Section 10: Sakamoto Ryouma's Script Pitch

Now that Arash has shared his idea, would you mind if I went next?

By all means, go right ahead.

(I'll be the one who decides the real ending no matter who else goes before me.)

Thanks. Okay, here's what I've got.

I've been thinking about why Roma Kureishi came here, and what he hoped to accomplish.

Roma used to serve the nation's military, and reported directly to Miguel himself. He surely had plenty of official avenues for success if he had chosen to pursue them.

But instead, he chose to leave and practice medicine in a small town, even though the work of creating a new country had to have been much more interesting.

Good point... It sounds like he must've been sick and tired of war by then.

Exactly.

So that probably means Roma wouldn't ever want to see Miguel again if he could help it...

...'cause that would only bring back painful memories for him.

That's my guess too. But despite all that, he still chose to attend Miguel's funeral.

He must've had some reason for that...and I don't think it had anything to do with money.

Given how close he was to Miguel, Roma would know more about Cortés's legacy than anyone other than Miguel himself.

Right. And there's more to the legacy than just treasure. It's also packed with all kinds of sensitive documents.

I think Roma wanted to find it because he believed it contained the truth about his friend's disappearance.

If it turned out his friend was actually living a happy life somewhere else, great.

And in the more likely event that he wasn't...at least he would have some closure.

He couldn't turn to the police, since the unstable government still had its hands full maintaining order and developing the new nation.

So he decided to slip Gabriela a drug...

...and take advantage of the ensuing investigation to explore the Meihousou and look for Cortés's legacy.

So then, how did he get the drug into her drink?

Good question. Of course it would be impossible to make sure she chose just the right glass.

Especially since, as the host, she would inevitably end up with the last one.

So here's what I'm thinking: Gabriela was already at peak exhaustion thanks to being far outside her comfort zone for so long.

Her glass wasn't actually poisoned. The wine she drank was just the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

Roma figured this out after a quick examination, and thought up a way to take advantage of her unconsciousness.

He pretended to give her an antidote, while actually giving her a powerful sedative.

As a doctor, that's something only I could have pulled off, don't you think?

However, Roma didn't account for Salazar going berserk.

Huh? Does that mean you're not going to have Salazar and Daizou secretly be the same person?

...Definitely not. Izo lived and died by the sword. It was everything to him.

There's no way he wouldn't keep up his training, even if he lost all of his memories.

(I don't have the heart to remind Ryouma that Izo and Daizou aren't actually the same person...)

Like Arash said in his own idea, I think we can safely assume that Izo's role in this movie is over.

You're just embarrassed to perform with Izo face-to-face, aren't you, Ryouma?

It's not that, Oryou. And please don't just pop out of nowhere like that! You scared me!

Besides, Izo's not the kind of person who could do something like that.

At worst, he could flip out and ruin the whole production. That's just one reason not to bring him back.

But, I still have to justify his presence in the story.

When Murasaki first explained my character to me, she said that Roma Kureishi was a sansei, a third-generation Japanese immigrant.

And I'm not alone. This country is home to a relatively large number of people with similar backgrounds.

Izo's character's full name is Daizou Oka. Needless to say, it's also a Japanese name.

Munenori's character was named Ryu Tan. His last name might be Chinese, or it might have originally been the Japanese name "Tani" changed during immigration.

These names might be simple, but they still follow definite rules.

Even my character's family name, Kureishi, has precedent in real life.

？！

Pretty much, yes.

Anyway, given that our characters were all named to match our ethnicity, why didn't Murasaki do the same for hers?

Oh yeah, I was wondering why she named her character "Gabriela" too.

So my theory is that Gabriela is actually Daizou's younger sister, and Miguel changed her name when he took her in.

Though I admit that might be a bit of a stretch.

Eh, the audience would just have to use their imagination to fill in the gaps, I guess.

Okay, here's the thrust of it. We know from the earlier scenes that Roma got his hands on some top-secret documents.

I didn't give them much thought during that scene, but I think I've got a good idea for them now.

Oh? It looks like someone's getting quite accustomed to improvisation.

What if they were a report detailing how Daizou died?

It's not as though you actually read what they say. How would you handle that aspect?

Well, I do have one possible scenario in mind...

I think Daizou's the kind of guy who would go down swinging, making sure to take as many enemies with him as he could.

But if he'd died in a blaze of glory like that, Roma would have long since heard about it, right?

And if he'd already heard about it, he wouldn't have come all this way looking for answers.

So if he died quietly, that would inevitably mean an incredibly skilled swordsman must have killed him in secret.

...And I can only think of one character who fits that bill.

...Oh! You mean General Tan?

From Miguel's perspective, both Tan and Daizou were forces to be reckoned with who could turn on him at any time.

So naturally, he'd want them to take each other out.

That seems like it would be much easier said than done.

True, General Tan didn't seem like anyone's fool, and I doubt he would fight without good cause.

Yes, well, considering who was playing him, I'm not surprised you came away with that impression...

So if one of them were going to challenge the other, it would be Daizou. And he seems like he'd be a lot easier to manipulate, don't you think?

If we'd filmed it, I imagine that scene could go something like:

"Kill General Tan, and I swear on my life that I will see your sister cared for and protected."

Then they fight, and end up killing each other.

I see... That does seem like it would tie up all the loose ends.

Not to mention it sounds exactly like something MorMiguel would do.

Good heavens! Could you all be just a touch kinder to me? Gentlemen at my age have surprisingly thin skin.

True to his word, Miguel took in Daizou's sister and raised her to be a proper lady.

But then he broke his word and married her. If Daizou had known this would happen, he'd probably have gone absolutely nuts and cut Miguel down on the spot.

Eep!

So what happens now that Roma knows the truth? Is that the end of the story?

Nope, that's just the halfway point. Does Roma seem like the kind of person who would just pack his bags and leave after finding out what really happened?

No, the real question is what he does after he learns the truth.

Now then. Fujimaru.

I see this much the same way Arash did.

In other words, I think Miguel is alive and biding his time somewhere inside this mansion.

But now, he's panicking after losing his pawn, Salazar, in an unforeseen accident.

So Roma asks García for help. He suspects that García knows his way around the Meihousou well...

...and above all, he knows García's desire to avenge Vargas is genuine.

Working together, they manage to find Miguel's hideout...

...but when they confront him, he only has one thing to say.

S-so what happens next?

What happens next? Isn't it obvious?

Anyway, I don't know if we're going to go with this idea or not. It's honestly embarrassing to lay it all out like this.

...But if we do go with it, I plan on taking it real seriously.

Anyway, I hope you'll at least mull it over.