Rurouni Kenshin
(Redirected from Samurai X)
Rurouni Kenshin (also called Samurai X in some foreign dubs) is a 1996-1998 anime series based on the manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It is set during the early Meiji period in Japan and follows a former assassin named Himura Kenshin, who has become a wandering swordsman who protects people with a vow never to take another life.
Recurring Quotes
[edit]- Kenshin: Oro! ["Huah!" in the English dub]
- Saito: Slay evil immediately.
- Saito: Live by the sword, die by the sword. There is no other way for you and me.
- Sōjirō: If you are strong, you live. If you are weak, you die.
Season 1
[edit]The Handsome Swordsman of Legend: A Man who Fights for Love [1.01]
[edit]- Gohei: Are you here to talk about swords that give life too?
- Kenshin: A sword is a weapon. The art of swordsmanship is learning how to kill. That is the truth. What Miss Kaoru says is sweet and innocent talk that only those whose hands have never been stained with the blood of men can believe. But, to tell you the truth, I much prefer Miss Kaoru's sweet and innocent talk over the truth, indeed I do!
- Kaoru: No... it isn't sorcery... it's speed! Speed of sword. Speed of body. Speed at reading his opponents' moves. Taking down man after man with the least possible movement! [describing Kenshin the first time she sees him fight]
- Kaoru: And you! You say you're 28?! That's a lie and you know it!
- Kenshin: Would "30" make you happier?
- Kaoru: No, it wouldn't...
- Kenshin: [exasperated] This isn't going to be easy...
Kid Samurai: A Big Ordeal and a New Student [1.02]
[edit]- Kenshin: Are you that bothered by your lack of power, young one?
- Yahiko: Damn. I want to be strong. So strong I won't need your help... Strong enough to defend my father and mother's pride on my own.
- Kenshin: Of course.
- Yahiko: [to Kaoru] Ugly!
Swordsman of Sorrow: The Man Who Slays His Past [1.03]
[edit]Bad! Introducing Sanosuke, Fighter-for-hire [1.04]
[edit]- Sanosuke: [When asked to pay for a restaurant tab] Kinda academic, isn't it? You know I'll never pay.
- Sanosuke: I can't lose...not to the men who made Captain Sagara and the Sekiho army bear the evil mark of "aku."
The Reverse-blade Sword vs. the Zanbatou: Beyond the Battle [1.05]
[edit]The Appearance of Kurogasa: Visitor from the Shadows [1.06]
[edit]- Jin-e: Blood...Not enough...There is not enough blood! Those who bathe in blood should be praised!
Deathmatch under the Moon! Protect the One You Love [1.07]
[edit]- Jin-e: [to Kaoru] If I take you as hostage, the Battousai will be angry. And the legendary manslayer that he was will return because of that anger.
- Jin-e: A double Battōjutsu?! Using the sword and... its sheath...
- Jin-e: What a nice feeling... Don't look at me like that, Battousai. I much prefer the look in your eyes when you said you were going to kill me. Within every fiber of your being, you're truly a manslayer. I am also a manslayer so I know of what I speak. A manslayer is a manslayer until the day he dies... he can never be anything else. I'll be watching you from the edge of hell... to see how long you can keep saying you're a wanderer.
A New Battle! The Mysterious Beauty From Nowhere [1.08]
[edit]- Megumi: Kanryu took me in...and I became his woman. We only use each other. He uses me to get the opium...and I use him to survive.
- Kaoru: [to Megumi] Are you gone yet, you vixen?!
The Strongest Group of Ninjas: The Horrible Oniwaban Group [1.09]
[edit]Aoshi: Someone so Beautiful it's Frightening [1.10]
[edit]- Han'nya: Aoshi found this wolf... and rescued him! He trained me into a first class onmitsu! He gave me the Edo castle oniwabanshu, my comrades... and my reason to live! If I can be of any use to Aoshi, what need have I for a face?!
- Han'nya: I told you before. It was inevitable that we fight.
