Is Kaoru Stellar??

I'm beginning to take an interest in Rurouni Kenshin. When I first saw the anime though (one year ago), Kaoru really irritated me, but then as time went on, I began to not be so hard on characters. My question is, is Kaoru really that good of a character? Is she truly brave and strong like her fans say she is? I still disagree with her idealism, but is she truly great?

 

well yes, i would say that she is what they say she is. as a young girl she defied the stereotypes by learning kenjutsu in her fathers dojo. she was said to have mastered every aspect of the school by the age of 14. but perhaps thats not being brave. what truly creates her character as ultamitly, a brave persona is the fact that she kept the dojo open after her father was killed.

Kamiya Koujirou headed the Kamiya Kasshin School of Kenjutsu. He was also a member of the KenkakuKeikantai and was sent to fight in the Southwest War against Saigo Takimori* and his rebellion against the new Meiji Government. He died there in a world far from what he had invisioned.

Kaoru shares her fathers aspects on life, and although she upholds these principles, they are perhaps flawed in their ways. Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu teaches that the sword is meant to protect life. but as Kenshin pointed out, those are the words of someone who has never had to kill before, an Idealistic joke. perhaps a more suitable take on kenjutsu is "Satsujinken Katsujinken" which translates to "The sword that takes life is the sword that protects life".

ultamitly she is a very brve person, at only 17 she heads the dojo her father left to her and has taken part in many battles that would have scared anyone else away.

*interestingly enough, Saigo Takimori is one of the men who helped create the Mieji Era. but he wasnt satisfied with the new laws and government, and rebelled against them in what was called the Southwest War. Most of the Japanese army was sent there and a good many died. "The Last Samurai" deals with something similar to this.

 

I like Kaoru. She is kind and brave. Without Kaoru Kenshin would be a wanderer 4ever and Yahiko would probably be killed. Thanks to Kaoru those two caracters got a home and became happy again. Also alot of events in the manga would not of happen if Kaoru had different personality.

 

Well, I've been reading the manga, and I'm quite pleased with Kaoru. I like her in this version better than in the anime. So I think she's great in the manga. :catgirl:

 

i think that the anime made her out to be much more annoying than Watsuki-Sensei had intended her to be...

 

Yes. They did make her more annoying. Which I think the anime writers were insane to make Kaoru into a maniac. The people who made the Sailor Moon anime did the exact same thing to Usagi.


I may very well just stick to the manga only. :dizzy:

 

well, unfortunetly, the anime is not very well animated. the animation quality swung from good to bad every episode. there were times where the animation was incredible, such as episode 30. others were terrible, such as episode 27.

 

I really like how they depicted her in reflection, how she matured... i never got too depressed over kenshin and kaorus relationship till i watched that

 

I'd have to agree with you there. Sometimes in the anime they would make Kaoru, as my older brother would say, "look like a dude." Even in her kimonos, she looked like a boy in the face. In the manga, she looked 100% female.

 

I agree. I like Kaoru in Reflection too. I haven't seen a lot of the RK series but Kaoru does seem more mature in Reflection.

 

well, in the Seishouhen OVA nearly 5 years had past. Kaoru was only 17 at the end of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan. so, at the begining or the Seishouhen OVA she had just turned 22. and i imagine she was much more mature now than she had been.

 

but the flashbacks in reflection that showed her when she was younger...she still looked more mature then she did in the series

 

well, the Seishouhen OVA was drawn by a completely different artist which would definitly explain her looking more mature.

 

Amen to that. x3 At first, I couldn't STAND her. And the fact that everyone said I was just like her didn't help. I hated her even more. And plus, I was still nursing my wounds as a Tomoe fan, so I hated her EVEN more.

But she was developed nicely in the manga. I luffed her at the end.

The anime failed to do that, but I enjoyed her in the series only because it's many gaps were filled by the manga.

 

(turns into the female battousai) *gives the person who made this thread the death glare* HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME??????????????????

 

Yes, I much agree that karou is exactly what they say about her and that she is more alligne with the way she is supposed to be in the Magna than in the Anime. I only have one comment, I believe that the Kamie Kasshine school of Kenjutsu could have been much improved with it philosiphies and teachings if Karou had actually wielded a real sword and fought in the struggle of the changeing of eras in Japan as Kenshin was. I just think (hope i don't get slaped for this) that kenshin was absolutly right when he said that Karou could not say the words of swords only beeing used for protection when she had never had blood on her hands before. This just goes to support my idea, There is not supplement to experience, expecially when it is eather life, or death.