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226-509: The manga series Rurouni Kenshin features a large cast of fictional characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki . Set in Japan during the Meiji period , several of the characters are real historical figures who interact with the fictional characters. The story begins in 1878 and follows a pacifist wanderer named Himura Kenshin , who was previously an assassin known as " Hitokiri Battōsai " working for

452-407: A kuda-gitsune , osaki , yako , and hito-gitsune are also called kitsunetsuki . These families are said to have been able to use their fox to gain fortune, but marriage into such a family was considered forbidden as it would enlarge the family. They are also said to be able to bring about illness and curse the possessions, crops, and livestock of ones that they hate, and as

678-458: A Hokkaidō prison. Five years later, Anji was transferred out of prison to Hakodate by its Kendo instructor Sugimura Yoshie ( Nagakura Shinpachi ), reuniting with former Juppongatana member Seta Sojiro on the way. Watsuki developed Anji before the publication of Rurouni Kenshin ; he appears as an extra in the second Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story one-shot. However, he had difficulty determining Anji's backstory and whether he would be

904-420: A "power-fighter" design but settled for "macho". Although the reader response to Anji's story was mostly positive, looking back on it Watsuki said he was an immature writer then. Watsuki planned to have more to Anji's story, but with five weeks' worth of material, he had to significantly cut it down so it would not interrupt the flow of the fighting; he originally planned to have Anji's heart momentarily stop due to

1130-544: A "witch animal" (presumably due to its "bewitching") by one scholar, who also qualifies the supernatural foxes as being "goblin foxes" or "fox spirits". The kitsune exhibit the ability of bakeru or transforming its shape and appearance, and bakasu , capable of trickery or bewitching; these terms are related to the generic term bakemono meaning "spectre" or "goblin", and such capabilities were also ascribed to badgers (actually tanuki or raccoon dog ) and occasionally to cats (cf. bakeneko ). There are also legends of

1356-411: A 'pretty girl' type," leading to the solidification of the character. Watsuki planned for Kamatari to have a "light-hearted and cheerful" personality, but found complications when a "more serious side" began to emerge, leading him to feel some regret with the outcome; he admitted that one of his bad habits is to cross the fine line between "serious" and "depressing". Watsuki added that the next time he uses

1582-456: A 12th-century tale describes a man using a fox's hoshi no tama to secure a favor: "Confound you!" snapped the fox. "Give me back my ball!" The man ignored its pleas till finally it said tearfully, "All right, you've got the ball, but you don't know how to keep it. It won't be any good to you. For me, it's a terrible loss. I tell you, if you don't give it back, I'll be your enemy forever. If you do give it back though, I'll stick to you like

1808-415: A black robe, but turns out to be a glider shaped like bat wings folded around his body. His battle technique is called Fire Flight ( 飛空発破 , Hiku Happa ) , in which he uses dynamite to lift himself into flight and attack from above with a blade on his arm before blowing himself back into the air. The power of flight is harnessed thanks to Henya starving himself to extreme emaciation ; he is so light that

2034-514: A blind swordsman. Although originally not interested in the idea, Watsuki decided to go with it after discussing the Shingan ability that read people's emotions by listening to their heartbeat and pulse. The original plan was to have Usui fight Kenshin right after he fought Chō - chasing him down in the city like the Terminator . Still, the plot went in a different direction, with Usui fighting and dying at

2260-401: A certain age—usually 100 years, although some tales say 50. As a common prerequisite for the transformation, the fox must place reeds, a leaf, or a skull over its head. Common forms assumed by kitsune include beautiful women, young girls, elderly men, and less often young boys. These shapes are not limited by the fox's own age or gender, and a kitsune can duplicate the appearance of

2486-402: A chance to fully display what his "massive brain could do." He described this as the "Senkaku Effect," where the characters with the "best noggins" are not used to their "full potential." Manga Manga ( 漫画 , IPA: [maŋga] ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan . Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and

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2712-504: A character who held a support role in the Juppongatana. At first Hōji was just an individual who was surprised a lot, but Watsuki realized that would "get awfully dull." When he decided to look at Hōji as Shishio's "Number Two" man (like Hijikata Toshizō or Shokatsuryō Kōmei ) it "strummed the chords of [his] heart," and ideas came one after another until Hōji became one of his favorite characters. Watsuki stated that Hōji's character design

2938-468: A clinical standpoint, those possessed by a fox are thought to suffer from a mental illness or similar condition. The idea of kitsunetsuki seems to have become widespread in the fifteenth century, though it has already been attested during the Heian period. Kitsunetsuki ( 狐憑き, 狐付き ) , also written kitsune-tsuki , literally means 'the state of being possessed by a fox'. The victim is usually said to be

3164-421: A commercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or during its run. Sometimes, manga are based on previous live-action or animated films. Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world, particularly in those places that speak Chinese (" manhua "), Korean (" manhwa "), English (" OEL manga "), and French (" manfra "), as well as in

3390-466: A common symbol of Inari and representations of sacred Inari foxes without them are rare. One belief is that when a kitsune changes shape, its hoshi no tama holds a portion of its magical power. Another tradition is that the pearl represents the kitsune's soul; the kitsune will die if separated from it for too long. Those who obtain the ball may be able to extract a promise from the kitsune to help them in exchange for its return. For example,

3616-499: A decrease over time, digital manga have been growing in sales each year. The Research Institute for Publications reports that sales of digital manga books excluding magazines jumped 27.1 percent to ¥146 billion in 2016 from the year before while sales of paper manga saw a record year-on-year decline of 7.4 percent to ¥194.7 billion. They have also said that if the digital and paper keep the same growth and drop rates, web manga would exceed their paper counterparts. In 2020 manga sales topped

3842-589: A doctor involved with the illegal drug trade . He also encounters old and new enemies whose ambitions cause Kenshin to return to fighting, this time to protect the innocent. Himura Kenshin ( 緋村 剣心 ) is a former legendary assassin known as " Hitokiri Battōsai " ( 人斬り抜刀斎 ) (rendered as Battousai the Manslayer in the Media Blasters English anime dub, as Battousai: The Slasher in the Sony English dub.) At

4068-462: A duel that ultimately leads to his suicide. He is portrayed by Kōji Kikkawa . Takeda Kanryū ( 武田 観柳 ) is a cunning money-minded industrialist with a private army of about 60 men plus the Oniwabanshū led by Shinomori Aoshi. Takeda is the head of an opium dealing business where he forces Takani Megumi to create a stronger and fast-working recipe called "Spider's Web" in a scheme to gain a foothold in

4294-464: A famous family of physicians from the Aizu region. She became the assistant to a Tokyo physician who had created a deadly new form of opium . When the doctor was killed, she was forced to make the new opium for corrupt industrialist Takeda Kanryū for the past three years. After being freed and stopped from committing suicide by Kenshin and Sanosuke, she becomes a doctor to atone for her past misdeeds. She has

4520-544: A few "one-shot" manga projects just to try to get their name out. If these are successful and receive good reviews, they are continued. Magazines often have a short life. After a series has run for a while, publishers often collect the chapters and print them in dedicated book-sized volumes, called tankōbon . These can be hardcover, or more usually softcover books, and are the equivalent of U.S. trade paperbacks or graphic novels . These volumes often use higher-quality paper, and are useful to those who want to "catch up" with

4746-445: A forest, he teaches him his secret technique, without realizing Sanosuke is allied with Kenshin. Although Anji is a master of the technique, his later fight with Sanosuke ends when Sanosuke creates the "Mastery of Three Layers" and Anji drops to his knees when Sanosuke points out that the orphans' souls do not care about his mission to save the world, they only want him to be happy. After Shishio's death, Anji chooses to serve 25 years in

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4972-606: A fox bit off the end of a creeping vine plant held by the laborer (shrine construction worker), interpreted as an inauspicious omen foreshadowing the death of Empress Saimei the following year. Folktales from China tell of fox spirits called húli jīng ( Chinese : 狐狸精 ) also named as nine-tailed fox ( Chinese : 九尾狐 ) that may have up to nine tails. These fox spirits were adopted into Japanese culture through merchants as kyūbi no kitsune ( 九尾の狐 , lit.   ' nine-tailed fox ' ) . The earliest "fox wife" ( kitsune nyōbo ( 狐女房 ) ) tale type (concerning

5198-414: A fox's disguise merely by perceiving them. Kitsune can also be exposed while in human form by their fear and hatred of dogs, and some become so rattled by their presence that they revert to the form of a fox and flee. Other supernatural abilities commonly attributed to kitsune include possession, generating fire or lightning, willful manifestation in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and

5424-433: A friend or foe, so he put Anji in "storage" until his ultimate introduction. Having determined that Sanosuke needed to become more powerful, Watsuki introduced Anji as a counterpart to Sanosuke's fighting style, so that he could give Sanosuke a strong opponent and increase Sanosuke's power at the same time. Watsuki had no model for Anji's personality, but pictured him as being similar to Shinsengumi lieutenant Shimada Kai due to

5650-514: A friendly relationship with Takeda Kanryu based on their similar interests with business. Like Ashitarō, Aran was inspired by Ushio & Tora to be an appealing duo. Kubota Asahi ( 久保田旭 ) is a war orphan raised by the Yaminobu but claims to be a pacifist. Following their failure to kill Kenshin during the Bakumatsu , the Yaminobu lost status and were reduced to working as mercenaries for hire. Kubota

5876-409: A great deal, alleging that not they, but the possessing foxes, are hungry. He goes on to note that, once freed from the possession, the victim would never again be able to eat tofu, azukimeshi (i.e. sekihan or "red bean rice"), or other foods favored by foxes. Attempting to rid someone of a fox spirit was done via an exorcism , often at an Inari shrine . If a priest was not available or if

6102-451: A greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful Kitsune ; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years. (In the wild, the typical lifespan of a real fox is one to three years, although individuals may live up to ten years in captivity.) One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folktales. These kyūbi no kitsune ( 九尾の狐 , 'nine-tailed foxes') gain

6328-527: A high interest in the medium. Sales of print manga titles in the U.S. increased by 3.6 million units in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. In 2021, 24.4 million units of manga were sold in the United States. This is an increase of about 15 million (160%) more sales than in 2020. In 2022, most of the top-selling comic creators in the United States were mangaka. The same year manga sales saw an increase of 9%. A number of artists in

6554-564: A higher female readership (16% higher than other comic books). As of January 2020, manga is the second largest category in the US comic book and graphic novel market, accounting for 27% of the entire market share. During the COVID-19 pandemic some stores of the American bookseller Barnes & Noble saw up to a 500% increase in sales from graphic novel and manga sales due to the younger generations showing

6780-457: A huge hit. After Tokyo Pakku in 1905, a female version of Shōnen Sekai was created and named Shōjo Sekai , considered the first shōjo magazine. Shōnen Pakku was made and is considered the first children's manga magazine. The children's demographic was in an early stage of development in the Meiji period . Shōnen Pakku was influenced from foreign children's magazines such as Puck which an employee of Jitsugyō no Nihon (publisher of