Farewell, the Strongest Men: The Clash of Light and Shadow [1.11]
[edit]- Kenshin : Even now, do you still think them empty words?
- Aoshi: It is too early to gloat. One width of paper closer, and I'd have sliced your jugular.
- Kenshin : But that narrow margin is the key difference between me and you in your present form. When I was at the brink of life or death, I used all my will to survive. I drew upon a different power than that of self-sacrifice, and mastered an ultimate technique. Sometimes, the bravest act is to live. That was the ray of light that my master risked his life to show me. As Hitokiri Battousai, I have committed so many sins that I cannot possibly repent for them, that is why I had secretly believed that it didn’t matter whether when I died or was killed. However, now even if I were formally punished and restrained, I will never lose the will to live. Aoshi, you said you have thrown everything away. Anyone can throw away everything if they wish, it’s easy. With your swords, you have become stronger beyond limits, but mentally you’ve gotten so much weaker that you’re far from what you used to be. As the Commander, you wish to give the proof of being the strongest as a title to four men who had gruesome deaths, that I understand. However, with that weakened spirit of yours, saying so becomes an excuse so you can look away from continuing to live. You aren’t doing anything for these four now. All you are doing is swinging your sword full of evil, and blaming these four for it. Beshimi, Hyottoko, Shikijo, Han'nya, face the truth, Aoshi, is it for them that you fight, or it is that they are merely an excuse?
- Aoshi: Duty is of the highest priority for the Oniwabanshu. And just as I have said, such villains will be sent to the deepest pit by those same dark powers. This is my duty as the last master of Oniwabanshu onmitsu!
- Aoshi: To defeat you, and to become the one true hitokiri, I will change into anything.
- Aoshi: Battousai... Until I come kill you, don't let anyone beat me to it.
Birth of a Boy Swordsman: The Battle of First Apprentice Yahiko [1.12]
[edit]Strive for the Grand Championship: Toramaru's Sumo Battle Log! [1.13]
[edit]To Save a Small Life [1.14]
[edit]Assassination Group of Fire [1.15]
[edit]- Yahiko: [about Kenshin and Sanosuke gambling] Watch 'em have lost it all and come home in their underwear!
A Promise From the Heart [1.16]
[edit]Fly to Your Dreams [1.17]
[edit]Run, Yahiko! [1.18]
[edit]Raijuta's Ambition [1.19]
[edit]Revival of the Shinko Style [1.20]
[edit]Dissolution of a Nightmare [1.21]
[edit]Danger on a Runaway Locomotive [1.22]
[edit]Sanosuke's Betrayal [1.23]
[edit]Midnight Battle [1.24]
[edit]The Crimson Pirate [1.25]
[edit]Lightning Incarnate [1.26]
[edit]Burn, Island of Terror! [1.27]
[edit]Season 2
[edit]Prelude to the Impending Fight: The Shadow of the Wolf Draws Near [2.01]
[edit]- Sanosuke: Alright, I'll take you on. I'll ask who you are with these fists! [he punches Saito] Sorry, I got serious here. [Sanosuke is confused after realizing that his punch has no effect]
- Saito: I see, nice punch. That explains why people say that you are the strongest fighter in Tokyo. However it is good only for the peaceful times like current Meiji era. In Kyoto, during the Bakumatsu, a punch like this would get you killed.
Strongest Opponent From the Past: Merciless Fangs Strike! [2.02]
[edit]A Devil of Vengeance: Makoto Shishio's Plot [2.03]
[edit]- Saito: This man, Hitokiri Battousai, will be killed by me, Shinsengumi squad three captain, Saito Hajime.
- Saito: The way of a Rurouni is the way of weaklings.
- Saito: The essence of combat is to strike at the vulnerabilities of one's opponent. There is no "fair" or "unfair".
- Saito: It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I will get no joy out of settling the score with a hitokiri who no longer kills.
- Saito: One may train a dog with food, or a man with money. But taming a Wolf of Mibu...that, none may do. [kills Shibumi]
- Saito: Shinsengumi is Shinsengumi. A wolf is a wolf. And a hitokiri is a hitokiri. Right... Battousai?
