Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story
るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-
Samurai X
Sengoku no Mikazuki
Crescent Moon in the Warring States
Crescent Moon Over a Country At War
Meteor Strike

Manga8.550427 votes28 volumes · 259 chaptersFinished

ActionDramaHistoricalSamuraiShounen

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Synopsis

Ten years have passed since the end of Bakumatsu, an era of war that saw the uprising of citizens against the Tokugawa shogunate. The revolutionaries wanted to create a time of peace, and a thriving country free from oppression. The new age of Meiji has come, but peace has not yet been achieved. Swords are banned but people are still murdered in the streets. Orphans of war veterans are left with nowhere to go, while the government seems content to just line their pockets with money. One wandering samurai, Kenshin Himura, still works to make sure the values he fought for are worth the lives spent to bring about the new era. Once known as Hitokiri Battousai, he was feared as the most ruthless killer of all the revolutionaries. Now haunted by guilt, Kenshin has sworn never to kill again in atonement for the lives he took, and he may never know peace until killing is a thing of the past. Now in the 11th year of Meiji, Kenshin stumbles upon Kaoru Kamiya, owner and head instructor of a small dojo being threatened to close its doors. The police force is powerless to stop the string of murders done in the name of her dojo by a man claiming to be the famous Battousai. Kenshin's wanderings pause for now as he joins Kaoru to clear both their names. But how long can he stay before his past catches up to him? [Written by MAL Rewrite] Included one-shot: Volume 28: Meteor Strike

Publication notes

As of December 2019, over 72 million copies of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan are in circulation. The series was published in English as Rurouni Kenshin by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump imprint from December 23, 2003, to July 5, 2006, and again in 3-in-1 omnibus volumes under the Shonen Jump VIZBIG imprint from January 29, 2008, to March 16, 2010. VIZ Media later rereleased the series in new 3-in-1 omnibus volumes. It was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC as Samurai X in 56 volumes from May 2001 to November 2003.

Published

Apr 12, 1994 to Sep 21, 1999

Authors

Watsuki, Nobuhiro

External links

MyAnimeList page Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #153
Members (MAL): 104,533
Favorites (MAL): 7,227

