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Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚, Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan^?)^[1] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki with an anime adaptation. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English-language versions of the OVAs as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the “Hitokiri Battōsai” (人斬り抜刀斎, “Hitokiri Battōsai“^?).^[2] Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999. The complete work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes which have sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007.^[3] The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled “Wandering Samurai” in some English releases, as a rough translation of “Rurouni.”

Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada.

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Summary

A young woman named Kamiya Kaoru mistakes Kenshin for a murderer known as “Hitokiri Battōsai“. However, when she notices Kenshin’s reverse-bladed sword, or sakabatō, she comes to the conclusion that he could not be the murderer. Kenshin saves her from certain death in battle against the real murderer, who claims to be a practitioner of Kamiya Kasshin Ryū, Kaoru’s own style, while using the name “Hitokiri Battōsai“. Kenshin takes her back to her dojo and Kaoru tells him of recent events while a man named Hiruma Kihei patches up her arm. Later, it turns out that Kihei and the murderer, whose real name is Hiruma Gohei, were working together to compel Kaoru to sell the dojo. The brothers Hiruma take Kaoru hostage and send their henchmen to attack Kenshin, who takes them all on with his superior speed and sword skill. Before destroying Kaoru’s dojo floor with Gohei’s face, Kenshin tells everyone that “Hitokiri Battosai” doesn’t use Kamiya Kasshin Ryū, but an ancient style of the Sengoku era that pits one against many: Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū. If not for such a sword, the body count would increase tenfold” (Watsuki 46). Thus having revealed his identity, Kenshin makes ready to leave — until Kaoru asks for his name and for him to stay.^[4]

Characters

See also: List of minor Rurouni Kenshin characters

See also: List of villains in Rurouni Kenshin

Usage note: Character names are given in Japanese order with the given name after the family name. The English anime uses the Western order (family name after the given name) while the English manga uses the Japanese order.

Watsuki, in each tankōbon, details the creation of the characters, as well as the influences he had for the characters’ personalities and designs. Influences include historical figures (prominently seen with members of the Shinsengumi) and fictional sources including X-Men, Marvel characters, and SNK video games characters; when Watsuki uses SNK video games as inspiration he mainly uses Samurai Shodown and Last Blade ones.^[5][6]

Main characters:

• Himura Kenshin
• Kamiya Kaoru
• Sagara Sanosuke
• Myōjin Yahiko
• Takani Megumi
• Shinomori Aoshi
• Saitō Hajime
• Makimachi Misao

Origin

A prototype series titled Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story^[7] first appeared as a pair of separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993 in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Special.

The story released in the first manga features an earlier version of Kenshin helping a wealthy girl named Raikōji Chizuru.

The second story, which though released second in the manga format was indeed the first ‘Rurouni’ one-shot, has Kenshin saving the Kamiya family’s dojo from a corrupt crime lord who seeks to marry the family’s oldest daughter, Megumi (later to become Takani Megumi), with the aid of her younger siblings, Kaoru and Yahiko (the heir to the Kamiya dojo, later to become Myojin Yahiko). While Kaoru and Yahiko’s characters are similar to their incarnations in Rurouni Kenshin, Megumi’s personality is distinctly different as she is more timid and submissive than her eventual incarnation in the series.^[8]

Watsuki said that he remembered the difficulty experienced when he condensed “everything” into 31 pages for the first Romantic Swordsman story. He said that he “put all my soul into it” but he sighs when he looks at the story from his perspective after the publication of the Rurouni Kenshin Volume 1 graphic novel in Japan. During the development of the 1st Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Watsuki and his editor argued over Kenshin’s speech pattern. For the story they settled for a “slangy” pattern. Watsuki said that he wonders what the story would have been if he had permission to add two pages to the story. Watsuki describes the first Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story as receiving mediocre reviews and about two hundred letters.

Watsuki said that if one thinks of the first Rurouni story as a “side story,” then one would consider the second story, echoing the “Megumi Arc,” as a “pilot” for Rurouni Kenshin. According to Watsuki, the final Rurouni Kenshin series did not being entirely from his free will. Describing the creation of historical stories as “hard,” Watsuki initially wanted to make his next series in a contemporary setting. An editor approached Watsuki and asked him to make a new historical story.^[8]

With the historic concept, Watsuki intended to use the Bakumatsu time period from Moeyo Ken with a story akin to Sugata Sanshirō. Watsuki experimented with various titles, including Nishin (Two-Hearts) Kenshin, Yorozuya (Jack-of-All-Trades) Kenshin, and variations of “Rurouni” and “Kenshin” with different kanji in that order. According to Watsuki, he took eight months to write the 45-page second Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story.^[8]

Media

See also: Rurouni Kenshin media and Brilliant Collection

Manga

Main article: List of Rurouni Kenshin chapters

In 1994, Watsuki created an ongoing version that was published in Shonen Jump until its conclusion in 1999. The manga consists of 28 tankōbon volumes which sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007.^[3] The storyline of Kenshin is divided into three storyline arcs: Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Jinchū (人誅編, Jinchū-ban^?). The Jinchū arc (also known as the “Ending Arc”, “Revenge Arc”, and sometimes spelled “Jinchuu Arc”) was not animated, except for the parts about Kenshin’s background which formed the release of one of the OVAs.

