Title:
Rurouni Kenshin, Book OnePublisher’s rating:
T+, for older teensGenre:
ActionPublisher's Website:
VizAnime:
No official anime website.Sound bite:
Bloody but idealistic, a good read with interesting characters, strong storyline, and historical interest. Warning: The series gets more violent in subsequent books.My rating:
OK for 12 and up if they are not bothered by the violence—but that's a big if. Parents should look through the book first.Kid Reviews:
ShojuOneMore details:
Plot Summary:
This is a weird combination of violent swordplay and emotional tale, laced through with lots of humor. The setting is the 19th-century Meiji restoration, when the government abolished the warrior class of samurai and forbade the samurai to carry swords. Kaoru is a young woman who is struggling to run the dojo, or swordfighting school, established by her father. Kenshin is a rurouni, or wandering swordsman, who carries a sword with its blade mounted backwards so he cannot kill anyone. As the story opens, a murderer is stalking the town, claiming to be a follower of Kaoru's style of swordfighting. This turns out to be a plan to discredit her; two owners of a nearby dojo want to force her to sell her land. They show up to intimidate Kaoru, but Kenshin arrives and saves the day.
Eventually we learn that Kenshin was a feared assassin during the Meiji revolution, but he has renounced his violent ways and become a wanderer. Kenshin and Kaoru become friends, and Kenshin decides to stay at the dojo for a while. When he's not teaching the bad guys a lesson, he helps out with the housework, and there is a running gag about Kaoru sending him out to buy all the groceries at once. Kenshin takes in Yahiko, a child who is being brutalized by a street gang, and has him study under Kaoru, a fate that Yahiko accepts reluctantly (but warms up to when Kaoru and Kenshin dispatch a group of drunken mercenaries that are threatening the dojo).
The fourth main character to enter is Sagara Sanosuke, the "fight merchant," sort of a fighter for hire. The men who tried to grab Kaoru's dojo hire him to beat Kenshin. The volume ends as Sanosuke and Kenshin face off. We do not see the end of the fight.
An extra story, about Kenshin rescuing a girl from kidnappers, is added at the end of the book as a prequel.
Overall, this book alternates violent scenes with scenes of drama and humor. The artwork is better than standard manga, and the characters have a bit more complexity. One of the strong points is the inclusion of a great deal of historical detail, with explanations, about the lifestyles and social issues of the Meiji era. For some readers, this may spur further interest in Japanese culture. Others will stick around for the swordfighting and the story.
Character and morality:
The good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad. Some of the good characters have issues, but they also have integrity. Kaoru is independent and feisty, and she is determined to run a good dojo and preserve the family honor. Yahiki is angry and violent, but Kenshin rescues him by appealing to his better nature. When Yahiki steals Kenshin's purse, Kenshin gives it to him and says "Next time don't get caught, young one." Yahiki throws the purse back and bristles at being called "young one." Kenshin responds, "You look like a child, but it's obvious that your soul is mature." Yahiki renounces stealing on the spot, and when the thieves beat him for this, the memory of Kenshin's words gives him strength. Sanosuke is the most amoral character; his only interest is a good fight, and he wears the symbol "aku," for evil. However, he is revolted when he catches the men who hired him hiding behind a fence with a gun, waiting to finish Kenshin off after the fight. He grabs the gun and crushes it, insisting on a fair fight.
Honor is a theme that runs throughout the book. Kaoru stalks the murderer in the beginning because he uses the technique taught by her father, and thus has dishonored her dojo. Later, when two of her former students get drunk and mix it up with some mercenaries, Kaoru offers herself as the object of their revenge, saying, "Even if they're out of the dojo, their misuse of the blade is my responsibility."
For a book about sword fighting, "Rurouni Kenshin" talks a good nonviolence line. Kenshin deplores violence and uses it only to defend himself and others. He regularly finds opportunities to denounce abuses of power, and he claims that his former activities as an assassin were done all in the pursuit of peace. After delivering an aphorism or two, he beats everyone up, thus ensuring their respect.
Violence:
Not surprisingly, in a book about sword fighting, there is lots of gory violence. However, it is very stylized. The most common image is of swords clashing together with a starburst of lines or droplets flying out, and people flying through the air. We do see people screaming, droplets of blood flying, severed ears and fingers dripping on the ground. The most graphic violence occurs in the last section of the book, which shows a man's head flying off his body and another person being run through by a sword. Kenshin makes it very clear that he does not believe in killing, but he is not averse to wounding people who get in his way. It's usually not clear exactly what he does, but the bad guys always end up spread all over the floor.
Kenshin grabs Kaoru by the ponytail to keep her from running when she is wounded; this is handled as a comic incident.
Sexuality/body functions:
No sex. Everyone is too busy fighting. A man threatened by Kenshin drools and wets his pants. The head of the gang of thieves tells Yahiki that his mother was a whore who worked in a brothel and died of syphilis.
Language:
A few "damn"s.
Substances:
One minor character smokes cigarettes.
