.
I: That would turn out to be the last bowl of ramen my husband ever made.
I: It would also mark the end of the little year-end tradition the three of us shared.
Gintama,OP Card: Gintama
OP Card: Slip Arc
Title: A Bowl of Ramen
Sign: Hokuto Shinken
Warning: Watch the Slip Arc in a bright roomand at a safe distance from your TV!
I: He didn't come last New Year's Eve, either.
Ramen banner: ,Ramen
I: Ever since my husband passed away, he hasn't shown up at all.
I: He was a strange one.
I: He clearly had no money to spare, but he'd share his ramen with us
I: and then leave, still hungry.
I: He must've been really lonely.
I: Maybe he was coming here for company, not ramen.
I: Who knows where he is and what he's doing now?
I: Meanwhile, here I am, upholding my husband's last wish
I: and waiting for him with a bowl loaded up with pork topping.
I: Here's your ramen—
Shin: Don't try to hog the pork!
Gin: Shut it! I'm the one who won big at pachinko!
Gin: You sit there and sip on the soup!
Kag: The egg! Let me just have the egg!
I: Jeez, you three.
I: Why not drink a soup of the dirt in that old man's nails while you're at it?
I: I hope he's doing just as well as you seem to be.
I: I can't help but be worried.
Kat: Ikumatsu-dono, I would say your concern is unnecessary.
Kat: If that poor, lonely man was coming here seeking company at the end of the year,
Kat: it's actually a good thing that he stopped showing up.
Kat: He must've settled down in life
Kat: and found someone he can eat traditional New Year's food with instead of ramen.
Kat: Or maybe the ramen here got worse once you took over—
I: Here's your soba!
Shin: Y-You know that's not right, Katsura-san!
Shin: Ikumatsu-san's ramen is the best in Edo! No, the best in the universe!
Shin: There's no doubt that man is just dying to have it one more time, too!
Shin: Right, Ikumatsu-san?
Kag: He's got some nerve to not show any gratitude after all that pork he ate.
Kag: If he's got money now, he should come back and share some ramen with us.
Shin: What do you have to do with anything?
I: This is a task my husband left to me after worrying about it until the end.
I: Taking over the restaurant was all well and good, but this lingers with me.
I: And I haven't returned that scarf, either.
I: But you're right.
I: He must be leading such a happy life that he forgot all about this dingy ramen shop.
I: I'll just assume that's what happened.
I: Either way, there's nothing I can do but stay here and keep making ramen.
Gin: Hey, Zura.
Gin: Unlike you, I'm a busy man.
Kat: I'm not Zura. I'm Katsura.
Gin: I'm in luck today.
Gin: The dice and the cards are all waiting for me.
Kat: What's that saying? A fool with a big mouth and his money are soon parted?
Kat: I said what I did earlier out of consideration for Ikumatsu-dono.
Kat: But Gintoki, what do you think happened to that man, honestly?
Gin: He had no home or family, and he was old to boot, right?
Gin: Probably d*ed on the streets, at best.
Kat: Probably.
Kat: But that's only if the man was truly homeless.
Kat: This scarf he forgot at the restaurant...
Kat: It's worn out from use, but it's a high-quality item.
Kat: It would also have stuck out like a sore thumb if a homeless man was wearing it.
Kat: We might be able to find him.
Kat: If he's still alive, that is.
Kat: But if you truly are in luck today,
Kat: I might be able to clear my tab at Hokuto Shinken.
Gin: Not happening. Anyway, what I want to know is...
Gin: Zura, did you get all the way to **** base with Ikumatsu?
Kat: O-Of all the disgusting accusations! Have some shame!
Gin: I mean, you're always on her side for some reason,
Gin: and I keep running into you every time I go there for ramen lately.
Gin: So you haven't sealed the deal yet, huh?
Gin: And here I thought you'd already sucked on something else besides ramen.
Kat: Don't be stupid!
Kat: As if Ikumatsu-dono and I would ever have ***, get **** and *****,
Kat: or worse, **** like *******!
Gin: Uh, I never said anything that vulgar.
Gin: Yeah, you have always been the passive sort.
Gin: So you wanna pound the pavement here and then pound Ikumatsu while you're at it, huh?
Gin: If that's how it was, you shoulda said so sooner.
Gin: I can give you a discount on the cupid service.
Kat: I didn't ask for that!
Gin: Don't play dumb! I know your tastes inside and out!
Gin: You've always been into married women.
Shin: That's one weakness I didn't expect.
Gin: Come to think of it, your first love as a kid was a neighborhood widow—
Kat: You dare insult a samurai?! Keep it upand I won't hesitate to cut even you down!
Kat: I'm not into married women!
Kat: I'm into cuckoldry!
Shin: You just exposed a fetish that's totally unbefitting a samurai!
