The Citadel gains a new member: this time, the elegant Tomoegata Naginata, who plays the role of an outsider to the Bakumatsu-era politics of his future companions. He and Izuminokami find themselves perplexed by the attitude of Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki—a Touken Danshi who's not only been around, but seems to welcome the tragedies in history and the forward march of combat technology.
This clash of ideologies sets the stage for their next mission, to travel to 1868 and the end of the Shinsengumi timeline to prevent the History Retrograde Army from tampering with Hijikata Toshizo's historical importance. The Touken Danshi once again grapple with their feelings on the end of the age of swords, as well as those concerning the fates of their masters; while Tomoegata looks inside himself to articulate his feelings on being a weapon without a "story" to call his own. The Retrograde forces don't make things easy this time around either, with them pulling bolder—and more unexpected—tactics. Can the heroes preserve Hijikata's legacy before it's too late?
Tropes:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Despite their ongoing animosity toward the Touken Danshi, the play portrays the Historical Revisionists as more sympathetic than usual because, as Touken Danshi without stories, their goal was to obtain one by living and dying by Hijikata's side and leaving their mark on history in that way, rather than because they wanted to outright alter history. Tomoegata feels empathy for them as a fellow Touken Danshi without a story, but still kills him out of duty.
- Call-Back: The way the three Historical Revisionists who joined Hijikata die is reminiscent of their sleeping poses after they passed out drunk at Hijikata's drinking party.
- Continuity Nod: The events of Bakamatsu Tenrouden are referenced in this play, as it continues the story of the end of the age of Katana:
- Nagasone directly references watching Kondo Isami die firsthand when he recounts his latest outings to Mutsunokami.
- After Hijikata gives Enomoto a Dope Slap, he wonders if his hit actually hurt the man and offers him some of his Ishida Powder.
- While Hijikata and Enomoto are holed up in Goryokaku, the former tries (and fails) to point out Sirius, while a sniffling Enomoto has to correct him.
- Izuminokami being offered a large sake cup during the party calls back to Hachisuka being offered the mug of sake in his party scene. Luckily Izuminokami didn't have to drink nearly as much this time.
- Downer Beginning: The show begins with Tomoegata, Izuminokami, and Mutsunokami witnessing the ruthless and senseless murder of Mutsunokami's former master Sakamoto Ryoma and his comrade. Both Izuminokami and Tomoegata are baffled that Mutsu can accept this, with the latter considering him inhuman.
- Driving Question: It's not the main question, but a recurring one nevertheless—"How did you feel when you saw your master die?" For some Touken Danshi, the answer to this question defines how they see their affection for their master and their way of life; Mutsunokami's seeming indifference therefore made people like Izuminokami and Nagasone wary until they learned his actual reaction and reasoning.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Horikawa runs into the fray to take on Izuminokami's burden of stopping Hijikata, Izuminokami is asked what what he'd do if Horikawa was too depressed to carry out an order. Izuminokami confidently replies that he'd just do the deed himself, and then runs after Horikawa after realizing that the boy is planning to do the exact same thing for him.
- Fair-Weather Foe: When Hijikata decides to throw a party on the spur of the moment, the Historical Revisionists and Touken Danshi stage a friendly relationship in order to keep their separate schemes against each other from failing, but they wind up drinking so much sake that they are too inebriated to do anything to each other anyway.
- Fanservice: After being captured by the Historical Revisionists, Horikawa is tied up and interrogated by Hijikata, who hits him with a riding crop whenever he doesn’t answer. His tie, belt, and tops are also mysteriously undone.
- Figure It Out Yourself: Izuminokami ends up having several conversations with Hijikata, asking in a few veiled questions if he should really be struggling with killing him. Hijikata on his part says he would have gotten it over with to complete his duties in his younger years, but also adds that the answer often has to come from within.
- Foil: Enomoto Takeaki acts as this to Hijikata. Whereas Hijikata is from an exceptionally poorer background, is willing to harden his heart to win a fight, and is neck deep in the ideals of bushido, Enomoto is an eccentric dreamer who wears his heart on his sleeve and has far more book smarts than war prowess, and is very interested in what the future will bring. Hijikata actually likes this about Enomoto, seeing bits of Kondo in him, and wants him to surrender the Boishin War so he can make good use of those characteristics.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Enomoto Takeaki, being learned in several different languages and disciplines, gets to make use of it in "To The North" by singing in English and speaks entire sentences in French.
