Rurouni Kenshin: Are Kaoru and Kenshin in Love? Relationship Explained!

The term “ship” in terms of anime is actually a shortened version of the word “relationship” and represents fan-based relationships between the characters in the series. So, if you think that two characters would be great as a couple, you’re “shipping” them together. As for Rurouni Kenshin, shipping has not been an overly popular activity with the fans, but we can confirm that some characters have been shipped together and in this article, we are going to discuss the most popular one – the one between Kenshin Himura, the series’ protagonist, and Kamiya Kaoru, the series’ female protagonist. In this article, you will discover whether they were in love and what happened to them in the series.

Kenshin Himura and Kamiya Kaoru were initially only friends, but their relationship developed gradually, and at one point, Kenshin actually fell in love with Kaoru, and she also fell in love with him. Ultimately, the two of them not only remained a couple but also married eventually and even had a child, a son named Kenji Himura. This ship was one of the most popular ones when the series is concerned and remains one that has become part of the series’ canon.

The rest of this article will tell you more about the very nature of the relationship between Kenshin Himura and Kamiya Kaoru, the series’ protagonists, and the most popular shipping couple from this great samurai series. We will explore Kenshin’s and Kaoru’s in more detail, which is how we always structure these articles and the nature of their relationship in the world of Rurouni Kenshin. This article won’t contain too many spoilers, but still, be careful how you approach it if you don’t know the whole story.

Kenshin Himura and Kamiya Kaoru were the series’ most popular couple, and they eventually became a canon married couple

Kenshin Himura and Kamiya Kaoru first met on the street when she accused him of being Hitokiri Battosai because he was walking around the town, alone and unafraid, carrying a sword, although it had been forbidden in 1870.

He then saved her from Hiruma Gohei and would later reappear to save her again when the Hiruma brothers tried to take her dojo from her. She asked him to stay with her, and he ultimately accepted. And this is how their story began; we will now explore their personalities.

Kenshin’s typical personality, which is calm, collected, and humble, is ideal for his new way of life. He is always prepared to prioritize his own needs and social standing over those of others. Kenshin speaks in an incredibly ancient dialect that dates back to his time as a Samurai.

He always exudes a cheerful demeanor, is kind to everyone he meets, and is frequently eager to lend a helping hand to those in need. To defend the people around him, Kenshin does not hesitate to travel down the path of evil. He frequently resolves tense circumstances using kind, calming words and a humorous demeanor. Those who are inexperienced with Kenshin may interpret these characteristics as making him useless or vulnerable to abuse, but astute individuals immediately see this.

However, in his youth, Kenshin did not think twice about using his newly acquired qualities to put them at the service of his country; his teacher warned him that his own power could lead him to suffer terrible misfortune in his life. Over time, as Kenshin committed more and more murders, he was indeed going crazy to the point that he was feeling disgusted with his situation as a political assassin.

It was meeting Tomoe Yukishiro that made Kenshin reconsider and realize that killing was wrong, but this story ended in tragedy as well.

Because of this, he lives humbly and harbors a deep sense of guilt that keeps him from developing meaningful relationships with those around him. This inspires him to live a life of unselfish service and dedication to others.

On the other hand, Kamiya Kaoru is both similar and quite different from Kenshin. Kaoru’s personality is divided into three facets depending on the situation. In general, Kaoru is sweet, although somewhat naive about certain topics. In contrast to that, she tends to get easily angered by anything.

This often leads to funny situations where another negative defect of Kaoru is also shown; for example, since she is a very bad cook, which lends itself to Yahiko Myōjin and Sanosuke frequently annoying her.

When there are situations in which Kenshin is involved, and fights, Kaoru is filled with much anguish, even going into a state of deep depression when Kenshin leaves for Kyoto during the Makoto Shishio saga. She has also shown a lot of angst when she watches Kenshin let out the assassin inside himself (once when he fought Jin’ne and the second time when he fought Hajime Saito).

In serious situations, however, Kaoru is a very determined girl who will do the impossible to overcome any obstacle that comes her way, resulting from her father’s teachings. In addition to being a bit childish and somewhat aggressive, she is usually very persevering and gives all her effort to the people she loves the most.

Finally, as a teacher, Kaoru is a very strict person, taking the teaching to levels such as making Yahiko as long as he learns the final technique of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu style, does and repeat the same movement more than 10,000 times.

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As you can see, there is a lot of common ground between the two. They are determined, and they are idealists, but while Kenshin is more calm and composed, Kaoru is not afraid to show her emotions, even in such banal situations that most often lead to everyone laughing. Still, they are both capable of strongly loving a person, and that is actually the best foundation for their relationship, which evolved and developed slowly over time.

Namely, as we have said, they started off as friends. Sure, Kaoru was somewhat fascinated by Kenshin, but he saw her as someone he needed to help. Since he was because of the tragedy related to Tomoe, he was very closeted and did not allow himself to actually like Kaoru. But, as the two of them spent more time with each other and as they got to know each other better, they developed some strong feelings for one another, and their friendship developed into true love, which is when they also became a couple.

Did their love endure? Actually, it did. After some time, the two of them eventually married and became a married couple. Later, they also became parents, as they had a baby boy named Kenji Himura, who was prominently featured in the Hokkaido arc. As you can see, this is an example of when the most popular fan ship actually became canon, and we can only confirm that the story between Kenshin and Kaoru was truly well written and executed.