Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 9 (TV Drama)
Poaching Seashore (密漁海岸, Mitsuryō Kaigan) is the ninth episode of NHK's Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan TV drama series, released on May 5, 2024. It adapts the one-shot Poaching Seashore and the "Let's Go Eat Some Italian Food" story arc from Diamond is Unbreakable.
Rohan and Kyoka visit a new trattoria near Rohan's residence. They encounter Tonio Trussardi, an Italian chef whose dishes have the uncanny power to cure illnesses. Tonio tells Rohan about the legendary abalone, which is said to be a panacea. Tonio needs it for his sick fiancée, Hatsune Morishima, but the only way to get one is by poaching at the Hyogara Rocks.
Summary
Introduction
Two men lie down at the Hyogara Rocks, exhausted from their attempt to poach an abalone. They had tried to get to the other side of the Hyogara Rocks where the abalones are, but they failed since security was tight with several cameras. The older man gloats about a foreigner they found being an easy target; they tricked him by saying they had connections to a fishery cooperative and could get an abalone from the Hyogara Rocks for him. The man realizes they could just buy one from the fishing port nearby and then sell it to the foreigner, thinking he'd even buy it for a million yen. His younger partner praises him for being a genius and they both start laughing until they are told to shut up by another man nearby. The younger man recognizes him as Rohan Kishibe.
Rohan was researching the rare Japanese mitten crab species that lives in the area to sketch it, but they're very nervous and only briefly show themselves early in the morning. Rohan was hiding there overnight waiting for one to appear, and just when he thought it did, the men's loud voices scared it away. Learning that Rohan is a manga artist, the older man suggests that he should just look up images of the crab on the internet, which angers Rohan. Rohan explains how he needs realism for his manga, even if it's just a small animal that appears in one panel, and chews on a lugworm to prove it. Disgusted, the men attempt to take their leave, but Rohan stops them, using Heaven's Door to read their biographies. He writes a command in them saying to "surveil the sea for Rohan", so that he won't be disturbed by them in the future.
Elsewhere, a chef pours sauce on lamb chops and feeds it to a dog. Shortly after, the dog is heard whining.
Let's Go Eat Some Italian Food
Meeting with Kyoka
At a cafe, Rohan is reading a book about abalones swimming on the night of a full moon around the time of the Bon festival in August. He then flips through a diary containing cutouts of newspaper articles. The first article was written on August 14, 2022, stating that a 39 year old man went missing and possibly drowned at the beach. The next one from August 19, 2019, reports on a search being discontinued for a man who had been diving at the coast every day but went missing on the 15th. He looks through two more similar articles; in one dated August 10, 2006, someone went missing while swimming with peers, and in August 14, 1954, two men went missing and were last seen entering the sea on the previous morning.
Kyoka runs up to his table, apologizing for being late. She had been spacing out lately since work's been hectic due to the Obon rush in the next week and ended up going to Rohan's house first. She also hasn't been sleeping much because of a toothache and didn't have time to go to the dentist. Rohan points out how she always orders delivery or takeout and lectures her to eat a balanced diet so she can stay healthy and prevent illness, since "food is medicine." However, Kyoka insists that she doesn't have time to cook because she's too tired when she gets home after work. Rohan mockingly confirms the purpose of their meeting, quoting Kyoka's request for a new one-shot manga themed around a horror mystery involving food, and expressing skepticism about her ability to manage such a story given her eating habits. Thus, Kyoka invites him to go eat at a new Italian restaurant. She just saw the sign for it on the way to Rohan's house earlier, which wasn't there last week. Rohan thinks it's unusual for an Italian restaurant to be there. Nonetheless, Kyoka convinces him to have their meeting there by saying Italian food is considered healthy.
