The Rurouni Kenshin Community
People who watched anime or read manga overseas were introduced to the life of a wondering samurai and the Meiji era though the series Rurouni Kenshin. It was a journey across Japan, Meiji period exploration, Timeline Western Japanese architecture, and understanding the Rurouni Kenshin World. Getting into Rurouni Kenshin was pretty easy as there was a entire group of people in the 90s that saw the show on Cartoon Network. Later on people would be referred to the manga or happen to watch upcoming releases or even the live action, so it wasn't so easier later. Then it got even harder as people looked for more information about the time period of the Meiji period and the Meiji Restoration and there wasn't too much information in the 00's. Rurouni Kenshin & Watsuki Nobuhiro Rurouni Kenshin is based on a traveling life of the creator and thus covers a vast array of areas all around Japan. This would include: Niigata Prefecture (Origins), Kyoto Prefecture (Kyoto Arc), Hokkaido Prefecture (Hokkaido Arc). Where is Aichi Prefecture? the connection relies in the historic preservation of Japan's Meiji era through the Meiji Village Museum (meiji-mura, 博物館明治村). While the creator of Rurouni Kenshin Watsuki Nobuhiro had grown up in Niigata there were not too many places that still had Meiji Architecture all in one convenient place around 1994. Fans were looking at a place that resembled the anime and looked on travel maps to see where would be the best places to go to find out more about the era as well as the series. As far as the series go many would have to create their own content for the series as they awaited for the return of the series and travel wise they found out about the Meiji Village in Aichi. Aichi Prefecture is the third most populated area in Japan and has plenty of historic landmarks that have been preserved. The rabid fans were so interest in the time era of the series they would go off and do independent research of the prefecture to find out ways that the series could have expanded content from fans to assist in more awareness of Meiji Historical things and the prefecture itself through its food. Meiji Mura Museum is an theme park based on historical interests of the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa era. It is in Aichi Prefecture and has 11 buildings and is noted to be where many fans of Rurouni Kenshin go to check out the museum itself and take pictures of its backdrop and have a list of must do things in the prefecture itself. In 2019 the interest in the area started to grow after the event and cafe that were set up there. Rurouni Kenshin Getting Started If you want to start with the beginning, many newcomers who want to see the creators point of view will check out the Rurouni Kenshin Manga. If you want to start with the most popular segment it is best to start with the Anime series from Tokyo to Kyoto Arc. Many people haven't read the manga or explored deeper into the series with the OVAs and live action movies, but they still follow the series here and there. Even less have have seen the Studio Deen "New Kyoto Arc" which was a remake with some changes. It may not exactly capture everything that the television series had in its spirit, so it is argued that it is its own version, but the artwork is much better, better animation, new backgrounds, and new music. The live-action movies had brought a new light back on the series with renewed interest. So it would be okay to start there as well, even if it has slight changes as well. Is Rurouni Kenshin for you? Rurouni Kenshin, has its main plot destined through historical references and the changes between political government. The fighting is unique with emphasized specialties, different perspectives of moral understanding, and the message of redemption. It covers the experience of surviving the war and moving into a normal life under new rule with the ideals of Bushido. Rurouni Kenshin Viewing Order The television anime series, has its own portions of story added from other perspectives for either continuity or for time. This adds slightly more to each of the arcs and some filler through mini arcs, which could be expanded on in the future. The seasons start with the Tokyo Arc and then to Kyoto Arc. Next is the Jinchu arc and then to the Hokkaido Arc. The OVAs -Tokyo Arc (Tokyo Prefecture) [1st Season] -Kyoto Arc (Kyoto Prefecture) [2nd Season] Rurouni Kenshin Reading Order The manga is the vision of the author and allows for the needed time to concentrate on parts of the story that might work only in comic form. For this the Rurouni Kenshin manga has chunks of story that the anime had not had time to cover and can make the story more difficult to follow at times. -Tokyo Arc (Tokyo Prefecture) [1st Season] -Kyoto Arc (Kyoto Prefecture) [2nd Season] -Jinchu Arc (Death Penalty) [3rd Season] -Hokkaido Arc (Hokkaido Prefecture) [4th Season] Rurouni Kenshin A Tale Told Once More A show that has inspired many to get interested in Japan's feudal era with its samurai that are searching for meaning. The search for a meaning is through wandering as they have lost their place from the system of the government in their placement to be Ronin. Exploring the ideal of self-identifying in morality between what is good, bad, and in between for understanding the direction of a warriors inner spirit. It is many years old with