Ghost Slayers Ayashi (Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi)

May we have a plentiful rice harvest again this year.

May we have a plentiful rice harvest again this year.

Come on! You pray too!

That...

The god...

The mountain god has descended upon our land...

Sou sa maiagare hoshi yo That's right, soar high, o star

Ichido dake kagayaite futari o terashite Shine just once and illuminate the two of us

Unmei no sora o kakeru hito-suji no hikari ga The single streak of light dashing across the fateful sky

Futari o kaete yuku yo It's going to change us both

Tashikameta no wa kowai kara ja nai The reason I double-checked wasn't because I was scared

Shoujun wa ano ryuusei ni shibotta I've set our sights on that shooting star

Marui renzu ni hitai o yoseta We crowd our foreheads around the round lens

"Hajimaruyo" kimi ga yoko de tsubuyaku "It's going to start," you murmur next to me

Sotto iki o tometa Quietly, we hold our breaths

Futari te nigitta And join hands

Wakatterunda mousugu kitto kiseki ga yatte kuru We know that soon, a miracle is sure to come along

Saa maiagare hoshi yo Now, soar high, o star

Ichido dake kagayaite futari o terashite Shine just once and illuminate the two of us

Unmei no sora o kakeru hito-suji no hikari ga The single streak of light dashing across the fateful sky

Futari o kaete yuku yo It's going to change us both

Cha pter One - The Youi Cometh

Let us see it, Lord Magistrate.

Well, but this is...

Please do not call me "Magistrate"!

In a manner of speaking,

you are the magistrate charged with the oversight of all fiends in Edo.

Sir...

According to witness accounts from the scene,

I believe it looks something like this.

Lord Magistrate, is art not your forte?

They appear to be coming closer to the Kanto region... to Edo...

It is as you say.

So, not only are the people coming, but the fiends too.

You

I

Youi

Youi Youi.

Since ancient times, tales of fiends and monsters

have largely been the product of delusions or false reports.

We will call the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement's target Youi,

and thus differentiate them.

The Youi are neither fantasy nor superstition,

but a canker with corporeal form.

Wipe them out completely,

and your achievements shall reach even the Shogun's ear.

As well, the shame brought upon your house shall be cleared.

So, have you found the final Ayashi?

About that...

Am I to truly make that man an Ayashi?

That was the condition upon which

the Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement was established.

Make the ronin named Yukiatsu Ryudo a member, without fail.

Yes, Sir.

I heard Touyama, the North Magistrate,

will be ordered to transfer to the post of Inspector General soon.

The year before last, it was Yabe,

and now, the North Magistrate is being relieved.

As expected, those not in agreement with the Reform will be driven out.

That's why the Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement must succeed,

so they know that they cannot touch us.

Please, I beg of you.

It don't have to be money. Food... All I'm askin' for is leftover food.

Where are you from?

From Nanbu... The Lord's...

Nanbu?

It's in Mutsu.

Way up north.

Yuki, you go do your work.

Coming from so far out in the country, you may not know, but...

There they are!

Over here! There they are!

Over here!

We were just beggin'...

There's a proper understanding of who goes begging at what stores!

But...

Thanks, Sir.

Hold it! We're not done talking yet!

Let go!

What're you doing, you brat?!

Let her go! What're you doing, you brat?!

Let her go!

Come on, quit it, you brat!

You damn brat! Let go!

Let go! Let go!

You're going to tear it!

Hey, break it up! Break it up!

Chief!

I'm Tamahei, and I bear the authority of Hacchoubori!

You guys are vagrants, aren't you?!

You keep making a ruckus and I'll throw the lot of you in the camp!

Anything but that!

Run! Anything but that!

Run!

Come on, Yuki, back to work.

Yessir.

You see vagrants in every town.

What's the story on them anyway?

Well, it varies, but the one you hear the most

is that they came to Edo because they couldn't make a living on their land.

No home, no work.

The Shogun decreed that they were vagrants,

different from us townspeople.

And he had proper shelters called vagrant camps built

and told them to go to those places.

But with so many of them...

Yeah, there's no catching them all.

These vagrants, are they easy to spot?

If they go into the camp, they get tattooed.

Run away, and they get another one.

Then, if they run away a second time...

They ought to just stay quietly in the camp.

Not like they've got anywhere else to go.

Yuki!

Hey, ladle me a hot one.

Yessir.

Hey, Yuki, what's holding you up?

Here you go.

Hey, Yuki, what's with that wrap?

Sir?

Go on, let's see that come off. Quickly now!

Chief, that's...

Two tattoos, eh?

Yuki, I've known you for a long time, but I never noticed.

So, you were a vagrant, eh?!

And what if I'm a vagrant?

Don't play games with me! You damn rogue vagrant!

Prepare yourself!

Hot!

Yuki!

Hey!

What's this?!

What's going on?!

What is going on here?!

Yuki!

Playing games with me?! I'll throw you back into the camp!

And then I'll have my head cut off?

What good does that do me?

What good?! That's the law!

What's this commotion?

Vagrants are supposed to live in the vagrant coop! What's this commotion?

Vagrants are supposed to live in the vagrant coop! What'd he do?

What'd he do?

A vagrant?

Come to steal something? A vagrant?

Come to steal something?

Go on back where you belong!

Yuki, did you used to be a samurai?

You don't get skill like that from an ordinary training hall.

But a samurai becoming a vagrant?

I'm not a samurai.

Nor am I a vagrant.

I'm...

I'm... nothing.

Buddha, have mercy! Buddha, have mercy!

Essentially, in this era, a senior councilor named Tadakuni Mizuno

is in the midst of executing the Tenpo Reform.

No theatre, no gambling.

They're clamping down on everything.

Even so, the number of poor people streaming into lively Edo

only keeps increasing.

With no home and no work, they were discriminated against as vagrants.

And we'll just leave it at that.

Yukiatsu.

Oh, it's you, Kumoshichi. Some true friend you are.

Showing up after it's all over.

You went to some trouble to show him your tattoo, didn't you?

You may as well have announced you were a vagrant.

Why would you do something like that?