Himura Kenshin
Himura Kenshin (緋村 剣心 Himura Kenshin), known in Western-order (Kenshin Himura) in the English anime, is a fictional character of the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X.
His Japanese seiyū is Mayo Suzukaze and his English voice actor is Richard Hayworth.
The main character of the series, Kenshin was a former Imperialist assassin that went by the name "Hitokiri Battōsai" (spelled with a macron in the VIZ manga, and spelled as "Hitokiro Battousai" in the English anime releases). The nickname implies he is proficient in the use of Battō-jutsu (sword drawing technique, known in modern times as Iaido) and can draw his sword with lightning speed. After the revolution, he traded in his katana and wakizashi (companion sword) for a reverse-bladed sword sakabatō and assumed the life of a "rurouni" (wanderer). He becomes a technical master of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū fighting style after defeating his master, but declines the official mastership. He has quite a distinctive appearance, slightly feminine (common in most anime/manga) with red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. According to his official biography, Kenshin was born on June 20, 1849. He stands at 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) and weighs 48 kg (106 lb).
Kenshin features a multiple personality disorder. He has two dominant and antagonistic personality: Kenshin-san, the pleasant man we all know and Battōsai, the assassin he was ten years back in the series. Under circumstances of great stress, Kenshin can turn into Battōsai. Battōsai is probably the strongest character in the series because he has no moral qualms about killing his enemies, he also retains all of Kenshin's style and moves.
Kenshin is partially based on Kawakami Gensai, a real hitokiri and master swordsman who worked with the Imperialists during the Meiji revolution, but afterwords his personal beliefs clashed with that of the new government, a conflict that resulted in his execution. Like Kenshin, Kawakami was a small, thin man of almost feminine appearance, and an expert of his own unique school of swordsmanship.
Kenshin was born as a peasant named Shinta, without a family name. Hiko Seijurō XIII gave him the given name "Kenshin" (heart of sword). Katsura Kogorō gave him his family name, "Himura".
Kenshin first falls in love with a woman named Yukishiro Tomoe. Tomoe, employed by Shogun spies, originally planned on killing him to avenge the death of her fiancée, Kiyosato; Kenshin killed Kiyosato. After meeting Kenshin and after the holocaust of Kyoto and the destruction of the Choshu clan, Katsura assigned Tomoe and Kenshin to live as husband and wife in hiding in the mountains. Over the coming months, Tomoe taught Kenshin the way of living as a civilian; as a farmer, and as a husband. As the political conflicts of Japan drew closer and closer to their home each day, Tomoe went to the waiting Shogun assassins in order to save Kenshin. Realizing that her feelings for Kenshin were being used to the advantage of his assailants, she throws herself in front of Kenshin's opponent in order to disorientate him, thus giving Kenshin the upper hand in the fight. But that meant that Kenshin's sword would slice through her. Tomoe dies after completing the "X"-shaped scar on Kenshin's face.
Kenshin falls in love with Kamiya Kaoru and later has a son with her, named Himura Kenji.
In Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen/Samurai X: Reflection, Kenshin and Kaoru contract a disease and die from it. This does not happen in the manga.
Following up is a small listing of his techniques:
Tsumuji:
Arashi:
Kogarashi:
Nidan Battōjutsu:
Hi Ryu Sen: an unusual and very risky technique. Considered a battoujutsu technique, Kenshin holds the sheath with the sword still inside, handle facing his enemy, and thrusts his arm outward, flicking the tsuba of the sword with his thumb at the same time. The sword is flung out of the sheath at a high speed and strikes the opponent.
Ka Ryu Sen: a gust of wind caused by Kenshin's sakabatō, he uses this to stun or impede opponents at a distance.
Ryu Tsui Sen: Kenshin jumps and slashes down using his body weight to increase the blow's strength.
Ryu Kan Sen/Ryu Kan Zen Tsumuji: a circular, outwards slash that goes up. The tsumuji is the consecutive attack in which Kenshin spins to deliver another slash.
Sōyumi: Kenshin rarely uses this attack, it involves him holding his sword pointing at his enemy and spinning in a series of forward somersaults.
Dō Ryu Sen/Terrestrial Dragon Light: This technique involves a strike at the soil which projects a hail of rocks or fragments at the enemy.
Kuzu Ryu Zen/Multi-headed Dragon Light: Kenshin learned this attack when he headed to Kyoto to complete his training with Hiko Seijurō. This technique attacks all nine possible directions in lightning-fast succession. The attack is considered non-escapable or blockable in the series with two exceptions: the Amakakeru Ryu No Hirameki and the Shukushi.
Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki: this is Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū's ōgi (ultimate technique, the attack one must master to be called Shishou and to become the next Seijuro Hiko). This attack is a modification of the battou structure of attack. Usually the battō attack involves doing three footsteps and then drawing the sword. The ougi has the user do two and a half footsteps and draw the sword at the same time as one does the third footstep. This results in a unusually fast slash that generates a displacement of air in the sword's trail. The vacuum prevents the adversary from moving or blocking. Seijuro Hiko calls this move, "the Dragon's claws from which one can't escape".
Kenshin Ryu Spinning Circular Attack: in Samurai X: The Motion Picture (Requiem for the Ishin Patriots), Kenshin faces against an old enemy who witnessed his best friend's death at Kenshin's hands. He therefore learned all of Kenshin moves and countered them with his sword and sheath attack style. As his last resort, Kenshin jumped up and fooled his opponent into believing that he was going to use the Ryu Tsui Zen. Kenshin then spun around and delivered an airborne, spinning attack that was very similar to the Amakakeru Ryu No Hirameki. Sagara Sanosuke named this attack.
---
Here is a full list of all Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū techniques, both Kenshin's and his master's:
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Doryusen(Ground Dragon Slash) = Giant blow against the ground, causing massive airwaves/rocks to strike enemies.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūtsuisen(Dragon Hammer Slash) = Jumps up in the air really high and then strikes down hard from above.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryū Kan Sen(Rising Wind Dragon Slash) = Lunges toward enemy using a very powerful twist of the body doing a sideways slash.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūsōsen(Double Dragon Slash) = Multiple Slashes against enemy.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūkansen Tsumuji(Rising Wind Dragon Slash Hair Spin)= Tsumuji(gyrate) involves higher speed than Ryukansen. Basically same attack but more powerful.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūshōsen(Dragon Rising Flash) = Rises up from ground, using all force in an uppercut, hitting vital points.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryutsuisen Zan = Same as Ryutsuisen except sword is pointed down to pierce.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Hiryusen(Flying Dragon Slash) = Performed by left hand only, attack uses centrifugal force to create a powerful blow with the hilt in a persons weakness, like in between the eyes.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryukansen Arashi(Wind Dragon Rising Slash Storm) = More powerful version of Tsumuji + more damaging.
Battō-jutsu Techniques
Battō-jutsu (Art of Drawing the Blade)= Stance with right foot placed in front of left, pressing the blade of the sheathed sword against the curve of the sheath, which increases draw speed threefold. The blade is then drawn by the entire body's motion, slashing with the "God-speed of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū ". It is an all-or-nothing attack where missing the target will result in the user being completely unguarded. Kenshin's hitokiri name, "Battōsai", means "One who has mastered everything of battō-jutsu"
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Soryusen(Paired Dragon Flash) = Paired attack with sword and sheath. If sword is blocked, sheath comes in and hits enemy.
Defensive Techniques
Zantetsu = Iron cutting technique. Can use it anywhere excempt underwater.
Shihara Dori = Defensive technique in which user grabs enemies sword.
Ryumeisan = User quickly sheathes sword, causing a sound that distorts the hearing of those with enhanced senses.
Modoshi Giri = User can cut something in half and then rejoin it together and make it seem as if there was no cut whatsoever.
Special Techniques
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūtsuishōsen(Dragon Hammer Rising Slash) = Combo of Ryūtsuisen and Ryūshōsen. Perfromed when opponent is coming down from above, Ryūtsuisen first, then Ryūshōsen, causing double damage.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Kogarashi Tsumuji Arashi (no translation) = First he starts off turning around and doing one hit, then jumps and hits again, then uses the turning momentum to go into a spin and slicing again. Spin goes vertically, not horizontally. Now for the two most powerful techniques that Kenshin learns from his master Hiko Seijuuro in the series.
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Kuzuryusen (Nine Headed Dragon Flash) = Attack learned before the most powerful succesion technique. Strikes with the sword nine times on the 9 vital points, head, right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, between the legs, the chest, right shoulder, and left shoulder, making this move virtually impossible to block.
Sucession Technique
Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ouki Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki(Heaven's Soaring Dragon Slash) = THE SUCCESION TECHNIQUE. Normally when using the Battojutsu, the right leg is placed in front of the left leg so as not to cut one's leg off when drawing your sword from the left, but with this one put his or her left leg in front giving your attack the most power it can get, and he or she must twist his or her body at the right time so as not to cut his or her leg off. In order to do this he must have a strong will to live. This move is actually a combination of two, because if this move is executed properly, if the first hit is blocked, then the person spins around, and slices again. It works because apparently after the first strike, the sword somehow makes a kindof vortex, sucking in the enemy, allowing the person to be close enough to be sliced again, kind of like a vacuum.