many who have seen it during its release and those who saw it as it went on broadcast. Such shows usually begin with their initial following, and Kenshin had quite a large following when it started and slowly as the years went on and new series have been released. The series began to fade in the background. This particular series didn't have its peak during the social media age, so those who talked about it were mostly in person discussions, and those who just kept their interest to themselves. Rurouni Kenshin had its real life fandom and as the years went on began to have its online fandom. And just like any other fandom it has it's good, bad, stalkers, it's toxicity, and it's content creators. Those who are initially drawn to the franchise may have enjoyed the overall theme as the main draw and then later on as more shows with a similar theme were released in the era of feudal Japan they may have moved on. While there are a few who enjoyed the elements of the story, the character design, and the series really stuck with them for one reason or another. This allows for little flames to arise, which means that a loyal fanbase still exists.while everyone may not all create content or tell everyone how much they enjoy the series, because they still celebrate it in their own ways alone or with people, the The series still has its impact even after the many years it has been since new content has been created by the official development staff. Most series that are celebrated the most tend to be those that are considered dead. But, what exactly means the series is dead? Sometimes it could be the canon Writing is stagnant? Sometimes it could mean the fandom itself is no longer talking about it? And sometimes it could be that no one remembers it. however, this does not mean that any series that is dead remains dead forever. As long as there are still people enjoying the series and talking about it, it still has its small lit lights. Well a series such as rurouni Kenshin May have had its disadvantages from showing its age to not keeping up with the newest series. A series always has certain advantages to look at when analyzing the original series, or maybe revisions of the series, or reinterpretations of the series, but each one will have a little bit of insight into how people perceive the serious in their own particular way. Understanding each of these perspectives is important to understanding each part, each place, and each thing that have affected these people to continue enjoying this series. After a while, even those who have talked about it a lot may not be able to think of too much to talk about. Then they will revisit why they continue to remember the series so well. Sometimes this can deal with the artwork, sometimes the nostalgia of being there to see it, maybe even the old conversations that have already passed. Or the historic importance that is referenced, and even the unique aspects of the anime or manga that have told its own story and style. With the memory still alive there is still opportunity for things to come back. This is the reason that franchises that are being revitalized with remakes, reboot, and expansions are doing well, because those who have already seen them and have their own memories touched by such a franchise will be there again to see more. So, regardless of those who say that it is dead fandom, they will not be there for long. And if they do stay there for long they may have other reasons in sticking to the fandom, but such roads lead to nothing more than a toxic community. Luckily those who continue to be passionate for such a series will look into greater detail into more ways that they can celebrate. some ideas might not even have been spoken about, however, the ideas of the creator are still within the work itself and can be micro analyzed for even more discussion and learning. Slowly but surely the community comes together to compile discussions. Organizing each topic slowly but surely, so each time the discussion is brought up there is even more ideas that are shared amongst community members for the Rurouni Kenshin fandom.often times old fans will come back after watching more recent shows to bring some of those explored areas of the story into a form of a question for the franchise itself. This allows for ideas of other series to make their mark on the franchise to have story hitting paths that the original series may not have brought to fruition. And it's not copying any other story line, what it is doing is looking at what aspects of the show were explored and to see if the kenshin franchises up to par. For example. There might be a show that talks about a particular group and their legacy within their history of a series. So, maybe in the series of Rurouni Kenshin singular groups may have more possibilities than the original show explained. A similarity from an example show could be that one series might have named special moves, however in Kenshin only the main character tends to have moves with names under the hiten mitsurugi style. Which expands the idea set by asking the question of what other styles exist in the storyline? And if there are no existing styles that have been shown within the story... What hypothetically would be the styles that could be identified from other characters? Kenshin-gumi, a Meaning of Life When Kenshin begins the path of a wondering Samurai he