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(Samurai X)
Rurouni Kenshin or Samurai X?
People who only know Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X as an anime, although
they can delight on the stories of the redheaded wanderer and his friends,
really don't know what they are missing. Renamed as Samurai X, the
loss of the original meaning of Nobuhiro Watsuki's main character starts
at the title: it alludes only to the general notion of a "samurai", the
stereotyped Western vision of a Japanese feudal warrior, and to the
cross-shaped scar that Kenshin, the main character of the story,
carries on his face. Thus we have a hero without a name and with no better
qualification than being a warrior.
The original Japanese title of the manga and
anime is
Rurouni Kenshin. The word "rurouni" does not exist in Japanese,
it was invented by the author based on the word ronin, that stands
for a masterless samurai . I've read somewhere that the literal meaning
in Japanese would be something like "man adrift in the ocean of existence"
and the word rurouni emphasizes the errant life of the warrior Kenshin.
It is used to designate an errant warrior, a wanderer, along with a strong
positive connotation of someone who has left behind all social and
material bonds to live for his ideals. Thus is Kenshin, who in the
original title is a particular person, and not just a nameless warrior
known only through his scar.
Anime or manga?
Even between the anime and the manga there
are great differences. The anime is "softer", less conflict-ridden and
has a stronger component of humor. There are also many characters that
do not exist in the manga and were introduced to make the anime more appealing
to all audiences, such as the two children an the old man who share Kaoru's
dojo,
of which there is no trace in the manga. Kenshin's character is also less
complex in the anime. However, the animation is very good and it is a good
way of making contact with the story of the former political assassin that
quits his job and swears never to kill again (inclusive adopting a
sword with an inverted blade, so that his powerful strokes would only wound
the enemies without killing them) and now wanders throughout Japan in order
to protect the weak and atone for his crimes. During his pilgrimages, Kenshin
comes to the dojo of Kamiya Kaoru, a young martial arts master,
saves her life and decides to stay there for a while. Soon they are joined
by the boy Yahiko and the young troublemaker Sanosuke and so their adventures
begin.
The manga
This is the main plot of the anime. In the
manga it is much more stressed the historical background of the adventures
of Kenshin in a Japan recently opened to the West and immersed in deep
social changes. As a former assassin working for the group of rebels that
deposed the shogun and restored the power of the emperor (which gave the
period its name of Meiji Restoration), Kenshin had contact with many important
historical characters, some of which he comes to meet again, now
as a rurouni ready to fight injustice, irrespective of political
ties. The manga makes very clear the message that a lot of
blood was shed in the battles, very oft by well intentioned patriots and
against their pacific nature, like Kenshin, but also that many people got
rich from the chaos or used the battles to give way to their blood-thirsty
instincts. Even after the instatement of the new order, social injustice,
treason and old prejudices still thrive and oppress the weak. Just as he
felt compelled to kill for the new order, Kenshin now fights for those
forgotten by the powerful, showing the failures of the system. The manga
is, thus, very rich in social criticism and information about Japan's history
and society in the Meiji Era.
The OVA
(Original Video Animation)
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If the anime stresses the adventurous side of Kenshin's doings and the manga emphasizes the social and political effects of Meiji Restoration, the OVA is a deep insight into the soul of the man Kenshin. In four episodes (approximately two hours) we come to know the story of Kenshin before the beginning of the manga/anime, his childhood and the events that transformed him into a hitokiri ("assassin", literally, "one who cuts people") |  |
and afterwards into a rurouni, as well as the origin of his scar, which will lead to the last arch of the manga. Just that would be enough to recommend the OVA to all manga and anime fans. However, the OVA format allowed a much more careful production, and what we have is a masterpiece in terms of photography and delicacy in dealing with human feelings and relationships.
Since both the plot and the animation of this OVA have much to offer, I will divide this text into two parts: in this page I will give a short summary of the plot and in the next one I will make some comments on symbolic elements, on the colors and the narrative structure. Then let's go on to the plot!
1st Act: A man that kills
The OVA opens with little Kenshin, around
seven years old, sharing the fate of the members of a slave caravan. The
caravan is attacked by bandits intent to kill all of them, but three girls
sacrifice themselves to try and save the boy, being brutally killed. With
her last words, one of them asks the little Shinta (as the boy was then
called) to keep on living for their sake. Even so, the boy
would not have escaped if not for the intervention of the master swordsman
Hiko Seijuurou, who kills the bandits and saves the boy's life in a spectacular
blood bath. Lamenting his inability to save the lives of the innocent through
his sword, 
Hiko goes away, leaving the boy alone. When he comes back, he meets the
boy again and sees that he had buried all corpses, including those of the
bandits. "After they die", he tells the surprised Hiko, "they are all just
bodies". He had also put three stones as marks for the tomb of the three
women that had tried to help him, but grieved over not having even flowers
to
offer their spirits. Impressed with the boy, Hiko makes an offering of
sake and tells him that he will teach him his art so that he would be able
to protect those that he loved, in the future. From this moment on, little
Shinta (that means "great spirit") has his name changed to Kenshin ("spirit
of the blade") and begins his hard apprenticeship of the Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryuu style.