The Jinchū arc contains a large amount of Kenshin’s backstory including the meeting of his first wife, Yukishiro Tomoe, and the events that resulted in his infamous cross-shaped scar. The story arc is primarily focused on characters from Kenshin’s years spent as the “Hitokiri Battōsai“, who seek revenge against him for his past actions. The Jinchū arc also has a stronger romantic theme to it.

In July of 2006, the Japanese publishers of Rurouni Kenshin released the kanzenban edition. Each kanzenban volume features a new cover, and there is a color panel inside the book that is new art as well. The kanzenban is slated to run 22 volumes (as opposed to the original 28 tankōbon each book will contain more chapters than the basic editions), with two coming out monthly. As a bonus, the kanzenban will include Yahiko no Sakabatō, an extra story that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump but was never collected into a book in Japan.

Yahiko no Sakabatō

In 2000, it was followed up by Yahiko no Sakabatō (弥彦の逆刃刀, (“Yahiko‘s Reversed-Edge Sword”)^?), which Viz released in the September 2006 edition of Shonen Jump. The story follows the character of Myojin Yahiko, who reluctantly accepts an assignment to teach at the Kamiya Kasshin Shintō style dojo. At the dojo, Yahiko finds that Kikuhara Midori, the daughter of the dojo’s master, and three students are being held hostage by a criminal, Mutō Kaname, and his followers. Yahiko quickly defeats Mutō and a police officer, Lieutenant Kitaki, who attacks Mutō with the blind belief that all criminals must be executed for the sake of the Meiji era. Yahiko returns to the students and subjects them to harsh training for the rest of his duration at the dojo.

He returns to Tokyo at the end of the month and then takes off to the Akabeko restaurant to visit Sanjō Tsubame, not knowing the whole trip was planned by Kenshin for Yahiko to become stronger.^[9]

Encyclopedia

Kenshin Kaden is an encyclopedia that includes the story Haru ni Sakura, which details the fates of all of the Rurouni Kenshin characters. Haru ni Sakura is six pages long and in full color. The story takes place years after the manga’s conclusion, when Kenshin and Kaoru have married and have a young son, Kenji. Many of the series’ major characters who have befriended Kenshin reunite (or otherwise reveal their current whereabouts) with him in a spring picnic.

[edit] Novels

Originally from Shueisha’s Jump j-Books. Voyage to the Moon World is an original story (that was later adapted in the anime), but the rest are adaptations of manga and anime stories. Only Volume 1 has been translated into English so far.

1. Volume 1

   Voyage to the Moon World and Sanosuke and the Nishiki-e By Kaoru Shizuka (1996/10). ISBN 1421506041

   English edition published as Rurouni Kenshin: Voyage to the Moon World. Translation by Cindy Yamauchi & Mark Giambruno. Published by Shonen Jump

2. Volume 2

   Yahiko’s Battle and Kurogasa By Kaoru Shizuka (1997/10). ISBN 4087030636

3. Shimabara Arc

   TV Anime Shimabara Arc (#67-76) 1999/2. ISBN 4087030776

[edit] Anime

The television series was split into three approximate seasons, with the first 27 episodes generally following the Tokyo Arc, episodes 28-62 closely following the Kyoto Arc, and episodes 63-95 being “filler” non-manga based episodes designed so that Watsuki could have more time to finish the Jinchuu plot so it could be animated. The anime series slid from high popularity (after the Kyoto Arc because of all the “filler” episodes) to eventual cancellation before the Jinchū/Revenge Arc could be animated. The anime series began airing on Japan’s Fuji TV on January 10, 1996 and ended on September 8, 1998. It was produced by Aniplex (formerly SPE Visual Works) and Fuji TV, and was animated from episode 1 to 70 by Studio Gallop, whereas the episodes from 70 onwards were animated by Studio Deen. The TV series was later licensed in North America by Media Blasters.

The animated series enjoys immense popularity worldwide, and although designed primarily for young male fans, its detailed exploration of emotion and relationships attracts many young female followers as well.

The series also has a movie called Samurai X: The Motion Picture, known in Japan as Ishin Shishi he no Requiem (―維新志士への鎮魂歌, Requiem for the Ishin Patriots^?)^[10] which tells a story where Kenshin meets a samurai who was very close to a man Battosai murdered in the war. The samurai is trying to start a revolution to overthrow the Meiji government.

OVAs

Main articles: Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen and Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen

The OVA series, which features a number of historical characters, attempts to be more realistic and accurate than the TV series. The OVA made use of live footage spliced with animation cells giving the series a different feel than straight animation. Both OVAs were re-released internationally in “Director’s Cut” forms that spliced the separate “episodes” together into continuous movies, as well as adding some extra footage. The order of musical cues in both director’s cut OVAs were significantly lessened and altered, although the tracks themselves were not altered or omitted.

