Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Rōmantan?) ,[1] also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, from the Bakumatsu who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan. Watsuki wrote this series upon his desire of making a shōnen manga different from the other ones that were published in that time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it continued.

The manga initially appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from April 11, 1994, to November 4, 1999. The complete work consists of 28 tankōbon 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 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 also a sequel of the manga. Writer Kaoru Shizuka has authored three official Rurouni Kenshin light novels which were published by Shueisha. Several video games have also been released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable consoles.

The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases. The TV series later licensed in North America and released on DVD by Media Blasters. The first two seasons aired on the United States Cartoon Network as a part of the Toonami Block, while the third season was only featured in DVD. The English-language versions of the OVAs as well as the film were originally released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases. The first light novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada. None of the video games of the series have been released in North America.

The series has been highly popular in Japan, the United States, Brazil and Europe. The manga has sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007 while the anime has ranked among the 100 most watched series in Japan multiple times. The series has received praise and criticism from various publications for anime, manga and other media, with both having received good response on the characters' designs and the historical setting.

Plot
Rurouni Kenshin takes place during the early Meiji era in Japan, telling the story of a wanderer named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the assassin "Hitokiri Battōsai". After participating in the Bakumatsu war, Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. 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 Battōsai from the swordsmanship school that she teaches. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real Battōsai, 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 Sekihō Army member; Myōjin Yahiko, an orphan from a samurai family; and a doctor named Takani Megumi. However, he also deals with his fair share of enemies, new and old, including the former leader from the Oniwabanshū, Shinomori Aoshi and his rival from the Bakumatsu Saitō 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 Oniwabanshū named Makimachi Misao, decide to help him in his fight. He decides to accept their help and defeats Shishio in a fight, who dies in the process due to the rise in body temperature caused by his burns. The anime adapts the manga until this part, later featuring new story arcs which were not featured in the manga.[2]

When Kenshin and his friends return to Tokyo, Kenshin finds Yukishiro Enishi, who plans to take revenge by killing his friends. At this point it is revealed that, during the Bakumatsu, Kenshin used to be married to a woman called Yukishiro Tomoe, who initially wanted to avenge the death of her fiancé, whom Kenshin had killed, but instead 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 in 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 tortured figure 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.

The OVA Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection is a non-canon sequel set years after the end of the manga. It follows Kenshin after he leaves Kaoru and their son Kenji. As the First Sino-Japanese War ends, Kenshin is suffering from an unknown disease which is weakens his body and destroys his mind. Sanosuke finds Kenshin and sends him to Kaoru, where he dies in her arms. Although Nobuhiro Watsuki had checked the script from the OVA, he gave it disapproval due to its sad ending.[3]

Protagonists
Himura Kenshin is the titular "Rurouni" (wanderer) and main character of the series. He is twenty-eight years old and is formerly known as the Hitokiri Battōsai[note 2], a deadly man-slayer who slaughtered many men in the war before the Meiji era. Kenshin's fighting style is Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, now an ancient study. With this dangerous sword style, he uses his Sakabatō (a sword with a reversed edge) to restrain himself from killing anyone ever again, and renounces the title Hitokiri. He later meets Kaoru and develops feelings for her. Himura Kenshin accidentally killed the woman he was married to (Yukishiro Tomoe) when she suddenly stepped in between Kenshin and his opponent, hoping to save Kenshin's life. The knife that Tomoe was wielding falls from her grasp when she is wounded and it cuts Kenshin's left cheek, finishing the familiar cross-shaped scar. In the OVA, as Tomoe lay dying in Kenshin's arms, she purposefully makes the cut across the initial one. Either way, this is seen as poetic since the first cut Kenshin received on his cheek was from Tomoe's first fiance when he died as Kenshin was carrying out one of his assassination assignments. Kenshin only found out much later that Tomoe was engaged to another and that he was the one who killed him.

Kamiya Kaoru is a seventeen-year-old dojo instructor and the first main character Kenshin meets. Kaoru teaches the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, a sword style used to protect people, and not harm them. After Kenshin defendins Kaoru from the fake Battōsai and his allies, Kaoru invites him to live at the dojo. Kaoru quickly develops a crush on Kenshin, and soon falls in love with him, although she tends to violently deny it. She recognizes that Kenshin, despite his violent past, is a gentle soul who only wants peace by atoning for the lives he stole during the revolution. Although personality-wise she is very different than Yukishiro Tomoe, Kenshin's first love, (i.e. Kaoru is loud, brash, insecure, and cannot cook anything tasty), Kenshin sees that she is selfless, compassionate, and caring of others almost to a fault. Her understanding of his nature and wanting to help him find the peace he so desires draws him to her. In the manga, he is able to find atonement (and Tomoe's smile) by protecting Kaoru's happiness as well as his new friends. At the end of the series, Kaoru and Kenshin get married and have a son!

Sagara Sanosuke is a nineteen years old street fighter who befriends Kenshin early in the series. As a youth, Sanosuke ran away from home to join the Sekiho Army, a group of farmers and merchants who fought for the Ishin Shishi during the Meiji Revolution. When the Sekiho were betrayed and executed by the other revolutionaries, Sanosuke escaped and became a fighter-for-hire. He is hired to attack Kenshin, a former Ishin Shishi, but when Sanosuke is defeated he becomes Kenshin's best friend and fighting partner. Sanosuke enjoys gambling, fighting and has a running tab at the Akobeko, the beef-pot restaurant where he first meets Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko. His love interest is Takani Megumi.

Myōjin Yahiko is a young boy at ten years old and the son of a samurai. When he was younger, both of his parents died, and he was taken in by the Yakuza, who forced him to live as a pickpocket. Once he meets up with Kenshin and Kaoru, he decides to stand up to the Yakuza, and escapes with Kenshin's help. He joins Kaoru's dojo to become a stronger swordsman, becoming the first graduate of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. Over the course of the series, he becomes a strong warrior. He hates being treated like a child.

Takani Megumi was originally forced to make opium for an industrialist. With Kenshin and Sanosuke's support and encouragement, she becomes a doctor to atone for her past misdeeds. She enjoys flirting with Kenshin (much to his chagrin) to make Kaoru jealous, but helps Kaoru come to terms with her feelings towards Kenshin. She is nicknamed "fox lady" by Sanosuke, whom she appears to develop feelings for over the course of the series. She is loyal to her friends and is always there to patch them up, especially Sanosuke, whom she often cautions about fighting. She is from the Aizu region, now Fukushima Prefecture.[4]

Makimachi Misao is a kunoichi (female ninja) who was raised by the Oniwabanshū. She idolizes Shinomori Aoshi.

Saitō Hajime, based on the real-life personage of the same name, was the leader of the 3rd Squad of the Shinsengumi during the Revolution. He has a long-standing rivalry with Kenshin and firmly believes in "Swift Death to Evil."

Shinomori Aoshi, the leader of the Oniwabanshū, is a skilled swordsman who is highly respected by his comrades. His goal for much of the series is to claim the title of "the strongest" for the pride of the Oniwabanshū.

Antagonists
In the manga 45 year-old Hiruma Kihei (比留間 喜兵衛 Hiruma Kihee?) and 37 year-old Hiruma Gohei (比留間 伍兵衛 Hiruma Gohee?), also known as the Hiruma Brothers (比留間 兄弟 Hiruma Kyōdai?) , scheme to take Kaoru's dojo. After Kaoru's father died, Kihei collapsed in front of the dojo and Kaoru took him in; Kihei became a kind of a live-in apprentice and gained Kaoru's trust, but kept trying to persuade her to sell the dojo due to him not believing in women with swords. Gohei, a former samurai who is 6 shaku and 5 sun tall (1.95 meters, over 6 feet),[5] became a murderer and falsely used the name "Hitokiri Battōsai" while Kihei did housework for Kaoru to gain her trust. They used the Kiheikan (鬼兵館?), a former dojo in a neighboring town that became a gathering spot for gamblers and rogues, as their base of operations. When Kaoru begins to discover the truth, Kihei moves to seize the dojo and reveal himself and his brother as accomplices. When Kaoru struggles, they attempt to kill Kaoru, but Kenshin saves her life by defeating Gohei and scaring Kihei into unconsciousness. The brothers later ask Sanosuke to fight Kenshin and promise to pay him. Kenshin defeats Sanosuke; when Kihei tries to use his gun to attack Kenshin, Kenshin stops the bullet dead on the crossguard of his sakabatō. When the brothers try to attack Kaoru and Yahiko, Sanosuke defeats Gohei and Kenshin injures Kihei into submission. Later in the series, they are employed as bodyguards by Fudōsawa, a yakuza in Sanosuke's hometown, and then by Tani, Fudōsawa's uncle. Sanosuke beats them up on both occasions. In the anime, Gohei exists while Kihei does not. Gohei was a student at the Kamiya dojo, but when Gohei insisted using swords for killing and then unsuccessfully attacked the master of the dojo, Kaoru's father, he received a broken thumb and an expulsion. In the story Gohei tries to take over the Kamiya dojo, but Kenshin prevents him from doing so. Gohei hires Sanosuke to defeat Kenshin, but this fails. Later, he hires the Kisaki brothers to defeat Kenshin. Though they almost succeed, Yahiko returns Kenshin's Sakabatō, the brothers are defeated, and Yahiko sends Gohei limping away after kicking him in the genitals. Watsuki described the creation of the brothers as a "direct function of the story." Watsuki wanted "interesting villains to start things off with a bang." He wanted one as "brainy" and one as "wild." He decided that the story involving the two coming together was taking "too many" pages, so he made the duo as brothers instead of being "circumstantially related." He used a manager and director of Takeshi Obata's Chikarabito Densetsu ("Legends of the Strong") as a model for Kihei. Watsuki used a character he found in a magazine that he thought "Ooh, impact!" for Gohei. Watsuki states that, unlike the faces of Kenshin and other characters, the faces of Kihei and Gohei are of basic shapes. In Watsuki's view, drawing the Hiruma brothers was "easy" as a result; Watsuki says that he drew the brothers in two minutes. He says that he became fonder of the brothers as his deadlines approached.[6]

Udō Jin-e (鵜堂 刃衛 Udō Jin'e?) (in Western order, Jinei Udoh), also known as Kurogasa (黒笠?, Black Hat), was a hitokiri during the Revolution, and there is evidence he continued killing people well after the end of the Revolution. A master of the Nikaidō Heihō technique (the forced character "Hei" is formed with the kanji for one, two, and eight[7] ), attacked high-ranking Imperialist officials of the Meiji government (leading some to believe he fought for the Tokugawa shogunate during the war, since he did state that he was a member of the Shinsengumi, though his thirst for blood led him to killing members of his own squad), killing anyone who stood in his way. He appears as a man dressed in a long scarf, straw hat, and long kimono, and has a unique isukumi (paralyzing terror) technique to project chi toward people, hypnotizing them with his eyes (known as the Shin no Ippō or "One Side of the Soul"). It can also be used to strengthen himself. Kurogasa is obsessed with defeating the famous Hitokiri Battōsai (Himura Kenshin) when he meets him during Kurogasa's attempted assassination of Tani Jūsanrō, a government official. He leaves, stating that if Kenshin cannot fight him to his fullest potential, he does not want to fight him at all. Kurogasa kidnaps Kamiya Kaoru the next day, in an effort to force Kenshin to once again become a hitokiri. Kenshin follows Kurogasa's trail to the forest, where the two duel once again. Despite Kaoru's life being in danger, Kenshin still does not fight with the intent to kill, and Kurogasa overwhelms him. Not wanting to settle for Kenshin holding back Kurogasa paralyzes Kaoru's lungs using his Shin no Ippō, therefore making her unable to breathe. The two resume the battle, and Kenshin becomes angry enough to turn into Hitokiri Battōsai as Kurogasa looks on gleefully. Kenshin hits Kurogasa's right arm with the sheath of his sword, crushing Kurogasa's elbow and severing Kurogasa's ligaments;[8] therefore Kurogasa can no longer wield a sword with his right arm. Kenshin is about to kill Kurogasa when Kaoru breaks Kurogasa's spell with her will; she yells "No!," releasing Kenshin from the Battōsai spell. Kenshin then frees Kaoru, while Kurogasa picks up his wakizashi with his left hand, and stabs himself in the heart. Jin-e mortally wounded himself so the police would not discover the fact that Shibumi employed him. Watsuki intended for the motif of Jin-e to be Okada Izō, the top hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. Watsuki felt that the design looks less like his counterpart than Kenshin looks like his counterpart. Jin-e's outfit originates from that of Serizawa Kamo, the main character from a Shinsengumi comic released around 14–15 years before the release of Rurouni Kenshin Volume 2 in Japan. Jin-e's laugh, the "uhu-hu-hu," is from the character Ukon in the series "Kenka-ya Ukon." (Fight Merchant Ukon, JA). Watsuki says that he designed Jin-e, a satsujin-ki ("murderous ogre"), to be the "polar opposite of Kenshin." Watsuki describes Jin-e as a "complicated fellow" who is "crazy-crazy" and not merely "crazy-acting." Watsuki struggled with the concepts for ending the Jin-e storyline before committing to the "tearful" suicide ending. Watsuki summarizes Jin-e as, in a sense, the only character to defeat Kenshin even though he did not defeat the Battōsai.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10">[9] The third volume of the drama CDs adapted the stories with Jin-e. In Volume 5 of the manga Watsuki stated that for Jin-e he wanted a voice actor with a "mature and cool voice" and therefore he did not want an actor who had a "high voice."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11">[10]

A cunning money-minded industrialist, Takeda Kanryū (武田 観柳<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) starts an opium dealing business in Tokyo and forces Takani Megumi to make the drug after the death of his previous opium maker. The opium is a stronger, faster-working recipe called "Spider's Web." The purpose of his opium business is to generate enough profits to bring in modern Westernized weapons such as the Gatling gun and become an arms dealer. He hires his own private army in Tokyo, as well as the infamous Oniwabanshū. He thinks he has the Oniwabanshū under his thumb but when Himura Kenshin shows up at his mansion to save Megumi, he finds that he is mistaken. He resorts to using his Gatling gun to kill all his enemies in the mansion. He manages to kill the four Oniwabanshū as they protect their leader Shinomori Aoshi with a suicide charge. In the manga Kanryū uses all of his bullets killing the four members, and Kenshin defeats him. As Kanryū is arrested, he tries to get the police to arrest Megumi, but Kenshin tells the police that Kanryū had forced Megumi, so the police leave her alone as Kanryū is taken away. In the anime, the feeding ramp of his gun is jammed with a dart, after which Kenshin renders him unconscious to be arrested by the police. Watsuki modeled Takeda Kanryū after Takeda Kanryūsai, the captain of the Shinsengumi's Fifth Unit. Watsuki says that there is no model in terms of design; he describes Takeda Kanryū as a "carryover" of Nishiwaki, a character in the second standalone Rurouni Kenshin story. Kanryū wears white since Watsuki felt that "between Kenshin and Aoshi, there was too much black already." Watsuki felt that, since he put so much emphasis on Megumi and the Oniwabanshū, Kanryū never "became the character" Watsuki intended, which for Watsuki "was a bit of a letdown." The historical Takeda Kanryūsai was known as a homosexual; Watsuki considered making Kanryū a homosexual, but dropped the idea as Watsuki felt it would "unnecessarily complicate things." He wondered how the story would have proceeded if Kanryū was a homosexual.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12">[11]

Isurugi Raijūta (石動 雷十太<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) 's personality and motives differ in the manga and anime. In the manga he is dissatisfied with the current state of swordsmanship in Japan and plans to revive the old style of swordsmanship (satsujin-ken, "swords that bring death" or "murderous sword technique") with the Shinko-ryū (真古流<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) by traveling around Japan and shutting down shinai dojos by force, gathering the strongest swordsmen he has met along the way. His Shinko-ryū is not a formal sword school but a league of swordsmen. He uses the Tsukayama family's money to fund his campaign. In the anime he aspires to form a "kingdom" of Japanese swordsmen with a rebel group of samurai, starting at the Tsukayama home in Izu Province by using his apprentice's admiration of the swordsman to his own advantage. Although Raijūta appears to be a tough fighter, proficient in the Shinko-ryū style, the Izuna techniques (a vacuum cut of unparalleled sharpness) are all show and no true power. Although the Izuna severed the nerves in Yutarō's right arm, it only managed to scratch Kenshin's, causing Raijūta to celebrate with glee as he thought he had the upper hand. In the manga, Kenshin figures out that despite all his talk of the killing sword, Raijūta has never killed anyone himself and is in fact a total fraud. Kenshin later defeats him with a battōjutsu technique from outside Raijūta's zone (shortly after he stated he could not be struck). Shortly after, Raijūta picks up Yahiko and threatens to kill him. Yahiko tells Raijūta to kill him, and when Raijūta is finally confronted with the choice of killing Yahiko, he cannot because Kenshin explains what the killing sword truly entails. This, in effect, destroys his confidence as a swordsman, and as a result he is never able to pick up a sword again. In the anime, Raijūta had been shown to have murdered the people that he hired to fake a kidnapping of Yutaro. Raijūta was originally based on a character in an American comic book. As the story progressed, Watsuki said that Raijūta's appearance and personality "deteriorated." Watsuki intended for Raijūta to be "intelligently macho and a believer of satsujin-ken." Instead Raijūta became "a total fake" who became "a smaller and smaller man" as the story progressed, until he was "defeated by a single blow—ending almost as a villain." Watsuki wondered how Raijūta "sunk so low." Watsuki concluded that designing and developing Raijūta taught him "quite a bit." Watsuki wanted to give Raijūta "peace" in future stories, but added "then again...this guy—! Sigh." Watsuki experienced difficulty in trying to manage "the complicated details" of the Oniwabanshū story arc, so he gave Raijūta a relatively simple design. Watsuki used one design flourish and black feathers. Watsuki then experienced difficulty in drawing the feathers. Watsuki concluded that the development of Raijūta taught him about character design and that he feels enjoyment in drawing "macho" characters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[12]

Akamatsu Arundo (赤末 有人<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a mercenary of Shibumi, a corrupt politician. Arundo feels jealous that Shibumi told Saitō Hajime to kill Kenshin, but Saitō tells Arundo that Arundo could kill Kenshin and take credit for Kenshin's death. Arundo ambushes Kenshin and tries to use a chain to immobilize Kenshin. Kenshin ultimately defeats Arundo. Arundo discovers that Saitō is actually allied with Ōkubo Toshimichi. When Arundo, fearing for his safety, decides to cut ties with Shibumi and go out of the country, Saitō appears and decapitates Arundo with a strike from his sword; he kills Shibumi shortly afterward. Watsuki stated "this character's only here to get beat up." As Arundo appears to aid story development, Watsuki made Arundo arrogant (Watsuki's favorite personality trait for villains) and added no other personality traits. Watsuki believes that he was unable to make Arundo's chain-scythe to appear like real chains. His design originates from a superhuman soldier in an American comic book who has a name similar to Arundo's,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[13] that being X-Men's Russian supervillain Omega Red (赤 aka relating to "red", and 末 matsu corresponding to "end", equivalent to "Omega", which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet - also related to the Christian concept of Alpha and Omega); Arundo's use of chains also parallels Omega Red's carbonadium tentacles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[14]

Shishio's faction
Shishio Makoto is the primary antagonist of the "Kyoto arc" in the manga (volumes 7-17) and the second season of the anime. Like Kenshin, Shishio was an assassin during the Revolution. He aspires to conquer all Japan by re-creating the chaos of the Revolution. In the anime he was known as the successor of the legendary Battōsai.

