The Stubborn Samurai Boy

Chokkaku is the eldest son of Ishigaki Kotayū, a low-ranking samurai of the Chōshū domain. His father gave him his name with a charge: to live straight, with nothing to be ashamed...

Gō Shintarō, beaten by Chokkaku in a sparring match, vows to redeem himself as a samurai and openly challenges him at the school's martial arts tournament. Yet their homeroom teach...

After the tournament, Chokkaku and Gō become fast friends. But word of their daily brawls reaches Chokkaku's father. Angry and grieved, Kotayū declares that if Chokkaku ever draws...

Keeping his promise, Chokkaku endures a savage beating alongside Gō. Disappointed that he will not fight back, his friends drift away. Tsukigata grows ever more arrogant, ordering...

Hearing of the brawl with Tsukigata, Kotayū prepares to commit seppuku — but the castle steward, Tachibana Kaoru, stops him. Tachibana thinks highly of Chokkaku's cheerful, upright...

Hitomi Rintarō, the toast of the academy, asks Chokkaku to train him in swordsmanship. Hitomi's form is clumsy — yet Chokkaku senses one flash of sharp killing intent and beats him...

Chokkaku skips the duel with Tsukigata and spends the night turning Tachibana's words over. All he works out is that some force appears to be at work, shaking Hagi Meirinkan to its...

"I want you to make Hagi Meirinkan an academy of both letters and martial arts," Tachibana tells Chokkaku. Taking the words to heart, Chokkaku sets up a training ground on campus a...

The tournament finally begins — but it was arranged by Daimon Academy to drag Hagi Meirinkan's name through the mud. In the tense air, Hagi Meirinkan struggles; even Gō, superb wit...

Chokkaku's performance at the Daimon Academy tournament becomes the talk of Hagi Meirinkan. Welcomed back with cheers, he founds a kendo club to root the ideal of letters and marti...

With help from Tsukigata and Gō, the Hagi Meirinkan kendo club is steadily gaining members. Chokkaku's training is a little over the top, but his friends are visibly improving, and...

Word of Chokkaku's exploits at the Daimon Academy tournament spreads beyond the school. Hearing of it, the all-female Shigetsu Kendo Club sends him a written challenge. Tsukigata a...

Jun's sharp swordsmanship drives Chokkaku back to the edge of a sheer cliff. Just when all seems lost, he seizes a single instant and turns the fight around. Jun is impressed — and...

When Kotayū learns that Chokkaku injured Terumasa in their duel, he works himself into a frenzy over how to apologize. No reprimand comes, however, and the relieved Ishigaki father...

Encouraged by Jun, Chokkaku installs at Hagi Meirinkan the same contraptions his father used to toughen him up in the garden at home. His friends are bewildered at first, but Gō an...

Everyone agrees to the dōjō. Jun will pay half the cost, and the kendo club members will make up the rest between them. Then Chokkaku realizes something: unlike the other students...

Heartened by Katsuragawa-sensei's words, Chokkaku catches wind of a sumo tournament — with a prize of five ryō! To raise money for the dōjō he enters with his father, and his nimbl...

With the dōjō funds finally in sight, Chokkaku can breathe easy — until the castle steward Tachibana comes calling. Holding Terumasa's guitar, Tachibana bows his head and asks Chok...

He was meant to become Terumasa's friend, yet he left him feeling lonely. Chastened, Chokkaku invites Terumasa to his home. The whole family is delighted, heating the bath and prep...

On Hōjō Terumori's orders, Terumasa's study companions are to be chosen from Hagi Meirinkan. Named are the well-born Yukisa Takuma, the academically brilliant Gō, and Chokkaku. Cho...

Yukisa is harsh for reasons of his own, but Chokkaku spends his days as Terumasa's study companion alongside his good friend Gō. What Chokkaku wants is to become a true, close frie...

The day comes for a long-awaited return to Hagi Meirinkan. Chokkaku and Terumasa, absent for some time, are greeted with cheers by their classmates. Yukisa, abandoned by his fellow...

The abduction is never made public. Yukisa withdraws as study companion, leaving Gō and Chokkaku. As the year draws to a close, the two are given permission to spend New Year at ho...

Hosokari-sensei, homeroom teacher of Chokkaku's Kiku class, has worn a gloomy face since the New Year began. Takizawa, castle steward of the Tachikawa domain, is coming to observe...

Nearly a year has passed since Chokkaku entered Hagi Meirinkan. He is delighted that promotion will bring him juniors — until he and Terumasa are summoned by Hosokari, who declares...

The day of the promotion exams arrives — but unable to refuse a junior's plea, Chokkaku and Terumasa skip the exams and go off to settle a fight. Their opponent, Shōtarō, is strong...

"He loves learning that much, and he can't enter Hagi Meirinkan just because he's poor!" Furious, Chokkaku storms the castle despite his suspension and appeals directly to Tachiban...

Under a domain reform that puts ability first, Chokkaku's father Kotayū is promoted from stable duty to head of the petty stewards. Meritocracy reaches Hagi Meirinkan too, and Hoso...

Terumasa accidentally overhears his grandfather Terumori saying to Tachibana, "Terumasa is a fool, isn't he…" and begins to agonize over whether he really is stupid. Thinking Chokk...

Several days after Terumasa becomes castle steward, Tachibana, the steward before him, visits the Ishigaki house. He tells Chokkaku to go up to the castle and assist young Lord Ter...

Unable to forget his grandfather's "Terumasa is a fool…," Terumasa decides that every adult in the castle believes it, and does nothing but outrageous things. Chokkaku grieves at t...

Learning why Terumasa is running wild, Chokkaku goes to Terumori to hear the truth. Terumori welcomes him warmly and tells him of Terumasa's sorrowful childhood. Chokkaku weeps to...

Since that day, Terumasa has slipped out of the castle every night to visit the orphans. To help him, Chokkaku keeps knocking the gatekeepers unconscious with his wooden sword. The...

Chokkaku's idea is to build a house for the orphans on vacant land in the castle town. But he is dragged before the court of judgment and sentenced to a hundred lashes for failing...

Having shielded Chokkaku before the court, Terumasa mends his ways and begins, step by step, to walk the path of a worthy castle steward. But he is still a child, and what occupies...

For his part in helping Terumasa grow into a worthy castle steward, Chokkaku is rewarded by Tachibana with a hot-spring trip for the whole family. Chokkaku is delighted at the chan...