7006-608: A kitsune attaches itself to a person or household, where they can cause all sorts of mischief. In one story from the 12th century, only the homeowner's threat to exterminate the foxes convinces them to behave. The kitsune patriarch appears in the man's dreams: My father lived here before me, sir, and by now I have many children and grandchildren. They get into a lot of mischief, I'm afraid, and I'm always after them to stop, but they never listen. And now, sir, you're understandably fed up with us. I gather that you're going to kill us all. But I just want you to know, sir, how sorry I am that this

List of Rurouni Kenshin characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

7232-548: A lot about character design. Akamatsu Arundo ( 赤末 有人 ) is a mercenary of Shibumi , a corrupt politician. Because Arundo is jealous that Shibumi orders Saitō Hajime to kill Kenshin, Saitō allows Arundo to have the job, knowing he stands no chance. Arundo ambushes Kenshin and tries to use a chain to immobilize Kenshin but is ultimately defeated. Arundo discovers that Saitō is allied with Ōkubo Toshimichi . When Arundo, fearing for his safety, decides to cut ties with Shibumi and flee to Shanghai, Saitō appears and decapitates Arundo with

7458-415: A manager and director from Takeshi Obata's Chikarabito Densetsu  [ ja ] sumo manga as a model for Kihei and a character he found in a magazine that made him think "Ooh, impact !" for Gohei. Watsuki stated that, unlike the faces of Kenshin and other characters, the faces of Kihei and Gohei are of basic shapes and therefore the two were easy to draw as a result. He said that he became fonder of

7684-442: A mangaka's work could be published: taking their manga drawn on paper to a publisher themselves, or submitting their work to competitions run by magazines. In recent years, there has been a rise in manga released digitally. Web manga, as it is known in Japan, has seen an increase thanks in part to image hosting websites where anyone can upload pages from their works for free. Although released digitally, almost all web manga sticks to

7910-519: A mighty power led by Shishio, ruling with the principles of basic animal survival. Although he is not proficient in any fighting style, he is a cunning organizer and possesses formidable leadership qualities. He manages to acquire firearms on the black market and purchases the gigantic ironclad warship — Rengoku ( 煉獄 , "Purgatory") without anyone knowing. Hōji's plan with the Rengoku fails when Sanosuke blows it up with bombs. Hōji disagrees with Shishio using

8136-558: A name similar to Arundo's, that being X-Men ' s Omega Red ( aka meaning "red", and matsu corresponding to "end", equivalent to "Omega", which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet - also related to the Christian concept of Alpha and Omega). Arundo's use of chains also parallels Omega Red's carbonadium tentacles. Senkaku ( 尖角 ) is a minion of Shishio Makoto who oppresses Shingetsu village, which after two years has been abandoned by

8362-535: A neighboring town that has become a gathering spot for gamblers and rogues, as their base of operations. When Kaoru begins to discover the truth, the brothers attempt to kill her, but Kenshin easily defeats them after revealing himself to be the real Hitokiri Battōsai . Having escaped jail, the Hiruma Brothers appear again, hiring Sanosuke to fight Kenshin and planning to use a gun to kill a weakened Kenshin. When Kenshin defeats Sanosuke, he stops Kihei's bullet dead on

8588-748: A number of features in common. Boys and young men became some of the earliest readers of manga after World War II. From the 1950s on, shōnen manga focused on topics thought to interest the archetypal boy, including subjects like robots, space-travel, and heroic action-adventure. Popular themes include science fiction , technology, sports, and supernatural settings. Manga with solitary costumed superheroes like Superman , Batman , and Spider-Man generally did not become as popular. The role of girls and women in manga produced for male readers has evolved considerably over time to include those featuring single pretty girls ( bishōjo ) such as Belldandy from Oh My Goddess! , stories where such girls and women surround

8814-409: A person referring to something on their left in the text while pointing to their right in the graphic. Characters shown writing with their right hands, the majority of them, would become left-handed when a series is flipped. Flipping may also cause oddities with familiar asymmetrical objects or layouts, such as a car being depicted with the gas pedal on the left and the brake on the right, or a shirt with

9040-522: A practitioner of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū , damaging her school's reputation. The real Battōsai, now wandering pacifist Himura Kenshin, saves Kaoru from this murderous impostor. Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay at her dojo as she notes that he is a gentle person instead of a hitokiri . As the series continues, Kaoru develops strong romantic feelings for Kenshin, who is constantly haunted by his past deeds and believes he does not deserve happiness. Myōjin Yahiko ( 明神 弥彦 )

9266-666: A pre-pandemic 120,000 in 2019. Manga publishers based in the United Kingdom include Gollancz and Titan Books. Manga publishers from the United States have a strong marketing presence in the United Kingdom: for example, the Tanoshimi line from Random House . In 2019 The British Museum held a mass exhibition dedicated to manga . Manga made their way only gradually into U.S. markets, first in association with anime and then independently. Some U.S. fans became aware of manga in

List of Rurouni Kenshin characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

9492-522: A professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture , foxes have come to be regarded as sacred by the Japanese because they are the natural enemies of rats that eat up rice or burrow into rice paddies. Because fox urine has a rat-repelling effect, Japanese people placed a stone with fox urine on a hokora of a Shinto shrine set up near a rice field. In this way, it is assumed that people in Japan acquired

9718-399: A protector god." The fox later saves his life by leading him past a band of armed robbers. Embedded in Japanese folklore as they are, kitsune appear in numerous Japanese works. Noh , kyogen , bunraku , and kabuki plays derived from folk tales feature them, as do contemporary works such as native animations, comic books and video games . Japanese metal idol band Babymetal refer to

9944-471: A readership of girls and young women. In the following decades (1975–present), shōjo manga continued to develop stylistically while simultaneously evolving different but overlapping subgenres. Major subgenres include romance, superheroines, and "Ladies Comics" (in Japanese, redisu レディース , redikomi レディコミ , and josei 女性 ). Modern shōjo manga romance features love as a major theme set into emotionally intense narratives of self-realization . With

10170-422: A religious background. Depictions of kitsune or people possessed by them may feature round white balls known as hoshi no tama ( ほしのたま , lit.   ' star balls ' ) . Tales describe these as glowing with kitsunebi . Some stories identify them as magical jewels or pearls. When not in human form or possessing a human, a kitsune keeps the ball in its mouth or carries it on its tail. Jewels are

10396-514: A result of being considered taboo by the other families, it has led to societal problems. The great amount of faith given to foxes can be seen in how, as a result of the Inari belief where foxes were believed to be Inari no Kami or its servant, they were employed in practices of dakini-ten by mikkyō and shugendō practitioners and in the oracles of miko ; the customs related to kitsunetsuki can be seen as having developed in such

10622-568: A safe house and provide for him instead of killing him. Days pass and Sōjirō tended to him and explained his situation with his abusive relatives. Shishio then explained his creed of survival of the fittest and gives him his sword. When Sōjirō is caught harboring Shishio in his family's rice silo, his older relatives try to kill him, thinking they can pin it on Shishio. As a result, Sōjirō kills them in self-defense and goes off with Shishio to become his protege. Yūkyūzan Anji ( 悠久山 安慈 ) , also known as "Bright King" ( 明王 , Myō-ō ) after Fudō Myō-ō ,

10848-404: A secondary character. Watsuki's used the young grandmother from Takeshi Obata 's Cyborg Jii-chan G  [ ja ] as the design model for Megumi. Her story arc has "redemption for her crimes" as its theme, and the author wanted to express Kenshin's determination through Megumi. Megumi came in fourteenth place in the series' second character popularity poll, and fifteenth in the third. She

11074-440: A series so they can follow it in the magazines or if they find the cost of the weeklies or monthlies to be prohibitive. "Deluxe" versions have also been printed as readers have gotten older and the need for something special grew. Old manga have also been reprinted using somewhat lesser quality paper and sold for 100 yen (about $ 1 U.S. dollar) each to compete with the used book market. Kanagaki Robun and Kawanabe Kyōsai created

11300-409: A series' story or write an entirely new one using its characters, much like fan fiction . In 2007, dōjinshi sales amounted to 27.73 billion yen (US$ 245 million). In 2006 they represented about a tenth of manga books and magazines sales. Thanks to the advent of the internet, there have been new ways for aspiring mangaka to upload and sell their manga online. Before, there were two main ways in which

11526-483: A shield to deflect attacks and block the enemy's vision. He possesses the Shingan ( 心眼 , mind's eye ) , which is actually superhuman hearing that lets him hear another's a heartbeat, muscle contractions and bone friction thus enabling him to read their emotions and physical position. Usui dies when his body is ripped in half by Saitō's attack. Usui originated from a chat Watsuki had with one of his assistants who proposed

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11752-457: A single episode to be continued in the next issue. A single manga story is almost always longer than a single issue from a Western comic . Collected chapters are usually republished in tankōbon volumes, frequently but not exclusively paperback books . A manga artist ( mangaka in Japanese) typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from

11978-480: A specific person . Kitsune are particularly renowned for impersonating beautiful women. Common belief in feudal Japan was that any woman encountered alone, especially at dusk or night, could be a kitsune . Kitsune-gao ('fox-faced') refers to human females who have a narrow face with close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Traditionally, this facial structure is considered attractive, and some tales ascribe it to foxes in human form. Variants on

12204-417: A strike from his sword. Watsuki stated, "this character's only there to get beat up." Appearing to aid story development, Arundo does not have much personality aside from arrogance (Watsuki's favorite personality trait for villains). Watsuki believes that he could not make Arundo's chain-scythe appear like real chains. The character's design originates from a superhuman soldier in an American comic book who has

12430-508: A thin long flexible sword he keeps hidden wrapped around his waist named Hakujin ( 薄刃乃 , "The Thin One") . Having heard of Arai Shakkū 's last sword, Chō intimidates Arai Seikū's wife into revealing its location; the blade was offered to a temple. Because he takes Seikū's son Iori with him, Kenshin fights Chō even though his sakabatō is broken. After hearing him talk of the new era, Seikū entrusts Kenshin with his father's last sword. Despite assuming

12656-569: A tube. The oldest relationship between the Japanese people and the fox dates back to the Jomon period necklace made by piercing the canine teeth and jawbone of the fox. In the Nihon Shoki (or Nihongi , compiled 720), the fox is mentioned twice, as omens. In the year 657 a byakko or "white fox" was reported to have been witnessed in Iwami Province , possibly a sign of good omen. And in 659,

12882-503: A type of sushi named for Inari Ōkami that consists of rice-filled pouches of fried tofu. There is speculation among folklorists as to whether another Shinto fox deity existed in the past. Foxes have long been worshipped as kami . Actually, the favorite food of the fox, used as bait for trapping or luring them, is purported to be the fried mouse/rat, according to the scenario in the kyōgen -play Tsurigitsune  [ ja ] and other works. A scholar has surmised that whether

13108-506: A villain, Chō was a popular character with Rurouni Kenshin readers; Watsuki said that characters with Kansai dialects are " always pretty popular." Because he also enjoyed drawing Chō, the author felt it would be "a waste" to "finish off" Chō after the conclusion of the Iori story and therefore had him reappear at later points. But in "a bit more of a neutral position" since Watsuki felt it would be strange for Chō to "become friendly with Kenshin and