Arrival at Trattoria Trussardi
Rohan and Kyoka arrive at the restaurant, "Trattoria Trussardi", which is inside an old Western-style house. Rohan recalls what he read from the men's biographies earlier at the beach, detailing a strange Italian who offered to pay any amount for the legendary abalone, and that they wondered if he was doing suspicious experiments because they heard sounds of a puppy suffering in the kitchen. Although the sign shows that it's open, nobody greets them when they enter. They still head inside, only to see that there is only one table despite it being a spacious place. The chef arrives and welcomes them, stating he only has one table because he runs the place alone. He introduces himself as Tonio Trussardi from Naples. Kyoka asks for a menu, but Tonio reveals that he doesn't have one, as the food he offers depends on what he decides to cook after observing each customer. He starts reading Kyoka's palm, correctly assessing that she only slept for three hours on the previous day and that she has a cavity. He reads Rohan's palm next, revealing that the lining of Rohan's stomach is irritated and that he has a stiff right shoulder. Tonio realizes that the man is Rohan and shares that he's a longtime fan of Pink Dark Boy since it's very popular in Italy.
Drinking the Water
Tonio excuses himself to go cook their food, wanting to offer them special service since they're his first customers. Meanwhile, Kyoka takes a sip of the water, proclaiming with amazement about it being the tastiest water she's ever drank. Rohan takes a sip as well, confirming that it tastes good. Kyoka drinks all of it and suddenly starts excessively crying, filling up an entire bowl with her tears. Tonio discloses that the water comes from 50,000 year old melted snow from Mount Kilimanjaro and relieves sleep deprivation by washing away dirt from one's eyes. Kyoka ends up feeling very refreshed, though Rohan feels suspicious. Kyoka asks about Rohan's shoulder, though he explains he just overdid it while throwing a frisbee for Bakin. As for his stomach, he's feeling a bit of indigestion because one of the higher-ups at Kyoka's workplace brought him to a Chinese restaurant the previous night and the oil they used was bad.
Appetizer
Tonio brings out their appetizer, a caprese salad made with cheese and tomatoes. Tonio explains the history behind the use of tomatoes in Italian cooking, as well as his pride in his Italian heritage. However, Rohan requests that Tonio tastes it first in front of them. Seeing that nothing happened to Tonio after eating it, Rohan starts eating it as well. After being impressed about the dish's depth and perfect harmony between the ingredients, Rohan starts feeling very itchy and scratches off layers of dirt from his shoulder. Tonio explains that the dirt coming off is because his metabolism and blood circulation have improved. Once all the dirt is removed, Rohan's shoulder pain is gone.
First Course
After Tonio cleans up the dirt off the ground, he brings them the first course of the meal, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca with whelk. However, Kyoka and Rohan are reluctant to eat it. Kyoka tries to politely decline by saying she isn't good with chili peppers, but Tonio assures her that his pasta is fine for people who can't tolerate spicy food. However, understanding her apprehension, he apologizes if they didn't like his meals and says that they don't have to pay. When Tonio leaves, Kyoka suddenly starts gorging on the spaghetti, despite her earlier refusal. Suddenly, her cavity bursts out of her mouth and a new tooth grows in its place. Rohan picks up the whelk from her plate, which he realizes is from the Sea of Okhotsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It's a forbidden shellfish which nobody eats because it contains a deadly poison. Tonio returns, satisfied to see that she ate the dish. However, Kyoka worries that Tonio is doing human experimentation or trying to murder them.
Main Dish
Regardless, Tonio places the main dish on their table, lamb and mushroom stew. Rohan asks what kind of mushroom it is and whether it contains poison. Tonio responds that it's a Devil Porcini from the border of Poland and Czech Republic, and that it is in fact poisonous. Rohan remarks that it can cause stomach pain, cramps, vomiting, or even death in some cases.
