Rurouni Kenshin - Discussion Thread

[philster]

This is the Rurouni Kenshin manga / anime discussion thread.

This is the one manga I consider to be better than Naruto... ... believe it or not. The writing is superb, the art is highly engaging, and the characters are just plain awesome.

To say nothing of how fast-paced the story is, and how it always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Of course I'm talking mostly about the manga. I'm on volume 16. (Can't read any more until volume 17 comes out, next month.) I haven't watched a single episode of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, though I know most Americans have experienced the entire story that way, already.

Anyway, if you are a Rurouni Kenshin fan or reader or watcher, this is the place to come to discuss it!

Remember, if you are talking about story details that may be considered spoilers to newer readers, please place them between spoiler tags ( put color=white in tags and add /white at the end ) to keep from spoiling the story for anybody. Thanks!

Let's discuss!

[Shan]

I don't know much to say about this one at the moment. I have only read the intro or what I call the intro part of the comic. It just seemed to be setting things up for what was to come.

Will post more after I have read more.
From what I did read though, I think it could be good. Whether I agree with Phil that it is better than Naruto is yet to be seen. ;D

Shan

[philster]

Hi Shan.

It took me until volume 8 or 9 to conclude RK was better than Naruto, Shantara.
But of course that might change depending on how the last 10 volumes of Rurouni Kenshin I have yet to read goes.

Rurouni Kenshin is finished now in Japan - it's at 28 volumes, no more. I've only read 16 so far.

The Rurouni Kenshin anime is finished too - but it doesn't cover the last 4 volumes of the manga series. So, eh.

[Shan]

hi to you too.

When you say it is finished in Japan, do you mean that there will never be any more than 28 volumes?

Now that I have finish HP, I am anxious to get back to reading all of these. Since I did not feel like I had read a real story in this series but just an introduction I would kinda like to know what a real story is like.

I really like the pic you chose.

Shan

[philster]

shantara said:

hi to you too.

When you say it is finished in Japan, do you mean that there will never be any more than 28 volumes?

Yep. It's over. The creator has moved on to do a new, different series. So the whole story of Rurouni Kenshin is told in these 28 volumes.

Most manga series do end sometime. Naruto someday will end, as well. But Naruto's already past 30 volumes so it's already longer than Rurouni Kenshin's entire series. And Kishimoto seems like he definitely plans on to draw/write Naruto for at least another 10 years, so it'll probably be a much longer series.

It also helps that Kishimoto was one of the youngest manga artists in the business when he started out with Naruto. He was only 24 years old (my age!). So he probably had a lot of energy to spare.

There is also a manga series that I know ended at 80 volumes.

Now that I have finish HP, I am anxious to get back to reading all of these. Since I did not feel like I had read a real story in this series but just an introduction I would kinda like to know what a real story is like.

I really like the pic you chose.

Shan

It's a nice pic isn't it?

I guess you might as well try the fan-sites and you can always check out the Viz version sometime to compare it.

[philster]

OK, never mind the age thing being a factor. I just found out Nobuhiro Watsuki was the same age when he started Rurouni Kenshin. He was only born in 1970 and Rurouni Kenshin started in 1994. So he was 24 years old too. Ah, well.

[Shan]

I guess you might as well try the fan-sites and you can always check out the Viz version sometime to compare it.

I already have. I got what I read from Direct Manga.

And the pic is great.

Shan

[Shan]

Sounds like 24 might be the magic age. Want to try you hand at writing/drawing a manga series?

Shan

[philster]

Hehe, nah. ;D
In America it's tougher. Not as much clamor for comics around here as there is in Japan.

Comic book creators there are treated like rock stars or famous actors.

[Shan]

Comic book creators there are treated like rock stars or famous actors.

Then no wonder the Japanese want to write manga and that there is so much of it. They dream about it .

Shan

[philster]

Exactly *nods*

Though I've heard that the manga culture has been on the decline over there lately for some reason. Not sure why.

[Shan]

This one I have still only read the first chapter, but it intrigued me and I still want to read some more of it. Right now I don't think I have read enough to know whether I would like it or not.

Shan

[SilvaShado]

RK vol 18 will be coming out soon, I think.

I've read up to 17, though I don't think I posted comments about the end of Kyoto storyarc anywhere, but I guess that's okay since Phil hasn't read vol 17 yet.

Overall, RK is my second favorite manga - Bastard is currently my favorite, though the last volume of Bastard took a turn out of nowhere - neither good nor bad, just different. Time will tell if it drops on my list.

Anyway, I'll try to post comments when I have time.

[philster]

Nope, I haven't read Vol 17 yet. Can't wait.

[philster]

Just a funny comic I came across and thought I'd share!

[SilvaShado]

hmmm...the image isn't loading...

[philster]

Oh drat ok...

www.creativeuncut.com/comic.html

Go to issue 66 and click on Kenshin, and that's the cartoon.

Sorry about that

[SilvaShado]

LOL! man, that is funny! hehe... ^_^

[philster]

I finally got Volumes 17 and 18 of Rurouni Kenshin, Sarah. =)

Vol 17 SPOILERS - Man Shishio was such a bad guy. But I liked the way the battle ended. Very dramatic! Overall I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot.

It was just intense. Art was fantastic and everything. Shishio was definitely the best and the most evil opponent Kenshin's ever had. I can't believe that he managed to take Kenshin, Saito, Sano, and Aoshi one by one. Boy, he was something. I'd be tempted to think that he must have been even better than Kenshin back in the old days. Nasty of him to use Yumi to get at Kenshin though like that, but then he was an assassin and it seemed like an agreement between them, I suppose. Guess Kenshin kinda was lucky that Shishio just ran out of time before his body blew up into flames.

I wasn't too crazy about the epilogue though. It just seemed much ado about nothing. Cho the Sword Hunter being a police officer now - after he so recklessly threatened the life of a child? I don't like that turnout at all. That Meiji government definitely seems like it has a lot of loose screws for me, but I guess that was the point. I liked Hoji's suicide, Anji's penance, and how Sojiro moved on though - turning into a rurouni himself. Seems kind of approrpiate.

Somehow I wasn't really pleased to see that scene of Shishio, Yumi, and Hoji walking through Hell though, seeking to conquer it. But, whatever.

So Saito is back to being a kind of an enemy of Kenshin's now. I like that too. I can't wait until his next meeting with Kenshin. I am sure the next time will probably be the last.

Vol. 18 SPOILERS - I wasn't too crazy about it. The bad guys seem interesting, but compared to the great roster of the Juppongatana they almost kind of seem boring. I'm sure the series will pick up eventually though. I AM curious about that guy with the glasses, and what his sister had to do with Kenshin's cross scar, though.

It was good to finally see Kenshin and his core group come back home and resume their fun together, though. And Kenshin's even training Yahiko now, too! (Kinda). It's good to see Kenshin finally feel like he's not going to wander anywhere else now.

[philster]

It's kind of hard to believe we've read 18 volumes of Rurouni Kenshin already. Only ten volumes to go now.