13334-522: A way that is somewhat different from in the U.S. Broadcast anime in France and Italy opened the European market to manga during the 1970s. French art has borrowed from Japan since the 19th century ( Japonism ) and has its own highly developed tradition of bande dessinée cartooning. Manga was introduced to France in the late 1990s, where Japanese pop culture became massively popular: in 2021, 55% of comics sold in

13560-411: A wicked sense of humor and enjoys flirting with Kenshin to make Kaoru jealous (both Kaoru and Sanosuke refer to her as a " vixen " and in the manga vixen ears appear whenever she indulges in her sense of humor), but helps Kaoru come to terms with her feelings towards Kenshin. She is loyal to her friends and is always there to heal their wounds, especially Sanosuke, whom she often cautions about fighting. At

13786-545: A wife whose identity as fox is revealed after being frightened by the house pet dog ) occurs in Nihon Ryōiki , an anthology of Buddhist tales compiled around 822. The plotline involves a man who takes a wife, whose identity is later revealed to be a fox pretending to be a woman (cf. § Nihon Ryōiki below). The tale bears close resemblance to the Tang dynasty Chinese story Renshi zhuan ("The Story of Lady Ren", c. 800), and

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14012-411: A wild animal" during a meeting, so Watsuki scrapped this idea. Senkaku had no model for his personality, and after the scrapping of the inarticulation trait he became "pretty much just muscle-head small fry." Senkaku's design originates from the design of the four Abukuma priests, a group of minor antagonists. Watsuki had no attachment towards the four bald priests, but felt that the cone-shaped head design

14238-530: A young woman named Kamiya Kaoru in Tokyo, who invites him to live in her dojo despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of foes, new and old. Kamiya Kaoru ( 神谷 薫 ) is the instructor of a kendo school in Tokyo called Kamiya Kasshin-ryū . All of its students leave when many people are killed by someone claiming to be Hitokiri Battōsai and

14464-420: A young woman, whom the fox enters beneath her fingernails or through her breasts. In some cases, the victims' facial expressions are said to change in such a way that they resemble those of a fox. Japanese tradition holds that fox possession can cause illiterate victims to temporarily gain the ability to read. Though foxes in folklore can possess a person of their own will, kitsunetsuki is often attributed to

14690-493: Is "100% original" to him and that it is one of which he is the most confident. Watsuki added that the one aspect he did not like about Hōji is his costume; he had wanted to make it more like the "European style authentic" to the period but could not find any resources. The author revealed that by the end of the Kyoto arc, Hōji would become "a pretty cool guy." Seta Sōjirō ( 瀬田 宗次郎 ) , also known as "Heaven's Sword" ( 天剣 , Tenken ) ,

14916-536: Is Director-General Luchi of the Akuda Republic from Purin Purin Monogatari , an NHK puppet show . Watsuki said that the large size of Director-General Luchi's head would "freak me out." Watsuki commented that Luchi's design was "efficient" since one could tell that he was brilliant at one glance. Watsuki felt that of all the Juppongatana, Saizuchi got the "short end of the stick" since the character did not have

15142-525: Is Shishio's lover. She was the most famous oiran in Yoshiwara and took pride in it, until the María Luz Incident . She became reviled at the Japanese government's refusal to compensate the newly emancipated prostitutes due to it regarding them as equivalent to livestock. She serves as Kenshin, Saitō and Sanosuke's guide through Shishio's maze-like hideout, taking them from each duel to avoid traps. She

15368-544: Is a former student at the Kamiya dojo. Still, when Gohei insisted on using swords for killing and then unsuccessfully attacked the master of the dojo, Kaoru's father, he received a broken thumb and an expulsion. Gohei tries to take over the Kamiya dojo in the story, but Kenshin prevents him from doing so. Gohei hires Sanosuke to defeat Kenshin, but this fails. Later, he hires the Kisaki brothers to defeat Kenshin. Though they almost succeed,

15594-406: Is a swordsman and member of the Juppongatana. A native of Osaka , Chō has a very calm and relaxed exterior and keeps typically one eye closed when talking, only opening both eyes when excited in the heat of battle. He speaks with an Osaka-ben accent. He possesses quite a collection of rare and unusual swords, including; a double-bladed blade known as Renbatō ( 連刃刀 , "Repeater") and his favorite,

15820-431: Is a teenage boy who is Shishio's right-hand man and the strongest of the Juppongatana. He is noted in the series for always smiling and lacks any emotion but "comfort," making him impossible to read. He has been with Shishio the longest and is the most trusted member of the Juppongatana, having met Shishio when he was a small boy. He had witnessed Shishio brutally killing police officers, but Shishio ordered him to keep him in

16046-522: Is a warrior monk and member of the Juppongatana. Anji is the third strongest and most merciful of the Juppongatana and has agreed with Shishio that Anji shall decide whether someone lives or dies. He fights alongside Shishio to destroy the Meiji government who did nothing to stop the anti-Buddhist purge which resulted in the destruction of his home and the deaths of the five orphaned children he cared for in his temple, who came from families who were killed during

16272-521: Is a young kunoichi from Kyoto who was raised by the Oniwabanshū. She traveled to Tokyo searching for Shinomori Aoshi whom she is in love with. She wishes to learn what happened to Aoshi and his comrades and follows Kenshin to Kyoto, hoping to meet him again. When she learns of how Aoshi has become evil and obsessed with revenge, she decides to take over his title as "Okashira" and tries to forget him, but she can not. Kenshin promises that he will bring Aoshi back to her again. Hasegawa Ashitarō ( 長谷川明日郎 )

16498-570: Is an abbreviation of kissaten ). At a manga kissa , people drink coffee , read manga and sometimes stay overnight. The Kyoto International Manga Museum maintains a very large website listing manga published in Japanese. E-shimbun Nippon-chi (1874), published by Kanagaki Robun and Kawanabe Kyosai , is credited as the first manga magazine ever made. Manga magazines or anthologies ( 漫画雑誌 , manga zasshi ) usually have many series running concurrently with approximately 20–40 pages allocated to each series per issue. Other magazines such as

16724-493: Is an orphan from a samurai family who was forced to work as a pickpocket to repay the debt he had presumably owed, as his parents died before they could repay it. When Himura Kenshin rescues him, he decides to grow up to be just like Kenshin. But because of his strong beliefs, Kenshin will not teach the sword style he had learned. Therefore, Kenshin arranges for Yahiko to be trained in Kamiya Kasshin-ryū by Kamiya Kaoru. As

16950-502: Is an orphaned 16-year-old boy just released from prison during the Hokkaido Arc prologue. He and Inoue were inspired by buddy films with Watsuki remembering the ideal designs needed for the protagonists to be likable citing Ushio & Tora as an example. The first chapter had little hints about Ashitaro being related to Rurouni Kenshin with the second one expanding it more. Since the young character Myojin Yahiko already matured in

17176-424: Is confronted with the choice of actually killing someone, Kenshin explains what satsujin-ken truly entails; the weight of the lives you have taken "dragging you to hell." Raijūta's confidence breaks down and he can no longer wield a sword again. In the first anime, Raijūta is depicted as an actual murderer, ruthlessly killing the thugs he hired to con his way into Yutarō's fortune. Watsuki intended for Raijūta to be

17402-458: Is defeated when Kenshin lodges debris in its internal gears to stop its offense, and then destroyed by his strongest technique. Following having a "giant" in the Juppongatana (Fuji), Iwanbō was created as a "full body costume." Although Watsuki admitted he might have included too many elements from the Kyoto arc in the Jinchū arc, he said he enjoyed the character of Iwanbō. Because he had to hide that it

17628-493: Is no general agreement: Kitsu is now archaic; in modern Japanese, a fox's cry is transcribed as kon kon or gon gon . Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai . The word kitsune is sometimes translated as ' fox spirit ', which is actually a broader folkloric category. This does not mean that kitsune are ghosts , nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because

17854-476: Is often concerned about Shishio and his medical state. When Shishio's body becomes overheated in his fight with Kenshin, she runs in between them and pleads with Kenshin to end the duel. Still, Shishio runs her through with his sword, mortally wounding her and injuring the unguarded Kenshin. Knowing that she has finally been of use to Shishio in his most important battle, she dies happy and released from her former frustration for not being able to fight next to him. She

18080-412: Is one of the Juppongatana sent to attack Aoi-Ya. He uses a very heavy scythe -like weapon with a chain and a ball on end. His special techniques are Midare Benten ( 乱弁天 ) , where the scythe is whipped over his head and the chain forms a sphere, therefore creating both an offensive and defensive attack. Benten Mawashi ( 弁天独楽 ) makes use of his broken scythe by twirling the blade and chain rapidly like

18306-436: Is our last night of life. Won't you pardon us, one more time? If we ever make trouble again, then of course you must act as you think best. But the young ones, sir – I'm sure they'll understand when I explain to them why you're so upset. We'll do everything we can to protect you from now on, if only you'll forgive us, and we'll be sure to let you know when anything good is going to happen! Other kitsune use their magic for

18532-518: Is portrayed by Yū Aoi in the live-action films. Shinomori Aoshi ( 四乃森 蒼紫 ) is the Okashira or leader of the Oniwabanshū , and a skilled swordsman who his comrades highly respect. After he is defeated by Himura Kenshin and his comrades are killed, he becomes obsessed with killing Kenshin to earn the title of "the strongest" for the pride of the Oniwabanshū. He raised Makimachi Misao, the granddaughter of

18758-477: Is reunited with Shishio and vows to continue following him in his new quest to conquer Hell. Watsuki stated that most of the overall concept for Hōji originates from a character in X-Men , whose name sounds similar to Hōji's; the X-Men character gave him a "hint" for the story but not Hōji's personality. The X-Men character does not directly fight but instead invents machines to help his team members, so Watsuki wanted

18984-483: Is saved by Anji and then surrenders himself to the police, not for penance but to use the trial to project Shishio's ideals and plans. However, he is never given a trial and, although he was offered a government job should he pledge loyalty to it, Hōji commits suicide in his cell; using his blood to write a final message detailing his disgust with the regime: "The world is dead to me. I go to serve my lord in Hell." In Hell, Hōji

19210-481: Is the largest publisher of graphic novels and comic books in the United States, with a 23% share of the market. BookScan sales show that manga is one of the fastest-growing areas of the comic book and narrative fiction markets. From January 2019 to May 2019, the manga market grew 16%, compared to the overall comic book market's 5% growth. The NPD Group noted that, compared to other comic book readers, manga readers are younger (76% under 30) and more diverse, including

19436-442: Is then seen with Shishio and Hōji in hell. Yumi was initially designed to be an attractive accessory for Shishio, as Watsuki believed a villain ought to have a "temptress" or two nearby. He was surprised to see her develop into such a love-driven character. In commenting on her death, the author stated that he saw Yumi's happiness following Shishio everywhere, including hell. Watsuki had no particular personality model for Yumi. Still,

19662-460: Is too stupid to do anything on his own. Iwanbō is later shown to be a karakuri puppet controlled from the inside by Gein . Gein uses the new Iwanbō Version Three, Savage Mode to fight Kenshin during the Six Comrades ' attack on Kamiya dojo. This version has unrestricted detachable joints, allowing every limb to move in any direction, and anti-piercing armor of woven steel protecting Gein inside. It