Kat: And it's not Ikumatsu-dono that I'm in love with!
Kat: It's the taste of her soba!
Kat: She inherited that from her husband,
Kat: and I just want to make that man eat it one more time.
Kat: Eat that bowl of ramen she promised her husband to serve.
Gin: How admirable.
Gin: You wanna pound the pavement to help her fulfill her promise with your love rival?
Kat: Unfortunately, we're not rivals in love.
Kat: It's not something I will ever be.
Kat: Because Ikumatsu-dono only has eyes for one man.
Bum: Hey, what's all that about?
Bum: That's one young newcomer.
Kat: Pleased to meet you.
Kat: I grew sick of being a samurai, quit sticking swords in people,
Kat: and chose to stick myself in a cardboard box.
Kat: My name is Katsura Kuzutaro.
Kat: I hope to get along with all of you. You may casually call me Kuzura.
Bum: For someone who grew sick of his life, you're awfully lively, Kuzura-san.
Kat: I'm not Kuzura! I'm Katsura!
Kat: And this here is my partner, Kuzuta—
Gin: Hey, how did things end up this way?
Bum: The other guy's got the same look in his eyes as us.
Bum: Welcome, Kuzuta-san.
Bum: Hey, nice to meetcha.
Gin: As if! Don't lump me in with you lot!
Kat: The best people to ask about a homeless man are the homeless.
Kat: I came up with this cover to make them less wary of us...
Kat: But I'm amazed you blended in instantly. That's my Kuzuta.
Gin: That doesn't make me happy!
Gin: I really should've gone looking for the scarf store with Shinpachi and Kagura.
Kat: Sorry, but who among you knows a lot about this stuff?
Kat: I have a lot of questions regarding the cardboard life.
Bum: Oh, then you should go meet the Lawd. You can introduce yourself, too.
Kat: The Lord?
Bum: Yeah. The chief of cardboard boxes and leader of all the homeless here.
Lawd,Sign: Lawd
Bum: We call him Lawd, for Leader At the Waste Dump.
Bum: The Lawd knows all, and he can solve most problems you might face.
Musashi: What's going on? It's awfully noisy.
Bum: It's the Lawd! The Lawd has graced us with his presence!
Gin: Hey, what are you doing, Hasega—
Mu: Men, throw these two out of Eden at once.
Gin: Uh, what are you talking about? What the hell is "Eden"?
Gin: Hey, stop talking through an interpreter.
Gin: You're totally made in Japan.
Mu: These two bring disaster wherever they go.
Gin: Uh, I don't wanna hear that from a walking disaster.
Gin: I'm willing to ask as many times as it takes.
Gin: What are you doing? Why are you here at your age, Hasega—
Mu: Quit chanting the Hasegawa death spell!
Gin: It's your damn name! And use your own mouth to speak!
Gin: You're pissing me off!
Mu: The lower realm's mores don't apply here.
Mu: This is Eden.
Mu: A different world where those who have been liberated from everything gather.
Gin: That so?
Gin: I don't care if you're Hasegawa-san or the Lawd anymore.
Gin: Just trash either way.
Mu: Who're you calling trash?!
Gin: Say, did you ever see anyone wearing this scarf—
Mu: Can't answer that.
Mu: Everyone here is truly free.
Mu: Nobody is allowed to pry into or bring up their past lives!
Mu: And we have no information to share with outsiders.
Mu: If you wish to become one of us so badly,
Mu: offer me bags of empty cans and
Mu: discarded convenience store lunch boxes as tribute.
Mad: Got that, uh... Kuzuta-san, was it?
Mad: Only the people who were at rock bottom in the lower world can make it to the top here.
Gin: If you're gonna laugh, do it yourself!
Bum: Lawd!
West: Pick up empty cans?
West: Save yer sleeptalkin' for when yer asleep.
West: I thought we made it clear this was our yard.
West: All the empty cans and discarded convenience store lunch boxes are ours!
West: You louts hurry up and get outta this park already!
Gin: Who the heck are those guys?
Bum: The Westside g*ng!
Bum: The armed cardboard g*ng who control the west side of this park!
Gin: What the hell is an armed cardboard g*ng?
Bum: They're upstarts that use violent oppression to expand their rule on cardboard!
Gin: Wait, what? Did we enter the Warring Cardboard Era while I wasn't paying attention?
Mu: Get outta here!
Mu: This is a free utopia!
Mu: We won't hand it over, no matter how many times you try.
Gin: You're stepping on the Lawd! He was trying to say something!
Mu: We won't give in to v*olence!
Mu: We only fall to our knees in our cardboard boxes!
Gin: But the Lawd's totally giving in to v*olence beneath you!
Gin: And this interpreter's just running his mouth now, isn't he?
Bum: Interpreter? What are you saying, Kuzuta-san?
Bum: This is the Lawd.