Komagata Yumi (駒形 由美<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is an oiran, a courtesan in Yoshiwara, formerly an akasen. Because of that, she is beautiful, intelligent, dignified, well-cultured, and was brought up in a comfortable life. She was always interested in social issues and occurrences in Japan, and became reviled at the Japanese government's stance regarding prostitutes. She came to love Shishio Makoto with an utmost passion, which he returned. Thus, she joined Shishio's conspiracy to bring down the Meiji government. She is constantly concerned about Shishio's medical state. Yumi dies trying to protect Shishio when his body becomes overheated in his fight with Kenshin. After she hurls herself in between Kenshin and Shishio and convinces the former to spare the latter, Shishio runs her through with his sword, mortally injuring her in the process and wounding Kenshin as well. Knowing that she has finally been of use to Shishio in his most important battle, she dies happy and released of her former frustration for not being able to fight next to him. She appears with Shishio and Hōji in hell. Watsuki originally designed Yumi to be a "sexy" accessory for Shishio, as the Rurouni Kenshin author figured that a villain should have a "temptress" around him; Watsuki had not intended to develop Yumi into a character motivated by love. Watsuki had no particular personality model for Yumi. Yumi is a version of Ogin, a character played by the actress Kaoru Yumi in Mitokōmon Gaiden: Kagerō Ninpō-Chō, a spinoff series of Mitokōmon. Watsuki had no specific design model; he designed Yumi "on the spot" with the intention of her to "be sexy." Halfway through the development of Yumi throughout the story, Watsuki became a fan of Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers (Vampire Hunter) and as a result Watsuki began to expose more of Yumi's cleavage and shoulders, "eventually increasing the sexiness by about 120%."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-YumiProfile_16-0">[15] In the end Watsuki intended for Yumi to find happiness in following Shishio everywhere; Yumi's motivation for sacrificing herself is not receiving death, but being with Shishio. Watsuki said that the concept of Yumi going with Shishio to hell "struck" him. Watsuki reported that he received response letters for Yumi's sacrifice, including some praising the development and others criticizing it. Watsuki stated that some people who tried to cosplay as Yumi found difficulty in "keeping the top up."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-YumiProfile_16-1">[15] Watsuki stated that drawing Yumi taught him that he could have fun with drawing female characters not just by making them appear "cute," but also making them "seductive, or even evil." Watsuki added that, since Yumi had a "sexed-up body," botching "even one line" could make the character appear "downright indecent." Watsuki stated that Yumi taught him the importance of "skillful sketching."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-YumiProfile_16-2">[15] The Abukuma Priests (阿武隈四入道 Abukuma Yonnyūdō<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, "Four Abukuma Priests") are followers of Shishio. When they see Shinomori Aoshi, they ask Aoshi to come with them to see Shishio. Aoshi refuses and the Abukuma priests attack Aoshi since they believe Aoshi had disrespected Shishio. Aoshi kills all four priests; Seta Sōjirō approaches Aoshi and tells him that Shishio created the setup to test Aoshi's strength.

Senkaku (尖角<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a minion of Shishio Makoto who oppresses Shingetsu Village. Senkaku killed Mishima Ei'ichirō and Ei'ichirō's parents after he discovered that Ei'ichirō was spying for the Meiji Government. He claims to have killed 99 people. Senkaku fights with a pair of knuckle blades and has high speed, contrary to his size. However, this proves to be his undoing, as Kenshin defeats Senkaku in a battle by using the gigantic size as a way to stress out Senkaku's limits, causing his leg to break. In the manga the police take Senkaku away, in which Saitō notes he would most likely be executed. In the anime he manages to escape and is killed by Seta Sōjirō. Originally Senkaku was one of the "Ten Swords" and so Watsuki put a lot of effort into his creation. Since Shishio and Sōjirō were present and Kenshin needed to go to Kyoto, Watsuki decided to make Senkaku a "violent village despot." Originally Watsuki had Senkaku as an experimental character who could only say "Gaaaah" or "Guaaah" and not form any words. An editor commented that Senkaku "is not a wild animal" during a meeting, so Watsuki scrapped this idea. Senkaku had no model for his personality, and after the scrapping of the inarticulation trait Senkaku became "pretty much just muscle-head small fry." The origin of Senkaku's design stems from the design of the four Abukuma priests, a group of minor antagonists. Watsuki felt no attachment towards the priest characters, but he had some interest in discovering how well he could draw the different bald heads, and one of those was cone-shaped. He felt the cone-shape design was "a waste for an unimportant character," so he instead used that design for Senkaku, who to Watsuki turned out to be "unimportant" anyways. In retrospect Watsuki felt that he may have been influenced by the Coneheads, characters in a Sega Saturn commercial, and the Giant Soldier in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. When Watsuki wrote the creation profile of Senkaku in Volume 8 of Rurouni Kenshin, he still felt regret about the development of Senkaku; what he regretted most was how he was unable to use Senkaku's hissatsu-wata special technique "Piercing Head-Butt" in the storyline. In Watsuki's group of friends, Senkaku was referred to as "Sexy Dynamite," and Watsuki added that they said "especially in the groin area."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17">[16] The Ten Swords (Juppongatana (十本刀<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) ) is an elite group of swordsmen (mostly) that acts as a special attack force. They fight under Shishio Makoto against the Meiji government. Watsuki said that several of his assistants suggested ideas for the Ten Swords and that many of the characters grew out of those ideas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Usui_18-0">[17] In Watsuki's original concept, with the exception of Sōjirō none of the Ten Swords were intended to be "lookers." Watsuki added Kamatari and Fuji at a later point.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Henyaprofile_19-0">[18] When Watsuki believed that one member of the Ten Swords, Saizuchi, had not been used to his full potential, in retrospect Watsuki wondered if having six or seven members of the organization would have been sufficient instead of ten.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Saizuchimodel_20-0">[19] Seta Sōjirō is a teenage boy who is Shishio's right-hand man. He is noted in the series for always smiling, and apparently displaying no emotions in battle. He met Shishio when he was a small boy. After his parents died in the war, he stayed with his abusive relatives that treated him as a slave. He witnessed Shishio killing police men, after carrying large amounts rice packages back and forth, Shishio was about to kill him but didn't because of his habit to smile when he is in danger. Shishio orders him to keep him in a safe house and to provide for him. Days pass and Sōjirō tended to him and explained his situation with his relatives. Shishio then explained his creed of survival of the fittest and gives him his sword. When Sōjirō is blamed for wasting rice his older relatives try to kill him thinking that they can pin it on Shishio. In the end, Sōjirō kills his relatives and goes of with Shishio to become his protege.

Uonuma Usui (魚沼 宇水<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), the "Blind Sword," used to be a swordsman working for the shogunate government. However, in a fight against Shishio Makoto, he was blinded and eventually left to die. He possesses the Shingan (心眼 mind's eye<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), which actually is superhuman hearing that lets him hear another's heartbeat thus enabling him to sense people around him and detect the emotions of others. This ability is so advanced that it appears to be similar to the sonar of a dolphin or bat. Usui speculates that it was coming close to death and returning to life that is the origin of this ability. Usui and Shishio made a deal upon Usui joining the Ten Swords (Juppongatana): That Usui could try to kill Shishio anytime he gets the chance. Saitō points out that deep down Usui knows he will not be able to kill Shishio (because Shishio came closer to death than Usui and developed an even greater power than the Shingan) and just boasts about killing him to hide that fact from everyone else. Saitō also points out that Shishio knows this too and is just playing along to use Usui. Since Usui cannot kill Shishio, he kills people weaker than himself to boost his ego. According to Chō, he is the second strongest of the Ten Swords. Usui, a native of the Ryukyu Islands, fights using a short spear with a weighted end - the rochin - to attack, and a tortoise shell - the tinbei - as a shield to deflect attacks and block the enemy's vision. He dies during a fight with Saitō. In the anime, he dies when Saitō uses the Gatotsu Zeroshiki (which Saitō originally reserved for Kenshin) and gets impaled above the door behind him. In the manga, he dies in a similar manner but instead, the force of the blow severs his upper body which is impaled above the door. Usui originated from a chat Watsuki had with one of his assistants. The assistant proposed that Watsuki include a blind swordsman. Originally Watsuki was not interested in the idea, but after Watsuki and the assistant discussed "Shingan," the ability to read emotions of people by listening to their heartbeats and pulses, Watsuki decided to go forward with the idea. Watsuki originally planned to have Usui fight Kenshin while chasing him in the city in a similar manner to the Terminator; the plot went in a different direction, so instead Usui faced against and died at the hands of Saitō at Shishio's place. Watsuki said that he regretted creating Usui, like he regretted creating Raijūta, but Usui became more popular than Raijūta was, so Watsuki concluded "that must also mean" Usui is "stronger." The model for Usui's design is Tao Pai Pai from Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama; Watsuki said that Tao Pai Pai made "a strong impression" as he was the first villain to defeat Son Goku, the main character of Dragon Ball. Watsuki said that many readers incorrectly guessed that Lau Chan from Virtua Fighter was Usui's design model. Watsuki originally planned to give Usui a "tribal" outfit, but after Watsuki saw the "spider-like angel" in Neon Genesis Evangelion, he decided to give Usui an "eyeball-covered costume." Watsuki originally planned to make Usui a "handsome, long-haired type," but when he saw a sketch of the concept, Watsuki believed that it looked too much like Ukyo Tachibana from Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits), so Watsuki created the final Usui; the author of Rurouni Kenshin decided that while the final Usui originated from several sources, he believed "it came out pretty well."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Usui_18-1">[17]

Yūkyūzan Anji (悠久山 安慈<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a warrior fallen-monk who fights alongside Shishio to destroy the Meiji government who did nothing to stop the anti-Buddhist purge which resulted in the destruction of his home and the deaths of the five orphaned children he cared for in his temple, who came from families who opposed the Meiji restoration and were wiped away during the war. Though he is a "fallen" monk he still maintains many of the Buddhist beliefs and now wishes to cleanse the world of those who are evil, driven by the goal of salvation, and is willing to side with evil to achieve this. Anji's title, "The Bright King" (Myō-ō),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[20] comes from Acala, one of the Five Wisdom Kings, who shatters delusion and is a protector of the faith; Anji believes this to be his purpose. In the English dub, his title was changed to "Anji the destroyer." Anji is the third strongest and most merciful of the Ten Swords and has made an agreement with Shishio that Anji shall decide whether someone lives or dies. Despite being ranked as third most powerful, Uonuma Usui seems to fear him to some extent, having declined from Anji's challenge after the fallen monk protected Makimachi Misao from the Blind Murderer. He does not use a blade directly in combat, instead utilizing Futae no Kiwami (Double Layer Limit or "Mastery of Two Layers") to strike the blade into the ground to attack from a distance, or more usually directly with his fists. Upon meeting Sagara Sanosuke in a forest, he teaches him his secret technique, without realizing Sanosuke is allied with Kenshin. Before teaching Sanosuke, Anji asks Sanosuke about his opinion on the Meiji government, to which Sanosuke answers that he hates the Meiji government. In Shishio's lair, Sanosuke battles Anji to a standstill, and then, despite Anji attacking with his final technique (using his secret move in combination with a short sword) gains the advantage by upgrading the power of the Double Layer Limit into a Triple Layer Limit (Sanjū no Kiwami). (He strikes with his knuckles and then his fist, in the usual way, but then with the tips of the fingers.) After hitting Anji with the Sanjū no Kiwami, Sanosuke convinces him that the life he has been living is not the one that the deceased children want for him like he believed. Anji stops in mid-attack and sees the spirits of children he used to take care of, sinking to his knees instead. After Shishio's death, he chooses to serve 25 years in prison in Hokkaidō. Watsuki developed Anji before publication of Rurouni Kenshin; Anji appears as an extra in the "Rurouni" short story. Watsuki experienced difficulty in determining what Anji's backstory would be and whether Anji would be a protagonist or an antagonist, so he did not use Anji until the stories published in Volume 9. When Watsuki determined that Sanosuke needed to become more powerful, he introduced Anji as being a counterpart to Sanosuke's fighting style, so Watsuki would give Sanosuke a strong opponent and increase Sanosuke's power. Watsuki used no model for Anji's personality; Watsuki pictures Anji as being similar to Shinsengumi lieutenant Shimada Kai (JA) due to the "manly air." Watsuki said that Anji is his second attempt at "manly intelligence," as the first, Isurugi Raijūta, "failed." Anji's visual model originates from the lead vocalist of a band called "Angie," which had disbanded by the time of the publication of Volume 9 in Japan; the name "Anji" originates from "Angie." Watsuki believes that the band's bandannas on shaved heads and the black makeup under the eyes gave an impression suggesting intelligence and appeared "cool," therefore Anji received these traits. Watsuki intended to give Anji a "power-fighter" design but instead used a "macho" design.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22">[21] Watsuki reported that some people told him that Anji looks like Colossus in the "Fatal Attraction" story of X-Men. Watsuki said that this was not an influence in Anji's design, since Anji was created one year before the Japanese publication of Rurouni Kenshin Volume 13, and that he read the Japanese version of "Fatal Attraction" afterwards.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Tsubakidesign_23-0">[22] Watsuki reported that reader response to Anji's story was mostly positive. Watsuki planned to give Anji more of a backstory, but he had to cut it down so it would not interrupt the flow of the fighting; Watsuki originally planned to have Anji's heart momentarily stop due to the "Mastery of Three Layers." Watsuki's assessment is that if one reads into the story deeply enough, one can see that Anji's "rampage" to the dark side was stopped, but by the end of Volume 13, after his defeat at the hands of Sanosuke, Anji's soul had not yet been "saved."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[23]

Sadojima Hōji (佐渡島 方治<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is Shishio's second in command. He used to be an official in the Meiji government but lost faith in it when he saw no one in the government worthy of controlling the country. He abandoned his position in the government and eventually met Shishio. Hōji, too, envisions Japan as a mighty power led by Shishio, ruling with the principles of basic animal survival. Hōji is indeed unique; although he is not proficient in any fighting style, he is a cunning organizer and possesses formidable leadership qualities. His skills as a staff officer figure are quite amazing; he even manages to purchase Rengoku (煉獄<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, Purgatory<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[24] ) —the gigantic ship—on the black market. Hōji's plan with the Rengoku fails when Sanosuke blows up the Purgatory with bombs provided by his friend Katsu. Hōji was 'baptized' by Shishio's intense body heat to kindle in him a belief in hell. Hōji strongly believes in Shishio's strength as he throws away a gun he had hidden after learning of Shishio's fifteen minute limit. He is in utter disbelief when Shishio is finally defeated by Kenshin and then attempts to destroy the complex in which the fight took place so that if Kenshin died, there would be no victor; thus Shishio would never have been beaten. As the complex collapses, Hōji was saved by Anji and Sōjirō. Anji convinces Hōji to surrender himself to the police, and Hōji agreed with the intent of using the criminal courts to project Shishio's ideals and plans. At the end of the Shishio arc, it was revealed that Hōji committed suicide in prison after government officials decided that his voice was too dangerous and refused to grant him a trial. After slitting his throat, he wrote a message on the wall with his own blood: "This world is dead to me now. I go to follow my master to hell."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[25] The message was directed at the Meiji government to convey Hōji's disgust with the regime and his loyalty to Shishio. He is last shown in Hell with Shishio and Yumi, vowing to follow Shishio when he declares that he will conquer Hell. Watsuki stated that much of the overall concept for Hōji originates from a character from X-Men whose name sounds similar to Hōji's name (likely Forge); Watsuki said that the X-Men character gave him a "hint" for the story and that Hōji's personality does "not so much" originate from the X-Men character. The X-Men character did not directly fight but instead invents machines to help his team members, so Watsuki wanted a character who held a support role in the Ten Swords. At first Hōji was an individual who was often surprised, but Watsuki decided that was would "get awfully dull." Watsuki that when he decided to make Hōji Shishio's second in command, then the character concept "struck chords in my heart." Watsuki stated that Hōji's character design is "100% original" to him and that the design is one which Watsuki is the most confident in; Watsuki reported that several people believed that the design originated from Giant Robo. Watsuki added that the one aspect he did not like about Hōji is the costume; Watsuki wanted to make it more "European style authentic" to the time period, but he could not find sufficient resources to make the costume in this manner. Watsuki said that Hōji becomes "a pretty cool guy" at the end of the Shishio arc.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[26]

