A Defense against criticism:
I've been surfing the web for Rurouni Kenshin sites and I've been seeing a lot of rant against my fave anime character (heck! I even like her more than Kenshin!) And a lot of those rants are unfair criticisms with no real basis. They usually come from devoted Tomoe fans who are grinding their teeth in anger because they see Kaoru as a threat to Tomoe's place in Kenshin's heart. Once and for all, I'll have my say on the Tomoe-Kaoru thing before I get on with my defense.
First of all, even if I am Kaoru's biggest fan, I actually like Tomoe (though not as much as Kaoru). Oh I won't be a hypocrite. At first I was wary of her existence. I actually saw her as a threat to Kaoru. And her extreme coldness really bothered the heck out of me. I mean, after getting used to Kaoru who was bursting with warmth and happiness, I found Tomoe's coldness and lack of emotion really disturbing. She actually reminds me of Ayanami Rei of Evangelion although Rei is waaaaay creepier (Sorry Rei fans! I know you might have found her enigmatic but I didn't. I just consider her as plain cold and mechanical. But that's just my opinion. You're free to form your own.)! But after a while, I understood her reason for acting the way she does and she kinda grew on me. I decided that I really liked her after I read the chapter in the manga wherein she woke Kenshin so that he could rescue Kaoru. That was so sweet and touching. It was totally unselfish of her to do that and it really disproved some of her fans' mistaken notion that she doesn't want Kenshin to be with someone other than her. After reading that chapter, I decided, heck, gotta love this girl!!!! Anyway, Kaoru is not Tomoe's replacement in Kenshin's heart. True, she might be the new love of his life but I doubt she has it in her mind to take Tomoe's place. I mean that special place Tomoe occupies in Kenshin's heart will always be hers and hers only. There was really no rivalry between the two women. I am extremely frustrated with the rivalry some fans created between them. It's extremely stupid because first and foremost, they didn't even exist in the same timeframe in Kenshin's life. Secondly, the two women do not even harbor ill feelings towards each other. And lastly, there wasn't even a question of who Kenshin loved more. As far as I'm concerned Kenshin loved them equally. They deserve to be given the same degree of love because both of them made Kenshin very happy. Each of them served their own purpose. Geez, sorry for ranting. It's just that I have no tolerance whatsoever for Tomoe fans who seem to like putting Kaoru down and constantly comparing her to Tomoe. Both women are cool in their own right, and it's so degrading to compare one person to another person. So please, let's just stop this madness. Tomoe was good for Battousai, and Kaoru was good for the rurouni. And that's that!!!
Now, on with the defense!
"I never said I wanted Battousai to stay here. I want you the wanderer to stay here..." - Kaoru to Kenshin in the first episode
A lot of people had misinterpreted the statement above. They said that Kaoru can never accept Kenshin wholly because she cannot accept Battousai. Some also said she hates Battousai. But I think that when Kaoru said that to Kenshin (statement above), she was merely telling Kenshin that it was the person that he is now whom she wants to stay with her. It merely meant that Kaoru didn't care about what Kenshin had done in the past... it was the person he is now that is important. And it's not that she hates Battousai. It's just that she knows that the moment Kenshin turns back into Battousai (you know, the killer with the amber eyes! So hot!!!), he's out the door and the atonement Kenshin has worked so hard for in the past ten years will just go up in the smoke. In the first place, it was Kenshin's decision to stop being Battousai. Kaoru was merely supporting his decision. If Kenshin wanted so much to become Battousai, why did he try so hard to suppress that side of him? It's because he doesn't want to. And remember, it was Tomoe who made Kenshin want to stop being Battousai. She taught him the value of life, and the little happiness all people live for. Most of all, she taught him the meaning of love. And for those reasons, Kenshin vowed never to take another life again for as long as he lived, and thus stopped being Battousai. So it would be worse if Kaoru actually encouraged Kenshin's dark side because it meant disrespecting Tomoe's memory. And if Kenshin were to become Battousai again, then Tomoe's death would be in vain, right? So let's stop this Battousai issue once and for all. For me, it was never an issue in the first place. Did I make any sense?
Kaoru is short and ugly - Okay so Kaoru is short. But so is Tomoe. I mean, Tomoe is not much taller than Kaoru. But look at it this way. If Watsuki-sensei made the two women any taller, then they wouldn't look good together with Kenshin. Ugly? Geez, do you have eyes man? I couldn't believe someone actually made this comment. Just look at the picture above and tell me that Kaoru is ugly. I think she's a beauty! Who could resist those silky raven hair and big blue eyes? It's a killer combination! The person who made that comment was obviously blind. And even if Kaoru was ugly (which I think she's not), it shouldn't really matter because what's inside a person's heart that really counts, and not merely her appearance.
