Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nine--Arrival in Kyoto
Part 68--Portrait of an Ambitious Man
(As Kenshin and Saitou approach the inn, Soujirou is waiting for them at the front gate.)
Soujirou: Mr. Himura Battousai, and Mr. Saitou Hajime.
Kenshin (thinking): That voice . . . (aloud) Be careful, Saitou. This is the man
who killed Governor Okubo.
Soujirou: Oh no no no, today I'm just your guide. Look, I'm not even armed. Mr. Shishio is
waiting for you inside. Please come in.
Saitou: We can't start out being this cautious. Let's go.
(Shishio sits on a cushion, smoking a pipe.)
Yumi: Lord Shishio, a drink after your bath?
Shishio: They're here.
Kenshin: You're . . . Shishio Makoto?
Shishio: Call me Shishio, my rude predecessor.
Kenshin: Don't let it bother you. The rudeness is on both sides.
Saitou (to Soujirou): Hey, are you sure you want him to just stand there? Battousai could
kill Shishio in a single leap.
Soujirou: Oh, it's all right. Mr. Himura isn't like you, Mr. Saitou. He'd never try
anything as dishonorable as a surprise attack.
Saitou (thinking): He saw right through me.
(In the village. Eiji picks up his brother's sword.)
Misao: Wait a minute! Where do you think you're going with that thing?
Eiji: Shishio's inn. For revenge.
Misao: What? You'll never make it.
Eiji: Whether I can or not is not that problem! It's whether I do or don't! I'm already
alone. My life means nothing to me.
Misao: Wait!
Eiji: What? If you're just trying to get in my way--
Misao: Idiot. Senkaku won't be alone at Shishio's inn. Shishio's important; the place'll be
crawling with those masked soldiers. You won't make it past the front
gates. So I'll help you. (thinking) I understand his feelings. If the Oniwabanshuu were
killed I'd throw away my life to get revenge! Sorry, Himura, but I have to
help him!
Eiji: You can follow me, but don't get in my way.
(Misao kicks him.)
Kenshin: Why did you target this place? You're after the whole country, not one or two
little villages.
Shishio: For the hot springs. The hot springs are good for my burnt skin. But I was afraid
the other bathers would see me, so I had to take them.
Kenshin: You . . . for this alone you would terrorize an entire village . . .
Shishio: I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Learn how to take a joke. You're as serious as the
rumors say you are.
Saitou (bonking him): Temper, temper. You take a joke about as well as that girl does.
(as they sneak in, Misao sneezes.)
Shishio: This village will make a strong military base for dominating the Toukai region.
Although I do like the hot springs.
Kenshin: Shishio--
Saitou: You keep quiet. So with this base you intend to exact revenge from the Meiji
government for those bandages, young man?
Shishio: Saitou, captain of the Shinsengumi third unit . . . You're more like me than
Battousai is, so I thought you could understand me better, but looks like I was wrong.
I have no intention of seeking revenge from those who gave me these bandages. Rather I
should thank them. They taught me things which have sunk into my soul.
"If you trust, you will be betrayed." "If you are careless, you will die." "Kill, or be
killed." And, "A good man is never far from a woman."
Saitou: Well, could you keep it down then? I'm tired of running all over Japan all for your sake.
Shishio: We all survived the Bakumatsu. Why can't you understand? Revere the emperor,
destroy the Bakufu, expel the barbarian, open the country. These ideas
brought about the Bakumatsu, but in the end it was nothing more than a time of chaos that
finally came three hundred years after the Sengoku. A time when supporters of the Emperor or
the Shogun; Satsuma, Choushuu or Tosa; all raised their flags and fought and killed in the name
of justice.
Born in those times was a man who would try to rule all under heaven.
(Soujirou applauds; Kenshin and Saitou are silent.)
Shishio: I was almost assassinated; when my wounds had finally healed and I tried coming out,
the Meiji government had succeeded in ending the violence. Now
they who tried to eliminate me won't send a single troop against me for fear of looking weak
before the Western powers. This weak government. I cannot leave this
country to such a weak government. If the violence was ended, I'll awaken it! I'll seize
control! I'll make this country strong. Justice will be served when the
country is mine.
Kenshin: But for this justice, blood will flow. The blood of those who now live in peace . . .
Shishio: Well, after all, in this world the flesh of the weak is the food of the strong.
But I never could persuade you of that.
Kenshin (drawing his sword): Shishio Makoto, you cannot shed the blood of others for the sake of your own
justice.
Soujirou: And you, Mr. Saitou?
Saitou: I don't like pretty words like he does. But it seems to be my fate to be on the
side that brings Shishio down.
Shishio: It doesn't matter if we fight or not. I had hoped to do it poetically in
Kyoto, the city of flowers. But--well, if you really want to fight . . .
(He slaps the floor. Two axeheads burst through the floorboards; a gigantic man surfaces.)
Senkaku: Then Senkaku the ruler of Shingetsu is your opponent!
Kenshin: So you're Senkaku. The man who killed Eiji's brother and parents . . .
(Senkaku roars and strikes Kenshin with an axeblade.)
Senkaku: You're slow!
(The blow drives Kenshin into the wall.)
Soujirou: Oh, that was much easier than I thought.
Senkaku: Himura Battousai was not terrible enough!
Kenshin: I made a promise to Eiji.
(He has blocked with the reverse blade, splintering the axe.)
Kenshin: I will destroy you before I destroy Shishio!
The Makings of the Characters--Shishio Makoto
I wouldn't be introducing this character to this corner as it was originally intended, but I've been getting a lot of questions, so I'll write as to not cause any
difficulties.
In the beginning, my boss suggested I do some kind of big story, so other than making the character the main bad guy, I didn't have any kind of model.
At first I thought he would be out for revenge, but while I could draw the depth of his grudge well, but to put it on a larger scale he is seeking his own revenge while
taking over the country. He is a reckless, destructive man, and on that point I'm basing him a little on the Serizawa Kamo of theShinsengumi. After that, the slyness
of Kibagami Genjuurou from Samurai Spirits and his style affected him too.
There are a lot of things I could say about the design, but it's really Aonuma Shizuma from the movie "Clan of the Dog God" ("Inukami-ke no Ichizoku").
I saw the movie when I was young and it had a big impact on me, so when I thought of Shishio's body disfigured by burns, I also saw him as wearing a human-like
rubber mask like Shizuma. But, not only would that make it difficult to draw his expression, but in a black-and-white manga it would be difficult to show the feel
of the rubber. Also, it didn't really show his pitifulness, so I made him a man wrapped in bandages. But the bandages looked bad, so I had to think up something
like making the bandages crisscross over the face, or giving some kind of weird hat (?) to cover them up, but what? I wanted the face to have some of Kibagami's
style, so I added a kimono with one shoulder bare, a pipe, an umbrella, a folding screen, and in the end a sexy girl. By the way, it just happened once, but the
silhouette of Shishio in the Bakumatsu times is Kibagami. (I didn't think I'd have to draw him before his burns, so I didn't have a design at all.) If anyone saw it and
was angry with me, I'm sorry.