Episode Guide to Saiyuki Reload
25. Conclusion ++ Nothing to Give ++ (Ketchaku)
Script: Nobuaki Yamaguchi (also wrote #4, 11, 13, 15, 22 & 24); Storyboards: Hiroyuki Shimazu (also storyboarded #11, 16 & 18); Episode Director: Miake Itou (also directed #5); Animation Supervisor: Sawako Yamamoto (also supervised #18)
First broadcast in Japan 3/25/2004
(directly from manga: Sanzo-ikkou segments of Saiyuki vol. 9 ch. 54, "Nothing to Give", and 56, "Falling, Rising")
Kami-sama lands a cruel kick to struggling Goku, apparently feeling he's back in control of the game--but then he hears that Sanzo has forced himself clear enough of the smothering toys to begin chanting, more and more strongly, building to a furious "makai tenjyo!" The Maten Sutra at once responds to its guardian's voice, whipping and lashing through the air, and each toy it touches squeals and wails as it disintegrates into nothing. What were you saying about toys, you bastard? --snarls Sanzo, as the kyoumon coils itself back into a scroll and drops into his raised hand. He closes his grip on it tightly: I don't have a damn thing to give you, he says.
H,G&G get to their feet, watching in awe, but Kami-sama hardly notices. Give it back, give it back! he cries in a rage--and then Gojyo is right in his face and actually grabbing him by the wrist. He fires his beads into the hanyou's chest, but Gojyo, coughing blood and grinning ferociously, still hauls the little god up off his feet. It's been one long-ass game of tag, he says; now you're finally It--but he can get no further with a string of beads embedded in his gut; he tries to pull them out, and collapses. Goku cocks the nyoi-bo and charges: Kami-sama fires a fusillade of beads that rip into him, but, streaming blood, he refuses to stop until he's landed a blow that throws the godbrat into the wall--then he, too, collapses, riddled with wounds. How dare you? gasps Kami-sama, shaking; I'll kill all of you! Feel free to try, says Hakkai, arming up with a ki sphere; again the beads fly, but--instead of casting his sphere or raising a shield, Hakkai suddenly throws his arms wide and takes the projectiles without resistance. The godling is stunned: why would he do that? and Hakkai, dripping blood, smiles. Because it's all over now, he says: and Kami-sama looks down to see rapidly spreading bloodstains on his own white robe. He's almost too shocked to react; Hakkai collapses, and we see Sanzo standing behind him, pistol aimed. You used your friend as a shield? gasps the little god in disbelief; he too falls to his knees, then to the floor. Why--?
Sanzo closes his eyes. There's a saying, 'hold nothing', he says; it's the one teaching my Master left me. He ejects his spent cartridges and reloads his gun. 'Don't be held down by anything, just live freely'. But is it really right to live by throwing everything away? I've always believed I was living by my own interpretation of that, but it seems that what was really holding me down was the phrase 'hold nothing' itself. (We see images of Gojyo, Hakkai and Goku behind him, one by one, as he speaks.) I don't have any doubts, he says; I have my own way of living. He closes the reloaded pistol. That, he says, is the Genjyo Sanzo version of "muichimotsu".
I don't understand, says Kami-sama, tears streaking his face. I don't have anything--I have nothing, and you have so much! (We see Goku getting to his feet, and Gojyo picking up semi-conscious Hakkai--that's always his job, isn't it--). Hey--he holds up his hand--won't you give me something? Sanzo crouches down beside him and gives him that dark little smile; I'm not giving you one thing, he says. Jerk, pouts the godchild.
There's a grinding sound, and the palace begins to shudder and collapse, debris raining down on them. That's right--the game is over now, isn't it, master? murmurs Kami-sama.
We see him as a child, chasing Ukoku through the street, begging "take me with you!" while someone calls to him that monks don't buy kids (in the manga he actually does ask the priest to buy him). Hey, Ukoku asked him, do you believe in God?-- and in the present, Goku asks if an earthquake has hit, but Kami-chan says no: his master's promise was that the game would only go on until he lost. It's a game my master is playing, he says; if you guys don't get out, you'll be crushed when the castle collapses.
And inside the falling palace, a shadow falls across Kami-sama. It's his master Ukoku Sanzo, but he's dressed as we're more familiar with him: in the lab coat (though not the bunny slippers) of
Dr. Ni Jienyi. [Yeah, if you thought Ukoku's voice sounded familiar, you were right.]
The SI is running like hell, shooting, kicking, smashing its way through the debris, as Kami-sama tells Ni he doesn't want to die. --No, I suppose you wouldn't, the doctor agrees calmly.-- Tell me, master, he asks: is there a God? Ni considers for a moment: in the anime his reply is translated as
"Perhaps God doesn't exist" and in the manga as "I guess there isn't no God," which is more ambiguous. Either way, his dying pupil's response is a weary "that's good."
The Sanzol-ikkou finally gets into the clear, Hakuryu in the lead, and all four fall flat on their backs. Sanzo insists he didn't shoot through Hakkai but aimed around him to hit Kami-sama, though Hakkai laughs and says that
actually two bullets did graze him. (That's nothing to laugh at, grumbles Gojyo.) Goku wonders who that guy really was; Sanzo says he doesn't know or care, and Hakkai says they may as well just leave it at "Kami-sama"--and then all four at once come out with a loud "I'm hungry!"
And we see the dubious faces of the ikkou at the sight of --whoa--Sanzo sitting at the wheel of Hakuryu. Did hell freeze over? wonders Gojyo. Get in, Sanzo snaps; I'm not letting one of you half-dead fools drive this thing. Hakkai asks if he needs a map, but Sanzo says no--they're only going in one direction.
Hakkai suggests they make a bet; Gojyo says the loser is anyone who dies before they reach a town, and the penalty for losing will be to have your corpse left by the roadside, stripped naked. --With something on the nipples, adds Gojyo, and Goku howls that there's no way he's gonna die now. --Which pedal is the gas?
asks Sanzo, and they lurch off at alarming speed, as Hakkai nervously asks their leader if he's ever even driven before...
And we see Kanzeon Bosatsu and Jiroushin, watching, as always, the events on Earth in the lotus pool. They're finally on the move again, s/he says approvingly.
Jiroushin grumbles that they waste so much time, even though their mission is vital, but Kanzeon says they still have a long way to go...really, their journey's only just begun.
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I'm sorry, Master; I lost,
says the kid. Am I going to die?
Ni checks his watch and replies that he has about 30 minutes left, unless the place completely comes down on his head first.
I wanted to be just like you, Kami-sama tells him, but I failed. I knew the things you gave me were just things you didn't want anymore...I knew even I was just one of your toys, but I...
--Sorry, kid, Ni says; I can't really hear you over all this noise.
Shall we go, then? asks Hakkai, and they set off down the steps, Goku barreling after, indignantly yelling that they stole his line.
END
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