Katanagatari 08: Doll Face

EPISODE 08: Bitou Kanzashi

Togame and Shichika are in Owari, meeting with Princess Hitei and her henchman, Emonzaemon. Shichika wonders why Togame and Princess Hitei don't seem to get along and Togame explains they have a sort of rivalry going on. Togame is always scheming ways to bring down the princess but the latter always manages to find some way to come back to power. Now, Princess Hitei seems to be on to something but as to what, Togame doesn't know. Princess Hitei gives them the rumored location of Shikizaki Kiki's workshop, which is near a lake in Edo (old name for Tokyo). The area is said to be guarded by the fearsome, Byourigo. Meanwhile, the remaining five heads of the Maniwa Corps have another meet to discuss another comrade's death and what they're going to do next. The consensus is for Maniwa Umigame to go after one of the deviant blades. However, right after the meet, Umigame encounters Emonzaemon and it is revealed that the latter is the last survivor of a ninja clan who were wiped out by the Maniwa Corps. Emonzaemon, acting under the orders of Princess Hitei, kills Umigame. At the lake in Edo, Togame and Shichika have a close encounter Byourigo, which turns out to be a mechanical doll with four legs, four hands each one wielding a sword. After that, they both conclude that Byourigo is in fact the deviant blade, Bitou Kanzashi (lit. "Sai, the Minute"). Instead of attacking Byourigo head on, Togame decides to pull back for the time being until she comes up with a plan. She and Shichika then spend the next few days, making a map of the entire lake region, including Byourigo's fixed pathway. Once the map is finished, Togame gives Shichika leave to fight Byourigo, careful not to harm it. Needless to say, Shichika has his work cut out for him as Byourigo's eight limbs give it a distinct advantage. Togame, however, has an ace up her sleeve and she tells Shichika to be relentless in his attacks. Finally, after most of the day but before Shichika could exhaust his energy, the Byourigo starts to malfunction and then stop moving. Only then does Togame reveal that the Byourigo is powered by the sun, which is the reason why it continues to move around even after all these years. Togame has also purposely picked that day for Shichika to fight Byourigo as the heavy rainclouds cover the sun and preventing the Byourigo to recharge itself.

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