19888-607: The Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952), and stresses U.S. cultural influences, including U.S. comics (brought to Japan by the GIs ) and images and themes from U.S. television, film, and cartoons (especially Disney ). Regardless of its source, an explosion of artistic creativity occurred in the post-war period, involving manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka ( Astro Boy ) and Machiko Hasegawa ( Sazae-san ). Astro Boy quickly became (and remains) immensely popular in Japan and elsewhere, and

20114-495: The Boshin War . Though he is a "fallen priest," who feels no shame in violating the directives of Buddha, he still wishes to save the world, but believes in doing so by killing those who are evil to save the pure. Over ten years he developed the "Mastery of Two Layers" ( 二重の極み , Futae no Kiwami ) technique, which delivers two hits within 1/75 of a second, allowing him to smash rocks with his limbs. Upon meeting Sagara Sanosuke in

20340-548: The Ishin Shishi during the Bakumatsu period. After helping Kamiya Kaoru , the instructor of a kendo school in Tokyo , in defeating a criminal, he is invited by her to stay at her dojo. During his stay in Tokyo, Kenshin befriends new people including Myōjin Yahiko , a young child descendant from a samurai family who starts training under Kaoru, Sagara Sanosuke , a former Sekihō Army cadet who enjoys fighting, and Takani Megumi ,

20566-456: The Kamiya Kasshin-ryū style for horrific acts. Having acquired Kenshin's old katana after the Battle of Toba–Fushimi , Jin-e found employment under the corrupt, power-hungry businessman, Takeda Kanryū. While sent to assassinate Takani Megumi, Jin-e crosses paths with Kenshin and recognizes him. As Kenshin and Sanosuke deal with Kanryū, Jin-e captures Kaoru and paralyzes her lungs to force Kenshin into

20792-618: The North American manga market was valued at almost $ 250 million. According to NPD BookScan manga made up 76% of overall comics and graphic novel sales in the US in 2021. The fast growth of the North American manga market is attributed to manga's wide availability on digital reading apps, book retailer chains such as Barnes & Noble and online retailers such as Amazon as well as the increased streaming of anime . Manga represented 38% of

21018-521: The Shogun as an anti- hitokiri . In a fight against Shishio, he was blinded in both eyes and has trained to take revenge ever since. Usui and Shishio made a deal upon him joining the Juppongatana; Usui can try to kill Shishio anytime he gets the chance. A native of the Ryukyu Islands , Usui fights using a short spear with a weighted end - the rochin - to attack, and a tortoise shell - the tinbei - as

21244-506: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government considered a bill to restrict minors' access to such content. The gekiga style of storytelling—thematically somber, adult-oriented, and sometimes deeply violent—focuses on the day-in, day-out grim realities of life, often drawn in a gritty and unvarnished fashion. Gekiga such as Sampei Shirato 's 1959–1962 Chronicles of a Ninja's Military Accomplishments ( Ninja Bugeichō ) arose in

21470-617: The anime adaptation of Sazae-san drew more viewers than any other anime on Japanese television in 2011. Tezuka and Hasegawa both made stylistic innovations. In Tezuka's "cinematographic" technique, the panels are like a motion picture that reveals details of action bordering on slow motion as well as rapid zooms from distance to close-up shots. This kind of visual dynamism was widely adopted by later manga artists. Hasegawa's focus on daily life and women's experience also came to characterize later shōjo manga . Between 1950 and 1969, an increasingly large readership for manga emerged in Japan with

21696-417: The arms industry by purchasing modern Western weapons. Managing to recapture Megumi, Kanryū finds himself over his head when Kenshin arrives at his manor and defeats Aoshi. He resorts to using a Gatling gun shooting at everyone, killing the members of the Oniwabanshū. After his weapon runs out of bullets, Kanryū is beaten and taken into police custody. Watsuki modeled Takeda Kanryū after Takeda Kanryūsai ,

21922-540: The historical form of the word (when rendered into a Latin-alphabet transliteration) as ki 1 tune . Following several diachronic phonological changes, this soon became kitsune . As aforementioned, the fox-wife narrative in Nihon ryōiki gives the folk etymology kitsu-ne means 'come and sleep', while in a double-entendre, the phrase can also be parsed differently as ki-tsune to mean 'always comes'. Many etymological suggestions have been made, though there

22148-484: The kitsune being used as familiars to do the biddings of their masters, called kitsune-mochi or "fox-possessors". The yamabushi or lay monks training in the wild have the reputation of using kiko ( 気狐 , lit. "air/ chi fox") . In some cases, the fox or fox-spirit summoned is called the osaki . The familiar may also be known as the kuda-gitsune ( 管狐 , lit. "tube fox, pipe fox") because they were believed to be so small, or become so small as to fit inside

22374-488: The kitsune -foxes (or perhaps the "fox spirits") can bewitch people, just like the tanuki . They have the ability to shapeshift into human or other forms, and to trick or fool human beings. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others, as foxes in folklore often do, other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers. Foxes and humans lived close together in ancient Japan ; this companionship gave rise to legends about

22600-609: The tourism sector to help foreign fans of manga and anime visit sites across the country associated with particular manga stories. The federation seeks to quadruple the sales of Japanese content in overseas markets within the upcoming 10 years. Manga stories are typically printed in black-and-white —due to time constraints, artistic reasons (as coloring could lessen the impact of the artwork) and to keep printing costs low —although some full-color manga exist (e.g., Colorful ). In Japan, manga are usually serialized in large manga magazines, often containing many stories, each presented in

22826-525: The "Mastery of Three Layers." The author assesses that if one reads into the story deeply enough, one can see that Anji's "rampage" to the dark side was stopped. Still, his soul has yet to be "saved." Watsuki said that while he had nothing specific about Anji's later adventures, they were slowly coming to him and he might write it down if the chance presents itself. Anji came in tenth place in the series' second character popularity poll. Sawagejō Chō ( 沢下条 張 ) , also known as "Sword Hunter" ( 刀狩 , Katanaga ) ,

23052-568: The "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. In Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration , Jin-e is one of the assassins hired by Takeda Kanryū to kill Kenshin. His kidnapping of Kaoru and fight with Kenshin are similar with some differences. He has holes in both hands from when Kenshin pierced them during the Bakumatsu, where he now inserts hilt-less swords to fight. Watsuki said that many of the changes he made to Jin-e in Restoration did not work out, proving that

23278-594: The "eyeball-covered costume," Watsuki originally planned to give Usui a plain "tribal" outfit, but scratched that idea after seeing the " spider-like angel " in Neon Genesis Evangelion . He originally planned to make Usui a "handsome, long-haired type." Still, when he saw a rough sketch of the concept, it looked too much like Ukyō from Samurai Spirits , so he started over. Despite Usui's final look originating from several different sources, Watsuki believed "it came out pretty well." Usui came in seventeenth place in

23504-446: The "manly air." He also said that Anji is his second attempt at "manly intelligence," following the "failed" Isurugi Raijūta. Anji's visual model originates from the lead vocalist of a punk band called Angie, and his name originates from the band's as well. Watsuki said that their bandannas on shaved heads and the black makeup under the eyes looks "cool" but still gives an impression suggesting intelligence. Instead, he intended to give Anji

23730-421: The 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥ 586.4 billion ( $ 6–7 billion ), with annual sales of 1.9   billion manga books and manga magazines (also known as manga anthologies) in Japan (equivalent to 15   issues per person). In 2020 Japan's manga market value hit a new record of ¥612.6 billion due to

23956-433: The 1970s and early 1980s. However, anime was initially more accessible than manga to U.S. fans, many of whom were college-age young people who found it easier to obtain, subtitle, and exhibit video tapes of anime than translate, reproduce, and distribute tankōbon -style manga books. One of the first manga translated into English and marketed in the U.S. was Keiji Nakazawa 's Barefoot Gen , an autobiographical story of

24182-572: The Foreign Ministry in secret negotiations. The overall model for Saizuchi is a villainous elf who tricks the giant in what Watsuki was told is a Finnish folktale called "Frost Giant"; he combined that with an "image of a giant-robot pilot." Originally Watsuki planned for Okina to fight Saizuchi, but he cut the concept because he wanted to maintain the balance of the story and because his "inner story-editor" asked him if anyone would really like to see "two old codgers" fight each other. The design model

24408-721: The French comics market in 2005. This is equivalent to approximately three times that of the United States and was valued at about €460 million ($ 640   million). In Europe and the Middle East, the market was valued at $ 250 million in 2012. In April 2023, the Japan Business Federation laid out a proposal aiming to spur the economic growth of Japan by further promoting the contents industry abroad, primarily anime, manga and video games , for measures to invite industry experts from abroad to come to Japan to work, and to link with

24634-705: The Immortal , Ghost in the Shell , Lone Wolf and Cub , Yasuhiro Nightow 's Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront , Gantz , Kouta Hirano 's Hellsing and Drifters , Blood+ , Multiple Personality Detective Psycho , FLCL , Mob Psycho 100 , and Oreimo . The company received 13 Eisner Award nominations for its manga titles, and three of the four manga creators admitted to The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame — Osamu Tezuka , Kazuo Koike , and Goseki Kojima — were published in Dark Horse translations. In

24860-524: The Juppongatana in order to fight Kenshin again, even allowing them to attack Aoi-Ya . Watsuki said that several of his assistants suggested ideas for the Juppongatana and that many of the characters grew out of these ideas. In Watsuki's original concept, except for Sōjirō none of the Juppongatana were intended to be "lookers." The author added Kamatari and Fuji at a later point. When Watsuki felt that Saizuchi , had not been used to his full potential, in retrospect he wondered if having six or seven members of

25086-547: The Juppongatana to fight Himura Kenshin, believing they might lose, putting their actual goal to overthrow the government in jeopardy. But he strongly believes in Shishio's strength, even throwing away a gun he had hidden after Shishio and Kenshin's fight surpasses Shishio's fifteen-minute time limit. He is in utter disbelief when Shishio finally loses upon bursting into flames and destroys Shishio's hideout in an attempt to kill Kenshin and company rather than accept his master's defeat. He

25312-459: The Juppongatana to live and spread his story to prevent the government from rewriting it in the event of their loss. The concept for Kamatari originated from a play on words by Watsuki's assistant Eiichiro Oda ; in Japanese , okama ( お釜 ) is a slang word for homosexual, while the word for a scythe is kama ( 鎌 ) . Watsuki used ideas from assistants to create many of the Juppongatana and Kamatari

25538-593: The Philippines were imported from the US and were sold only in specialty stores and in limited copies. The first manga in Filipino language is Doraemon which was published by J-Line Comics and was then followed by Case Closed . In 2015, Boys' Love manga became popular through the introduction of BL manga by printing company BLACKink. Among the first BL titles to be printed were Poster Boy, Tagila, and Sprinters, all were written in Filipino. BL manga have become bestsellers in

25764-657: The Shell (translated by Frederik L. Schodt and Toren Smith ) becoming very popular among fans. An extremely successful manga and anime translated and dubbed in English in the mid-1990s was Sailor Moon . By 1995–1998, the Sailor Moon manga had been exported to over 23 countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, North America and most of Europe. In 1997, Mixx Entertainment began publishing Sailor Moon , along with CLAMP 's Magic Knight Rayearth , Hitoshi Iwaaki 's Parasyte and Tsutomu Takahashi 's Ice Blade in

