kenshin

The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai ("Man killer - Master of Battōjutsu"). Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he's taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in the Japanese Shonen Jump Weekly Anthology, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. 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 will be translated by VIZ Media and distributed in the United States and Canada.

Storyline

The prototype series first appeared as a pair of separate short stories (both are titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story) published in 1992 and 1993 in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Special. In 1994, Watsuki created a final ongoing version that was published in Shonen Jump until its conclusion in 1999, which the various anime series are based from. In 2000, it was followed up by Yahiko no Sakabatō ("Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword"). The manga consists of 28 tankōbon volumes (Yahiko no Sakabatō was never compiled). The storyline of Kenshin is divided into three storyline arcs: Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Jinchū (a made-up word, which could be translated as the revenge of the man) arc. The Jinchū arc was not animated, save for the parts about Kenshin's background which formed one of the OVAs released (see below)

There are four animated Rurouni Kenshin series. るろうに剣心 "Rurouni" is a neologism created from the verb "ru," meaning "to wander," and "ronin," meaning "masterless samurai." A rough translation of the title would be "Kenshin the Wandering Swordsman". This became the English title of the first story arc.

• The TV series was set during the early Meiji period. In the United States, Rurouni Kenshin was the second most popular cable TV show for ages 13-17. The TV 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 to allow for the manga to get ahead a little. The anime series slid from high popularity after the Kyoto Arc to eventual cancellation before the Jinchū/Revenge Arc could be animated.
  • Note: There were also two "specials" that aired and were once considered a part of the TV series (making the total number of episodes to 97). However, when the show was dubbed and brought over to the states, those episodes were "left out" and have become somewhat of a legend/considered to be "lost" by some fans.
• A movie (Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi no Requiem/Rurouni Kenshin: Requiem for the Ishin Patriots, called Samurai X: The Motion Picture in the English language release), which tells a story where Kenshin meets a samurai who is trying to start a revolution to overthrow the Meiji government.
• The first OVA series (Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen/Rurouni Kenshin: Recollection, split apart as Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal in the English language releases), set during the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and telling of Kenshin's childhood and young adult life. Only a few characters from the TV series appear in this OVA, namely Kenshin, Kenshin's master, Hiko Seijūrō (Seijuro Hiko in the English anime), and Saitō Hajime (Hajime Saito in the English anime), as well as a cameo by Makoto Shishio in silhouette at the end.
• The second OVA series (Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen/Rurouni Kenshin: Time, called Samurai X: Reflection in the English language releases), set after the TV series and telling of Kenshin and Kaoru's later years, differs from the manga on many key plot points, such as Kenshin and Kaoru falling ill in the 1890's, and details in regard of the Jin-e and Enishi fights.

The OVA series -- which feature a number of historical characters -- attempts to be more realistic and accurate than the TV series, which begins as a romantic comedy but evolves into a period drama. The OVA made use of live footage spliced with animation cells giving the series a different feel than straight animation.

There is a great deal of debate regarding the authenticity of the second OVA. Many fans completely ignore this OVA and disagree with the ending that was given in it. Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki also concurs with these fans and states that he enjoys happy endings best.

Both OVAs were re-released 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 altered, although the tracks themselves were not altered or omitted.

The animated series enjoys immense popularity worldwide, and although designed primarily for male fans, its detailed exploration of emotion and relationships (especially the romantic relationship that develops between Kenshin and Kaoru) attracts many female followers. But the 3rd season of the series is filler, the rest of the series follows the original storyline well.

Samurai X was used for the Sony dub of the TV series, which aired in Europe, the Philippines and India. This version was also shown in some other countries. The Sony dub, while generally well-received by casual viewers in these countries, has been criticized by fans for its localization of the series (There is no variation on "de gozaru"; Kenshin is not unusually polite; there is plenty of slang), and for changing the names of some characters Kaoru was changed to "Corrie", Yahiko to "Yoshi", Saito to "Sato" (the "i" is missing) and Kenshin to "Kenshi" (the "n" in shin is missing). The pronunciation of Sanosuke's name also varies, sometimes Sanosuke and Sanosuki.

Jinchu Arc controversy

The television series and manga series of Rurouni Kenshin up to the end of the Kyoto Story Arc, had been nearly identical in terms of plot with only minor differences. However, when the television series caught up to the manga in terms of story, the producers of the Rurouni Kenshin anime decided to diverge from Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga and create their own story and characters (ie filler) until they had enough material to adapt without catching up. The last arc of Rurouni Kenshin manga, the "Jinchū" story arc has only been animated in OVA form, as described above. Many fans felt the alternate stories and characters of the anime series were inferior to Watsuki's original storyline.

The Jinchū arc contains a large amount of Himura Kenshin's backstory including the meeting of his first wife 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 now want vengeance for wrongs he once did to them. The Jinchu arc also has a stronger romantic theme to it.

