Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nine--Arrival in Kyoto
Part 70--Soujirou the Prodigy
Kenshin: Take up your sword, Shishio Makoto.
Misao (thinking): I'm not sure what's going on, but this is amazing. It's . . . we can't
show ourselves now.
Saitou: Don't bother hiding, you can come on out. (he opens the door; Misao and Eiji tumble
out.) Just stay close.
Kenshin: Miss Misao!
Shishio: That technique you called the Ryuushousen. You struck Senkaku's chin with the flat
of the blade, but if you had used the edge, it would have killed him?
Kenshin: . . . Yes.
Shishio: I'm disappointed. I'd heard you had become a vagabond sworn not to kill, but it was
hard to believe until I saw it with my own eyes. You could never destroy me like that.
(he gestures to Yumi) Boring. I don't want to fight.
(Yumi folds the screen behind them, revealing a secret stairway.)
Shishio: I'll be waiting in Kyoto. Become the Hitokiri and we'll try this again.
Kenshin: You'll turn tail and run?
(Shishio picks up a sword and tosses it to Soujirou. Soujirou's face lights up.)
Shishio: Soujirou, play with him for me.
Soujirou: Are you sure?
Shishio: Yes. I'm showing him my prodigy as a reward for the Ryuushousen.
Soujirou: Then, with your permission.
(They square off.)
Misao: Himura! What're you just standing there for? The bandage guy is getting away!
(Kenshin glares at Soujirou in her direction. Soujirou looks puzzled, while Misao is knocked
to the floor.)
Misao (dazed): What the heck was that?
Saitou: It's useless. Trying to fight him with sword-ki is like attacking the wind.
I've been doing it all along. He doesn't have any fighting-ki or killing-ki at all, not to
mention sword-ki.
(Shishio and Yumi are on horseback, galloping away.)
Yumi: Lord Shishio, what did you mean, prodigy?
Shishio: It's his nickname. He has a natural talent for the sword.
Yumi: But isn't Battousai the same way?
Shishio: In a way. But because of Soujirou's experiences as a child, all of the four
emotions other than
amusement have been suppressed. Without joy, he has no fighting ki; without anger, he
has no killing ki. The finest swordsman couldn't read the ki of Soujirou's attack. For
instance, Saitou was going to attack me, but he couldn't read Soujirou and didn't do it.
For Battousai, who reads his enemy's intentions instantaneously, it will be all the more
deadly--
Soujirou: I'm sorry, but if we don't hurry I won't be able to catch up with Mr. Shishio.
(Kenshin sheathes his sword and assumes the battou-jutsu stance.)
Misao: Himura!
Saitou: I thought so. Using your fastest technique against him is the best plan.
Soujirou: Battou-jutsu? Well, then me too. (taking a similar stance.)
(They draw their swords at almost the same instant.)
Shishio: The match will probably be an exchange of battou-jutsu.
(The swords meet.)
Shishio: The speed of their swords are equal! But--
(The reverse blade is sliced perfectly in half.)
Shishio: Without regret, Soujirou thinks nothing of killing, while Battousai has sworn never
to kill again. They may both be naturals, but the difference is clear! Until he abandons his
oath, Battousai will never defeat Soujirou.
Soujirou: That's the match, isn't it?
Saitou: Yes. If neither side can go on, it's a draw.
(Soujirou looks down and is surprised to see his own sword is shattered all along the edge of
the blade.)
Misao: All right! That's my Himura!
Soujirou: This is amazing. It's completely beyond repair. (sheathing it quickly) Well,
it was Mr. Shishio's, after all. (he walks past Kenshin to the stair) This match had no
winner or loser. You'll have to excuse me today, but if you can, please fight me again.
Until then, find yourself another sword.
(Kenshin stands silently as he leaves. Then, he slowly sheathes the half of the sword that
remains.)
The Making of the Characters--Seta Soujirou
Like Shishio, this character wouldn't ordinarily appear here yet, but I've gotten a
lot of questions so I'll do him now to avoid difficulties.
The model for Soujirou's personality--I shouldn't say this--is the captain of the
Shinsengumi first unit, the handsome swordsman who died young, Okita Soushi. Even the name
Seta Soujirou is a parody of Okita's childhood name Okita Soujirou. There have been a lot of
people reading too much into that, asking "Since he has the same name, Soujirou, could
Seta be any relation to Okita?" I'll say it now, the answer is no. Okita is just Seta's
model.
Okita Soushi is famous enough that I don't need to write about him here (Those who
want to know more should go to a bookstore; I'm sure they'll have good books about him. He's
very famous and popular. In the first Ruroken character poll, even though he only appeared
in a couple of frames in a flashback, he came out of nowhere to take seventh.)
I'm taking the Okita that Mr. Shiba Ryoutarou wrote about in his novel as my model. But not
the Okita from "Burning Sword," but from "Record of the Bloodshed of the Shinsengumi", in which
Okita's utter lack of human emotion causes great fear in his enemies. I know there are
Shinsengumi fan angry with me for putting a character based on Okita on the enemy
side, but since he's based on "Records"'s Okita, Seta seems more like
a strong bad guy to me.
Other than this model I didn't have any particular design. Instead of Okita's topknot
I saw him with a cropped
head, so I drew him like that. Other than that, to go with the ever-smiling face, he looks a
little like a girl.