Also known as "Sword Hunter," Sawagejō Chō (沢下条 張<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, IT) possesses quite a collection of rare and unusual swords, including, his favorite, a long flexible sword he keeps hidden around his waist named urumi, and double bladed sword known as a renbatō. He is only a mediocre opponent when not using the former (despite using a master sheathing technique), but he will still begin battles with regular swords, preferring to toy with his opponents. Only if they prove a true challenge will he reveal his full ability. A native of Osaka, Chō has a very calm and cool exterior, and normally keeps one eye closed when talking, and only opens both eyes when excited in the heat of battle. He speaks with a Kansai-ben accent. His fighting style is determined by the sword he uses, but he mainly uses the style Garyuorochi. The first is Orochi (Eight-Headed Hydra), in which Chō bounces his sword, an Urumi type blade, the Hakujin no Tachi (The Thin blade) on the ground in waves. He uses "Reverse Mid-Air Sheathing" (Sakasa Kuchu Nōtō) on Arai Seikū's son Iori, threatening to kill Iori to intimidate Seikū and Azusa, Seikū's wife, into revealing the location of the final sword of Shakkū; Azusa reveals that the sword was placed in a temple as a godsword. Chō took Iori with him and threatened Iori's life. Kenshin fought Chō with the broken sakabatō; after Seikū gives Kenshin the sword, Kenshin defeats Chō. After Shishio Makoto's death, Chō pays Kenshin and his friends a visit to inform them of what happened to members of the Ten Swords after Shishio's demise, then he goes on to work under Saitō Hajime as a spy and informant. Chō later appears in the anime when he tries to attack Amakusa but is soundly defeated. In the manga, he later appears in the Jinchū Arc to help uncover information about Enishi. Watsuki used no particular model for his personality; Watsuki said that if he had to say one, it would be the stereotyped depictions of people from the Kansai region. Watsuki stressed that Chō is not intended to represent the people from the Kansai region. An assistant from Kansai checked Chō's accent. Watsuki then had the accent "broken down" so that everyone from Japan can understand it, so therefore Chō's Kansai accent differs from the actual accent. Watsuki said that he created Chō's design when he was 20 years old; originally the design was to be used for a space alien. While Watsuki did not use the alien aspect, for him the "horse-headed monkey-face" was "hard to throw out completely," so he used it for Chō. Originally the character design had swept back black, "messy" hair. To give the character more impact as the first Ten Swords member chronicled, Watsuki added a "punk rock" quality to Chō. Watsuki reported that his assistants incorrectly guessed that Galford D. Weller of Samurai Shodown was the model for Chō's design, while readers incorrectly guessed that Benimaru Nikaido of King of Fighters was the model for Chō; Watsuki added "I guess that due to the punk rock hair it was understandable that readers thought of Benimaru".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ch.C5.8Dpage_28-0">[27] Despite being a villain, Chō was a popular character with Rurouni Kenshin readers; Watsuki said that characters with Kansai dialects are "always pretty popular." Watsuki said that he enjoyed drawing Chō and that it would be "a waste" to "finish off" Chō after the conclusion of the Iori story. Therefore Watsuki made Chō appear at later points, though he would be in "a bit more of a neutral position" since he felt it would be strange for Chō to "become friendly with Kenshin and the others." Watsuki added that most of the sketches sent by fans to him with Chō also had Iori in the pictures; Watsuki found this humorous and reported having "quite a laugh."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ch.C5.8Dpage_28-1">[27]

A crossdresser, Honjō Kamatari (本条 鎌足<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) appears like a woman to the degree that he throws Makimachi Misao off completely when Kamatari reveals that he is a man; in the manga, he lifts his kimono to reveal his penis,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[28] showing that he is biologically a man. He is homosexual and loves Shishio Makoto deeply, but knows that he will never be loved like Komagata Yumi nor will he ever become as talented as Seta Sōjirō, who serves as Shishio's right hand man.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[29] Kamatari uses a very heavy scythe-like weapon, a reaper, with a chain ball on the end of the weapon; this is called Ogama. Kaoru estimated that the weapon weighs at least 50 kan (30 kilograms or 78 pounds).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[30] He practices Honjō-ryū, his own style of martial arts with his scythe, and three of his special techniques are seen in the series, two of which are named after Benten, the only female of the Buddhist Seven Lucky Gods: Midare Benten (Disheveled Benten) is when the scythe is whipped over his head, and the chain forms a sphere, therefore creating both an offensive and defensive attack. Benten Mawashi (Unwrapping Benten) makes use of his broken scythe by twirling the blade and chain rapidly like the blade of a helicopter. Kaoru and Misao defeat Kamatari. Kamatari tries to commit suicide with a pin, but Misao hits him, preventing him from driving it into his neck.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[31] As Kamatari recovers from his injuries, Sawagejo Chō convinces Kamatari that Shishio wanted for Kamatari to live so that the world will know of the work done by Shishio's faction; Chō in fact made up the story so that Kamatari would not kill himself. Kamatari becomes a spy. The concept for Kamatari originated from a play on words from Eiichiro Oda, who was one of Watsuki's assistants at the time. In Japanese okama (お釜<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, おかま) is a slang word for a homosexual, while the word for a scythe is a kama (鎌<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). Watsuki used ideas from assistants to create the Ten Swords, and the word play lead to the creation of Kamatari. Watsuki said that at first the concept "just wasn't coming together." In the beginning some of his ideas were "male-appearing on the surface, but personality-wise, will be feminine," "A very erotic and seductive, womanly appearance from the outside, but a manly man on the inside," and "a big macho gay guy." The conflicting ideas for Watsuki became "a big tangle." A friend of Watsuki asked if Kamatari could be "just a 'pretty girl' type," leading to the solidification of the character. Watsuki planned for Kamatari to have a "light-hearted and cheerful" personality, but Watsuki found complications when "the more serious side" began to emerge, leading him to feel some regret with the outcome. Watsuki added that when he writes with the character in the future he would have to "keep his outlook sunny" while not compromising the "essential self." Watsuki used Yui Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion as the visual model for Kamatari's face; the author colored the hair black, exposed more of the forehead, and had the back of Kamatari's hair "flip out as I've seen so many high-schoolers do these days." Watsuki added that he then made "Watsuki-style adjustments" to make the design origins less obvious. Watsuki found that the triangular silhouette has influences from Hsien-Ko (Lei-Lei) in Darkstalkers (Vampire Hunter). The type blade that Kamatari uses exists in real life; Watsuki made Kamatari's blade larger to give it "a real super-impact look." In real life the type of blade is not intended to be used in the way that Kamatari uses it in Rurouni Kenshin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kamataripage_33-0">[32] Watsuki originally believed that Kamatari would be a "garden-variety character," but Kamatari took tenth place in a character popularity poll.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kamataripage_33-1">[32]

Kariwa Henya (刈羽 蝙也 Kariwa Hen'ya<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), known as Henya the Flighted, aids the attack on Aoi-Ya, the Kyoto secret headquarters of the Oniwabanshū, with four other Juppongatana members. His battle technique is called Hiku Happa, in which he uses dynamite to lift himself into flight and attack with from above. He can descend to attack the opponent with a blade on his arm and then blow himself back into the air. The power of flight is harnessed because Henya starves himself and is very emaciated; he is so light that the constant uplift from the explosions can easily keep him in the air, and synthetic bat wings allow him to control his movement. Yahiko defeats Henya by using a shōji door blown up by Henya's dynamite and then attacks from above. Later on, Henya is used as a government spy because of his aviation abilities. Henya's personality was modeled after Matsubayashi Hen'yasai, a swordsman in the Edo period, who possessed "avoidance techniques," which would be called acrobatics in the modern era. Watsuki originally planned to introduce Henya as a tengu during the Megumi arc; Watsuki said the arc was "not as well-planned as it otherwise might have been," so Watsuki could not introduce Henya at that point and instead made Henya into one of the Ten Swords. Originally Watsuki planned for Henya to engage in a mid-air battle with Kenshin, but Watsuki felt that Kenshin would be too strong since Kenshin had gained the secret Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū technique, so Kenshin made Yahiko the opponent of Henya; Watsuki reported that some readers believed that Yahiko was too strong of an opponent for Henya. For Henya's design Watsuki used the bat as a model; he added a streamline head and "a little bit" from Jet Link (Cyborg 002) of Cyborg 009. Watsuki intended for Henya to be "monster-like" since, originally none of the Ten Swords aside from Sōjirō were supposed to be "lookers." Watsuki reported that some people around him felt that Henya was "still too good-looking," so Watsuki made his body "super-emaciated." Watsuki said Freak of Spawn was also a reference for Henya.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Henyaprofile_19-1">[18]

Iwanbō (夷腕坊<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a fat oaf who uses his immense size, his strength, and his ability to entrap weapons in his flab. He is armed with small blades worn on his fingertips. He is very stupid, and, apart from taking part in the battle of Aoi-Ya as well as grinning like an utter idiot, he does not say anything, and he does not do anything. He was last seen on a cliff outside of Kyoto. Iwanbō's only weapons were the metal nails on the end of each of his fingers that could cause damage. It is also noted that Iwanbō's skin was thick enough to withstand attacks. As revealed in the Jinchū, or "Revenge" arc of the manga, Iwanbō is in reality a mechanical puppet, a primitive mech, controlled by Gein, the puppetmaster. Gein reappears in this arc as one of the six comrades in a more dangerous form of Iwanbō and plays a major role in Enishi's revenge.

Saizuchi (才槌<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a cunning small old man who manipulates Fuji and lays out the battle plans for him; his real name is not stated in the series. He believes that his old age makes him the one who is right since he has lived so long. Saizuchi's talents lie not in battle-abilities, but his proficient use of words: during the Ten Swords attack of Aoi-Ya, Saizuchi attempted to destroy the morale of the Oniwabanshū by giving a speech as to why it is impossible for them to defeat Fuji and himself. Saizuchi was knocked unconscious when Fuji's left arm fell on him, after Fuji was defeated by Hiko Seijūrō. Saizuchi later works for the Diplomacy Department in the government for sticky situations after Shishio's death. The overall model for Saizuchi is the evil elf who tricks the Jötunn (Frost Giant) in Norse mythology; Watsuki combined the concept with the "image of a giant-robot pilot." In addition Watsuki compared Saizuchi to Kushana in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, using Fuji and the Gold-Soldier in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as a comparison. Originally Watsuki planned for Okina to fight Saizuchi, but he cut the concept because he wanted to maintain the balance of the story and because his "inner story-editor" asked him if anyone would really like to see "two old codgers" fight each other. The design model is "Director-General Luchi of the Akuda Republic" from Purin Purin Monogatari ("Purin Purin Story"), an NHK puppet show. Watsuki said that the large size of Director-General Luchi's head would "freak me out." Watsuki commented that Luchi's design was "efficient" since one could tell that he was very intelligent at one glance.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Saizuchimodel_20-1">[19] Watsuki added that, of the Ten Swords, Saizuchi got the "short end of the stick" since the character did not have a chance to fully display his intelligence. He described this as the "Senkaku Effect," where the characters with the "best noggins" are not used to their "full potential."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Saizuchimodel_20-2">[19]

Fuji (不二<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a giant, considered a freak by everyone around him; his real name is not stated in the series. One day he was attacked and almost killed but the old man Saizuchi found him and took him in. The gentle, depressed Fuji was in an ideal state for Saizuchi to manipulate his emotions and turn him into an unbelievable fighter. Saizuchi keeps telling Fuji that he owes him for saving his life and uses that to control him. He was easily defeated by Hiko Seijūrō, though he spared his life, who unlocked his true martial artist's soul and was the first to look at Fuji as someone other than a monster. Upon capture, the Meiji government assigned him to northern Hokkaidō to develop land and act as a defending fighter during times of war. The idea originated from the God-Soldier in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind; Watsuki saw the film and decided that he wanted to create a giant character. Around the same time he wondered if it would "even be interesting" for Kenshin to fight a giant. Watsuki decided to have Fuji fight against Hiko. Watsuki also received inspiration from Jötunn (Frost Giant), a Norse folktale in which a giant is revealed to have a compassionate heart; Watsuki used this idea with Fuji. The design had inspiration from the first Neon Genesis Evangelion. Originally the face originated from Eva #2. The assistants believed the design looked too similar. One then-assistant of Rurouni Kenshin, Hiroyuki Takei, suggested a 'skull-like riff on "Eva#1."' Watsuki added the skull biting the helmet anchor rope feature, finishing Fuji's helmet face. Watsuki tried "very hard" to keep the face from being too similar to the designs of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Fuji's actual face originates from Dogura Magura of Arabian Lamp-Lamp by Takeshi Obata; Watsuki wanted to work with the concept of a "monstrous character who's somehow still good looking," which Watsuki says Dogura Magura is "the epitome of" the concept. Due to the "tight" schedule of the Fuji chapters Watsuki said that he had insufficient time to revise the design, resulting in "an essentially unoriginal face." Watsuki reported that people correctly guessed the influence of Fuji's real face upon seeing it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Fujipage_34-0">[33] When Watsuki told his editor about the giant character idea, the editor asked "Are you sure?" as the editor was concerned that the character was too large. Watsuki's assistants and friends told the author of Rurouni Kenshin that the idea "sound(ed) fun—do it, do it!" Watsuki decided to create the character; in retrospect he said that the "gamble" "seems to have paid off, so, I'm pleased."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Fujipage_34-1">[33] Yukishiro Enishi is the brother of Yukishiro Tomoe and the primary antagonist of the Jinchū arc, the last major story arc of the manga. Enishi wants revenge against Kenshin since Kenshin killed Tomoe; he desires to bring Jinchū<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36">[note 3] upon Kenshin.

