01x26 - Old Blood

[bunniefuu]

- [♪ thrilling music playing]
- [footsteps running]

Taiyo here.

[Taiyo] I'm about to breach the entrance
to the deepest chamber.

[Shion] Listen up, Taiyo.

I'm going to disable the detonation system
within the next five minutes.

After five minutes,
smash the tanks inside to kingdom come!

Roger that!

Hazakura is easily denatured,
and it's quick to vaporize.

Exposing it to air should neutralize it.

Be safe, all right, Taiyo?

[Taiyo] Thanks, Mutsumi!

[Taiyo grunts]

Since there's always the risk
of malfunction with electrical attacks,

you were right to opt for close combat.

Ouch.

Surrender, Kawashita! [grunts]

[Kawashita] Even if you increase
your defensive power,

you can't block Kurosawa's blades.

- [Taiyo groaning]
- I've pierced your vital organs

with poisonous blades.

[Kawashita] Massive blood loss
will blunt your Yozakura powers.

If you stop the bleeding right now,

that will save you-- [grunts]

Big Sis Shion will be shutting down
the detonation system any second now.

Holding you off until then,
that's my mission!

Oh, please.
You straight arrows are such a pain.

[grunts]

[Taiyo] What is this place?

[♪ opening theme song playing]

MISSION: YOZAKURA FAMILY

PLAN 26
OLD BLOOD

[Kawashita] They say that the archipelago
bases were wiped out.

It's just a matter of time
before this one's history as well.

Both Miya and Yama are dead.

Too bad. Yama had a son, too.

Huh?

This dandelion's still alive, huh?

How many years ago did we pick it?

With no water, here in the shadows.
How amazing.

[woman] The life-forms around me
have no need for water or sunlight.

[Kawashita] Again, I'm struck
by how terrifying your powers are.

They might have changed the tide of
the w*r if we'd been able to harness it.

But... it's too late now.

ON HOLD

I'm sure they're going to
erase this lab's existence

so it won't put the higher-ups
at a disadvantage in court.

My only regret is that I couldn't produce
any results from my research.

That blood of yours is just too potent.

I'm going to be erased, while you'll
be heading back to incarceration.

In lieu of a farewell toast,
let me examine you one last time.

[woman] It won't be the last time.

We can still make it.

Let's come up with a strategy
and live on together.

[Kawashita] I tip my cap to you for being
so positive this late in the game.

[woman] Why wouldn't I be?

Thanks to this w*r, I was liberated,

and through you,
I got to learn about this world.

I'm going to take this golden opportunity
to be reborn.

SOMEININE AMOUNT

[Kawashita] Reborn, eh? Into what?

[woman] Anything.

As long as I'm not a Yozakura.

Being stared at
like a cherry blossom tree,

being worshipped and trifled with.
I've had enough.

Let me be
something small and insignificant.

Something that can be found everywhere,
like a dandelion.

That's it, like a dandelion.

I want to be something ordinary.

This "Seed-Sowing Project"
you're always talking about

would make that possible, right?

[Kawashita chuckles]

That's nothing more than a hypothesis.

No, a fantasy.

You shouldn't take it as fact.

[woman] Even if it's a fantasy,
it's still lovely.

When the history and existence of
the Yozakuras are completely obliterated,

then finally...

I'll be released from being
the first head of the Yozakura family.

I can just be Tsubomi Yozakura.

I'll make sure that it happens.

Even if I have to sacrifice
every single one of my descendants.

[grunts]

[grunts in pain]

That's Mizuki's poison.

Brings back memories, doesn't it?

[choking]

What the heck was that just now?

The blood of the heads
resonated with each other,

and our Bloomings spun out of control.

Feels like something digging
into your brain, doesn't it?

[Kawashita] A certain special person
had a special goal

that required the lives of her descendants
with her special blood in their veins.

The second, third, fifth generations...

Though the materials were available,

back then, the technology was lacking.

With the ninth generation,
there was finally a ray of hope.

Just one more.

If we can get our hands
on one more young, strong Yozakura body,

her dream will become a reality.

You probably have no idea
what I'm talking about,

but there's no need for you to understand.

Even if you were to stop me
and the Seed-Sowing Project,

it would end nothing.

[grunts]

STABBING RAIN

[Kawashita gasps]

[panting]

[Kawashita] Ouch.

Not bad, Taiyo Asano.

[Taiyo] No, I don't get it.

Not the past.

Not what happened to the Yozakura family.

I don't understand.

And to be honest, I don't even know
for sure what you are to the Yozakuras.

The one thing I do know...

is that you k*lled my family...

and that you're still going after Mutsumi.

So there's only one answer.

Kawashita, I'm going to stop you!

