Hullo and welcome to the Rurouni Kenshin Info page! To be honest with you, I'm new to the series, so e-mail me and tell me if I get anything wrong. Oh, and please don't steal anything, cause I actually did it all myself.
The Story
Rurouni Kenshin takes place in the Meji era of Japan, right after the fall of the feudal system. Swords are banned in Tokyo, the city where most of the series takes place. One day Kaoru discovers (and attacks) a man walking down the street wearing a sword. This man is Kenshin Himura, the ledgendary manslayer. Kenshin has abandoned his life as a manslayer and is now a Rurouni (wanderer). Kaoru invites him to stay at her dojo, and our story begins.
Soon a group of four, dubbed the Kenshin-gumi (Kenshin group) emerges, consisting of Yahiko Miyojin, Sanosuke, Kenshin, and Kaoru. The group pretty much wanders around and bumps into enemies through the beginning of the series. The enemies are numerous, and it seems that all of Tokyo is out to defeat Kenshin. The show is a comedy too, and the comedic parts mostly consist of Kaoru hitting Kenshin in the head, Sanosuke cursing enough to make a sailor blush, and Yahiko gnawing on Sano's head. It really is a very funny show, but a little hard to follow, because of the multitude (and I do mean multitude) of characters.
The second half of the series takes on a more serious note, as Kenshin and Sano go to Kyoto to keep Kaoru out of danger. I don't know much at all about this portion of the show, so forgive me. ^_^
Characters
The Kenshin Gumi
Kenshin Himura
He's 29 years old (old fogey!)The legendary manslayer... also known as the Battousai(see below), turned wanderer when he killed the wrong person. He now resides in the Kamiya Dojo with Kaoru and Yahiko. He is suprisingly carefree and happy, and always has the right thing to say to everyone. Despite this, Kaoru tends to hit him with various objects (logs, spoons, fists...) and Kenshin says 'Oro' when he is hurt, confused, embarassed, etc. (It's kinda like his sweatdrop). He and Kaoru have a...erm... relationship. In the manga he marries her, but in the anime it's pretty obvious that he will (he doesn't strike me as the player type). Obviously, he's the main character of the show. His sword style is Hiten Miskurugi, but as a wanderer he uses the sakaba, or reverse blade sword, which can't draw blood unless Kenshin chooses to flip the blade, which he doesn't do often.
Sanosuke Sagara
He's 19 years old. Sanosuke (called Sano by most everyone)was formerly a gangster with the Sekihoutai, a political band. The entirety of this gang besides him and another boy was killed when he was 9. After this he became a hired fighter, and was eventually hired to kill Kenshin. Of course, he didn't succeed, but he gave Ken more of a fight than usual. They realized that they had the same ideals and Sano joined the Kenshin-gumi. He hangs out at the Kamiya Dojo and freeloads off of everybody... he also gambles, but not well. As a hired fighter he used the Zanzaba, a HUGE sword (bigger than Yahiko), but Kenshin broke it in their fight. Because of this sword, he was known as Zanza. He believes strongly in defending the weak, namely women and children. He's a street fighter and extremly strong (he regularly picks up Yahiko and throws him into large groups of enemies... "Fly, Yahiko!"). His strongest attack is the Futae no Kuwae, which broke his hand the first time he used it. Sano may have a love interest with Megumi cause they fight all the time and Megumi calls him rooster head.
Kaoru Kamiya
She's 17 years old. The associate manager of the Kamiya Kasshin style of swordsmanship, the style designed to protect instead of hurt. Kaoru gained charge of the Kamiya Dojo when her father died. Dr. Genzai began hangin out at the Dojo to take care of her. 3/4 of the Ken-gumi lives in the dojo, minus Sano. All of them freeload off the Dojo, plus Sano... to make up for this, she makes everyone do chores(Kenshin does laundry ^_^), minus Sano, not for lack of trying. She's a really bad cook, but she cooks for everyone, which is why they go to the Akebeko so often. Kenshin also cooks. Becuase of all this freeloading, the Dojo is pretty poor. She is called racoon (in Japanese 'tanuki' which means racoon-like)and Jo-chan or Missy by Sano. Again, Kaoru uses the Kamiya Kasshin style, and uses a wooden sword.
Yahiko Miyojin
He's 10 years old, much to his dismay. Yahiko is the youngest of the youngest of the gumi. His parents died when he was 5, and until he was 10 he worked for a Syndicate as a pickpocket to repay a debt to the syndicate that they tricked him into believing exsisted. Kenshin spotted him pickpocketing an old man and then giving his purse back becuase he wanted to buy his grandkid something. Eventually, Kenshin and Kaoru rescued him from the syndicate and he became the only current student of the Kamiya Kasshin style. He lives at the Dojo, and despite calling her ugly all the time, he and Kaoru resemble brother and sister with their arguments and invisable bond. Yahiko is always picked on (mostly by Sano) for being young, and when he gets annoyed he has the best faces... he also tends to gnaw on Sano's head when he gets mad at him. Yahiko's father was one of the last Samurai, and he has the "spirit of the samurai," which is Kenshin's nice way of saying that he's stubborn. He uses a bokken (a training wooden sword-like thing) and the Kamiya Kasshin style.
Other Good People
Megumi Takani
She's 22 years old. The lady doctor. Her family died in a fire. She lived in Aizu. She was forced into selling opium for a time, but luckily the Ken-gumi found her and got her out of that... now she is a doctor and hangs out at the Kamiya Dojo with everyone. She works with Dr. Genzai. She and Sanosuke have a love-hate relationship (more hate than love, I'd think, but eh...you never know)and Sano never calls her by her real name... some of his nicknames are Fox, Fox Lady, Lady Doctor, Megutsune (mixture of fox and Megumi), etc. During the opium bit she tried to kill herself with a daggar, but Sano stopped her by grabbing the dagger in his hand. She does not fight.
Misao
Sorry guys, but I don't know much about her.She's 16 years old. She's the leader of the Oniwa Banshu gang and is a ninja. She is in love with Aoshi, but he's pretty darn cold hearted, so there isn't much she can do with that. Sano calls her weasel girl.
Tsubame
Yahiko's girlfriend. She's 9 years old and works at the Akebeko. She was involved with a gang because they owned her family, but Yahiko got her out of it. Go Yahiko!
Dr. Genzai
A doctor. He takes care of Kaoru since her parents died and raises his granddaughters, Ayame and Suzame. Megumi works for him.
Ayame and Suzame
So cute! Suzume is the one in the red and is about 2 or 3 and Ayame is in green and is 4 or 5. They are Dr. Genzai's granddaughters and stay with him, so they stay at the Dojo a lot and play with pretty much everybody, but especially Kenshin.
The Past
The Battousai
Kenshin in his past. He was raised to be the Battousai, or the master of... um... some type of thing called the Battou or something... I'm sorry, I don't remember. Anyway, he used his sword to begin the Meiji era and killed many people. He killed the wrong person (his wife) and stopped being the Battousai and started being the wanderer. As the Battousai, Kenshin's hair is thinner, his pony tail is higher, and his eyes are gold.
Tomoe
Kenshin's former wife. Tomoe was killed in an accident by Kenshin, which is why Kenshin stopped being the Battousai.
Useful Information
Rurouni means wanderer. This is what Kenshin is.
The sakaba is a reverse blade sword, or a sword which cannot draw blood.
There are a LOT of different gangs in RK. Don't try and remember them all. If you do, you'll end up like me and think the name of every gang is the Hashimongi or something like that.
A lot of the people that fight Kenshin aren't really evil, they just feel like fighting Kenshin. Don't judge characters the first time you see them.
The Akebeko is an eating place in town. This is where everyone goes when they get tired of Kaoru's cooking.
