Seta Soujirou or Okita Shoushi/Soujirou

That's what I tought, to me, it looked like that Soujiro was faster than that Kenshin was.

 

well overall Soujirou is faster but i think that because Kenshin broke Sou he was able to lower his speed just a bit but i think that the speed that Kenshin and Soujirou were equal at was their battou-jutsu. technically Soujirou is a bit slower at is but because Kenshin put his opponents feelings before himself he slows down a bit in order not to harm them...

 

Okay, Soujirou was, as I thought, was faster than Kenshin, now I'm getting confused, please clearafy.

 

The anime wasn't too clear on what happened in the final moments of Kenshin and Soujirou's fight (at least, the dubbed version wasn't). So here's what happened:

The move that Soujirou last used was the Shuntensatsu, a move combining the Shukuchi with battou-jutsu. Kenshin's counter was the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki, which is much faster than the conventional battou-jutsu, combining with forward motion utilizing his god speed. In effect, their speeds were almost equalized, with Soujirou having the slight upper hand in speed, and Kenshin having an upper hand in battou-jutsu. So in the end, it all came down to one thing: the technique's destructive power. For clarity, let me quote volume 16 of the manga. Following is an attachment of the dialogue from volume 16, part 134.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

 

I don't have the manga of Runouni Kenshin, but didn't Kenshin take that one extra step to complete the ulitmate attack to beat Soujiro?

 

well up until the Fight with Shishio all you see is that the Ama Kakeru Ryuu No Hirameki that its a normal battou-jutsu. but in reality its a two step attack. instead of leading with the right leg which is a conventional battou-jutsu (iai-jutsu is modern name for it, something i practice) he leads with the left leg and pivots down and turns again to strike a second time. Hiko states that the if they avoid the fangs of the dragon they will get drawn in the by the winds and be shredded by the claws.

 

So, that's how Soujiro gotten beaten by Kenshin though, besides, that's what I thought.

 

well in the manga you only see him use a single cut like a normal battou-jutsu...

 

Oh, I thought Soujiro's had surrpassed Kenshin.

 

wah wah... I'm abit slow but this thread is darn interesting.

When I was watching the Kyoto arc, was wondering how Soujiro can get hold of Okita's sword too. Didn't quite dwell into the historical details but I just figured that since Watsuki was a huge fan of the Shinsengumi, he would want to adapt as many Shinsengumi officers in RK as possible. If u notice, and if I'm not wrong, after the end of the Bakumatsu and the start of Meiji Restoration era, Saito was the only Shinsengumi potrayed as himself.

As for Okita Souji, there was certainly no way Watsuki could potray him as himself in Kenshin's life as a rurouni since he was believed to have died at the age of 25, soon after the end of Bakumatsu era. So the only way to revive Okita Souji was to fictionalise him in the form of Seta Soujiro. Likewise for the rest i.e. Harada Sanosuke to Sagara Sanosuke, Hijikata Toshizo to Shinomori Aoishi, Hitokiri Gensai to Hitokiri Battousai, etc...

Okita and Seta share the same name and Watsuki even took the trouble to tinge Soujiro's smile with a terrible childhood, as opposed to Okita's discovery of his incurable illness. Since Soujiro is the fictionalise version of Okita, he didn't have to attain Kiku Ichimonji Norimune, Watsuki made it his.

As for the Kenshin's speed vs Soujiro's, I believe Soujiro is faster than Kenshin at any rate. Since their speed cannot be analyse by the untrained eye, that's why only a swordmaster like Shishio could tell the difference.

"Houji: so then soujirou's speed is the speed that the human eye can't follow?
Shishio: no thats battousai's speed at its best. Soujirou's speed is the speed that the human eye can't see."

If Hiko was there, he would probably have noticed too. For laymen like us, it'll b like watching bullets being shot from different gun models. But a gun expert would know which model shot the faster bullet. Erm not exactly the best of analogies but I hope u get what i mean.

Then how and why did Soujiro lost? My guess is that Soujiro wasn't as focus as he should be. His base belief of "Only the Strogest Survives" (don't think I got that right but it's somewhere along the line), where he usually puts his faith in and where he derives his confidence to be one of the finest killing machines, was shaken. So in short, he wasn't in a stable state to have pulled though that last attack in the first place.

Thnx for indulging hehe.... comments?

 

well, essentially, Saitou was the only one alive anyway...he was septerated from his troop during the Fourth battle of Toba Fushimi. he took part in the Seinan war under the command of the Police Commisioner Kawaji. he fought under the name Fujita Gorou. He was the only member of the Shinsengumi called Immortal.

 

Okita must have died after the Meiji government, someone explain to me how Saitou fits in with this topic.. :anger2: :sweat2:

 

he did die after the Meiji era came. he died at the age of 25 in a teberculosis hospital in Edo.

 

Saito was included as a comparison bcos he was the only Shinsengumi potrayed as himself in Kenshin's life as a rurouni (this wud mean after d end of Bakumutsu and the start of Meiji era). Watsuki must have wanted to include the rest of Shinsengumi into the cartoon but it wudn have made sense since they no longer exist by then. So he fictionalise them instead....

Well that's just my theory hehe

 

he states in one of the flaps of one of the Tankouban that the Shinsengumi are his favorite group. almost all of the members of Rurouni Kenshin are someway based on the Shinsengumi

a list of characters and who they're based on:
Himura Kenshin - Hitokiri Gensai
Sagara Sanosuke - Harada Sanosuke
Shinomori Aoshi - Hijikata Toshizou
Seta Soujirou - Okita Soushi
Takeda Kanryuu - Takeda Kanryuusai
Saitou Hajime - well...duh...
Myojin Yahiko - Yahiko is loosly based on himself as a child

as for Soujirou, he actually uses two famous Shinsengumi swords. the first being the Nagasone Kotetsu used by Shinsengumi leader, Kondo Isami and the second being the Kiku Ichimonji Norimune used by Okita Soushi.

for other random and weird info on the Shinsengumi i have two written posts in the Kenshin forum that have lots of info, on how it was started and who the man known as Serizawa Kamo is...

 

hn.

I've heard that legend too, but amazingly, I still find that a funny way for such a strong fighter to die... Well, the cause was mostly due to tuberculocis, but heh! :sweat2: :anime: :sweat2: I still side with Soujiro on any cases! I mean, when I saw the final battle agains't Kenshin and Soujiro, I couldn't help but cry at Soujiro's past. That was the only time that I hated Kenshin.... :sad: :anger2: :sweat2: :anime: :anime:

 

I like SETA SOUJIRO much better than Okita Souji. Although appeared for very very little, Seta left very strong impressions!!!