Some ten years afterward we see the young Kenshin arguing with his master. Kenshin wants to take part in the fight against the shogunate to free the oppressed people, but Hiko is against it and tells him that the sword can only bring about death, never justice or a better world. He also tells him that if he joins a political faction, he will soon become a murderer. However, Kenshin does not admit to keep away from the fight and leaves his master to join the rebels. His leaders soon notice his abilities and ask him to kill for the cause. Kenshin agrees and soon becomes known as the terrible Hitokiri Battousai, a name derived from his way of unsheathing the sword.
A certain night, Battousai was ordered to kill a high government functionary. Among the bodyguards of that man there was a young samurai who was very happy at the perspective of getting married shortly. Everybody was laughing and making jokes about him when Battousai attacked and killed the dignitary, telling the others not to interfere if they wanted to stay alive. The young samurai's honor would not allow that and he throws himself into a hopeless fight against the assassin. Thinking of his fiancée, he fights desperately against Kenshin and manages to cut his face, making the first stroke of the cross-shaped scar that was to mark him. Kenshin kills the young man but, impressed by his desire of living, leaves a flower upon his body. The wound he received then would reopen and bleed every time Kenshin would kill or think about how his life had turned into a sea of blood.
Some time later, Kenshin is in an inn when
he notices the perfume of a girl who, strangely, is drinking alone in a
corner. Leaving the inn, Kenshin is attacked by an assassin of the shogunate
and fights against him. When he finishes the man , the blood sprays upon
the clothes and the face of the girl from the inn that was passing by at
that moment. Seeing the scene, she says to him: "You are verily the one
who makes rain blood" and passes out in his arms. And so ends the first
part of the OVA.
2nd Act: A stray cat
Asking himself if he should kill the girl,
since she had seen his face, Kenshin takes her to the inn where the revolutionaries
were staying. The hostess chides him for bringing women to her house and
tells him that she must sleep in his room. He puts her in his bed and sits
to sleep, leaning on his sword. When he awakes, the girl is no longer in
his room. He finds her helping the hostess to serve the morning meal to
the men. Kenshin joins them and must endure the malicious comments they
make about him and the girl. Angry, Kenshin slams his sheathed sword against
the floor, scaring all, and leaves. The girl, whose name is Tomoe, goes
after him. She tells him she is a
"stray cat", that she has neither family nor friends and thanks him for
his help. Kenshin asks the hostess to take Tomoe as a servant and so begins
his relationship with the girl, Tomoe always worries about Kenshin's solitude
and isolation. Meanwhile, the leader of the rebels asks one of his men,
Iisuka, to investigate her, but he can't find anything about her. The leader
than comment with his pretty escort (lover?) that Kenshin is like a very
dangerous blade and that he need a sheath to restrain him, and that Tomoe
could be that sheath.
A certain night, the men of the shogun (among which is Saitou Hajime, who Kenshin would meet several times afterward) invade a meeting of the rebels, killing many of them and starting a men hunt in Kyoto. Kenshin is ordered to ran away to a small cabin near the coast and take Tomoe with him, where they should live as man and wife, since the police would not suspect a young couple.
3rd
Act: Yoi no satoyama (
)
(Err... well, that is my reading for the kanji, I think that it could be translated as "evening at the mountain cabin". Well, since it seems that even the people who wrote the subtitles in my Brazilian fansub version could not guess the right meaning of it, this is my suggestion.)
Kenshin and Tomoe now live as a farmer couple in a small cabin and Kenshin does not chop men any longer, just firewood. They plant a small kitchen garden and start to take pleasure in that quiet life. Kenshin, as a farmer's son, gets more and more relaxed and Tomoe writes every night in a journal. A certain day, Iisuka, the messenger of the rebels, comes to them and tells Kenshin that they should carry on with the farce, since it was still too dangerous to return to Kyoto, but that they should now pass for herb dealers in order to go to the villages and gather information without becoming suspect. Tomoe makes clear her dislike for Iisuka, refusing to accompany him to the door when he leaves, but she follows Kenshin as his wife in his journeys. Kenshin cares more and more for her and does not fail to notice that she no longer carries her dagger under her clothes. Ore wa kimi o mamoru, he tells her, "I will protect you". Tomoe cannot believe that he cares for someone like her and gets more and more attached to him.
A certain day, a boy comes to the cabin. It is Enishi, her little brother. He tells her that he has joined some people who would help her to take revenge on Kenshin. She gets scared and asks him not to do anything against Kenshin and to return to their parents. Tomoe introduces Enishi to Kenshin, but the boy does not hide his hate for him. However, he goes away as his sister has asked him to.
