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Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story - VIZBIG Edition #8
Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 8 #22-24
Change your perspective: get BIG R to L (Japanese Style). Sin, Judgment, AcceptanceMaking good on his promise to attack the Kamiya Dojo, Enishi and his comrades pounce on Kenshin and company and quickly fight them to a standstill. Seeking to break the impasse, the masked puppet master Gein prepares to unleash his greatest creation, IwanbM Version Three. Now the battle has three fronts: Sanosuke vs. Inui Banjin and his indestructible gauntlets, Yahiko vs. the deviously deadly Otowa HyMko, and Kenshin vs. Gein's latest toy.Not wanting to be left out of the fun, SaitM Hajime happens by in time to clash with the freakish Yatsume MumyMi, but has this all been a calculated step in Enishi's master plan? For the first time since his appearance in Tokyo, Enishi unveils his awesome fighting skills, a deadly combination of both Japanese and Chinese techniques. Believing that Kenshin's death alone will not satisfy his departed sister's soul, Enishi prepares to cast Kenshin into a living hell of remorse and regret. Will Kaoru become a sacrifice on the altar of Enishi's bloody revenge? Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.
608 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2009
About the author
Nobuhiro Watsuki
267 books425 followersWatsuki Nobuhiro (和月伸宏) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for his samurai-themed series Rurouni Kenshin. He once worked as an assistant for his favorite author Takeshi Obata.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 2, 2017
The time has come for Yukishiro Enishi to subject Kenshin to his own brand of jinchū (“judgement from man”) for killing his sister. Along with his comrades who also have personal grudges against Kenshin, they arrive in Kamiya Dojo, the battle destination, and show Kenshin and his friends the kind of retribution they have painstakingly prepared for all those years. The combat, however, is merely a cover-up of Enishi’s ultimate plan, which is to actually break Kenshin’s resolve and let him live in eternal guilt by taking away the life of the person he loves the most.
The series is nearly ending, and the plot gets more and more serious with themes of sin, judgment, and retribution. Kenshin is reminded time and again of his past, but since the battle this time is personal, with his brother-in-law pitting against him, the painful reminder of his past crime as a hitokiri (assassin) and as a husband who has slain his wife (albeit accidentally) is twice as deep. While this cyclic rumination of Kenshin’s remorse and finding atonement are all over this volume, I didn’t actually find it a yawnfest. It actually felt more like, “I understand you, Himura (pat on the back).” What I find a bit off is how I think Kaoru’s supposedly strong character wanes chapter after every chapter. If I remember correctly she has promised to be a strong support for Kenshin after Kyoto, but every time Kenshin gets embroiled in a big battle her tenacity instantly flies away and she becomes an annoying crybaby. She also has to be rescued by Kenshin every time she’s in danger. I mean, she’s a kendō master and she’s not even using her skills to the fullest!
That ending scene, though . So sad. Well, I got your back, Himura. :-(
The series is nearly ending, and the plot gets more and more serious with themes of sin, judgment, and retribution. Kenshin is reminded time and again of his past, but since the battle this time is personal, with his brother-in-law pitting against him, the painful reminder of his past crime as a hitokiri (assassin) and as a husband who has slain his wife (albeit accidentally) is twice as deep. While this cyclic rumination of Kenshin’s remorse and finding atonement are all over this volume, I didn’t actually find it a yawnfest. It actually felt more like, “I understand you, Himura (pat on the back).” What I find a bit off is how I think Kaoru’s supposedly strong character wanes chapter after every chapter. If I remember correctly she has promised to be a strong support for Kenshin after Kyoto, but every time Kenshin gets embroiled in a big battle her tenacity instantly flies away and she becomes an annoying crybaby. She also has to be rescued by Kenshin every time she’s in danger. I mean, she’s a kendō master and she’s not even using her skills to the fullest!
That ending scene, though . So sad. Well, I got your back, Himura. :-(
May 16, 2014
Grande, grande livro!
Tal como ansiava, aqui temos o momento mais dramático e "hartbreaking" da série. Dou por mim capaz de ficar a olhar aquela página tempos infindos, com um nó na garganta e o coração pesado. Mesmo sabendo toda a história e que nem tudo o que parece é, todo aquele sofrimento de Kenshin toca-me profundamente.