- Ōkubo: Shishio is scheming at Kyoto.
- Sanosuke: Shishio?
- Ōkubo: He's after one thing...The Meji Government disposed.
A Wish Unrequited: Kenshin Departs [2.04]
[edit]- Sōjirō: [to Ōkubo Toshimichi] I came to deliver a message from Shishio. "This nation will be mine"
- Kaoru: Stay here.
- Kenshin: I promise I'll return.
- Kenshin: [to Kaoru] Thank you for everything...and goodbye.
Change Tears to Courage: Kaoru Kamiya's Choice [2.05]
[edit]For the Title of Strongest: Aoshi's New Conflict [2.06]
[edit]The Girl Bandit: Misao Makimachi's Hidden Side [2.07]
[edit]Conquered Village: The Grasp of Shishio's Hands [2.08]
[edit]Across the Boundary Between Edo and Meiji: Kenshin and Shishio Face to Face! [2.09]
[edit]Shock! The Reverse-Blade is Broken: Sojiro's Tenken verses Kenshin [2.10]
[edit]Sanosuke's Secret Training: The Challenge of Anji the Destroyer [2.11]
[edit]The Creator of the Reverse-Blade Sword: Shakku Arai's Final Swing [2.12]
[edit]A Killer Without Mercy: Fight to the Death Against the Cho of the Juppongatana [2.13]
[edit]The Ultimate Technique of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Style: Reunion with a Mentor, Seijuro Hiko [2.14]
[edit]- Hiko: Even when I wield my sword according to the teachings of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, too many times I cannot save a soul. I kill and kill, and still the villains, like maggots, spring from the corpse of a Japan decomposing. There will be more and more acts like this...and all I can do is bury the victims.
- Hiko: I thought I taught you...Swords are weapons. The way of swords is the way to kill. However you try to dress it up in phony righteousness, killing is your truth.
The Formation of an Alliance: The Day When Aoshi Joins with Shishio [2.15]
[edit]Between Life and Death: Master the Ultimate Technique, Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki! [2.16]
[edit]- Hiko: [When asked who he is by a brigand] There is no point in naming myself to those who are about to die.
- Hiko: Man or woman, to attain buddhahood without knowing the taste of good sake is a crime. A good sake is the least I can do.
- Hiko: [a boy gives his name as Shinta] For Kenkaku or "sword arts," that's far too gentle. From now on, your name is to be "Kenshin." I shall also give you my most precious knowledge.
A Decisive Battle Like Violent Waters: The Strongest Troop Juppongatana [2.17]
[edit]As if to Fly: Stop the Launch of the Battleship Purgatory! [2.18]
[edit]Purgatory Bursts into Flames: The Destiny of Makoto Shishio [2.19]
[edit]Crash! The Lethal Punch, Futae no Kiwami: The Fist of Sanosuke Screams! [2.20]
[edit]Reborn to Salvation: The Beginning of Anji’s New Life [2.21]
[edit]The Wolf Destroys the Eye of the Heart: The Fierce Attack of the Zero Stance Gatotsu [2.22]
[edit]The Promised Time Has Come: Aoshi and Kenshin Fight Again [2.23]
[edit]Wake Up Now! Ignore Your Wounds and Fight to the Finish [2.24]
[edit]To Make a Miracle: The Battle at the Aoiya [2.25]
[edit]- Misao: [on Kaoru] I'm not about to just stand here and let her die!
The Giant Versus Superman: Like an Arrow Shot at a Time of Despair [2.26]
[edit]Hiten versus Shukuchi [2.27]
[edit]The Tragedy of a Stormy Night [2.28]
[edit]A Duel With an Extreme Moment [2.29]
[edit]Two Men at the End of an Era [2.30]
[edit]The Age Chooses Shishio? [2.31]
[edit]- Saito: Slay evil immediately: That was the code upheld by both the Shinsengumi and the Hitokiri.
