Redeye Reprisal

Redeye Reprisal (百鬼夜行, Hyakkiyakō) is the second episode of Samurai Champloo. It originally aired June 03, 2004 and aired May 21, 2005 in the US.

Short Summary
Having had his arm sliced off by Mugen in the restaurant, Sasaki Ryujiro, a bodyguard of the prefect's son, Tomonoshin Shibui, seeks revenge and sends over two assassins. To Jin, he sends over a man who seems like an insignificant character but who turns out to be a terribly skilled assassin. To Mugen, he sends over a large ogre-like man, from his remote hut in the woods, who has supernatural strength and the furious look of a demon. Fuu gets kidnapped by Ryujiro, while the two face each of their assassins.

Long Summary
The episode opens up in a jail where Ryujiro Sasaki, the man who burned down the tea house in the first episode, is about to free a prisoner set for execution named Oniwakamaru, needing him to eliminate Mugen & Jin and promising to help him get revenge on those who mocked him and made him feel like an outsider.

The next morning, Mugen, Jin, and Fuu are trying to get some money together, but they all realize they don't have much on them. Mugen and Jin are about to get into a fight, but Fuu reminds them of the promise they made to her regarding the samurai who smells of sunflowers. They proceed to give her the third degree and bombard her with various questions regarding their quest.

Amidst the arguing, Fuu's stomach grumbles, and they all decide to get something to eat. They head out to the first food place they come across and order some yaki-manju (dumplings made from flour soaked in sake and then covered with miso and grilled). They argue about how to divide the order amongst the three of them before a bird swoops in and steals their treat. In the midst of this, Jin overhears a conversation from the group of men sitting a short distance away from them about an ogre who massacred innocent people.

The men talking suddenly turn to the elderly man sitting next to them and suggest that since this man's a samurai, he could kill the ogre no problem, but he refuses out of fear. Mugen then comes up and offers to kill the ogre, demonstrating his sword skills on a yaki-manju skewer. Impressed, the men buy some more of the dumplings for Mugen, but Fuu seems annoyed at him for trying to take up a quest separate from his promised mission.

However, the men calm her down and offer her a drink as well... which causes her to pass out for a bit, and the cowardly samurai comments to Jin about his jealousy of their sword-wielding prowess. Another elderly man, an innkeeper, asks about the gang's plans and advises them against travelling through the night, suggesting that they stay at a shack located around a nearby hot spring that's free of charge.

They take him up on his offer, heading up to the shack and using a cart to drag the unconscious Fuu with them. On their way, Mugen stops and catches sight of a mysterious women of great beauty. The woman explains her name is Hotaru.

At the shack, Ryujiro meets with the innkeeper and congratulates him for following orders (presumably he was told to lead the group to the shack) before having Oniwakamaru strangle him to death. Meanwhile, Mugen helps the woman who appears to be struggling with her sandals and tries to extort a favor out of her. Later that night, Mugen and Jin make it to the shack before Mugen dashes off to meet up with the woman again at her house. The two enjoy some time together before she immediately rushes into trying to have sex with Mugen. While this little sexual escapade is going on, Fuu finally wakes up, unfortunately, to the sight of Ryujiro, who promptly knocks her unconscious by stomping on her face.

Jin is unaware of all this, having taken a break for a dip in the nearby hot spring, when he suddenly encounters the cowardly samurai (who's name is Inuyama from the tea house earlier. He makes some rather odd comments about the fireflies surrounding the air above them which make Jin uncomfortable and decides to leave. Before he does, the cowardly samurai tells him that he's heard of the samurai who smells of sunflowers.

Ryujiro and Oniwakamaru take Fuu's unconscious body with them when Kanto police officers suddenly show up to arrest Ryujiro for his crimes. He responds by sicking Oniwaka on the police, and given that they insult him by calling him a monster, he gladly obliges. After the battle, Fuu is locked inside of a cage with Oniwaka standing guard inside. He starts to discuss his backstory, which mainly consists of people belittling him for his monstrous appearance and then proceeding to kill them out of frustration. The two end up sharing a bonding moment since Fuu doesn't find him all that scary (also a firefly finds its way into the cage because of course), but it's interrupted by Ryujiro commenting that he "sent the invitation".

Meanwhile, Mugen's about to get his freak on with the Hotaru, but while they're locked in a sweet embrace, she puts her tongue and something else down his throat. As it turns out, she was hired by a one-armed man to poison him with a "one night mushroom" (whatever that is) and sake, and only Ryujiro has the antidote and Fuu as well. As this is going on, Jin is led out to the middle of the woods by the samurai who reveals himself to be a hired assassin name Inuyama, something Jin already knew. The two proceed to engage in a tense sword duel. The samurai frequently compliments Jin on his sword-fighting prowess as the battle rages on.

Mugen uses a clue he's given to track down where Ryujiro is keeping Fuu captive. While he makes his way through the area, he's caught off-guard by Oniwaka, and he catches sight of Ryujiro and Fuu. Mugen doesn't seem to have any recollection of who Ryujiro is, but this is interrupted by Oniwaka's continued assault, and his weakened state makes it difficult to fight. Mugen manages to slice through the hood on Oniwaka's face, and he responds by hitting Mugen in the face. Ryujiro tells him to back off, wanting to kill our hero slowly, and he does so by attempting to drown him in the nearby river. Fuu manages to intervene by knocking Ryujiro down, but he gets back up and holds his sword up to her neck. He goes on a speech about how he likes to share his suffering with other people and his general sadistic tendencies. Oniwaka interferes at just the right time to choke Ryujiro to death, and Mugen gets up again to land one more blow on him. Oniwaka prepares to defend himself, but Fuu tells him not to do so right before Mugen pierces his heart with his sword.

The fight between Jin and the assassin eventually finds its way to the river, where he notices that Ryujiro is lying dead. The assassin realizes that he no longer has any reason to continue fighting and leaves Jin behind, but not before commenting that the two of them will likely meet again. Fuu goes to the dying Oniwaka and asks why he rescued her, and he tells her that it's because she's the only person he's ever met who wasn't afraid of him and his appearance. The episode ends with Oniwaka pointing up to a sky and catching a firefly on his finger before dying.

Characters
A list of characters that appeared in Redeye Reprisal, in order of appearance.


 * Oniwakamaru


 * Sasaki Ryujiro


 * Fuu


 * Jin


 * Mugen


 * Inuyama


 * Hotaru


 * Saruhashi and Kiji