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Rurouni Kenshin (3-in-1 Edition) #6
Rurouni Kenshin (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 6
The beloved landmark tale of a Meiji-era swordsman’s quest for redemption.
Action, romance and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular manga titles of all time!
After a series of hard-won battles, Kenshin finally confronts Shishio, the twisted mastermind behind the plot to overthrow the government. The fate of Japan hangs in the balance as the two greatest swordsmen of the age face off. To survive, Kenshin must fight at full strength, which means breaking his vow never to kill again. If he wins Japan, he loses his soul…
Action, romance and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular manga titles of all time!
After a series of hard-won battles, Kenshin finally confronts Shishio, the twisted mastermind behind the plot to overthrow the government. The fate of Japan hangs in the balance as the two greatest swordsmen of the age face off. To survive, Kenshin must fight at full strength, which means breaking his vow never to kill again. If he wins Japan, he loses his soul…
579 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2018
2 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Nobuhiro Watsuki
255 books425 followersWatsuki Nobuhiro (和月伸宏) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for his samurai-themed series Rurouni Kenshin. He once worked as an assistant for his favorite author Takeshi Obata.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 18, 2020
Let me start by saying, I like anime (sometimes), but have never been able to get into manga (even for series or other adaptations that I've enjoyed like Berserk or Hunter x Hunter). I've kinda given up on trying to read the source material for stuff that I like. I always start with good intentions and never end up making it to the finish line, as much as I'd like to (again, especially for series' that were never properly finished in other forms - like Hunter x Hunter). It always irks me that I'm missing part of or the ending to a story, but most of my anime-watching days are behind me. I try new things now and again, but always find them formulaic and disappointing.
When I was in college there was a bootleg anime rental joint across from the community college I attended in Pasadena. I forget the name of it now, but it was always the highlight of my week to go in and rent something new and watch it at midnight (in the pre-file sharing, pre-Toonami days) on my little vcr/tv combo in my room. I would usually just pick up series that the owner recommended and he had a good track record. I tore through shows likeVision of Escaflowne and Flame of Recca like nobody's business and at the peak of my interest, I discovered Kenshin and it changed everything. I changed my major from physics to history. I started studying Japanese. The Bakumatsu period and the history of pre-modern Japan became an all-encompassing obsession. I loved the television series and when I watched the prequel Tsuioku-hen original video animation with it's dark and serious tonal shift, I was beyond hooked. I can clearly recall the sense of frisson I felt watching that adaptation in particular. Everything from the somber and ghostly music to the muted, painting-like imagery made my spine tingle and goosebumps break out no matter how many times I watched it. I loved it because of the contrast with the main series. It made the story even more tragic and I'm so glad the owner of that store made me wait to watch it last. The bookcase behind me is overflowing with books on Japanese history that I bought in the decade or so after watching my first episode of Kenshin at around nineteen years old. To say that the series was formative on my life is an understatement. And then life changes. You go through different phases. You get older and your imagination dies a little, as does the excitement you once felt at discovering something new and unexpected. You forget your roots.
I hadn't seen the show in twenty years - and then on a quarantine-boredom-inspired-lark I decided to indulge myself and get an HBO Max subscription two weeks ago. I'd watched everything I wanted to watch on Netflix, tried reading a half dozen books I'd been looking forward to, and played pretty much every game in my Steam library and was feeling rather unfulfilled. Much to my surprise, HBO had the full original Rurouni Kenshin series. About a week ago, I decided to watch the first episode, just to see how terribly it had aged (as pretty much every other thing I enjoyed from my early life has aged), and about four hours later realized I was pretty much through the first major story arc already. No cringe. No embarrassment at the taste of my younger self. To my surprise, I found it just as engaging as I had the last time I watched it twenty years ago. I'd seen the films on Netflix in passing and had no desire to watch them. Film adaptations of anime shows just always look horribly bad to me and I had no desire to see one of my favorite franchises go through that process, but other than that it's the first time I think I've even thought about the series in over a decade. I devoured all the canon episodes through the Kyoto Arc and watched the prequel OVA just as I'd done two decades ago and just loved the experience. It's been the first show or bit of entertainment that's genuinely held my attention since this quarantine nightmare began. Out of curiosity I did some googling. I remember the second OVA that attempted to tie things off not being very good and in my searches discovered that the series...IS STILL ONGOING.
