Kenshin continues his story to his friends from last week. Dr. Elder’s enemies plot against her as Kenshin accidentally walks in on her with just an undershirt to cover herself. Yes, the blonde doctor with the vaguely feminine voice is a cute girl. I wonder if Dr. Elder or Megumi is the Best Doctor in Rurouni Kenshin. Who am I kidding? That’s still Dr. Gensai. Megumi and Dr. Elder can fight for second place. Let’s see how many points the cute foreign doctor racks up in this week’s episode of Rurouni Kenshin.
Episode 20 — Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Act Zero, Part Two
The Masks We Wear
Dr. Ishizu’s plans escalated darn quickly this week. It’s one thing to hire a creepy assassin with a spiral sword. But it’s another to plan to release smallpox in Yokohama to turn a profit. Hiring assassins isn’t cheap, so he intends to create patients to fund the enterprise.
On the opposite end of town, Dr. Elder is explaining her situation to Kenshin. Women aren’t trusted to be doctors, so she hid behind a mask to help people. Her actual voice and visage are cute, as is her brief rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Apparently, she’s taken some lessons and can put on solo shows. She’s taking an early lead on Megumi here.
Kenshin takes his leave like a proper gentleman. Now that he knows Dr. Elder is a woman, he couldn’t possibly share a room with her for the night. This isn’t that kind of anime/manga. He recalls her discussion of needing a mask to perform her work and relates it to his youth. Before the scar, he sat in front of a lord and was asked if he could slay men with the Hiten Mitsurugi style. Kenshin then said he could if it would lead to peace.
This whole scene was great. These three people wear their own masks: Dr. Ishizu pretends to be a great healer, but he’s a vile cretin. Dr. Elder pretends to be a man so she can be a healer. Kenshin recalls the time when he became a hitokiri. It’s clear that he took no pleasure in killing, but he did what he thought was right to bring about an age of peace. And Dr. Elder continues to be a cute doctor.
Another Doctor on the Run
Kenshin neglected to give Dr. Elder her message, so she was confused when Dankichi came by in his rickshaw. It wasn’t an emergency call, so that she was being summoned so late at night seemed suspicious. Espilar appeared before them and sent the entire rickshaw spinning away. Just as he began interrogating Dr. Elder, Kenshin showed up to end things.
Espilar uses his drill-shaped blade to create twisted currents of hair. It’s a unique sword type, and it was fun to watch him fight. That body contortion is just creepy, though. He’s fast, and his body contortions are horrifying, but Kenshin is far quicker. Our rurouni uses the spinning effect employed by Espilar to his advantage and launches a devastating strike that knocks Espilar away and breaks his sword.
All said, this was a brief fight, but it was good. The sword techniques were impressive, and Kenshin standing atop Espilar’s sword was such a great image. To reiterate a prior point, though, I could do without the body contortions.
How to Cope with Defeat
After Espilar’s defeat, Dr. Ishizu made a hasty move as he absorbed that Kenshin was no longer a Hitokiri Battosai. He decided to toss the bottle of smallpox and cause an epidemic throughout Yokohama. The terrible doctor planned to make his escape in the chaos. Dr. Elder tried to catch the bottle herself, but she only knocked it away. One of Dr. Ishizu’s own guys nabbed it. When warned that it was a terrible illness, he just tossed it, too.
The hero of the event wasn’t Kenshin’s god-speed, but Espilar himself. He caught the bottle right before it broke on the ground. Denkichi then used his broken wheel to eliminate Dr. Ishizu’s guy and the doctor himself afterward.
Dr. Elder treated Espilar’s wounds and encouraged him to follow a better dream than simply being the best swordsman in the world. He swapped out his spiral blade for a rounded blade to mirror Kenshin’s use of a sakabato. Espilar has also decided to become Dr. Elder’s new bodyguard until, at least, she reaches the United States.
This whole act was a fine finish to this arc. Espilar is somehow less creepy now that he’s decided to stop playing a creepy swordsman stalker. It was also nice to see Dr. Ishizu get taken down and arrested off-screen. A more touching scene came when some of Yokohama’s people gathered by the port to thank Dr. Elder for helping them. The moment quickly turned comedic when Dr. Elder removed her mask and bid them to stay healthy. Dankichi spoke for them all when he exclaimed in surprise that Dr. Elder was a beautiful woman.
Back to the Present
The good doctor gave Kenshin a final piece of advice that he should settle down in one place to heal himself, physically and mentally. She also bid him to stay by the side of whoever calls out for him. He recalled that advice in the present when looking at Kaoru.
Megumi tried to muscle in and give Kenshin a physical. She recalled that Kenshin could smell the flowers but not taste the tea. He complimented Kaoru’s tea, so Megumi declared that he was fine. Kenshin wrapped up his story by informing all gathered about the events from five days before he met Kaoru. He never said he would tell them a tale from his earlier history. I wonder if he told them about his flashback before he became a hitokiri.
Rurouni Kenshin Ep. 22: Resurrection of the Wolf
I have no idea what this might be referring to. Maybe Kenshin is going to be tapped by Odin to fight Fenrir.
What are your thoughts about this week’s episode? Do you think Dr. Ishizu is just irredeemable for trying to use smallpox to turn a profit? How does Dr. Elder compare to Megumi? Let us know in the comments below.
If you’re looking for another cute blonde who plays dress-up and does her best to save people, J-List has you covered. The Lucy Heartfilia POP UP PARADE Figure Grand Magic Royale Ver. from Fairy Tail is now available.