Related titles

Sequel

Adaptation

Side Story

Alternative Version

Rurouni Kenshin: Tokuhitsuban

Main characters

Kenshin Himura13094 fan favorites
External profile
Age: 28 Birthday: June 20, 1849 Height: 158 cm Weight: 48 kg Kenshin Himura, also known throughout the anime as Hitokiri Battousai (Battousai the Manslayer) or Himura the Battousai is the main character of the anime series Rurouni Kenshin. His original name was Shinta (心太). His parents died of cholera when he was very young and as a result, was adopted by three slave women in a traveling slave wagon. Soon after meeting them, bandits had raided the convoy and killed his three new guardians and were about to kill him when a man named Seijuro Hiko killed the bandits. Hiko soon adopted the child and because Shinta was not a name fitted for a swordman, he renamed him Kenshin, meaning "Heart of Sword," took him under his wing and taught him the Hiten Mitsuruugi Ryu. The next time Kenshin is seen is 10 years later as he has become a wanderer who helps out anyone in need who is suffering right before his eyes. Those long 10 years have taken him from Kyoto, all over Japan to where we find him in episode one of the anime, in Tokyo, still keeping his vow never to kill again. It is here where he meets Kaoru Kamiya and his whole life begins to change once again. (See Rurouni Kenshin anime). Kenshin is usually depicted as a care-free swordsman who is very aloof and tends to be a bit simple-minded when it comes to living normally. He is seen to be doing many of the chores around the dojo that he stays at with Kaoru, (i.e., cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.). He believes it is his way of repaying Kaoru with allowing him to stay at her dojo. (although it seems he has gotten attracted to kaoru in the end). However, his swordsmanship ranks among the elite as he is seen defeating every rival (with the exception of Hajime Saitou which ended in a draw). His battle senses are top-notch and he recognizes even the slightest of advantages, strategies and tactics during a sword battle. (Source: Kenshin Wikia)
Sanosuke Sagara1174 fan favorites
External profile
Age: 19 Sagara Sanosuke left home at an early age to join the Sekihō Army (Sekihō-tai), leaving behind his father (Kamishimoemon), his mother (Naname), and his younger sister (Uki) who adored him. He would return home years later to discover that his mother was dead, having died a couple of years after the birth of his younger brother, Ota, who immediately began to admire Sanosuke for his bravery and boldness. Sanosuke would also find out that his family name was now Higashidani, although he would never use it himself. His sister, after Sanosuke's disappearance and then her mother's death, became overprotective of her younger brother and father, who worked as a local merchant and farmer with the infamy of being a local fighter. Ota, after Sanosuke leaves his family again, would eventually follow his brother's advice and train at the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū style dojo to become strong. The Sekihoutai fought for the imperial alliance at the end of the Tokugawa regime and Sanosuke admired his captain, Sagara Sōzō and took the family name Sagara from him. The Sekihō Army were on assignment to spread word of the halving of taxes proclaimed by the revolution. However, when the revolutionary government encountered financial problems, they labeled the Sekihoutai as frauds to bury their promises. This setup was engineered by Shindō Tatewaki, a former officer in the imperial alliance. The Sekihoutai were designated scapegoats and to be executed; Sanosuke was the only survivor, other than his friend Tsukioka Katsuhiro. The exact circumstances of Sōzō's death differ between the animated version and the manga; in the manga Sanosuke realized he had been killed after seeing his decapitated head on display as a warning, while in the anime a wounded Sōzō pushed Sanosuke to safety off a cliff in order to save him before dying himself. Full of anger and bitterness, Sanosuke made a living as a fighter-for-hire who bore the nickname "Zanza" derived from his weapon, the zanbatō. Sanosuke's sword, the heaviest katana ever made in the Rurouni Kenshin universe, originates from the Ōnin Struggle. Due to wear the blade no longer has an edge. Sanosuke uses the sword to smash and crush. Hiruma Kihei and Gohei hire Sanosuke to kill Himura Kenshin, but after the former assassin defeats Sanosuke and Sanosuke learns of the truth of Kenshin's no-kill approach, Sanosuke becomes a valuable ally. He later adopts a boxing-like fighting skill, known for the strength of his right fist. Because the zanbatō broke during the fight, Sanosuke no longer wields it on a regular basis, using only one more time in the manga to defend the Kamiya dojo during the Jinchu arc. At the end of the manga series, Sanosuke leaves Japan to avoid becoming wrongfully arrested and travels the world. He is not heard from until five years later during a reunion of the Kenshin-gumi, in which he tells them via a letter that he is in Mongolia and will stay there for a while before heading back to Japan. (Source: Wikipedia)
Kaoru Kamiya352 fan favorites
External profile
Age: 17 Birthday: June 1862 Sign: Gemini Height: 155 cm Weight: 41 kg Blood Type: O Affiliations: Kamiya dojo, Kamiya Kasshinryuu The primary instructor of the Kamiya Kasshinryuu fighting style developed by her late father, Kamiya Koshijirou, Kaoru inherited a small dojo from her father after he was killed during the Seinan War and operates it by herself. Naturally, she is independent, possessive, compassionate, courageous, feisty, strong-willed, and a great fighter to boot- with only the occasional mood swing. Kaoru is also known for her cooking disliked by her friends and family and her ability to see the good in others.
Yahiko Myoujin111 fan favorites
External profile
Yahiko is a samurai descendant. Yahiko's father died during the Battle of Ueno during the Boshin War, slain at the Keneiji Temple. His mother died of syphilis in a brothel to put food on their table not long after giving birth to her son. Yahiko was originally forced to live as a thief for the local Yakuza, who tricked him into believing that he still had to pay off the money the gangsters gave to his mother to buy medicine. With the help of Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru, he becomes an apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryuu style. Yahiko has a friend/rival, Tsukayama Yutarou and a sweetheart, Sanjou Tsubame, who works at Akabeko.