Rurouni Kenshin: How Old Is Kenshin Himura?

The new adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin series has just begun airing, and while the animation is much better and more fluent, the series still retains its classic vibe, which is great. Now, with the new series finally underway, we can also discuss some burning questions that have been raised both in the series and among the fandom. This article will discuss the series’s protagonist, Kenshin Himura, and his age. Namely, at the end of the episode, the question of how old Kenshin Himura is was raised, and in this article, we will give you a precise answer to that question.

Kenshin Himura was born on June 20, 1849, as was officially confirmed in the manga series. This would mean that he was 28 years old at the start of the series, being born even before the Bakumatsu period started. Since the story takes place in the Meiji era, Kenshin’s age was raised as an issue because he was presumed to be around 30 years old, but he looked much younger. But, as we’ve said, it has been confirmed that he is 28 years old at the start of the series and will be 33 years old when the series ends.

As you might assume, the rest of this article will focus on Kenshin Himura and his personal life. We are going on an interesting journey to uncover the history and age of this extremely popular character from the Rurouni Kenshin manga. The article will contain many spoilers from the original manga, so be careful how you approach it if you’re not fully up-to-date.

Despite the confusion, Kenshin Himura’s age is actually not that big of a mystery

Kenshin Himura is the main character of the Rurouni Kenshin manga. His nickname Battōsai comes from the technique of battō-jutsu, which Kenshin masters to perfection and which consists of attacking by drawing the sword in a horizontal position, which considerably increases the speed of the blade.

Kenshin is a samurai nicknamed Hitokiri Battōsai. Having become a Rurouni with the advent of the Meiji era, he wanders aimlessly in the country. He always wears a saber, which often gets him in trouble with the authorities (wearing a saber was banned in 1870).

He is unable to kill opponents in battle since his saber has a reversing blade (Sakabato). He might easily wield his sword by turning the blade over, but he prohibits himself from doing so. He vowed to protect all the people he could after finishing the Meiji Era Restoration and killing for it, which included never killing again. He offers to stay with Kaoru for a while, not as a Battsai but rather as an ordinary traveler, after assisting her in preserving the reputation of his kendo dojo.

So, in the first episode of the series, Kenshin Himura arrives and meets Kamiya Kaoru, who runs a very small dojo almost alone, save for the help of a very old man named Hiruma Kihei, who seems to be a very dear friend of Kaoru’s.

The place is haunted by the so-called Hitokiri Battōsai, a vile samurai who attacks and kills people on the road, despite the fact that using swords is forbidden. It all turns out to be a ruse, in the end, perpetrated by none other than Kihei himself in alliance with his brother, Hiruma Gohei, who was a vile criminal that pretended to be Hitokiri Battōsai. It turns out that Kihei and Gohei wanted to force Kaoru to give them her dojo, which they would later sell, but luckily for Kaosu, Kenshin was there to save her and defeat the villains.

Kaoru finds out that Himura had been fighting since the Bakumatsu period, and since the plot takes place during the early years of the Meiji era, she was quite confused as to his age. Namely, it is true that Kenshin Himura looks rather young, but based on his own account, he should be much older. This is why, at the end of the episode, Kaoru asked Kenshin how old he was, since she could not believe that he was 30 with such a face, as the facts suggested.

And while Kenshin Himura really wasn’t older than 30, he was around that age and we can actually confirm that we know his exact age in the series. Namely, it is known that Kenshin Himura was born on June 20, 1849; this was confirmed in the manga.

The Bakumatsu period lasted from 1853 to 1867 and is considered to be the final epoch of the Meiji period, which began in 1867. Since the plot takes place after 1870 and based on what Himura himself said, it can be assumed that he could be around 30 years of age, which shocked Kaoru.

But, luckily, we actually know the answer to this question. Namely, the manga has revealed, at one point, that Kenshin Himura is 28 years old at the start of the story, which would ultimately mean that the story is set in either 1875 or 1876. Kamiya Kaoru was, thus, quite close to her assumption, but she was wrong. Luckily for you, we have the precise answer, so you don’t really have to worry about this issue like the characters from the series, as the author has revealed Himura’s age, and there is no real dilemma concerning it.

So, we know that Kenshin Himura was 28 years old when the story started. We also know that he was 15 years old when the Trust & Betrayal OVA took place. As for his age later on, we know that he was 33 years old when the Hokkaidō arc ended, which is also the end of the series, so we actually know the whole progression of Himura’s life, which is great.