To Kyoka's shock, Rohan begins to eat it, though she insists for him to stop. After a few bites, Rohan collapses on the ground as if he had a heart attack, making Kyoka panic. A few seconds later, Rohan takes a deep breath, revealing that he feels completely refreshed. Kyoka is shocked, but Rohan explains how deadly poison can be used as life-saving medicine in certain cases. For example, nitroglycerin is used in explosives yet can relieve angina, and morphine is a narcotic but is used as an anesthetic and painkiller. Rohan believes that Tonio is likely a chef who trained around the world studying rare animals and plants, learning traditional Chinese medicine, African herbs, and medicine from the Amazon. Impressed, Tonio discloses that the herb added to the caprese was Sicilian basil. It normally contains a strong poison but when mixed with olive oil from Rhodes, the toxicity disappears and it drastically boosts metabolism instead. The whelk in the spaghetti contains tetramine, but when it reacts with the capsaicin in Nicaraguan chili peppers, it becomes a compound with dramatic antibacterial effects. When the Devil Porcini mushrooms are eaten with lamb from Normandy, it generates digestive enzymes and becomes the strongest gastrointestinal medicine by breaking down harmful bacteria.
Rohan asks whether Tonio's puppy had an upset stomach. Tonio is surprised that he could know that, but confirms that his puppy Angelo was unwell from overeating, so Tonio served the same meat dish to him for two days and now he's healed. Kyoka wonders how Tonio could know their ailments, so Tonio explains that it was a miraculous power he gained. He accidentally ingested a large amount of scorpion venom in Mexico five years prior and lost consciousness with a high fever. He woke up a week later, gaining the power to look at someone's hands and understand their body's ailments. Since then, he has been using his ability to research and create many recipes to make people both healthy and happy.
Poaching Seashore
Tonio's Motivation
As Rohan and Kyoka are about to take their leave, Rohan asks why such a talented chef chose to open a small restaurant in a remote place in Japan rather than staying in Italy, suggesting that the cause might be related to abalones. They hear a door open and Tonio rushes to go check on the situation. He brings his fiancée, Hatsune Morishima, out on a wheelchair to greet them after she confirms that she's feeling okay. Hatsune introduces herself as a pastry chef and that Tonio opened the restaurant in Japan because of her illness. They met two years ago when Tonio came to Japan to study medicinal cuisine, but soon after, it was discovered that she has a tumor in her head about the size of a grapefruit. Tonio tried cooking various dishes for her but nothing was able to heal her. However, he remembered a rumor he heard while he was in Taiwan about a mysterious Japanese abalone that can cure any disease. In the previous month, he found out from a nearby fishing village that it's called the "Hyogara Abalone".
Tonio recalls how an old fisherman told him that the Hyogara Abalones live in a cove on the south side of the Hyogara Rocks. Since no one has been able to retrieve one, they're referred to as a "Phantom Abalone". They can only be harvested once a year on a day where the abalones get "drunk" and emerge from the Hyogara Rocks. The fisherman wished he could have one too so it could cure his hearing. Rohan shows Tonio and Hatsune an old book from the Edo period that he purchased from a bookstore, which includes an anecdote about the abalone that can cure diseases and the method to harvest it. The abalones lose their sense of direction on the night of the full moon closest to the Bon festival in August. Like the fisherman said, they get "drunk" all at once and leave the rocks. Kyoka sees on her phone that the next full moon is in two days, so Tonio is thrilled that he should be able to cure Hatsune's illness now. However, Rohan informs him that harvesting abalones is illegal in Japan without permission. Hatsune panics as she doesn't want Tonio to go that far, and then suddenly passes out.
Determined to Poach Abalones
Some time passes while Rohan and Kyoka wait inside. Tonio returns after giving Hatsune some medicine. Tonio asks Rohan if he'll come with him to harvest the abalones. Rohan tells him about the challenges they'll face, especially since they'll be in a lot of trouble if they get caught, and he could also lose his life. Regardless, Tonio is determined to poach them. Thus, Rohan is interested and decides to help him out.
On the night of the full moon, Rohan and Tonio head out to the Hyogara Rocks. Since the abalones will drift in the sea, Tonio is glad that they won't have to dive or use a knife to pry them off the rocks; they can just catch them by hand and put them in a basket. They quickly see a whole bunch of abalones swimming. Rohan picks one up and is impressed at its size. He thinks they should head back, but Tonio disappeared. Rohan spots him drowning and hurries to pull him to safety, propping him onto a nearby rock. Abalones are latched onto his body and stuck to his face, suffocating him. Rohan struggles to pull the abalone off Tonio's face. When he finally manages, he falls backward into the sea and starts sinking. Several abalones cling to Rohan as well, weighing him down. He tries breaking them with his flashlight, but their shells are not easily breakable, and they cling more if they are attacked.