25990-477: The Shinsengumi's Fifth Unit captain. He said that there was no actual model in terms of design. He described Takeda Kanryū as a "carryover" of Nishiwaki, a character in the first Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story one-shot. Kanryū wears white since Watsuki felt that "between Kenshin and Aoshi, there was too much black already." Watsuki felt that since he emphasized Megumi and the Oniwabanshū, Kanryū never became

26216-399: The United States have drawn comics and cartoons influenced by manga. As an early example, Vernon Grant drew manga-influenced comics while living in Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Others include Frank Miller 's mid-1980s Ronin , Adam Warren and Toren Smith's 1988 The Dirty Pair , Ben Dunn 's 1987 Ninja High School and Manga Shi 2000 from Crusade Comics (1997). By

26442-805: The Valley of the Wind from Viz Media, and Appleseed from Eclipse Comics in 1988, and later Iczer-1 ( Antarctic Press , 1994) and Ippongi Bang 's F-111 Bandit (Antarctic Press, 1995). During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese animation, such as Akira , Dragon Ball , Neon Genesis Evangelion , and Pokémon , made a larger impact on the fan experience and in the market than manga. Matters changed when translator-entrepreneur Toren Smith founded Studio Proteus in 1986. Smith and Studio Proteus acted as an agent and translator of many Japanese manga, including Masamune Shirow 's Appleseed and Kōsuke Fujishima 's Oh My Goddess! , for Dark Horse and Eros Comix , eliminating

26668-459: The abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales credit them with infinite wisdom ( omniscience ). After reaching 1,000 years of age and gaining its ninth tail, a kitsune turns a white or golden color, becoming a tenko ( 天狐 , 'heavenly/celestial fox' ) , the most powerful form of the kitsune , and then ascends to the heavens. A kitsune may take on human form , an ability learned when it reaches

26894-443: The actual one. Watsuki created Chō's basic design when he was 20 years old; originally designed to be a space alien. While Watsuki did not use the alien aspect, he said the "horse-headed monkey-face" was "hard to throw out completely," so he used it for Chō. The original design had black, "messy" hair swept back, but he gave Chō a " punk rock " quality to give the character more impact as the first Juppongatana member shown. Despite being

27120-422: The age and gender of the target readership. In particular, books and magazines sold to boys ( shōnen ) and girls ( shōjo ) have distinctive cover-art, and most bookstores place them on different shelves. Due to cross-readership, consumer response is not limited by demographics. For example, male readers may subscribe to a series intended for female readers, and so on. Japan has manga cafés , or manga kissa ( kissa

27346-566: The age of its intended readership: boys up to 18 years old ( shōnen manga) and young men 18 to 30 years old ( seinen manga); as well as by content, including action-adventure often involving male heroes, slapstick humor, themes of honor, and sometimes explicit sex. The Japanese use different kanji for two closely allied meanings of "seinen"— 青年 for "youth, young man" and 成年 for "adult, majority"—the second referring to pornographic manga aimed at grown men and also called seijin ("adult" 成人 ) manga. Shōnen , seinen , and seijin manga share

27572-783: The anime fandom magazine Newtype featured single chapters within their monthly periodicals. Other magazines like Nakayoshi feature many stories written by many different artists; these magazines, or "anthology magazines", as they are also known (colloquially "phone books"), are usually printed on low-quality newsprint and can be anywhere from 200 to more than 850 pages thick. Manga magazines also contain one-shot comics and various four-panel yonkoma (equivalent to comic strips ). Manga series can run for many years if they are successful. Popular shonen magazines include Weekly Shōnen Jump , Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday - Popular shoujo manga include Ciao , Nakayoshi and Ribon . Manga artists sometimes start out with

27798-472: The anime, Chō later appears when he tries to attack Amakusa but is soundly defeated. Watsuki had no particular model for Chō's personality, but said that if he had to give one, it would be the stereotyped depictions of people from the Kansai region . An assistant from Kansai checked Chō's accent, but Watsuki had it "broken down" so that everyone from Japan can understand it; meaning Chō's Kansai accent differs from

28024-437: The anime, he manages to escape and is killed by Seta Sōjirō . Originally, Senkaku was one of the Juppongatana, so Watsuki put a lot of effort into his creation. But since Shishio and Sōjirō were present and Kenshin needed to go to Kyoto, he decided to make Senkaku a "violent village despot." Originally the author had Senkaku as an experimental character who could not form any words. Still, an editor commented that Senkaku "is not

28250-499: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima issued by Leonard Rifas and Educomics (1980–1982). More manga were translated between the mid-1980s and 1990s, including Golgo 13 in 1986, Lone Wolf and Cub from First Comics in 1987, and Kamui , Area 88 , and Mai the Psychic Girl , also in 1987 and all from Viz Media - Eclipse Comics . Others soon followed, including Akira from Marvel Comics ' Epic Comics imprint, Nausicaä of

28476-475: The author reflected that he seems to have gotten carried away, making Iwanbō feel out of place in the Rurouni Kenshin universe. The design models for Version One (and Two) were the characters Blob and Mojo from X-Men . But elements of Victor and Sasquatch from Vampire Hunter were also incorporated, making him "cuter." The design model for Version Three was the comic book character Hulk , specifically

28702-846: The beginning of the 21st century, several U.S. manga publishers had begun to produce work by U.S. artists under the broad marketing-label of manga. In 2002, I.C. Entertainment, formerly Studio Ironcat and now out of business, launched a series of manga by U.S. artists called Amerimanga . In 2004, eigoMANGA launched the Rumble Pak and Sakura Pakk anthology series . Seven Seas Entertainment followed suit with World Manga . Simultaneously, TokyoPop introduced original English-language manga (OEL manga) later renamed Global Manga . Kitsune In Japanese folklore , kitsune ( 狐 , きつね , IPA: [kʲi̥t͡sɨne̞] ) are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to folklore,

28928-503: The benefit of their companion or hosts as long as the humans treat them with respect. As yōkai , however, kitsune do not share human morality, and a kitsune who has adopted a house in this manner may, for example, bring its host money or items that it has stolen from the neighbors. Accordingly, common households thought to harbor kitsune are treated with suspicion. Oddly, samurai families were often reputed to share similar arrangements with kitsune, but these foxes were considered zenko and

29154-591: The best examples of an amateur work becoming professional is One-Punch Man which was released online and later received a professional remake released digitally and an anime adaptation soon thereafter. Many of the big print publishers have also released digital only magazines and websites where web manga get published alongside their serialized magazines. Shogakukan for instance has two websites, Sunday Webry and Ura Sunday, that release weekly chapters for web manga and even offer contests for mangaka to submit their work. Both Sunday Webry and Ura Sunday have become one of

29380-442: The blade larger to give it "a real super-impact look" and noted that it is not intended to be used in the way that Kamatari does. Kamatari came in sixteenth place in the series' second character popularity poll and tenth in the third. Kariwa Henya ( 刈羽 蝙也 , Kariwa Hen'ya ) , known as the "Flighted" ( 飛翔 , Hishō ) , is a member of the Juppongatana sent to attack Aoi-Ya. He wears a black cloth over his mouth and what looks like

29606-450: The blade of a helicopter. Kaoru and Misao defeat Kamatari in a two-on-one battle. He then tries to commit suicide with a needle, but Misao knocks him unconscious, preventing him from driving it into his neck. Pardoned for his crimes, the government hopes to use Kamatari as a foreign spy under the guise of an exchange student, but his sadness over Shishio's death has him contemplating suicide. So Chō lies to Kamatari, claiming that Shishio wanted

29832-467: The brothers are beaten and Yahiko sends Gohei limping away after kicking him in the genitals. Watsuki described the creation of the brothers as a "direct function of the story." Watsuki wanted "interesting villains to start things off with a bang" and made one "brainy" and the other "wild." He decided that the story involving the two coming together was taking "too many" pages, so he made the duo as brothers instead of being "circumstantially related." He used

30058-520: The brothers as his deadlines approached. Udō Jin-e ( 鵜堂 刃衛 , Udō Jin'e ) , also known as " Kurogasa " ( 黒笠 , "Black Hat") , is a deranged serial killer who has been hunting down former Ishin Shishi warriors that now hold positions in the government or economy for the past ten years. A master of the Nikaidō Heihō ( 二階堂平法 ) style, Jin-e was a member of the Shinsengumi during the Bakumatsu. But when he

30284-510: The buttons on the wrong side, however these issues are minor when compared to the unnatural reading flow, and some of them could be solved with an adaptation work that goes beyond just translation and blind flipping. Manga has highly influenced the art styles of manhwa and manhua . Manga in Indonesia is published by Elex Media Komputindo , Level Comic , M&C and Gramedia . Manga has influenced Indonesia's original comic industry. Manga in

30510-416: The character he intended, which "was a bit of a letdown." The historical Takeda Kanryūsai is well known for being homosexual. Watsuki considered making Kanryū homosexual, but dropped the idea as he felt it would "unnecessarily complicate things." He is portrayed by Teruyuki Kagawa in the first live-action film. For Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration , Watsuki did not plan on making any drastic changes to Kanryū but

30736-544: The character is essentially a version of Ogin, a character played by actress Kaoru Yumi in Mitokōmon Gaiden: Kagerō Ninpō-Chō , a spinoff series of Mitokōmon . Having designed Yumi on the spot with the intention of her being sexy, Watsuki had no specific design model. But halfway through, Watsuki became a fan of Morrigan Aensland from Vampire Hunter and, as a result, began to expose more and more of Yumi's cleavage and shoulders, "eventually increasing

30962-597: The character, he would try to "keep his outlook sunny" while not compromising the "essential self." Watsuki used Ikari Yui from Neon Genesis Evangelion as the visual model for Kamatari's face; but colored the hair black, exposed more of the forehead, and had the back of Kamatari's hair "flip out as I've seen so many high-schoolers do these days." Watsuki found that the character's triangular silhouette has influences from Rei-Rei in Vampire Hunter . The large chain-scythe that Kamatari uses exists in real life, but Watsuki made

31188-527: The constant uplift from the explosions can easily keep him in the air with the wings. Yahiko defeats Henya by gliding on a shōji door blown up by Henya's dynamite and attacking him from above. Henya is pardoned for his crimes and used as an army spy in Asia by the government because of his aviation abilities. Henya was modeled after Matsubayashi Henyasai, a swordsman in the early Edo period who possessed "avoidance techniques," which would now be called acrobatics in

31414-444: The conventional black-and-white format despite some never getting physical publication. Pixiv is the most popular site where amateur and professional work gets published on the site. It has grown to be the most visited site for artwork in Japan. Twitter has also become a popular place for web manga with many artists releasing pages weekly on their accounts in the hope of their work getting picked up or published professionally. One of

31640-642: The country celebrates Manga Day on every 27 August. In 2021 manga sales in Germany rose by 75% from its original record of 70 million in 2005. As of 2022 Germany is the third largest manga market in Europe after Italy and France. In 2021, the Spanish manga market hit a record of 1033 new title publications. In 2022 the 28th edition of the Barcelona Manga Festival opened its doors to more than 163,000 fans, compared to

