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Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story - VIZBIG Edition #5
Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 5 #13-15
One of the most popular manga series in the world now in an omnibus format. Packed with action, romance and historical intrigue, Rurouni Kenshin is one of the most beloved and popular manga series worldwide.
568 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 2009
3 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Nobuhiro Watsuki
250 books424 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 16, 2018
This volume features three books that are equally brilliant:
A Beautiful Night
Shishio challenges Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Saitō to a duel with him and his Juppongatana (“Ten Swords", or Shishio’s elite warriors) in his mountain fortress, which Kenshin readily accepts. The night before the fight, he admits to Kaoru that his newly-learned speed and sword technique will ultimately draw the line between life and death for his enemy, and it’s up to the heart now to remember his vow not to kill. Kaoru wishes for his safety and tells him that she is eager for them to go back to Tokyo together once the battle is over.
The Time Is Now
Kenshin, Sanosuke and Saitō start their journey to Shishio’s lair. Meanwhile, Shishio’s trusted servant Sadojima Hōji has better plans: he intends to carry out the duel with only three of their best men, and send the rest of the Juppongatana to Aoi-ya where Kaoru and the rest of their friends reside. Shishio opposes the idea, seeing it as a coward’s way out, and tests Hōji’s loyalty instead. When Hōji passes the test with flying colors, Shishio finally gives Hōji his permission to carry out the plan.
Inside the enemy’s lair, the battle has begun. Sanosuke battles the fallen priest Anji, who taught him the “Mastery of Two Layers” when he was on his way to Kyoto; Saitō confronts the blind swordsman Usui, who is an expert at reading people’s emotions by listening to their pulse and heartbeat, while Kenshin settles an old score with Aoishi, a former Oniwabanshū leader who is Misao’s mentor and great love.
The Great Man vs. The Giant
The residents of Aoi-ya are assaulted by the rest of the Juppongatana, along with a hundred of Shishio’s soldiers tasked to block their escape route. Kaoru, Yahikō, Misao and the rest of the Oniwabanshū are able to beat the lesser elite warriors with their wit and battle skills, but the last of the Juppongatana warriors, Fuji the Giant, proves to be a formidable opponent. They realize they don’t have a fighting chance against Fuji and prepare to die in battle, until someone arrives in time to offer help.
I love the historical context of the story. As always, there is an entertaining vibe in which the author has depicted the goings-on of that time, which is quite a feat to do since the story is set during the time Japan was undergoing drastic political, cultural, and religious changes through the Meiji Restoration. It also helped that the story has a comedic facade to it, and a little romance, too. It’s enlightening to learn about Japan's religious history and the many other influences that make up its religious beliefs today, which the author has explained rather smoothly in his supplemental historical notes. Another interesting revelation is that Kenshin’s character is actually based on a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period named Kawakami Gensai. With his notable “high-speed sword discipline” and prowess, he must have been the Jet Li of their time!
The only thing that distracts me a little in this omnibus is the repetitive manner in which most of Kenshin’s opponents are depicted; most often they carry goodness within them and are made to battle their inner demons in the end. Majority of the antagonists have become evil only because of their gloomy past, and as a result have given peace, justice and revenge their own flawed interpretations (like Shishio). Perhaps the author only wants to have a feature story of bad-guys-with-hearts-of-gold and wants vindication for all of them, or maybe it is merely a good opening for Kenshin to practice his never kill again mantra by helping his enemies exorcise their demons, but whatever the intention is, I think it somehow gets unoriginal and a little tiring after the same breaking of madness or turning over a new leaf by the antagonists gets in the way every single time (but this is just me).
Still, this volume is a great read! I’m off to the next one. :)
A Beautiful Night
Shishio challenges Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Saitō to a duel with him and his Juppongatana (“Ten Swords", or Shishio’s elite warriors) in his mountain fortress, which Kenshin readily accepts. The night before the fight, he admits to Kaoru that his newly-learned speed and sword technique will ultimately draw the line between life and death for his enemy, and it’s up to the heart now to remember his vow not to kill. Kaoru wishes for his safety and tells him that she is eager for them to go back to Tokyo together once the battle is over.
The Time Is Now
Kenshin, Sanosuke and Saitō start their journey to Shishio’s lair. Meanwhile, Shishio’s trusted servant Sadojima Hōji has better plans: he intends to carry out the duel with only three of their best men, and send the rest of the Juppongatana to Aoi-ya where Kaoru and the rest of their friends reside. Shishio opposes the idea, seeing it as a coward’s way out, and tests Hōji’s loyalty instead. When Hōji passes the test with flying colors, Shishio finally gives Hōji his permission to carry out the plan.