Rohan manages to briefly swim up to get some air, where he sees a graveyard full of skeletons in the cove. He realizes that these are other poachers from the past who were swept away by the tide. Since abalones are said to bring longevity and have been a sacred offering to the gods since ancient times, poaching them is considered a grave sin. Thus, the legend of the Hyogara Abalones is a trap that lures poachers and then kills them. Rohan is swept away by the water and starts sinking again. However, before he drowns, he uses Heaven's Door.
Later, Rohan and Kyoka are back at Trattoria Trussardi, where Tonio serves Rohan an octopus dish. It's revealed that Rohan had used Heaven's Door on an octopus to attack the abalones that were on him, as octopuses are the natural predator of abalones. Kyoka asks how Hatsune is doing. Tonio reveals that she should be okay since she ate the octopus dish as well. It has the same efficacy as the Hyogara Abalones because the octopus ate so many of them. Rohan and Kyoka are at the outdoor patio of the restaurant later, where Tonio serves them tea. Kyoka wishes that she could have tried eating the "Zogara Black Abalone", to which Rohan retorts that it's "Hyogara".
Aftermath
Hatsune greets them in a chef outfit and serves them a crostata she made for dessert. It's a snack that Tonio's mother often made for him when he was a child. He traveled the world and tasted various dishes, but never encountered anything more delicious than his mom's crostata. Hatsune promised Tonio that she would one day make crostata using his mother's recipe, and now she was finally able to. Tonio and the others happily enjoy the meal.
When Rohan and Kyoka leave, Kyoka plans to tell everyone about the restaurant so that it will prosper, although she kind of wants to keep it a secret as well. She decides that their next research trip will be in Italy since it's the country of gourmet food, making it perfect for Rohan's one-shot about a horror mystery themed around food. Rohan ignores her, more concerned about watching Mutsu-kabe tree frogs mating. Kyoka asks to see which one, but Rohan demands for her to go home.
Cast
Credits
Manga/Drama Differences
- Vergina is renamed to Hatsune Morishima.
- Vergina is specified to be Tonio's fiancée in the episode's summary rather than his "lover".
Gallery
Clean Key Visual
Trailers
Trivia
- There is a reference to Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen in the book of the older poacher that Rohan uses Heaven's Door on. The text is cut off in some places due to Rohan's hand covering it:
"Pet Names are Complicated
Why is a 2-year-old [something] named 'Nobara'? It's a bit unusual, but I believe it's a girl's name from 'Jujutsu whatever'. Seems like the Nobara girl from that 'Something Kaisen' has a boyish personality and defeats villains with five-inch nails. I asked my wife why and I was very surprised." - During the poaching scene, the singer Ryoko Aoki chants the Noh play "Akogi" and the "Expedient Means" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The play is about the suffering of a fisherman named Akogi who defies a fishing ban in a sacred area reserved for the Ise Grand Shrine and poaches there before subsequently drowning. A monk is told the story by an old fisherman, who is revealed to be Akogi's spirit. The monk then performs a memorial ceremony to console Akogi's spirit. Like Akogi, Tonio sees an old fisherman who tells him about the legend of the Hyogara black abalones. Since it wasn't clear which part of the Lotus Sutra the monk chanted in the play, the staff of the episode sought opinions from experts. In the end, since Rohan is saved, they used the Lotus Sutra with the intention of symbolizing his salvation.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vish (April 1, 2024), "Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan’s TV Drama Adapts Poaching Seashore in May", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Prime Video
- ↑ Ryoko Aoki [@ryoooaoki] (May 10, 2024), "Ryoko Aoki about the Lotus Sutra", on Twitter / X.
