Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

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Alternativas: English: Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story
Synonyms: Samurai X, Sengoku no Mikazuki, Crescent Moon in the Warring States, Crescent Moon Over a Country At War, Meteor Strike
Japanese: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-
Autor: Watsuki, Nobuhiro
Modelo: Mangá
Volumes: 28
Capítulos: 259
Status: Finished
Publicar: 1994-04-12 to 1999-09-21
Serialização: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

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4.6
(27 Votos)
62.96%
33.33%
3.70%
0.00%
0.00%
0 Lendo
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Alternativas: English: Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story
Synonyms: Samurai X, Sengoku no Mikazuki, Crescent Moon in the Warring States, Crescent Moon Over a Country At War, Meteor Strike
Japanese: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-
Autor: Watsuki, Nobuhiro
Modelo: Mangá
Volumes: 28
Capítulos: 259
Status: Finished
Publicar: 1994-04-12 to 1999-09-21
Serialização: Shounen Jump (Weekly)
Pontuação
4.6
27 Votos
62.96%
33.33%
3.70%
0.00%
0.00%
0 Lendo
0 Quero ler
0 Ler
Resumo
Ten years have passed since the end of Bakumatsu, an era of war that saw the uprising of citizens against the Tokugawa shogunate. The revolutionaries wanted to create a time of peace, and a thriving country free from oppression. The new age of Meiji has come, but peace has not yet been achieved. Swords are banned but people are still murdered in the streets. Orphans of war veterans are left with nowhere to go, while the government seems content to just line their pockets with money.

One wandering samurai, Kenshin Himura, still works to make sure the values he fought for are worth the lives spent to bring about the new era. Once known as Hitokiri Battousai, he was feared as the most ruthless killer of all the revolutionaries. Now haunted by guilt, Kenshin has sworn never to kill again in atonement for the lives he took, and he may never know peace until killing is a thing of the past.

Now in the 11th year of Meiji, Kenshin stumbles upon Kaoru Kamiya, owner and head instructor of a small dojo being threatened to close its doors. The police force is powerless to stop the string of murders done in the name of her dojo by a man claiming to be the famous Battousai. Kenshin's wanderings pause for now as he joins Kaoru to clear both their names. But how long can he stay before his past catches up to him?



Included one-shot:
Volume 28: Meteor Strike
Avaliações (27)
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Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
de
muntasir1239
Apr 02, 2021
tl;dr: A manga with great action and great character development in its main cast, though it drags on quite a bit in the middle.

Rurouni Kenshin is a manga originally released in the 90s, but that remains popular to this day. I myself did read the manga before when it was first released in the United States in the mid 2000s, but that was ages ago and I barely remember it outside of key plot points. As such, seeing as we have just passed the 25th anniversary, I felt like it was worth reading again.

I would have to describe the manga as containing three distinct thirds, though they have varying lengths with the first being somewhat shorter than a third and the second being somewhat longer. The first is a series of short stories that establish the main characters associated with the Kamiya dojo and various short stories branching off of those. In the case of Sanosuke and Yahiko it feels like it starts their character arcs. It begins exploring the concept of the difference between Battousai and Kenshin and how the vow not kill affects him. It goes into some background on Kenshin and the revolution, but not a lot. It also begins developing the romance between Kenshin and Kaoru, but it's really subtle. The action is also decent, but not as good as the later portions. Overall while not completely lighthearted, it's lighter compared to where things go afterwards. In general the plot and action too were pretty minimal and there was a lot more focus on the characters involved and in that it did a pretty great job at keeping good pacing and keeping things interesting.