I'd never read anything about the Jinchu arc (so that, in and of itself is going to be a treat) and now I discover there's a whole new story (the Hokkaido Arc) and I found that I simply had to know how this story ends. So here I am, like a twenty year old again, stoked to be reading Kenshin and revisiting some of my favorite fictional characters and my favorite historical period of all time and it's energized me like nothing else has in a number of years.
I'm starting with Volume 18 of the manga - the end of the Kyoto Arc to pick up where the anime series (in all practicality) let off. Kenshin and the gang return to the Kamiya dojo in Tokyo after defeating Shishio Makoto and the Juppongatana, preventing them from causing a descent into a second, even bloodier revolution. Kenshin has been changed by the experience. Forced to confront his past and his legacy directly for the first time in over a decade, he's found that he's a changed man. He's more open and willing to let people into his life, probably for the first time since the death of his wife Tomoe, at his own hands at the peak of the revolution. The peace of mind that accompanies this reckoning is to be short-lived. Kenshin's brother-in-law, Yukishiro Enishi, has returned from a self-imposed exile in Shanghai to launch a revenge plot designed to make Kenshin suffer as he has suffered since the death of his sister. To do so, he intends to punish Kenshin's new friends and adopted family in Tokyo, realizing that Kenshin is all too eager to accept punishment for himself.
I'm still not a huge fan of the manga format, to be honest. I feel like the pacing is choppier than in an animated series or even in western style comic books or novelizations, but I have to admit that this one scratches the itch. The overarching redemption arc is tightly knit through the entirety of the story and Enishi's return literally a volume removed from Kenshin departing Kyoto and visiting the grave of his deceased wife for the first time since her death feels karmic rather than overly coincidental. It also shows that more must be done to atone for his crimes than renouncing killing and fighting a second revolution against dark forces trying to overthrow the new established order. It's more mature and less shonen and borders on the philosophical and as an older man now, I view the entire story differently. I take new lessons from it and a new appreciation for its construction. Excited to read the source material for Tsuioku-hen in the next volume as it's one of my favorite stories of all time.
When I was in college there was a bootleg anime rental joint across from the community college I attended in Pasadena. I forget the name of it now, but it was always the highlight of my week to go in and rent something new and watch it at midnight (in the pre-file sharing, pre-Toonami days) on my little vcr/tv combo in my room. I would usually just pick up series that the owner recommended and he had a good track record. I tore through shows likeVision of Escaflowne and Flame of Recca like nobody's business and at the peak of my interest, I discovered Kenshin and it changed everything. I changed my major from physics to history. I started studying Japanese. The Bakumatsu period and the history of pre-modern Japan became an all-encompassing obsession. I loved the television series and when I watched the prequel Tsuioku-hen original video animation with it's dark and serious tonal shift, I was beyond hooked. I can clearly recall the sense of frisson I felt watching that adaptation in particular. Everything from the somber and ghostly music to the muted, painting-like imagery made my spine tingle and goosebumps break out no matter how many times I watched it. I loved it because of the contrast with the main series. It made the story even more tragic and I'm so glad the owner of that store made me wait to watch it last. The bookcase behind me is overflowing with books on Japanese history that I bought in the decade or so after watching my first episode of Kenshin at around nineteen years old. To say that the series was formative on my life is an understatement. And then life changes. You go through different phases. You get older and your imagination dies a little, as does the excitement you once felt at discovering something new and unexpected. You forget your roots.
I hadn't seen the show in twenty years - and then on a quarantine-boredom-inspired-lark I decided to indulge myself and get an HBO Max subscription two weeks ago. I'd watched everything I wanted to watch on Netflix, tried reading a half dozen books I'd been looking forward to, and played pretty much every game in my Steam library and was feeling rather unfulfilled. Much to my surprise, HBO had the full original Rurouni Kenshin series. About a week ago, I decided to watch the first episode, just to see how terribly it had aged (as pretty much every other thing I enjoyed from my early life has aged), and about four hours later realized I was pretty much through the first major story arc already. No cringe. No embarrassment at the taste of my younger self. To my surprise, I found it just as engaging as I had the last time I watched it twenty years ago. I'd seen the films on Netflix in passing and had no desire to watch them. Film adaptations of anime shows just always look horribly bad to me and I had no desire to see one of my favorite franchises go through that process, but other than that it's the first time I think I've even thought about the series in over a decade. I devoured all the canon episodes through the Kyoto Arc and watched the prequel OVA just as I'd done two decades ago and just loved the experience. It's been the first show or bit of entertainment that's genuinely held my attention since this quarantine nightmare began. Out of curiosity I did some googling. I remember the second OVA that attempted to tie things off not being very good and in my searches discovered that the series...IS STILL ONGOING.
