Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc
Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. His wife, Kaworu Kurosaki, is credited as a story consultant. It is a direct sequel to Rurouni Kenshin and follows Himura Kenshin and his friends in 1883 Japan as they traverse Hokkaido in search of his father-in-law.
It has been serialized monthly in Shueisha's manga magazine Jump Square since September 2017, with the chapters collected in ten volumes as of January 2026. North American publisher Viz Media released the series digitally in Weekly Shonen Jump simultaneously as it ran in Japan until November 2017.
Plot
In 1883, Himura Kenshin, having married Kamiya Kaoru, became a father to Himura Kenji and, with his body deteriorating, still fights for those in need. Former criminals Inoue Aran and Hasegawa Ashitaro, the latter a former member of Shishio Makoto's faction, have become live-in students at the Kamiya Dojo in Tokyo. Kubota Asahi, a member of the Yaminobu, also starts living at the dojo. The Yaminobu accidentally left behind a recent photograph taken in Hokkaido of Kaoru's father, Kamiya Koshijirō, who was thought to have died in the Seinan War. After reacquiring his or reversed-edge sword from Myōjin Yahiko, Kenshin, his family, and the new residents of Kamiya Dojo head to Hokkaido to find Koshijirō.There, they reunite with Sagara Sanosuke and team up with Saitō Hajime when they get involved in stopping the mysterious group named Kenkaku Heiki, who create havoc throughout Japan to gain battle experience to protect the country from foreign threats. Saitō recruits his former comrade Nagakura Shinpachi and former Juppongatana members Seta Sōjirō, Yūkyūzan Anji, Sawagejō Chō, Honjō Kamatari and Kariwa Henya to aid them.
Characters
;Himura Kenshin;Hasegawa Ashitarō
;Inoue Aran
;Kubota Asahi
;Kenkaku Heiki
Production
In the final volume of the original Rurouni Kenshin series, published in November 1999, creator Nobuhiro Watsuki stated he had concepts for a "Hokkaido episode, a sequel", but chose to conclude the series to begin a new manga. In September 2012, Watsuki revealed he had considered drawing the Hokkaido arc before creating Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, but felt there was "just no way" to proceed as the series' core themes had concluded and he could not devise a new one. Following the positive reception of the live-action film and the conclusion of Restoration in July 2013, Watsuki noted the numerous requests for a continuation from both himself and fans, expressing a desire to "continue expanding its world for a little while longer", though he was undecided on returning to the manga format.Watsuki was initially hesitant to have Kenshin fight again after the character's peaceful conclusion as a family man. An early draft of what became the Hokkaido Arc was planned for inclusion in Restoration, but was abandoned after Watsuki's wife, Kaworu Kurosaki, found its ending unsatisfactory; she later assisted with research for the new series. Concerned that the series' dark themes would no longer suit the manga demographic, Watsuki had originally ended the manga with the Jinchu arc. His decision to create the reboot, Restoration, was influenced by the live-action films, though he still had no plans for the Hokkaido story. After watching the Rurouni Kenshin musical, he resolved to begin Hokkaido after completing Embalming. To maintain the tone of the original, Watsuki introduced new characters treated kindly by Kenshin and Kaoru.
Collaborating with the staff of the live-action films The Final and The Beginning provided Watsuki with new ideas for giving Kenshin's story a conclusive happy ending despite his past. He noted that Takeru Satoh's portrayal of Kenshin was stronger than the manga version, particularly in The Final, and reflected that Kenshin's pacifism—a trait shared with other Weekly Shōnen Jump protagonists like Monkey D. Luffy and Naruto Uzumaki—would continue in The Hokkaido Arc, with Kenshin sparing his enemies.
On November 4, 2016, Watsuki began a two-chapter spin-off, Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro, in Jump Square. Inspired by buddy films and series like Ushio & Tora, the spin-off introduced a new protagonist, Ashitaro, whom Watsuki created to embody the youthful traits of the now-mature Myojin Yahiko. The second chapter, published on December 2, 2016, revealed the story was a prologue to a new Rurouni Kenshin arc scheduled to begin in spring 2017. After a delay to summer, Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc began serialization in Jump Square on September 4, 2017. The launch was promoted with advertisements in Shinjuku Station.
On November 21, 2017, Watsuki was charged with possession of child pornography. Later that day, Shueisha suspended publication of new chapters, effective December 4, 2017. Serialization resumed in Jump Square on June 4, 2018. The series went on hiatus in June 2021, resuming that August. In September 2024, the series entered another hiatus due to Watsuki's poor health, and resumed on July 4, 2025. In November 2025, it was announced that the series would be on hiatus until the March 2026 issue of Jump Square.
Publication
The two parts of Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro were published on November 4 and December 2, 2016, in Shueisha's Jump Square. Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc began monthly publication in the same magazine on September 4, 2017. Shueisha has collected the chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on September 4, 2018. As of January 5, 2026, ten volumes have been released.Viz Media released an English translation of The Ex-Con Ashitaro in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The first part was released on December 19, 2016, and the second on January 2, 2017. On September 4, 2017, they began simultaneously publishing The Hokkaido Arc in the magazine as it ran in Japan. Following Watsuki's being charged, Viz Media did not continue English publication when the series resumed in Japan, making its last appearance in the magazine on November 6, 2017.
Volumes
Chapters not yet in ''tankōbon'' format
These chapters have yet to be published in a volume. They were serialized in issues of Jump Square.Reception
In July 2019, Jump Square announced that Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc had 1.2 million copies in print. The first volume debuted at number four on Oricon's list of the best-selling manga with 172,160 copies sold. By its sixth week, it had sold 322,520 copies. The second volume debuted at number three with 201,590 copies sold, while volume three debuted at number three, selling 111,231 copies. Volumes three and four's initial printings of 350,000 copies were some of the highest first printings that Shueisha made for manga between 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 respectively. Natalie reported that volume four was the fifth best-selling manga at Tsutaya stores during its first week of release. Volume five debuted on the Oricon chart at number six with 108,859 copies sold, while volume six topped the chart in its first week with 75,731 copies sold. Volume seven sold 117,720 copies its first week, but peaked at third place on the Oricon chart. Volume eight debuted in second place with 95,594 copies sold, and volume nine peaked at number four with 81,380 copies sold in its first week.Based on the first volume only, the January 2019 issue of Da Vinci magazine included Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc at number 21 on its annual "Book of the Year" list for 2018. The list was voted on by 4,275 book reviewers, writers, and bookstore employees.
Aniplex producer Masami Niwa expressed interest in a future adaptation of the manga.