RUROUNI KENSHIN VOLUME 6: NO WORRIES
November 3rd 2008 21:09
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 1994 Shueisha Inc/ 2006 Orion 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: AU $14.95
It was a bit of a surprise to be wandering the stacks of my local library after doing some surfing and discovering this particular volume of Rurouni Kenshin sitting there almost as if it was waiting for me like a faithful dog awaiting the return of his owner from a long journey a field. Naturally there was no hesitation, I swiftly plucked it from its place on the shelf and borrowed it, and strangely it was the only decent thing I had managed to find on the shelves that day as I’d wandered around in the library. It was a good bit of fortune, as there have been times when my efforts to find some good reading material have yielded naught.
So once again Nobuhiro Watsuki takes back into the world of Meiji Era Japan, the historical period in which the land of the Rising Sun ended its century’s long isolation from the rest of the world and emerged onto the international stage. It is a period in Japanese history which is filled with much change locally as well as turmoil as the elements of the former Tokugawa Shogunate have not gone quietly into the dying of the light as Dylan Thomas would be wont to say nor is their complete unity amongst the supporters of the Emperor and his reform and modernising regime. The events that take place in this particular volume occur in the aftermath of what Western historians call the Satsuma Rebellion, an attempt by samurai still clinging to the old ways to overthrow the relatively new regime only to end up being defeated by the nascent national Japanese army comprised of peasants, merchants and ordinary folk.
As usual there is a glossary of various Japanese terms included at the end if you are unfamiliar with them and want to know just exactly what they refer to. This is a very handy feature as I have often found that is always a new term or phrase that crops up in a volume of Rurouni Kenshin which I have no idea of what it means or implies. This volume is essentially two stories in a single volume, the first one being the effective climax and denouement to a tale which would have commenced in previous volumes. The issues involved within this story are one of conflict and rivalry, in particular the rivalry that exists between schools of swordsmanship and the dojos in which such schools are taught by their masters and practitioners.
Kenshin in his wanderings has become affiliated with the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo that was founded by the father of Kamiya Kaoru, the lady who currently runs the dojo and also instructs students in the particular style unique to the school. Kenshin has managed to help Kaoru keep the dojo in spite of efforts from various unscrupulous individuals and he has become somewhat romantically entangled with the dojo’s owner; Kaoru. Sometimes though his presence at the school can cause problems, for much as a revered gunfighter in the Wild West always has someone trying to prove he is better so does Kenshin find himself either confronted by those who want to prove their superiority in the art of kenjutsu or are else old enemies from his days as a hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi.
After visiting another dojo with Kaoru Kenshin finds himself inadvertently drawn into a conformation with the mysterious Isurugi Raijuta, the leader of Shinko-Ryu, a movement that is seeking to tear down modern Japanese swordsmanship and bring about a revival of traditional kenjutsu styles and techniques. He invites Kenshin to join Shinko-Ryu but Kenshin politely declines, naturally Raijuta isn’t too pleased about this development and sets in a motion a plan to bring down Kenshin and prove his own sword styles superiority over that espoused by Kenshin and the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo. Obviously Raijuta may be an expert when it comes to studying various treatises on sword fighting styles and techniques but he has no idea what he is getting into by provoking Kenshin, something that Kenshin’s friend Sanosuke is only too happy to point out to the glowering Raijuta.
From clashes between rival exponents of sword fighting techniques the drama moves onto one focused on the fight merchant and former member of the Sekiho Army Sagara Sanosuke. For those not up on their Meiji era history or Japanese history for that matter the Sekiho Army was a military force comprised of commoners loyal to the Emperor who in the course of their campaigns during the revolution instituted certain land reforms and wealth distribution members that weren’t approved by various power brokers close within Ishin Shishi faction. As a result the leadership of the Sekiho Army were executed and branded as traitors as were the survivors of the army, Sanosuke wears a jacket that has emblazoned on its back the symbol for evil, a sign that he was once part of the so called ‘false’ revolutionary army.
In the years since the army disbanding and the death of Captain Sagara, a man Sanosuke idolised as a cadet in that force the former fight merchant and revolutionary has come to terms with the way things are and the current regime that holds power, at least on the surface that is how it seems. A chance request by the owner of a local eatery that he frequents though changes all this. Asked by Tae, the restaurants owner, to pick up two nishiki paintings by a popular local artist Tsukioka Tsunan, Sanosuke is happy to oblige heedless of where this seemingly simple request will eventually lead him. He goes to the stall where the paintings are sold and discovers that he knows the man who paints these pictures, especially after seeing a portrait of Captain Sagara. Tsukioka Tsunan is none other than Tsukioka Katsuhiro, a cadet like himself in the Sekiho Army. Thus the second part of this volume is a reunion tale as well as one of attempting to rectify the mistakes of the past by doing something in the now.