Kaoru just waits around for Kenshin to rescue her - Of course because that's his job. I mean, in that era, if Kaoru actually got into a major fight when the "big boys" (read: Kenshin and Sano) are around, it would be a blow to the men's egos. I guess in those times, the men were supposed to do the protecting and it's the girl's part to just watch the fight. Sick but true! Thank God we have equality of the sexes nowadays! You know, it really pisses me off whenever someone calls on Kaoru for playing a damsel in distress. Why is it okay for the other girls like Megumi, Tsubame, Misao and even Tae to need some resuing and not okay if it's Kaoru? They can't really say it's because Kaoru should have some fighting skills, being a budo instructor. I mean, Misao is a fighter too like Kaoru, then why don't people call on her when she needs some rescuing? I guess it's because some people just come up with lame reasons so they can justify their dislike for Kaoru, which is unfair.
Kaoru could have whacked Enishi with the bundle he gave her at the end chapter of Volume 26 - Geez, and what good would that action do Kaoru? As if a whack from a packet of kimono is enough to bring Enishi down! At least Kaoru was smart enough not to provoke a psycho like Enishi. With that type of psycho mind, one can never be sure how he would react.
kaoru-dono is such a self centered brat!!!!! shes not just that but she thinks shes the first love and first SEX!!!!!!!!! maybe she oughta get lost!!! DAMN YOU KAORU-DONO - Gosh, somebody actually made this comment! Can you believe that? She calls Kaoru a brat when she is the one who's acting like a brat. She didn't even bother to make intelligent reasons for her hatred for Kaoru. What a loser!!! First and foremost, when was Kaoru ever self-centered? In both the anime and manga, she thought of others first before herself. And brat? I don't think so. Sure she cries waterfalls of tears (ala Chacha of Akazukin Chacha) but dammit, it's there for the kicks, and it wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. It's there to provide comic relief!!! And when did Kaoru ever think she was Kenshin's first love and first sex? In the anime, there was this engagement ring episode wherein Kaoru thought Kenshin was gonna ask her to marry him but that was a filler episode. And she didn't even know of Tomoe then. In the manga? Never! She never harbored ill feelings towards Tomoe and the subject of sex wasn't even mentioned. By the way, this is an entry in the Quiet Life of Kenshin and Tomoe guestbook. I was really pissed off when I read it 'cause I thought the writer was being unnecessarily mean. She was signing a TxK, guestbook... why the hell did she feel the need to drag Kaoru's name into it? Kaoru wasn't even a part of the shrine. Geez, these type of comments are the ones that really piss me off because it's stupid, senseless, has no basis and is just plain bullshit!
Kaoru doesn't know how to cook - Yes, she doesn't know how to cook but that's not the end of the world. She has a whole lot more of other fantastic characteristics that more than make up for her lack of knowledge in the culinary arts. I hope people would stop comparing her to Tomoe in that aspect because first and foremost, Kaoru's mother died before she had the chance to train Kaoru to be the perfect wife. And it's unlikely that her father trained her in that aspect. He probably treated Kaoru like the son he never had and trained her instead in the martial arts, which explains why Kaoru grew up to be an unconventional woman and the mistress of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu. Unlike Tomoe who had been trained right from the start to be the perfect wife.
And Kaoru had better things to do than to think about such mundane matters. She had to earn a living to feed herself, and Kenshin, and Yahiko, and Sano so it's understandable for Kenshin to take over the household chores (I really admire Kenshin in this aspect. He wasn't the least bit insecure over his masculinity to have qualms about doing what is perceived to be the woman's job). After all, he doesn't have a job. The least he and Yahiko could do was help around the house.
Kaoru hits people - It's called slapstick comedy, you *%@&~+!!!. It's there for the kicks, you know!!! The only time I think Kaoru actually hit someone (not part of a comedy scene or something) was in the movie. She slapped Yahiko because he didn't come home for one night. After she slapped him, she gave him a hug because I think she wanted Yahiko to feel that she didn't really like to slap him but she had to. But that's about it. The other hitting/beating were just there to make us laugh. It's really stupid to hate Kaoru for them. And anyway, I think that Sano and Yahiko deserve some of the beatings sometimes because they can be such jerks! And anyway, if I was the one surrounded by such obnoxious, clueless guys, I'd probably do much worse. ^_^X
Kaoru is a bitch - Kaoru can never be a bitch, even if she tried to, because she's just too nice. Sure she has a fierce temper, but that's not enough to make her a bitch. I suggest to those people who use that term is to research first what it really means before using it to describe someone.
Kaoru is a two-dimensional character with no personal struggle whatsoever - First and foremost, Kaoru is every bit as real as the other characters in Rurouni Kenshin. Everything about her, from her cheerfulness, to her temper, and down to her insecurities, make sense. That's why I like her so much, because she's not Little Miss Perfect who strived for nothing but to please everyone. She showed whatever emotion she was feeling, even though it's not always pleasant. ^_^X As for the personal struggle, don't you consider loneliness and being alone in the world a struggle? And don't you consider the death of one's parents a struggle as well? Kaoru, behind the sunny smile, was lonely and scared deep inside. She was alone for a long time before the Kenshingumi arrived in her life, that's why she so scared that one of them (especially Kenshin) will leave her behind one day. She was also lonely because she lost her parents, and not to mention that she almost her dojo because of the false Battousai. If you don't call those personal struggles, then I don't know what you call them.
More to come, I'm just too tired right now! Sorry!!!