Inside the enemy’s lair, the battle has begun. Sanosuke battles the fallen priest Anji, who taught him the “Mastery of Two Layers” when he was on his way to Kyoto; Saitō confronts the blind swordsman Usui, who is an expert at reading people’s emotions by listening to their pulse and heartbeat, while Kenshin settles an old score with Aoishi, a former Oniwabanshū leader who is Misao’s mentor and great love.
The Great Man vs. The Giant
The residents of Aoi-ya are assaulted by the rest of the Juppongatana, along with a hundred of Shishio’s soldiers tasked to block their escape route. Kaoru, Yahikō, Misao and the rest of the Oniwabanshū are able to beat the lesser elite warriors with their wit and battle skills, but the last of the Juppongatana warriors, Fuji the Giant, proves to be a formidable opponent. They realize they don’t have a fighting chance against Fuji and prepare to die in battle, until someone arrives in time to offer help.
I love the historical context of the story. As always, there is an entertaining vibe in which the author has depicted the goings-on of that time, which is quite a feat to do since the story is set during the time Japan was undergoing drastic political, cultural, and religious changes through the Meiji Restoration. It also helped that the story has a comedic facade to it, and a little romance, too. It’s enlightening to learn about Japan's religious history and the many other influences that make up its religious beliefs today, which the author has explained rather smoothly in his supplemental historical notes. Another interesting revelation is that Kenshin’s character is actually based on a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period named Kawakami Gensai. With his notable “high-speed sword discipline” and prowess, he must have been the Jet Li of their time!
The only thing that distracts me a little in this omnibus is the repetitive manner in which most of Kenshin’s opponents are depicted; most often they carry goodness within them and are made to battle their inner demons in the end. Majority of the antagonists have become evil only because of their gloomy past, and as a result have given peace, justice and revenge their own flawed interpretations (like Shishio). Perhaps the author only wants to have a feature story of bad-guys-with-hearts-of-gold and wants vindication for all of them, or maybe it is merely a good opening for Kenshin to practice his never kill again mantra by helping his enemies exorcise their demons, but whatever the intention is, I think it somehow gets unoriginal and a little tiring after the same breaking of madness or turning over a new leaf by the antagonists gets in the way every single time (but this is just me).
Still, this volume is a great read! I’m off to the next one. :)
February 18, 2019
The battles were good, but I preferred the non-Kenshin battles at Aoi-ya this time around. It's more fun to watch the ingenuity of not as powerful fighters than the pure speed and power of Kenshin.
March 5, 2024
This was excellent, except I would detract one star and give it the "really like it" voting only because the pacing is stretched the story. I honestly thought this volume was going to finish up the Kyoto arc....heh. How could I be so naive?
Aside from that, this volume is just as solid as the others. I would have liked to see Kaoru kick more ass, somehow Yahiko stole that particular spotlight during the raid on Aoiya, but hey she still had her moments. Then there was the whole giant thing. I've kinda` just accepted the fact that people want to use giants and they are going to stuff them in there any way they can. This one wasn't done horribly enough to take away any pleasure in reading it, though.
Stealing The Show award goes to Anji and Saito. Anji's story is quite depressing. The fallen monk was gentle and kind once. Now he is the raging incarnation of one of Buddha's aspects. I have an affinity for religous/sprititual characters. Even if they are fallen, probably more so in this case. If there was ever a reason, the part that pulls at the strings is that Anji isn't fully gone. You get the feeling he is the strongest person in the world and he is doing all he can to hold on the last vestiges of his compassion. I found him to be a remarkable character. Probably the best in the series. I've already made my predilections known :P
Then there is Saito Hajime. I don't think that he really goes by Goro in this arc or corrects anyone who calls him Saito, so I won't either. Again, this is one of those characters that ranks among my favorites, but there is one panel in particular that will come to my mind when I think of Saito. When he uses his 'Mind's Eye' to crush Usui's pride and they are both laughing together until the normally collected Usui starts screaming. God I loved that.
Solid one. Had some low points. I'm not particularly fond of Aoshi, unless he were to duel Misao, speaking of I don't think Misao was played to her fullest potential, but again the humor was pretty good. All in all Saito and Anji made this volume for me. On to the next.
Aside from that, this volume is just as solid as the others. I would have liked to see Kaoru kick more ass, somehow Yahiko stole that particular spotlight during the raid on Aoiya, but hey she still had her moments. Then there was the whole giant thing. I've kinda` just accepted the fact that people want to use giants and they are going to stuff them in there any way they can. This one wasn't done horribly enough to take away any pleasure in reading it, though.