I'd never read anything about the Jinchu arc (so that, in and of itself is going to be a treat) and now I discover there's a whole new story (the Hokkaido Arc) and I found that I simply had to know how this story ends. So here I am, like a twenty year old again, stoked to be reading Kenshin and revisiting some of my favorite fictional characters and my favorite historical period of all time and it's energized me like nothing else has in a number of years.
I'm starting with Volume 18 of the manga - the end of the Kyoto Arc to pick up where the anime series (in all practicality) let off. Kenshin and the gang return to the Kamiya dojo in Tokyo after defeating Shishio Makoto and the Juppongatana, preventing them from causing a descent into a second, even bloodier revolution. Kenshin has been changed by the experience. Forced to confront his past and his legacy directly for the first time in over a decade, he's found that he's a changed man. He's more open and willing to let people into his life, probably for the first time since the death of his wife Tomoe, at his own hands at the peak of the revolution. The peace of mind that accompanies this reckoning is to be short-lived. Kenshin's brother-in-law, Yukishiro Enishi, has returned from a self-imposed exile in Shanghai to launch a revenge plot designed to make Kenshin suffer as he has suffered since the death of his sister. To do so, he intends to punish Kenshin's new friends and adopted family in Tokyo, realizing that Kenshin is all too eager to accept punishment for himself.
I'm still not a huge fan of the manga format, to be honest. I feel like the pacing is choppier than in an animated series or even in western style comic books or novelizations, but I have to admit that this one scratches the itch. The overarching redemption arc is tightly knit through the entirety of the story and Enishi's return literally a volume removed from Kenshin departing Kyoto and visiting the grave of his deceased wife for the first time since her death feels karmic rather than overly coincidental. It also shows that more must be done to atone for his crimes than renouncing killing and fighting a second revolution against dark forces trying to overthrow the new established order. It's more mature and less shonen and borders on the philosophical and as an older man now, I view the entire story differently. I take new lessons from it and a new appreciation for its construction. Excited to read the source material for Tsuioku-hen in the next volume as it's one of my favorite stories of all time.
May 11, 2026
The Kyoto Arc ends! The Jinchū Arc begins!
The final fights of the Kyoto Arc are kino, and worthy as a climax. If I'm not mistaken, the original anime series ended with Shishio, which doesn't not make sense; the fighting is appropriately intense for a Final Battle, and the four epilogue chapters work well to tie things off.
Now, that said, the Kyoto epilogues also work to set up the Jinchū Arc, which has some big shoes to fill. This arc is roughly the same length as Kyoto, but there are only six villains instead of eleven. Volume 18 ends with Sanosuke about to fight one of the six, and it is assumed Kenshin will soon fight another. Will they take out one-third of the enemy forces with nine or ten more volumes to spare? Surely not, right? Will the fights just be long? Will there be multiple rematches? Will new villains appear as underlings for our six major bosses? How does Watsuki plan to fill all these pages???
I'm so used to Vegeta and Sasuke and stuff that it feels underrated to have Sanosuke act more as a Jonouchi than a Kaiba. I guess Aoshi is kind of a Vegeta? More like a Piccolo, probably.
****
Volume 16: Flashback of how Sōjirō met Shishio: he's a bastard of some dude's mistress, and is beaten by the family who takes him in, until Shishio comes by and gives him a sword. Sōjirō wants to beat Kenshin because he's assmad that Kenshin defends the weak when Sōjirō himself wasn't defended when he was a kid. Kenshin defeats Sōjirō and imparts some life lessons about truth. Saito encounters Aoshi and gives him a map to Shishio's palace, revealing the intelligence powers of the government. Sōjirō tells Yumi what he uncovered about the secret to the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki: the left foot. Sōjirō leaves the Juppongatana to find himself. Kenshin approaches Shishio for the final battle. Shishio fights with the Mugenjin sword, with its serrated tip burning bits of human flesh for fuel after ignition via friction. Shishio bites Kenshin on the shoulder. Shishio defeats Kenshin with Guren Kaina, a technique of lighting gunpowder hidden in his gauntlet. Saito then breaks in to challenge Shishio. Volume end.
Volume 17: Saito vs. Shishio. Saito uses Zeroshiki on Shishio's forehead, but he has a metal headband under his bandages. Shishio stabs Saito in the shoulder with his fingers then ignites the gunpowder. Sanosuke vs. Shishio. Two Layers no-sells, then Shishio punches Sano in the head. Aoshi vs. Shishio. Aoshi stalls until Kenshin can get back up. Kenshin's kiai awakens Sano and Saito as well as rips some leaves. Yumi mentions the fifteen-minute time limit is because Shishio's burns will start to hurt after. Kenshin goes ham with a five-hit combo of special moves into Kuzu Ryūsen. Shishio gets up and ignites the petroleum around the arena. Shishio blocks and deflects Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and lights his whole sword for Kaguzuchi, but Kenshin spins off the deflection to create a vacuum, draw Shishio in, and slash again. Shishio starts throwing up from his burns, so Yumi jumps in to guard him, but he stabs through her to hit Kenshin (which she doesn't mind). Kenshin gets up, Shishio starts to attack, and he spontaneously combusts. Hoji goes mad and blows up the fortress, seemingly taking Saito down. Anji and Sōjirō save Hoji, and Anji and Hoji decide to turn themselves in for different reasons. A month later, Chō visits the good guys to tell them how most of the Juppongatana have become government stooges, and Hoji is dead because the government wouldn't give him a trial where he could tell the people about Shishio (so he killed himself in prison). Yahiko questions if they really won. We see Shishio, Yumi, and Hoji off to conquer Hell. Volume end.
Volume 18: Sanosuke and Yahiko talk about getting stronger. Kaoru and Megumi talk about love. Kenshin visits a grave. Turns out Saito did survive and he's working with Cho. The heroes go back to Tokyo. A mysterious twink visits the same grave Kenshin visited, revealing it to be this guy's sister's grave. Iwanbo is there, and turns out to be an elaborate puppet. A big dude with one hand goes to the Akabeko restaurant, then meets with the mystery twink, revealing he's a future boss as well. Kujiranami uses an arm-mounted cannon to demolish Akabeko. The twink, Enishi, assembles six total new villains to fight Kenshin (including himself, Kujiranami, and Gein, the guy from the Iwanbo puppet). Otowa goes to attack the police chief, while Inui attacks Maekawa dojo. Sanosuke arrives at the dojo. Volume end.
The final fights of the Kyoto Arc are kino, and worthy as a climax. If I'm not mistaken, the original anime series ended with Shishio, which doesn't not make sense; the fighting is appropriately intense for a Final Battle, and the four epilogue chapters work well to tie things off.
Now, that said, the Kyoto epilogues also work to set up the Jinchū Arc, which has some big shoes to fill. This arc is roughly the same length as Kyoto, but there are only six villains instead of eleven. Volume 18 ends with Sanosuke about to fight one of the six, and it is assumed Kenshin will soon fight another. Will they take out one-third of the enemy forces with nine or ten more volumes to spare? Surely not, right? Will the fights just be long? Will there be multiple rematches? Will new villains appear as underlings for our six major bosses? How does Watsuki plan to fill all these pages???
I'm so used to Vegeta and Sasuke and stuff that it feels underrated to have Sanosuke act more as a Jonouchi than a Kaiba. I guess Aoshi is kind of a Vegeta? More like a Piccolo, probably.
****
Volume 16: Flashback of how Sōjirō met Shishio: he's a bastard of some dude's mistress, and is beaten by the family who takes him in, until Shishio comes by and gives him a sword. Sōjirō wants to beat Kenshin because he's assmad that Kenshin defends the weak when Sōjirō himself wasn't defended when he was a kid. Kenshin defeats Sōjirō and imparts some life lessons about truth. Saito encounters Aoshi and gives him a map to Shishio's palace, revealing the intelligence powers of the government. Sōjirō tells Yumi what he uncovered about the secret to the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki: the left foot. Sōjirō leaves the Juppongatana to find himself. Kenshin approaches Shishio for the final battle. Shishio fights with the Mugenjin sword, with its serrated tip burning bits of human flesh for fuel after ignition via friction. Shishio bites Kenshin on the shoulder. Shishio defeats Kenshin with Guren Kaina, a technique of lighting gunpowder hidden in his gauntlet. Saito then breaks in to challenge Shishio. Volume end.