The volume is rounded out with the first story that Nobuhiro Watsuki ever had published, ‘Crescent Moon in the Warring States’, a tale of love, courage and truly amazing sword fighting set in the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States) period of Japanese history. Interestingly when he first worked on this particular piece it was not intended to be set in Japan but instead a European style fantasy milieu but looking around he eventually decided to change that aspect and go with something set in early Japanese history. All in all Rurouni Kenshin Volume 6 is great reading and it doesn’t disappoint. Apparently like many other examples of manga it has been made into a hit anime series although I have yet to cast the Lanterns eternal emerald gaze on the Rurouni Kenshin anime…but who knows maybe some time in the future I may get around to catching it…
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: AU $14.95
It was a bit of a surprise to be wandering the stacks of my local library after doing some surfing and discovering this particular volume of Rurouni Kenshin sitting there almost as if it was waiting for me like a faithful dog awaiting the return of his owner from a long journey a field. Naturally there was no hesitation, I swiftly plucked it from its place on the shelf and borrowed it, and strangely it was the only decent thing I had managed to find on the shelves that day as I’d wandered around in the library. It was a good bit of fortune, as there have been times when my efforts to find some good reading material have yielded naught.
Kenshin in his wanderings has become affiliated with the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo that was founded by the father of Kamiya Kaoru, the lady who currently runs the dojo and also instructs students in the particular style unique to the school. Kenshin has managed to help Kaoru keep the dojo in spite of efforts from various unscrupulous individuals and he has become somewhat romantically entangled with the dojo’s owner; Kaoru. Sometimes though his presence at the school can cause problems, for much as a revered gunfighter in the Wild West always has someone trying to prove he is better so does Kenshin find himself either confronted by those who want to prove their superiority in the art of kenjutsu or are else old enemies from his days as a hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi.
After visiting another dojo with Kaoru Kenshin finds himself inadvertently drawn into a conformation with the mysterious Isurugi Raijuta, the leader of Shinko-Ryu, a movement that is seeking to tear down modern Japanese swordsmanship and bring about a revival of traditional kenjutsu styles and techniques. He invites Kenshin to join Shinko-Ryu but Kenshin politely declines, naturally Raijuta isn’t too pleased about this development and sets in a motion a plan to bring down Kenshin and prove his own sword styles superiority over that espoused by Kenshin and the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo. Obviously Raijuta may be an expert when it comes to studying various treatises on sword fighting styles and techniques but he has no idea what he is getting into by provoking Kenshin, something that Kenshin’s friend Sanosuke is only too happy to point out to the glowering Raijuta.
From clashes between rival exponents of sword fighting techniques the drama moves onto one focused on the fight merchant and former member of the Sekiho Army Sagara Sanosuke. For those not up on their Meiji era history or Japanese history for that matter the Sekiho Army was a military force comprised of commoners loyal to the Emperor who in the course of their campaigns during the revolution instituted certain land reforms and wealth distribution members that weren’t approved by various power brokers close within Ishin Shishi faction. As a result the leadership of the Sekiho Army were executed and branded as traitors as were the survivors of the army, Sanosuke wears a jacket that has emblazoned on its back the symbol for evil, a sign that he was once part of the so called ‘false’ revolutionary army.
In the years since the army disbanding and the death of Captain Sagara, a man Sanosuke idolised as a cadet in that force the former fight merchant and revolutionary has come to terms with the way things are and the current regime that holds power, at least on the surface that is how it seems. A chance request by the owner of a local eatery that he frequents though changes all this. Asked by Tae, the restaurants owner, to pick up two nishiki paintings by a popular local artist Tsukioka Tsunan, Sanosuke is happy to oblige heedless of where this seemingly simple request will eventually lead him. He goes to the stall where the paintings are sold and discovers that he knows the man who paints these pictures, especially after seeing a portrait of Captain Sagara. Tsukioka Tsunan is none other than Tsukioka Katsuhiro, a cadet like himself in the Sekiho Army. Thus the second part of this volume is a reunion tale as well as one of attempting to rectify the mistakes of the past by doing something in the now.
The volume is rounded out with the first story that Nobuhiro Watsuki ever had published, ‘Crescent Moon in the Warring States’, a tale of love, courage and truly amazing sword fighting set in the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States) period of Japanese history. Interestingly when he first worked on this particular piece it was not intended to be set in Japan but instead a European style fantasy milieu but looking around he eventually decided to change that aspect and go with something set in early Japanese history. All in all Rurouni Kenshin Volume 6 is great reading and it doesn’t disappoint. Apparently like many other examples of manga it has been made into a hit anime series although I have yet to cast the Lanterns eternal emerald gaze on the Rurouni Kenshin anime…but who knows maybe some time in the future I may get around to catching it…
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