The second third drops the short story type storytelling from the first third and tells a single extended story centered around stopping a singular villain, Shishio. This portion I wasn't really fond of. Its much more plot focused and provides a lot of background on the revolution to support said plot, but the plot still isn't especially strong. Shishio felt like a pretty 2D villain, which was fine for the smaller villains during the first third, but with him being the main villain for an extended period of time it felt pretty weak. And the narrative surrounding facing him was also pretty simplistic. While the first portion didn't particularly have a good plot either, it had its focus on characters to hold it up, but here the focus on plot seems to mean that there was less of a focus on characters. Kenshin does get some background and development, but it didn't feel like it was enough considering how long the arc took. Ultimately, his personal stake in things was too light to really go in depth into his character. There was also relationship development with Kaoru, but that too was still really subtle and felt like it didn't really go far enough considering everything that happened. While Sanosuke and Yahiko did get stronger, it didn't particularly feel like they were developing as characters. Really, the only character that felt like they got proper development was the side character Aoshi, whose arc was decent, but it does kind of play into the standard shounen too easily forgiving former villains trope, which I'm not overtly fond of in serious manga. Lots of interesting new side characters were added to the cast as well that it did decent introductions for, but I felt that wasn't enough to mitigate the lack of progress in the main cast. The action was a solid improvement over the first third though and quite intense. Still, all in all this third felt like it was lacking substance and hence felt like it had bad pacing with things dragging on too long.

The final third was where I feel the manga was at its best. There's a central villain again, but they're more complex and far better developed than Shishio. He also has a very personal connection to Kenshin, so as such this portion of the manga is where we finally get extensive background and really good character development in Kenshin, where it fully explores where his vow to never kill came from and what he really wants to do. Additionally, the narrative also manages to weave in what are essentially side stories with Sanosuke and Yahiko that also provide background on them and complete their character arcs well. The plot is pretty simple with the larger focus being on characters, but the storytelling I think is still the best in the series and the big twist I thought was built up to properly and worked well in how it allowed the structure that the manga has which allows all the main characters to shine which also results in pretty great pacing. The relationship development in this portion still isn't amazing, and thus overall, I don't consider this a series with particularly good romance, but it was solid enough and ended really well. The action was also even more intense than during the second portion. Overall, I felt it did a good job of focusing on characters and managed to do justice to each of the main character's and gave everyone and the manga overall a solid ending.

The art I think worked really well in terms of showing the fast pace of the action. I also think it does a good job of fitting the time it was portraying. However, beyond that I didn't particularly like the art style or character designs, and it didn't feel all that high quality. Though that may just be because at this point my criteria are probably somewhat screwed up since I mostly read relatively new digitally drawn manga.
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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-Lupa-14
Apr 02, 2021
▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ I knew the rating on MAL for this was pretty high, but the fact that it was another one of those fighting shounen manga made me expect a little less. There are a lot of those and what new thing could “Rurouni Kenshin” bring to the picture? The plot with the strongest hero from the beginning to the end is not particularly new, so the mangaka would really have to make him stand out from the others.

He came to town as a wandering swordsman with a mysterious past he told no one about. He turned out to be the most skilled one there, strong enough to beat anyone pitted against him despite how formidable his opponents looked. He joined Kamiya dojo when Kaoru asked him to, knowing his strengths. Little did he know, many would come to challenge him or ask for his help, and his adventure was beginning once again.

▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ Alright, okay. I admit that while reading through about 15 or so chapters I was reasonably hooked. There was something intriguing about a man who had killed so many times before but now used his sword sparingly, injuring his enemies but never killing. People always thought that a swordsman who didn’t kill was not strong, but Kenshin always surpassed their expectations: he was fast, he was brave, and he was a master. A lot of times he would get so beat up and bloodied that it seemed like it would be his last leg, but he almost always pulled through.

Of course, halfway through the manga, it was very repetitive. A new enemy would show up and he would say the same things as the last: he was the strongest of them all and he’d beat Kenshin for the title of the strongest in the world. But Kenshin would find some way to kick him to the curb without killing him and the enemy would be a new person. If it weren’t for the side stories, tragic back stories, and very small bits of romance, I would not have been as interested in reading this.

▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ The characters are really the greatest part of the story, though. I noticed in the character popularity polls featured in some of the manga chapters, Kenshin was almost never the favorite. A lot of times, the other characters took the spotlight in those polls for their spunky personalities or individual strengths. Kenshin might have even seemed boring to them because he was a calm person for the most part and hardly ever gave way to rage.


A few of the characters got on my nerves, but some of them I liked from the beginning or grew on me. The few that returned became stronger and wiser, and in 200+ chapters Watsuki has so many ideas for different people, it’s mesmerizing. I have to hand it to him for such a great cast of characters with such a wide array of strengths, weaknesses, and appearances.

▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ I don’t read 90s manga very often, so the artwork threw me off for a bit in the first few chapters. It can be a little rough around the edges and oftentimes the main character looks plain compared to the other characters. But I have to hand it to the mangaka for all the detail put into those other characters, though. Each and every enemy has a unique face, harrowing shadow, unique costumes, and their own backstories (not that all of them are revealed).

Will all the fights going on, of course, I still have a hard time understanding exactly what’s happening, but that’s always been my problem. However, I think since the mangaka gets so used to drawing injured people all bloodied up, they get better looking as they go on. I mean their injuries look like they hurt and the blood spatters are pretty realistic against the 2D art. The tired eyes and expressions are pretty believable as well.

▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ ▩ While Kenshin’s pact not to kill another person was admirable, I was also frustrated with how difficult his opponents were such that I wished he would kill someone. But alas, he’s a strong person and uses his words well enough so that he doesn’t need to. He seems to have seen the world from where he is and his experience has made him extremely wise.

I’m not sure if I would say “Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan” is a staple shounen to indulge in, but it’s been around for a while and it’s gotten a lot of positive reviews. In it’s time it was very popular and I can see why. The new characters that are constantly introduced keeps the manga fresh with action and everyone loves a good fight. Maybe if you’d like something a little slow in the beginning but builds up quickly and is action-packed for the rest of the way, you should give this manga a try.
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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TheElfiestElf10
Apr 02, 2021
This is my standard for manga. This is my favorite and first i actually loved. i remeber when I first saw the preview on toonami, I was about 8 or 9 when i was sitting back watching Dragon ball Z and YuYu Hakusho when i saw a 5 minute preview for Rurouni Kenshin i was BLOWN AWAY. I saw the first episode on Toonami I fell in love for the first time in my life. the show was then cancelled and than fell through the corridors of my memory not to be seen again for about 4 years

Wen i was in 6th grade I had recently gotten back into manga and anime when i saw Rurouni Kenshin Volume 1. My brain exploded with nostalgia to the point that a begged my mom until she bought me the first 3 volumes.

The story is about the Meiji Restoration Period after the Japanese Revolution when the samurai were abolished the mian Character is Himura Kenshin who was formerly the dreaded Hitokiri Battouai (Battosai the manslayer in the Dub)
after the revolution he vowed never to take another life and recieved a sakabato (Reverse Blade Sword) Which cannot cut anything. Kenshin saves a young dojo owner name Karou who he eventually ends up living with. other characters include Myojin Yahiko an orphan who is Karou's only student. Sagara Sanosuke a street brawler who hates the government. Shinimori Aoshi a former ninja turned mercenary. Saito hajime a real person who was a former shinsengumi captain turned cop. and finally Takani Megumi a doctor and former opium maker.

RK is the only manga i know of that balances 4 genres perfectly
Action
Romance
Comedy and
Historical fiction

I now want to adress the ending if you don't want spoilers skip this part:

The ending is amazing for me, everyone goes their seperate ways and lives hapily which usually brings a tear to my eye to see these characters that have gone through so much together just leave...

SPOILER END

ok! so the manga is FAR superior to the Anime and well this is the messiah of modern manga.

I will now review Samurai X Trust and Betrayal
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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0namine17
Apr 02, 2021
I have seen this in its anime form since 1998 (around the time of Fushigi Yuugi(which, incidentally I only have recently been able to read through to the "end" as well) and have only now just read through it...but then it finished (serialization that is, 1999) some time ago...anyway...

Okay, well if you liked the anime (which was full of non-canon/non-manga based episodes near the end), then I think you will still love the manga. Besides, the most interesting part of the story happens in the Jinchuu arc (which I had been hearing/reading about in various fanfics, but only now understand fully).

Hnn, well what hooked me to the anime was comedy, and although it may not be as pronounced in the manga, it's definitely there...I wouldn't like reading anything too serious after all (this is the reason why I don't survive reading assignments spanning chapters *sigh*)

But overall, I find myself agreeing to Kenshin's decision to continue his life's struggle as a form of atonement. After all, it's not very productive if you were 6 feet underground...you'd only be fertilizer then :P

The ending really does leave a lot of room for fanfics...so I see why there's such a lot of them floating around.

Well, I'd love to see how Watsuki-sensei would have continued this (if he hasn't already, or is still planning to...er, someone tell me if this is the case)

Why I liked this manga? It has that balance of comedic stuff but still retains the more "serious plot", and the character conflicts are given more depth by actually having it analyzed through a single person's point of view, well belief anyway, in this case, Kenshin's. I also enjoyed watching Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship developing: from the chance encounter in the beginning blossoming into something more, built from trust and love that have withstood countless trials along the way.
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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Haileyhaha92
Apr 02, 2021
This review is from the point of view of somebody who is indifferent to, and rarely indulges in the "Shonen Battle Series" genre. While it is true that long-time devotees of a genre have undeniable value in judging works within that genre, I believe the perspective of an outsider is valuable as well. If a newcomer doesn't 'get' or 'like' something, it's something to be considered, especially if a genre wants to attract new fans. Now down to business with this manga classic...

"Rurouni Kenshin" is licensed in the US by Viz Media.

-Story-

I typically ignore Shonen Battle series for the same reason I ignore American superhero comics: overly-long plots that constantly reset to the status quo, lose focus in a swamp of side arcs, and lack storytelling depth (I'm indisputably in the 'Seinen' demographic now, so 'Teamwork' and 'Friendship' aren't the most exciting themes). The tendency for a character to get a convenient power-up at just the right time because Deus Ex Machina doesn't help either. And 'RuroKen' shows many of these flaws. The characters always seem to find a justification to take an action that prolongs the current arc, villains insist on fighting man-to-man duels even when they could launch an overwhelming attack with all their forces, and physics only applies when the story feels like it. But mixed in with all the textbook Shonen Battle series tropes are some very good moments of comedy (one reason I came to anime and manga in the first place was the fact that I found the over-the-top gags hilarious), moments where a character would come off as completely badass and I just had to sit there in awe (AKA every time Saito Hajime appears) and even -to my surprise- some thematic depth. RuroKen touches on a topic I don't think is covered often in the Shonen Battle genre: the disconnect between ideals and reality. Although Kenshin had fought to destroy the old Shogunate and establish the new Meiji Imperial Government, this new Meiji government is far from perfect. It can be very pragmatic about when and how it follows its official ideals, infighting and corruption plague it as much as any other government, and it has more than few dirty secrets from the civil war that it would REALLY like to stay secret. The series doesn't shy from the fact that social change rarely happens quickly or completely- the revolution that the Meiji promised is still ongoing and far from finished.

-Art-

Watsuki is well-known for the high degree of influence Shojo manga had on his art style (an early one-shot designed to test out 'RuroKen' hardly even looks like a JUMP manga), although over the 5 year run of the series there is a subtle shift to a more traditionally Shonen look. Backgrounds are solid, but it's character designs that truly shine. Yes, some do stick to traditional manga archetypes (spiky hair abounds) and not every character design is a hit (one-shot villains suffer the worst), but there is still a great deal of variety (and for fans of American comics, more than a few 'X-Men' and 'Spawn' references to catch). Also important, the battle choreography is dramatic and easy to follow (I've dealt with more than one series where I couldn't follow what was going on due to confusing presentation). The art is thoroughly 'manga' and thoroughly good.

-Character-

The characters are highly entertaining, but they're also one-trick ponies (of course, if you're Saito Hajime and your one trick is "I'm an absolute badass who remorselessly slays evil on sight", why change? But I digress...) What you see when they enter the story is what they are when they leave it. Delinquent brawler and 'fight merchant' Sanosuke does have the most fascinating back-story, and one that plays into the theme of 'ideals vs reality', but is largely static once he enters the scene. The only two characters who have any kind of personal arc that can be called such are Kenshin, as he struggles against temptation to return to the killer he was during the civil war and searches for a way to make amends for his deeds, and Aoshi the ninja, who is searching for a new purpose in life after his faction was destroyed along with the Shogunate it supported. Neither of these arcs are overwhelmingly stellar, but they provide a solid reason to keep the story going (Luke Skywalker had a very basic arc in Star Wars, but you don't see me complaining). In short, the cast is entertaining and doesn't drag the plot down.

