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Kamiya Kaoru (神谷 薫 Kamiya Kaoru), known in Western-order (Kaoru Kamiya) in the English anime, is a fictional character in the anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X. In the Spanish-language version of the anime, she is known as Kori.
Her Japanese seiyuu is Miki Fujitani and her English voice actor is Dorothy Melendrez.
Assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin (her father's) fighting style, Kaoru runs the dojo by herself after the death of her father, which is quite unusual as she is still a young girl (about 17 at the beginning of the series). She is very strong willed and quite a talented fighter. The series starts with her meeting Himura Kenshin, and, after some initial scuffles, lets him stay as a guest. She develops a crush on him even after learning of his past crimes. She later has a son with Kenshin, named Himura Kenji.
Kaoru is known for her bad cooking.
The Kamiya Kasshin Style translated from Japanese means roughly, "Revitalized Heart".
There are two moves of the Kamiya Kasshin style revealed in the manga- these are the succession techniques, or "ougi"- which is the move one must master to become a master of the style. Kaoru teaches the Kamiya Kasshin succession techniques to Yahiko during the beginning to middle of the never animated Jinchuu arc. The moves are:
Hadome: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's defensive succession technique. If the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style is attacked, they perform the Hadome by crossing their arms over their head (and possibly other places as well, but this is the most common form and the only one shown in the manga) and catching the blade with the back of their hands. This allows the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style to maintain their grip on their sword while catching the opponents blade at the same time. Kaoru rarely uses this technique however, because it requires that the timing be perfectly right or else the attacker will be given a fatal opening. However, if properly used, it can be chained into the Kamiya Kasshin offensive ougi and thusly ensure an instant kill.
Hawatari: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's offensive succession technique. It is a counter-attack and can only be performed after a successful use of the Hadome technique. From the Hadome position, the defender will twist her wrists, thusly stripping the weapon of their attacker away from their wrists and possibly throwing them to the ground. Since the defender will still have their grip on their own weapon they can almost instantaneously follow up with an attack of their own and therefore deliver the final blow on their now defenseless opponent.
In Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen/Samurai X: Reflection, Kenshin and Kaoru contract a disease and die from it. This does not happen in the manga.
In the second chapter of Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Kaoru is the sister of Megumi and Yahiko.
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