| When I lost my heart to a Japanese |
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| He didn' t strike me as heartthrob at first. I thought he looked funny with his unruly red hair and puny body. He also had a huge cross-scar on his face, which turn off other people who didn t know him. But after dating him everyday for a month, I fell in-love with this Japanese guy. And his scar is not hideous to me at all; rather I was at awe with it. He' s Kenshin Himura. The legendary Battousai. My mother said I was a loony to be obsessed with a cartoon character. She tore her hair (um, almost) in frustration for I was forever chanting, " I love you, Kenshin! " every hour. Mother threatened to lock me up in the loony bin. |
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| People couldn't understand the passion I have for this wandering warrior. He has lifted me from the deep depression I was in at that time. He made me smile. He made me cry (try watching the unreleased final episode where he died in the arms of Kouri, but that> '> s another story). Kenshin is my ideal guy. "But he's a cartoon character!" you would say. Right. But you see he's such a fascinating and lovable two-dimensional (2D) creature. You see Kenshin is a samurai with an almost-god like skill with his katana (sword). Yet he' s so gentle. He couldn' t even hurt a fly. He loves children, he cleans the house and dojo (training room), cooks heavenly (though haven't tried his 2D ebi tempura), and (gasp!) he does all the laundry! Besides his dreamy domestic skills, he' s a master when it comes to martial arts. Funny though, Kouri still manages to hit him on the head with a bamboo sword. Kenshin's scarred past includes being an assassin (a well-known assassin, mind you) for the Royalist Movement during the tumultuous time at the end of the Tokugawa Regime. He accidentally killed his wife (at 18), then became haunted by his bloody life wielding his sword. After 10 years of wandering, Kenshin Himura finally let his feet rest at Kouri ' s dojo. And fell in love with this fiery little woman. |
| I have watched every single episode of Samurai X (a.k.a. Ruruoni Kenshin) because that was the way I could be near my ideal guy. My friends and family thought I had gone bonkers. Perhaps I had. My obsession with this cartoon-y guy prompted my younger sister to watch Samurai X too. And got hooked on it. Now there were already two of us shouting, "I love Kenshin!" all day long. My mother nearly lost her mind. Because of this bizarre relationship (albeit one-sided) with animé, I fell in-love with the Japanese culture in the process. I appreciated the simplicity of their art, architecture, the intricacies of their traditions and ceremonies, and the over-all serene feeling of their Zen philosophy. I longed for their high regard for honor...they'd rather commit seppuku (suicide) than be dishonored. As a samurai would say, "Life is not worth living without honor." If we have that kind of culture, all of our politicians are dead by now. Anyway back to the culture thing, I studied Japan's bloody past and admired their martial culture. No wonder such tiny country could terrorize half the globe more than half a century ago. And somewhere along this quest for 'Japanization' as I call it, I found Kenshin --- my real Kenshin. Because of the flesh and blood samurai I had by my side, the red-haired guy of my dreams left my bloodstream (and my mother sighed in relief) but still he remained a part of me. Kenshin Himura will always be my epitome of manhood but he wasn't able to make me eat tuna sashimi (read: raw fish). My real samurai was able to --- and I now love every bite of it. |
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