Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against the, he becomes Himura Kenshin, a wandering swordsman who protects the people of Japan with a vow never to take another life. Watsuki wrote the series based on his desire to make a manga series different from others published at the time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it progressed.
Rurouni Kenshin was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from April 1994 to September 1999. Its chapters were collected in 28 volumes; it was later republished in a 22-volume edition and a 14-volume edition. The manga was adapted into an anime television series, produced by SPE Visual Works and animated by Studio Gallop and later by Studio Deen, aired from January 1996 to September 1998. In addition to an animated feature film, Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture, two series of original video animations were also produced; Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, which adapted stories from the manga that were not featured in the anime, and Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection, a sequel to the manga. In 2017, Watsuki began publishing a direct sequel, Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc, in Jump Square. A second anime television series adaptation by Liden Films premiered in July 2023. In addition, other media based on the franchise has been produced, including a series of five live-action theatrical film adaptations, beginning with Rurouni Kenshin in 2012 and ending with Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning in 2021, and video games for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. Several art and guidebooks have been published, and writer Kaoru Shizuka has written three official light novels, which were published by Shueisha.
The manga, as well as the first light novel and guidebook, have been published in North America by Viz Media. The Rurouni Kenshin manga had over 72 million copies in circulation by 2019, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. The series has received praise from various publications for manga, anime, and other media, particularly for the characters' designs and historical setting.
Plot
The series takes place in 1878, eleven years after the beginning of the Meiji era. After participating in the Boshin War as the assassin, Himura Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan, offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed. Having vowed to never kill again, he now wields a reverse-bladed katana. Upon arriving in Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who is fighting a murderer who claims to be the and is tarnishing the name of the swordsmanship school that she teaches. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the true, Kaoru offers him a place to stay at her dojo, noting that he is peace-loving and not cold-hearted, as his reputation had implied. Kenshin accepts and begins to form lifelong relationships with others, including Sagara Sanosuke, a former member of the Sekihō Army; Myōjin Yahiko, an orphan from a samurai family who also lives with Kaoru as her student; and doctor Takani Megumi, who has become involved in the opium trade. However, he also deals with old and new enemies, including the former leader of the Oniwabanshū, Shinomori Aoshi.After several months living in the dojo, Kenshin faces Saitō Hajime, a rival from Bakumatsu who is now a police officer. This challenge turns out to be a test to face his successor, Shishio Makoto, who plans to conquer Japan by destroying the Meiji Government, starting with Kyoto. Feeling that Shishio's faction may attack his friends, Kenshin meets Shishio alone to defeat him. However, many of his friends, including a young Oniwabanshū named Makimachi Misao, whom he meets during his travels, decide to help him in his fight. After his first meeting with him, Kenshin realizes that he must become stronger to defeat Shishio without becoming the cold assassin he was in the past and returns to the man who taught him kenjutsu, Hiko Seijūrō, to learn the school's final technique. Finally accepting the help of his friends, he defeats Shishio, who dies after exceeding the limits of his abnormal body condition, after which a reformed Shinomori stays in Kyoto with the surviving Oniwabanshū.
When Kenshin and his friends return to Tokyo, he finds Yukishiro Enishi, who plans to take revenge. At this point, it is revealed that, during the Bakumatsu, Kenshin was to be married to Yukishiro Tomoe, who sought to avenge the death of her first fiancé, whom he had assassinated, but instead they fell in love and he proposed to her. Because she was related to the Edo guards who sought to kill Kenshin, they realized her deception and captured her to use as bait. In the final fight against the group's leader, Kenshin accidentally killed Tomoe after she took a blow meant for him. Seeking revenge for the death of his sister, Enishi kidnaps Kaoru and Kenshin and his friends set out to rescue her. A final battle between Kenshin and Enishi ensues, with Kenshin emerging victorious. Misao brings Tomoe's diary to Enishi, who keeps it in a village to hide along with his missing father.
Four years later, Kenshin has married Kaoru and has a son named Himura Kenji. Now at peace with himself, Kenshin gives his reverse-blade sword to Yahiko as a ceremonial gift.
