Rurouni Kenshin
Frequently Asked Questions





click left and right arrows to scroll

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
 What is Rurouni Kenshin?

Rurouni Kenshin is this really great manga and anime series about a 'wandering masterless swordsman' called Himura Kenshin. It was created by Nobuhuri Watsuki, and distributed by Sony. The story is basically about Kenshin's exploits (I refuse to say adventures) and has really nice art. There are some serious bits and some silly bits and some funny bits and some really gory bits, but overall it's got a pretty light tone. (I say 'light' because Watsuki-sensei makes an effort to keep it this way-- though sometimes, even he admits the storyline gets pretty serious. ^_^;; Specially the Jinchuu arc…) In any case, while the manga and anime both start out in relatively the same manner, they differ vastly in the last story arc(s).

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
 What's the difference between the manga and anime?

Well, everything is pretty much the same between the two mediums until after the Shishio arc. The manga continues on to a much darker tone, while the anime stays light and fluffy-- (the producers wanted to keep the kiddies in the audience). In any case, in the manga, we explore Kenshin's dark, sordid past-- we learn of Tomoe (his dead wife), how he got the cross scars, and of Yukishiro Enishi (a man hell-bent of revenging his older sister Tomoe). This entire storyline is called the Jinchuu Arc (roughly translates to the Revenge Arc), and marks the end of Rurouni Kenshin. (Yes, it does end happily; yes, Kenshin *does* marry Kaoru; yes, they do have a kid in the end; and Good God Yes, Yahiko does grow out of his utter wimpiness.)

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

In the anime, we veer off into a series of minor story arcs that deal with Shogo Amakusa (that name has been used in various mediums-- he was the mythological Christian Messiah in old Japan-- kind of like Jesus Christ, except the Japanese aren't Christian, so they don't view him as much of a savior, and don't really portray him in a very good light.), Feng Shui (ancient Chinese good-luck belief; they're pretty much covering all the base religions, ne?), some German treasure hunt bit with a group of rogue ninja thrown in the mix (this was a very… odd… storyline), etc. For me, the anime ended when Kenshin came home from his battle with Shishio. The succeeding storyline went from bad to, well, utter garbage. Watsuki-sensei clearly had no hand in writing any of them, since they were all terribly weak and not at all exciting. Sadly, RK the anime ended with none of the grandeur that the manga had.


                                                                                            next page / back