Gin: What?! He was the Lawd all along?!
Gin: Then what was with the old man next to him who was dressed all godlike?
Bum: That's the guy always mumbling something by the Lawd's side.
Gin: In the end, you've hit rock bottom in this world, too!
Bro: Now there's a face that takes me back.
Bro: I found an unexpected diamond buried in the trash.
Bro: I see.
Bro: So you came here, too...
Bro: Katsura!
Kat: Y-You're...
Gin: Who are you, again?
Bro: Don't interpret for the people watching at home!
Bro: Don't tell me you forgot...
Bro: How you got me thrown in jail for that woman
Bro: and reduced me to being homeless!
Gin: I see.
Gin: After crossing swords with you at the Land of Korin,
Gin: I never expected you to return as a cyborg.
Bro: That's Mercenary Tao!
Bro: Just look at the quality difference in our comebacks!
Kat: I remember now! You're Ikumatsu-dono's brother from back then...
Kat: Fancy running into you here.
Bro: I'd rather you didn't sum it up so easily.
Bro: I mean, ever since then, I've lived my life thinking of nothing but you guys.
Bro: You two ruined my life,
Bro: so I was chomping at the bit for a chance to get my revenge on you two!
Kat: Oh? By becoming king of this cardboard mountain?
Kat: Talk about a roundabout revenge.
Bro: Look, I know that you're here to look for that man.
Kat: What are you talking about?
Bro: Don't play dumb.
Bro: I know all about it.
Bro: How my brother desperately looked for him here while he was still alive.
Kat: Ikumatsu-dono's husband did what?!
Bro: How that man visited that filthy ramen place every year,
Bro: and just who he is, too.
W: Um, if I may ask, where did you get this?
Shin: Oh, we're looking for its owner, too.
W: This crest on the lining certainly is Nishikiya's.
Kag: Really? Does it ring any bells?
Kag: Did some filthy old man come here to buy it?
W: This isn't one of our products. It belonged to the master of Nishikiya.
Kag: Master? Like the boss of this place?
W: Yes. I remember him wearing it with style whenever he went out.
Shin: Where is he? Where is he now?
W: He passed away around years ago.
W: Why would this thing show up after all this time?
Shin: Um, was it given away to someone after he d*ed?
Shin: Are there any family members who might know?
W: Just the young miss.
W: But she was very young when her father d*ed.
W: She probably doesn't remember anything.
W: Nishikiya is a textile store that the master and mistress built themselves.
W: Right when they'd overcome hard times and put up shop, the master passed away.
W: After that, the mistress made the store grow this big all by herself.
W: But she d*ed six years ago, too.
W: On top of that, the young miss lost her husband.
W: So even if she doesn't remember anything anymore,
W: I'm sure the young miss will be delighted if she sees this.
I: I wonder about that.
I: After having the scarf taken without permission
I: and people sniffing around without her knowing,
I: even the gentle young miss might get angry.
I: Just kidding.
I: Delivery for you, Osono-san.
Bro: Katsura, I came here to k*ll that man.
Bro: "That man" being Ikumatsu's dad, who is said to have d*ed years ago.
I: Oh, you're trying to find that homeless man using this scarf?
I: Jeez, you could've just told me.
I: Sorry you went through all this trouble for my sake.
I: Yes.
I: The scarf belonged to Nishiki Matsugoro, Nishikiya's founder, who d*ed years ago.
I: And I'm Matsugoro's daughter, Nishiki Ikumatsu.
Shin: Y-You're Nishikiya's heiress?
I: Sorry I didn't mention it. It's just not me, you know?
I: Running a ramen restaurant suits me much better, right?
I: Of course it does.
I: Nishikiya may be one of the top textile showrooms now,
I: but until it was started, we lived in abject poverty.
I: But while life was hard, we had fun.
I: Even if we had nothing to eat, the three of us supported one another as we lived.
I: But it all came crashing down the moment we became able to live a decent life.
I: Ironic, right?
Shin: If I may ask, how did your father pass away?
I: I was really young back then, so I have no idea.
I: Besides, he was living elsewhere with his mistress back then.
I: As soon as our store got on track,
I: he apparently made a move on one of the girls working here.
I: Mom found out and threw him out.
I: Not long after that, we heard that he'd d*ed of illness.
I: People were saying he deserved it for abandoning his wife and daughter,
I: but I still remember how sad my mother looked then.
I: I don't know how the scarf found its way to that homeless man,
I: but I'm guessing it means my dad was living a similar life to him.
I: Thinking about it that way, I just can't think of him as any old man.
I: Sorry I made you waste your time for me.
I: Ultimately, maybe people are best off when they have to fight to live another day.
I: The moment we have more than we need, our eyes start to wander.
I: I feel like we could clearly see what was important when we were poor.
I: If it weren't for that, I'm sure his eyes wouldn't have strayed from us.