- Kill Him Already!: Mutsunokami is a powerful fighter, but he always stops short of actually killing his opponents rather than downing or disarming them. He's been criticized more than once for these actions, and when prompted the first time, he answers that he sees even the enemies he faces as living beings. He breaks this rule for the one and only time when he Mercy Kills a limping Hijikata.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Very narrowly averted with Izuminokami, who was in the position to kill Hijikata to protect history, but broke at the last second, forcing Mutsunokami to do it in his stead.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The musical's interpretation of the end of the Battle of Hakodate is this, at least in regards to Hijikata. He sees himself as emblematic of the age of swords and bushido, but as such he recognizes his own limits and knows he's not built for anything else but fighting. He also knows that as a leader of the Shinsengumi, his opponents would never leave him alive. As such, he urges Enomoto, Riki, and Nakajima to surrender themselves while he gives himself up to be killed.
- History Repeats: This is now the second time that a Shinsengumi Touken Danshi is tasked with killing their master on the date of their historical death, is prepared to cut them down, but balks at the last second and has the Touken Danshi they've been butting heads with deal the finishing blow instead.
- Idiot Ball: Horikawa grabs the idiot ball when he decides to rush the Historical Revisionists camp alone to foil their plan to keep Hijikata alive beyond his time, hoping that doing so will save Izuminokami from having to kill his former master in order to correct history. To the dismay of his teammates, this move results in him being wounded and taken prisoner by the enemy, making matters worse for everyone.
- Manly Tears: Everyone except for Tomoegata and Mutsunokami breaks down atHijikata's death.
- Motive Misidentification: The Touken Danshi initially embarked on their mission to stop the Historical Revisionists from killing Hijikata Toshizou, only to discover that they intended to change history by keeping him alive beyond his historical end in the Boishin War. Some even have the guts to join Hijikata's side in order to ensure, if not Hijikata's victory, his survival for even one more day.
- Naïve Newcomer: Tomoegata plays this role in the play, as he is not only new to the citadel but also unfamiliar with the Shinsengumi stories, allowing the more experienced members to explain things to him so that the audience can understand.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Tomoegata realizes that the Historical Revisionists in this play at least are just Touken Danshi without stories who wanted to find meaning in their lives by living and dying by Hijikata’s side during the age of the sword.
- Rule of Symbolism: The age of swords was already on its way out, but everyone who still fought with a sword intended to at least go out fighting they only way they knew how. Hijikata, for his final duel, crossed swords with Izuminokami, who shares the same mindset, but is let go. The one who finally puts an end to him is Mutsunokami, the sword who represents the changing landscape in weaponry and outright kills him with a gun—the weapon most symbolic of the changing eras.
- Sparing Them the Dirty Work: Since Hijikata's survival would have caused history to collapse, Mutsunokami kills Izuminokami's former master for him because he couldn't bring himself to do so.
- Standardized Leader: Played With; Compared to the more colorful cast of Shinsengumi-aligned Touken Danshi, Tomoegata, who is chosen as the group's leader, is essentially a Blank Slate because he is the only one without a story, which turns out to be relevant to the musicals overarching themes. However, his position as leader has little bearing on the plot, and he is not assigned any leadership responsibilities.
- Stepford Smiler: Mutsunokami justifies his indifference to witnessing his former master's death by stating that everyone dies, and also that it wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed it happen. Nagasone later finds out that this was a front, as he was simply choosing to grieve privately and in his own way.
- Those Two Guys: Shimada Kai/Riki and Nakajima are hardly seen without each other in scenes concerning the Shinsengumi. they even go so far as to attempt harakiri to preserve their honor together!
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: While Mutsunokami has no problem fighting and wounding the enemy, he never executes them because he believes that life should not be taken—not even when it comes to the lives of Historical Revisionists. In the end, Izuminokami couldn't bring himself to kill Hijikata, so he was forced to do it in his stead in order to preserve history.
- Wham Shot: Nakajima's new recruits aren't just any old soldiers—they're Historical Revisionists. While we've seen different tactics from the enemy before, outright joining a side shows not only that they're picking a different avenue of changing history, but that even the Revisionists have their own reasons to be joining the fight; a far cry from the mindless murder machines they usually are.
