(Voice actor) Mr.David Radtke

On March 14th, 1701, an incident occurred in which the leader of the Ako domain, Takuminokami Asano, attacked a noble man, Kozukenosuke Kira. The cause of this incident is unknown. That is because the 5th shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa was infuriated and immediately ordered Takuminokami to commit seppuku without interrogation for causing a sword incident on the same day that an Imperial messenger from the Imperial family came to Edo castle. The Ako domain was destroyed as well. But Kozukenosuke had no repercussions. At the time, there was a rule called “both parties are to blame” among samurais. The rule was that when there was a fight, both parties would be punished. Despite this rule, however, punishment only befell on Takuminokami. Even so, Kuranosuke Oishi, representing the Ako domain, obeyed the Tokugawa regime’s ruling and vacated Ako castle. However, Kuranosuke secretly had something else in mind. The first thing he did was rebuilding the Asano family. He thought to resurrect the Asano family with Takuminokami’s younger brother, Daigaku Asano, as the master. However, the Tokugawa regime ordered Daigaku to confinement. The Tokugawa regime was indicating their intention to not let the Ako Asano family rebuild. Hereupon, Kuranosuke determined another action. That was revenge. To appeal that the punishment to Takuminokami was unjust and to demand a punishment based on the principle of “both parties are to blame,” he went after Kozukenosuke Kira’s life. Kozukenosuke’s mansion had moved to Honjo-Matsuzakacho. Also, as there was a possibility that the Ako domain’s ronin (aka Akoroshi) would attack the mansion, Kozukenosuke hired many samurais himself and ramped up the security. Kuranosuke and his comrades were anxiously waiting to attack the Kira mansion. Some said they should attack immediately. But Kuranosuke thought that they should raid when Kozukenosuke is home for certain, and waited for the right time. Gengo Otaka found out that a tea ceremony will be held on December 14th. That a tea ceremony will be held means that the master, Kozukenosuke, would absolutely be home. So, Kuranosuke ordered his comrades to attack on the midnight of December 14th. On the midnight of December 14th, 1702, Akoroshi was seen split into two squads at the front gate and the back gate of the Kira mansion. The agile ones quietly climbed over the wall and opened the gates. And at the signal of Kuranosuke’s war drum, Akoroshi stormed into Kira mansion. This is the climax of the 47 Ronin. Find out about the attack on the Kira mansion in the story.