Rurouni Kenshin Anime and Manga Differences + Opinion - Tokyo Arc

Sooo.. let's do something a little different this month! Since I've been watching and reading Rurouni Kenshin, I thought I might as well note down the differences that I noticed and thought were important to me. It would be useful for the future me and maybe some others if they want to know what these differences may be so here they are~

P.S There are differences I skipped because there's just quite a bit that the anime added as well so I skipped some hahaha since I didn't think they were important enough to warrant a note of it.

Ayame and Suzume

I was actually surprised that Ayame and Suzume didn't appear in the manga because I actually thought they were quite cute albeit random in the anime haha. Gensai exists as a doctor that takes care of Megumi but doesn't appear all that much in contrast to the anime where he is like a part of the everyday life in Tokyo.


Hiruma Gohei/Fake Battousai

The removal of Hiruma Kihei in the anime isn't a very big difference I guess but nevertheless a difference. He is after all Gohei's older brother and more of the mastermind since Gohei was mostly just a brute in the manga that pretended to be the battousai. He was also Kaoru's housekeeper(?) after her father died and thus someone she trusted in for a period of time when all he really wanted was to sell her dojo's land. But basically, most of the things Gohei did in the anime (besides the fighting part since Kihei can't fight) was actually done by Kihei, such as hiring Sanosuke and attempting to shoot Kenshin with a gun after the fight with Sanosuke.

Yahiko

Rather brief but in the anime, Kaoru first goes to save Yahiko from the yakuza that he owed money to and tries to gamble and win his freedom (and fights a bit) but is outnumbered and then Kenshin appears like the hero he is. Whereas, in the manga, Kaoru didn't go at all and Kenshin was the one who went to save him.

Sagara Souzo

Sagara Souzo's death was also quite different in that, in the manga all Sanosuke experienced was the Captain telling him that he'd go talk to the officials and that he'd definitely be back. However, what awaited Sanosuke was the severed head of Captain Sagara denounced as a liar and running a fake group that pretended to be listening to the government. In the anime, Captain Sagara protected Sanosuke in the forest and died in front of his eyes, so really, they're both very saddening. I'd say the anime might be a bit more saddening just because of the soundtrack that plays and the much more thorough exploration of what Captain Sagara desired through the Sekihoutai; which was the dream of a new peaceful era whereas the manga was more compact and straightforward so it didn't tug at my heartstrings as much even though it still did.


Jin-e

I don't remember too many differences between the anime and manga so they're probably mostly the same. Jin-e is very memorable though, I've never been able to forget him ever since I first encountered his character as a kid. His existence reflects the present and past conflicts with Kenshin himself and this era very well. The only difference I know would be that Sanosuke and Yahiko didn't appear to try and save Kaoru and Kenshin from Jin-e and instead were implicitly told what happened the next day. The extra humour in the anime is rather enjoyable though.


Oniwaban

In terms of the Oniwaban group's entrance, a difference would be that Kaoru didn't actually go with Kenshin and them to save Megumi and was actually at home cooking and waiting for them to come back.

Aoshi's legs didn't get hurt by the gatling gun because he pushed Hannya out of the way but because he got caught off guard and was injured. Guess the anime wanted it to be more dramatic. Also, when the Oniwaban sacrificed their lives to protect Aoshi, in the anime Kanryuu couldn't fire his gatling gun anymore because Beshimi's poison dart was stuck between the bullets, whereas in the manga Kanryuu stopped because he ran out of bullets. They're both rather saddening but I guess I do like the anime version because it makes their deaths seem more "worth it" but really, all they wanted was to keep Aoshi safe anyway so really, the two accomplish that feeling of loyalty quite well. But I do like the manga version a bit more just because it shows that Kanryuu's an idiot lol.

Another difference would be that instead of Aoshi deciding by himself after the deaths of the members of the Oniwabanshu to defeat Kenshin and highlight their graves with the name of the strongest, in the manga Kenshin himself tells Aoshi to come back again and fight him for this title because he understands that no words of sympathy or comfort would be able to soothe Aoshi's heart and so he instead gives Aoshi a reason to live. I don't mind both but I do enjoy Kenshin telling Aoshi this because it's nice to know that Kenshin understood Aoshi's pain enough that he didn't mind motivating Aoshi to kill him as a reason to live.

P.S I forgot about Megumi! LOL It's okay, I probably didn't mention anything because it was mostly the same and didn't have enough differences for me to notice hahaha.


Tsubame

Yahiko didn't have any romantic tying shoe thing with Tsubame as their first meeting and Yahiko falling in love but they met because Yahiko went to work at the Akabeko and she then came along and worked there too. Not very important but I don't remember much of Yahiko going to work at the Akabeko in the anime. In the manga, Yahiko worked there to train himself before Tsubame came along and even after that little arc he is seen to be still working at the Akabeko carrying their supplies etc.

Episodes 13-18 + 22 + 25-27 and 63+ episodes are anime fillers

I won't say much besides that the Tokyo arc fillers are OK but can be a bit draggy. However, it does set the foundation of the characters' personalities and the world that they live in quite nicely.


