Rurouni Kenshin

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. It is subtitled Wandering Samurai in some English releases. The name is sometimes abbreviated as "RuroKen".

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 name Samurai X is used in various English language releases, 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.

The series was and first appeared as a pair of separate short stories 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 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 "Rurōni" 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)
• 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 - を - ん

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

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 unrequited love Kaoru has for Kenshin) attracts many female followers. Since the series ran for so long (about 90 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.

Characters

See:

• Rurouni Kenshin main characters
• Rurouni Kenshin minor characters

Theme Songs

• Opening
  1. "Sobakasu" (Freckles) by Judy & Mary
  2. "½" by Kawamoto Makoto
  3. "Kimi ni Fureru Dake de" (Just Touched By You) by Curio
  • Only Opening 1 is used in the Cartoon Network version.
• Ending
  1. "Tactics" by The Yellow Monkey
  2. "Namida wa Shitte iru" (Tears Know) by Suzukaze Mayo
  3. "Heart of Sword ~ Yoake Mae" by T.M. Revolution
  4. "Fourth Avenue Cafe" by L'Arc~en~Ciel
  5. "It's Gonna Rain" by Bonnie Pink
  6. "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō" (1/3 True Feelings) by Siam Shade
  7. "Dame!" (No!) by Izumi You
  • Only Ending 3 is used in the Cartoon Network version but with the footage from "Sobakasu."
  • Due to its popularity, ending #3 ("Heart of Sword") was used twice [It was used again before the "It's Gonna Rain" ending].

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).

de:Rurouni Kenshin es:Rurouni Kenshin fr:Kenshin le vagabond ja:るろうに剣心