Heh... Não o posso evitar, fico toda sentimental com certas histórias/personagens, quando me apego a elas é como se fossem reais. E Rurouni Kenshin sendo uma série que me acompanha há vários anos, tem e sempre terá, bem como os seus personagens, um cantinho bem especial no meu <3
Deixando de parte a lamechice, adorei ver Saitō e Aoshi neste volume! Saitō é sempre um boss, mas Aoshi... Aoshi esteve particularmente bem! Não só como combatente, mas como "amigo".
Bem, e depois de tudo o que se passou só resta uma coisa a dizer: Go for it Kenshin! ^_^x
Tal como ansiava, aqui temos o momento mais dramático e "hartbreaking" da série. Dou por mim capaz de ficar a olhar aquela página tempos infindos, com um nó na garganta e o coração pesado. Mesmo sabendo toda a história e que nem tudo o que parece é, todo aquele sofrimento de Kenshin toca-me profundamente.
Heh... Não o posso evitar, fico toda sentimental com certas histórias/personagens, quando me apego a elas é como se fossem reais. E Rurouni Kenshin sendo uma série que me acompanha há vários anos, tem e sempre terá, bem como os seus personagens, um cantinho bem especial no meu <3
Deixando de parte a lamechice, adorei ver Saitō e Aoshi neste volume! Saitō é sempre um boss, mas Aoshi... Aoshi esteve particularmente bem! Não só como combatente, mas como "amigo".
Bem, e depois de tudo o que se passou só resta uma coisa a dizer: Go for it Kenshin! ^_^x
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May 27, 2024I didn't really enjoy Enishi's associates as much as Shishio's, but still there were some fun quirks in some of them.
The highest point was a point that caught me off guard completely because it's a shonen and this isn't common but when it did I was jaw dropped. I don't remember if that happens in the movie or not but it's way more memorable here. It was the highest point in this manga because it went not with a climatic over the top fight sequence but with something I really can't say because it's a spoiler. The problem though is that not many pages later a plot twist happens, canceling everything I just talked about, all the emotions, all the awe.
Some pages later in an author's note the mangaka says he was split between using that plot twist or leaving this as they were and he opted for the plot twist shit because it's a shonen and it's all about laughs and happy endings, fuck me.
Well, fuck that, fuck you, you have no balls.
Kinda bummer but hey what you gonna do.
It's not bad now it's just that I was so excited to continue reading after that climax and then it was all for nothing. Well, not for nothing, but for something I don't prefer.
The highest point was a point that caught me off guard completely because it's a shonen and this isn't common but when it did I was jaw dropped. I don't remember if that happens in the movie or not but it's way more memorable here. It was the highest point in this manga because it went not with a climatic over the top fight sequence but with something I really can't say because it's a spoiler. The problem though is that not many pages later a plot twist happens, canceling everything I just talked about, all the emotions, all the awe.
Some pages later in an author's note the mangaka says he was split between using that plot twist or leaving this as they were and he opted for the plot twist shit because it's a shonen and it's all about laughs and happy endings, fuck me.
Well, fuck that, fuck you, you have no balls.
Kinda bummer but hey what you gonna do.
It's not bad now it's just that I was so excited to continue reading after that climax and then it was all for nothing. Well, not for nothing, but for something I don't prefer.
December 11, 2023
This volume is right up there with #2 in terms of forgettable fight scenes and cheap narrative tricks. At least Watsuki knows it and he apologizes right after doing a big bait and switch, but I still have to read it. Daredevil Born Again this ain't.
December 13, 2019
I cannot wait to finish the last volume. This is getting so good. I caught myself getting misty eyed throughout this one. So, far this volume is my favorite out of all of them.
June 9, 2020
Oooh... Watsuki almost had me there!!
March 6, 2015
Contains spoilers
So the big Big Battle begin, two adversaries, a fist fighter against Sanosuke, and the mysterious man with the spider things against Kenshin, but as Sanosuke fights , Kenshin is just waiting for his enemy to show an attack, so a third onedecides to move forward the battle, Kenshin then makes an attack to disable the main weapon of his opponent and let Yahiko fight him.