Gein (外印<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the last remaining descendant of a small group of people who mastered the art of mechanics in the Middle Ages. He creates puppet like suits out of corpses, most notably the Iwanbō series. He is actually an old man, yet he is very strong due to controlling his heavy puppets for so long. The diamond edged steel wires he uses (Zankosen) to control his puppets can also be used as a weapon as they are sharp enough to cut flesh and break bone. Gein just wants to test out his creations and needs to be around men of battle to do it since, according to him, the forefront of technology is always in battle. This is also the reason why Gein joined Shishio. Gein first joined Shishio's Ten Swords (Juppongatana) disguised as Iwanbō and later, Enishi's Six Comrades. Once Shishio was dealt with, Enishi met Gein and had him organize the first meeting between the Six Comrades and acquire a mansion for them to stay at. For Enishi's Jinchū he creates a corpse doll of Kaoru to fool Kenshin into thinking she had been killed by Enishi, he considers this his masterpiece. When Gein gets to Tokyo he goes to the graveyard to get his Kaoru doll where he runs into a trap set by Aoshi, who had figured out that the corpse was a fake. Aoshi kills Gein after discovering where Kaoru was. In Gein's Character Notes Nobuhiro Watsuki said that he based Gein from the notorious murderer Edward Gein.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]

Kujiranami Hyōgo (鯨波 兵庫<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a large one-armed man. Sano points out that he is bigger than Anji. While shown to be a relatively selfless and understanding person when first introduced, his nature is later distorted until he reaches the point of insanity. His height also gradually expands, going from a large-but-still-believable height when first seen, to a towering behemoth with a hand the size of normal people on his rampage. During the battle of Toba Fushimi in the Bakumatsu, Kujiranami fought Kenshin, who cut off his right arm. Kujiranami requested that Kenshin kill him since he did not want to live to see an era where wars are fought with guns instead of the swords, absent of skill and soul. However, Kenshin refused to kill Kujiranami, saying that he did not want to kill anymore than he needed to and that Kujiranami should live in the new era. Already feeling that he had been robbed of a warrior's pride and era, being robbed of a warrior's death was the last straw for Kujiranami. Since then he vowed to kill Kenshin for dishonoring him and joined Enishi's Jinchū to get his revenge. Enishi gives Kujiranami an Armstrong canon to replace his missing arm which Kujiranami uses to blow up the Akabeko and the police chief's home. He is taken down by Saitō, arrested, and put in jail, but later goes berserk in his cell and escapes. He gets his upgraded weapon from Enishi, a grenade launcher and goes on a rampage in Tokyo searching for Kenshin. Yahiko is the only one around to fight Kujiranami at the time and manages to hold him off until Kenshin arrives and cuts off his grenade launcher, which returns his sanity. Afterwards Yahiko manages to convince Kujiranami that his hatred for a fellow samurai is wrong and has done nothing for him except lead him down the wrong path. Moved to tears by Yahiko's words, Kujiranami accepts that he was wrong, apologizes to Kenshin for his crimes and turns himself back into the police. The idea for a one-handed fighter originates from Iba Hachirō, a swordsman from the bakumatsu. Watsuki originally considered making Enishi one-handed, but after considering the problems involving a one-handed swordsman facing the skilled Kenshin and deciding that "boss fights" should simply involve a sword versus a sword, Watsuki made Kujiranami one-handed instead. Watsuki planned to make Kujiranami a Terminator-like character, as he was unable to make Usui Terminator-like. When it became time for the story to be drawn, Watsuki and his assistants felt tired from the work. Since drawing the destruction of buildings and people fleeing would be tiring, Watsuki and his assistants decided to remove the Terminator-like aspects. The design model of Kujiranami is Apocalypse of X-Men, one of Watsuki's favorite villains. Watsuki felt that Apocalypse's lips are "quite interesting," so he gave Kujiranami similar lips. The author of Rurouni Kenshin believed that Apocalypse's belief in survival of the fittest is "true manliness" and Watsuki wanted to have the "manliness" and portray characters like Apocalypse. Watsuki Another theme used for Kujiranami is "macho middle age fatness," which Watsuki enjoyed depicting in the series. According to Watsuki some people mistakenly believed that Kujiranami's design originated from Hanma Yagyu of Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits, "Samu-Supi") or Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII; Watsuki had not played Final Fantasy VII at the time he wrote Kujiranami's profile.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37">[35]

Inui Banjin (戌亥 番神<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a camouflage-wearing, hand-to-hand fighter who mirrors Sanosuke in intelligence (lacking-in). He is the student of Tatsumi, the leader of the ninja group that tried to kill Hitokiri Battōsai. As Tatsumi was killed by Battōsai, Inui claims to join Enishi's Jinchū campaign for that reason, but he is actually using his master's death as an excuse to fight and prove how powerful he is and cares nothing for his master, of whom he thinks is a mere loser. Inui wears gauntlets on his wrists called tekkō that, according to him, can deflect any attack, even bullets, due to the angling design of the gauntlets, despite their thinness. He wears them to compensate for the fact that he cannot take damage well. Later, Enishi gave Inui a new pair of gauntlets, even more powerful than the previous, when Sano broke a fragment of the first one. Inui is skilled in Jutsushiki Muteki-ryū, which is an amalgamation of various styles of martial arts. He likes to boast about being invincible and undefeated, but Sano figures out that Banjin is full of himself from wearing the tekkō and that he only fights people weaker than him. Inui attacks Maekawa dojo as part of the Jinchū campaign where he fights Sano for the first time. During the battle, Sano ends up wrecking one of his tekkō with the Futae No Kiwami. He later gets a pair of upgraded Tekkō from Enishi and fights Sano again in the attack on Kamiya dojo. In the end Inui provokes Sano into attacking him with the Futae No Kiwami again and is defeated as a result with both of his Tekkō destroyed. After being taken down, Inui vows to kill Sano next time and Sano welcomes him to try but warns him that he will not win as long as he wears the tekkō to cover his weakness. Banjin is arrested by the police afterwards.

Otowa Hyōko (乙和 瓢湖<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a drag queen-looking user of assassin's weapons that he has hidden all over his body. He says he has thirteen total and used four during his manga existence. The first is Baika-Chusen, a small six-barreled arrow-launcher worn on his left wrist. The second is the Kasui Busuen, a paralysing mist generated by dropping two small cubes into water. The third is a jar of iron powder (Bishamonpun, 'Bishamon's Powder'), used in conjunction with his "enchanted" Bishamonken ('Bishamon's Sword'). The last is the Rikudouko, six long piercing tentacle-like appendages worn on his torso. His battle tactic is to outwit the opponent and catch them off guard with his hidden weapons as opposed to simply overpowering them. He also gave his friend Nakajō a Chusen, a scaled down version of the Baika-Chusen. Otowa is a sadistic individual as he loves to kill people for exhilaration and is not above killing women and children. Otowa was the friend of the shadow ninja Nakajō, who he had nightly competitive killing sprees with. He said that he joined Yukishiro Enishi's Jinchū campaign because of Nakajō's death fighting Hitokiri Battōsai; in reality Otowa joined the fight just for pleasure. Otowa later fights Myōjin Yahiko in the attack on Kamiya dojo. He comes close to killing Yahiko with a few of his weapons, but Yahiko eventually defeats him. As Otowa goes down he has a crazed smile on his face as he could not believe his defeat at the hands of someone not even half his age. Though Kenshin silences Sanosuke from revealing Otowa was starting to become fearful of Kenshin's abilities and thinking of fleeing from him after the duel with Yahiko, he was arrested by the police afterwards.

Yatsume Mumyōi (八ツ目 無名異<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, note: the "Mumyōi" means "nameless", meaning he has no known given name) is a member of an old gold mining clan. Family tradition led them to elongate the limbs of the family members using iron rings to help them mine better. As a result, Yatsume's limbs are about 1.5 times as long as normal, with the notable exception of his left arm, which is twice as long and equipped with metal claws. His teeth have also been sharpened into fangs from a young age. Yatsume took up fighting and joined the Yaminobu Shadow Warriors that tried to kill Kenshin in order to support his clan, who had fallen under hard times. When Kenshin sees and defeats him, he vows revenge and returns in the Jinchū arc under Enishi to exact vengeance. Though he states that wants revenge on Kenshin to uphold the laws of his clan (which state that anyone that sees a member of their clan must be killed), it's later revealed that his desire for revenge also stems from the misfortunes of his clan, which he blames the Meiji government, and by extension, Kenshin for. Before he can fight Kenshin however, he ends up fighting Saitō instead and is defeated, despite managing to once overpower the man's trademark move. After Yatsume is defeated by Saitō, Kenshin offers to let Yatsume fight him if he still wants to but suggests that he go up north and use his abilities to help his clan. He is arrested by the police afterwards. Of all those involved in the Jinchū, he appears to show the most respect to his fellow comrades, formally greeting them (albeit from a hole in the ceiling). He also accepts Kenshin's generosity to go on with his life. He is also one of only three of the "6 Comrades" who was actually obsessed with taking revenge on Kenshin. Yatsume's appearance is very similar to Venom, the Spider-Man villain. Nobuhiro Watsuki admits in Yatsume's character notes that his design was partially based on Venom.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] Additionally, Yatsume's long limbs could possibly have also been inspired from Venom, as Venom usually uses tendrils to extend his reach.

Woo Heishin (呉 黒星 Ū Heishin<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, Hanyu Pinyin: Wú Hēixīng) is Enishi's second in command of the Shanghai Mafia Organization. Heishin possesses no true fighting skills, although he is later seen wielding a pair of revolvers. Watsuki created Heishin after the editor told Watsuki that he needed to put more depth into the "Black Market Weapons Organization." Since the organization was made simply to explain Enishi's finances, Watsuki believed that the addition of Heishin "didn't seem to change anything." Watsuki felt that he had been unable to set Heishin's personality, so he became "this pathetic creature." Even though Heishin was Watsuki's favorite "#2," Heishin became "an unattractive character." Watsuki stated that he regretted how Heishin developed. Watsuki created Heishin without a specific character model; around the time of the Tomoe chapters he designed Heishin so he does not obviously look like any character from any particular work. Heishin was designed to be "heavy" on black to contrast with the "whiteness" of Enishi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38">[36]

The Sū-shin (四星<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, Hanyu Pinyin: Sì xīng, "Four stars", and 四神, Hanyu Pinyin: Sì shén, "Four gods") are Woo Heishin's four bodyguards who surround him at all times. They are named after the four gods of Japan: Seiryū (青龍<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, "Azure Dragon"), Suzaku (朱雀<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, "Vermilion Bird") , Byakko (白虎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, "White Tiger") , and Genbu (玄武<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, "Black Tortoise"). All four look exactly the same aside from their weapons and the tattoos on their heads; Seiryū wields a long bladed spear, Suzaku wields twin Chinese swords, Byakko wields spiked wrist gauntlets, and Genbu wields a wooden stave that can detach into a mace. The four travel around Heishin as the "Four Stars," while their most powerful form is the "Four Gods." All four, as the "Four Gods," provide counterparts for Kenshin's friends in the assault on Enishi's Island, and all four are defeated; Saitō defeats Seiryū, Aoshi defeats Suzaku, Sanosuke defeats Byakko, and Yahiko defeats Genbu. Watsuki created the Sū-shin without any personalities and with no personality models, as the characters were there to "fill in the numbers." Watsuki created the Sū-shin "on the spot" since otherwise Sanosuke and the other characters would not have "glamour." Watsuki said that he switched from "Four Stars" to "Four Gods," after the four godly beasts, since the Sū-shin were "so irresponsibly made." Watsuki noticed what occurred and wrote some dialog to try to explain the change; Watsuki felt that the explanation "got weird." In addition he felt that the battles between the Sū-shin and Kenshin's allies were "not as glamorous" as he hoped they would be. He used no particular model for the design of the Sū-shin; he placed four "easy to draw" quadruplets into Chinese costumes. Makimachi Misao's dialog about the Sū-shin being "mass-produced," in Watsuki's words, "hits the bulls-eye."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-S.C5.AB-shinProfile_39-0">[37]

The Yaminobu (闇乃武<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) are a group of assassins/ninja on the side of shogunate supporters. They were to kill Hitokiri Battōsai, using Yukishiro Tomoe to become his weakness (unbeknownst to her) and using Yukishiro Enishi as the contact. Most fought Battōsai in 'the Binding Forest', and died there. They include Murakami, Nakajō, Sumita, Yatsume Mumyōi, and Tatsumi. Yatsume is the only one of the five who survived, and he returns in the Jinchū arc to exact his revenge.
 * Murakami (村上<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the first of the Yaminobu Kenshin encounters; his weapon consists of two katanas chained together at the handles. He fights Battosai shortly after he leaves a restaurant, and meets his demise at the blade of his own katana.
 * Nakajō (中条<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the best friend of Otowa Hyōko (who gave him his "Chusen"), and the first to fight Battōsai upon his entrance of the Binding Forest. In the manga, Battōsai cuts off his arms and, as Nakajō runs into a cave, follows him inside. There Nakajō enacts the second barrier (the first being the forest itself) by setting off a bomb, killing himself and causing Battōsai to temporarily lose his hearing. In the OVA Kenshin impales him on his katana, and he sets off the bomb as he dies. His death is later used by Otowa as an excuse to join Enishi's Jinchū campaign.
 * Sumita (角田<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the next member to fight Battōsai, along with Mumyōi, in the Binding Forest. His weapon is an ax, and seemingly the trees around him. Battōsai slices off his legs, and before he can continue to Tomoe's location, Sumita activates a second bomb and becomes the third barrier, taking away Battōsai's sight temporarily, and killing himself in the process.
 * A hulk of a man, Tatsumi (辰巳<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the leader of the ninja clan Kenshin fights when looking for Tomoe. In the OVA, he is represented as a physically fit old man with a ninja outfit who gives Kenshin the beating of his life before Kenshin kills him. His character cares a lot about the Tokugawa values. In the OVA, he talks a lot, while all other members of his gang are never shown speaking. In the manga, he is depicted as someone (literally) twice his size. He lacks pupils. He was the master of Inui Banjin and his death at the hands of Kenshin is used as an excuse by his student to join Enishi's Jinchū campaign. In the manga Tatsumi said that his group will kill Tomoe after Kenshin's defeat. In the Japanese OVA he is voiced by Minoru Uchida and in the English Dub by ADV Films he is voiced by John Paul Shepard.

Fudōsawa (不動沢<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), a yakuza in a small town in Shinano Province (Shinshū), is a nephew of Tani Jūsanrō who tries to intimidate the Higashidani family. He hires Sagara Sanosuke to fight against Higashidani Kamishimoemon, but Sanosuke discovers that Kamishimoemon is his father and realizes that his family is being forced into poverty by Fudōsawa. Sanosuke defeats Fudōsawa's forces and injures Fudōsawa, causing him to receive six broken ribs. Fudōsawa has a forehead shaped like the letter "M."

Hiko Seijūrō
Main article: Hiko SeijūrōHiko Seijūrō was Kenshin's swordsmanship instructor, and passed down his signature style to Kenshin, the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū. His imposing looks, unbelievable fighting prowess and ego are parts of his character.

Yukishiro Tomoe
Main article: Yukishiro TomoeYukishiro Tomoe was Kenshin's first love and Enishi's sister. She died by Kenshin's sword during the Revolution.

Sekihara Tae
Sekihara Tae (right) and Sanjō Tsubame (left) Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto (Japanese anime), Michiko Neya (Japanese drama CD), Michelle Ruff (English anime)

Sekihara Tae (関原 妙<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the 20-something manager of the beef hot pot (gyūnabe, or sukiyaki) restaurant, the Akabeko (赤べこ<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). She has a twin sister named Sae managing in a similar restaurant called the Shirobeko in Kyoto. Sagara Sanosuke also owes her a seemingly large sum of money in which interest is accounted for. In the anime, and a bit in the manga, she has also tried to push the relationship between Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru since it seemed it to her that it was not working.

Watsuki originally created Tae as a plot convenience in the Zanza story arc and he intended for Kaoru to patronize a restaurant operated by "a good friend"; the author said he used "no thought" while creating Tae, including a lack of planning in her character design. Tae's personality originates from Kamiya Megumi in Watsuki's first "Rurouni" story. As the story progressed Watsuki found himself adding additional details about Tae, such as her family name, her status as the daughter of the owner of Akabeko, and her collecting of Nishiki paintings. Watsuki said that Tae was his first character to evolve in the manner that she did. Watsuki did not give Tae lipstick so she would be easily distinguished against Megumi. Her character design originates from a rejected model for Kenshin with a prototype Kenshin hairstyle colored black and a "softer, female" face. Watsuki originally intended for Tae to have a Kansai dialect and had an assistant from the Kansai region to vet the dialog, but Watsuki ultimately rejected the idea after he felt the concept was becoming too strange.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TaeProfile_40-0">[38]

Sanjō Tsubame
Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

A waitress at Tae's restaurant, Sanjō Tsubame (三条 燕<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) becomes Myōjin Yahiko's sweetheart. She was saved by him from the ronin her family worked for as Yahiko stopped them from robbing the Akabeko. She is very shy and soft spoken. When Himura Kenshin enters a deep depression after the supposed death of Kamiya Kaoru at the hands of Yukishiro Enishi, Tsubame pleads for Kenshin to help Yahiko fight back against one of Enishi's abandoned allies and brings Kenshin back into the world of the living. Tsubame and Yahiko become a couple in the manga storyline, and Watsuki mentioned in his notes that they had a son, Myōjin Shinya (明神 心弥 Myōjin Shin'ya<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), who he considered using in a story idea, though he was never featured in the manga or anime. In Samurai X: Reflection (Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen), Tsubame and Yahiko had become a couple.

Watsuki said that he did not use a specific model for Tsubame's personality. When the author thought of the concept "a young girl being a young man's motivation to act" he introduced her as the heroine of the Yahiko storyline printed in Volume 5. The author used Tsubame as a "testament" of "wrong thinking of a previous age" and gave her a manner that contrasts with Yahiko's "acts-before-he-thinks" manner. According to Watsuki the model originated from a popular "planet-themed" anime series. As Tsubame is "an average girl" the author decided that her hair should either be in a bowl cut or in pigtails. After watching the "planet-themed" series he decided to use a bowl cut.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41">[39] In the final chapter and Yahiko no Sakabatō Watsuki designed Tsubame to look "as cute as possible" since he wanted a story where she was the heroine. Originally, he intended for the new waitress outfit, which looks similar to a maid outfit, to be exclusively for Yahiko no Sakabatō since the maid style was in fashion at the time. Watsuki feared that the fashion could be outdated by the time he wrote Yahiko no Sakabatō, so he used the new waitress outfit in the final chapter of Rurouni Kenshin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-KenjiDesign_42-0">[40] Tsubame's name originates from places where Watsuki lived in Niigata.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43">[41]

Chief Uramura
Voiced by: Sukekiyo Kameyama (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (English)

A local police chief, Uramura (浦村<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) or Chief Uramura (浦村署長 Uramura-shochō<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a good friend of Kenshin's and often informs him of local disturbances. During the Jinchū arc, Uramura's residence is attacked along with the Maekawa dojo and the Akabeko as part of Yukishiro Enishi's plan to strike at the places in Tokyo most important to Kenshin; fortunately Uramura and his family are saved by Kenshin. As a favor to Kenshin, he deliberately points the police in the wrong direction when they attempt to arrest Sanosuke toward the end of the manga. He was not given a name until the Jinchū arc in the manga. In the Rurouni Kenshin anime he is Chief Muraki.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44">[42] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45">[43]

Oniwabanshū
The Tokyo Oniwabanshū on the cover of the fourth Japanese kanzenban volume. Clockwise from top right: Shikijō, Han'nya, Beshimi, and HyottokoThe Oniwabanshū were the protectors of Edo Castle during the Edo period. In Rurouni Kenshin, they are Shinomori Aoshi, Han'nya, Shikijō, Hyottoko, Beshimi, Okina, Misao, and the others at the Aoi-Ya. Aoshi's group is referred as the Tokyo Group, while Misao and Okina's squad are known as the Kyoto Group. After the Bakumatsu, of all of the Oniwabanshū members, only Aoshi received job offers from government agencies, such as the intelligence services of the Army of Japan and protection services of political leaders; Aoshi instead chose to be a hired guard as his comrades would be able to work with him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Noinvite_46-0">[44] According to Misao, he had a great responsibility and friendship towards his comrades; hence the reason he never smiled.

