Rurouni Kenshin Vol 2: The Two Hitokiri
December 4th 2007 01:37
Category: Movies
Publisher: 1994 Shueisha Inc/ 2006Orion Publishing Group.
Story & Art: Nobuhiro Watsuki.
English Adaptation: Gerard Jones.
Translation Assist: Kenichiro Yagi.
Touch up art & Lettering: Steve Dutro.
Cover, Graphics & Layout Design: Sean Lee.
Cost: UK 4.99.
The Meiji Era is a period in Japanese history where that island nation emerged from ‘relative obscurity’ and became something of a major power in world affairs. Almost overnight the nation changed from being primarily an agrarian warrior society into a modern industrial nation whose capabilities could easily rival those of the West and certainly outstripped those of any other Asian nation. It is in this era, in its early years to be precise, that the drama that is Rurouni Kenshin takes place. The main protagonist of this tale is a former Meiji patriot known as Himura Kenshin, a samurai and master swordsman who practises a particularly ancient sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu and bears a cross shaped scar on his left cheek.
In his days as a patriot Kenshin was known as Hitokiri Battosai, a legendary assassin whose sword was pledged to the cause of the Ishin Shishi, the pro-Imperialist patriots who sought the restoration of the Emperor as the paramount authority in Japan. Eventually the Ishin Shishi were successful in achieving their agenda of toppling the Tokugawa Shogunate and restoring the imperial throne to pre-eminence, when that occurred the lone assassin Battosai no longer engaged in eliminating the enemies of the patriots cause. He instead became a wanderer, a rurouni, pledging his sword to aid the weak and oppressed wherever possible in order to atone in some small way for the lives of those who sacrificed themselves for the restoration and those whose live he ended as Hitokiri Battosai. Thus as Rurouni Kenshin Volume 2 opens the once legendary swordsman is seeking to put his past behind him, he wields a reverse edged sword or sakabato to prevent him killing and he has become involved in the running of the Kamiya dojo. Naturally his involvement in the dojo isn’t to everyone’s liking the Hiruma brothers in particular who had other ideas about the property on which the dojo is located. The hire a fight merchant called Zanza to deal with their Kenshin issue. It is the fight between these two warriors that starts the action rolling.
Once I started reading this manga I really found myself getting drawn into it, in fact I read several times over the course of a week as it was an enjoyable read. Naturally though it has been translated into English Rurouni Kenshin does follow the traditional format of a Japanese manga, you read from right to left rather than left to right as is common in the West. It can be a bit strange to start with but eventually you get the hang of it and there is a guide to give you directions on how the manga should be read. This helpful guide is usually found where you’d expect the start of the story to be and it politely tells you that you’re reading in the wrong direction. Every so often throughout the pages their will be arrows with a helpful pointer to give you an idea in what direction you should be reading. On a side note I only recently started reading manga, within the last eight months an one day after reading several volumes I turned back to a Star Wars comic for a change, one that had the story of the origin of General Grievous from the Revenge of the Sith. The strange thing was I found myself reading the script of this particular tale from right to left rather than the usual way, what was even stranger still was that it actually did make a certain sense.
But back to the days of the Meiji Era and the exploits of the swordsman Himura Kenshin, this is a story with some depth even just this single volume that I managed to find in the local library. Even though the Meiji Era lasted only fifty nine years it was a period in Japanese history filled with great changes and in reading Rurouni Kenshin you get the sense that the story is filled with much of these changes not only at a personal level but at a political and societal level as well. In fact the process of change could very well be what this volume is all about, will Kenshin be able to put behind his past as Battosai? Will the Meiji government be able to bring about the reforms that it has ‘promised’ to Japanese society? Or is it all just empty promises designed to enrich those who were powerless under the Shoguns but have now gained the upper hand with the restoration of the Emperor?
In essence the story is one of transition, though whether this transition will be for good or for bad cannot yet be defined; “Always in flux the future is” as Master Yoda is wont to say and even though certain points are resolved in this particular volume there is naturally the sense that it is only a partial resolution. After all it is only volume 2 in an ongoing series so there can’t be any expectation of complete and final closure at so early a stage. There is enough to bring to a close the main focus of the particular story arc, namely the Two Hitokiri referred to in the title but this only leads to further mysteries as any good ongoing story will. For those who are not all that familiar with Japanese history and Japanese terms there is a helpful glossary at the end of the manga which gives you a list of terms and personalities. It’s also interesting to read the various sidebars about the characters and how they came to be how they are as well as various other titbits of information. All in all Rurouni Kenshin Vol 2: The Two Hitokiri is an enjoyable read as well as being something of an informative look at a significant era in Japanese history, society and culture.
Story & Art: Nobuhiro Watsuki.
English Adaptation: Gerard Jones.
Translation Assist: Kenichiro Yagi.
Touch up art & Lettering: Steve Dutro.
Cover, Graphics & Layout Design: Sean Lee.
Cost: UK 4.99.
The Meiji Era is a period in Japanese history where that island nation emerged from ‘relative obscurity’ and became something of a major power in world affairs. Almost overnight the nation changed from being primarily an agrarian warrior society into a modern industrial nation whose capabilities could easily rival those of the West and certainly outstripped those of any other Asian nation. It is in this era, in its early years to be precise, that the drama that is Rurouni Kenshin takes place. The main protagonist of this tale is a former Meiji patriot known as Himura Kenshin, a samurai and master swordsman who practises a particularly ancient sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu and bears a cross shaped scar on his left cheek.
But back to the days of the Meiji Era and the exploits of the swordsman Himura Kenshin, this is a story with some depth even just this single volume that I managed to find in the local library. Even though the Meiji Era lasted only fifty nine years it was a period in Japanese history filled with great changes and in reading Rurouni Kenshin you get the sense that the story is filled with much of these changes not only at a personal level but at a political and societal level as well. In fact the process of change could very well be what this volume is all about, will Kenshin be able to put behind his past as Battosai? Will the Meiji government be able to bring about the reforms that it has ‘promised’ to Japanese society? Or is it all just empty promises designed to enrich those who were powerless under the Shoguns but have now gained the upper hand with the restoration of the Emperor?
In essence the story is one of transition, though whether this transition will be for good or for bad cannot yet be defined; “Always in flux the future is” as Master Yoda is wont to say and even though certain points are resolved in this particular volume there is naturally the sense that it is only a partial resolution. After all it is only volume 2 in an ongoing series so there can’t be any expectation of complete and final closure at so early a stage. There is enough to bring to a close the main focus of the particular story arc, namely the Two Hitokiri referred to in the title but this only leads to further mysteries as any good ongoing story will. For those who are not all that familiar with Japanese history and Japanese terms there is a helpful glossary at the end of the manga which gives you a list of terms and personalities. It’s also interesting to read the various sidebars about the characters and how they came to be how they are as well as various other titbits of information. All in all Rurouni Kenshin Vol 2: The Two Hitokiri is an enjoyable read as well as being something of an informative look at a significant era in Japanese history, society and culture.
| 38 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