Stealing The Show award goes to Anji and Saito. Anji's story is quite depressing. The fallen monk was gentle and kind once. Now he is the raging incarnation of one of Buddha's aspects. I have an affinity for religous/sprititual characters. Even if they are fallen, probably more so in this case. If there was ever a reason, the part that pulls at the strings is that Anji isn't fully gone. You get the feeling he is the strongest person in the world and he is doing all he can to hold on the last vestiges of his compassion. I found him to be a remarkable character. Probably the best in the series. I've already made my predilections known :P
Then there is Saito Hajime. I don't think that he really goes by Goro in this arc or corrects anyone who calls him Saito, so I won't either. Again, this is one of those characters that ranks among my favorites, but there is one panel in particular that will come to my mind when I think of Saito. When he uses his 'Mind's Eye' to crush Usui's pride and they are both laughing together until the normally collected Usui starts screaming. God I loved that.
Solid one. Had some low points. I'm not particularly fond of Aoshi, unless he were to duel Misao, speaking of I don't think Misao was played to her fullest potential, but again the humor was pretty good. All in all Saito and Anji made this volume for me. On to the next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2017
Continue loving this series, and the Makoto Shishio arc!
November 6, 2017
I love all the volumes included in this book.
But that ending!!!
But that ending!!!
November 15, 2019
It’s becoming hard to not just keep reading and reading. There are tons of cliffhangers now. I can’t wait to see how this all ends
August 25, 2016
Mais um volume de Rurouni Kenshin que adorei ler e que me fez rir por diversas vezes.
Volume 13 "A Beautiful Night"
Kenshin regressou a Aoi-ya após deitar por água abaixo os planos de Shihio de incendiar a cidade Kyoto. E aqui temos alguns momentos mais "românticos" entre Kenshin e Kaoru, tal como eu gosto de ver <3
Fica feita a promessa de regressarem todos juntos a Tokyo.
Nos últimos capítulos, Kenshin, Sano e Saitō entram no covil de Shishio e dá-se a primeira grande batalha: Anji Vs. Sano. Este último dá mais uma vez provas da sua força de vontade e rápida capacidade de aprendizagem, mostrando a Saitō que não é aquele inútil que ele pensa (cá para mim Saitō dá-lhe valor, mas gosta de implicar com Sano por puro gozo haha)
Ficamos também a saber a trágica história do sacerdote e o que o levou a juntar-se a Shishio.
Volume 14 "The Time is Now"
Aqui temos duas grandes batalhas: Saitō Vs. Hoji (com um belíssimo capítulo a cores) e Kenshin Vs. Aoshi.
Saitō esteve muuuito bem! Sempre com aquele ar de "é só isto que tens para dar?", mostrou não só o grande espadachim que é, mas também as suas capacidades de leitura do adversário.
Kenshin vê-se forçado a usar o seu recém aprendido Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, mas consegue manter de pé a promessa feita a Misao e faz Aoshi voltar a si.
Começa também neste volume o ataque a Aoi-ya.
Volume 15 "The Great Man Vs. the Giant"
Duas coisas marcaram este volume para mim:
- Uma cena hilariante entre Misao e o traveca Kamatari. Kamatari prova da forma mais eficaz que não é uma "Scythe Woman", e o "drama" que se seguiu foi de morrer a rir!
- A grande entrada do Mestre Hiko! *.*
Este homem é o MAIOR! Só de pensar até fico com nervos haha
É sem dúvida alguma um favorito para mim.
De referir que aqui se deu a derrota dos Juppongatana em Aoi-ya (belos combates de Yahiko, Kaoru e Misao; e do Mestreee) e também se iniciou a batalha de Kenshin e Sōjirō.
Mais uma vez não houve "End of volume special", mas pudemos cultivar-nos com umas páginas acerca do estado da religião no Japão nesta época.
Sigo de imediato para o próximo livro ^_^x
Volume 13 "A Beautiful Night"
Kenshin regressou a Aoi-ya após deitar por água abaixo os planos de Shihio de incendiar a cidade Kyoto. E aqui temos alguns momentos mais "românticos" entre Kenshin e Kaoru, tal como eu gosto de ver <3
Fica feita a promessa de regressarem todos juntos a Tokyo.
