Book Review: Rurouni Kenshin 10 - Nobuhiro Watsuki

Title: RUROUNI KENSHIN VOLUME 10
Author and Artist: Nobuhiro Watsuki
ISBN: 0575080000
Publisher: Gollancz Manga
Pages: 190
Reviewed By: Adam Donnison

Kenshin is Rurouni or wanderer, but formerly hitokiri, or assassin but now wears the sakabato, the reversed edge sword, to ensure he maintains his vow never to kill again. His sakabato has been broken in his last battle and now his vow, his life, and the fate of Japan hang in the balance.

Kenshin needs to stop Shishio who is amassing forces under his generals, "The Ten Swords", to take over Japan, but without a sword he has little hope. The maker of his original sakabato is dead, and his son has vowed never to create weapons of death again, a vow that Kenshin understands and respects, but rumours of the final sword made by the swordsmith reach one of Shishio's generals, Cho. Kenshin must find the sword or stop Cho from reaching it, armed only with his broken sakabato.

This story is set in the Meiji Restoration, a turbulent period of Japan's history in which more than 250 years of feudal military rule is overturned, re-instating imperial rule. While knowledge of the historical setting is not vital, it does make the book read a lot better. Having the glossary after the story is, in my opinion, a mistake as understanding the terms and the history cleared up a lot of the back story that is referred to during the book.

The artwork is superb, and the story stands by itself. It has both drama and humour in equal measure. I was left wanting more, and can well understand how the manga form has become so popular. I really cared about the characters, their lives, their past and their possible future.

Categories: readings
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2 comments

Comment from: Evan [Visitor]  
Evan

There is also a cartoon series based on the same characters which I’ve seen most of (my brother bought the DVDs).

It is certainly the better of any of the manga I’ve seen, and I also like the humour it has.

As part of the extras in the DVDs, they usually contain a set of bloopers where the voice actors flubbed their lines while the scene plays out visually as scripted, some of which are quite funny as they start adlibbing.

19/02/07 @ 08:27
Comment from: [Member]
aj

One of the interesting parts about the book is the running commentary by the author about the TV series and the choice of voice actors. Seems that at first the author was a little unhappy with the choices, but then realised the professionalism of the voice actors and gave it the thumbs up. A little odd, having these little intrusions into the story, but it gave it a bit more detail and a lot more interest, and made me want to find a copy of the series!

19/02/07 @ 08:48


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