Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Four--Two Destinies
Part 26--the Okashira, Shinomori Aoshi
Kenshin: As I said to Hanya, I would avoid an unnecessary battle if I could. Will you stand
aside and tell me where Kanryuu and Miss Megumi are?
Aoshi: When you said that to Hanya, did he give way? I will not either. You will ask where
they are with your reverse blade. And I will answer with this.
(he pulls aside his coat, revealing a short sword)
Kenshin (thinking): The length of that sword!
Yahiko: You’re gonna fight him with just one wakizashi! You're mocking him!!
Aoshi: Stand away, child.
Yahiko: WHY YOU--
Kenshin: I too must ask you the same.
Yahiko (stomping off to the sidelines): Everyone’s against me! Fine, but one wakizashi isn’t
going to give you any trouble. So settle this quick!
Kenshin (turning back to Aoshi): If that truly was a wakizashi we could settle this without
trouble, but . . .
Aoshi: It seems you know of the strengths of the kodachi.
Yahiko: Kodachi?
Kenshin: In short, it’s a sword between a katana and a wakizashi. Shorter than a katana, its attacking power is lesser, but it is lightweight and
turns extremely quickly, so it is a strong defense in emergencies. These are the characteristics of the
kodachi*, "the sword which is used as a shield" . . .
*also known as the long or the large wakizashi.
Kenshin: A considerable disadvantage when turning to attack the enemy . . .
Aoshi: Really. If that’s true, then let me attack.
(He drives forward. Kenshin instantly whips his sword out of its sheath.)
Aoshi (thinking): He’s fast!
(He blocks Kenshin’s blow with the kodachi, then kicks him to the head.)
Yahiko: Kenshin!
Kenshin (thinking): A kick! No . . . Like Hanya, he’s a kempoist!
(They trade blows. While Aoshi lands several punches, he blocks everything Kenshin throws at
him.)
Kenshin: I see. You plan to create an impenetrable defense with the kodachi, then, like Hanya,
attack using kempo . . .
Aoshi: You make one mistake. I was the one who taught Hanya kempo--
(he strikes Kenshin several times)
Aoshi: And the speed and strength of a master and his pupil are vastly different. Do not
think we are the same. Battousai, I have no personal grudge against you. But as the strongest
of the Ishin Shishi, you will find your death here.
Kenshin: You’re not doing this for Kanryuu.
Aoshi: That goes without saying. That scum knows nothing.
Kenshin: As the Edo Castle Oniwabanshuu, is it for the destroyed Tokugawa shogunate?
Aoshi: If you too were a patriot, you know about the battle of Tobafushimi and the conduct of
Tokugawa Yoshinobu--
Kenshin: Yes. The last Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, knew his army was outnumbered and he and
his senior officials fled Osaka Castle and escaped to Edo is his warship. He abandoned the
ten thousand soldiers who were fighting and laying down their lives on the battlefield . . .
Aoshi: After he fled to Edo, he sought sanctuary in the Karei Temple of Ueno. He entrusted
everything to Katsu Kaishuu, who in conference with Saigou Takamori agreed to avert a
decisive battle in Edo. Edo Castle was surrendered without bloodshed. The Bakumatsu ended
without the Oniwabanshuu ever seeing battle . . . That Tokugawa was a coward means nothing. I
regret only that I could not fight. In the course of history there is no "if," but if there
had been a battle in Edo, if we had fought, the victory of the new era would have been ours.
If a great fire had started in Edo, I and the Oniwabanshuu could have taken
advantage of the confusion to rise and kill Saigou, Okubo, Katsurara and the rest of the
Shishi leaders. The remaining incompetents could be smashed by the superior numbers of the
Shogun’s army; it would have been finished.
Yahiko: You--you idiot!! There’s no way you could have done that!
Aoshi: We could. And could it not happen now? In this Tokyo?
However, to do so now would
have no meaning. What has meaning is the true strongest of the Bakumatsu. That is
the Oniwabanshuu. This is proof.
Kenshin: In these times . . . Ishin Shishi and Bakufu samurai were plunged into battle without
their say. We were at war . . . But it wasn’t to decide who was right and who was wrong. It
was for the country’s future. We laid down our lives for the people’s peace and happiness.
But this is not you! You speak of burning a city to the ground--amidst all this bloodshed
there is only a fighting heart cold as ice! So even now you continue. You assist Miss Megumi
in bringing pain to people poisoned with opium. As an Ishin Shishi and as a vagabond, I
cannot pass by without silencing you!!
Aoshi: Whatever you say, as serious as you are, you have no chance of victory. Come.
(Kenshin seems to disappear. Aoshi blocks the falling stroke from above. Kenshin sheathes
the blade and slices it out again, but Aoshi counters that as well.)
Aoshi: From the Ryuutsuisen of the Hiten Mitsurugi school to the instantaneous Battoujutsu? You
attack well, but my kodachi cannot be destroyed so easily.
(Kanryuu waits at the balcony.)
Kanryuu: Damn those hirelings of mine! They're making a fool of me! (thinking) But I know
this now. Like Battousai, that man has no interest in money. His fighting spirit is so strong
he's almost mad. The slightest error on my part and they'll both be after me!
Is there no way to be rid of both of them at once? Think, Kanryuu. If you can do this
your future'll be golden.
Servant: Um, Mr. Kanryuu.
Kanryuu: What do you want!!
Servant: Well . .. the tests were scheduled for today, but . . .
Kanryuu: Idiot! Look around and think for once!! That was for the infantry!
Servant: I understand. Please excuse me.
Kanryuu: That--Wait!! (thinking) Of course! I’ve still got that--! (aloud) We’ll test
it! Where is it now?
Servant: It’s stored in the cellar . . .
(Megumi sits in the tower, staring at the unsheathed dagger.)
Megumi (thinking): Painful life . . . or a peaceful death . . .
the Makings of the Characters--Oniwabanshuu Shikijou--
Shikijou’s motif was Sanosuke. It’s surprising to write this, but it’s true. That is, he has the same kind of nature
as Sanosuke (full of self-confidence, big-hearted), his fighting style (power fighter) is the same, and we assume his
position (the number one advisor of the group) is the same. When they confronted each other, the match between Sanosuke and
Shikijou threw the differences between the two groups into sharp relief. (But whether I succeeded or not I’m not really
sure . . . )
You can't be sure if Hanya is really evil or not, but I tried to make Shikijou a villain. But, when we
see him at the edge of death, he accidentally became cool. On top of that, as is customary for a secondary character, a
section of enthusiastic readers became attached to him. (But if you think about it, all of the Oniwabanshuu are like
that . . .) But, this time the best reader response was for a single page, when the young Aoshi is introduced . . . as
you’d expect, all the guys look like that (bitter laughter).
Other than that, I don’t have much to say about the design. A power fighter needs muscles, but he looked too
ordinary so I covered him with scars. But, the depiction of the muscles is a reference to American comics.