Not Out of Luck! [2.32]
[edit]The Man Who is Chosen for Victory [2.33]
[edit]- Yumi: [last words] Shishio, please win this fight. And if your fate is to go to Hell... Yumi will go in first to wait for your arrival.
- Shishio: [last words] The weak shall become food for the strong! So die and let me feast!
The Juppongatana Who Remain [2.34]
[edit]- Shishio: Where do you think? To conquer this place called Hell of course.
- Shishio: In my battle with the Battousai, the spirits were afraid of me, and chose to side with him. But there's only evil people down here, so that won't happen this time.
Kyoto, the Engraved Memory [2.35]
[edit]Films
[edit]Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins
[edit]- Saito: [to Kenshin] Sword with its blade turned towards yourself eventually will cause suffering to only yourself.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends
[edit]- Hiko: Cherry blossoms in Spring. Stars cover the sky on Summer. Full moon shines on Autumn and in Winter, the snow covers the ground. All these things make sake taste good. If it tastes bad, it's because there is something wrong in you.
Unsorted
[edit]- Kenshin: It was to create a world of peace, not to win positions or power, that we raised our swords and killed. If we forget that, then we are no revolutionaries after all.
- Kenshin: A swordsman must be honest about his foes' skills and his own.
- Kenshin: No matter how sincerely you try, there are times when your thoughts just don't reach the students.
- Kenshin: Ah ... It's a doodle? [describing fine art]
- Kenshin: Just being a hitokiri doesn't mean that one enjoys killing people.
- Kenshin: Nikaido Heiho... Shin no Ippo... If a man kills too many, too long, he loses his original purpose and has his heart stolen by the color and smell of blood.
- Kenshin: Doesn't Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu teach us to PROTECT people from suffering? When DO we use our swords, if not now?
- Kenshin: If you want death, come forward.
- Kenshin: No matter what the reason, this one refuses to take another life.
- Kenshin: What about Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu...? What about "Himura Kenshin"...? Once again, I failed to protect the most important person.
- Kenshin: That sweat, those wounds, and this warmth. These are not illusions. They are real. Now I want to protect what's real, not illusions.
- Kaoru: It isn't enough for the law to say we're all equal. If the peoples' hearts don't change, none of it means anything.
- Sanosuke: A true fight isn't like a sword duel. The better swordsman doesn't always win. The winner is the one who remains standing!
- Sanosuke: Dad, I'm buying your fight! The Ishin Shishi...they aren't your enemy. They are mine, from ten years ago...the enemy of the one who wears the mark of evil on his back.
- Sanosuke: I can't stand the sound of a fat toad croaking in his little pond, any longer.
- Sanosuke: I'll give you some advice from my experience, "mastered" or "mastery" is not something you can claim so lightly. You should tone down your stupidity and conceit, or you’ll suffer more than just a light burn.
- Sanosuke: What's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine.
- Aoshi: For now...I can offer you no glory. But one day...I will.
- Shishio: This world, full of evil and violence, is Hell itself. Don't you think?
- Shishio: Let's take over our nation.
- Shishio: If the revolution is over, then I'll start another one!
- Hiko: If you're to overcome this, you need to remember what you just saw. You need the will to live.
- Saito: A fool who relies so much on his own toughness that he learns nothing of defense, also has nothing to rely on.
- Saito: The police are like the Shinsengumi. Our duty is to protect Japan, and the lives of people. Once we take on that duty, we accept that death must be part of it. To obsess over every life, as does Battousai, is folly. It is my duty to finish this matter so that those who died may pass safely into the afterlife. But revenge? I hold not one thought of it. If your Shingan won't tell you, then I will. What drives me so deep? Slay evil immediately! I bring my own brand of justice.
- Saito: I was the only one of the Shinsengumi said to be invulnerable.
- Misao: Makimachi Misao need give her name to no villain!
- Misao: One there was a wandering monk, who while walking worked up a funk. He found a well by a path and said "Now for my bath." But oh no! The bucket was sunk!