Nos últimos capítulos, Kenshin, Sano e Saitō entram no covil de Shishio e dá-se a primeira grande batalha: Anji Vs. Sano. Este último dá mais uma vez provas da sua força de vontade e rápida capacidade de aprendizagem, mostrando a Saitō que não é aquele inútil que ele pensa (cá para mim Saitō dá-lhe valor, mas gosta de implicar com Sano por puro gozo haha)
Ficamos também a saber a trágica história do sacerdote e o que o levou a juntar-se a Shishio.
Volume 14 "The Time is Now"
Aqui temos duas grandes batalhas: Saitō Vs. Hoji (com um belíssimo capítulo a cores) e Kenshin Vs. Aoshi.
Saitō esteve muuuito bem! Sempre com aquele ar de "é só isto que tens para dar?", mostrou não só o grande espadachim que é, mas também as suas capacidades de leitura do adversário.
Kenshin vê-se forçado a usar o seu recém aprendido Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, mas consegue manter de pé a promessa feita a Misao e faz Aoshi voltar a si.
Começa também neste volume o ataque a Aoi-ya.
Volume 15 "The Great Man Vs. the Giant"
Duas coisas marcaram este volume para mim:
- Uma cena hilariante entre Misao e o traveca Kamatari. Kamatari prova da forma mais eficaz que não é uma "Scythe Woman", e o "drama" que se seguiu foi de morrer a rir!
- A grande entrada do Mestre Hiko! *.*
Este homem é o MAIOR! Só de pensar até fico com nervos haha
É sem dúvida alguma um favorito para mim.
De referir que aqui se deu a derrota dos Juppongatana em Aoi-ya (belos combates de Yahiko, Kaoru e Misao; e do Mestreee) e também se iniciou a batalha de Kenshin e Sōjirō.
Mais uma vez não houve "End of volume special", mas pudemos cultivar-nos com umas páginas acerca do estado da religião no Japão nesta época.
Sigo de imediato para o próximo livro ^_^x
March 12, 2015
An action packed 3for1 volumen
Its the fight against the Jippongatana
Sano fights the priest and we get a bit of backstory, great fight.
Saito fight the blind swordsman, actually this fight is nos as good, but it is spected after hearing the backstory.
Kenshin fights Aoshi, the final battle among the two, and Kenshin manages to keep his promio not to kill.
Meanwhile on the Aoiya, Yahiko fights the flyig ninja, nice to see Yahiko has been learning from bot Kaoru and Kenshin.
Kaoru and Misao fight Honjo in a great team fight.
The rest of the Aoiya "fight" the fat guy, really this fight is avoided, why it would have been interesting, instead the big gy takes them down and decides to scape, really waned to remove a star for this, but better not.
Then we have Kenshin teacher fight the big guy.
At the end we see the start of the battle beetween Kenshin and Sojiro
Cant wait to read the next one and see Sojiro fight Kenshin
Its the fight against the Jippongatana
Sano fights the priest and we get a bit of backstory, great fight.
Saito fight the blind swordsman, actually this fight is nos as good, but it is spected after hearing the backstory.
Kenshin fights Aoshi, the final battle among the two, and Kenshin manages to keep his promio not to kill.
Meanwhile on the Aoiya, Yahiko fights the flyig ninja, nice to see Yahiko has been learning from bot Kaoru and Kenshin.
Kaoru and Misao fight Honjo in a great team fight.
The rest of the Aoiya "fight" the fat guy, really this fight is avoided, why it would have been interesting, instead the big gy takes them down and decides to scape, really waned to remove a star for this, but better not.
Then we have Kenshin teacher fight the big guy.
At the end we see the start of the battle beetween Kenshin and Sojiro
Cant wait to read the next one and see Sojiro fight Kenshin
October 17, 2014
As this story continues it goes from strength to strength. A superb manga with well developed characters and an increasingly dramatic plot. This episode focuses on duels between several powerful warriors.
August 31, 2012
I love this series!
March 2, 2014
No time to talk, must read the next one!
June 28, 2014
This book is pretty good. I love the flow of the story and how it is all building up to the ultimate fight between Kenshin and Shishio. Love it! :D
January 10, 2015
not bad im new to series but i can see why its well recieved by followers of the anime and manga.
January 7, 2016
Finished in early 2013.
April 7, 2016
this boy is a sword man and his name is Kenshin and he fight to for the weak and then he want the weak to get stronger and and fight
the bad people then
the bad people then
July 23, 2016
Good pacing all around. Lookin forward to Kenshin's big battle against Shishio Makoto. Also Sanosuke and Yahiko provide hilarious commentary.
August 28, 2011
The fights go on... and on... and on...
May 4, 2014
*REREAD MAY 2014*
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews