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"My only love sprung from my only hate." -- Romeo and Juliet
Every RK fan coming into the Jinchuu arc comes to it, fresh from Shishio's magnificent defeat. So the new chief villain carries the impressions and expectations that were imbedded by the former chief villain. The initial reaction is: this is the new bad guy, this is the man who will give Kenshin trouble again, this man is dangerous, I must not like him.
Thus, when I first read about Yukishiro Enishi in the Jinchuu arc translations, I was like most RK fans. I hated the man with all my Kenshin-loving soul. I had all the symptoms of Enishi hate. I thought he was psychotic. I thought he was insane. Not only that he had a screw loose somewhere, I thought he was bad to the core.
But even back then I thought he was incredibly handsome, one of the best-dressed men in a story full of well-dressed men. I even recall that I found it odd back then. Why was Enishi drawn in a way different from other handsome villains of my experience? His features makes one initially suspicious of him, but not exactly afraid of an evil in his heart.
A second reading of the translations, this time with the manga illustrations with me, made me appreciate the intelligence of the man. He had a careful, thought-out strategy to make Kenshin fall to him. He had all the bases covered. The overall picture of the strategy astounded me. It was quite perfect!
But why would a man go through all that trouble, just to get at Kenshin? It made me think. And when one thinks about it, he did have a right to be angry at Kenshin. He misunderstood. His sister was his life, and this stranger just took her away from him in a terrifying instant. Could you blame him if he wanted to kill that man?
However, in several points in the story, I noticed that his conscience was bothering him about himself, about the life he had built around himself. It talked as his sister, but it was a conscience. He did have one, and it was working. Could a man so bad really have a working conscience? He could not possibly be SO evil! He just didn't understand why Tomoe died, and nobody got the chance to correct the misunderstanding.
By the time I was thoroughly familiar with the Jinchuu arc manga, I still thought of Enishi as a villain, but one that deserved understanding and pity. I got sad when Enishi was arrested. I was somewhat happy that in the end, it is shown that he was trying to understand things properly.
Other aspects of his personality began to surface, as information from fanfiction, letter responses, and the mailing list research formed a better picture of him. It made me see just how much determination and intelligence were needed to make Enishi what he was. It made me see that he was smart and wily. It made me see that he was a master of handling finances and people. It made me realize that he was dangerously powerful.
All that created for me a character who was dangerous and intriguing, yet sensitive and hurting. I fell for it completely.
So that is why I am here, defending a young and brilliant businessman (for that is what he is), a man trying to understand the past in order to find a future. I am now one of those who saw the depth of character in this man, and finally loved what I saw.