Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Fifteen--The Giant Against the Great Man
Part 126--The Giant Against the Great Man (Beginning)
(Everyone stares in amazement as Hiko holds off the giant’s sword. Hiko grins, and with an
extra burst of effort, turns Fuji’s sword aside, cracking it. Hiko and Fuji stare each other
down.)
Shiro: He didn’t just block that monster’s sword, he turned it aside . . .who is
he?
Misao: It’s Hiko! Hiko Seijuurou! Himura’s master and current heir of the Hiten Mitsurugi
school! When Himura was talking about a backup plan last night, he must have meant
him!
(Yahiko is still lying on his back, staring up in shock.)
Hiko: What’s wrong, kid. Paralyzed with fear now that you’re safe?
Yahiko: Shut up! What about you! If you were coming you should have come a little sooner!
You just did this to look cool!
Hiko (picking him up by the back of his shirt): Complain to
my stupid pupil, not me. It’s all his fault for not telling me exactly where this place is. I
was wandering all over Kyoto thanks to him. (tossing him to Kaoru) Stand back, this could
get rough.
Kaoru (hugging Yahiko): Thank you.
(Hiko smiles, then turns back to Fuji.)
Hiko: Well then . . . shall we begin?
Saitsuchi: So, you are that Himura Battousai’s master . . . and you could but brush Fuji’s
great sword aside. So, in the end, this is your limit! No matter how great the ant, it
is all
the same before the mighty elephant. There are none who can stand before the monster of
this century, Fuji of the Hagun!
Hiko: Give it a rest for a minute, old man. I’m talking to this guy you call Fuji of the
Hagun.
(A moment of shock--no one, especially Fuji, expected this.)
Kaoru: Talk . . .
Misao: To that monster?
Hiko: That stroke was pretty good, Fuji. You had a good grip at the moment of impact, in
keeping with the methods of swordsmanship. A monster or a demon, without a thought in his
head, couldn’t have done that.
Saitsuchi: Don’t listen to him, Fuji! Listen to what I say! When the whole province banded
together to lynch you as a freak, who took you in? That was I! Don’t think about anything
else but the debt you owe me!
Hiko: Old man! (Saitsuchi is shocked into silence) I’m talking to Fuji. I’ll have a talk
with you later.
Misao & Yahiko (thinking): He's scary . . .
Kaoru (thinking): What a master . . .
Hiko: Let’s see, where were we . . . yes, that was a good hit. But as you are now, you’re no
match for me. You’ll die hidden in that heavy armor.
Misao: So what he wants to say is that he’s good. (What an egomaniac.)
(Okon (hearts for eyes): I’m in love!)
Kaoru (thinking): Armor . . . ! He’s right . . . no matter how strong he is, he’ll be
hampered by the armor. And he’ll unconsciously let down his guard a little with the security
of being protected. In other words, even if he puts all of his strength into a blow, it won’t
be as great as it could have been . . . Why is he deliberately telling this to that
monster?
Saitsuchi (desperately): I see your ploy! Don’t be fooled by his lies, Fuji! He’s trying to
deceive you! He’s provoking you into losing your presence of mind, tricking you into taking
off your armor yourself!
Hiko: Feh . . . it must be tough having such a stupid master, Fuji. In payment for saving
your life, he got a devoted fighter? That’s pretty good. My stupid pupil could learn a
thing or two from you. But isn’t it about time you chose to fight for yourself? Your
outlandish strength makes everyone around you a coward. And from your point of view, no matter
how hard you wish, just because of that body of yours, you can never have a fair fight. But
today it’s a different story. The man you can fight with all your strength and never defeat
is standing before your eyes.
(Fuji bites down on the chinstrap of his helmet, severing it. His armor falls away. He throws
back his head and roars, tears in his eyes.)
Kaoru: He’s crying . . .
Okina: They’re tears of joy . . . We saw this Fuji only as a monster. We didn’t see the
depths of his heart, didn’t recognize his sorrow as a warrior . . . And so this
response . . . Hiko Seijuurou. Truly a great man . . .
Misao: But isn’t he stronger now that he took off his armor? This is not a good thing!
Yahiko: Stupid. This is good.
Misao: What’s good about it?
Yahiko: I hate to say it, but he’s doing pretty well so far. He’s pretty cool.
Saitsuchi (as Fuji places him on the ground): Fuji . . .
Fuji (haltingly): A fair fight! Man to man!
(He readies his sword; Hiko, grinning, turns to face him.)
The Makings of the Characters--Fuji (real name unknown)
It seems like he was inspired by Evangelion, but Fuji really stems from the giant
god-soldiers in "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind." When I was thinking "Oh man, I gotta
get all the Ten Swords out," I saw the TV road show and it hit me--a giant! But my next
thought was "Kenshin fighting a giant, how interesting would that be?" and I rejected it.
The idea was hard to shake, though, and as I racked my brains over it, I eventually came up
with the idea of pitting him against the joker of Ruroken, Hiko, in a kind of side story.
When my boss saw the plans for Fuji, his first words were "Are you sure about that?"
When the editor saw them, his first words were "Isn’t he a little too big?" As always when
there are a lot of doubts, my friends and assistants all said that "It’s cool, it’s fine,"and
when I finally tried it, I was really happy at the favorable response.
Another part of Fuji came from the Frost Giants of Finnish folk tales (well, I’m not
exactly sure that it’s Finnish, but . . .) The idea that giants were not necessarily monsters
and that they had hearts formed Fuji’s core, and I went from there.
As for the design, I have to admit, I used the Prototype Model from Eva as the basis.
I tried a lot of things before I decided on his design, and at first, I just picked my
favorite of the Evas, the Production Model, to use for the face. But my
assistants all said, "They look too much alike," so it was rejected. Finally Takei
Hiroyuki-sensei (from Butsu Zone--he used to be my assistant) couldn’t stand to see me
groaning with my head in my hands any longer and suggested a design based on the prototype
model, flavored with a skull. I incorporated a helmet with a string he was chewing on and
finished the face. I tried to do the body without being all Eva-Eva about it.
Those who know will have realized it at once. It’s Dogura Magura from Obata Takeshi-shishou’s
"Arabian Lamp Lamp." I said I would combine two conflicting elements, a monster that’s
good-looking (well, clean-cut), planning to conquer this lofty goal. . .
However I was working on Fuji’s section at a time when my schedule was
really intense, and I didn’t have time to polish up the design, so I sort of regret the whole
thing. Obata-shishou, I’m really, really, really sorry . . .
translations by maigo-chan