After Watsuki first discussed the "Megumi arc" with the editor, the editor replied with the opinion that, in Watsuki's words, "having a swordsman of Kenshin's caliber fighting a group of punk-thugs still coming into their first facial hair mi-i-ight not make for the most epic of manga." To solve this, Watsuki modified the Tokyo Oniwabanshū to make them onmitsu (ninja; Watsuki does not like using the word "ninja" as he feels that using it "like that" is "cheesy" <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HyottokoProfile_47-0">[45] ), and added details as publication progressed. Watsuki created various shapes and temperaments for the various Tokyo Oniwabanshū characters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HyottokoProfile_47-1">[45] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WatsukiBeshimi_48-0">[46] Watsuki describes the addition of the Oniwabanshū as a "last minute" choice.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49">[47]

Han'nya
Voiced by: Akio Nojima (Japanese), Tom Wyner (English)

Han'nya (般若 Hannya<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a pupil of Aoshi. The village he was born in was poor, so he was abandoned at birth to reduce the number of people to feed. Han'nya survived, but he could not return to the village so he wandered around like an animal until Aoshi found him and gave him a position in the Oniwabanshū. After the Bakumatsu, Han'nya received no prosperous government job offers because of his appearance.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Noinvite_46-1">[44] He took up a Kenpo disciple in Misao, and despite his appearance, accepted him as family and the two became close.

Han'nya is the master of disguise within the group; he gained his ability by removing all his prominent facial features, which is why he wears the demonic mask on his face. Han'nya burned his lips, cut off his ears and nose, and crushed his cheekbones so he could disguise himself as any individual.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50">[48] The anime mentions nothing of his reason for the mask, although his face is still disfigured. Since Aoshi gave him something to live for in the Oniwabanshū, he is very loyal to him. Han'nya gives his life to allow Kenshin enough time to retrieve his sakabatō to defeat Kanryū and save Aoshi. Although working as a spy is more his specialty, Han'nya is still one of Aoshi's most powerful men (even mildly difficult for Kenshin to defeat). His style of combat evolves primarily from his discipline from Aoshi. However, he adds his own bit to it by having painted, possibly tattooed, his arms in horizontal stripes. Giving them the appearance of being shorter than they actually are, thus luring opponents into a false sense of security regarding distance of attacks. He also wears steel gauntlets beneath his gloves, which help him to block attacks from other weapons. These gauntlets contain retractable steel claws, which he will resort to as a sort of trump card.

Han'nya's personality is derived from Yamazaki Susumu, a member of the Shinsengumi. Some readers proposed that Han'nya had a handsome face under his mask, was Aoshi's kagemusha (such as Aoshi's twin brother), or was a kunoichi (a female ninja). The design model for Han'nya was a human skeleton. Originally Watsuki based Han'nya off of Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man." Watsuki initially intended for Han'nya's face to be deformed since a person stepped on it while Han'nya was still in his mother's womb. In Watsuki's original concept, other people treated Han'nya like a monster, and therefore he would live alone in the mountains. Aoshi discovers Han'nya and Han'nya becomes a member of the Oniwabanshū. Therefore Han'nya, who finds his raison d'être in fighting, says "Only in the Oniwabanshū am I able to live as a human being." Watsuki and his editor discussed how this could mean "the shape of one's destiny is determined by how one is born." Watsuki decided that this message would be inappropriate for a shōnen series. Watsuki said that for him Han'nya was a difficult character since it made Watsuki aware of the responsibilities of writing for children. The fact that Han'nya's left and right eyes have different shapes and sizes originates from the Merrick concept. Watsuki said that since Han'nya's design became "more and more blocky" in development his assistants referred to Han'nya as "mobile suit", "robot", and other names.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Han.27nya_51-0">[49] Watsuki said that Han'nya is not a character one would describe as "evil."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Shikij.C5.8D_52-0">[50] Han'nya was not based on Masked Ninja Akakage.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Han.27nya_51-1">[49]

Beshimi
Voiced by: Taiki Matsuno (Japanese), Derek Stephen Prince (English)

The smallest of the Oniwabanshū, Beshimi (癋見<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) uses his speed to compensate for his lack of strength. Beshimi received no prosperous government job offers because he had competency in one skill.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Noinvite_46-2">[44] He is a bottom-ranked onmitsu.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Onrank_53-0">[51] His favorite weapons are darts, with which he poisons Yahiko, and later on in the anime jams Kanryū's gatling gun. He was gunned down by Kanryū shortly afterward to help Kenshin defeat him.

Watsuki stated that Beshimi was "largely created on-the-spot" and does not have a motif. Watsuki described the sketched out character sans an already-created personality as being "kind of timid." Not originally intended to be a standalone character, Beshimi became shorter than Kenshin. Watsuki said that Beshimi's shortness and timidness gave him a group of fans who write to Watsuki saying "Beshimi KAWAI'I" ("Beshimi is cute!"). Watsuki said "not too sure how to feel about that one..."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WatsukiBeshimi_48-1">[46]

Hyottoko
Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (English)

Hyottoko (火男<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, meaning "Fire Man" or "Flame Man") is one of the Oniwabanshū members that decided to go with Aoshi when he left Okina caring for Misao. His massive belly makes him nearly impervious to direct physical attacks. Hyottoko mainly breathes fire at his opponents, by means of a large oil bag he keeps stored in his stomach and a nozzle he keeps in his mouth. He lights the flames by using his front teeth, which he replaced with flint. Hyottoko received no prosperous government job offers because he had competency in one skill.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Noinvite_46-3">[44] He is a mid-ranked onmitsu.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Onrank_53-1">[51] Hyottoko dies while charging for Kanryū.

Watsuki said he used no particular motif while designing Hyottoko. Using his rudimentary kanji knowledge (Hyottoko is formed by "Fire" (火) and "Man" (男)), he created a "fire-breather." The creator of Rurouni Kenshin made Hyottoko fat since Watsuki wanted the Oniwabanshū to represent several shapes and sizes and that Hyottoko would have a bag of oil in his stomach. Watsuki said that since he had never drawn a figure like that before, he experienced initial difficulties while drawing Hyottoko. According to Watsuki he adjusted to the design and could draw it comfortably and repeatedly. Watsuki described Hyottoko as "the guy who makes a big entrance and then gets just as spectacularly beaten." The creator of Rurouni Kenshin said that Hyottoko is "ridiculously confident" and "a bit of an idiot" and that the development was "natural evolution of the character, I guess."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HyottokoProfile_47-2">[45]

Watsuki decided to make Hyottoko "flashy" by giving him the ability to breathe fire, since he felt it would be natural for an "onmitsu" to be "flashy." By the publication of Volume 4, Watsuki saw the character as somewhat out of place and "not really organic" to his world. According to Watsuki the fire breathing and Kenshin's sword spinning method to defeat Hyottoko received criticism from fans, authors of dōjinshi fanzines, and personal friends.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HyottokoProfile_47-3">[45]

Shikijō
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Nakata (Japanese), Dean Elliot (English)

One of the Oniwabanshū members, Shikijō (式尉<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a muscle-laden hand-to-hand fighter. Prior to joining the Oniwabanshū, Shikijō was an onmitsu for the Satsuma faction of the Ishin Shishi. In the second year of Keiō (1866) Shikijō infiltrated Edo Castle so he could get information about an upcoming battle. 13-year-old Shinomori Aoshi appeared, created scars all over Shikijō's body, and defeated Shikijō. Aoshi gave Shikijō a chance to join the Oniwabanshū and gain strength using Oniwabanshū training methods and "medicines."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Second_Secret_54-0">[52] Shikijō received no prosperous government job offers because he was a traitor.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Noinvite_46-4">[44] Shikijō is mainly a hand to hand fighter but he also swings around a large ball and chain. He fights Sagara Sanosuke at Takeda Kanryū's mansion and is (barely) defeated. He is the first to die at Kanryū's hand, protecting Aoshi from the gatling gun.

Watsuki said that he modeled Shikijō after Sanosuke by giving Shikijō the same philosophy, strength, and personality. By putting them on opposite sides Watsuki inteded to illustrate the differences between the two factions. Watsuki created Shikijō as a villain, but according to the Rurouni Kenshin author the "noble manner" of Shikijō's death made the character "a pretty cool guy." Watsuki used no specific model for Shikijō's design. Watsuki gave Shikijō many muscles as the character is a "power fighter." Since Watsuki felt that Shikijō was not sufficiently "strange-enough looking" Watsuki added scars and "superhero-like exaggerated musculature."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Shikij.C5.8D_52-1">[50]

Okina
Voiced by: Koichi Kitamura (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English)

Kashiwazaki Nenji (柏崎 念至<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), also known as Okina (翁<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , is a strong fighter and a talented strategist. He is said to be the only one who can equal the former Oniwabanshū leader in a fight, wielding steel tonfa to block sword blows. Okina was to become the next leader but refused the position, saying that it was the time for the young, not the old and recommended Aoshi to be the next leader. He was then made an agent in Kyoto for gathering information. Upon retiring, he gave up his fighting ways (although he was seen fighting Aoshi) and now lives peacefully in Kyoto at the Aoi-Ya (House of Malva), the headquarters of the Oniwabanshū (which is now a hotel), where he raised Misao. Although old, Okina still possesses a quick mind and knows all of the outer and inner workings of Kyoto since the old intelligence network of the Oniwabanshū is still active. He uses this network to help Kenshin find Arai Seikū and Hiko Seijūrō. Okina tends to like drinking games and pretty girls.

Watsuki had no particular model for Okina's personality; Okina is Watsuki's image of an "old soldier." Okina, a "gentle, run-down-at-the-seams" elderly man, summons his powers and corrects the younger generation when it is confused or does something wrong; Watsuki supposes that a bit of the character Kohei from Shōtarō Ikenami's Kenkyaku Shōbai ("The Sword Trade") is in Okina. Watsuki said that he likes Okina since as a character he can "tie up loose ends." Okina's design model is Tokijirō Kaizō from Takeshi Obata's Cyborg Jii-chan G ("Cyborg Grandpa 'G'"). Watsuki said that while he is careful to not make his characters look too similar to their influences, his assistants guessed the design model "right away"; Watsuki added that his assistants are "too clever for their own good." Watsuki expressed disappointment with Okina's hair; he intended for the hair to stand up when Okina is very angry, making Okina resemble "Sally's dad from the anime." Because of a lack of available pages Watsuki concluded "this hasn't ended up coming across too well."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55">[53]

Kyoto Group
The four members of the Kyoto group, Kurojō (黒尉<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Chafurin, Paul St. Peter), Shirojō (白尉<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Hidenobu Kiuchi, Dan Lorge), Masukami (増髪<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Yuki Nakao, Tara Sands) and Ōmime (近江女<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Shizuka Okohira, Bridget Hoffman (Season 2), Stevie Bloch (Episode 42) and Mona Marshall (Season 3)) help run the Aoi-Ya, assist Okina, and look after Misao. They are nicknamed Kuro (黒<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), Shiro (白<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , Omasu (お増<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , and Okon (お近<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , respectively. In ways, they mirror Aoshi's Edo/Tokyo Group.

Geezer
"Geezer" (オイボレ Oibore<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a kindly and friendly old man who wanders from place to place and resides within the fallen villages when he chooses to stay in one place for a while. When Kenshin falls into a deep depression after he believed that he had failed to protect Kamiya Kaoru from being killed, Geezer gently persuades Kenshin (partly through the use of hakubaikō perfume) to find his purpose to stand again rather than listen to his friends telling him to avenge Kaoru, who mean well but lack the insight to realize what Kenshin's inner conflict is.

He is later revealed to be the father of Yukishiro Tomoe and Enishi. He is aware that Tomoe has died and also of Kenshin's relationship to her. He is last seen with the broken Enishi in the fallen village in Tokyo; father and son remark that their company seems familiar, though Enishi fails to recognize the identity of the old man while Geezer's knowledge of the young man's relation to him is left more ambiguous.

Geezer appears to have a keen understanding of other people's natures. He correctly surmises Kenshin's inner conflict and its outcome, and later predicts that Enishi will also some day find a new purpose in his life.

Watsuki based Geezer off of an empty milk can who is a character in "Now go, Robot!," a story by Makoto Ōishi. The motif of the entire plotline involving Kenshin in the fallen village is based on that same story, with the plotline also taking influences from the comic Silver Surfer. Some readers mistakenly believed that Geezer was influenced by Cagliostro, a character in Spawn who gives advices to Spawn. Watsuki used no visual model for Geezer; Watsuki used the attributes that Geezer is homeless, has "an unusual personality," and does not easily show his true thoughts. In restrospect, Watsuki felt that Geezer was similar to "Grandpa Bob" in Bøy by Haruto Umezawa.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56">[54]

Tsukayama Yutarō
Voiced by: Mayumi Tanaka (Japanese), Michael Lindsay (Raijuta arc) and Brian Donovan (Black Knights arc) (English)

Tsukayama Yutarō (塚山 由太郎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a young boy who wishes to become a better swordsman. In the manga version Yutarō lives with his father, Tsukayama Yuzaemon, a former samurai who became rich by selling swords to Europeans. Yutarō feels that his father's actions degraded him. Therefore Yutarō wants to become better than his father. The Tsukayama family was deceived by Isurugi Raijūta, who faked a robbery so the Tsukayama family would pay him to teach Yutarō how to use swords. Yutarō becomes the rival to Myōjin Yahiko and the two gain a mutual desire to become better than one another. After Raijūta initiates a failed sneak attack on Kenshin's group, Raijūta slices Yutarō's right arm so that the nerves are severed, therefore making Yutarō unable to hold a sword with that hand. Yuzaemon takes Yutarō to Germany to get medical treatment. Before he leaves, however, Yahiko confronts him, scorns his sulking, and tells him that he can overcome his sorrow by working to be better than he imagined Raijuta to be. Yutaro responds that he will never stop practicing swordsmanship and his left arm is still enough to become great. At the end of the series, Yutarō (though never making an appearance) is identified as one of the instructors of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū dojo, along with Yahiko.

In the anime Yutaro's father, a well-known swordsman, is dead. Yutaro, who had inherited a lot of money after his parents died, wishes to learn swordsmanship to become as skilled as his father. When he sees Kenshin, he demands lessons on how to use a sword, but Kenshin refuses. Yutaro finds Raijuta, who plans to overthrow the Meiji government, instead. During a scuffle one of Raijuta's men accidentally hits Yutaro, causing him to fall into the ocean. After Kenshin rescues him Yutaro gets to know Kenshin's group. In a similar manner Raijuta injures Yutaro's right arm, and Yutaro goes to Germany for medical treatment. Yutaro appears in the Black Knights arc.

Watsuki developed Yutarō as Yahiko's rival; Watsuki said there was no "real model" for Yutarō's character. Watsuki gave Yutarō the traits of admiring Kamiya Kaoru, an older woman, and admiring Kenshin's strength while Yutarō could not "be honest" about this as Kenshin and Kaoru were Raijūta's enemies. Watsuki felt that Yutarō was a "good guy" who was "brought down a bit" by the "most disgraceful" Raijūta and that Yutarō may not have been developed "to his full extent." Watsuki drew Yutarō to be the opposite of Yahiko. Watsuki initially found difficulty in drawing Yutarō's hair but it became easy to him once he adjusted to it, and Watsuki enjoyed drawing Yutarō's hair. Watsuki found difficulty in compensating for the all-white Yutarō in the page design, which would need more black.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57">[55]

Ōkubo Toshimichi
Voiced by: Yoshisada Sakaguchi (Japanese), Doug Stone (English)

In history, Ōkubo Toshimichi (大久保 利通<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (1830-1878) was one of the five Ishin Shishi - Men of Spirit and the last of the three to have the highest honors in the government. He outlived Katsura Kogorō and Saigō Takamori. He was a leader of the Satsuma clan, who supported the restoration of imperial power. He was responsible for the suppression of the Satsuma rebellion in 1877, led by Ōkubo's university friend, Saigō Takamori. In Rurouni Kenshin, Ōkubo appears to Kenshin for help in the Shishio Makoto crisis. In real life, Ōkubo was murdered by six discontented clansmen on his way to Tokyo on May 14, 1878. In the Rurouni Kenshin series, Seta Sōjirō murders him and the clansmen take responsibility.

