Kenshin Manga Discussion

[KristopherZ]

So what are your guys thoughts on the manga so far? Do you like Shounen Jumps translation for it?

Those are the underlying questions of this thread. Please do not talk about manga scans, or spoil later parts of the series for people that have not read it. This talk is only of the domestically released manga's by Shonen Jump.

[Tatsuki]

Well... i cannot talk about the translations cuz i'm brazilian, but about my thoughts... Just take a look and note how Nobuhiro's draws are MUCH better in the latest chapters
when the series ended here in brasil, i completed some books i didn had and started re-reading... just got impressed

[7thMethuselah]

Well I allready read all 28 Kenshin manga's (in french) and here is my opinion on them. The art in kenshin is amazing, the best action scenes ever, you gotta love Kenshin for that alone.
Storywise : Kenshin starts out slowly, mainly introducing characters and deepening their backgrounds. The story really gets going once they hit the Kyoto Arc (from manga 7 to 17-18). At that time you'll be droling for more more and even more manga. I read 3-4 manga's in a row in that part of the story.
Another cool thing about Kenshin is that lmany fights are completely different. Kenshin and his enemies use different techniques, different styles, not to mention some side characters are so cool!

Anyway for those that have been thinking of trying it out. Get out and buy it, you won't be dissapointed. The Kenshin manga's are class 1 material !

[Aurora]

So far I have enjoyed the Kenshin manga. I have nothing to compare the translation to, since I haven't seen the scans and have only seen the Media Blasters dvds. I do have to admit that although this is one of only 5 or so manga titles I am currently following it is not one that I have to read as soon as I get it home. Actually, I still haven't finished the 4th volume and the 5th was just released. I'm not sure why, it just hasn't grabbed me yet the way the anime did. I'm not giving up on it though

You posed the question, KristopherZ, what are your thoughts?

[KristopherZ]

Kenshin is without a doubt one of my favorite series of all time, I would put it just under my number 1 series (Kare Kano). As for why a guy has a shojo comic as his number 1 favorite series of all time we can discuss in another thread.

I absolutely love Kenshin. As I saw in the thread, our friends in europe and other nations seems to have the better luck and has all 28 volumes released. I can say that the series is amazing because it has awesome character designs, brilliant script writing, amazingly choreographed fights and duels, and of course absolutely gorgous backgrounds. Even though only 5 volumes have been released in the USA it is safe to say already that it is easily one of the best series of all time. My reason? Most of us do know of the existence of the Kyoto Arc and the Revenge Arc. Let's say hypothetically that the person doesn't know that those two arcs exists, but like the 5 released volumes so far. We can guess that volume 6 is not so horrible in quality as to completely turn off the reader to the entire series.

Based on that assumption we can tell that if they can endure volume 6 that they will be addicted to the rest of the series, why? because the Kyoto Arc is from volume 7-17, and the Revenge Saga is from volume 18-28. Just based off that assumption Kenshin will become the highest selling manga series in history. Each volume has sold from 30,000 - 60,000 copies, if the entire series sells only 30,000 copies for its 28 volume run, it will sell 840,000 copies in the USA. That is if all things are constant. There are a couple of things that can change sales numbers as the series continues it's run in the USA.

The first variable that can change sales numbers are people who bought the first couple of volumes but decide at some point cannot do so because of money or because they lost interest. Another variable is a huge one, that is word of mouth, since the series is good, one friend tells a couple of friends and a couple of friends tell more friends about it, increasing the sales in the USA. So the two variables that will determine future sales in the USA really cancel each other out, we can assume that the declining sales of people who have no money/ lose interest will be countered by the increasing sales because of word of mouth. That in turn means that the sales will remain relatively constant, or swing one way or another depending on which happens more loss of interest or word of mouth.

While my post went blah blah blah with the more technical aspects of the the manga industry. We can safely assume that Kenshin will be the highest selling magna of all time and if Viz play's their cards right it can rope in ever more fans into the manga hobby. I already have a couple of friends who are not real big fans of anime and magna and but are now addicted to kenshin and buy it regularly.

[pyu]

Having read all 28 volumes translated in Chinese, I have to say R.K, as manga, is a tour de force. A shame those animators decided to come up with their piss poor version to replace the Revenge arc.

To this day, I wonder what would had happened if they actually animated those still cell scenes in volumes 18 - 28 (well, they did - in a way - by producing the OVAs) Especially, the introduction of Tomoe and Enishi, Kaoru's supposed death and Kenshin's depression.

