Aibou TV Season 5 Episode 7 - Kensei (God of the Sword)(剣聖)

Subtitle: Kensei (God of the Sword)(剣聖)

 Genichirō Azuma(吾妻 源一郎), a former Japanese kendo champion, is found dead in his own dojo, apparently killed by a blow from a sword. His friend and a fellow kendo expert Masato Seki(関 正人) is apprehended in his house wearing kendo uniform covered in blood. During interrogation, he says that he killed Master Azuma during their duel. He even presents a contract they signed with a bloody thumb in which they state that no one should be blamed if either or both should fall during the duel. It looks like an open and shut case, but as usual, Inspector Ukyō notices minor inconsistencies with that scenario. Who killed the kendo master?

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Fumi Katsuragi(桂木 ふみ) - Assistant director at Azuma Shin Sei-kan(吾妻心聖館). Once a week on Sundays she teaches kendo to children outside the dojo and so does not visit the dojo on that day. Her best technique is a type of forearm strike.

When she was a minor, she ran away from home many times and was arrested multiple times for causing injuries and other offenses.

She tells Inspector Ukyō that the Japanese swords were the only things missing or out of place from the dojo.

Tadanori Katsuragi(桂木 忠則) - Instructor Fumi's father who asked Genichirō Azuma(吾妻 源一郎) to teach her kendo and straighten his daughter out after she caused caused so much trouble when she was younger. He is the security director(警備局長 keibi kyokuchō) at the National Police Agency(警察庁 Keisatsuchō).

Genichirō Azuma(吾妻 源一郎) - Head instructor at Azuma Shin Sei-kan(吾妻心聖館). He is the former Japanese kendo champion who had been called the modern samurai.

He loved drinking sake with Master Seki, the only fun he had in life, according to his son Shunichi. While drunk, they would pull off crazy stunts like drawing a copy of "Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree (枯木鳴鵙図 Karekimeigekizu)" by Musashi Miyamoto.

Sergeant Itami looked up to Master Azuma. He taught Sergeant Itami that only an idiot will jump into a battle he is destined to lose. It is better to quietly retreat in those situations. He suspects Instructor Fumi because he feels Master Seki was past his prime, and the sergeant was not able to beat Instructor Fumi.

Master Azuma was murdered with a Japanese sword. The sword he was holding had crossed swords at least six times. Oddly, he hadn't prepared a will to prepare for the case he died from the duel.

His wife had passed away years ago, and he apparently had a relationship with Miss Fumi.

Shunichi Azuma(吾妻 俊一) - Master Azuma's son who suffers from asthma. An only child who does office work for his father's dojo. Unlike his strong father, he was much more mild-mannered. He refused to go to school when he was younger. He never went to high school and dropped out after one month. Some time later, Shunichi went to an interview for a part time job, but a policeman had to help him get home later, saying that he found Shunichi crouching in the middle of an intersection.

Masato Seki(関 正人) - Master Azuma's friend. He is a 7th rank kendō master and a honorary adviser for Azuma Shin Sei-kan(吾妻心聖館). He was wearing a bloody uniform in his house when the police came to the door. He claims that he wanted to die in an honorable duel against Master Azuma rather than die on a hospital bed, but somehow ended up killing the champion instead. Sergeant Itami, however, doesn't think Master Seki, perhaps because of his old age, would have been strong enough to beat let alone kill Master Azuma.

Isamu Mochizuki(望月 勇) - Employee at the sports goods maker HAL Sports (株式会社ハルスポーツ Kabushikigaisha harusupōtsu) who recently started teaching at Master Azuma's dojo, Azuma Shin Sei-kan(吾妻心聖館). HAL Sports was scheduled to buy Mater Azuma's dojo including the house, then build company related facilities on the dojo grounds. They planned to keep the dojo name, but rebuild a much smaller dojo on the site. Everyone currently at the dojo would have worked as HAL Sports company employees. Although all the instructors at the dojo knew about the sale, not everyone was happy about it. About ten days ago, he overheard Instructor Fumi arguing with Master Azuma about the fate of the dojo.

The "contract" written before the duel

Warera shinken o motte(我等真剣を以って) - We both hold Japanese swords and

Tachiai sōrō-sue(立ち会い候末) - face each other. Afterwards,

Ippō aruiwa sōhō inochi o(一方或いは双方命を) - one or both, with our life (or lives)

Otosu koto to ainari(落とす事と相成り) - may lose, and even if that happens,

Sōraedomo moto yori(候えども元より) , originally

Kakugo no uenareba sono(覚悟の上なればその) we were prepared and so

Tsumi tou kotonaki yō(罪問う事無きよう) don't ask about the blame

Kakitsuke o motte yakushi sōrōmononari(書付を以って約し候者也) - We had promised as written here.

Masato Seki(関 正人)

Genichirō Azuma(吾妻 源一郎)

Trivia

This is the first time Sergeant Itami visits Hana No Sato. He goes there to unofficially ask the Tokumeigakari pair to look into Master Azuma's murder because Superintendent Uchimura gave orders not to investigate this case further.