So 3 battle front, Kenshin versus the puppeteer with the big monster, Yahiko versus the ninja spider guy, and Sanosuke versus the punching guy, 3 great battles, but certainly the most intense was Yahikos for he just barely survives.
So then a man with a long claw arms appears to fight Himura, but that’s when Saito arrives and we have a different fight.
Finally is Himura versus Enishi, a large stakes fight, and they are both at a great level but in a final attack Kenshin seems to defeat Enishi, and at that moment canon guy awakes, attacks Himura and Enishi uses that distraction to fill the dojo with smoke and kill Kaoru before scaping.
Kaoru dies, wow that was a extremely sad shocking moment, it was kind of hinted when Enishi talked about how his revenge was to make Kenshin feel his pain for his sister’s death, so that pointed to him trying to hurt Kenshin via Kaoru, but then he went on a direct fight to Kenshin, really the image of Kaoru with the sword on her chest, was quite a terrible thing to see, so sad.
Of course Kenshin then goes away to the village of the lost ones, to just wait for death while he just keeps feeling the pain of his failure. And thats when Misao and Aoshi arrive with the dairy that Kaoru asked for, Aoshi suspects about the way they found Kaoru dead and decides to investigate finding that Kaoru is alive, and then we see that it is true, she is being held captive by Enishi who somehow can’t kill her, and so Aoshi, Misao and Yahiko with a hint from Saito start looking for the hiding place in order to try rescue Kaoru.
Wow what a book, start with great battles, and the Kaoru’s death, that was cruel, in this case the 3in1 plays against you since in the same book you get to see that the death is a trick, just imagine the people who followed the manga at release, waiting for the next book just after finding Kaoru is dead.
So the big Big Battle begin, two adversaries, a fist fighter against Sanosuke, and the mysterious man with the spider things against Kenshin, but as Sanosuke fights , Kenshin is just waiting for his enemy to show an attack, so a third onedecides to move forward the battle, Kenshin then makes an attack to disable the main weapon of his opponent and let Yahiko fight him.
So 3 battle front, Kenshin versus the puppeteer with the big monster, Yahiko versus the ninja spider guy, and Sanosuke versus the punching guy, 3 great battles, but certainly the most intense was Yahikos for he just barely survives.
So then a man with a long claw arms appears to fight Himura, but that’s when Saito arrives and we have a different fight.
Finally is Himura versus Enishi, a large stakes fight, and they are both at a great level but in a final attack Kenshin seems to defeat Enishi, and at that moment canon guy awakes, attacks Himura and Enishi uses that distraction to fill the dojo with smoke and kill Kaoru before scaping.
Kaoru dies, wow that was a extremely sad shocking moment, it was kind of hinted when Enishi talked about how his revenge was to make Kenshin feel his pain for his sister’s death, so that pointed to him trying to hurt Kenshin via Kaoru, but then he went on a direct fight to Kenshin, really the image of Kaoru with the sword on her chest, was quite a terrible thing to see, so sad.
Of course Kenshin then goes away to the village of the lost ones, to just wait for death while he just keeps feeling the pain of his failure. And thats when Misao and Aoshi arrive with the dairy that Kaoru asked for, Aoshi suspects about the way they found Kaoru dead and decides to investigate finding that Kaoru is alive, and then we see that it is true, she is being held captive by Enishi who somehow can’t kill her, and so Aoshi, Misao and Yahiko with a hint from Saito start looking for the hiding place in order to try rescue Kaoru.
Wow what a book, start with great battles, and the Kaoru’s death, that was cruel, in this case the 3in1 plays against you since in the same book you get to see that the death is a trick, just imagine the people who followed the manga at release, waiting for the next book just after finding Kaoru is dead.
June 4, 2020
This genuinely felt like the conclusion of the series, until the last volume which does some back peddling.
What I liked most about this was the fights, instead of it solely resting on Kenshin's shoulder. This time his friends are involved in the fighting, we got a bit of this in the Kyoto arc but the battles didn't really matter, whereas in this what his friends do impact on Kenshin's fight and it's amazing. I was a little disappointed that Kaoru didn't fight, with everything going on I kind of expected her to get involved, considering she is head of the dojo. I do like the way they played out, heck there was even a few surprised with who fought.