is not afraid to notice that there are many things he does not know and is in search of an emptiness from within. In the beginning as he meets Kamiya Kaoru he realizes that the ideas pre-war are that of hope, possibility, and compromise, which is different from the survival war training dealing with limitations, strategy, and individuality that keeps people alive either together or alone. This contrast leads him down a path of finding what he may have once lost when he was younger or in having a youth that was robbed from the experience of the war occurring. The story goes to show how he has done he was set out to do according to a given system of the government which can translate to a school system as a straight forward life. While it is suppose to lead so some sort of ideal of self worth Kenshin is looking for something to make life living and have a feeling of being alive which is not as straight forward as the system has said it would be. The system has not been fruitful for what Kenshin was promised from it and goes off to wonder the lands as a traveling Samurai. Stages of Nothingness to Lifes Struggle Inside his mind he goes through a stage of his life not caring if he lives or dies as if learning the unknown is all he has left. With a feeling equivalent to a uncaring, indifferent, and selfish individual he goes on searching as if time has no value and that life has no value and the people around have little effect, so being alone and planning to be alone seems to be for the best. He does not yet come to understand why things are the way they are or the effects the war has had on him, nor the effects of people who authentically care for him, nor the effects living among a community will have on him as a person. Meeting the Kenshin-gumi changes him for the best as he is exposed to Kaoru who acts as a really close friend, Sanosuke who is a friend whos always pushing Kenshin to be better than he is, Dr Gensai who acts as the grandparent he never had, and the children who are the kids he was never able to father. It is all apart of telling the story through the characters and the set up events of Kenshin getting feelings he may have never had or communication and arguments he may have never heard. Its all apart of the learning process as each discussion leads him to question the life he was once living and the life that is now. All Heroes Need a Helping Hand While he is the hero episode after episode the story still tells the message that no matter who it is they are admitting or denial that they have a struggle they are going through. Everyone hero or every day man are all mentally struggling with their own battle of past, present, and future. It is at that point the lessons he learns from his newfound friends in the group are his temporary family that gives him a different motivation than thinking about himself, but thinking about others. He considers the idea of hope, faith, and redemption. As viewers watch the series and understand that Kenshin who was once everything has lost everything relates to audiences in his re introduction into everything that made him who he is. His extreme mental instability with high functioning depression and anxiety that was self caused to the distraction of temporary friendships that turned into long term friendships and eventually to life long bonds. And then the grit and toughness it takes to live of true courage and actual individuality along with others outlooks create a world to the person. It really strikes to understanding what is everything to a person... Its Easy to Die and Hard to Live The Value of life itself is shown in Rurouni Kenshin as the character shows his own experiences to continue living regardless of not feeling a self existence is even deserving. This is often times repeated as Kenshin saves others from death, suicide, or self-victimizing who have no value to life without emotional connection or any reasonable justification of continuing to live. The shows that to understand the value of life is the only way it can be seen as a beautiful and beneficial thing and that not seeing that through is to die-blindly by suicide and be worthless in its action of death. Slowly the people around Kenshin as well as the viewer understands that Kenshin does this as he feels like he is not deserving to be alive. Yet, he is searching for a true desire for life, connection is life showing its precious, and that life value is a meaning of a persons values. A person lives by self-actions, representation of their self-display, and are recognized by their effects of others by choice and critical thinking rather than obeying as commanded. No Departures for a Kenshin Content Rurouni Kenshin was put on hiatus as it was worked on by a author who has done a really bad thing from the western point of view of owning child porn in which he regrets. This is a topic that comes up again and again for many authors as their work is discussed at length, especially in this case where Rurouni Kenshin is deeply rooted in morals that go against this sort of thinking entirely. While in the Japan eye he has paid for his crimes his second chance makes him controversial as he has disappointed many fans who have their own judgement. The importance of the story wrapped in morals within the franchise of the Rurouni Kenshin world has outgrown the original author and is starting to belong to its fans