31866-476: The country were manga and France is the biggest manga importer. By mid-2021, 75 percent of the €300 value of Culture Pass  [ fr ] accounts given to French 18 year-olds was spent on manga. According to the Japan External Trade Organization, sales of manga reached $ 212.6 million within France and Germany alone in 2006. France represents about 50% of the European market and is

32092-564: The creation of illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality. Some tales speak of kitsune with even greater powers, able to bend time and space, drive people mad, or take fantastic shapes such as an incredibly tall tree or a second moon in the sky. Other kitsune have characteristics reminiscent of vampires or succubi , and feed on the life or spirit of human beings, generally through sexual contact. Stories of fox possession ( kitsunetsuki ) can be found in all lands of Japan, as part of its folk religion . From

32318-424: The creatures. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari , a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has, up to nine, the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make sacrifices to them as to a deity. The kitsune has been labeled as

32544-435: The crueler ones abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or devout Buddhist monks. Their victims are usually men; women are possessed instead. For example, kitsune are thought to employ their kitsunebi to lead travelers astray in the manner of a will-o'-the-wisp . Another tactic is for the kitsune to confuse its target with illusions or visions. Other common goals of trickster kitsune include seduction, theft of food, humiliation of

32770-455: The culture of respecting kitsune as messengers of Inari Okami . The full etymology of kitsune is unknown. The oldest known usage of the word is in the text Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki , dating to 794. Other old sources include the aforementioned story in the Nihon ryōiki (810–824) and Wamyō Ruijushō (c. 934). These old sources are written in Man'yōgana , which clearly identifies

32996-462: The elder brother Kihei ( 喜兵衛 ) collapsed in front of the dojo, and Kaoru took him in, becoming a kind of a live-in apprentice and gaining Kaoru's trust while trying to persuade her to sell the dojo. Gohei ( 伍兵衛 ) , the younger brother, is a former samurai who falsely uses the " Hitokiri Battōsai " and Kamiya Kasshin-ryū names to commit murders. The brothers use the Kiheikan ( 鬼兵館 ) , a former dojo in

33222-451: The end of the Bakumatsu, he becomes a wandering samurai, now wielding a sakabatō , a katana that has a structure in which the blade and ridge are struck in the opposite direction to a regular katana, so if it is used normally, it will always be in a ridged state and will have much less killing power. Kenshin wanders the country offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the killings he once committed as an assassin. He meets

33448-473: The end of the series, she leaves Tokyo to open a clinic in Aizu. Nobuhiro Watsuki created Megumi as a "mature woman" but had no specific model in mind. In the first Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story one-shot, Megumi, Kaoru, and Yahiko were siblings. Despite this version and her final version in the main series being so different, Watsuki said they have the same spirit and are not so unalike. Although he admitted

33674-485: The evolution of Western comics; Western comic art probably originated in 17th century Italy. Writers on manga history have described two broad and complementary processes shaping modern manga. One view represented by other writers such as Frederik L. Schodt , Kinko Ito, and Adam L. Kern, stress continuity of Japanese cultural and aesthetic traditions, including pre-war, Meiji , and pre-Meiji culture and art . The other view, emphasizes events occurring during and after

33900-454: The exorcism failed, alleged victims of kitsunetsuki might be badly burned or beaten in hopes of driving out the fox spirits. The whole family of someone thought to be possessed might be ostracized by their community. In Japan, kitsunetsuki was described as a disease as early as the Heian period and remained a common diagnosis for mental illness until the early 20th century. Possession

34126-683: The famous Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto , feature such statues, sometimes large numbers of them. Kitsune are connected to the Buddhist religion through the Dakiniten , goddesses conflated with Inari's female aspect. Dakiniten is depicted as a female boddhisattva wielding a sword and riding a flying white fox. Kitsune are often presented as tricksters , with motives that vary from mischief to malevolence. Stories tell of kitsune playing tricks on overly proud samurai , greedy merchants, and boastful commoners, while

34352-443: The fast growth of digital manga sales as well as increase of print sales. In 2022 Japan's manga market hit yet another record value of ¥675.9 billion. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide readership. Beginning with the late 2010s manga started massively outselling American comics. As of 2021, the top four comics publishers in the world are manga publishers Shueisha , Kodansha , Kadokawa , and Shogakukan . In 2020

34578-401: The first manga magazine in 1874: Eshinbun Nipponchi . The magazine was heavily influenced by Japan Punch , founded in 1862 by Charles Wirgman , a British cartoonist. Eshinbun Nipponchi had a very simple style of drawings and did not become popular with many people. Eshinbun Nipponchi ended after three issues. The magazine Kisho Shimbun in 1875 was inspired by Eshinbun Nipponchi , which

34804-720: The following years, manga became increasingly popular, and new publishers entered the field while the established publishers greatly expanded their catalogues. The Pokémon manga Electric Tale of Pikachu issue #1 sold over 1   million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling single comic book in the United States since 1993. By 2008, the U.S. and Canadian manga market generated $ 175 million in annual sales. Simultaneously, mainstream U.S. media began to discuss manga, with articles in The New York Times , Time magazine , The Wall Street Journal , and Wired magazine. As of 2017, manga distributor Viz Media

35030-579: The food be fried rodent or fried bean curd, the association with fox can be traced to the document Inari ichiryū daiji ( 稲荷一流大事 ) which gives a list of votive offerings to be made to the Dakini-ten (associated with foxes), since the list includes something called aburamono ("oil stuff") Inari's kitsune are white, a color of a good omen . They possess the power to ward off evil, and they sometimes serve as guardian spirits. In addition to protecting Inari shrines, they are petitioned to intervene on behalf of

35256-646: The form has a long history in earlier Japanese art . The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning . Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in Japan. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres : action , adventure , business and commerce, comedy , detective , drama , historical , horror , mystery , romance , science fiction and fantasy , erotica ( hentai and ecchi ), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since

35482-553: The giant Fuji . Saizuchi's talents lie not in battle-abilities, but his proficient use of words. Having taken Fuji in after he was nearly killed, Saizuchi reminds Fuji that he has to repay him. During the Juppongatana's attack of Aoi-Ya, Saizuchi attempts to destroy the morale of the Oniwabanshū by giving a speech as to why it is impossible for them to defeat Fuji and himself. Saizuchi is knocked unconscious when Fuji's left arm falls on him upon being defeated by Hiko Seijūrō . Pardoned for his crimes, Saizuchi uses his gifts of persuasion for

35708-510: The government. Senkaku killed Mishima Eiji 's brother and parents after learning that the boys were plotting to escape the village. He claims to have killed 99 people. Senkaku fights with a pair of knuckle blades and has high speed, contrary to his size. However, this proves to be his undoing, as Kenshin defeats Senkaku in a battle by using the gigantic size to stress out Senkaku's limits, causing his leg to break. The police take Senkaku away, in which Saitō notes he would most likely be executed. In

35934-489: The guard of his sword. When the brothers try to attack Kaoru and Yahiko, Sanosuke defeats Gohei and Kenshin injures Kihei into submission. Later in the series, they are employed as bodyguards by Fudōsawa , a yakuza in Sanosuke's hometown, and then by Tani Jūsanrō . Sanosuke easily beats them up on both occasions. Gohei is the only brother to appear in the first anime series and is more intelligent than his manga counterpart. He

36160-535: The hands of Saitō. Watsuki stated that the Terminator-like character he did not use would show up after the Kyoto arc. The author said he regretted creating Usui like he regretted creating Raijūta, but that Usui became more popular and therefore "that must also mean" Usui is stronger. The model for Usui's design is Taopaipai from Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama ; Watsuki said that as the first villain to defeat Son Goku , Taopaipai made "a strong impression." As for

36386-455: The hero, as in Negima and Hanaukyo Maid Team , or groups of heavily armed female warriors ( sentō bishōjo ) By the turn of the 21st century, manga "achieved worldwide popularity". With the relaxation of censorship in Japan in the 1990s, an assortment of explicit sexual material appeared in manga intended for male readers, and correspondingly continued into the English translations. In 2010,

36612-488: The importance of skillful sketching. She is portrayed by Maryjun Takahashi in live-action films. The Juppongatana ( 十本刀 , lit. "Ten Swords") are a group of ten elite assassins founded and commanded by Shishio Makoto to assassinate Meiji government officials upon their planned revolution. Based in Mount Hiei , they are the primary antagonist group of the Kyoto arc. Although he does not officially join them, Aoshi works with

36838-462: The kitsune myth in their lyrics and include the use of fox masks, hand signs, and animation interludes during live shows. Western authors of fiction have also made use of the kitsune legends although not in extensive detail. Kitsune are associated with Inari, the Shinto deity of rice. This association has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. Originally, kitsune were Inari's messengers, but

37064-632: The late 1950s and 1960s, partly from left-wing student and working-class political activism, and partly from the aesthetic dissatisfaction of young manga artists like Yoshihiro Tatsumi with existing manga. In Japan, manga constituted an annual 40.6 billion yen (approximately US$ 395 million) publication-industry by 2007. In 2006 sales of manga books made up for about 27% of total book-sales, and sale of manga magazines, for 20% of total magazine-sales. The manga industry has expanded worldwide, where distribution companies license and reprint manga into their native languages. Marketeers primarily classify manga by

37290-399: The line between the two is now blurred so that Inari Ōkami may be depicted as a fox. Likewise, entire shrines are dedicated to kitsune, where devotees can leave offerings . Fox spirits are said to be particularly fond of a fried slice of tofu called aburage or abura-age , which is accordingly found in the noodle-based dishes kitsune udon and kitsune soba . Similarly, Inari-zushi is

37516-405: The locals and particularly to aid against troublesome nogitsune , those spirit foxes who do not serve Inari. Black foxes and nine-tailed foxes are likewise considered good omens. According to beliefs derived from fusui ( feng shui ), the fox's power over evil is such that a mere statue of a fox can dispel the evil kimon , or energy, that flows from the northeast. Many Inari shrines, such as

37742-474: The magazine) saw and decided to emulate. In 1924, Kodomo Pakku was launched as another children's manga magazine after Shōnen Pakku . During the boom, Poten (derived from the French "potin") was published in 1908. All the pages were in full color with influences from Tokyo Pakku and Osaka Puck . It is unknown if there were any more issues besides the first one. Kodomo Pakku was launched May 1924 by Tokyosha and featured high-quality art by many members of

37968-454: The malign intents of hereditary fox employers . Folklorist Lafcadio Hearn describes the condition in Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan : Strange is the madness of those into whom demon foxes enter. Sometimes they run naked shouting through the streets. Sometimes they lie down and froth at the mouth, and yelp as a fox yelps. And on some part of the body of the possessed a moving lump appears under

38194-498: The manga artistry like Takei Takeo, Takehisa Yumeji and Aso Yutaka. Some of the manga featured speech balloons , where other manga from the previous eras did not use speech balloons and were silent. Published from May 1935 to January 1941, Manga no Kuni coincided with the period of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Manga no Kuni featured information on becoming a mangaka and on other comics industries around

38420-489: The modern era. Watsuki revealed that he originally planned to introduce Henya as a tengu during the Megumi arc as part of the Oniwabanshū. Still, that story was "not as well-planned as it otherwise might have been," so the chance was lost and Henya had to become one of the Juppongatana. It was originally planned for Henya to engage in a mid-air battle with Kenshin. Still, Watsuki felt that Kenshin had become too strong after learning