Production
One-shots
A prototype series titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story appeared as two separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993. The first story, published in December 1992 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump Winter Special issue for 1993, featured an early version of Kenshin preventing a crime lord from taking over the Kamiya dojo. Watsuki described this first story, which echoed the later "Megumi Arc," as a pilot for Rurouni Kenshin. He stated that the final series was not entirely his own initiative; finding historical stories difficult, he had initially wanted to create a contemporary series. After an editor requested a new historical story, Watsuki developed a concept set in the Bakumatsu period inspired by Moeyo Ken with a narrative approach similar to Sanshiro Sugata. He experimented with various titles, including Nishin ''Kenshin, Yorozuya Kenshin, and variations of "Rurouni" and "Kenshin" using different kanji.The second Rurouni story, published in April 1993 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump 21–22 double issue, featured Kenshin aiding a wealthy girl named Raikōji Chizuru. Watsuki recalled difficulty condensing the narrative into 31 pages. He stated that he "put all soul into it," but later viewed it less favorably after beginning the main Rurouni Kenshin serialization. This second one-shot received mediocre reviews and approximately 200 reader letters. Watsuki referred to it as a "side story."
The design for Hiko Seijuro, Kenshin's master, was based on a character of the same name from Watsuki's one-shot "Crescent Moon of the Warring States," with additional influence from Hiken Majin Hajerun in Takeshi Obata's Arabian Lamp-Lamp''. Watsuki noted his fascination with images of "manliness" and that Hiko was an early reflection of this interest. Seeking to create a character opposite to the tall, armored man from his debut work, Watsuki designed Kenshin to appear feminine. He stated he used "no real motif" for Kenshin and added the cross-shaped scar without specific intent. Like several characters, Kenshin was influenced by the Shinsengumi, incorporating elements from Okita Sōji and Saitō Hajime to convey an air of mystery.
Publication and influences
From his initial storyboards, Watsuki noted that Kenshin's appearance resembled Kurama from Yoshihiro Togashi's YuYu Hakusho. He considered himself less experienced at the time and preferred drawing handsome men, contrasting with the design of Hiko Seijuro from a previous one-shot. Watsuki felt Rurouni Kenshin competed more with the dramatic focus of YuYu Hakusho than action-oriented series like Dragon Ball. To distinguish his series, he crafted Kenshin as an adult with a dark past rooted in the Edo period. Despite competition from major 1990s Weekly Shōnen Jump titles like Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball, and YuYu Hakusho, the manga performed well. Kenshin's adult status was a departure from typical young protagonists, aside from series like City Hunter, and Watsuki was mindful of character aging. Watsuki's childhood kendo practice influenced the series. While developing one-shots, he based some character names on places he had lived, such as Makimachi Misao and Sanjō Tsubame, named after locations in Niigata.An editor suggested Watsuki examine the Samurai Shodown fighting games for character inspiration. He aimed for a realistic series, generally avoiding supernatural elements despite the demographic, with few exceptions like Yukishiro Enishi's double-jump ability to counter Kenshin's aerial style. For the ending, Watsuki believed a mass murderer like Kenshin should face death, citing Ashita no Joe as a precedent for a hero's demise. When serialization began, Watsuki had modest expectations and planned to conclude the story in about 30 chapters with Kenshin departing Tokyo, similar to volume 7. Antagonists from Kyoto would send an assassin after him. The introduction of the Oniwabanshū expanded the cast, and the series' popularity grew significantly following reader surveys.
For the seventh volume, Watsuki's editor proposed a longer story arc, leading to the creation of the conflict with Shishio Makoto. Initially planned for one year, the Kyoto arc extended to a year and a half. This arc developed Kenshin's character, whom Watsuki felt lacked weaknesses, and honed the author's artistic skills. The final Jinchu arc, conceived pre-serialization, became longer than intended to avoid oversimplification. To lighten the Kyoto arc's dark tone, Watsuki introduced the comical Makimachi Misao.
Fascinated by the Shinsengumi, Watsuki based characters on historical members and fictional representations from Japan's Bakumatsu period. He found historical characterization challenging. After difficulties with Sagara Sōzō, he designed Saitō Hajime in his own style, diverging from history, and was pleased with the result. However, he noted that some Japanese Shinsengumi fans objected to Saitō's sadistic portrayal. The final scene of Kenshin returning to the dojo was inspired by the first opening of the anime adaptation, "Sobakasu" by Judy and Mary.
For the final arc, Watsuki intended to portray the five comrades as "scum-like," but found it difficult to make enjoyable villains without ideals or beliefs. The story darkened when most characters believed Kaoru was killed by Yukishiro Enishi, causing Kenshin to question his path and retreat. Watsuki disliked Kenshin's angst, so Myōjin Yahiko temporarily became the protagonist. Although the plot for Kenshin's past was set years before serialization, Watsuki expressed regrets about his portrayal of Yukishiro Tomoe. The final villains, the Sū-shin, lacked personality models and were created to "fill out the numbers" as the story progressed.