What bothered me was mostly in the 24th volume, as it takes away some of the magic. Before that we had an epic final battle and what felt like a conclusion, only to be told it isn't.
Aside from that this would have actually been 5 stars.
What I liked most about this was the fights, instead of it solely resting on Kenshin's shoulder. This time his friends are involved in the fighting, we got a bit of this in the Kyoto arc but the battles didn't really matter, whereas in this what his friends do impact on Kenshin's fight and it's amazing. I was a little disappointed that Kaoru didn't fight, with everything going on I kind of expected her to get involved, considering she is head of the dojo. I do like the way they played out, heck there was even a few surprised with who fought.
What bothered me was mostly in the 24th volume, as it takes away some of the magic. Before that we had an epic final battle and what felt like a conclusion, only to be told it isn't.
Aside from that this would have actually been 5 stars.
January 17, 2013
I finally finished my Rurouni Kenshin collection with vols. 8 and 9 of the VIZBIG editions. Each one is a brick of a book, collecting 3 or 4 of the original volumes. This one (#8) collects volumes 22-24. These also have a larger format than the original English language, single-volume releases and what feels like higher quality paper. (All around a better deal.)
I hadn't read the official English translation of these volumes before - its nicely done and clear to read, though not nearly as lyrical as maigo-chan's popular fan translation. VIZ's decision to use 'this one' for Kenshin's pronouns makes for some clunky and unpleasant sentences, especially in these later volumes, but at least they were consistent in their decision.
I hadn't read the official English translation of these volumes before - its nicely done and clear to read, though not nearly as lyrical as maigo-chan's popular fan translation. VIZ's decision to use 'this one' for Kenshin's pronouns makes for some clunky and unpleasant sentences, especially in these later volumes, but at least they were consistent in their decision.
July 1, 2021
All the ahistorical villains, soap opera plot twists, and excessive explanation of fights you could want, in one volume! I do like Yahiko developing into a proper swordsman, but there's just so much rehashing of old material here. No one is challenged in a new way, they're just in the exact same setup as the Kyoto arc in a different city with even more paper-thin bad guys. The fragile justification also really hurts; a misunderstanding is a really weak thing to base an epic revenge saga on. There would be some dramatic heft if we hadn't spent the entire previous volume establishing how right Kenshin is about everything.
May 27, 2024
Honestly for a series with villains that have flamethrower breath via clicking their teeth, stares that can stop hearts, swords that light on fire because of the friction between their forceful attacks and the micro sized remains of flesh from past foes, and the arms that extend via optical illusions created by their sleeves, this group of villains is a little far fetched and honesty not very entertaining. Of course, I bought this volume because I couldn’t find it anywhere lol. Hopefully the final volume leads to a meaningful/decent conclusion.
March 13, 2019
Kenshin versus Enishi! The discovery of Jinchu! The death of a main character! Kenshin defeated! The discovery of a deceit! All in all, Rurouni Kenshin doesn't disappoints! The final arc Jinchu is one that really takes a different twist and turn for fans who read the manga series. I for one, one more volume away, can't wait to complete the series. There is more to it now than before. Overall:- still loving the series.
November 3, 2014
The story is heading towards what promises to be an exciting conclusion. Significant plot progress with some very dramatic episodes can be found in this volume. This series certainly gets stronger over time and I am very pleased with both the story and the artwork at this stage in the story. Great stuff.
October 11, 2011
Finally, back into an interesting storyline again. The last few took way too long in battles. They just kept going and going... it was like a historical version of Dragonball (not a compliment), but this one makes it worth while (well, I think I'd mostly skip a couple of them). Yay!
April 22, 2011
Geez! The more I read Kenshin, the more I love it. eek!
May 7, 2014
*reread May 2014*
August 25, 2016
Bit of a story burn in this with Kaoru getting killed and then actually being alive but other than that loving where the series is going.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2022
So um...
I liked the Yahiko battle?
Yeah... otherwise, this series kind of jumped the shark in this omnibus.
I liked the Yahiko battle?
Yeah... otherwise, this series kind of jumped the shark in this omnibus.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews