A few questions about the ending

...and my own conclusions about Kano's motive to kill etc.

But first things first:

a) What I don't understand is why Okita and Hijikata are able to see Kano and Tashiro fighting and even see from that distance that Kano's lips are moving and that he's whispering something to Tashiro if the fighters themselves can't see them at all?

b) Wouldn't Tashiro have called out to either Okita or Hijikata to try to make them understand that he isn't the killer and that Kano was really the one who tricked him and killed Yuzawa?

c) It seems as if both, Okita and Hijikata, suddenly realize that Tashiro might not be the killer of Yuzawa and the attacker of Yamazaki when he, Tashiro, accuses Kano of being the one who stole his dagger to make people believe it was Tashiro who ambushed Yamazaki. Why don't they intervene? Why do they allow that Kano, the real killer, can take yet another life? The life of an innocent man that is.

d) Why is Kano leaving the scene instead of looking where Okita and Hijikata are to report back that he fulfilled his duty to their satisfaction? He knows that they are observing. Hijikata told him so.



About Kano: I think that he was used to using his beauty to manipulate and might have been a victim of sexual abuse in the past which was probably the reason why he killed for the first time and most likely many times since then. After I watched the movie a few times I got the feeling that Kano not only joined the Shinsengumi to be able to kill but also to deliberately surround himself with an environment in which it was predictable that men would sooner or later begin to court him or might even force him to have sex with them. This way he had a reason to kill and avenge the primal abuse over and over again.
I also think that he used Tashiro from the first day when Tashiro revealed his love to Kano to have a scapegoat for the future murder(s) and the attack, respectively. He never admitted that he and Tashiro were lovers but also didn't deny it. He deliberatly made people think that they were a couple not only by not denying the rumors but also by deliberately (in my opinion) succumb to Tashiro while sparring with each other.
Btw, was I the only one who saw a brief smile on his face when he got told to kill Tashiro?



About the men being or not being in love with Kano:
I've read on some threads that people think that Kano loved Okita but Okita didn't love Kano. I think that's not true. Just because Hijikata alleged it doesn't make it true. There is no proof in the movie, not even the slightest hint of Kano being in love with Okita (correct me if I missed something). Okita, however, 'doth protest too much' when being asked by Hijikata if he's in love with Sozaburo. Okita says that he hates people like Kano and Tashiro and their voices gives him the chill but if he really hated Kano just like he said why being so friendly to him when Kano approached him to ask him about Inoue? He even told him that he doesn't need to call him captain. Who would do that to a person they dislike? Also, when Kano insulted Inoue by saying that he must be about 60 years old, Okita told him that he actually would have to kill himself for this affront but decided to not make a big deal out of it. If he had really hated Kano as he claimed this would have been a chance for him to get rid of him or at least get him into big trouble. His facial expression when he talks to Kano, the way he looks at him gives him away for me.

The same goes for Hijikata; when he has his visions about Kano standing alone in the dark waiting for his lover to arrive he is the first to approach Kano and then immediately says 'No' before he gets to him. For me that was a sign that he didn't want to admit to himself that he had feelings for Kano and thus didn't allow himself to think any further. He censored his vision. I also think that he was relieved when Okita stated that he's not 'leaning that way' so that he didn't have to stop thinking of him in a certain way. This influenced his second vision in which Okita is the one to approach Kano. For Hijikata it's a fact that Soji can't be in love with Kano. But for Kano being the beautiful seducer he must be gay for Hijikata and thus must be in love with someone in the Shinsengumi and it must be Okita. It's probably because he's young, good looking, nice and has power that he assumes Okita to be the object of desire for Kano?

I also think that Yamazaki was falling for Kano. First I was confused when he looked at Kano and then said 'No, don't' those two times. I thought that he meant Kano and that he shouldn't go to the brothrel with him but that made no sense and then I realized that he was talking to himself and actually wanted to prevent himself from falling for Kano.