as much as Watsuki himself. Fans haven't seen much of the series and it had been in the works for quite sometime for a sort of revival, however due to it taking so long many went to Japan from the west themselves to check out places like the Meiji Museum. The series captured the imaginations of the time of the Meiji in a way that concentrates on super power Samurai and well logically thought out mentalities where the story is a battle of wits as much as it is with blades. A notable museum which many have visited was the museum of Aichi Prefecture at Meiji Mura Museum where it captured peoples attention being apart of traveling to Inuyama. World of Fans and the Creators As many other series in the anime world there has been fan developed RPG that fans immerse themselves in the world to see what they can do when they play through the world itself. This is how many of the ideas for stories are set and the actions of the players create ideas for the author playing with the group to find out how he would like his own story arcs to play to keep the fandom alive. By doing this there have been various fanfictions and fanworld drawings that have made their way online to feul the want for more Rurouni Kenshin content which had such a large un met demand. This can account for countless hours by itself, however more sharing of images and studies of Nobuhiro Watsukis art style from the original manga and designs are studied closely to keep the heart of the series. Looking at his long lines and simple shapes that have strong sense of light was seen through illustrations and the color palette that is similar to the era and made a little more bright were taken into account with slight additions here and there of more modern colors. This would make the difference in outfits which are sometimes seen in some illustrations as seeing kenshin in his classic attire is nice, some fans wonder if there are different outfits for special occasions as he is almost always seen in the same outfit and same goes for all the rest of the cast. The world that is seen to be shared by multiple creators who had their hand at the series and are known for their particular episodes has always been a hot topic of anime as fans are looking for their preferred story that has the best parts. It might not be easy as each person telling a story in each episode may have only specific points of story telling or specific designs in that episode or even shots, so it is a difficult process in analyzing the details that tell the story the most effective way. Storytelling Techniques throughout Kenshin The Anime series tells the story in a different way from the original manga and it does it in a very 1990s period manner with tropes that were popular at that time. Many of those are also taken into account as many fans have entered at different times through the series with some coming in with the OVA series which has different direction from the TV series and even some episodes are so contrasting they are seen as special studies for the series. There is not also a live action that has been a next wave of fans first exposure to the series and the arcs that will be arriving will also bring more people to the series itself and fan made content has to be as interested in the source material as if they were make shift professionals trying to honor their beloved Japan world of Rurouni Kenshin. Storylines that take from different influences will be a combination of its inspirations and with Kenshin that can be difficult to track down. In some episodes it is a villain of the day and the hero jumps in while another episode might be carrying a progression in the story that is told episode by episode and in some cases it goes to conflicting beliefs and battles. The largest change in the story telling is from the OVA series which tries to explain a main timeline of series of the events and tells smaller stories along the way, which is open to interpretation or world expansion, so combining both ways of story telling is necessary for Rurouni Kenshin to follow with merging the ideas. Writing in the Meiji World Beginning writers have always been interested in Samurai and many enjoy the series of Kenshin for being a introduction of Samurai in animation and comics as well as the story of the Meiji era. While it might not be completely accurate to history it draws attention to a period of time that is often overlooked with the large amount of westernization influence of the time. It can be easy to see how that could be unappealing to even those who live in Japan it can also be interesting as that time is far behind and is literally in the past and is history. By keeping in with researching the era properly and by looking at museums to get an idea fans are becoming more likely to go out and make some creative content. It isn't as scary as before with many resources being available as well, so knowing about the history of Japan is not as hard as it once was, and thus easier to take inspiration from. As the community continues to take these paths of making more content for the world the interest in Kenshin will grow as it is important in discussing different perspectives of peoples moral compass and searching for a meaning of life through the eyes of the individual and how society judges it. Are you ready to make Rurouni Kenshin content?
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