Volume 17: Saito vs. Shishio. Saito uses Zeroshiki on Shishio's forehead, but he has a metal headband under his bandages. Shishio stabs Saito in the shoulder with his fingers then ignites the gunpowder. Sanosuke vs. Shishio. Two Layers no-sells, then Shishio punches Sano in the head. Aoshi vs. Shishio. Aoshi stalls until Kenshin can get back up. Kenshin's kiai awakens Sano and Saito as well as rips some leaves. Yumi mentions the fifteen-minute time limit is because Shishio's burns will start to hurt after. Kenshin goes ham with a five-hit combo of special moves into Kuzu Ryūsen. Shishio gets up and ignites the petroleum around the arena. Shishio blocks and deflects Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and lights his whole sword for Kaguzuchi, but Kenshin spins off the deflection to create a vacuum, draw Shishio in, and slash again. Shishio starts throwing up from his burns, so Yumi jumps in to guard him, but he stabs through her to hit Kenshin (which she doesn't mind). Kenshin gets up, Shishio starts to attack, and he spontaneously combusts. Hoji goes mad and blows up the fortress, seemingly taking Saito down. Anji and Sōjirō save Hoji, and Anji and Hoji decide to turn themselves in for different reasons. A month later, Chō visits the good guys to tell them how most of the Juppongatana have become government stooges, and Hoji is dead because the government wouldn't give him a trial where he could tell the people about Shishio (so he killed himself in prison). Yahiko questions if they really won. We see Shishio, Yumi, and Hoji off to conquer Hell. Volume end.
Volume 18: Sanosuke and Yahiko talk about getting stronger. Kaoru and Megumi talk about love. Kenshin visits a grave. Turns out Saito did survive and he's working with Cho. The heroes go back to Tokyo. A mysterious twink visits the same grave Kenshin visited, revealing it to be this guy's sister's grave. Iwanbo is there, and turns out to be an elaborate puppet. A big dude with one hand goes to the Akabeko restaurant, then meets with the mystery twink, revealing he's a future boss as well. Kujiranami uses an arm-mounted cannon to demolish Akabeko. The twink, Enishi, assembles six total new villains to fight Kenshin (including himself, Kujiranami, and Gein, the guy from the Iwanbo puppet). Otowa goes to attack the police chief, while Inui attacks Maekawa dojo. Sanosuke arrives at the dojo. Volume end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2019
The Kyoto arc is over. The battle with Shishio was just extraordinary and the outcome even better than expected. If there was ever a time to be afraid for Kenshin was now. And the last arc has also started, where we will finally learn all about Kenshin's past. Oh, I love this story so much. Is the greatest samurai story ever!
May 29, 2020
I haven’t been a massive fan of the big bad in this arc, I just call him bandages guy. All he does is talk about how good he is, he orders people about but that’s about it. We actually get to see him fight in this but it was pretty lackluster, you don’t have great action sequences like before. There is no weight to the fight either, you don’t get clever dialogue between him and Kenshin. It just felt very basic like the fights earlier on in the series, each minor has had a awesome exchange with the hero with great fight sequence. This just fell short, there were a lot of ideas thrown into this fight but nothing really stuck.
Where this volume really shines for me, is the epilogue, it gives each character a moment to reflect on everything that’s happened. It’s nice seeing them enjoy each others company after such lengthy battles.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Kyōto Arc, whilst the ending wasn’t as epic as I hoped it was still an awesome read. It just peeked a bit early, that happens with a lot of manga.
Where this volume really shines for me, is the epilogue, it gives each character a moment to reflect on everything that’s happened. It’s nice seeing them enjoy each others company after such lengthy battles.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Kyōto Arc, whilst the ending wasn’t as epic as I hoped it was still an awesome read. It just peeked a bit early, that happens with a lot of manga.
July 1, 2021
At long last, the proper conclusion of the series. Kenshin battles for the fate of Japan, proves he can overcome his own dark past and move on, and the supporting cast is meaningful in the final battle. Even the dark hints of a sequel, with villains driven by revenge rather than generic evilness, show great promise.
March 7, 2019
The Kyoto arc storyline comes to a close and begins the final arc of Rurouni Kenshin. To me, this is the second best samurai manga series I have ever read and enjoyed most. I am glad its available again in an omnibus edition.
September 2, 2019
Saitou Hajime, owner of my heart. Since I'm eight years old, no joke.
January 3, 2022
Kyoto Arc has definitely been the best arc so far for the series.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews