Saito Hajime

Saitō Hajime is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin created by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

His name is given as Hajime Saitō in Western-order, which is the chosen order used in the English anime.

Saito Hajime

Saitō Hajime (1844-1915) was an actual historic figure of the Meiji era, and a number of details presented in the fictional characters are based on facts.

When creating the character Watsuki used the concept of "anti-hero", much like The Punisher, Frank Castle, of Marvel Comics fame, from whom he drew inspiration.Watsuki considers Saitō as the "curse" of the villains in the series as he always ends defeating the enemies who believe they are the strongest. The Gatotsu sword technique that Saitō uses in the series is similar to the description of his original sword technique, but is purely fictional, and not entirely accurate to real sword fighting.

Saito Hajime

Sagara Sanosuke

Sagara Sanosuke is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin anime and manga series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is known as Sanosuke Sagara in the English adaptation of the anime and is nicknamed Sano. Watsuki, being a fan of the Shinsengumi, created Sanosuke by basing his name and characteristics on that of a real Shinsengumi member named Harada Sanosuke.

Sagara Sanosuke

Set during a fictional version of Japan in the pre-Meiji period, Sanosuke is a former member of the Sekihotai. When the group is destroyed by the Meiji Government, he becomes a fighter-for-hire to calm his anger by fighting. During his introduction in the series, he encounters the wanderer Himura Kenshin, who easily defeats him and is able to convince him to stop his mercenary work and instead start protecting people. After that encounter, Sanosuke becomes Kenshin's best friend as well as his partner in most of their fights. He has also appears in the featured film of the series and in other media relating to the Rurouni Kenshin franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and original video animations (OVAs).

Sagara Sanosuke

Sagara Sanosuke

Numerous anime and manga publications have commented on Sanosuke's character. Mania Entertainment praised his character development, noting that he becomes more trustworthy and reliable as the series progresses. SciFi.com referred to him as a "video-game icon", and noted how he is portrayed as a "tragic figure". Sanosuke has been popular with the Rurouni Kenshin reader base, placing second in every popularity poll. Merchandise based on Sanosuke has also been released, including key chains, and plush dolls.

Sagara Sanosuke

Sagara Sanosuke

Kamiya Kaoru

Kamiya Kaoru, known as Kaoru Kamiya in the English-language dub, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki as a main protagonist of the media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, OVAs, movies, soundtracks, video games, and other collectibles.

Kamiya Kaoru

Kamiya Kaoru

In the story, Kaoru is the teacher from a kendo school from Tokyo called Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū. The school starts to lose all its students when an imposter starts killing a large number of people and claims to be the "Hitokiri Battōsai from the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū". Kaoru encounters him but before being killed by him she is saved by the real Hitokiri Battōsai, now a wanderer, Himura Kenshin, to whom she offers to stay in her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead of a hitokiri. As the series continue, Kaoru develops strong romantic feelings for Kenshin, who is constantly haunted by the wrongs committed in his past, and believes he does not deserve happiness. Kaoru has also appeared in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media relating to the franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and a series of OVAs.

Kamiya Kaoru

Kamiya Kaoru

Rurouni Kenshin

The story of Rurouni Kenshin takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. It tells the story of a peaceful wanderer named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the assassin Hitokiri Battōsai. After participating during 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, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who was in the middle of a fight with a murderer who claims to be the Hitokiri Battōsai from her swordmanship school. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real Battōsai, she offers him a place stay at her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead. Kenshin accepts and begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old.

Rurouni Kenshin

After three 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 decide to travel to Kyoto 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.

Rurouni Kenshin

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. When it was discovered that Tomoe was part of a group of assassins that wanted to kill Kenshin, Kenshin blindly swings his sword, killing both his assailant and Tomoe, who jumps in at the last minute to save Kenshin from a fatal attack.

Rurouni Kenshin

Wanting to take revenge for the death of his sister, Enishi kidnaps Kaoru and leaves behind a tortured figure bearing a stunning resemblance of the girl for Kenshin to find and momentarily grieve over. Once discovering that Kaoru is alive, Kenshin and his friends set to rescue her. A battle between Kenshin and Enishi follows and when Kenshin wins, he and Kaoru return home. Five years later, Kenshin has found true peace; he is married to Kaoru and has a son named Himura Kenji.

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin

Kenshin

Kenshin, known as Kenshin Himura in the English-language dub, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series, as well as the related media in the franchise. When creating Kenshin, Watsuki designed him to be the physical opposite of Hiko Seijūrō, a character that appears in Watsuki's first one-shot manga, Crescent Moon in the Warring States, and later in Rurouni Kenshin as his swordsmanship teacher.

Set in a fictional version of Japan, during the pre-Meiji period, Kenshin is a former legendary assassin known as "Hitokiri Battōsai". At the end of the Bakumatsu, he becomes a wandering samurai, now wielding a sakabatō (sakabatō lit. "reverse-blade sword"), a katana that has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword, thus being nearly incapable of killing. 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. In Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who invites him to live in her dojo despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old. Through these encounters and relationships, Kenshin begins to find true atonement for his past enabling him to fully conquer his "Battōsai" nature. By the series' end, he has found true peace and contentment as the husband of Kaoru and the father of their son, Kenji.

Kenshin

Kenshin

Kenshin's character was well received by fans, with his holding the top spot in all reader popularity polls for the series. Critics of the series praised his personality, though some complained about his development during the original video animation (OVA) series, which differs from the manga. A variety of collectibles based around Kenshin have been created, including figurines, key chains, plushies, and replicas of his sakabatō sword.

Kenshin

Kenshin

Samurai X Manga

Written 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. 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. 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 ("Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword"), 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.

Samurai X

Samurai X

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, with volumes released normally every other month until July 5, 2006, when the final volume was published. In January 2008, Viz began re-releasing the manga in a wideban format called "VIZBIG Edition", which is a collection of three volumes in one.

Samurai X

Samurai X

Samurai X

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan) 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, formerly known as the "Hitokiri Battōsai" ("Hitokiri Battōsai" or "Battosai the Manslayer" in the English dub) who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan. Being a fan of 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.

Samurai X

The manga initially appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999. The complete work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni." The English-language versions of the OVAs as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada. Several video games have also been released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles, with Rurouni Kenshin: Enjō! Kyoto Rinne selling over 130,000 copies.

The series has been highly popular in Japan, America, and Europe. The manga has sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007 while the anime has ranked between the 100 most watched series in Japan multiple times.

Samurai X