Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Thirteen--A Beautiful Night
Part 110--A World Hard to Save
Haibutsu Kishaku, the Anti-Buddhist Movement
In Keion 4 (the first year of Meiji), the Meiji government, in the name of accord between church and state, decreed
that Shinto and Buddhism be separated to reduce Buddhism's influence. However, as this form of anti-Buddhism was
embraced by the general public, it resulted in a storm of Buddhism oppression and the destruction of countless temples,
altars and texts. It is known as the Haibutsu Kishaku. Now, this storm will rip through one man's soul--
Meiji 2 (1869) In distant, snowy Ezo (now Hokkaido) the war between the government and the shogunal army still rages.
But this mountain village is already conquered and spring has come.
(A younger, thinner Anji and five children are working in the fields beside the Juuraku temple. One boy is holding the baby's
toy just out of reach as the baby cries.)
Anji: Hey, Tasuke, please don't tease Gorou . . .
(The oldest girl bonks them both.)
Tsubaki: Tasuke! Quit teasing Gorou! Gorou, quit crying over nothing! Now go get back to work!
(They scurry off.)
Tsubaki: You too, Father! When you're angry, you have to harden your heart and get mad! You're way too nice to them . . .
Anji: I guess you're right . . . But I'm not good at getting angry. I'm sorry.
Tsubaki: Well, I guess that's how you are.
Little girl: Tsuba--ki---!
Tsubaki: What is it now!
Little girl: There's a snake--!
Tsubaki: All right, leave this to me!
(Anji smiles.)
(One of three men at the gate): Anji. Anji, are you here?
Anji: Mr. Mayor?
(Later, inside.)
Anji: Leave the village?
Man: You've heard about the Haibutsu Kishaku. We met and decided to obey Meiji policy by tearing down the temple.
Anji: Wait a minute. It doesn't matter what happens to me, but what about the children? They lost their parents
in the Boshin War. They don't have anywhere else to live . . .
Mayor: Of course they'll leave. They have to leave. Tsubaki's father, the old mayor, and his followers fought for the
Bakufu. Our standing with the government is perilously low. (as he leaves, to his men)
Luckily I have friends in the prefectural government. If we play our cards right it will mean riches for the village.
The temple, the monk and his brats are just in our way!
(The children rush in.)
Girl: The temple's going to be knocked down?
Tasuke: They're kicking us out?
Tsubaki: I'm sorry, Father. This is my dad's fault.
Anji: Don't apologize. I know all your father wanted was to bring peace more quickly. There's nothing for you all to
worry about. Cheer up. Your parents would want you to be happy. That's what I want too. We're not going to cause trouble
for the village by staying here. What do you think about moving out and finding a new place to live? Where should we
go?
Kids: I want Tokyo. Tokyo's the best!
I want to go to Kyoto!
I want Hakodate!
Stupid, Hakodate's right in the middle of the fighting.
Anji (thinking, as he gazes up at the Kwan Yin statue): Great Buddha. Such terrible things have happened to these
children . . . Somehow, let them have a better future . . . . Please, watch over them.
(Outside)
Man: Mr. Mayor. Aren't you being a little easy on them?
Mayor: Hm?
Man: It's not like you're up against any church-goers. It's just a run-down temple, a poor monk and a bunch of dirty
kids. You can do whatever you want with them, no one's going to complain. And the goodwill of the government has its
limits. If you drag your heels on this, some other village's going to get all the good stuff.
Mayor. Hmm. (smiling slightly) I guess you're right.
(Later that night. The kids are asleep. Anji prays under a waterfall, until something makes up look up. He rushes
back to the temple, to find it ablaze.)
Anji (running): Tsubaki--Tasuke--Gorou--the children!
(Two men hit him across the back of the head; he falls, bleeding.)
Man: All right, that's all of them. Go tell the Mayor.
(The children are huddled together in front of the Kwan Yin, surrounded on all sides by flame.)
(That morning. Anji falls to his knees in the temple's wreckage, screaming in rage and grief.)
Anji (before the Kwan Yin): Why . . . Why did you abandon these children . . .
(Tsubaki's burnt arm is visible in the wreckage, her prayer beads still on her wrist.)
You too, Father! When you're angry, you just have to harden your heart and get mad! You're way too nice . . .
(Anji clasps the hand. His own hands come away streaked with ash. He draws two dark circles under his eyes, gritting his teeth in rage.)
And so five years later--
(Anji holds up the mayor, amid the bodies of the other men responsible.)
Mayor: I--I'm sorry--just--don't kill me!
Anji: Namu Amida Buddha.
(He claps his hands together on his head, decapitating him.)
(In the present--)
Anji: Do you understand? Prayers and wishes couldn't save anything. This is all there is--to save this world hard to
save . . . !! Until these children can pass through the wheel of reincarnation and be reborn, Bright King Anji cannot
lose!
Kenshin: Anji!
Sanosuke (putting out a hand): Stand aside.
Kenshin: Sano . . .
Sanosuke: You can't stop him with reason. This is where the fists have to come out. Come on, Anji! Answer these
fists!
The Makings of the Characters--Tsubaki and the Children
I already had an image of Anji's past, and I came up with them to fit it.
At first I thought of not five but an entire orphanage, but that would have been too hard to draw. (But this one ended up being hard anyway.
Assistants, I'm sorry.)
I got letters from readers saying "Anji looks like Colossus in the X-men Fatal Attraction story," after reading about Anji's past. I guess he does look like
him. But I thought of the character close to a year ago, and I read the Fatal Attraction story (the Japanese edition) afterwards, so it can't have influenced me.
I think it's natural that they be similar in feel, though, since I like the X-men so much.
I also got letters saying "I think Tsubaki likes Anji," and maybe I think so too. These tragic episodes are easy to imagine, but hard to draw; they take
a lot out of you. After I finished this, I decided light stories are better.
There was no real model for the design. Some people thought that Tsubaki was based on Kyou Kusanagi from King of Fighters, but that's looking at
this too closely. Can't we be a little kinder to the manga?(laughs.)
Tsubaki's headband is simply a way of making her look different from Kaoru or Misao, and doesn't have any other deep meaning. (But I did pick it
out of a fashion magazine, so maybe that's my model.)