That night, Kenshin tells Tomoe that he feels
sorry for her father, since 
they were living like a couple without being married. Seeing Kenshin's
affection and concern for her, she finally gives herself to him and both
share a night of love. It seems that peace and happiness had finally arrived
for the young hitokiri.
In the morning, Tomoe gets up and looks at
Kenshin affectionately. She tells him silently that he was the man who
robbed her of her happiness, but also the one who gave her a second chance,
and then leaves the house. When he wakes up, Kenshin searches her desperately
when Iisuka appears and says that Tomoe was a spy, that her accomplices
were in the mountains nearby and that he should go there and finish it
all. Kenshin cannot believe it, but Iisuka tells him that her journal is
the proof. He also tells him that she was the fiancée of the young
samurai he killed some time ago and that wounded his face. Reading her
diary, Kenshin sees that this is true and lets it drop, stunned. His scar
starts to bleed again.
4th Act: The cross-shaped scar
Tomoe walks through the snow until to a cabin,
followed secretly by her brother Enishi. Kenshin can be seen walking heavily,
carrying Tomoe's scarf and following her footprints. His scar is bleeding
a lot, staining the white snow. Completely stunned, he remembers his fight
with Tomoe's fiancé and all the things they had done together. In
the cabin, Tomoe talks to a man and asks him why her brother had been involved
in all that. He tells her that Enishi has run away from home, just as she
had done, to look for her. She then asks him if she should make her report,
since she had been sent to discover Battousai's weak point. The man says
it is no more necessary, since she had become his weak point. He tells
her that he was now coming there to fetch her, but since his mind was in
conflict, it would be easy to kill him. 
Tomoe then sees that she has been used from the start and tries to attack
the man with her dagger, but she is easily disarmed. The man realizes she
has fallen in love with Kenshin and chides her, reminding her of her dead
fiancé. Meanwhile, Kenshin fights savagely against a gang
of ninja and gets very injured. Even so, he defeats them all and approaches
the cabin where Tomoe and the chief of the gang are, but this latter gets
out to kill him. Both engage in a bloody fight, while Enishi watches them
at a distance.
In the cabin, Tomoe cries and remembers her
relationship with her fiancé. She has a vision of him, covered in
blood, his face serene, offering her the flower that Kenshin had left upon
his body. She turns and watches Kenshin's fight through the door.
Tired, Kenshin can't defend himself any longer. The man takes the dagger
he got from Tomoe and prepares to kill him. With his eyes covered in blood,
Kenshin lunges against his enemy in a suicide attempt and strikes him with
his sword. The blood sprays, but then we see 
that he had not only hit the man, but also Tomoe, who had jumped
before Kenshin to protect him. Tomoe falls into Kenshin's arms who cries
her name desperately. With her last strength, Tomoe takes her dagger and
cuts Kenshin's face, completing the cross-shaped scar that he was to carry
for life, asks for his forgiveness and dies. Kenshin cries upon her body,
while a shocked Enishi watches the scene from afar.
Again in their cabin, Kenshin, wearing a white mourning kimono, contemplates Tomoe's body lying on the futon. He tell her silently that he now understands the depth of the pain she must have felt when she lost the one she loved, but, even so, she had protected him. He tells her that she now does not need to suffer any longer, however, he had to carry on living, bear the consequences of his acts and find a way to atone for his crimes, but, at that moment, all that he wanted was to be with her. In the meantime, the traitor Iisuka tries to escape with the money he received, but he is killed by a new hitokiri, that we later see to be Shishio.
Later, the leader of the rebels goes to the cabin and tells him that the time is critic and that they need him more than ever. Kenshin answers that he will help them, but that when everything is over he will never use his sword to kill again. He burns the cabin along with Tomoe's body goes back to his fight against the shogunate.
We see then scenes of his many battles,
how his scar brings fear to his enemies, and how the rebels win the
civil war. Kenshin always wears Tomoe's scarf around his neck and feels
as if her spirit would embrace him in the moments of sadness. In a final
scene, we see Hiko walking again on that road where, many years ago, he
had saves Kenshin's life. He stops, surprised, when he sees that the cross
that mark the women's tomb had now a scarf tied around it. He sighs sadly
and looks at the sky, remembering the day he had changed a boy's name to
"Kenshin".
This is just the beginning
Of course that is not all that there is. I am just giving a very short account of the main plot, which is the story of Kenshin and Tomoe. During the four episodes there are lots of messages about the ways of the world and of people, about love and hate, duty and will, about suffering and injustice and human relationship. And of course there is blood, gallons of it, but we must remember that in the Eastern culture blood is a sign of life rather than death. Like most Japanese productions, there are many internal monologues and the emotions are presented rather through the scenes and the facial and body language of the characters. Kenshin and Tomoe's story is just a pretext to explore the way people can get involved in the consequences of their acts and convictions, all this done in a very composed way.
And there is also, of course, all the beautiful animation work and artist concept, about which you will find some comments by clicking on the link below.
Forward to the second part of Rurouni Kenshin OVA I : symbols
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