Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 1

Writer	Nobuhiro Watsuki
Illustrator	Nobuhiro Watsuki
Published in English	2003
Publisher	Viz Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Age rating	Teen plus

A Peace-Loving Samurai

First published in 1994 and translated into English in 2003, Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 1 collects the first six acts of the series previously printed in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Nobuhiro Watsuki who had created only one-shots before, wrote and illustrated this manga as his debut series. The comics are in action and historical fiction genres.
The manga follows Himura Kenshin, a wandering samurai, and Kamiya Kaoru, a young master of a dojo she inherited from her father. After they confront a duo of criminals (and their henchmen) together, Kenshin remains in Tokyo to aid Kaoru in her duties and from then on they face various challenges in which they have to fight violent opponents. Kenshin also appoints a young boy Yahiko to become Kaoru’s pupil.
The events of this manga are set after Bakumatsu and a short civil war in Japan as peaceful life is established during the Meiji Restoration. Historical references are frequent. In this setting, the protagonist may seem to be a relic of an earlier era, however, the comic book presents a great idea of a former warrior carrying a sakabatō and avoiding killing anyone.
As a humble wanderer, Himura Kenshin is the opposite to the other veterans who have fought against bakufu and who now hold high positions in the society and behave arrogantly. Misuse of power and violence are touched on in this story. Both Kenshin and Kaoru are great heroes ready to take responsibility. The comic book is rich in characters with various personalities: angry Yahiko, idealistic Kaoru and mature and peaceful Kenshin.
Conflicts arise from the actions of criminals and other aggressive people. As the heroes of this manga face strong and well-armed adversaries, gripping and action-packed plot is guaranteed. The author consistently explains sword fighting styles whenever they are utilised. Other than simple brutes, there is also a twist villain who attempts to achieve his goals through devious plans. In general, Kenshin is overpowered compared to most of the other characters and every confrontation is brought to a quick end until a worthy opponent appears and the volume is finished on a cliffhanger.
The style of the artwork is cartoonish while its strength lies in the design of the characters: each one of them is made instantly recognisable. The fight scenes are drawn in a particular way with dust filling the air, impacts of hits expressively depicted and people placed dynamically in the panels.
Rurouni Kenshin Vol.1 is an exciting historical comics set in the Meiji restoration. Although focusing mostly on action, this samurai adventure is certainly not a glorification of violence. It will please readers who are looking for serious shōnen manga.

Characters

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Plot

Artwork

Content advisory

Erotic content: SLIGHT

Kenshin says ‘dislocated groin’. Word whore used. A brothel is mentioned. A woman’s body is partly exposed (cleavage) when her wound is healed.

Violence: CONSIDERABLE

Frequent swordfights. Because Rurouni’s sword has a reversed edge, people are usually not cut. There is some blood drops because of hits on face. Fingers and an ear are cut off by a criminal. A boy is battered by a criminal. End-of-volume special has the strongest violence with two scenes of civil war: one graphically depicts a soldier being beheaded in a battle and in the other there are bloody dead bodies, one of which is missing a head.

Profanity: SLIGHT

Word ‘whore’ is used once.

Scary content: SLIGHT

In numerous scenes characters are in great threat when surrounded by strong and armed people with evil intentions but no creepy content.

Alcohol, drugs, and smoking: SLIGHT

In one comics, a side character is smoking a cigar. In a beef-pot house, three characters are drunk and consequently aggressive.