Hello Friend, I’m back with another interesting post [I just
can’t stop, hehe]. This is a little different from my previous posts; those
were centred around characters from books, right? This time, I’m gonna talk
about the conception of a character from a popular manga, Rurouni Kenshin [I’ve
written a post on this manga a few months ago, please go check it out if you’re
not familiar with it.] Himura Kenshin, the protagonist, is legendary in the
world of manga and anime; it’s surprising I didn’t write this post before,
considering how much I love analysing him and other characters from Rurouni
Kenshin [which is, incidentally, my favourite
manga. According to me, it’s also the best manga in the whole wide world--
but that depends on one’s perspective!]. The creator, Nobuhiro Watsuki, is not
a very organised person, and it’s not like he knew exactly how he wanted Kenshin to turn out, but oh god, the
character turned out way better than
expected. I love every single character from RuroKen, but Kenshin is
undoubtedly my favourite; he’s so complex, so multi-faceted, so ambiguous in
the beginning [the readers know almost nothing about him, and it’s only in the
second half of the manga that the creator undertakes to reveal his life’s
story]; he’s also [in my opinion] a perfect balance between masculine and
feminine. And the best thing is that he’s a completely “grey” character. He is,
of course, on the side of good, and beats the crap out of every evil person who
comes his way, but he has blood –a lot of blood –on his hands and soul [I’ll
explain soon.] “Rurouni” means vagabond or wandering swordsman; “Ken” means
sword, and “shin” means heart. So, basically, he’s a wandering swordsman who’s
vowed to never kill a single person again; to suppress his instincts, he
carries a sakabatou, a sword with the blade and dull edge reversed. The story
is set in the eleventh year of the Meiji Era, 1878. Let’s plunge right into the
birth of this amazing character!
The manga starts in this chilling fashion: “140 years ago,
with the coming of the “black ships… there arose a warrior called Hitokiri
Battousai. Felling men with his blood-stained blade, he closed the turbulent
age known as Bakumatsu… and slashed open the age of Meiji. Then he vanished
and, with the flow of years, became a legend.” Yes, that’s right. This crazed
warrior is now a Rurouni. “Hitokiri” is assassin, and “Battousai” is one who
has mastered the art of Battoujutsu, a form of sword-fighting. He was active
for five years, from the age of 14 to 19; he was so appalled by all the blood
he’d shed that he swore to never take another life. He’d realised just how
important and irreplaceable every single life is. Are you, dear reader,
familiar with the Bakumatsu? That was the darkest period in Japan’s history, an
age of intense civil unrest; with the end of the Bakumatsu, the Shogun Era drew
to a close, marking the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. Kenshin, a patriot,
was aligned with the Ishin Shishi, the pioneers of the Meiji Restoration. He was
their trump card. Now, ten years after the age of modernisation began, he
wanders the countryside of Japan, offering aid and protection to those who need
it as compensation for his deeds during the Bakumatsu; he’s being too naïve and
idealistic, though, thinking he can really repress his finely-honed killer
instincts so easily—throughout the series, he is forced to fight old enemies,
while also making new ones [tough
luck!]. However, he begins establishing lifelong relationships with several
brave, good-hearted and honourable people who’ve always got his back, come what
may. Kenshin uses an extremely unique sword-style, the Hiten Mitsurugi [Flying
Heaven Honourable Sword Style]; a fictional sword art style that enables him to
exercise superhuman speed and reflexes [besides, he has an uncanny ability to
predict and counter his opponents’ moves. His techniques are very precise and
powerful.] However, were it to come down to raw power alone, there are several
characters who actually stand a pretty good chance of beating him; it’s not his
strength that stands out—it’s his speed, technical precision and reflexes that
save him.
Mr Watsuki, who is a huge fan of Japanese history,
particularly the Shinsengumi [an elite police force employed by the Tokugawa
Shogunate], discovered and used Kawakami Gensai, an elite assassin, as a model
for Kenshin. Watsuki states that he found out about Kawakami’s fierce loyalty
to his comrades, which is when he decided to create the protagonist; as I
stated before, Watsuki didn’t have an extremely clear picture in mind—his
initial design consisted of a tall, black-haired, swash-buckling man in “showy”
armour. He wasn’t too pleased with this though—he scrapped the project, chewed
on the edge of his pen for more ideas [just kidding], and decided to create a
character who completely juxtaposed the previous one. Therefore, the new
character ended up “coming out like a girl”—tiny, thin, with long and bushy red
[or rather, orange] hair, large bluish-purple eyes, and a large cross-shaped scar
on his left cheek. Deceptively fragile looking. Watsuki has stated that he
enjoys drawing Kenshin due to his selfless nature and saviour complex [a massive saviour complex, in fact];
besides, Kenshin frequently struggles against himself and his dark past. He’s
his own worst enemy. He hates himself for doing what he did during the
Bakumatsu, though he knows it was for the greater good; he’s trying to run from
himself. [Really, his mental health is…]. While writing the series, Watsuki
thought Kenshin should pay more attention to his future, since he is still, in
a way, living in the past. Initially, the series was not very dark or heavy in
nature—when it did get kinda intense, Watsuki would throw in a bit of slapstick
humour to lighten the atmosphere. Watsuki has often spoken about the difference
in Kenshin’s speech patterns—as “Himura Kenshin”, his speeh is unfailingly
polite, and he uses a very humble form of “I”. When facing his opponent, his
speech is rather rough, and he uses a very masculine form of “I”—"ore”.
