Rurouni Kenshin: VIZBIG Edition, Vol. 1

By Nobuhiro Watsuki
Publisher, 584 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teens)

The first book to be released under the VIZBIG banner, Rurouni Kenshin contains the first three volumes of the standard edition releases along with some color pages, back-up stories and more.

In case you missed it the first time around, Rurouni Kenshin is the tale of a wandering swordsman, Himura Kenshin, a former assassin who fought to bring down the Shogunate and establish the Meiji Era. Now, several years later he’s all but vanished, taken to wandering from place to place accompanied only by his reverse blade sword.

Nobuhiro Watsuki’s artwork is fantastic. The art is clean and slick without looking overly stylized. The occasional comedic bits, complete with chibi art, work fine and doesn’t really break the flow or mood too badly. The action sequences are clear and dynamic, easy to follow without sacrificing any of their over-the-top energy or excitement. While Watsuki does use some toning, it mostly seems to be for clothing or occasional background effect. Instead he relies mostly on crosshatching for shading, and it looks absolutely lovely on the bright white paper used for this collection.

One of the things that I love about this series is the historical context. Unlike many of the shonen series that are currently available in the US, Kenshin takes place during an actual time period and makes use of the setting, issues, and troubles of the time to wonderful effect. It’s a manga that’s about more than being the best you can; Watsuki explores some of the good and bad things that came from the Meiji Restoration. While this doesn’t exactly reach the level of deep political discourse, it is the extra little something that helps Rurouni Kenshin stand out from the crowd and gives it a greater depth than series with similar plotlines. Watsuki comments on the historical aspects in some of the brief commentary pieces that are scattered throughout the volume, and it’s actually a little sad to hear that the story arcs that deal most with the ins and outs of the time seem to be those that were the least well received. The story arc introducing Sagara Sanosuke, for example, deals with an apparent little known incident in which the Meiji government slaughtered a group of its own supporters over taxation. Watsuki mentions that the editors were iffy about the arc and the fans didn’t react well to it either. Shame, because it’s just that level of historical fact mixing with fiction that makes the series the series really appeal to me.

The majority of the volume is devoted to assembling the supporting cast for the series. Almost every story introduces a new character who will become a regular for the rest of the run: Sanosuke, Kaoru, Yahiko. This gives the first three volumes a slightly disjointed feel; instead of one large arc, it’s several shorter stories. But it doesn’t take away from the enjoyability at all. The last third of the volume kicks off a slightly longer arc featuring a corrupt businessman and his bodyguards who were former oniwabanshu (ninja bodyguards). Most of the stories are pretty short and the villains are just there to move the characters into position for later.

For it’s price, this is a great buy. Three volumes in one, nice paper, nice cover, color pages, and more. It’s a durable package that contains some fun action adventure stories that might just be a tad educational to boot. What more could you ask for from a shonen series?

Volume one of Rurouni Kenshin: VIZBIG Edition is available now.