The first OVA series, Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal, collectively known in Japan as Tsuiokuhen (追憶編, Recollection^?) and later edited into a movie as Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal -Director’s Cut, was set during the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and telling of Kenshin’s childhood. Only a few characters from the TV series appear in this OVA. The OVA mainly depicts the life of Kenshin as Battōsai and his time with his first wife, Tomoe.

The second OVA series Samurai X: Reflection, known in Japan as Seisōhen (星霜編, Time^?)^[11] and later edited into a movie as Samurai X: Reflection -Director’s Cut. It was set both during and after the timeline of the series and tells of Kenshin and Kaoru’s later years, much of which is not derived from the manga. It also differs from the manga on some points, such as details in regard to the Jin-e and Enishi fights. The OVA is best described as a montage of singular events surrounding the life of Kenshin, told from the point of view of Kaoru.

[edit] Sakabatō

The sakabatō (逆刃刀, sakabatō^? lit. “reverse-blade sword”) is Kenshin’s main weapon. It was created by Watsuki as an original weapon that represents Kenshin’s unwillingness to kill.

On a normal katana, the outwardly curved side of the sword is sharp, while the inwardly curved side of the sword (棟, mune) is blunt. In contrast, the sakabatō has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword.^[12] The sakabatō is able to break other katana while fencing because the outward side is blunt, so the edge is more bold and it could damage the sharp edge sword.

There is no record of reverse-bladed katana ever having been used historically in Japan and there is no existing school of swordsmanship that employs them. However, since the manga was published, non-functional^[13] and functional^[14] sakabatō have been produced for purchase by collectors and fans.

Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū

Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū (飛天御剣流, Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū^? lit. “Flying Heaven Honorable Sword Style”), also referred to in the series as “Ultrasonic Sword Style”, is a fictional ancient sword style that is said to pit one against many. It is a sword art that is passed from master to apprentice, its masters inheriting the name of Hiko Seijūrō. It is stated that the sword style was created in the Sengoku period of Japan’s history.^[4]

The philosophy of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū is that a practitioner must protect those around him; he may use that lethal force for the protection of the people. When a student of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū understands this, he is ready to complete his training.^[15]

Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū‘s principles are based on utilizing godlike speed and precision to deal powerful blows that usually bring down foes with one shot. The swordsman must also be able to read techniques at an amazing pace as well as interpret emotions as a form of clairvoyance in order to accurately predict what an opponent will do. Combining those two elements with the speed and the precision allows Kenshin and Hiko to subdue opponents before they even act.^[4]

The one drawback to the style on a whole is that it is a physically demanding style, only a person of peak athletic ability is able to maintain it. Thus a wide-framed muscular build like that of Hiko Seijūrō is more suited to Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū compared to Kenshin’s slender build.^[16]

A running gag in the manga with Kenshin upon first meetings is many people often think he is much younger than he really is. After seeing that Hiko also looks younger than his true age, Yahiko and Misao believe that the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū is what causes both Kenshin and Hiko to stay young.^[15]

Reception

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other media have provided praise and criticism on the series. Spectrum Nexus remarks that the organization of the plot is excellent as with each subsequent story arc revealing a bit more about Kenshin’s past via the introduction of various opponents and allies.^[17] Anime News Network comments about a well crafted plot and good action but they also criticize that during the first episodes the fights never get quite interesting as it becomes a bit predictable that Kenshin is going to win as the music of moments of victory is repeated many times.^[18] However, they mention that all those negatives points disappear during the Kyoto Arc as they remark amazing fights and soundtracks.^[19]

When TV Asahi, a television network in Japan, conducted a nation-wide survey for the one hundred most popular animated television series, Rurouni Kenshin anime came in sixty-sixth place.^[20] They also conducted an online web poll, in which Rurouni Kenshin was placed at number 62.^[21] Nearly a year later, TV Asahi once again conducted an online poll for the top one hundred anime, and Rurouni Kenshin anime advanced in rank and came in twenty-sixth place.^[22] The fourth DVD of the anime ranked also ranked 1st Billboard lists Top DVD titles in 2001.^[23] Rurouni Kenshin was also a finalist in the American Anime Awards in the category long series but lost against Fullmetal Alchemist.^[24]

Rurouni Kenshin also ranked at tenth place in the Web’s Most Wanted 2005, ranking in the category animation.^[25] Volume twenty seven of the manga ranked second in the Viz Bookscan Top Ten during June of 2006,^[26] while volume twenty-one and twenty ranked second and tenth, respectively in the Top 10 Graphic Novels of Viz of 2005.^[27] Rurouni Kenshin volume 24 also ranked in 116th position in the USA Today’s best selling book list for the week ending February 26, 2006.^[28]