Gintama. Porori hen

Hokuto Shinken

Every year, late on New Year's Eve,

a man would visit Ikumatsu's restaurant.

He would always order a bowl of ramen,

say, "I can't eat this much,"

divide it into three portions, and share them with Ikumatsu-dono and her husband.

However, as time passed and her husband died,

the man stopped showing up.

Just who was he?

We investigated, using the scarf he forgot at the restaurant as a clue,

and the truth was brought to light through the word of an unexpected source.

That man was Ikumatsu-dono's father, Nishiki Matsugoro.

Ikumatsu-dono thought he had died 20 years ago,

but he was actually still alive and living somewhere around here.

Who is Ikumatsu-dono's father?

Why didn't he tell his daughter who he was?

And why did he disappear?

Seriously, where do you think you're taking a plunge?!

You've got it wrong, Hasegawa-san.

The Lawd's getting swept away!

This straight man really wants to plunge into Ikumatsu's pus—

Hey, knock it off!

I can't handle these three stooges!

Gintama

Slip Arc

A Family

What's wrong with you guys?

I don't know who you came here to look for,

but forget about all this once you get back to the surface.

Here, eat some bread crust.

Like I said, everyone there wants to forget about their past.

Watch the Slip Arc in a bright room and at a safe distance from your TV!

Nothing good will come out of digging it up.

Actually, I guess it's still okay if they want to forget.

Some of them have pasts that they can't remember even if they want to.

Odd Jobs Gin-chan

I'm sorry.

I actually kept something from you.

And from the young miss, too.

You kept something from us?

But you seem to be trusted friends of the young miss,

so I figured I should tell you.

Someone once came looking for the master, just like you did.

Why?!

Why won't you tell Ikumatsu the truth, Mother?

She'll continue to have the wrong impression about her father for—

And that's fine.

He really did die once.

And he abandoned Ikumatsu and me in the process.

But he didn't!

All he did was forget...

And all because he saved someone.

Then what do you want me to tell her?

That her admirable father

saved some kid drowning in the river

and disappeared?

And when we finally found him,

he'd forgotten all about us and had married another woman?

The man we knew no longer exists.

It was all too late.

I believe that this is the best choice to make for both his sake and Ikumatsu's.

Apparently, that geezer lost all his memories.

Memory impairment, was it?

Whatever happens one day, he forgets by the time he wakes up the next morning.

And after moving from place to place, he found his way to the waste dump.

That geezer had no idea about his past or his family, but one day,

a man showed up in front of him.

I finally found you.

I looked all over for you.

You probably won't remember me,

but I have never forgotten what you did for me.

If you can't remember, you don't have to.

And if you don't want to come with me, I won't force you.

But even if it's just one bowl, could you please come have our ramen?

I know this is nowhere near enough to repay my debt to you.

I know it won't make up for my sin of doing this to you.

But I want you to come see how well your daughter is doing!

That's my one wish as the boy whose life you saved back then!

Ikumatsu.

This is our restaurant's year-end tradition now.

Should anything happen to me, make sure you keep it going.

I hear the geezer didn't pay much attention to the man's tearful plea.

But every time New Year's Eve came around, he would go off somewhere by himself.

It's strange.

He'd lost pretty much all his memories,

but he did remember just one thing.

2/8 Soba

Dad,

are we having just one bowl of New Year's soba again?

Don't be greedy now, Ikumatsu.

Your mother's right. This is more than enough.

Besides, if we split it into three portions like this...

There.

Can I really have so much to myself, Dad?

Go ahead.

Your mother and I already ate at work.

I can't eat this much.

Daigo-sama talked about it so happily.

He said they finally got to eat soba as a family of three again.

At this point, on top of his memory impairment, he's also gone totally senile.

Looks like he's forgotten all about going to that ramen restaurant, too.

I can't eat this much.

Want some?

But he still hasn't forgotten about that, or so I hear.

Forgot everything?

That's not true.

If he remembers that much...

...it's more than enough.

Gin-san... Zuracchi...

Is that Ikumatsu's old man?

Wh-Why are you guys here?!

Don't go looking down on the homeless information network.

I knew you'd make a move, Katsura.

Don't worry.

I've sent Ikumatsu an invitation, too.

After all, she is the main heroine in my revenge story.

That'd be a problem.

We just called that restaurant

and made a reservation...

For a bowl of ramen.

You kids...

Wow.

When did this restaurant get popular enough to have people lining up, Matsu-nee?

Too bad.

And here we thought it was a hole in the wall that only we knew about.

Did people finally realize how good the food here tastes?

Enough of your nonsense, you brats!

Do you have a death wish? Outta our way!

Cutting in line isn't nice.

Sorry, but we have a reservation.

Ikumatsu-san.

Can we get a bowl of ramen on the double?

We've got a delivery order.

To an unknown address...

Nishiki Matsugoro-san's residence.

Katsura, are you thinking of not handing that geezer over?

Even if I did listen to you,

I don't believe scum like you would leave Ikumatsu-dono alone.

You're right. That's the way I like it.

Father, could you entrust yourself to us for a while?

We swear to help you eat Ikumatsu-dono's ramen one more time.

What can a samurai who ended up homeless and abandoned his sword do?

Go!

Get them, old man and all!

A sword isn't a samurai's only weapon!

Forget the samurai crap! That's not a weapon!

Here we go, Father!

Where? Is that what you meant by entrusting himself to you?!

What's wrong with you? Don't you wanna save that geezer?

To a samurai, everything within his reach is a weapon,

a hammer to crush scumbags like you!

People who call human beings hammers are much bigger scumbags!

Getting out of here takes priority.

Please hang in there, Father.

Hey! His senility's getting even worse!