Watsuki feels that many Japanese people have bias towards Saigō and that Ōkubo was "sly" and "cunning." Watsuki expressed disappointment in this and instead stated that while Ōkubo was a strategist during the Bakumatsu, Ōkubo was ethical during the Meiji era and did not try to enrich himself while other politicians conspired with the wealthy to make money. To support his point, after Ōkubo died he had few assets and many debts; many of his debts were due to his covering government shortfalls. Watsuki felt that Ōkubo, who had been demonized during his time period, needed more appreciation from the population. In the design Watsuki tried to use portrait photographs, but he could not find any. He tried using a statue as a model, but Watsuki believes that the final character does not look at all similar to the statue. In retrospect he believed that the character resembles President of the United States Abraham Lincoln, another historical figure that Watsuki had respect for. He commented "that must have found its way in there, somehow..."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58">[56]

Himura Kenji
Voiced by: Yuki Kaida (Japanese), Joey Hood (English)

Himura Kenji (緋村 剣路<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the son of Kamiya Kaoru and Himura Kenshin that first appears in the last chapter of the manga as a young child. Although he bears an uncanny resemblance to Kenshin, he is more fond of his mother and less caring towards his father (he has a habit of pulling Kenshin's hair). His last manga appearance is in Yahiko no Sakabatō, where he is about four years old and is seen training with a shinai, presumably in his mother's Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, as Yahiko calls him "the future heir of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū".

Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of Rurouni Kenshin, used "stupid" as Kenji's personality model; Watsuki described Kenji as "equivalent to Iori." Kenji's role is to be the son of Kenshin and Kaoru; even though the character was "cliché" Watsuki felt that Kenji had to appear. The author said that he is not "twisted enough" to place "negative elements in the ideal family." Kenji's character design is "a small Kenshin."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-KenjiDesign_42-1">[40]

Tsukioka Tsunan
Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), Kim Strauss (English)

Born Katsuhiro (克浩<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), Tsukioka Tsunan (月岡 津南<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a survivor of the Sekihō Army after it was disbanded by the government. Called Katsu by Sanosuke, Tsunan became a printmaker after the Meiji Restoration. He is an expert at explosive weapons and gunpowder, and intends to use them against the Meiji government. When he and Sano try to embark on a terrorist campaign against the Meiji government later in the series, they are stopped by Kenshin. Since then, Kenshin buried his bombs and Katsu became a journalist for his own newspaper (in the anime Katsu buried his own bombs). However, he still makes bombs solely as a hobby - he has several to give Sanosuke just before following Kenshin to Kyoto. Later on in the anime series, he becomes a valuable source of information for Kenshin and Sanosuke, serving as their intelligence source during the Feng Shui arc.

Watsuki says that Tsunan originated from a false advertisement, labeled "Mysterious Artist Appears," within the series. When Watsuki created the extra Sanosuke chapters he created a "comrade from the Sekihō Army — lone explosive expert plotting overthrow of the government." Watsuki believed that this alone did not give Tsunan "interesting" qualities, so he added the "fake artist" trait. In Volume 6 Watsuki expressed a desire to use Tsunan at a later point since, at that point, he is the sole character with a "mass media" connection and therefore could have further use at a later point. Despite the fact that Tsunan is "a little depressing," Watsuki likes Tsunan's "straightforward personality." Tsunan had no design model. Due to a lack of time Watsuki used an earlier concept of a man with dreadlocks; Watsuki believed that the concept "to my surprise, turned out to be just right." The author added that the character could be "a good villain." After making some "tweaks" the design assembled "quickly." Watsuki added the bandanna and the "oddly patterned" jacket as he wanted "artist-y" clothing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TsunanDesign_59-0">[57]

Mishima Eiji
Voiced by: Naomi Matamura (Japanese), Joshua Seth (English) Mishima Eiji (三島 栄次<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a young boy from Shingetsu Village who wants to take revenge against Shishio's forces, who killed Eiji's parents and brother, Mishima Ei'ichirō (三島 栄一郎 Mishima Eiichirō<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). Saitō Hajime sent Ei'ichirō to Shingetsu to investigate the incidents there, hoping that he would not raise suspicion; Ei'ichirō's cover was blown, and he failed to save his parents. Kenshin defeats Senkaku, who killed Ei'ichirō and Eiji's parents, and Shishio and his forces leave. At that point Eiji tries to kill Senkaku with a sword; Saitō appears and stops Eiji. When Eiji insists that Senkaku needs to be killed in his family's honor, Kenshin tells Eiji that his dead family wants him to be happy, not for him to kill someone. Saitō arranges for his wife, Tokio (時尾<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), to care for Eiji in the near future.

Watsuki created Eiji as the process of the tragedy in Shingetsu Village and the concept of a new beginning. Eiji's main theme is revenge. In retrospect Watsuki wishes that Eiji developed as a character since he felt the plot pulled Eiji in its own direction. Watsuki used no model in Eiji's design, as he had a lack of time. Watsuki at first created a "slightly long-haired" boy, but Watsuki whited out the design when he believed that it did not appear to be a village boy. Then Watsuki drew the final version. The first design appears in a panel in the initial weekly magazine version of the story; it was corrected for the graphic novel version. Since Watsuki had a lack of time, he asked his assistants to put a pattern on Eiji's shirt and a tone on Eiji's trousers. Watsuki felt the design looked too similar to Myōjin Yahiko's design.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60">[58]

Sagara Sōzō
Based on the actual captain, Sagara Sōzō (相楽 総三<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, 1839 - 1868) was the leader of the Sekihō Army's (Sekihō-tai) 1st Unit. Sanosuke looked up to him greatly; he was, to Sanosuke, the ideal role model. He was killed when the Meiji government purged the Sekihō Army, leading to Sanosuke's embitterment towards the Meiji government. In the manga, Sagara's head was placed on a platform and in a cage for all to see, haunting Sanosuke for many years. In the anime Sagara died of fatal gunshot wounds while protecting Sanosuke. In a flashback late in the Kyoto arc of the anime, it is also shown that Sanosuke remembers seeing Sagara's head in the cage in a crowd. Sometime after his death, Sano took Sagara Sōzō's family name his name and became Sagara Sanosuke.
 * Japanese Seiyū: Hidehiro Kikuchi
 * English Voice Actor: Steve Staley (who also voices Kazuki Muto, protagonist of Watsuki's later work, Buso Renkin)

Watsuki said that since Sagara Sōzō is an actual historical figure, "talking about his "motif" as a character seems beside the point." The author's mental image of Sagara Sōzō became important in the character development. According to Watsuki, the framework of Sanosuke's memories glorifies Sagara Sōzō in the story. Since, according to Watsuki, Sagara Sōzō genuinely wanted equality for Japan's people, Watsuki wonders about the fate of Japan if Sagara Sōzō survived. Watsuki debated whether to include the Sekihō Army Incident due to its obscurity. Since he believed that the movement exposed the truths and lies of the Meiji Restoration, he decided to include the movement. One of Watsuki's friends told the Rurouni Kenshin author that another one of his friends feared that Watsuki may be "getting in too deep." In addition, as Watsuki wrote the storyline, the popularity of the series fell to the lowest point since the debut of the series. Watsuki reasoned that he wished to explore the "true story of the Meiji Revolution" and therefore could not leave out the story of the Sekihō Army. Watsuki did not base the appearance of Sagara Sōzō on actual historic photographs; he wondered about the appearance of the real Sagara Sōzō. Watsuki instead formed his version of the character based on his mental image of the real person. He says that the character is popular "in the eyes (and hearts) of female readers." <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SecretLife5Sagara_S.C5.8Dz.C5.8D_61-0">[59]

Arai Family
The Arai Family consists of Arai Seikū (新井 青空<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), the father, Arai Azusa (新井 梓<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , the mother, and Arai Iori (新井 伊織<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , the baby boy. In the English version of the manga, Iori says "shake, shake" when referring to Himura Kenshin. In the Japanese version, when referring to Kenshin, Iori says Gojaru! (ごじゃる!<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), his own version of the word de gozaru (でござる<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , a polite, humble verb used by Kenshin. Iori, therefore, is trying to say "Kenshin."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62">[60]

When Kenshin goes to Kyoto he asks Okina about Arai Shakkū (新井 赤空<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), the swordsmith who made Kenshin's sword, since Kenshin hopes to get a replacement for his broken sakabatō. Okina tells Kenshin that Shakkū is dead but that his son Seikū is still alive. When Kenshin asks Seikū to make a new sword, Seikū refuses because he wants to live a peaceful life and does not want to make any more instruments of war. Sawagejō Chō, a member of the Ten Swords, wants to take Shakkū's final sword, so he kidnaps Iori and uses him as a hostage until Azusa reveals where Shakkū's final sword is. Chō keeps Iori and goes to the Hakusan Shrine, where the sword is located. Kenshin appears and struggles to fight Chō with a broken sakabatō. Seikū realizes the importance of Kenshin's struggle and hands his father's sword to Kenshin, who uses the sword to defeat Chō; the opponent is still alive as, to Seikū's surprise, the sword is also a sakabatō.

Watsuki said that he had "lots of different things in my mind" when he created the family, but that he forgot many of them. Watsuki designed them so that Iori symbolizes peace, Seikū demonstrates selfishness demonstrated by fathers, and Azusa "uh... holds it all together?" Iori's design originated from "a fairly famous women's manga involving babies." Watsuki said that he created the father and mother "on the spot." Watsuki felt that Seikū's design in the end "kind of" looked similar to the design of Takeda Kanryū, so Watsuki concluded that the design "didn't turn out quite right." With Azusa he originally thought "she's not quite right," but in the end he felt "she's a really good character." Watsuki added that he found "refreshing" the fact that Azusa is the first female character he designed who shows her entire forehead.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Seik.C5.ABFamilydesign_63-0">[61]

Watsuki reported that many female readers loved Iori since "he's so cute," especially when Chō hung him on the tree. Watsuki planned to have Seikū's family appear later in the Kyoto arc with Yahiko as the lead character in the story.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Seik.C5.ABFamilydesign_63-1">[61]

Higashidani Family
Sanosuke's father and younger siblings live together in Shinano Province (Shinshū). His father, Higashidani Kamishimoemon (東谷 上下ェ門<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), is a farmer, Higashidani Uki (東谷 右喜<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is his younger sister, and Higashidani Ōta (東谷 央太<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is his younger brother. The mother, Naname (菜々芽<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), died years after the birth of Ōta due to a cold. Uki became protective of Ōta because Sanosuke left the house and because her mother died, so she was afraid of losing other family members. As a result Ōta, nicknamed "Apple Cheeks" by Sanosuke, was sheltered. After learning about Sanosuke's deeds Ōta becomes willing to fight. At the end of Rurouni Kenshin Ōta becomes a student at Kaoru's dojo.

Watsuki said that he always had some idea of what Sanosuke's family would be like, and therefore formed the Higashidani family along those concepts. Therefore, Kamishimoemon is what Sanosuke would be like as an older person, Uki is "lively" and protective of others, and Ōta is a weak, small child. In retrospect Watsuki felt that the development of the family was "unsatisfactory"; he felt that he should have made the family consist of three persons instead of four and concentrated on either Ōta or Uki. Watsuki felt that illustrating the family was fun and that he liked challenging his illustration skills by drawing a whole family. Watsuki had no models for the visual design of the characters. Kamishimoemon originates from a concept of an aged Sanosuke that was considered for a final Rurouni Kenshin chapter. Watsuki describes Uki as a "modern, easy to draw type." Ōta is a "typical Watsuki image" of a weak child from a rural area who has cheeks with circle marks. Watsuki intended for a design that would be drawn quickly, but he found difficulty while trying this. As the designs evolved Watsuki decided that he needed to study images of real people. He concluded that the concept of building designs from images and pictures "has its limits."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64">[62]

Tsubaki and the children
Yūkyūzan Anji raised five children, including Tsubaki (椿<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Akiko Hiramatsu, Julie Ann Taylor), Tasuke (太助<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Mayumi Akado, Lynn Fischer), Mikan (みかん<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Kimiko Nishihara, Bridget Hoffman), Yohei (与平<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Satoshi Hamamoto, Jim Taggert), and Gorō (吾郎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Taeko Kawata, Wendee Lee), at Jūgaku Temple in Ezo, now Hokkaidō.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65">[63] Collectively they are known as "The children of Anji's temple" (安慈の寺の子供達 Anji no Tera no Kodomotachi<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). The children lost their parents in the Boshin War.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66">[64] Tsubaki, the oldest of the children, looked after the others with Anji. The younger children kept asking Anji when he was going to marry their "sister", Tsubaki. The village chief asked Anji and the children to leave; he feared that there would be retaliation from the Meiji government since Tsubaki's father, the previous village chief, had sided with the shogun. Anji agreed to leave the following day. However the chief ordered Anji's residence to be burnt to the ground before he had a chance to leave with the children. As a result all five died. In revenge, Anji killed the village chief five years later.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67">[65] Later, after his battle with Sanosuke, the children's spirits appear before Anji, forgiving him for the sins he committed since they died.

Watsuki developed Tsubaki and the children after creating Anji's past. Originally Watsuki planned to have Anji oversee an entire orphanage as opposed to five children, but he scaled back the number since he felt drawing an entire orphanage would be "a hassle." In restrospect he said that drawing the five was still "a lot of work." He gave Tsubaki a headband to distinguish her from Kamiya Kaoru and Takani Megumi; no other meaning was in the headband. Watsuki saw a headband in a fashion magazine, so he said that one could say the magazine was a model for Tsubaki's design. The other characters had no models for their designs. Watsuki said that he got letters from readers who believed that Tsubaki "liked" Anji. In response he said that he does not disagree with the assessment. Watsuki also received letters from readers saying that Tsubaki looks like Kyo Kusanagi from The King of Fighters. Watsuki responded by saying "that's a wrong way to look at it. Let's both try and be more literal about this, huh? (Heh.)"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Tsubakidesign_23-1">[22]

Katsura Kogorō and Takasugi Shinsaku
Katsura Kogorō (桂 小五郎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Tomokazu Seki, Corey M. Gagne) and Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉 晋作<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Wataru Takagi, Jason Phelps) were important figures in the Ishin Shishi faction during the Bakumatsu. In Rurouni Kenshin they were allied with Kenshin during the Bakumatsu.

Oguni Gensai
Oguni Gensai (小国 玄斎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Yoku Shioya, Steve Kramer) is the doctor who takes Megumi as his apprentice. In the anime he has two grandchildren. In the Sony Rurouni Kenshin English dub the "g" in Gensai is pronounced as a "soft" g.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SamuraiXEpisode5_68-0">[66]

Tani Jūsanrō
Tani Jūsanrō (谷 十三郎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Koichi Kitamura, Tony Pope) is a politician in the War Ministry and a former member of the Ishin Shishi. Tani is very wealthy, pompous and self-centered. Kurogasa marks him as an assassination target, but Kenshin and Sanosuke successfully defend Tani.

Later in the manga Tani and Sanosuke get into an altercation; Tani, the uncle of the yakuza Fudōsawa, supports the tyranny in Fudōsawa's town. After Sanosuke defeats Fudōsawa, Sanosuke goes to Tani's residence, defeating the Hiruma brothers, who act as Tani's bodyguards, before injuring Tani. At the hospital Tani, described by villagers as being "wrapped like a mummy", mutters "evil scary, evil scary."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69">[67] As a result, after the battle between Kenshin and Enishi, Sanosuke is forced to flee the Kamiya dojo due to legal troubles.