Notes

• Kenshin's original Japanese dialogue contains some unusual words which can cause problems in translation. Most of the time, he refers to himself with the extremely humble pronoun "sessha" (translated by Viz as "this one") and uses the formal verb "de gozaru" (conveyed by MediaBlasters by sentence-final phrases like "...that it is"). He shares this vocabulary with some characters in other series, such as Goemon Ishikawa from Lupin III. (However, he refers to himself in the first person in the English version of the anime.) He also addresses most women with an honorific that was generally reserved for feudal lords; the translation "Miss Kaoru" does not really express the same degree of extreme courtesy as "Kaoru-dono". When in Battōsai persona, Kenshin stops being so polite; "de gozaru" disappears, and "sessha" is replaced with the more typical brash male pronoun "ore". Kaoru is quick to catch onto this fact, as is demonstrated after the fight with Jin-e.

• Both Kenshin's name and his semi-nonsensical exclamation "oro" are tributes to Watsuki's favorite comedian, Ken Shimura. As used by Shimura and Watsuki, "oro" expresses surprise or dismay, based on the similar exclamation "ara" (generally considered feminine). As proper Japanese vocabulary, "oro" only exists as a word for lochia. It seems in the English version that "oro" has been translated into "huh?" in the English anime dub. However, "oro" is kept intact in the English manga.

• The source of Kenshin's cross scars were introduced later in the series (or in the animated version, during the OVA), but the source of the idea was revealed during an interview with the creator of the series. During concept design, Nobuhiro Watsuki started out with the usual, stereotypical masculine swordsman. He then proceeded to draw a character that, in appearance, was the complete anti-thesis of the other design. Even he felt that the character design of Kenshin resembled a girl. He added the scars, out of desperation, to make the character look more manly.

• The word Battōsai (抜刀齋) translates into Master of Sword Drawing. Battō (抜刀) is the action of drawing a sword; Sai is a suffix which has no literal meaning, but in this context, can refer to having mastered a set of skills or knowledge. The name directly indicates Kenshin's mastery of all forms of Battōjutsu. However, Kenshin did not give himself this name, nor does he value it.

• The name Samurai X was created to be used as an international name for the Rurouni Kenshin series, it is used for many different versions of the series. ADV Films' English language release of the OVA's and the movie used the Samurai X as so not to confuse their releases with Media Blasters, which had the TV series. This name is unpopular with fans of the series, who also point out that Kenshin was not technically a samurai to begin with, although a few fans of the OVAs say Samurai X makes Kenshin sound more brutal. His use of a surname before the end of the Shogunate may mean that the Ishin Shishi granted him a samurai-equivalent status although he was born into a family of peasant farmers (peasants were not permitted to have family names); technically, he might also be considered to have married into the rank.

Characters

Names are given in Japanese order with the given name after the family name. The English anime dub uses the Western order (family name after the given name) while the English manga uses the Japanese order.

See:

• Rurouni Kenshin main characters
  • Himura Kenshin (Kenshin Himura)
  • Kamiya Kaoru (Kaoru Kamiya)
  • Sagara Sanosuke (Sanosuke Sagara)
  • Myōjin Yahiko (Yahiko Myojin)
  • Takani Megumi (Megumi Takani)
• Rurouni Kenshin minor characters

Something to note is that Nobuhiro Watsuki, in each tankoubon, details the creation of the characters, as well as the influences he had for the characters' personality and design. Influences include historical figures (prominantly seen with members of the Shinsengumi) and fictional sources including X-Men and Marvel characters, and SNK video games characters, mainly Samurai Shodown and Last Blade ones.

Trivia

• Watsuki, being a fan of American comics, particularly Marvel, based some of the characters in Rurouni Kenshin on various characters in X-Men, Spider-Man and numerous other Marvel characters. Kenshin's enemy, Jin-E, was physically based on Gambit while Shinomori Aoshi's long coat and the length of his double-kodachi (based on Gambit's cue stick/bo) are borrowed from the same character. Saito Hajime's sarcastic character, smoking habit, and beliefs of "proper" criminal justice were patterned after The Punisher and Wolverine. Moreover, Kenshin himself also exhibits wit, sensibilities, and morals similar to Spider-Man. The character design of Yatsume Mumyoi, a character from the Jinchu arc (see above) is extremely similar to the supervillain Venom from Spider-Man, something which Watsuki himself points out in his respective character-commentary section. The cloak of Hiko Seijūrō, Kenshin's master, Watsuki admits in one of the manga commentaries was inspired by the cloak of Spawn.

• According to Watsuki's Secret Life of Characters sections, his characters are also visually based on characters from other popular anime series. Sanjo Tsubame's haircut was modeled on Hotaru Tomoe's from the Sailor Moon series while Yukishiro Tomoe and Honjō Kamatari are based on Rei Ayanami and Yui Ikari respectively of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

• The alternate title for Kenshin, Samurai X, is used in another Watsuki series; Buso Renkin. The Sword Samurai X is the weapon of Syusui.

See also

• Rurouni Kenshin Media Information Includes information on English voice actors, theme songs, and video games.

External links

• The Ultimate Rurouni Kenshin FAQ A Kenshin site that contains an FAQ that answers over 75 questions, as well as contains information on the two RK specials and the "Viz Mistake" found in chapter 85.
• Rurouni Kenshin Network Downloadable media, forums, music videos, summaries, fanart, fanfiction, and more.