is Rurouni Kenshin true?

Hitokiri Kawakami Gensai, was beheaded because his ideas of isolationism clashed with the new government. much like Shishio he was killed because he was too dangerous of a person to have living in the new world. he knew about all the internal assassinations and all the other political scandals that made the Meiji Government, so to protect themselves they killed Gensai.

 

Just wandering, but was Hiko Seijuro based on a real guy or just a character?

 

nope, Hiko Seijurou the 13th is simply a fictitious character.

 

thanks hitokiri_gensai. wow you know alot about rurouni kenshin

 

quite welcome.

ive spent a long long time studying Rurouni Kenshin...its my favorite anime of all time so...you know ^_^x

 

yes.they just twisted it to make it more intreting.not like the charecters arnt real.but like kenshin cutting down street light and sono mastering that huge swored.

 

The events from the Kyoto arc and the Jinchuu arc arent real. they have nothing to do with history and are simply a creation. but a good deal of the series is true.

 

im going to lay down some information about the Bakumatsu and its famous people who show up in Rurouni Kenshin. hopefully this will once and for all tell what is and what isnt true about Rurouni Kenshin.


Commordore Perry Sails into Uraga. before this time, only a few Dutch ships were allowed to trade with Japan. Upon his arrival, Perry demanded that the Shogun open the country to trade. unable to stand up against the massive American armada, the Sogunate began to lose control of the country.


The Kanagawa Treaty is signed between the Perry and the Shoganate. this treaty will allow for the ports of Hakodate and Shimoda to open up for american ships. it also places an american consulate in Shimoda. this treaty sucessfully ends almost 300 years of seculsion.

Due to his weakness before the American Armada, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th shogun of the Tokugawa line begins to lose support from some advisors. who begin to equip their own armies.

perhaps the most determined of these new armies is the Choshuu han's Ishin Shishi. The Mouri family extended their rule to all of the Chugoku region in southern Japan. when the battle for the Shogunate happened with the battle of Sekigahara the Mouri family stayed neutral. however, Tokugawa Ieyasu severly punished them and left them 1/5 of what their domain had previously been. the Choshuu han is now the Yamaguchi province. Katsura Kogorou (Katsura Kogorou's real name is Kido Takayoshi) leader of the Choshuu han's Ishin Shishi based in Kyoto. This group along with other supporters will fight to strip the Tokugawa's of their power and return it to the Emperor.

The Bakufu or government army (the shogante army), in particular the Shinsengumi and the Kyoto Mimiwarigumi are formed.

Okubo Toshimichi, a Satsuma Samurai, allies his han with the Choshuu han. he allies himself with Kido Takayoshi (Katsura Kogoro) and Saigo Takimori. he is assassinated in 1877 by samurai.

Saigo Takimori was banished because of his pro-western ideals. he greatly contributed to the defeat of the Shoganate. Although he had pro-western ideas he was still a samurai and when the samurai were banned in 1877 he rebelled in what was called the Seinen War or the Southwest War. he took over more than half of Kyushuu but in the end was defeated by the new government's army. (this is largely what "The Last Samurai" was based upon)

The Shinsengumi is formed as the Roshitai. its first duty was as a police force to patrol Kyoto and destroy any pro imperial samurai. much internal conflict almost tore the group apart. Serizawa Kamo the first leader of the Shinsengumi is assassinated by his second in command, Kondo Isami who then with Hijikata Toshizou leads the Shinsengumi. They take part in the Ikedaya Affair in which they destroyed a large group of Ishin Samurai at an inn known as the Ikedaya. Its most powerful Swordsmen are, Saitou Hajime and Okita Soushi among others. during the Seinen War, Saitou Hajime is seperated from his troop. He later sides with the governmental army as one of the Kenkaku Keikantai (sword bearing police) under the name Fujita Gorou. he is under direct control of Kawaji Toshiyoshi.

finally after much conflict and many men dying, in 1868, Yoshinobu gives up power to Emperor Meiji. at the age of 15 Emperor Meiji assumes power over Japan.

alright...lots of info...in a kind of confusing way...but if you can bear with me i can clear some of it up...

 

Probably the wrong thread, but is Furanui Ryuu taught today? Or did it die with Gensai?

 

once and for all... Furanui Ryuu does not exist any longer. Hitokiri Kawakami Gensai created the style Furanui Ryuu. after the restoration of power to the Emperor Gensai was captured and tried on false charges, he was then beheaded. What ever secrets of the school he created died along with him. everything about his school is speculation.

 

i thought that shishio was a real person and he served under the shinsengumi
I also found something on saitoh that might prove that he was base on someone real http://www.animeacademy.com/rurouni_kenshin.php the PArt bout saitoh is at the bottem of the page

 

Shishio is based off of one of the nameless Hitokiri who fought for the Ishin Shishi during the Bakumatsu.

Saitou Hajime is a real person. hes based on himself. He was a master of Mizuguchiha Ittou Ryuu and was considered to be one of the strongest swordsmen in the Shinsengumi. unlike many of of his comrades, Saitou lived for a long time. After being seperated from his unit during the battle for Toba Fushimi, he joined the Kenkakukeikantai under the direct jurisdiction of Kawaji Toshiyoshi (the police commisioner who accompanied Ookubo Toshimichi to the Kamiya Dojo). after serving there for a number of years he became a security gaurd for a museam in Tokyo, finally he died at the age of 72 from a stomach ulcer.

 

i know that kenshin was based of gensai, and gensai was one of the 4 legendary hitokiri who were the other 3? and where any chars in rurouni kenshin based off them?

 

they have no names as far as history can tell, they were assassins who stayed in the shadows and would die in exile and without the world having knowledge of them. Gensai was known only because of his legenday skill and his assassination of Kuma Shozan in broad daylight with his Furanui style of Kenjutsu.

There aent any based off of them and very little information exists about them otherwise.

 

Kudos to Hitokiri_Gensai

Thanks A TON for sharing your vast knowledge. It's been a very interesting read.

 

I love it when we get to discuss the past in here. Rarely do people come any more, heh. Yeah, I too had heard that there were 3 others but seeing as how I never saw anything on them, I figured they were nameless.

 

i did finally find some basic info on the other 3 Hitokiri.

Nakamura Hanjiro, also known as Kirino Toshiaki
Tanaka Shimbe
and Izo Okada

Shimbe was a peasent by birth, but his skill with the sword quickly raised his status to that of a samurai. Shimbe also took part in the assassination of Ii Naosuke, which started the violence that took over Kyoto. In fact, the Shinsengumi was formed almost in response to the Hitokiri and Tosa Loyalists.

Shimbe's sword was found at the scene of an assassination and he was taken in for questioning. When he asked to see the sword, he then commited seppuku with it.

Okada, like Shimbe was a peasent by birth, but his skill with the sword and strong will, quickly distinguished him from the others.