38646-422: The monthly manga magazine MixxZine . Mixx Entertainment, later renamed Tokyopop , also published manga in trade paperbacks and, like Viz, began aggressive marketing of manga to both young male and young female demographics. During this period, Dark Horse Manga was a major publisher of translated manga. In addition to Oh My Goddess! , the company published Akira , Astro Boy , Berserk , Blade of

38872-493: The most notable being ReLIFE and Recovery of an MMO Junkie . By 2007, the influence of manga on international comics had grown considerably over the past two decades. "Influence" is used here to refer to effects on the comics markets outside Japan and to aesthetic effects on comics artists internationally. Traditionally, manga stories flow from top to bottom and from right to left . Some publishers of translated manga keep to this original format. Other publishers mirror

39098-423: The motif of Jin-e to be Okada Izō , the top hitokiri of the Bakumatsu, but admitted that his design looks even less like his counterpart than Kenshin's looks like his. He was designed to be a "murderous ogre", the "polar opposite of Kenshin." The author described Jin-e as a "complicated fellow" who is " crazy -crazy" and not merely "crazy-acting." Although both the character and story were difficult, Watsuki said it

39324-703: The name XOY in Japan). Kakao has also had success by offering licensed manga and translated Korean webtoons with their service Piccoma . All three companies credit their success to the webtoon pay model where users can purchase each chapter individually instead of having to buy the whole book while also offering some chapters for free for a period of time allowing anyone to read a whole series for free if they wait long enough. The added benefit of having all of their titles in color and some with special animations and effects have also helped them succeed. Some popular Japanese webtoons have also gotten anime adaptations and print releases,

39550-518: The nation of Algeria ("DZ-manga"). The word "manga" comes from the Japanese word 漫画 ( katakana : マンガ ; hiragana : まんが ), composed of the two kanji 漫 (man) meaning "whimsical or impromptu" and 画 (ga) meaning "pictures". The same term is the root of the Korean word for comics, manhwa , and the Chinese word manhua . The word first came into common usage in the late 18th century with

39776-497: The need for these publishers to seek their own contacts in Japan. Simultaneously, the Japanese publisher Shogakukan opened a U.S. market initiative with their U.S. subsidiary Viz, enabling Viz to draw directly on Shogakukan's catalogue and translation skills. Japanese publishers began pursuing a U.S. market in the mid-1990s, due to a stagnation in the domestic market for manga. The U.S. manga market took an upturn with mid-1990s anime and manga versions of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in

40002-422: The new repenting Kenshin to be soft and weak, Jin-e kidnaps Kaoru Kamiya to enrage Kenshin into his old Hitokiri Battōsai self. Though he assumes his old mindset and crushes Jin-e's right elbow, ending his life as a swordsman, Kenshin stops himself from killing when Kaoru calls out. Though spared, Jin-e stabs himself in the heart, so the police will not discover who his government employer is. Watsuki intended for

40228-463: The one-shot's version of Megumi had a "lighter quality" because of her small role, he, therefore, gave her a more "earthy quality" in the main serial so she could make an impression. By the time of the publication of Rurouni Kenshin volume four, Watsuki felt disappointed as she did not turn out nearly the way he wanted. However, because she is entertaining to draw and is the only woman Kaoru can interact with, he planned to have Megumi frequently appear as

40454-456: The opposite of Kenshin, "intelligently macho and a believer of satsujin-ken ." But somehow, he became "a total fake" who became "a smaller and smaller man" as the story progressed, until he was "defeated by a single blow—ending almost as a villain." The author concluded that designing and developing Raijūta taught him "quite a bit," and he wanted to give Raijūta "peace" in future stories, but added "then again...this guy—! Sigh." Raijūta's appearance

40680-413: The organization would have been sufficient instead of ten. Sadojima Hōji ( 佐渡島 方治 ) , also known as "All-knowing" ( 百識 , Hyakushiki ) , is Shishio's second-in-command. He used to be an official in the Meiji government but lost faith in it when he saw no one in the government worthy of leading the country. He abandoned his position in the government and eventually met Shishio. Hōji envisions Japan as

40906-684: The original Rurouni Kenshin , Watsuki created Ashitaro in order to have him act more like him during early years. Born in Niigata Prefecture , he survived by stealing crops and foraging the mountains. Although claiming to have served five years in a Tokyo prison for dine and dash , it is suspected to have been for being a gofer member of Shishio Makoto's faction, which planned to take over Japan before disbanding when their leader died five years ago. He possesses Shishio's sword, Mugenjin , but due to his propensity for entering uncontrolled fits of rage, Kenshin asks him not to draw it. Ashitaro's given name

41132-449: The original version is perfect. Giving Jin-e a motive to attack Kenshin, lost some of his madness; leaving out the Shin no Ippō for being "too supernatural", diminished the excitement unique to shōnen manga ; and the change in his skin tone to make him odder, made keeping the tone of the entire story consistent difficult. In the first live-action film , Jin-e is the principal antagonist who uses

41358-492: The others." Chō ranked ninth in the "Who is Kenshin's Biggest Rival?" poll. He is portrayed by Ryosuke Miura in Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Rurouni Kenshin: The Final . Uonuma Usui ( 魚沼 宇水 ) , also known as "Blind Sword" ( 盲剣 , Mōken ) , is a member of the Juppongatana. Equal to Sōjirō in strength, he is the member most feared by Shishio. Before the revolution, he was a swordsman working for

41584-421: The pages horizontally before printing the translation, changing the reading direction to a more "Western" left to right, so as not to confuse foreign readers or traditional comics-consumers. This practice is known as "flipping". For the most part, criticism suggests that flipping goes against the original intentions of the creator (for example, if a person wears a shirt that reads "MAY" on it, and gets flipped, then

41810-431: The popularity of web manga to launch more series and also offer better distribution of their officially translated works under Kodansha Comics thanks in part to the titles being released digitally first before being published physically. The rise web manga has also been credited to smartphones and computers as more and more readers read manga on their phones rather than from a print publication. While paper manga has seen

42036-602: The possibility has been suggested that this is a remake of the Chinese version. A composite fashioned from the confluence of Tang dynasty wonder tales ( chuanqi genre, as exemplified by the Renshi zhuan ) and earlier wonder tales ( Zhiguai genre) has also been proposed. The trope of the fox as femme fatale in Japanese literature (cf. Tamamo no Mae ) also originates from China. Ōe no Masafusa (d. 1111) in Kobiki (or Kobi no ki ( 狐眉記 , A record of fox spirits ) ) introduced

42262-485: The previous Okashira, under his protection as a member of the Oniwabanshū. Saitō Hajime ( 斎藤 一 ) , based on the historical figure of the same name , was the leader of the third squad of the Shinsengumi during the Bakumatsu. He has a long-standing rivalry with Kenshin and firmly believes in "Swift Death to Evil." He goes by the name of Fujita Gorō ( 藤田 五郎 ) and works as a Meiji police officer. Makimachi Misao ( 巻町 操 )

42488-491: The prideful, or vengeance for a perceived slight. A traditional game called kitsune-ken ('fox-fist') references the kitsune's powers over human beings. The game is similar to rock paper scissors , but the three hand positions signify a fox, a hunter, and a village headman. The headman beats the hunter, whom he outranks; the hunter beats the fox, whom he shoots; the fox beats the headman, whom he bewitches. Kitsune keep their promises and strive to repay any favor. Occasionally

42714-524: The publication of such works as Santō Kyōden 's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (1798), and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo (1814) and the celebrated Hokusai Manga books (1814–1834) containing assorted drawings from the sketchbooks of the famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai . Rakuten Kitazawa (1876–1955) first used the word "manga" in the modern sense. In Japanese, "manga" refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, and animation. Among English speakers, "manga" has

42940-634: The publication of works such as Santō Kyōden 's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (1798), and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo (1814) and the Hokusai Manga books (1814–1834). Adam L. Kern has suggested that kibyoshi , picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books . These graphical narratives share with modern manga humorous, satirical, and romantic themes. Some works were mass-produced as serials using woodblock printing . However, Eastern comics are generally held separate from

43166-404: The second character popularity poll of the series. Honjō Kamatari ( 本条 鎌足 ) , also known as "Great Scythe" ( 大鎌 , Ōgama ) , is a crossdressing member of the Juppongatana. A biological man with a feminine appearance, he is homosexual and loves Shishio deeply. But knows that he will never be loved like Yumi, with whom he has a rivalry, nor will he ever become as talented as Sōjirō. Kamatari

43392-564: The second worldwide market, behind Japan. In 2013, there were 41 publishers of manga in France and, together with other Asian comics, manga represented around 40% of new comics releases in the country, surpassing Franco-Belgian comics for the first time. European publishers marketing manga translated into French include Asuka, Casterman , Glénat , Kana , and Pika Édition , among others. European publishers also translate manga into Dutch, German, Italian, and other languages. In 2007, about 70% of all comics sold in Germany were manga. Since 2010

43618-479: The secret Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū technique, so Yahiko became his opponent instead. Henya's design model was a bat with a streamlined head and "a little bit" of Cyborg 002 from Cyborg 009 . The author intended for Henya to be "monster-like" since none of the Juppongatana aside from Sōjirō were supposed to be "lookers." Watsuki reported that some people felt that Henya was " still too good-looking," so he made his body "super-emaciated." He said that Freak from Spawn

43844-637: The series progresses, Yahiko becomes skilled at swordsmanship and faces many opponents. Sagara Sanosuke ( 相楽 左之助 ) is a former member of the Sekihō Army . When the group was destroyed by the Meiji government , he became a fighter-for-hire to calm his anger by fighting. During his introduction in the series, he encounters the wanderer Himura Kenshin, who easily defeats him and can convince him to stop his mercenary work and instead start protecting people. Sanosuke becomes Kenshin's best friend and his partner in most of their fights. Takani Megumi ( 高荷 恵 ) comes from

44070-448: The sexiness by about 120%." Admitting that he has always had trouble drawing women, Watsuki stated that drawing Yumi taught him that he could have fun while drawing female characters not just by making them appear "cute," but also by making them "seductive, or even evil." He added that, since Yumi had a "sexed-up body," botching even one line could make the character appear "downright indecent." Watsuki stated that in this way, Yumi taught him

44296-451: The skin, which seems to have a life of its own. Prick it with a needle, and it glides instantly to another place. By no grasp can it be so tightly compressed by a strong hand that it will not slip from under the fingers. Possessed folk are also said to speak and write languages of which they were totally ignorant prior to possession. They eat only what foxes are believed to like – tofu , aburagé , azukimeshi , etc. – and they eat

44522-583: The solidification of its two main marketing genres, shōnen manga aimed at boys and shōjo manga aimed at girls. In 1969, a group of female manga artists (later called the Year 24 Group , also known as Magnificent 24s ) made their shōjo manga debut ("year 24" comes from the Japanese name for the year 1949, the birth-year of many of these artists). The group included Moto Hagio , Riyoko Ikeda , Yumiko Ōshima , Keiko Takemiya , and Ryoko Yamagishi . Thereafter, primarily female manga artists would draw shōjo for

