The story opens up by explaining how there’s been a war in Japan. (I’ll refrain from going too deep in the politics, since it’ll be very friggin confusing to the uninitiated if I do). During the war there fought a highly skilled assassin (or as the Manga likes to call it; “Man Slayer”) called Battousai.
Known for his cross-shaped scar and god-like speed, he murdered people left and right during the war, all in the name of creating a new and more peaceful age in Japan.
As you can imagine, seeing how that’s the START of the story… that didn’t work.
No matter how you put it, a murderer is just that, a murderer.
All the new age really did was turn the place more militant and it added a ban against swords on the streets unless they’re either wielded by an official or the sword isn’t sharp.
So, to repent for his sins of countless murders, he’s been wandering the country, calling himself Himura Kenshin and helping random people he comes across however he can, with the vow that he will never kill again.
To help keep that promise, he now wields a sword that can’t cut, the Reverse Blade Sword, a sword that has the sharp edge face the wielder and the blunt side face the opponent.
Many years past and one day he meets a girl named Kaoru Kamiya, the heir to the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo.
It’s a Dojo that believes in “The Sword That Revitalizes Life”, meaning that the sword style they teach is meant to defend, not to kill and maim. This is represented by the fact that they fight with Wooden Swords.
These two met when Kaoru accused Kenshin of being the murderer that’s been going around town killing people in her Dojo’s name. You can imagine that kind of puts a stain on the whole “Sword That Revitalizes Life” message. However, the moment she actually talks with him, she realizes he can’t be the murderer because of his Reverse-Blade Sword.
That and he’s seems a bit too ditzy to be a murderer at all.
Together they face the actual murderer, which depends on the adaptation who it really is, but the point is that said murderer claims to be Battousai, Kenshin’s previous alias. Something Kenshin could easily disprove by revealing that he’s… well… Battousai.
Having revealed his true identity before beating the copy-cat, Kenshin decided afterward to leave, as he thinks Kaoru wouldn’t want a Man Slayer to be staying at her Dojo.
She begs to differ.
She argues that the man she met was not the murderer Battousai, she met a wanderer called Himura Kenshin.
While she DOES disapprove of Battousai’s actions, she welcomes the helpful ways of Himura Kenshin, which in itself is very comparable to her Dojo’s message.
And so Kenshin started living at her dojo. This man who was once a murderer, who took to wandering around the country with no place to stay, finally had a place he could call home.
So you may have noticed that they stated there’s a difference between Kenshin and Battousai, like they’re two different people sharing a body.
Well… that’s not that far off…
The thing is that every time Kenshin wields his sword, he slowly gives into his bloodlust and turns into Battousai.
When that happens, gone are Kenshin’s vow to never kill, gone are his funny little ditzy expressions, gone are him saying stuff like “Oro?”.
This little mental problem has threatened Kenshin’s vow to never kill many times throughout the duration of the story.
And when you think about it, it makes sense, Kenshin ends up having to fight a LOT of villains throughout the story. Many of them have lost the chance of redemption LOOOOONG ago.
Just to give you an idea…
With an opponent like this, it’s easier to just flip that Reverse-Blade Sword and kill the bastard rather than do the moral thing of keeping him alive.
And that’s the core of the story; killing is the easy way out. Dying is easy, living is what takes true courage. It’ll be difficult, sometimes outright impossible to stay on the moral path, but one doesn’t learn when one dies.
Only when someone is living can they truly learn to repent for their sins, which in itself is it’s own challenge that may or may not be impossible.
This is why Kaoru ends up becoming so important to Kenshin, she’s the representation of his vow to not kill. No matter how difficult things get, she will always be there to regress the Battousai and bring Himura Kenshin back.
Now, part of Kenshin’s big character flaws revolve around how the guilt of all his killings made him a bit of a martyr.
He has a tendency to put all the troubles in the world on his back, not caring about his own life as much as others. His dedication to save every life he sees comes at the detriment of his own, it’s even represented by his Reverse-Blade Sword. The sharp edge is facing him instead of the opponent, get it?
This ends up being a big lesson that he learns in the story, that his own life is a life too. His life is worth just as much as any other life, he’s got a home, friends and even families now. All of them who would be affected as well if he dies.
Yet again Kaoru is more than just a motivator for Kenshin not to give into his Battousai persona, she’s also his reminder to stay alive.
By now you must’ve asked yourself “okay, that’s sweet and all, but what the heck is the point of that cross-shaped scar?”.
I’m glad you asked, hypothetical curious person.
To answer that, we’ll have to go back in time, during the aforementioned war of Japan, and see how Battousai turned into Kenshin for the first time.
And you will read about it when you click that button for the next page!
Game Philosophy 