Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Eight--On the Meiji Toukai Way
Part 64--Playing Tag
Kenshin: Shinomori . . . Aoshi . . .
Misao: You know them? Tell me where they are!! Are they okay?
(Kenshin walks along the road; Misao marches determinedly after him.)
Misao: Hey, wait a minute! You can't just shut up and walk away! Tell me where Lord
Aoshi is! How is Hanya? And Beshimi and Hyottoko and Shikijou? Hey, shrimp! Redhead!
X-scar! Girly-man! Edict breaker! I mean you, the weirdo in the red kimono!
Kenshin: My name is Himura Kenshin, so I'd prefer it if you called me that.
Misao (hopefully): So if I call you that, will you tell me about them?
Kenshin: No. They're completely different matters.
Misao (kicking him): Don't make fun of me, you jerk!!
Kenshin: Oro!
Misao: Answer me! Where the hell are Lord Aoshi and--
(Kenshin walks away, ignoring her.)
Misao (thinking): I'm not giving up! This is my first real clue since I started
looking for Lord Aoshi and the others!
Kenshin (thinking): She's very stubborn . . . Should I tell her how the
Oniwabanshuu met their deaths? Even if I keep silent, she'll continue searching and
find out someday. Maybe it would be better to tell Miss Misao the bitter truth,
rather than let her continue this reckless search. However,
Until I kill you, no one will.
Kenshin (thinking): Since I'm her only clue, she'll stick close to me. There's no
way of knowing when Shishio's faction will attack on this journey. There's no reason for her
to walk with me any further. (aloud) Can I lose you?
Misao: Huh?
(Kenshin jumps into the bushes.)
Misao: Hey--! (grinning evilly) Heh heh, so the fool thinks he can run. I'm a woman who
would be very helpful to Lord Aoshi as one of the Oniwabanshuu in better times. I'm
especially proud of my speed . . . huh? He's already just a speck! (chasing him)
Dammit, what are you!
Kenshin (thinking): She's not giving up . . . I'm running pretty fast, but
she's keeping up, she wants to see Aoshi and the others so much . . .
yet . . .
Misao (thinking): Damn . . . He's so fast. I'm keeping up now, but in the
end . . . He's no ordinary man. Could he have fought Aoshi and the others . . .
(She trips and falls.)
Misao: Oh no! You--
Kenshin (stopping): This game of tag is over.
Misao: What are you saying, I'm not done yet. I'll chase you until death to find
them--
(She finds herself standing on the edge of a deep gorge. Kenshin, from the other
side, turns and walks away.)
Misao (thinking): What . . . on earth . . . How did he get across? What do I
do now . . . I can't jump over this. But I have to stop him. Attacking from
behind, with no cloak, if I aim for his feet at least one should hit him.
Kansatsu Tobikunai!!
(Kenshin whips his sword out of its sheath. The kunai clatter away down the gorge.)
Misao (thinking): Just the wind from drawing his sword kept off my tobi
kunai . . .
Kenshin: Give up. Go back to Kyoto. I don't know the circumstances of how Aoshi
took you in and raised you, but living with the Oniwabanshuu, continuing to fight on
the path of violence, you would have been in danger. Aoshi knew that too; that is
why he left you with your guardian in Kyoto. It's better that you stop thinking
about him. For your own happiness.
(Misao bows her head and walks away.)
Kenshin: I'm sorry.
Misao (whipping around): You can say whatever you want! Forget what? I can't
forget, that's why I'm still searching!
Kenshin (thinking): She's running for the jump. (aloud) That's crazy,
stop!
Misao: Forget the most important person in my life? Where's the happiness in that?
(She leaps--and falls short. Kenshin dives after her.)
Misao (thinking, as Kenshin catches her): He really is amazing. He must have
fought with Lord Aoshi. But it's all right. No matter who he's up against, Lord
Aoshi could never lose. Wherever he is now, he's doing fine. Together with the
Oniwabanshuu . . .
(A little later. Misao comes to her senses, lying on the ground with a compress on her forehead.)
Kenshin: So you're finally awake.
Misao: Did I really faint?
Kenshin: Yes.
Misao: . . . But why did you wait here until I woke up?
Kenshin (continuing down the path): For certain reasons, I wouldn't be surprised if
I'm attacked somewhere along my journey. Because of this danger I cannot let anyone
travel with me. Stay back a little and pretend we're strangers. Trying to get rid of
you would mean going through all this foolishness again, and I can't take it.
And if I say no, you'll follow me anyway, right?
Misao (starting after him): You got that right! I'm definitely going to see Lord
Aoshi again!
The Makings of the Characters--Makimachi Misao
In developing the story, I made Misao to be the heroine while Kenshin and
Kaoru are separated.
The story was becoming a little dark, so when I wanted to draw it as cheerful
as I could, I ended up making the character half Kaoru and half Yahiko. It was
fun, and I really got to like her.
In my outline, she was going to be someone with a relationship with the
Oniwabanshuu, but the idea came from a letter about the Oniwanbanshuu, touching a
little on something in book four. When I was thinking about using the idea, I suddenly
needed a stand-in heroine. I thought to keep things simple, a girl who didn't fall
in love with Kenshin would be best, and Misao was born. There's an soont-to-come sad
ordeal of Misao's reunion with Aoshi, but I want her to try hard and not be
discouraged.
For her design, I've gotten a lot of complaints. Samurai Spirits'
Nakoruru . . . But speaking for myself, I think she's closer to Mai and Yuri in the SK
fighting game . . . (Oh, I give up. At the bottom of my grave I'm digging
myself another one . . .) Maybe the bad joke with the cloak was too strong.
I'm trying to stop drawing as I said in book seven. Misao's design was actually
impromtu. At first I meant her to be wearing a bad imitation of the Oniwabanshuu's
spying clothes. Then the people at the magazine suggested I change a few details
and erase the similarities to SK.
Her face and body type were meant to look more like a young boy's than a
woman's. She's tentatively sixteen, but I wanted her to look like no more than
thirteen at a glance . . . I kept worrying about whether to keep her long hair in
a braid or not, but it's a good way to show movement, so I think it's good that I
kept it.