44748-578: The story that the queen-consort Daji (Japanese pronunciation: Dakki ) was really a nine-tailed fox that led to the destruction of the Yin/ Shang dynasty , having seduced its last monarch, King Zhou (Japanese: Chū-ō ). Smyers (1999) notes that the idea of the fox as seductress and the connection of the fox myths to Buddhism were introduced into Japanese folklore through similar Chinese stories, but she maintains that some fox stories contain elements unique to Japan. According to Hiroshi Moriyama,

44974-549: The storyline. Shishio Makoto ( 志々雄 真実 ) is the leader of the Juppongatana and the primary antagonist of the Kyoto arc. Shishio was Kenshin's successor as hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi. When the new Meiji government discovered Shishio's insatiable lust for power, they attempted to kill him and lit his body on fire. But he survived and has gathered an army to exact his revenge and overthrow the government. Komagata Yumi ( 駒形 由美 ) , also known as "Caretaker" ( 夜伽 , Yotogi ) ,

45200-526: The stricter meaning of "Japanese comics", in parallel to the usage of " anime " in and outside Japan. The term " ani-manga " is used to describe comics produced from animation cels. Manga originated from emakimono (scrolls), Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga , dating back to the 12th century. During the Edo period (1603–1867), a book of drawings titled Toba Ehon further developed what would later be called manga. The word itself first came into common usage in 1798, with

45426-480: The strongest swordsman in order to create a pure kenjutsu stronger than any martial art or European firepower. He is accompanied by his "apprentice" Tsukayama Yutarō , whose rich family funds his campaign. His signature technique is the vacuum-wave Izuna . Kenshin realizes that despite all his talk of the killing sword, Raijūta has never actually killed anyone himself and is a fraud. Kenshin defeats him, but Raijūta picks up Yahiko and threatens to kill him. When Raijūta

45652-558: The superheroines, shōjo manga saw releases such as Pink Hanamori 's Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch , Reiko Yoshida 's Tokyo Mew Mew , and Naoko Takeuchi 's Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon , which became internationally popular in both manga and anime formats. Groups (or sentais ) of girls working together have also been popular within this genre. Like Lucia, Hanon, and Rina singing together, and Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus working together. Manga for male readers sub-divides according to

45878-467: The sword to be a normal one, Kenshin is forced to use it to stop Chō; only to learn that it is another sakabatō. After Shishio's death, Chō, who was given a full pardon in exchange for information, pays Kenshin and his friends a visit to inform them of what has happened to the members of the Juppongatana before going to work under Saitō as a spy and informant. He later appears several times in the Jinchū arc investigating or relaying information about Enishi. In

46104-480: The television series Kenka-ya Ukon . The third volume of the drama CDs adapted the Jin-e story. Watsuki stated that for Jin-e, he wanted a voice actor with a "mature and cool voice" and not one with a "high voice." The character is voiced by Unshō Ishizuka in the drama. Jin-e came in tenth place in the series' first character popularity poll, and tied with Arai Iori for eighteenth in the second. He also ranked seventh in

46330-467: The term kitsunetsuki refers to a culture-bound syndrome unique to Japanese culture . Those who suffer from the condition believe they are possessed by a fox. Symptoms include cravings for rice or sweet adzuki beans, listlessness, restlessness, and aversion to eye contact. This sense of kitsunetsuki is similar to but distinct from clinical lycanthropy . There are families that tell of protective fox spirits, and in certain regions, possession by

46556-452: The theme have the kitsune retain other foxy traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form. In some stories, kitsune retain—and have difficulty hiding—their tails when they take human form; looking for the tail, perhaps when the fox gets drunk or careless, is a common method of discerning the creature's true nature. A particularly devout individual may even be able to see through

46782-484: The top three bookstore companies in the Philippines since their introduction in 2015. During the same year, Boys' Love manga have become a popular mainstream with Thai consumers, leading to television series adapted from BL manga stories since 2016. Manga piracy is an increasing problem in Asia which effects many publishers. This has led to the Japanese government taking legal action against multiple operators of pirate websites. Manga has influenced European cartooning in

47008-419: The top web manga sites in Japan. Some have even released apps that teach how to draw professional manga and learn how to create them. Weekly Shōnen Jump released Jump Paint , an app that guides users on how to make their own manga from making storyboards to digitally inking lines. It also offers more than 120 types of pen tips and more than 1,000 screentones for artists to practice. Kodansha has also used

47234-424: The version that was on Marvel X , a small booklet included in an issue of Wizard in relation to Age of Apocalypse . Version Three's full-body tattoo was added to give him the look of a "battling tribe" from an undeveloped world, but Watsuki said it does not look that good. Saizuchi ( 才槌 ) , also known as "Destroying Yin" ( 破軍 , Hagun ) , is a member of the Juppongatana and a cunning elder who manipulates

47460-426: The way manga is created and consumed(although this is beginning to change). Despite this, one of the biggest webtoon publishers in the world, Comico , has had success in the traditional Japanese manga market. Comico was launched by NHN Japan , the Japanese subsidiary of Korean company, NHN Entertainment . As of now , there are only two webtoon publishers that publish Japanese webtoons: Comico and Naver Webtoon (under

47686-408: The word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes were believed to gain supernatural abilities. There are two common classifications of kitsune : Local traditions add further types. For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them. Kitsune have as many as nine tails. Generally,

47912-401: The word is altered to "YAM"), who may be ignorant of how awkward it is to read comics when the eyes must flow through the pages and text in opposite directions, resulting in an experience that's quite distinct from reading something that flows homogeneously. If the translation is not adapted to the flipped artwork carefully enough it is also possible for the text to go against the picture, such as

48138-627: The world. Manga no Kuni handed its title to Sashie Manga Kenkyū in August 1940. Dōjinshi , produced by small publishers outside of the mainstream commercial market, resemble in their publishing small-press independently published comic books in the United States. Comiket , the largest comic book convention in the world with around 500,000 visitors gathering over three days, is devoted to dōjinshi . While they most often contain original stories, many are parodies of or include characters from popular manga and anime series. Some dōjinshi continue with

48364-416: The ¥600 billion mark for the first time in history, beating the 1995 peak due to a fast growth of the digital manga market which rose by ¥82.7 billion from a previous year, surpassing print manga sales which have also increased. While webtoons have caught on in popularity as a new medium for comics in Asia, Japan has been slow to adopt webtoons as the traditional format and print publication still dominate

48590-599: Was "a waste for an unimportant character." So he instead used that design for Senkaku, who Watsuki said turned out to be unimportant also. In retrospect Watsuki felt that the Coneheads may have influenced him in a Sega Saturn commercial, and the Giant Soldier in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind . The author felt regret about Senkaku; what he regretted most was how he could not use Senkaku's special technique "Piercing Head-Butt" in

48816-537: Was about to be disciplined for killing people he was not supposed to, he escaped and switched sides to the Ishin Shishi and became a hitokiri for hire in Kyoto. He now appears as a man dressed in a long kimono with a long scarf and straw hat. He has a unique technique to project chi toward people, hypnotizing them with his eyes via the Shin no Ippō ( 心の一方 , "One Side of the Soul") . When Kenshin stops him from killing Tani Jūsanrō, Jin-e makes Kenshin his next target. Believing

49042-531: Was also a reference for Henya. Iwanbō ( 夷腕坊 ) , also known as "Ogre" ( 丸鬼 , Maru Oni ) , is a fat oaf and one of the Juppongatana sent to attack Aoi-Ya. He fights using small blades worn on his fingertips and his large body; his skin is too thick to cut. He is very stupid and says very little. Despite defeating four members of the Kyoto Oniwabanshū by himself, Iwanbō flees when Henya and Kamatari are defeated. After Shishio's defeat, Chō remarks that Iwanbō

49268-546: Was followed by Marumaru Chinbun in 1877, and then Garakuta Chinpo in 1879. Shōnen Sekai was the first shōnen magazine created in 1895 by Iwaya Sazanami, a famous writer of Japanese children's literature back then. Shōnen Sekai had a strong focus on the First Sino-Japanese War . In 1905, the manga-magazine publishing boom started with the Russo-Japanese War , Tokyo Pakku was created and became

49494-571: Was formerly written as 悪太郎 ("evil child"), before he changed it to 明日郎 ("tomorrow's child"). Inoue Aran ( 井上阿爛 ) is a 16-year-old boy who grew up in the Westernized portion of Japan. He was jailed in Tokyo for three months for attempting to be a stowaway on a ship to the Americas. He is revealed to be half-Japanese with blond hair and suspected to be the son of a prostitute to foreigners. While travelling with Kenshin's group to Hakodate, he forms

49720-479: Was hired to Shishio's faction and later trailed Ashitaro to retrieve Shishio's sword. Despite her fear of Kenshin after learning that he killed his Yukishiro Tomoe in during the Bakumatsu, she is surprised to find well-meaning the former hitokiri has become and decides to assist him in his journey to Hakodate and find Kaoru's father. The Hiruma Brothers ( 比留間 兄弟 , Hiruma Kyōdai ) are crooks who scheme to take ownership of Kaoru's dojo. After Kaoru's father died,

49946-468: Was inspired to after seeing Kagawa's "fanatical" performance in the film. Isurugi Raijūta ( 石動 雷十太 ) is a swordsman dissatisfied with the current state of swordsmanship who travels around Japan shutting down modern shinai dojos by force. He plans to revive the old style of swordsmanship ( satsujin-ken , "swords that bring death") with the Shinko-ryū ( 真古流 , "Old School Style") , a league composed only of

50172-406: Was just a costume, the author portrayed Version One as a very mysterious character, but the design kept changing and he became a "weird, but likable personality." Version Two was not intended to appear, but because Gein broke Version One, Watsuki had to "cut and paste" and later utilized this in the story. Version Three had to fight Kenshin and therefore was made into a "powerful suit." After all this,

50398-413: Was one he seized immediately. Still, when coming up with the specifics, the concept "just wasn't coming together." In the beginning, some of his ideas were "male-appearing on the surface, but personality-wise, will be feminine," "A very erotic and seductive, womanly appearance from the outside, but a manly man on the inside," and "a big macho gay guy." But a friend of Watsuki's suggested making Kamatari "just

50624-432: Was originally based on an American superhero comic book character, but as the story progressed, his appearance and personality "deteriorated." Because he had difficulty with "the complicated details" in the Oniwabanshū story arc, Watsuki gave Raijūta a relatively simple outfit with only one design flourish, the black feathers, which turned out to be difficult to draw. Watsuki concluded that the development of Raijūta taught him

50850-458: Was the explanation for the abnormal behavior displayed by the afflicted individuals. In the late 19th century, Shunichi Shimamura noted that physical diseases that caused fever were often considered kitsunetsuki . The superstition has lost favor, but stories of fox possession still occur, such as allegations that members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult had been possessed. In modern psychiatry ,

51076-434: Was worth it as Jin-e was the fan-favorite bad guy. He summarized Jin-e as, in a sense, the only character to defeat Kenshin even though he did not defeat Battōsai . Jin-e's outfit originates from Serizawa Kamo , the main character from a Shinsengumi manga released around 14–15 years before the release of Rurouni Kenshin volume two in Japan. Jin-e's laugh, the "uhu-hu-hu," is from the character Ukon played by Ryōtarō Sugi in

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