Rurouni Kenshin - Definition and Overview

Rurouni Kenshin manga, volume 1 (English version)

Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心) is a set of anime and manga series created by artist Nobuhiro Watsuki, set during the early years of the Meiji Era in Japan.

The series tells the story of Himura Kenshin, who ten years prior was known as the Battōsai, an assassin who helped bring about the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate which ushered in the Meiji Era. As a result, he is highly prized by people who want to either hire him for his skills, or kill him for toppling the old power structure. Kenshin himself grieves for the lives he ended, and has vowed 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 is being handled by Viz Communications. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled Wandering Samurai in some English releases. The name is sometimes abbreviated as "RuroKen".

In Brazil, Rurouni Kenshin was published by "Editora JBC" in 56 volumes (each volume is a half of the original tankōbon), maintaining its orginal Japanese manga reading format (from the top-right corner to the bottom-left corner of the book). Yahiko no Sakabatō was released by the same publisher in July 10th of 2004, during an event that gathers anime, manga and games fans from all over Brazil called "Anime Friends", which is held every year in São Paulo. Kenshin Kaden, a Rurouni Kenshin encyclopedia was also released by the same publisher in November of 2004.

The shows

The series was and 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 (Revenge) 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" means "wanderer" according to the creator (the word is technically made-up) so the series could be translated as "Kenshin the Wanderer"):

• The TV series, set during the early years of the Meiji Era and telling of the early romance between Himura Kenshin (known in Western order, Kenshin Himura, in the English anime) and Kamiya Kaoru (Kaoru Kamiya in the English anime). 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. Unfortunately, the anime series slid from high popularity during the Kyoto Arc to cancellation before the Jinchuu/Revenge Arc could be animated.
• 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 used a large amount of material from the TV series and re-told its story
• 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 and Saitō Hajime.
• 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.

Rurouni Kenshin is related to Japanese Manga

List of manga

By English title

Symbols - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z - Webmanga

by Japanese title

あ - い - う - え - お - か - き - く - け - こ - さ - し - す - せ - そ - た - ち - つ - て - と - な - に - ぬ - ね - の - は - ひ - ふ - へ - ほ - ま - み - む - め - も - や - ゆ - よ - ら - り - る - れ - ろ - わ -

List of Manga-ka

A - B - C - E - F - H - I - K - M - N - O - R - S - T - U - W - Y

List of manga distributors

By language

Japanese - English - French - German - Indonesian

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 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. Since the series ran for so long (95 episodes), each of the main characters was explored quite in depth. Together with the OVAs explaining Kenshin's past and future, this series is considered by many one of the most complete shows about the period and of the 'samurai' genre.

Notes

• Kenshin's manner of speech is somewhat unusual. In the manga, he refers to himself as 'this one' instead of 'I'. The japanese word is 'sesha', an old word that is a humble way of saying 'I'. As there is no english equivilant it is translated as 'this one'. He also uses the nonsense word 'oro' to express surprise or confusion (compare to Tama-chan from Love Hina, who says 'myuh' (myū) a lot). In the anime, these habits are continued however Kenshin periodically tacks the expression 'that it is' (conjugated into "that I do", "that it will be", etc. as the situation calls for) onto the end of a sentence. The japanese word is 'de gozaru'. Exactly why he does any of these things is never explained. However, it is notable that in both the anime and the manga, Kenshin drops these habits when he enters his Battōsai persona. In this case, Kenshin refers to himself as 'ore' which is a very masculine version of 'I', exceeding 'boku'.

• The word Battōsai translates into Master of the Quick Draw. Kenshin is known for his quick moves with a sword, so this description technically fits him perfectly. He has mastered many different styles though, so there is really no one word to fit him.

• The name Samurai X is used in ADV Films' English language releases, as Media Blasters, which had the TV series, owned the rights to the "Rurouni Kenshin" name. The name "Samurai X" was chosen presumably due to the X shaped scar on Kenshin's face, and most likely also the general "hipness" the word samurai has in English. This name is unpopular with fans of the series, who also point out that Kenshin never was a samurai to begin with.

Characters

See:

• Rurouni Kenshin main characters
• Rurouni Kenshin minor characters

Theme Songs

• Opening
  1. "Sobakasu" (Freckles) by Judy & Mary (Eps. 1-38)
  2. "½" by Kawamoto Makoto (Eps. 39-82)
  3. "Kimi ni Fureru Dake de" (Just Touched By You) by Curio (Eps. 83-95)
  • Only Opening 1 is used in the Cartoon Network version.
• Ending
  1. "Tactics" by The Yellow Monkey (Eps. 1-12)
  2. "Namida wa Shitte iru" (I Know Tears) by Mayo Suzukaze (Eps. 13-27)
  3. "Heart of Sword ~ Yoake Mae" by T.M. Revolution (Eps. 28-38, 43-49)
  4. "Fourth Avenue Cafe" by L'Arc~en~Ciel (Eps. 39-42)
  5. "It's Gonna Rain" by Bonnie Pink (Eps. 50-66)
  6. "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō" (1/3 True Feelings) by Siam Shade (Eps. 67-82)
  7. "Dame!" (No!) by You Izumi (Eps. 83-95)
  • Only Ending 3 is used in the Cartoon Network version but with the footage from "Sobakasu."
  • Due to drug charges against L'Arc~en~Ciel, Sony pulled "Fourth Avenue Cafe" and re-used "Heart of Sword" with the 4th ending animation.

The opening theme to the RK movie (Ishin Shishi e no Requiem) is "Niji" performed by L'Arc~en~Ciel.

External links

• Let it Burn (http://www.sitepros.net/kenshin/) A site that has a RK Character guide and character information.
• The Ultimate RK FAQ (http://iyouboushi.netfirms.com/rk/kenshinfaq.html) A site that has a FAQ page that tries to answer every question about Rurouni Kenshin that has ever been asked (anything from character ages, character translations, a list of OSTs, and whether or not nazis are in RK).
• The Lost Rurouni Kenshin Specials (http://iyouboushi.netfirms.com/rk/kenshinspecials.html) A site that informs the public about two RK specials that never made it over to the states.