[chuckles]

[Kawashita] It's quite intense, you know.

The pain of regenerating.

[gasps]

So, the blood has circulated.

[Kawashita] Old, thick Yozakura blood
runs through my veins.

I infused you with it
when our bodies made contact.

As its components differ here and there
from that of the current Yozakura blood,

it triggers anaphylaxis in bodies that are
already acclimated to Yozakura blood.

It's a deadly poison that hurts only you.

Compared to this toxin,

the Seed-Sowing Project
is like a walk in the park.

The physical side effects are minimal.

Through repeated biological concentration
and genetic inheritance processes,

little by little,
the brain and body evolve.

As they become stronger,
their dependence on society drops,

meaning that strife and sorrow
can be lessened.

The side effects of sudden changes,

I knew them all too well
thanks to that w*r.

I was sure that the Yozakura power
could change the world.

That's why I staked everything
on that woman.

You and I are the same.

Insignificant beings
at the mercy of the Yozakura family.

All those tens of thousands of people
sacrificed by the Yozakuras,

I've seen them come and go all this time.

Human experiments.
Those who were after the blood.

Those who joined forces with them
only to be k*lled.

Those who were used by them.

[Taiyo gasps]

Stop it--

Now, now, if you get rattled,
it'll consume you even faster.

[screams]

- [Kawashita] You, too...
- [Nanao] Taiyo!

...are a man worthy of pity.

- Robbed of the people we cherished...
- [Kengo] Taiyo!

...thanks to the Yozakuras,

- then given a reason to live...
- [Shinzo] Taiyo!

- ...by the Yozakuras...
- [Shion] Taiyo!

...your life was all about being
toyed with by the Yozakuras. That's it.

[Futaba] Taiyo!

- As another who's been drawn in...
- [Kyoichiro] Taiyo!

by that cursed family,
let me show you some mercy.

I'm going to end...

- [Mutsumi] Taiyo!
- ...your pointless suffering right now.

- [all] Taiyo!
- [Nanao] Big Bro Taiyo!

- [Akari and Hide] Taiyo.
- [Hikaru] Big Bro!

Good night...

[Kawashita] Taiyo Asano.

[g*nsh*t fires]

SKELETON ISLAND
KAWASHITA CLINIC BASEMENT

We appreciate all your hard work,
Kawashita.

It's been decided that we're going
to hand her over to an enemy nation.

[officer] In exchange
for her substantial research value,

we can save many of the top brass
from being hauled into court.

Since it was all top secret,
we'll have to erase this lab,

and you, its researcher.

It's all for the sake of our country.
Forgive us.

[Kawashita] I'm the one
who should be sorry.

I've decided to take her
into my own custody.

You're unscathed,
even after that expl*si*n?

You truly are terrifying.

[Kawashita] But now you're free.

You can take off wherever you want.

You certainly are a strange man.

[Tsubomi] As the head of the lab,
you worked so methodically,

sacrificing hundreds of test subjects
to my blood.

And now you've set me free
at the cost of your own life.

Why would you do that?

There is no reason, really.

[Kawashita] I grew up on this island,
where everyone

was wiped out by the Spanish flu.

My upbringing led me to study medicine,

but the job they gave me
was to slice up and dispose of people.

And both the battlefields and the mainland

were riddled with starvation and corpses.

We were all born
into this world of despair,

and all we had ahead of us was death.

But you're different.

In genetics,
you're what they call a mutation, see.

A being on the front lines
of the history of human evolution.

Someday, if people like you were to become
the rule rather than the exception,

this idiotic history of ours
might see some improvement.

Though that's way, way off in a future
that I can barely fathom now.

Either way, I'm not likely
to get a chance to see that future come.

Use the escape boat
on the western shore to--

[Tsubomi] I'd like you to see it.

Come with me.

Through my will alone,

I can bestow the power
of my Yozakura blood upon you.

This future that you mentioned

in which someone like myself
is completely ordinary...

I'd like you to show it to me, please.

[Kawashita] And so, we concealed ourselves
in the shadows of history.

And in order to make our shared vision of
the future a reality, we created Tanpopo.

You understand now, don't you?

What I mean
when I say that we're the same.

If your heart and lungs stop functioning,
the someinine will stop circulating.

You won't be able
to achieve Blooming, either.

Now, rest in peace.

You gave it your best shot.

[Taiyo] I can hear him faintly,

but I have no strength.

I know that I have to stand up.

But for an instant,
the thought crossed my mind.

All the pain of my past,
this battle right now...

If it means that I'll
be freed from it all,

maybe it wouldn't be so bad
if things ended here and now.

For an ordinary person,
I put up a good fight, didn't I?

Yes... I think so.