- Yahiko: You have been training me to handle myself, haven't you?! So trust your student!
- Yahiko: It's not the end yet! No! I won't let it end like this!
- Yumi: Amusing, isn't it? Slaves are human, but prostitutes are cattle? We who suffer so much for men's pleasure are women no longer, but cows!
- Enishi: Suffer, Battousai. Your suffering is my only joy.
- Enishi: There is no defense! There is no need for defense! You have already robbed me of the only thing I ever wanted to protect!
- Enishi: I'm counting on you, Kujiranami-san. With your new right arm [a cannon], ignite the fire that signals the beginning of revenge.
- Enishi: Now, here is the question: Stealing from the family would have been enough. Why did the child massacre them? Answer 1: The family resisted. Answer 2: The child was a psychopath. Answer 3: For the child, whose sister was killed by a merciless hitokiri, destroying his happiness... the sight of a family living in happiness was unbearable. The correct answer... is, without debate, number three.
- Tomoe: This man stole my happiness, and gave me another in its place. He will kill more people before he's done. But...in the end, he will protect far more than he's killed. I can't let him die here. Goodbye...the second man I have loved...
- Tomoe: You truly make blood rain...
- Kenshin: [in pain] Dislocated groin!
- Kaoru: Dislocated brain!
- Kaoru: But why do you still have your battle expression?
- Kenshin: Um... Well... it's a bit odd actually. You see... it's been so long since my eyes were narrowed into this "death glare" and... well... ahem My muscles are stuck.
- Yahiko: Nobody likes fat girls.
- Kaoru: Better than a pointy-eyed midget.
- Yahiko: Oh yeah!? The girls love this pointy-eyed midget.
- Saito: How are you going to protect anyone, assassin who refuses to kill?
- Kenshin: It's enough to protect those within my sight.
- Kaoru: Are you really going?
- Sanosuke: Yeah, but I'll try not to make it goodbye for good. Make a kid or two with Kenshin, and show them to me next time we meet.
- Kaoru: [embarrassed] Wh-wh-what are you saying?
- Sanosuke: Don't be modest!
About Rurouni Kenshin
[edit]- Rurouni Kenshin started as a short story, so I didn’t do much research on it, but in the year and a half between the story and the start of the series, I spent a lot of time reading them (books about Meiji). I did the manga because I wanted to draw Kimonos and swords, so don’t count on all of the details to be completely accurate.
- [on the question "Why did you choose the Meiji era for RK?"] Because I didn’t want to draw those samurai hairstyles. You know, those weird hairstyles from ancient periods. If you want to draw swords but no strange hairstyles, then you have to go to the Meiji era. Also, I am a big fan of the Shinsengumi. But drawing in this period means that I’m going to be drawing a lot of historical stuff.
- [on the question "Why was Kenshin a killer so young?"] Kenshin was originally supposed to be in his thirties, but the director says that the main character in a manga can’t be 30! So I looked at the timeline and the youngest that I could get him was 28. But anyway, in the Meiji life spans are shorter, and many people started to fight in their teens.
- Watsuki Nobuhiro Question session for Watsuki Nobuhiro at Anime Expo in Los Angeles California on July 5, 2002 from noon to 1pm.
- I have always wanted to illustrate a story that is different from other comics, that is about the unclear nature of good and evil. Kenshin himself is not a person of a purely good character. He has a past as the Hitokiri Battousai. It's hard to say if he was an absolutely good or absolutely villainous character. That's what Rurouni Kenshin is about.
- The sakabato is something original that I came up with. The reason for it is very simple: I didn't want my main character killing anyone. But a bamboo or wooden sword isn't intimidating enough, so I came up with the idea of a sword that has its sharp and blunt edges on reversed sides. That way the main character is able to fight the way he always does, and still be able to refrain from killing anyone.
- Watsuki Nobuhiro "Interview with Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of Rurouni Kenshin: The Manga. Abit spoilery" Toon Zone, March 20, 2003.
