Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Ten--Master and Student of the Sword
Part 81--Shakkuu's Thoughts
Misao: Himura!
(Kenshin strikes Chou in the side; he goes down.)
Okina (thinking): He's done it . . .
(A long pause. Kenshin stares down at his work.)
Misao (taking a step forward): Himura . . .
Kenshin (bowing his head): I . . .
Misao: What?
Seikuu: That sword . . .
Misao: It's a reverse blade!
Okina: Shakkuu's last work was a reverse blade like the one he gave Himura!
Kenshin: No, this . . . feels better to the hand than the old reverse blade . . .
Misao: But if it's a reverse blade, then . . .
(Chou groans.)
Misao: He's still alive, Himura! You didn't break your vow!
Chou: Now I see why Lord Shishio wants to fight you while he's trying to take over the country.
But don't feel too good about your win. There are still nine of the Ten Swords
left. Two of them are definitely better than you. Soujirou, who you crossed swords with
before, and Usui who's come to Kyoto from Ryuukyuu. You'll never get to Lord Shishio! Remember
how weak you really are and sit back and watch his coup!
Misao: Gramps?
Okina (handing her the nunchuks): Here.
Misao (whacking him): Punishment!
(Chou is knocked unconscious.)
Misao: What are we going to do with him?
Okina: We can get a lot of information out of him; let's take him back to the Aoiya.
Kenshin: No, let's turn him over to the police. I don't know if he's arrived or not, but there's
a man here who has complete responsibility for the Shishio affair. It'll be safer that way.
Misao: You mean that guy . . .
Okina: If you say so.
Seikuu: A reverse blade . . . My father's last work was a . . . I don't understand. Why . . .
(The wooden handle splinters.)
Misao: The sword's breaking!
Okina: Himura's technique was too much for the wood to bear . . .
(The handle breaks away; the blade drops to the ground.)
Okina: It's all right . . . The blade itself is unharmed. What?
(The steel inside the handle bears writing.)
I forged swords that killed for countless years
For the world of my grandson, a child who bears no one any ill-will.
(A while later, in the Aoiya.)
Seikuu: He kept making swords for so many years . . . .
Even though his own son hated him, he did it for the world of his grandson . . . Probably
Shakkuu intended this as his death poem. My father learned as he went on how arrogant it was
to think that a sword could build a new age. But the time was the height of the Bakumatsu;
he could not retire nor remain and suffer as the chaos reached its peak. As a swordsmith living
during the Bakumatsu, my father only continued to make killing swords in the hopes that the
time of peace would come another instant sooner . . . It was completely against what he
wanted . . . It was with deep regret and a little prayer of hope that my father left this
holy sword, this true reverse blade . . .
Misao: True reverse blade?
Seikuu: Yes. When you forge a holy sword, you don't make just one. Two or sometimes many are
usually made. Of those, one which is well-made is called the true one and offered to the gods.
The others are called shadows and are hoarded or sold off.
Okina: I see . . . So there were two reverse blades from the beginning . . .
Misao: And this is the real one. The reverse blade that surpasses the old one!
Seikuu: Please take it, Mr. Himura. I think my father would have wanted it that way.
(Kenshin remembers receiving the first reverse blade . . . )
Shakkuu: So you're leaving the Shishi, Himura.
Kenshin: We've just won the first battle at Toba Fushimi. From now on, it's just selfish
fighting. And on top of that, what am I supposed to do without a sword? I have Master
Katsura's* permission, Mr. Shakkuu. From now on, I intend to search out the way of protecting
those who live in the new age, without killing.
*Katsura Kogorou--one of the Ishin Sanketsu, the head of the Ishin Shishi from Choushuu.
Shakkuu: Hmm . . . If there is such a way, I'd like to know it too. You can't just run away
from all the lives you've taken after so long. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
That should be the only way you can follow.
(He tosses him a sword.)
Shakkuu: A goodbye present. It can't hurt, even though it's probably too much for you. Try being a
swordsman with that at your waist. You'll find out how deeply you believe what you just said.
(Kenshin draws that sword, and finds that the edge is reversed.)
Shakkuu: When that sword breaks, if you still believe that weak joke of yours, come see me
again in Kyoto.
Kenshin: Mr. Shakkuu . . . (thinking) I still, like you, want to try living by this weak
joke. So . . . (aloud) For the true reverse blade, I offer my humblest thanks . . .
(A little later)
Seikuu: Well, we should be . . .
Okina: All right. Take care.
Iori: Gojaru . . . Anfake, anfake. Bye-bye anfake.
(Kenshin smiles and takes his hand.)
Himura finally has a new reverse blade. He thought at the time the matter had
been settled. But the next day--
The Makings of the Characters--Seikuu's family
Let's see, there was a lot of material that went into this family, but the truth is I don't
really remember . . . This was the end of the year rush, a really murderous schedule, so
my memory is kind of vague.
Iori was a symbol, among the characters of Ruroken who have ties to the past of the Bakumatsu
and the Ishin Shishi, of those with no such ties that live in the new era in peace. Seikuu
was a father's weakness and human selfishness. His wife was . . . a simple stopgap character.
As for design, Iori was taken from a baby in a pretty well-known shojo manga. I just improvised
Seikuu and his wife. The true reverse blade was originally going to be a plain wood imitation, but
things turned out kind of differently. I added the white paper streamers that are often found in
shrines to either end.
A lot of girls thought Iori was pretty cute. Chou carrying him around in the cloth bag was especially
popular. Seikuu kind of looks like Kanryuu, so I think he was a failure. But I was muttering "She looks
kinda weird," as I was first drawing the wife, and I ended up thinking, "Hey, this is not too bad."
Thinking back on it, it's the first female character I've drawn with no hair hanging over her forehead,
so to me it feels fresh. A true reverse blade of wood wouldn't have suited Kenshin's fighting style
(he could have used an imitation iron sheath) so I went back to the original form. My assistants said
plain wood was easier to draw, though, so they kept complaining.
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 7 august 1999