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Rurouni Kenshin

Cover of the last Japanese manga volume

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (Japanese: --, Hepburn: Rurni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan?),[2] also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the 11th year of the Meiji period in Japan and follows a former assassin from the Bakumatsu, named Himura Kenshin. After his work against the bakufu, Hitokiri Battosai disappears to become Himura Kenshin: a wandering samurai who protects the people of Japan with a vow of never to take another life. Watsuki wrote this series upon his desire of making a shnen manga different from the other ones that were published at the time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it continued. The manga revolves around themes of atonement, peace, and romance.

The manga initially appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shnen Jump from April 11, 1994, to November 4, 1999. The complete work consists of 28 tankbon volumes, while years later it was reprinted into twenty-two kanzenban volumes. Studio Gallop, Studio Deen and SPE Visual Works adapted the manga into an anime series which aired in Japan from January 10, 1996 to September 8, 1998. Besides an animated feature film, two series of original video animations (OVAs) were also produced. The first adapted stories from the manga that were not featured in the anime, while the second was a sequel to the manga. Several art and guidebooks for Rurouni Kenshin have been published and writer Kaoru Shizuka has authored three official light novels which were published by Shueisha. Many video games have also been released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable consoles. A successful live-action theatrical film adaptation was released in 2012, with limited international screenings.

The manga, as well as the first light novel and first guidebook, has received a complete North American release by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases. The TV series was later licensed in North America and released on DVD by Media Blasters. The first two seasons aired on the United States Cartoon Network as part of the Toonami block, while the third season was only featured on DVD. The English-language versions of the OVAs, as well as the film, were originally released as Samurai X in North America, although the original name was included on the later DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases.

The Rurouni Kenshin manga has over 70 million copies in circulation as of 2014, while its anime has ranked among the 100 most watched series in Japan multiple times. The series has received praise and criticism from various publications for manga, anime and other media, with both having received good response on the characters' designs and historical setting.

In the early Meiji era, after participating in the Bakumatsu war as the assassin "Hitokiri Battsai", Himura Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed. When arriving in Tokyo in the 11th year of Meiji (1878), he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who is in the middle of a fight with a murderer - who claims to be the Hitokiri Battsai - tarnishing the name of the swordsmanship school that she teaches. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real infamous assassin, Kaoru offers him a place to stay at her dojo noting that he is peace-loving and not cold-hearted, as his reputation implies. Kenshin accepts and begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people such as Sagara Sanosuke, a former Sekih Army member; Myjin Yahiko, an orphan from a samurai family; and a doctor named Takani Megumi, caught in the opium trade. However, he also deals with his fair share of enemies, new and old, including the former leader of the Oniwabansh, Shinomori Aoshi and a rival from the Bakumatsu, Sait Hajime.

After several months of living in the dojo, Kenshin discovers that his successor as assassin of the shadows, Shishio Makoto, plans to conquer Japan by destroying the Meiji Government, starting with Kyoto. Feeling that his friends may be attacked by Shishio's faction, Kenshin goes to meet Shishio alone in order to defeat him. However, many of his friends, including a young Oniwabansh named Makimachi Misao, decide to help him in his fight. After his first meeting with him, Kenshin realizes he needs to get stronger to defeat Shishio without becoming the cold assassin he was in the past and returns to the man who taught him kenjutsu, Hiko Seijr, in order to learn the school's final technique. He finally accepts his friends' help and defeats Shishio in a close fight; Shishio dies being engulfed in flames due to the rise in his body temperature caused by his severe burns.

When Kenshin and his friends return to Tokyo, he finds Yukishiro Enishi, who plans to take revenge by killing his friends. At this point it is revealed that, during the Bakumatsu, Kenshin had been married to a woman named Yukishiro Tomoe. She had initially wanted to avenge the death of her fianc whom Kenshin had killed, but instead they both fell in love and got married. It is then discovered that Tomoe was part of a group of assassins that wanted to kill Kenshin, and Tomoe is betrayed by them and captured to use as bait. Kenshin rushes to rescue her, killing both his assailant and accidentally Tomoe, who jumps in at the last minute to save Kenshin from a fatal attack. Wanting to take revenge for the death of his sister, Enishi kidnaps Kaoru and leaves behind a corpse doll bearing a stunning resemblance of Kaoru for Kenshin to find and momentarily grieve over. Once discovering that Kaoru is alive, Kenshin and his friends set out to rescue her. A battle between Kenshin and Enishi follows and when Kenshin wins, he and Kaoru return home. Five years later, Kenshin has married Kaoru and has a son named Himura Kenji.

A prototype series titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story appeared as a pair of separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993.[3][4]

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Rurouni Kenshin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia