Rurouni Kenshin: Yes, Himura Does Kill His Opponents!

With the new adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin series finally here, fans of this classic samurai series can enjoy the classic vibe of the original series but animated with the newest technology. Now, having said that, the series is on its way to becoming a major hit, and this will allow us to talk about the characters and the events from the series in more detail. The topic of this article is, of course, going to be Kenshin Himura, the protagonist of the series, as we will discuss his no-killing policy, which is often featured in works of popular culture. Does Himura kill his opponents? Well – yes and no. How? Well, keep reading to find out!

Saying that Kenshin Himura never killed anyone would be wrong. In his youth, he was a merciless government assassin, and in the first six months of his career, he killed more than 100 people. Being quite skilled, he continued killing for the government until it destroyed him physically and until he tragically killed Tomoe, the first true love of his life. Thus, after ceasing to be Hitokiri Battosai (Battosai the Manslayer) and after the tragedy with Tomoe, Kenshin Himura vowed never to kill anyone again, and he actually kept that promise to everyone. So, he did kill his opponents but has since stopped doing it.

The rest of this article will focus on Kenshin Himura, his life, his past, and his morale. You will find out what he did in his youth and how the tragedies and atrocities he witnessed shaped him later in life. You will also find out how his views changed and whether he could maintain his promise later in life. The article will have many spoilers, so be careful how you approach it.

Does Kenshin Himura kill his opponents? Not anymore, but he became notorious because he was a ruthless assassin

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 because of his atrocities while working as a government assassin. 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, as wearing a saber was banned in 1870.

So, if you’ve seen the most recent episode of the new series, you’ll probably know that Kenshin does not kill his opponents. In fact, as he demonstrated to Kaoru, he is unable to do it because his blade is such that its edge is not suited for cutting, only hitting people like a blunt object. And when he first uses it in the series, it actually does not kill anyone – it just beats them unconscious.

So, later in the series, we find out that Kenshin Himura really did not kill anyone after becoming a rurouni and that is an important aspect of his personality, as well as his character development as a whole, as not killing his enemies is an important part of his worldviews.

But, fans of the series will know that it wasn’t always like that, and newcomers will also notice that that same Kenshin who does not kill anyone and uses a blade not suitable for cutting is also called Hitokiri Battosai, which translates as Battosai the Manslayer (sure, he has since changed it to Himura Battosai, but there is still a lot to tell here).

Namely, the “Battosai” part of the epithet means that he practices a certain martial art (battojutsu), but the first part, “Hitokiri,” actually means man killer or manslayer. So, how is a man who does not want to kill anyone and has made it his moral maxim not to do it get the name “Manslayer”?

Well, as with every good story, this one also has an explanation that is tied to the character’s dark past, a past that will be explored later in the series; it has been hinted by Kenshin that there was a dark part of him when he tried to reject Kaoru’s offer to stay with her and help her work in the dojo, but Kaoru, despite being like she is, decided to disregard that, seeing that Kenshin was, at the time, a completely changed person.

So, what happened? How did Kenshin earn that nickname? Well, Kenshin Himura was raised to be a samurai from a very early age, and he trained with the best while also mastering the most difficult technique; although the technique was not suited for samurai who were as frail as Kenshin, he was still able to use it without much problems there.

So, at one point, he became skilled enough to fight on his own, and seeing the political turmoil that Japan was in, he decided to become a government assassin in order to help his country defeat its interior enemies.

In the first six months, he was able to kill 100 people, and his killing spree continued for a while. He was extremely efficient and brutal, as he was able to cut down more than one opponent at a time, thanks to his mastery of complex swordsmanship techniques. His sensei had warned him that killing so many people would take a toll on him, and at one point, it did – he went crazy and started hating himself for killing so many people, wanting to never kill again.

His life changed drastically when he met Tomoe, whom he fell in love with. She also loved him, and it seemed that the two of them would end up being happy together, living in anonymity; this is when he actually gave up the Hitokiri Battosai title.

But, not long after that, a tragedy occurred, and Kenshin, sadly, killed Tomoe; he did not want to do it, of course, but she fell as a collateral victim of one of his attacks. This tragedy devastated him even more, and that is when he finally and completely killed Hitokiri Battosai and vowed never to kill anyone again. This is why he got a sword that was not suitable for killing.

So, no, after the tragedy with Tomoe, Kenshin did not kill anyone else as his vow was very emotional and dear to him, so there is no way he would break it. And although his assassin persona would come out again on a couple of occasions, his vow was set in stone, and he never killed again.

So yes, Kenshin Himura did kill his opponents in the past, but after a personal tragedy, he changed his views on the world and promised never to kill anyone ever again, a promise he definitely kept later in his life, despite facing many powerful opponents who wanted to kill him.