Minor characters

 * Nishiwaki (西脇<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Taiki Matsuno, Derek Stephen Prince) is a member of the Kiheikan, a house of rogues headed by Hiruma Gohei. When Kenshin confronts Kiheikan, Nishiwaki calls on various rogues to attack Kenshin. Minutes later, as the Hiruma brothers are attacking Kamiya Kaoru at the Kamiya dojo, a frightened Nishiwaki appears and then collapses, revealing Himura Kenshin.
 * Ujiki (宇治木<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Mitsuru Miyamoto, Tony Pope) is the header of the Sword Corps, a unit created to deal with Hiruma Gohei. After the unit's creation it became very tyrannical. Ujiki, a veteran of the Satsuma Rebellion, tries to force Kenshin into a fight by having his men intimidate Kaoru and surrounding citizens. A provoked Kenshin defeats Ujiki and the entire Sword Corps. Ujiki practices the Jigen-ryū, an aggressive swordsmanship style characterized by the use of turning and one-handed draws and cuts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Watsuki_190_3-1">[3]
 * Yamagata Aritomo (山縣 有朋<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Seiji Mizutani and Hari Kaneko, Simon Prescott, Crispin Freeman (Media Blasters) and Bill Harwell (Samurai X: The Motion Picture)) was one of Kenshin's comrades. Yagamata grew a mustache since taking position of power in the Meiji government. Yamagata tries to convince Kenshin to stop carrying a sword, but Yamagata realizes that Kenshin's openly displayed sword and his actions as a rurouni ensure safety for others. Though Yamagata only has one appearance in the manga, in the anime, he appears again as the assassination target of a corrupt politician, Takuma Hashizume, but thanks to Kenshin, he was saved and Hashizume was arrested. Much later, he alerts Kenshin about an assassination attempt led by Ukyo Inagi. Yamagata also plays an important role in the Feng Shui arc assisting Kawaji and Tsunan with stopping the plot to destroy the Circle of Eternity. Watsuki said that he could not get his version of Yamagata to resemble surviving photographs of the real Yamagata.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SecretLife5Sagara_S.C5.8Dz.C5.8D_61-1">[59]
 * Gasuke (我介<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Nobuo Tobita, Dave Mallow) and Tanishi (多西<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Yoshisada Sakaguchi, Tony Pope) are two members of a group of thugs who force Myōjin Yahiko to be a pickpocket. When Yahiko announces that he will no longer pickpocket, Gasuke beats him. Then when Yahiko angrily retaliates after the gangsters insult his deceased parents, Gasuke brandishes a sword to kill Yahiko, only to be hit by Kenshin in time. The gangsters give up Yahiko to Kenshin.
 * Hira (平<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Ryo Naito, Terrence Stone) and Satō (佐藤<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Eiji Takemoto, Derek Stephen Prince) were former students of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū who flee back to the dojo after they engage in a drunken fight with members of the Hishimanji Guren Gang (菱卍愚連隊 Hishimanji Guren-tai<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). Kaoru and Yahiko defend the dojo until Kenshin appears. The gang members leave after Kenshin cuts a cannonball fired by the gang in half. Kenshin tells the two boys to "forget" they were Kamiya Kasshin-ryū students and to never hold swords again. In the anime, they are renamed Sosuke Ohtsuka and Saburo Kazusaki respectively and are depicted as average students, along with another anime-exclusive character Genta Koshino (Akihisa Murayama, Derek Stephen Prince). All three quit after being ridiculed by their families and friends for practicing the kenjutsu known from the fake Battosai, Hiruma Gohei.
 * Hachisuka (蜂須賀<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Hiroshi Takemura, Dan Woren) is the leader of the Hishimanji Guren Gang (菱卍愚連隊 Hishimanji Guren-tai<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?). He feels lust when Kaoru tells him that she is going to fight him. He leaves with the other members after Kenshin destroys the cannonball. In the anime version, the Hishimanji gang appears a group of gangsters who spread rumors about Megumi Takani being a "quack-doctor" and rely on Raiko (雷光<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Shinpachi Tsuji, Joe Romersa), a fake shaman, to "cure" people with his "holy water" and live off the profits. Eventually, Megumi and the others catch on and defeat the gang, in the process make Raiko admit the truth. Regardless, Megumi healed all of the injured gang members due to her teachings of a doctor.
 * Maekawa Miyauchi (前川 宮内<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), a character only in the manga, is the owner of a martial arts dojo where Kaoru trains. He is the master of the Chūetsu-ryū style. Isurugi Raijūta appears at Maekawa's dojo and defeats him in a match; Kenshin prevents Raijūta from mortally wounding Maekawa. After the attack Inui Banjin made against his dojo, Maekawa does not blame Kenshin, but decided to retire and choose a young successor.
 * Nagaoka Mikio (長岡 幹雄<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Keiji Fujiwara, Dan Woren) is a thug who bullies Sanjō Tsubame. In previous eras her family served Mikio's family, so Mikio forces Tsubame to give the mold for the key of the owners of the Akabeko. Yahiko tries to interfere, but Mikio's group defeats Yahiko. As Mikio and his cohorts are about to rob the owner's house, Yahiko appears a second time and, with the help of Kenshin and Sanosuke, defeat Mikio and his group, and they stopped bothering Tsubame again. Mikio fought with a sword style known as Kogen Ittō-ryū.
 * Tsukayama Yuzaemon (塚山 由左衛門<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is Tsukayama Yutarō's father. In the manga Yuzaemon feels dishonored by his act of selling swords to the West, so he wishes for Yutarō to become strong as a swordsman. In the anime, he was a famous swordsman who died and left his vast fortune to his son, and his son aspired to be like him.
 * Shinko-ryū members (真古流同志 Shinko-ryū Dōshi<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) - Four followers of Shinko-ryū attack the Kamiya dojo as Kaoru teaches swordsmanship to Yutarō in the manga; Kenshin defeats three of the swordsmen, while one tries to run away. Even though Sanosuke catches the fourth one, Kenshin asks Sanosuke to let him go. In the anime, they are given names: Sakuramaru (虎丸<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Shigeru Ushiyama, Kirk Thornton) (the one with double swords), Tsukio (Minoru Inaba, Paul St. Peter) (the bald one with the unusual eyes), Tsuruzaemon (Ikuya Sawaki, Peter Spellos) (the largest member who wields a spear, later killed by gunfire from the police in the anime), and Toji (Norihisa Mori, John Snyder) (the shortest member who tried to flee in the manga); they attacked Kenshin when he refused to join them in their rebellion, and then fought against the police - Tsuruzaemon was killed, while Sakuramaru and Tsukio came to realize that their dream was impossible when Raijuta was defeated.
 * Shibumi (渋海<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Masaru Ikeda, Steve Kramer) is a corrupt politician who employs assassins to eliminate rivals in order to further his own career. He employs Udō Jin-e, Akamatsu Arundo, and Saitō Hajime. Shibumi orders Saitō to kill Kenshin, not knowing that Saitō is in actuality allied to Ōkubo Toshimichi. After Saitō appears at Shibumi's place and kills Arundo, Shibumi begs for his life and offers money to Saitō; Saitō refuses and kills Shibumi.
 * Kawaji Toshiyoshi (川路 利良<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Katsuya Shiga, Joe Ochman, Doug Stone (TV Series) and David R. Jarrott (The Motion Picture)) is a government official who assists Ōkubo.
 * Shimada Ichirō (島田 一郎<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Katsuya Shiga, Ezra Weisz) and Chō Tsurahide (長 連豪<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Shigenori Yamazaki, Bob Joles) are former samurai from Ishikawa Prefecture. In real life they killed Ōkubo Toshimichi. In Rurouni Kenshin they found Ōkubo Toshimichi already dead; the two, along with five other samurai, decide to desecrate the corpse and pretend that they had killed the politician.
 * Yamayoshi Morisuke (山吉 盛典<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Hiroshi Takahashi, Dave Mallow) in real life was the governor of Fukushima Prefecture. In Rurouni Kenshin he tells Kenshin and Saitō the last thoughts of Ōkubo Toshimichi, as Yamayoshi was the last person to speak with Ōkubo.
 * Sekihara Sae (関原 冴<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Sumi Shimamoto, Michelle Ruff) is the owner of the Shirobeko (白べこ<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) restaurant in Kyoto and the sister of Tae. In the manga Sae forces Yahiko to wear a ribbon in his hair when he works at the restaurant.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70">[68]
 * Shinichi Kosaburō (新市 小三郎 Shin'ichi Kosaburō<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is a lower-ranked police officer. Shinichi helps Yahiko fight against Kujiranami Hyōgo. At the end of Rurouni Kenshin he becomes a student at the Kamiya dojo.
 * Kiyosato Akira (清里 明良<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Tetsuya Iwanaga, Ray Clayton) was Yukishiro Tomoe's first fiancé. Kiyosato expressed his excitement towards his impending marriage to Shigekura Jūbei (重倉 十兵衛 Shigekura Jūbee<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), the man Kiyosato was guarding, and Ishiji (石地<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , another guard. Kenshin kills Ishiji and Shigekura. Kiyosato attempts to fight him off, even managing to give him a cut on his cheek, but Kenshin still kills him. Just as Kenshin is about to deliver the killing blow, Kiyosato is seen reaching out (in the OVA, he sees a reflection of Tomoe hidden behind flowers), and calls Tomoe's name. Kiyosato, the son of a second class samurai, had postponed his wedding so that he could serve in the Kyoto Mimawarigumi and be a warrior when he married Tomoe. His hope was that by gaining fame as an accomplished warrior, he would be able to make Tomoe happy.
 * Iizuka (飯塚<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) (Ryusei Nakao, Lowell Bartolomee) was an Ishin Shishi member who had befriended Kenshin. When Kenshin was in the mountains with Tomoe, Iizuka served as Kenshin's contact. After Kenshin had defeated the Yaminobu and after Tomoe died, Kenshin returned to see Katsura Kogorō, who told Kenshin that Shishio Makoto killed a mole in the Ishin Shishi who caused the Ikedaya Jiken. Katsura did not tell Kenshin that Iizuka was the mole.

Production
A prototype series titled Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story first appeared as a pair of separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993 in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump Special. The first story featured an earlier version of Kenshin stopping a crime lord from taking over the Kamiya family dojo. Watsuki described the first Rurouni story, echoing the "Megumi Arc," as a "pilot" for Rurouni Kenshin. According to Watsuki, the final Rurouni Kenshin series was not composed entirely from his free will. Describing the creation of historical stories as "hard," Watsuki initially wanted to make his next series in a contemporary setting. An editor approached Watsuki and asked him to make a new historical story. With the historic concept, Watsuki intended to use the Bakumatsu time period from Moeyo Ken (Burn, O Sword) with a story akin to Sugata Sanshirō. Watsuki experimented with various titles, including Nishin (Two-Hearts) Kenshin, Yorozuya (Jack-of-All-Trades) Kenshin, and variations of "Rurouni" and "Kenshin" with different kanji in that order.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-MeijiRomanceTwo_3-0">[4]

The second Rurouni story, released one half of a year after the first story,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-MeijiRomanceTwo_3-1">[4] features Kenshin helping a wealthy girl named Raikōji Chizuru. Watsuki recalled experiencing difficulty when condensing "everything" into 31 pages for the first Romantic Swordsman story. He said that he "put all my soul into it" but sighs when looking at the story from his perspective after the publication of the Rurouni Kenshin Volume 1 graphic novel in Japan. Watsuki describes the first Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story as receiving mediocre reviews and about two hundred letters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rurouni_4-0">[5] Watsuki described the second Rurouni as a "side story."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-MeijiRomanceTwo_3-2">[4]

During his childhood, Watsuki used to practice kendo which influenced him in the making from the series. Although, Watsuki developed various one-shots prior to the official serialization from the series, he mentioned he based the series from Crescent Moon in the Warring States, a story which introduced Kenshin's fighting style and his teacher. While naming the characters, he based some of their names from places he used to live such as Makimachi Misao's "Makimachi" and Sanjō Tsubame, who are named after places from Niigata.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[6]

Being fascinated by the Shinsengumi, Watsuki designed the characters by basing their characteristics to that of the real Shinsengumi members and also used fictional representation of them and other historical characters from the Bakumatsu period of Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Sait.C5.8D_6-0">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-form_7-0">[8] The historical characters were considered to be a hard task by Watsuki. Due to problems with the characterization from Sagara Sōzō, Watsuki decided to illustrate Saitō Hajime in his own style avoiding the historical figure. He felt very good with Saitō's character having noted he fit very well in the manga.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kadenint_8-0">[9] However, Watsuki mentioned that many Japanese fans of the Shinsengumi complained about the personality of Saitō, as he was made sadistic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Sait.C5.8D_6-1">[7]

When questioned about the series' theme being Kenshin's self-redemption, Watsuki mentioned that when he was young he used to read shōjo and that it influenced in the story from Rurouni Kenshin. He added that he wanted to make a story different from other comics as he considers the main character [Himura Kenshin] is neither a good nor evil character. Since volume 7, Watsuki mentioned the series took a more adult tone due to the various conflicts in the story, but commented it was influenced by the shōjo manga he read. Through the series' development, Watsuki was deciding if Kamiya Kaoru's character was going to die prior to the end. However, he later decided to keep Kaoru alive as he came to the conclusion he wanted a happy ending and that the manga is aimed at young readers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kadenint_8-1">[9] Watsuki said he was an "infatuated" type of person rather than a "passionate" kind of person, so therefore Rurouni Kenshin is a "Meiji Swordsman Story" as opposed to being a "Meiji Love Story."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9">[10]

When the manga series started to be published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Watsuki had little hope in the development of the series. He planned to finish the story in approximately 30 chapters, ending with Kenshin's departure from Tokyo in a similar manner to the one from volume 7. Kenshin's enemies would have been people from Kyoto who would send an assassin to kill Kenshin. When the Oniwabanshū were introduced during the serialization, Watsuki noted that the series could be longer as he had created various main characters. In that time, there was a survey, and the series had become very popular.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kadenint_8-2">[9]

When the series reached seven volumes, Watsuki's boss suggested him that it was time to make a longer story-arc, which resulted in the creation of the fights between Kenshin and Shishio Makoto. The arc was only meant to be serialized for one year, but it ended up being one year-and-a-half long. This arc was also done to develop Kenshin's character as he considered him not to have a weak point. Watsuki commented that his artistic skills were honed with this arc, as he could draw everything he wanted to. The last arc from the manga was meant to be much shorter, but it turned out to be a fairly long one as he could not present in a simplistic manner. This arc was originally made by Watsuki prior to the series' start, having already thought about how would Kenshin's scar had been made.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kadenint_8-3">[9] Watsuki also planned to create a Hokkaido arc and a sequel, but felt it would be better to start with another manga and so ended the series with the last arc he made.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10">[11]

In a manga volume prior to the release of the anime, Watsuki said that while some fans might object to the adaptation of the series into anime, Watsuki looked forward to the adaptation and felt it would work since the manga was already "anime-esque." He had some worries about the series since he felt since the creation of the series was sudden and the series had a "tight" production schedule.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11">[12] In another note in the same volume Watsuki added that he had little input in the series, as he was too busy with the publishing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Volume8Page157_12-0">[13] In addition his schedule did not match the schedule of the anime production staff.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vol10Page57_13-0">[14] Watsuki said that it would be impossible to make the anime and manga exactly the same, so he would feel fine with the anime adaptation as long as it took advantage of the strengths of an anime format.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Volume8Page157_12-1">[13]

After the anime began production, Watsuki said that the final product was "better than imagined" and that it was created with the "pride and soul of professionals." Watsuki criticized the timing, the "off-the-wall, embarrassing subtitles," and the condensing of the stories; for instance he felt the Jin-e storyline would not sufficiently fit two episodes. Watsuki said that he consulted a director and that he felt the anime would improve after that point.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[15] The fact that the CD book voice actors, especially Megumi Ogata and Tomokazu Seki, who portrayed Kenshin and Sanosuke in the CD books, respectively, did not get their corresponding roles in the anime disappointed Watsuki. Watsuki reported receiving some letters of protest against the voice actor change and letters requesting that Ogata portray Seta Sōjirō; Watsuki said that he wanted Ogata to play Misao and that Ogata would likely find "stubborn girl" roles more challenging than the "pretty boy" roles she usually gets, though Watsuki felt Ogata would have "no problem" portraying a "stubborn girl." Watsuki said that the new voice actor arrangement "works out" and that he hoped that the CD book voice actors would find roles in the anime.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[16] Watsuki said that the reason why the CD book voice actors did not get the corresponding roles in the anime was due to the fact that many more companies were involved in the production of the anime than the production of the CD books, and therefore the "industry power-structure" affected the series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vol10Page57_13-1">[14]

The second season of the TV anime had some original stories not in the manga. Watsuki said that some people disliked "TV originals," but to him the concept was "exciting". Watsuki said that because the first half of the original storyline that existed by the time of the production of Volume 10 in Japan was "jammed" into the first season, he looked forward to a "more entertaining" second season. Watsuki added that it was obvious that the staff of the first season "put their hearts and souls" into the work, but that the second series will be "a much better stage for their talents."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vol10Page57_13-2">[14]

Manga
Main article: List of Rurouni Kenshin chaptersWritten and drawn by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the first chapter of Rurouni Kenshin premiered in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1994 and was serialized in the magazine until 1999.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-vizmanga_16-0">[17] The 255 individual chapters were collected and published in 28 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first volume released on September 9, 1994 and the last on November 4, 1999.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-one_17-0">[18] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-twoeight_18-0">[19] In July 2006, Shueisha began re-releasing the series in a twenty-two kanzenban special edition volumes. A single chapter follow up to the series that follows the character of Yahiko Myōjin, Yahiko no Sakabatō (弥彦の逆刃刀 ("Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword")<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), was originally published in Weekly Shōnen Jump after the conclusion of the series. Left out of the original volumes, it was added as an extra to the final kanzenban release.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lastkan_19-0">[20]

In December 2011, Shueisha announced Watsuki would be putting his current series, Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein-, on hold to begin a "reboot" of Rurouni Kenshin, called Rurouni Kenshin Cinema-ban, as a tie-in to the live-action movie. The series began in the June 2012 issue of Jump SQ., which was released on May 2, 2012,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[21] and depicts the battles that are featured in the live-action film. Another special titled Rurouni Kenshin Chapter 0, is scheduled to be published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in August 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[22]

Rurouni Kenshin was licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media. The first volume of the series was released on October 7, 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-first_22-0">[23] Although the first volumes were published on a irregular basis, since volume 7 Viz established a monthly basis due to good sales and consumer demands.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23">[24] Therefore, the following volumes were published until July 5, 2006, when the final volume was published.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-usa_24-0">[25] Yahiko no Sakabatō was also serialized in Shonen Jump during 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[26] In January 2008, Viz began re-releasing the manga in a wideban format called "Viz Big Edition", which is a collection of three volumes in one.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wideone_26-0">[27] The Final volume included the Yahiko no Sakabatō and an additional short manga Haru no Sakura (春の桜<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?, lit."Cherry Blossoms in Spring"), which shows every main character in the series. Viz uses the actual ordering of Japanese names, with the family name or surname before the given name, within the series to reduce confusion and because Rurouni Kenshin is a historical series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[28] On May 7, 2012, it was announced in Viz Media's digital manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha that Rurouni Kenshin Cinema-ban will join its line-up, being retitled Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration and published monthly starting on May 21.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[29]