I: And we would've been able to forgive him, too.
Kat: Ikumatsu-dono's father is alive?!
Bro: That's right. He was barely scraping by in this dump.
Kat: No way. You mean the homeless man who kept visiting the restaurant was...
Bro: Wait, you really didn't know?
Bro: And Ikumatsu didn't realize that he was her father?
Bro: That's funny.
Bro: She forgot what her own dad looked like?
Bro: Of course you'd forget about a scumbag who left his family for another woman.
Bro: Isn't that right?
Bro: How long are you gonna stay silent? I know you're here.
Bro: Whatever.
Bro: I'm sure the kindhearted Katsura-san can't sit tight after learning all this.
Bro: Katsura, you bring Ikumatsu's old man to me.
Kat: What?
Bro: Don't get any funny ideas.
Bro: I control pretty much all the homeless in this town.
Bro: I think some starving homeless even camp out at the dump near the Hokuto Shinken.
Kat: You knave!
Bro: This is my revenge.
Bro: Bring me the head of the father of the woman you love.
Bum: Lawd, what should we do?
Bum: The Lawd was right.
Bum: Those guys really brought about a disaster.
Bum: We should've thrown them out right away.
Bum: Who's Ikumatsu's old man, anyway? I've never even heard of someone like that.
Mu: No need to worry.
Mu: We already found Ikumatsu's father.
Mu: Hurry up and take this man in shades to that punk.
Mad: What're you pulling the Lawd's strings for?!
Mad: Who're you calling Ikumatsu's old man?!
Kat: You must endure this, Hasegawa-dono.
Kat: Ikumatsu-dono has practically been taken hostage.
Kat: We can't do anything unless we shut up that knock-off Mercenary Tao.
Mad: Before that, do something about this knock-off Commander Ikari!
Mu: Listen up. Use Shades as a decoy to distract the enemy.
Mu: In the meantime, I'll guide these men outside the park via this secret passage.
Mad: Why's the Lawd getting into it, too?
Kat: Lawd...
Mu: Instead of looking for her father,
Mu: you must first ensure the daughter's safety.
Mu: Don't lose sight of your cause.
Mu: And my cause is... No matter whose father or how big a scumbag they are,
Mu: I will protect everyone here!
Mad: But you're not protecting me at all!
Mu: We should work together.
Bum: What are you talking about, Lawd?
Bum: You're half-senile, fool. Can you really show them the way?
Mu: Who're you calling a fool?!
Mu: I plunged into the straight man routine the moment I was born!
Mu: This way! Follow me!
Bum: Where are you taking a plunge now?!
Bum: Hey, we'll handle things here, so take care of the Lawd.
Mad: In the end, I get to lead this band of idiots?
Mad: I'm done with this crap. I'm gonna leave this place and find a proper job.
Kat: I still can't believe that homeless man was Ikumatsu-dono's father.
Kat: He was going to see her unbeknownst to all, huh?
Kat: And he hid who he was due to the guilt over abandoning his family?
Kat: In that case, why did he suddenly stop showing up?
Kat: Because he'd seen that his daughter was blessed with happiness?
Gin: She lost her husband, and now a weird guy with long hair is stalking her.
Gin: Nobody would consider her blessed.
Kat: I never stalked her!
Gin: Keep it down. What if they hear you?
Gin: You're not used to straight manwork. Don't push yourself.
Mu: Yeah! Let me plunge into the straight man routine instead!
Mad: Seriously, where do you think you're taking a plunge?!
Mad: The Lawd's getting swept away!
Gin: You've got it wrong, Hasegawa-san.
Gin: This straight man really wants to plunge into Ikumatsu's pus—
Mad: Hey, knock it off!
Mad: I can't handle these three stooges!
Gin: H-Help!
Gin: I... I can't swim!
Kat: Screw you!
Kat: When did I say I wanted to plunge into Ikumatsu-dono's *****, *****, or *******?
Mad: Look, we don't have time for that! Help me rescue him!
Mu: I'll take the plunge instead!
Mad: Why?!
Mad: I can't deal with this!
TBC: ,To Be Continued
Preview,Sign: Preview
Mad: Once this chaos blows over, I'm going to seriously look for a job.
Mad: I mean it. This isn't a death flag or anything, okay?
Mad: I'm serious, by the way.
Ep Title,Title: A Family
Gin: Next time: "A Family."
TextR: A series of surprising reveals
TextL: from a complex web of relationships.
TextR: The next episode features so many twists and turns,
TextL: you'll stop worrying about whowould ever hire Madao.
09x03 - A Bowl of Ramen
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Japanese manga series where aliens have invaded and taken over feudal Tokyo, an unemployed samurai finds work however he can.
Japanese manga series where aliens have invaded and taken over feudal Tokyo, an unemployed samurai finds work however he can.