… the story continues…
This is where the series starts to get really good. Once you’re in, you can’t turn back.
9. Strongest Group of Ninjas: We discover that the mystery woman is Megumi, a medicinal genius. After Sano finds the opium packets, he confronts Megumi about it. Kanryu presents an ultimatum for Megumi; she must decide whether or not to return “willingly” to her former duties.
10. Aoshi: After Megumi is taken, Kenshin and the gang storm Kannryu’s mansion to rescue her. The Oniwabanshu group prove to be the most challenging of adversaries yet.
11. Farewell the Strongest Men: It would seem that Kenshin has met his match with the leader of the Oniwabanshu, Shinomori. If it weren’t for Kanryu’s trigger happy Gatling gun, Kenshin might have met his doom.
12. Birth of a Boy Swordsman: Yahiko feels the stings of puppy love when a girl named Sanjou comes into his life. She works at the groups favorite restaurant, where we discover that she is working (unwillingly) for the mob… hmm, sounds familiar. Yahiko, steps in and learns what it really means to be a swordsman.
13. Striving for the Grand Championship: When a reject sumo wrestler comes into town, Kenshin and co. must help him find his strength and potential to help him stand up to the “supposed” reigning sumo champs!
14. To Save a Small Life: Megumi faces hardships and rumors as the towns female doctor. She must prove herself and her skills when a new medicine man comes into town.
15. Two Legendary Manslayers: The Imperialists have many enemies, and among them are their very own trained soldiers who have felt the pangs of betrayal. Thinking that they are “justice” ridding the world of corrupt politicians, the Jinpu Squad forces a kind-natured teacher, Sasaki Heihachirou, to join them. Kenshin learns that Sasaki was also a manslayer… one of whom he has encountered before.
16. A Promise from the Heart: After Sasaki refuses the Jinpu Squads’ invitation, they use his school children as leverage for his loyalty. Sano learns that Toma (the leader of the Jinpu Squad) was a former student of Sasaki’s, and promises to help Sasaki “never pick up a sword again.”
17. Fly to Your Dreams: 2 circus companies come into town; one run by an evil businessman, and one ran by a father with his daughter, Marimo (a.k.a. Cannon-ball girl)! Yahiko feels the sting of puppy love yet again, and with the help of Kenshin, Sano, and Kaoru, he helps free Marimo and her father from the evil businessmans’ grasp!
18. Run, Yahiko!: Hiruma (from episode 1 and 4) returns, yet again, to settle the score with Kenshin. Hiruma uses Yahiko’s ego and convinces him to steal Kenshin’s reverse-blade sword to fight him in a duel. Once Yahiko arrives at the seen of the duel, he is kidnapped, and Kenshin is forced to bail him out of trouble…. again.
19. Raijuta’s Ambition: Kenshin, Sano, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Megumi take a break and visit Dr. Genzai’s sister in the country. A young master named Tsukayama Yutarou owns acres and acres of land surrounding his inherited manor. He expresses how he dreams of being a great swordsman, just like his father. When Tsukayama is attacked, a large man named Raijuta steps in to rescue him…
20. Revival of the Shinko Style: Raijuta and his men move into the manor with Tsukayamaand his servants. Everyone is under the impressin that Raijuta is Tsukayama’s new martial arts teacher… but he has other plans for the manor and the land surrounding it.
21. Dissolution of a Nightmare: The government gets wind of Raijuta’s plans and his growing army. Once the fighting between the governement troops and Raijuta’s army begins, Kenshin steps in to stop the madness with a one-on-one duel between him and Raijuta.
22. Danger on a Runaway Locomotive: Kaoru convinces the group to take a trip on one of technologies most recent wonders… the locomotive! They are thrown in the mix again when pirates try to highjack the train to steal the gold being transported.
I have to say… I LOVE how brilliant this series is! It mixes a “coming of age” with “old tradition”… it’s kind of like defining the gray between black and white during the transition period after the war. The series really starts to pick up steam after episode 8! I was able to watch bits of the series when I was younger… and it’s about time that I’ve made the decision to watch it all the way through! If you haven’t seen it yet, summer is the perfect time to sit and catch up on some ANIME! Start with this series!!! You’ll be glad you did!
**more Rurouni Kenshin to come!
July 21st, 2008 at 6:54 am
Best Series EVER! Very few animes can even compare to this one.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:47 am
Long time underappreciated fave of mine