Rurouni Kenshin 9: Toward a New Era VIZBIG Edition Final Volume! [Anglais] [Broché]

*intro/synopsis*
Rurouni Kenshin, a samurai or chanbara チャンバラ (Sword fighting) manga written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, was published every week from 1994-1999 in the pages of manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump (home of mega hits Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach). Set during the Meiji era of Japan; The end of the samurai/Shogunate rule, and the beginning of the industrial revolution/meiji empire. While the story has some pretense of using historical events and characters, this series is almost entirely fictitious, (save for a few characters and locations). Following the legendary exploits of (fictional) assassin Himura Kenshin, the story starts 10 years after the Bakumatsu war, Kenshin has given up the life of a murderer to wander Japan helping those in need. The series was extremely popular in japan, spawning a tv series,2 animated films, 2 OVA's, a live action film, some light novels, and much more. Fans of One Piece will find Kenshin notable, as series author Eiichiro Oda cut his teeth as an assistant under Watsuki, being mentored while helping work on Kenshin.

*Story/Content*
Volume 9 of the Vizbig editions draws the series to its dramatic conclusion, collecting four volumes instead of three. From a value standpoint you can't beat that! Three of the four story arcs in this volume were pretty entertaining. We get a story focusing on Yahiko, one on Sano, and the last 2 wrapping up everything for this final grand story arc. Sano's story in particular was fun since we don't get a whole lot of backstory on him other than in the first book. The third arc in this volume involves another group of enemies clearly created to be swiftly eradicated by the usual guilty parties. Fortunately the final chapter does a good job wrapping everything up, providing a satisfying conclusion to the Jinchu story arc. After the story concludes there are 2 side story one-shots, one featuring an older more mature Yahiko, and the other showing all the main characters future's (which is published for the first time in America {full color no less!!!}). Overall I found the conclusion to be acceptable, but not amazing. The twist from the previous volume felt like a copout, and never sat right with me. After reading the whole series (28 regular manga books, or 9 Vizbigs), I would give it 4 stars for the excellent art, and characterization, taking off a star for the aforementioned twist, and the all too frequent uninspired trivial badguy.

*Production*
This Vizbig edition of the series combines three (vol. 9 combines four) traditional tankōbon volumes into one oversized softcover. Measuring roughly an inch taller/wider than a standard US sized tankōbon volume. Something I immediately noticed was the paper is of vastly superior quality to standard manga newsprint. The white space on the pages stand out more, and the extra size makes appreciating the art easier. This edition reproduces some of the color pages, which were not available in the initial 28 volume run. I'm not certain but it would appear that not all the color pages were reproduced. The first few 3in1 books includes up to three 18 page color chapters per volume. Unfortunately, by the fourth volume all we get is one or two pages per book. Each Vizbig. edition includes minimal extras in the form of brief historical facts about the tumultuous civil unrest of the Meiji era, color cover galleries, and a glossary of Japanese terms used. I can't say how heavily this release has been edited, as this is my first time reading through the series. It didn't seem like there were any egregious omissions or edits though. In fact, I quite liked the translation, which came off as fairly literal, going so far as to include Japanese honorifics in dialogue (san, chan, kun), and using Japanese words when appropriate.

*overall*
The art is amazing, with coherent and exciting action panels, and terrific character design. Even if most of the protagonists always use the same couple moves, its usually presented in an original or interesting way. Most of the main characters are immensely enjoyable, thanks to some solid characterization, personal/physical growth and resonant original designs. One of the most appealing parts of the story for me were the villainous/morally grey characters. Intelligent, powerful, and deadly. The antagonists of the series are devious and strong enough to make kenshin not seem unstoppable (even though he comes close). Typical to shonen manga, the story features themes of trust, friendship, strength, and redemption. While not the most complex story, its interesting enough to push things forward.

While I did enjoy the series thoroughly, I had some fairly serious issues with it as well. A few of my biggest gripes, could be levied at the majority of shonen mangas. Pretty much all of the female characters are any combination of weak, subservient, stupid, obnoxious, manipulative or ditzy. This likely stems from the way gender is approached in Japan, and the fact that shonen manga are targeted at a younger male demographic (despite still having many older, and/or female fans). Unfortunately several manga authors generally don't write strong, or un-sexualized female characters, which gets old. The series also follows the traditional battle manga formula a little too closely. The combat revolves around the same 4 or 5 moves, while the enemies stand around and talk for 3 panels about what it was that their move just did. Speaking of adversaries, the majority of Kenshin's opposition are wholly disposable, serving as little more than cannon fodder; Furthermore, several of the trash enemies are ripped straight from the pages of marvel comics. We get feudal japanese takes on Toad, The Blob, Apocalypse, and even Venom at one point. Fortunately as previously mentioned, the enemies that are integral to the story are unique, with intriguing ties to Kenshin's brutal past.

Story: 4 stars * * * *
Art: 5 stars * * * * *
Production: 4 stars * * * *
Value: 5 * * * * *

Rurouni Kenshin is one of my favorite mangas ever. Action and drama with a little bit of romance. The manga surpasses the anime. As a fan of both anime and fans, I would highly recommend this manga series. The quality of story and artistry surpasses most others I have come across. While it’s a series that’s been finished for over a decade, it’s amazing by any standards.