I'm really close
to disabling the detonation system.

[Mutsumi] Taiyo...

Don't let him win!

I'm with you.

[Kawashita] From your flesh and bones

to your someinine-laden blood
and tissue fluids...

I will annihilate it all.

So you won't even pine
for this life anymore.

It's all over now.

And now, just take it easy.

[Mutsumi] Listen, Taiyo.

The two Cherry Blossom Rings
make up one set.

Each pair is made of a different alloy.

The electromagnetic waves
resonate with each other,

so we can feel
each other's heartbeats and breathing.

We can tell that the other is alive.

So if something happens to you
and your ring's responses become sporadic,

I'll send my heartbeat through my ring.

When my heartbeat reaches your ring,

it will then be able to...

[gasps]

...awaken my blood inside you!

I see.
Your Blooming doesn't just inflict damage,

it bolsters your defensive power
and protects you.

[Kawashita] What an amateurish skill.

[Taiyo] I get it.

Mutsumi is going to help me to survive!

That's how it's always been until now.

Always, always...

Thanks, Mutsumi.

Kawashita... I admit that, in a way,

you might have been
at the mercy of the Yozakuras.

But... that's not how I see it.

All the more
if you insist that we're the same.

The reason I can keep
getting back on my feet...

is because there's a future...

for Mutsumi and me!

DAYBREAK

All right.

[Taiyo] The Seed-Sowing Project
has been thwarted!

[footsteps approaching]

[gasps, grunts]

[gasps]

[Kawashita] You really did a number
on this place.

But that won't hinder my plan.

Kawashita?

I absorbed the Hazakura
before it was deactivated.

[Kawashita] I've essentially
taken the Hazakura tanks' place.

Now, if I just self-destruct
via a detonation-style Blooming...

the Seed-Sowing Project will be a success.

[shouts] I won't let you do that!

[Kawashita] It's no use, Taiyo.

- [straining]
- Die with me.

Are you all right, Taiyo?

Whoa! What kind of a monster is that?

[Nanao] The Hazakura concentration
in the air is abnormally high!

Shion, analyze the enemy
and come up with a way to capture him.

[Shion] Roger that!

He looks the right size
to be worth tossing.

You guys!

Yozakura...

[Kyoichiro] Good job
hanging in there, Taiyo.

This is now
an all-siblings-on-deck battle.

He blew up big time.

Growth spurt, maybe?

Can we take him out like this?

Actually, he looks
easier to hurl this way.

He looks like Tennou in our yard,
doesn't he? Stylish!

[Nanao] Don't tell me he absorbed
all of the Hazakura in the tanks!

[Shion] Right, I've detected
an absurdly high level of Hazakura

in that cyst on his right shoulder.

He's going to fuse it together
and blast it around all at once.

If you can destroy it before that happens,

we'll have won.

At any rate...

[Mutsumi] I'm wishing you all
the best of luck!

[chuckles]

So, you're all here now.

- Are you all right, Taiyo?
- [Taiyo shivering]

Take a little break now.

[Nanao] Hey! Big Bro Kyoichiro!
What he needs now is rest!

[Kyoichiro] This is the best way
to deal with the Blooming's resonance.

It seems the Yozakura blood inside him
is affecting him in an adverse way.

I've only ever seen
cases like this in the records.

To be on the safe side,
no Blooming for any of us.

We're going with Formation Nirvana.

What a blast from the past!

[Shion] Aim for the cyst
and pile on as many attacks as you can.

Make him deplete all that Hazakura!

Hazakura isn't so feeble that it can
be destroyed by a cheap trick like that.

Come on, Shinzo.

Right. [grunts]

- [Shinzo] You're up, Kengo!
- [Kengo] Gotcha!

Kengo-chan Mutating Super-Alloy Mode!

Kengo Stars!

No matter how many of these pebbles you...

[Nanao] My poison, seeping through
the holes Big Bro Kengo made,

will stop you in your tracks.

It's all...

so that the blow
that Big Bro Kyoichiro unleashed

and that Big Sis perfected
will land on you for sure!

[Kyoichiro] Sorry about that, Futaba.

[Futaba] I don't mind.

Did you do something?

[Shion] Something's off. Even after taking
all that poison and those blows,

I'm not seeing any Hazakura depletion.

It's concentrating even faster,
as if nothing happened.

Big Bro Kyoichiro!

[Kyoichiro] Hmm?

[Shion] Kyoichiro! He's going to blow up
any second now!

[Kyoichiro] I'm aware of that.
We'll finish him off with our next move.

Formation Sakura Roots.

Our axis...

will be Taiyo!

[♪ ending theme song playing]

NEXT TIME

MISSION COMPLETE/RECEPTION