Fly to Your Dreams: The Adventures of Marimo, the Human Bullet is the 17th episode of the Rurouni Kenshin anime.
Synopsis[]
Kenshin and all the group go to the circus, where Yahiko takes a liking to Marimo, the "Human Cannonball" girl. But a circus boss tries to sabotage the show and make Marimo work for him, so Kenshin and the rest of the group will intervene. How can they save the circus show at a moments notice? Will Megumi be able to get the right mix of gunpowder to make Marimo's show a success and fly from the cannon?
Plot[]
Kaoru and the kids get scared at the fair
On a rather hot day, Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, Ayame, and Suzume decide to visit Sumidagawa. After visiting a fun house, where Kaoru and the girls were scared half to death, the group found a big attraction. There was a large tent and long line, so they figured it had to be good. The feature attraction of the Ebisu Circus was Marimo the Flying Bullet. Marimo, a young girl around Yahiko's age, had been launched out of a cannon and went precisely through a target, impressing the large crowd. However, one man didn't seem so pleased. He walked right onto the stage with another man at his side. This man, known to Ebisu and Marimo as Sumidaya, demands that Ebisu pay him the money he loaned him to start up the circus by tomorrow, or else Ebisu and his daughter will have to rejoin his circus. Ebisu promises Sumidaya the money, but just to be mean, the man with Sumidaya drops a few of his pipe's ashes on the hay in the tent, starting up a small fire. Quickly, Ebisu, Marimo, and helpful Yahiko extinguish the flames before they get too large.
Yahiko gets determined to help Marimo
Yahiko, when he first saw Marimo, immediately had a liking towards her. That evening, he was teased by Sanosuke back home, but Yahiko decided to take a walk. To his surprise, Yahiko found a group of men kicking Ebisu on the ground, piled under a bunch of wooden panels, as Marimo watched helplessly. Yahiko hastily got involved and took most of the men out with his shinai single-handedly until they retreated. Ebisu was brought to Megumi, where he was treated at the late hour. Megumi had noted that Ebisu would be fine, but he shouldn't get out of bed for a bit. There, Marimo explained that Sumidaya was probably behind the sneak attack. Previous to the opening of their circus, Ebisu and Marimo worked under Sumidaya, but since he was an evil owner, they left Sumidaya and opened up their own circus. Because of that, Sumidaya grew jealous and plotted their downfall. With Ebisu out of action, there was no way to make the money he needed to pay back Sumidaya loaned him to open up his circus. That is, until Yahiko and Megumi volunteered to help.
Kaoru stepping out as circus headmistress
The next day, again, there was a large crowd lined up at the Ebisu Circus. Yahiko was positioned at the front of the tent and was later visited by Kenshin, Kaoru, Sano, Ayame, and Suzume. They had all come basically to tease Yahiko and were doing so until Marimo ran out, exclaiming that the gunpowder they had stored was stolen. Both Yahiko and Marimo darted off to the fireworks store, as Kenshin suggested, to purchase some gunpowder. Without the main event scheduled, Kaoru had an idea. She involved herself, Kenshin, and Sanosuke to perform to stall time for Marimo. Kenshin entertained the crowd at first, balancing on a large ball while juggling a smaller ball on an umbrella he carried and Sano got involved as well. He was forced to be hooked up against a wooden board while Kaoru threw knives at him. However, after Kaoru cut Sano by accident, Sanosuke wanted no part of the act.
Kenshin doing a balancing act for the circus show
By time Yahiko and Marimo arrived, the crowd grew tired of waiting. Kenshin was singing enka as Kaoru performed to his melody. That was the act that got the most heat. Yet, behind Yahiko and Marimo, gunpowder bags in hand, was the entire Sumidaya Circus gang. All of the performers of Sumidaya's circus wished to shut down the Ebisu Circus, and one of them gave away that they were also trained killers. Because the fight would happen on stage, Kaoru forced Kenshin to use the umbrella. One of the performers, armed with a sword, cut down one of the pillars. Luckily, Sano grabbed it in time before it collapsed the entire structure.
Marimo gets ready to perform her Human Cannonball act
Kenshin managed fine against his opponents, taking them all out with a mere umbrella, and the help of Sano. When it had come down to Sumidaya and his last standing man, the two ditched out. Finally, Yahiko got involved by knocking out the other man with his shinai. During the fight, Marimo's cannon was taken off of its stand. As Sumidaya ran away, Marimo took position in her cannon. Sanosuke lifted it up on his shoulder and the cannon was lit. Marimo was sent flying, and she accurately landed right on top of Sumidaya. The police had come just in time to arrest Sumidaya after learning of his crimes. Kenshin and company had gotten a tremendous applause from the crowd. Once Sumidaya and his circus cronies were taken away, Marimo invited her new friends to come back and perform sometime soon. Kaoru gladly accepted the offer, but Kenshin and Sano ran away as fast as lightning. They both will fear performing circus acts if it involves Kaoru.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Oguni Ayame
- Oguni Suzume
- Himura Kenshin
- Kamiya Kaoru
- Myōjin Yahiko
- Sumidaya Sōbei
- Ebisu Jirokichi
- Ebisu Marimo
- Sagara Sanosuke
- Takani Megumi
Trivia[]
- This is an anime original (filler episode).
- During the scene of Kenshin's show at the circus tent, the instrumental parts of the Image Songs "Suki toka Janakute..." (It's not like I like you...) and "Shiroi Ichigo" (White Strawberry) can be heard. They are included in the Rurouni Kenshin: The Original Vocal Album SONGS soundtrack.
- As part of the show, Kenshin sings Enka, which is a traditional Japanese music genre, that used to refer to political texts set to music which were sung and distributed by opposition activists during the Meiji period.
Gallery[]