-Enjoyment-

I'll admit I only gave this series a try because of it's historical fiction setting and because I wanted the prestige of reading 'the old stuff' (also, my younger brother bought me the first Viz Big volume as Christmas gift). I stuck around though, because I came to enjoy it for what it was. Yes, there were times I had to go into "it's a shonen battle series, don't compare it to Vinland Saga" mode, but who consumes ONLY serious entertainment? You can thoroughly enjoy "The Avengers" even if it isn't as deep as "Ben-Hur". Rurouni Kenshin got a man who is indifferent to its genre to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. I call that a success.

-Overall-

A classic series that has aged well, and can pull in fans from well outside its target audience. Any series that can have that said about it deserves a high score.
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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Jerakor6
Apr 02, 2021
Story (8): I loved how the story as a whole was solely about Kenshin's redemption and personal struggle about his past. It also gave enough time to give shining moments and backgrounds to other characters but did not get lost in it. I do wish that there could've been more time dedicated to character interactions outside of high tension plot events or in the midst of battle. This was one reason that I felt some romance was really forced and not natural at all.

Art(7): Action scenes were drawn so fluidly and over-all the art was good. A very large portion of characters had spiky hair though, just saying. Honestly there is nothing bad that stands out to be but it just wasn't my favorite art, especially with the faces and this is my personal opinion so I give it a 7.

Character (8): There is only one character I had an issue with and that was Kaoru. All the other characters had character growth and strong morals behind them that set them on their chosen courses but Kaoru was just annoying with no redeeming traits. I would've scored this as a 10 if she wasn't the main female. But aside from her everyone had an amazing aura about them and I really enjoyed that!

Enjoyment (7): I was able to binge through this but it did take me a little time. I definitely enjoyed it but I feel like the 2nd half was when I really got invested so it personally took me a little while to become fully invested.

Overall (7): I really enjoyed this and for my ratings a 7 is actually really good. I didn't exactly dislike anything about the manga outright, except for Kaoru's character, it is just a personal preference of liking to see a little more character interaction and not almost all of the plot being fighting or planning to fight. I really mainly say this because since we didn't have much time with character interactions it just made some stuff seem super unnatural, like the romance bits. But this is a classic shounen and the fighting was epic so if you like that then I bet it is a 10 for you!
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan review
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-Lupa-14
Apr 02, 2021
If you read the summary, you already know what this manga is about. However, even if you don't like tales of pacifism, this may still be worth your time, as even the main themes removed, this is simply one of the best battle shounen ever.

The main character Kenshin is somewhat typical, but nonetheless a good character with depth. All the side characters are similar, and most importantly, every character continues to have purpose in the story, up to the final chapter. My favorite is Yahiko, a young child who barely knows the back of a sword at the beginning, but is a trusted ally of Kenshin by the end, and seeing him grow is very satisfying. The villains are pretty good, but not the best. My favorite is the villain of the final arc, as his conflict feels much more personal to kenshin than any others'.

The battles of Rurouni Kenshin are also great. Understand, this is supposed to be a historical fiction, and there are no battle systems; Just swords, guns, and whatever else was in Meiji Japan. However, these battles push REALLY hard against the walls of reality. I don't think many of these battles could happen in real life. Nonetheless, there is no revivals or 'power of friendship' (Which honestly is a bit of a cliched critique, but still).

The story begins with shorter arcs with no overarching villain, until Shishio appears and kicks off a decently long arc, with one final arc following afterwards. The ending does feel a little rushed, and it could've gone on longer, but it ended on an extremely high note so I don't mind.

The art of this series is really, really good. Great action, emotion, and backgrounds. My only complaint is the fact that some character designs seem a bit too basic, but this is top-tier weekly art.

This is one of the finest battle shounen I've read. Only watched a few episodes of the anime, but I've heard it's not entirely faithful. It's probably not as good.
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