For me, the Revenge arc really defined and brought the Kenshin-gumi to a new level. The focus was not the fights, but the development the characters experienced.

[7thMethuselah]

Originally Posted by Aurora

So far I have enjoyed the Kenshin manga. I have nothing to compare the translation to, since I haven't seen the scans and have only seen the Media Blasters dvds. I do have to admit that although this is one of only 5 or so manga titles I am currently following it is not one that I have to read as soon as I get it home. Actually, I still haven't finished the 4th volume and the 5th was just released. I'm not sure why, it just hasn't grabbed me yet the way the anime did. I'm not giving up on it though

You posed the question, KristopherZ, what are your thoughts?

You shouldn't give up on it. The first manga's are a bit of introduction, and only one main villain is introduced (Aoshi). In manga 7 the story really gets going, that's when the Kyoto Arc starts. From that moment on I just couldn't stop reading, I found myself back at the manga store every couple of days to get the next volume. Manga's 7 - 17 are the best, the third arc is good as well but never reaches the heights the kyoto Arc had ...

[Aurora]

Originally Posted by 7thMethuselah

You shouldn't give up on it. The first manga's are a bit of introduction, and only one main villain is introduced (Aoshi). In manga 7 the story really gets going, that's when the Kyoto Arc starts.

Thanks for the info. I plan to stick with it, knowing that it will pick up helps.

[KristopherZ]

Originally Posted by Aurora

Thanks for the info. I plan to stick with it, knowing that it will pick up helps.

I will tell you though, volume 6 may be more filler, but it is the end of the "Tokyo Arc" which is basically just setting the stage for the 2 arcs that follow it. He is right, once you read #7, you will not look back until you have finished the 28 volume masterpiece.

[Ambience Blue]

I've just started the 7th book, and I can't see how it can get any better tan it already is... Well... I was spellbound by it from the start, so I guess there's nothing I can really say about that. Personally, I love the manga since every one of the characters is quite likeable. IMO, it's better than the anime, but that's since I saw a couple episodes in the middle of the story on English dub *goes into corner and gags... English... dubs...*

Anyhow, I love the artwork-- it's fantastic, and the humor has me cracking up all the time. Oro?
My personal favorite character is definitely Megumi. The foxy lady can't keep me from smiling Anyhow, I'll keep up on the story and see how it goes. I loved the storyline so far, but then again, I'm a big fan of episodic story arcs, not drawn-out ones, so we'll see where this leads.

[KristopherZ]

Originally Posted by Ambience Blue

I've just started the 7th book, and I can't see how it can get any better tan it already is... Well... I was spellbound by it from the start, so I guess there's nothing I can really say about that. Personally, I love the manga since every one of the characters is quite likeable. IMO, it's better than the anime, but that's since I saw a couple episodes in the middle of the story on English dub *goes into corner and gags... English... dubs...*

Anyhow, I love the artwork-- it's fantastic, and the humor has me cracking up all the time. Oro?
My personal favorite character is definitely Megumi. The foxy lady can't keep me from smiling Anyhow, I'll keep up on the story and see how it goes. I loved the storyline so far, but then again, I'm a big fan of episodic story arcs, not drawn-out ones, so we'll see where this leads.

You import, right? Because as far as I can see Shonen Jump just released number 5 in the USA.

For favorite character, I think it would probably be Tomoe. For my favorite bad guy, it is probably a tie between Seta Sojiro and Enishi.

[Ambience Blue]

Well... I get mine from a friend, but I also read the direct English translations in book form. (I've read the Shounen Jump versions, but I'm not a big fan of the other mangas in it, other than Bleach (if it isn't, i dont remember).

Tomoe's great, but isn't she from the Samurai X (reminisance) OVA's? I haven't run into her in the manga yet. As of yet, I'm definitely a Megumi fanboy. But then again, every one of the characters is highly likeable-- that's a merit of Kenshin. For some reason, I like Sano (Sanosuke Sagara) when he carrite the zambata. There's something about those huge archaic weapons that's just so badass!

[TangentZ]

Originally Posted by Ambience Blue

Tomoe's great, but isn't she from the Samurai X (reminisance) OVA's? I haven't run into her in the manga yet.

That OVA is the animated version of the part of the manga about
Kenshin's past. It comes after the Kyoto arc.

[Inuzuka]

Originally Posted by KristopherZ

So what are your guys thoughts on the manga so far? Do you like Shounen Jumps translation for it?

Those are the underlying questions of this thread. Please do not talk about manga scans, or spoil later parts of the series for people that have not read it. This talk is only of the domestically released manga's by Shonen Jump.

ALL HAIL KristopherZ!!!
Finaly a thread on RK's Manga!WOO!
Now back on topic,one of the things which make Rk one of the classics of Manga for all time,is the way the creator(Nobuhiro Watsuki-san)makes it all work and make the overall story flow smoothy,not too fast nor to slow,and That by the way needs quite the bit of skill.I personally like the Shishio Arc best,over the other major arc of the series,the Enishi arc.Although he found his answer in the Enishi arc,i found the 10 bad guys which appeared in the Shishio arc cooler then Enishi's party of six.(As i have said in some other thread before)More then that,the story is also alot simpler and straight forward,never the less the Enishi arc was fantastic.(Is it just me,or does Tomoe remind you of Rei Ayanami from [Neon Genesis Evangelion] too?)
Another thing i noticed between the two arcs is that Enishi's party uses a more varied array of skills and martial arts,wheras the 10 in the Shishio arc are more 'traditional'(use of the phrase 'traditional' due to lack of vocabulary)fighting methods,(Or rather their fighting methods involve more conventional weapons)
As the story goes on and the creators art style gets smoother and more experienced,it seems that Nobuhiro-san's art style has gwon a tad similar to the creator of [One Piece](More outrageous and 'daring').

On a side note,my fav bad guy definately goes to Shishio and fav good guy goes to Kenshin

[7thMethuselah]

the coolest bad guy in Kenshin manga is definitelly the leader of the Oniwabanshu : Aoshi Shinomori

He's a driven guy with clear goal in his life. he uses all means available to reach his goal, no matter the cost. Well, I don't wanna spoil too much but he is one of those guys that keeps lurking throughout the story and gets some major character development as well.

[Inuzuka]

By the way,i just found a flaw in Shishio's philosophy about only the strongest will survive,technically,there will always be weak people around,it's like getting rid of that 'weak' 10%,after you get rid of that 10% there will still be another 10% to take it's place.

[pyu]

I remember there was a poll on who the manga readers believed were the top 5 Kenshin opponents. If I remembered correctly, Shishio never even made it into the top 5.

And the most popular opponent was, of course, the 'Heaven Sword', Seta Soujiro.

The Revenge arc was good simply because of the character development in it - especially for Yahiko. Kenshin got to grips with his past and his own role and even Enishi finally found some form of redemption at the end.

[Akageno]

well
I had read this on my(russian), japan and english languages.
originali wersion alresdy best(tee hee).
28 vol on english has some mistakes in translation. But it's not so fundamental.
Our translator lives in Tokio, made exceedingly texts, but her rates not so quickly as we wont.
resume - there ara no perfect traslated in the world.

[Inuzuka]

Originally Posted by pyu

I remember there was a poll on who the manga readers believed were the top 5 Kenshin opponents. If I remembered correctly, Shishio never even made it into the top 5.

And the most popular opponent was, of course, the 'Heaven Sword', Seta Soujiro.

The Revenge arc was good simply because of the character development in it - especially for Yahiko. Kenshin got to grips with his past and his own role and even Enishi finally found some form of redemption at the end.

The results of the poll are as follows,(This poll was made in Shonen Jump,btw)
1.Soujiro
2.Seito Hajime
3.Enishi(Main villain of the Revenge Arc
4.Aoishi
5.Sanosuke
6.Shishio(Here he is!)

From here on down,i shal use detailed description to make up for my incompetence of forgetting the remaining top 5 villains name's

7.(*I forgot his name,but he's the guy who can 'freeze' people with his gaze)
8.(*I don't know his name either, ,but he's a puppeteer who uses dead bodies as his canvas to make puppets,from the Revenge Arc.He has a sheet of cloth hiding his face,with a skull symbol on it,the skull symbol has a dot on it's forehead area.

Spoiler:

He got killed by Aoishi

*)
9.(*One of Shishio's elite strike force,the first to be defeated by Kenshin,has 'broom-like hair'.

Spoiler:

in the end,along with the remaining of Shishio's elite strike force(with the exception of Soujiro,the monk,Shishio's right hand man,and the fat-rubbery guy

Spoiler:

In the Revenge Arc,we later find out that the 'fat rubbery guy' is actually is puppet,literally.

,he got 'employed' by the japanese government.
10.(*Another character from the Revenge Arc.His arm was cut off by Battousai and he wants revenge.*)

[7thMethuselah]

Hmm Inizuka you may wanna add a few spoiler tags since the description of these villains kinda gives away their abilities and what'll end up doing as well, better not spoil a great manga ...