His trademark verbal tick, “Oro”, is usually inserted by Watsuki whenever he is
surprised or mildly annoyed; it’s kinda like the English “Huh?” [that “Oro” is
one of Kenshin’s defining traits, haha].
Watsuki actually planned to make Kenshin more than 30 years
old [since he fought in the Bakumatsu], but his editor commented that it would
be a little off-putting for the protagonist of a manga aimed at teenagers to be
of such an age, so he made him 28 years old [he looks a lot younger than that
though.] Watsuki isn’t excellent at coming up with plots, but he’s a genius
when it comes to characters, and Kenshin is his greatest creation. He came up
with a vast cast of characters who could keep up with the protagonist; Kamiya
Kaoru, a feisty seventeen-year-old sword-fighting instructor, was created to become
a close friend and comrade, someone who could keep him in check; eventually,
though, Watsuki had the two become lovers. Sagara Sanosuke, a rebellious
nineteen-year-old street fighter, was created to completely contrast Kenshin as
a character—someone who would “punch him in order to make him retain his
composure”. Gradually, the manga got grittier with the creation of the series’
most memorable antagonist, Shishio Makoto [his name is deliciously ironic--“Makoto”
means Truth.] Kenshin’s sword breaks during the fight against Shishio’s
warriors; he is given a new sakabatou with a sheath made of wood. During the final
fight against Shishio, Watsuki admitted that he had more fun drawing Shishio
than Kenshin [and I must say, I kinda agree, because Shishio’s expressions are
fun to draw.]
In the next and final arc of the manga, the story became extremely gruesome, as most
characters—Kenshin included—believed that Kaoru had been killed by Yukishiro
Enishi, an extremely memorable antagonist in his own right [she’s actually
alive, don’t worry. Killing that fiery girl is no mean task]. Watsuki was not
pleased with Kenshin’s indecisiveness and angst at this point [though he was
the one who wrote it… really], so he
had Kenshin’s friend, Myoujin Yahiko, take over as the protagonist until
Kenshin recovered. In this arc, as I stated before, Kenshin’s life story is
revealed; he’s an unreliable narrator, though, as all his accounts can’t be
completely trusted—when it comes to his past and his comrades, our normally
level-headed friend finds it difficult to think straight [not all the time,
though.] Watsuki introduced Kenshin’s deceased wife, Yukishiro Tomoe [yes, she’s
Enishi’s older sister] in order to justify Enishi’s vendetta against
Kenshin—the latter accidentally killed Tomoe
eight years ago; therefore, she plays a crucial role in this arc. She is seen
and interpreted through Kenshin and Enishi’s memories. In this sense, though
Kenshin and Enishi are enemies [the animosity is solely on Enishi’s side
though], they are also connected by Tomoe; the author has confessed that he
would’ve liked to have given their past a greater contrast.
Unlike Shishio, Enishi doesn’t die. He kind of [kind of, mind you] repents of his hasty
and outright cruel and evil actions [after Kenshin convinces him that this
isn’t what Tomoe would have wanted]. So… I guess I’m kinda relieved that he’s
alive? Don’t get me wrong—I absolutely do not agree with Enishi’s obsessive
behaviour and twisted views, but he loves his sister more than the world
itself. I can relate to that, as I love
my sister very much, too. The last
chapter of the manga, “Toward A New Age”, is one of my favourite chapters!! It finally shows that Kenshin has learned to
let go of the demons of his past; he’s much happier and more cheerful now.
Besides, the thing that I was rooting for since the first chapter has
happened—Kenshin and Kaoru have been happily married for five years now, and
they have cute, bratty little son, Himura Kenji. Watsuki admits that Kenji was
“cliché”, but felt that the character had to appear [yeah, I agree. But don’t
ask me to explain it!] Happily ever after! [At least, I hope so…]
Look, I don’t mean to be pushy, but if you haven’t read
Rurouni Kenshin, I strongly recommend you to do so. It’s a great read, even
though you will get annoyed at
times, cause some parts just don’t make sense [typical shōnen manga, lol]. OK,
I’m done, bye! See you next time!
Thank you! I hope you liked my article!
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