"Gasaraki",the story of the Earth's first robotic combat machines set in the near future, takes a dramatic turn as technology gives way to unbridled mysticism in the fifth cycle of episodes. The moderate Gowa patriarch, Daizaburo Gowa, has been deposed, which leaves his ambitious son Kazukiyo to plot his family's return to greatness. To carry out his plans, Kazukiyo needs the help of the right-winged demagogue Nishida and the special abilities of his younger brother, Yushiro Gowa. However, Yushiro is intent on doing no evil, focusing instead on unraveling the secret of his connection with his formal rival, Miharu.

Freed from the Gowa compound by Daizaburo, Yushiro and Miharu resume their interrupted quest to discover the secret of their mystical kai abilities. Meanwhile, Nishida and Kuzukiyo Gowa plan a military coup that will simultaneously rid Japan of its immigrants and its avarice. In the process Nishida reveals the history of the Kugutsu, individuals who have received special talents from the lost god Gasaraki. These powers allow the Kugutsu, whose members are known as "kai", to operate the Kugai (plural), organic killing machines that function much like giant robots of the near future.

Yushiro and Miharu follow the long-lost Path of the Kai to the threshold of Kyoto, home to the lost secrets of Yushiro and Miharu's past. Upon touching the threshold, the two young kais are given a glimpse of Japan in the Heian period, around 1,000 A.D.. The story tells of a disagreement in the Watanabe clan, the last protectors of the secret of Gasaraki. This disagreement leads to the accession of warlord Tsuna Watanabe who intends to use his clan's kai, Yushiro and Miharu, to reassert its power in the face of centralizing imperial power.

The flashback to the Heian period continues. Tsuna Watanabe leads his clan and his Kugai into battle against the Imperial forces as the two young kais realize they are the tools of those around them. The evil regent Einyo manipulates Tsuna into unleashing the full power of the Kugai. The willpower of Yushiro and Miharu bring an end to the impending terror, which leads to the defeat Einyo and the death of Tsuna. The new leaders of the Watanabe clan agree to bury the secrets of the Kugai and retreat back into the mists of time. In the present, Yushiro and Miharu gain a greater understanding of their place in the continuing legacy of the kai.

Just when the plot of Gasaraki was in danger of becoming easy to understand, the writers intervene. With the central plot line firmly explicated, the story turns to the history of the Kugutsu and the mystical secrets of Gasaraki. The result is a set of episodes thematically crucial to the overall plot, but possessing a distinctly historical, rather than futuristic, mood.

The bulk of the fifth set of episodes concerns a major turning point in the history of the Kugutsu and Yushiro's ancestors. In the past, the Watanabe clan, in which Yushiro and Miharu serve as kai, finds itself at a crossroads. The new Emperor-Queen, intent on centralization, wants the Watanabe clan, historically vassal to the Emperor, to turn over its Kugai to the Central Court. Just like the Gowa family in the main plot line, the Watanabe are faced with a decision. They can blend in with the new society, or attempt to reclaim their historical stature as powerful warriors. The latter option holds the threat of immense violence and bloodshed, but can bring much needed prestige to the fading Watanabe clan. In parallel to the decision made by Kazakiyo Gowa, the Watanabe clan under the auspices of Tsuna Watanabe, decide to fight to restore the clan's honor. This decision, though, comes to a sudden end when Yushiro's concerns about impending violence leads him to withdraw, thereby negating the advantage of the Watanabe clan. By refusing to participate further, Yushiro ends the onset of "the terror" and assures that the power of the evil god Gasaraki, will remained confined to the ancient past.

The historical arc demonstrates the versatility of the creators of "Gasaraki" who have all along mixed elements of Japanese mysticism with a futuristic robot-combat plot. The attached production notes reveal the attention paid to detail in the Heian scenes. The animators match costumes to historical documents and the writers weave in historical Japanese characters and extrapolate their role in the Gasaraki plot from other surviving tales.

The trope of projecting main characters into the past is nothing new (it's been seen with the six heroes in Lodoss war, or more recently on the big screen with "The Mummy Returns"). But it required the "Gasaraki" team to add a new twist: not only are Yushiro and Miharu projected into the past, but the writers are audacious enough to make the characters in the past absolutely identical to their future counterparts, in appearance, in voice and even in name. One can barely argue against the effectiveness of this approach, however. Suddenly the deep connection between Yushiro and Miharu seems natural, and the dialogue that has been cryptically resurfacing in the main timeline takes on an eerie significance.

The strong back story solidifies the epic backdrop of "Gasaraki". When seen against such a backdrop, the characters, so far removed from everyday experience, take on a degree of realism that's difficult to achieve in a fantasy setting. It is a tribute to everyone involved in "Gasaraki" that the production makes suspension of disbelief seem so easy to achieve.