Episode 1: Onna datera ni kyokatta

A person in the standard ronin outfit sleeps under a tree. Three scruffy looking men approach, and nervously attack; they're dispatched easily by a foot, barely disturbing the sleeper.

The men (I'm going to call them the Three Stooges for lack of a better name) get back up and make some apologies and begin to try and convince the sleeper to come back with them to their village. They're told to shut up. They try again, and Ran is forced to sit up to deal with their pestering.

Startled, they discover it's a woman samurai (though why this is evident when she's sitting and not when she's lying down, I don't know. She doesn't seem to have said anything in the 'feminine' style yet either, so I don't think that's what clued them in. I guess it was her face.). Ran then calmly chews them out for disturbing her nap, but they fail to take the hint and start to talk again. More drastic action is needed, and with a swipe of her sword, she cuts open all of their robes and repeats her dismissal. They depart. Ran, now free to go back to sleep, unfortunately finds that impossible.

Meanwhile, a girl (this one clearly a girl) skip-hops cheerfully down the road. The Stooges, still fleeing from Ran with their swords clutched in their hands, dash by, and then turn around and attack her. After she's flattened them all with a few swift kicks and throws, she demands to know what is going on. She definitely wants to know why these three have attacked her, Myao-oneesan (yes, she calls herself that; a minor note, but as far as I can tell, her language is a bit more masculinized/rougher than Ran's. Just thought it was interesting.).

The Stooges, recovering from their latest defeat, are surprised to discover that this one is a woman too. They go back into their spiel, trying to get Myao to go with them. She's more interested than Ran was, and after some further discussion of the reasons for going back to the village, she's convinced and tells them they can count on Myao-oneesan.

Suddenly, the Stooges recoil in fear; more scruffy looking men are approaching, but these ones actually look like they might be dangerous. Some threatening remarks are made, but the head Stooge (shakingly) refuses to be cowed. Sort of. The second the bad guys whip out their swords, they all rush to hide behind Myao. She's not really sure what's going on, and she seems a little embarrassed by their cowardice.

The bad guys notice Myao for the first time at this point, and she introduces herself to them. They aren't impressed. In turn, this infuriates her. Insults are exchanged, and in the end, Myao loses it completely and starts to challenge them. The Stooges, recovered a bit, glomp onto her and try to stop her. Not being stupid, the bad guys choose to use this as an opportunity to attack, and Myao responds, hampered by the three grown men hanging off of her arms and legs.

It's into this scene that Ran walks. She fells the leader of the gang with her flask, and Myao stops struggling to look at her. The leader, of course, didn't appreciate this, and he and his goons attack. Ran has about as much trouble with them as she did with the Stooges earlier, not even bothering to unsheath her sword.

Myao and the Stooges applaud as another man appears; he'd been watching the scene. He rushes at Ran, but after dodging his attack, she brings her sword to his face, ending the duel. He admits defeat and departs, the goons following (with a few final threats). The Stooges call after them, no longer scared now that the bad guys are running away. The trio next returns to Ran, expressing their disgust with the group that attacked and apparently convinced that she's now going to help them. They're wrong.

She walks off, past a fairly confused Myao. The Stooges, after staring after her, resume their importuning of the ninja girl, who lets off some steam by growling at them.

Ran follows the road to the home village of the Stooges. She discovers that she's hungry, and has a conversation with her stomach; it seems she's fairly light on funds. Sakura, who works at a local restaurant, overhears her. Much amused, Sakura convinces Ran to come to the restaurant, which is owned by her uncle.

[Eyecatch]

The Stooges have brought Myao to their village, to a run down building. There she gains the approval of an old man to do what the Stooges have brought her there to do.

At the restaurant, Kido-ya, Ran is served rice by Sakura and her uncle (she eats like a shoujo manga heroine ^.^). She ate it so fast, the uncle asked if she wanted another bowl, and of course she did. After, she shows her money: she only has 3 coins (presumably of the lowest value). Sakura and her uncle look at the money in some surprise, but then they laugh (they've been doing that a lot). They decide it'll be okay (or maybe they say she doesn't have to pay -- not sure).

The discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the proto-yakuza-types from before. They've come to collect money from the restaurant (some kind of extortion racket). They aren't too happy with the lack of money they've found. The uncle tries to stop them and is thrown to the floor; the leader is then begged by Sakura not to take it all. He grabs her hand and twists it, but then Ran walks in, and the group starts to back off. They haven't forgotten their earlier beating. Ran slaps the money away from them with the end of the scabbard, and they run off.

Sakura and her uncle thank Ran for her help, and after being questioned, the uncle talks about the helplessness of their situation. They had originally attempted to fight back, but that only resulted in the death of one Kikojiro, Sakura's husband and presumably the man's nephew.

Ran asks a few more questions before thanking them for the meal and departing. She's making her way down the street, thoughtful, when she's approached by the man who challenged her before. This time, however, he's carrying a jug. After Ran confirms that it's sake, she manages to get him to hand it over and she guzzles it down.

Meanwhile, back at the bad guy's headquarters, things are not going well for the guy who didn't return with the restaurant's money. The boss is very upset with him. When he protests that it was the fault of the woman samurai, the boss is even less inclined to forgive him, and continues to administer his beating.

The man with the sake and Ran arrive, to the horror of the flunkies who are in trouble. They eagerly point her out to their boss. The man and Ran are going to drink some more. This doesn't please the boss.

In the meantime, Sakura has arrived at the broken down house, and is surprised to find the group looking ready for battle. She demands to know what's going on, and when Myao attempts to inform her that she's taking care of things, she's not the least bit interested in hearing it. She tells them to stop. They refuse; they're going to go avenge Kikojiro.

Ran and the yakuza-man are having a fine time drinking when they're interrupted by some noise from outside; the man leaves to go to work. Ran finishes her drink.

The Stooges and Myao have launched a frontal assault on the bad guy's headquarters, but it is not going well. They've already been met by a force of much larger size. The boss appears to survey the intruders. Myao finds his remarks insulting, and goes into a speech which seems to puzzle him a little (I have a feeling she's saying something along the lines of 'how dare you say such things to the beautiful ninja girl', but I can't be sure.) Ran's drinking companion comes out to join the crowd, but as the Stooges cower in fear, Ran herself comes by and stops him from attacking them -- she will take care of them.

Myao is outraged, and tries to protect the Stooges, but Ran just goes right past her. The Stooges are informed of their stupidity and disarmed, but Ran allows them to run away without actually harming them. She then turns to the watching group of gang members and addresses the boss, informing him of what she's done. Ran's drinking companion, the sword master of the group, is summoned to fight her.

The battle is short, and the sensei falls to the ground, presumably dead. (No sakabatou for this chick.) The boss then orders the remainder of his men to get her, and they all attack. Myao is drawn into the battle as well, and both she and Ran kick a lot of ass. After the bodies start to pile up, the boss draws his sword and aims for Ran's back, but since this is only the first episode, it certainly has no chance of working. He dies. (In the background, Myao tosses a guy about 10 yards as she flips out.)

Later, Myao chases after Ran as she walks along the road out of the village, trying to get her name. Ran doesn't seem too thrilled with her new attachment.