Anime series
See also: List of Rurouni Kenshin episodesThe anime, directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, began airing on Japan's Fuji TV on January 10, 1996 and ended on September 8, 1998. It was produced by Aniplex and Fuji TV, and was animated from episode 1 to 66 by Studio Gallop, whereas the episodes from 67 onwards were animated by Studio Deen.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[30] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[31] The final episode, episode 95, did not air in Japan, but was a bonus episode for the VHS and DVD releases.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Unaired_episode_31-0">[32] Since its premiere in Japan, episodes from the series have been collected in DVDs various times: two DVDs series with both of them featuring four episodes per volume and three DVD boxes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[33] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33">[34] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[35]

In 1999 Sony tried and failed to market the series in the United States as Samurai X via an existing company.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35">[36] The TV series was later licensed in North America and released on DVD by Media Blasters. It started airing in the US on the Cartoon Network as a part of the Toonami Block on March 17, 2003, but ended at the completion of the second season.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36">[37] Episodes 63-95 did not air, but were included in the DVD release.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37">[38] The twenty-two English DVDs from the series were released from July 18, 2000 to September 24, 2002. Each of them contain four episodes except for volume 22, which contains five episodes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Unaired_episode_31-1">[32] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38">[39] The seasons were later released in three premium "Bento box" DVD boxes on November 18, 2003, March 30, 2004 and July 27, 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39">[40] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-40">[41] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41">[42] They were released again, but in new packaging as "economy box" sets on November 15, 2005, January 17, 2006 and February 14, 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42">[43] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43">[44] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44">[45] Sony Pictures Television International created an English-language version of the series, titled Samurai X, that airs outside of the United States.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45">[46] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46">[47]

Ishin Shishi e no Chinkonka
The series also has a movie called Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture, known in Japan as Ishin Shishi e no Chinkonka (―維新志士への鎮魂歌 Requiem for the Ishin Patriots<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) and originally released in North America as Samurai X: The Motion Picture, which tells a story where Kenshin meets a samurai who was very close to a man Battōsai murdered in the war. The samurai is trying to start a revolution to overthrow the Meiji government. The film was directed by Hatsuki Tsuji and it premiered in Japan on December 20, 1997. The Japanese DVD was released on August 21, 1998.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47">[48] It has been republished twice in 2000 and 2002, adding new content to the DVD.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48">[49] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49">[50] It was also released on December 7, 2005 on Universal Media Disc format.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50">[51] In North America, the film was released on DVD on March 27, 2001.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51">[52] The opening theme is "Niji" by L'Arc-en-Ciel while the ending theme is "Eternal Future" (永久の未来 Towa no Mirai<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) by Animetal. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc on October 26, 2011 by Aniplex of America.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Aniplex_USA_-_Rurouni_Kenshin_52-0">[53]

The story in the film does not appear in the original manga. Daryl Surat of Otaku USA commented that the film replays the opening flashback scene "like 7-8 times within 90 minutes." Surat said that the film is "decent."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat36_53-0">[54]

Shin Kyoto-Hen
A new Rurouni Kenshin project was announced in April 2011's Jump SQ. Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Studio Deen, and the original cast will be returning after nine years (except Hirotaka Suzuoki who passed away in 2006; Saitō Hajime will now be voiced by Ken Narita).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54">[55] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-part_1_55-0">[56] The project will be split into two parts and be a remake of the second arc, the Kyoto arc, from the viewpoint of Makimachi Misao.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-part_1_55-1">[56] Part 1 titled Rurouni Kenshin: Shin Kyoto-Hen Zenpen Homura no Ori ("Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc Part I: Cage of Flames"), which was selected from a fan suggestion,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shinhomerealese_56-0">[57] ran at Tokyo's Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro theater and Osaka's Cine-Libre Umeda theater for one week only.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57">[58] Part II was released on June 23, 2012 and ran for three weeks in ten theaters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58">[59] Aniplex of America announced at Otakon 2011 that they are in "negotiations" for the English language rights to the new series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59">[60] Aniplex released part 1 on DVD and Blu-ray on March 21, 2012 in Japan,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shinhomerealese_56-1">[57] with the release of Part II set to follow on August 22, 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60">[61]

Original video animations
Main articles: Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal and Rurouni Kenshin: ReflectionThere are also two Rurouni Kenshin original video animation (OVA) series which have respectively four and two episodes. The first of them, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, collectively known in Japan as Tsuiokuhen (追憶編 Recollection<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) and later edited into a movie, was released in 1999 in Japan, and in 2003 was collected into a two hour feature-length motion picture with new animated sequences and released in North America as a Director's Cut DVD by ADV Films. It is set during the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and during Kenshin's job as an assassin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-trust_61-0">[62] The second OVA is Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection, known in Japan as Seisōhen (星霜編 Time<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) and later edited into a movie, composed of two episodes. The first episode was originally released on December 12, 2001 in Japan and the second on March 20, 2002. It is set both during and after the timeline of the series and tells of Kenshin and Kaoru's later days, much of which is not derived from the manga.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62">[63] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63">[64] It was released in the United States by ADV Films on DVD on March 25, 2003, while a Director's Cut edition was later released.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64">[65] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65">[66] Both OVAs were eventually released on Blu-ray Disc by Aniplex of America in 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Aniplex_USA_-_Rurouni_Kenshin_52-1">[53]

Live-action film
On June 28, 2011, a live-action film adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin was announced.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66">[67] Produced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Bros.], with actual film production done by Studio Swan, the film was directed by Keishi Ōtomo and stars Takeru Satoh (of Kamen Rider Den-O fame) as Kenshin, Munetaka Aoki as Sanosuke Sagara and Emi Takei as Kaoru.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67">[68] The film is scheduled for a August 25, 2012 release,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68">[69] and the staff "aims to release the film internationally and eventually make a series."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-vizmanga_16-1">[17]

Soundtracks
Cover of Rurouni Kenshin OST 1.All of the series music was composed by Noriyuki Asakura and several CDs have been released by Sony Records. The first, Rurouni Kenshin OST 1 was released on April 1, 1996 and contained twenty-three songs that were used during the first episodes of the series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69">[70] The second one, Rurouni Kenshin OST 2 - Departure was released on October 21, 1996 and contained fifteen tracks that were first used before the start of the Kyoto Arc.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70">[71] The next one, Rurouni Kenshin OST 3 - Journey to Kyoto was released on April 21, 1997 and contained the thirteen tracks that originally used in the Kyoto Arc.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-71">[72] For the next arc, Rurouni Kenshin OST 4 - Let it Burn was released on February 1, 1998 and contained twelve tracks.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72">[73]

For the OVAs series, all themes were composed by Taku Iwasaki and the CDs were released by Sony Visual Works. The first, Rurouni Kenshin Tsuioku Hen OST was released on March 20, 1999 and contained sixteen tracks that were used in Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73">[74] For the Reflection OVA a soundtrack called Rurouni Kenshin Seisō Hen OST was released on January 23, 2002 and contained eighteen tracks.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74">[75]

Several compilations of the anime songs were also released in collection CDs. Thirty tracks were selected and joined in a CD called Rurouni Kenshin - The Director's Collection, that was released on July 21, 1997.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75">[76] Rurouni Kenshin Best Theme Collection was released on March 21, 1998 and contained ten tracks.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76">[77] All of the opening and ending themes were also collected in a CD called Rurouni Kenshin OP/ED Theme Collection.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-77">[78] The Japanese voice actors of the series also composed songs that were released as two Cds Rurouni Kenshin Songs Album. All of the anime tracks, including OVAs and films tracks were collected in Rurouni Kenshin Complete CD-Box that was released on September 19, 2002. It contains the four TV OSTs, the two OVA OSTs, the movie OST, the two game OSTs, an opening & closing theme collection, and the two Character Songs albums.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-78">[79]

Several drama CDs, which adapted stories in the Rurouni Kenshin manga, were also released in Japan. Each of them featured different voice actors from that one that worked in the anime adaptation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-79">[80] In Volume 5 of the manga Watsuki stated that he anticipated that the script of the third volume, which has the stories involving the character Udō Jin-e, would be "pretty close" but would have additional lines belonging to Sanosuke and Yahiko.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-80">[81]

Art and guidebooks
Two encyclopedias of the Rurouni Kenshin manga were released in Japan. The first one, Rurouni Kenshin Profiles (原典<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), was released first in Japan on July 4, 1996 by Shueisha and in the United States by Viz Media on November 1, 2005.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-81">[82] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-82">[83] Kenshin Kaden (剣心華伝<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) , released on December 15, 1999 includes the story Haru ni Sakura, which details the fates of all of the Rurouni Kenshin characters. The story takes place years after the manga's conclusion, when Kenshin and Kaoru have married and have a young son, Kenji. Many of the series' major characters who have befriended Kenshin reunite or otherwise reveal their current whereabouts with him in a spring picnic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-83">[84] For the anime, three Kenshin Zoushi artbook were published from 1997 to 1998. While the first two were based on the TV series, the third one was based on the film. The film one was named Ishin Shishi no Requiem Art Book and was released along with the movie.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84">[85] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85">[86] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86">[87] Also released was Rurouni-Art Book, which contained images from the OVAs. A guidebook from the kanzenban imprint of the series was published on June 4, 2007.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87">[88]

Light novels
The Rurouni Kenshin light novels were originally from Shueisha's Jump j-Books. They were co-written by Kaoru Shizuka. Most of them are original stories which were later adapted in the anime. Others are adaptations of manga and anime stories. The first novel, Rurouni Kenshin: Voyage to the Moon World, was published in Japan on October 10, 1996 and in North America on October 17, 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-88">[89] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89">[90] The second, Yahiko's Battle, was released on October 3, 1997. It retells various stories featured in the manga and anime series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90">[91] The last novel is TV Anime Shimabara Arc which was published on February 4, 1999.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91">[92]

Video games
There are two Rurouni Kenshin games released for the PlayStation console. Neither game has made it out of Japan. The first, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Ishin Gekitōhen (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 維新激闘編<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) was released on November 29, 1996. It was developed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZOOM_Inc. ZOOM Inc.]. The game is a 3D fighter game with 5 playable characters, while the plot focuses in the first seven volumes from the manga.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-92">[93] The second one, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Jūyūshi Inbō Hen (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 十勇士陰謀編<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) was released on December 18, 1997 and was re-released in the PlayStation The Best lineup on November 5, 1998. The game is a role-playing video game with a story unrelated to either the manga or anime.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-93">[94]

''Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Enjō! Kyōto Rinne'' (るろうに剣心　-明治剣客浪漫譚- 炎上!京都輪廻<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) is the only video game for the PlayStation 2 console. Its Japanese release was slated at September 14, 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-94">[95] The game has sold over 130,000 copies in Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Game_sales_95-0">[96] A 2D fighting game titled Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Saisen (るろうに剣心　-明治剣客浪漫譚- 再閃<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) was released for the PlayStation Portable in March 10, 2011 in Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-96">[97] Himura Kenshin also appeared in the 2005 and 2006 Nintendo DS games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars as a battle character, while others were support characters and help characters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-97">[98]

Merchandise
Watsuki commented that there was a lot of Rurouni Kenshin merchandise released for the Japanese market. He recommended that buyers consider quality before paying for merchandise items and for them to consult their wallets and buy stuff that they feel is "worth it." Watsuki added that he liked the protoype for a stuffed Kenshin doll for the UFO catcher devices.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-98">[99]

Manga
The manga has been highly popular with the original release having sold over 50 million copies in Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-vizmanga_16-2">[17] Rurouni Kenshin also ranked at tenth place in the Web's Most Wanted 2005, ranking in the animation category.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-99">[100] Volume 27 of the manga ranked second in the Viz Bookscan Top Ten during June 2006,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-100">[101] while volume 21 and 20 ranked second and tenth, respectively, in the Top 10 Graphic Novels of Viz of 2005.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-101">[102] Rurouni Kenshin volume 24 also ranked in 116th position in the USA Today's best selling book list for the week ending February 26, 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-102">[103] During the third quarter from 2003, Rurouni Kenshin ranked at the top of ICv2's Top 50 Manga Properties.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-103">[104] In the same poll from 2005, it was featured at the top once again based on sales from English volumes during 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-104">[105] In the Top Ten Manga Properties from 2006 from the same site, it ranked ninth.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-105">[106]

The manga has received praise and criticism from various publications. Mania Entertainment writer Megan Lavey found that the manga had a good balance between character development, comedy and action scenes. The artwork of Watsuki was said to have improved as the series continued, noting that characters also had reactions during fights.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-106">[107] Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network (ANN) praised the story from the manga, but noted that by volume 18 of the series, Watsuki started to repeat the same type of villains who were united to kill Kenshin. Although she praised Watsuki's characters, she commented that some of them needed some consistency due to various "bizarre" antagonists.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-enishiarc_1-1">[2] IGN reviewer A.E. Sparrow liked the manga's ending, praising how the storylines are resolved, and how most of the supporting cast end up. He also praised the series' characters, remarking that Kenshin "belongs in any top ten of manga heroes."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-107">[108] Otaku USA reviewer Daryl Surat said that the manga's quality was good until the "Revenge Arc," where he criticized the storyline and the new characters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat37_108-0">[109] Surat described the series as an example of a "neo-Shonen" series, where a shōnen series also appeals to a female audience; Surat stated that, in such series character designs are "pretty" for female audiences, but not too "girly" for male audiences. Surat cited Shinomori Aoshi and Seta Sōjirō, characters who ranked highly in popularity polls even though, in Surat's view, Aoshi does not engage in "meaningful" battles and Sōjirō is a "kid." Surat explained that Aoshi appears "like a Clamp character wearing Gambit's coat and Sōjirō always smiles despite the abuse inflicted upon him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat34_109-0">[110] Surat said that the character designs for the television anime series were "toughened up a bit." He added that the budget for animation and music was "top-notch" because Sony produced the budget.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat3436_110-0">[111]

Anime
When TV Asahi, a television network in Japan, conducted a nation-wide survey for the one hundred most popular animated television series, Rurouni Kenshin anime came in sixty-sixth place.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-111">[112] They also conducted an online web poll, in which Rurouni Kenshin was placed at number 62.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-112">[113] Nearly a year later, TV Asahi once again conducted an online poll for the top one hundred anime, and Rurouni Kenshin anime advanced in rank and came in twenty-sixth place.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-113">[114] The fourth DVD of the anime was also Anime Castle's best selling DVD in October 2001.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-114">[115] Rurouni Kenshin was also a finalist in the American Anime Awards in the category "Long Series" but lost against Fullmetal Alchemist.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-115">[116] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-116">[117]

The anime has also been commented on by Chris Shepard from ANN noting a well crafted plot and good action scenes. However, he also criticized that during the first episodes the fights never get quite interesting as it becomes a bit predictable that Kenshin is going to win as the music of moments of victory is repeated many times.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-117">[118] However, Mark A. Grey from the same site mentioned that all those negatives points disappear during the Kyoto Arc due to amazing fights and a great soundtrack.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-118">[119] Tasha Robinson from SciFi.com had a similar opinion on the anime, and added that the characters' personalities' allowed the plot to develop into a good variety of interesting stories. She also liked the historical setting as it makes all the situations seem authentic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-human_119-0">[120] Although Them Anime's Carlos Ross also liked the action scenes and storyline, he added that the number of childish and violent scenes make the show a bit unbalanced, saying it is not recommended for younger children.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-120">[121] Surat approved of the anime series, stating that while half of the first season episodes consisted of filler, the situation "clicks" upon the introduction of Saitō Hajime and that he disagreed with people who disliked the television series compared to the OVAs. Surat said that while the Media Blasters anime dub is "well-cast," the English dub does not sound natural since the producers were too preoccupied with making the voice performances mimick the Japanese performances.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat36_53-1">[54] Surat said that while he "didn't mind" the first filler arc with the Christianity sect, he could not stomach the final two filler arcs, and Japanese audiences disapproved of the final two filler arcs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Surat37_108-1">[109]

OVAs
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal has received significant praise for its story, animation, art, music and Japanese voice acting from various critics. Mike Crandol from ANN noted Trust & Betrayal as one of the greatest OVA series of all time, celebrating the new characters designs as well as the fights scenes which were also noted to be "terribly bloody" and beautiful at the same time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Animenewsnetwork_121-0">[122] Although DVD Talk reviewer Don Houston mentioned the OVAs were very violent for teenagers, he found the story and music to be "solid". The director's cut version received positive comments by how the four OVAs were arranged with Houston commenting it "seems more like a movie that stands alone, rather than just the precursor to a long lasting series."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-122">[123]

However, Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection received less positive responses. While Nobuhiro Watsuki had checked the script from the OVA, he gave it disapproval due to its sad ending.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WatsukiInterview_2-1">[3] Crandol also later commented that fans from the manga may be disappointed when seeing Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection since most of the fighting scenes have been deleted in the OVA. Another negative point was the number of out-of-character performances, with Kenshin's character being unable to laugh when in the manga he always used to. Nevertheless, the music and animation featured in the Reflection were highly praised again as one of the best ones from Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-123">[124]