Rajiuuta

Personally, I prefer Raijuuta's motives in the manga a lot more, in the anime it felt like he was just an utter villain who wanted to destroy the Meiji government itself and thus banded with other swordsmen who could not adapt to this era to create a kingdom where he is the king that controls everything. Whereas, I think the manga version of him goes along with the inherent idea of the Tokyo arc much more where he is dissatisfied with how kenjutsu is 'evolving' in the Meiji era; which is that the shinai (bamboo sword) is predominantly taught and that it is viewed as a weak weapon in comparison to a real sword. Basically, Rajiuuta in the anime felt like just another guy who couldn't adapt and thus gathered more of them to fight against the Meiji government, whereas in the manga, Rajiuuta went around crushing dojos that taught this weak kenjutsu with a shinai because he rejected the idea of kenjutsu becoming something weak.

Kenshin's words in the manga also really bring out why kenjustu developing in such a way has to occur despite the sadness of having to have the old style kenjutsu slowly dissipate; since teaching kenjutsu as a sword to kill is exactly what the future doesn't need and shouldn't need for peace to be brought about and I think that highlights the theme of Kenshin much more. Although rebelling swordsmen forming a kingdom also works too I guess hahaha.

However, his character remains despicable towards Yutarou. Kinda sad they removed the dad in the anime since really, the dad reflected an important idea which was that after the Meiji era came in, samurai had to find a different means to secure money in order to live and Yutarou's dad flourished in selling swords and bowing to others like a supposed weakling. He succeeded but he lost his pride and way of life to the security he wanted to bring for his family and thus wanted his son Yutarou to at least grow up strong and fight for his beliefs, something the dad could not do. I really admired the dad tbh.

 Another difference was that in the manga, the police never became involved with this Rajiuuta incident and you barely see anyone else besides Rajiuuta, so really, he was the only one Kenshin actually fought against in this arc instead of those random lackeys he and Sano fought against at the mansion in the anime.


Tsukioka Tsunan/Katsuhiro

The Shindou part framing the Sekihoutai (by leaving behind Sagara Souzo's portrait at the scenes) for murder to advance his position in the government was not in the manga but nevertheless a part in the anime that made my anger boil because tarnishing Captain Sagara even after his death was just absolutely despicable!

When Sanosuke was having that last party before he goes with Tsunan/Katsu to attack the government building, Megumi wasn't there but instead Katsu participated and it was actually a reunion party.

At the government building when Katsu and Sano were going to invade, Kenshin and Sano didn't have any dramatic fight like they did in the anime, instead, when Kenshin appeared and stopped Katsu's bombs, Sano punched Katsu's gut causing him to fall unconscious. When Katsu woke up, Sano's words explaining Kenshin's thoughts and stating that they shouldn't sink to the government's level of doing things felt more powerful and heart resonating than in the anime where everything is more essentially solved by Kenshin. I mean, this is Sano's time to shine so don't steal it Kenshin! Nevertheless, both versions are fine since in the anime you can't help but admire Sano's idiotic camaraderie, whereas in the manga Sano is seen to be much more logical and understanding of what needs to be done to stop Katsu and to change this era for the better instead.


Saito Hajime

I can't think of anything drastically different tbh besides the use of flashbacks again and again and before Kenshin started to fight Saito, Kaoru didn't have the chance to grab Kenshin's clothes to express her worries as she did in the anime. She only had a bad feeling about it and wanted to grab him but couldn't. Oh and Kenshin's hair tie never broke making him look like a wild animal LOL. But I guess they just wanted it to be a bit more dramatic which I'm totally OK with b/c the fight was still as cool as ever. They didn't show Tsubame getting hit on her side by the carriage (that Okubo was in) to show how much of a hurry he was in as well but that's not important hahaha.

When Saito killed Akamatsu and the other guy though, I think the manga portrayed it better but that might be a problem with the translations/subs rather than the anime itself since translations back in the day were iffy here and there. Oh and the lopping of Akamatsu's head was soo much cooler in the manga, censorship problems I guess loll.


Kenshin's farewell to Kaoru

Oh and where Kenshin said farewell to Kaoru, it wasn't anywhere romantic with fireflies, it was just the front door of the dojo lmao. He still hugged her though of course <3 I know it's less romantic but I personally enjoyed the manga version where it was just the front door because essentially, that's where they both belong and so him saying goodbye there made a bigger effect on me there since their home and reasons to exist are there. But I guess the anime wanted something more romantic which I didn't mind since this is probably the decisive moment when we can finally confirm that Kenshin likes Kaoru the same way she does for him so it warranted the dramatic scene.

But I have to admit that hearing their voices and having such a good soundtrack makes everything so worth it to watch instead of read sometimes. I always feel so sad for Megumi that she never got to go to Kyoto but I really admired the fact that she stayed because she's right that saving her patients and atoning for her sins is what her job is and what Kenshin taught her to live her life for and so it's meaningless for her to go along despite her feelings for Kenshin. It was very emotional when Kaoru and her displayed their different perspectives, it's really hard to say what's worse since having someone so definitively say goodbye to you is hard but so is not even receiving that goodbye.

Yayy donee! I might have missed some stuff in Jin-e's arc, I'm not really sure but I cbb going back to check hahaha! I guess it doesn't matter that much though, because I know that I'll watch Rurouni Kenshin again and again anyway! XD