One of the Anime series I watched during my teenager years was Rurouni Kenshin, while I didn't see too much of it nor remember all of it, but I had fond memories of it. So let's get down shall we? While I used to think it was really based on real events, events in the show proved otherwise that it wasn't a real account. Kenshin is far too fictional to be real but maybe, he was based on a real person. So far, I want to rewatch everything to recapture the eras I've missed. Some enemies become friends, others don't.
The first arc introduces us to Megumi who is part of the opium trade. Megumi is a former prostitute and knows how to make opium. She was forced to make opium but later became a doctor. The Megumi arc features Takeda Kanryu a powerful industrialist villain, Jin-e Udo who is a bloodthirsty assassin and the Hiruma Brothers. After the downfall of Takeda, we are introduced to Aoshi Shinamori and Misao. Aoshi is another of Kenshin's greatest foes who ironically became one of his allies in later arcs. Think of Goku vs. Vegeta.
The second arc introduces us to Kyoto Arc. In this arc, the new villain is the badass Shishio who looks like a mummy. Shishio is a man driven by rage and desire for power, his desire to create a world only for the strong, he believes in the Darwinian view of survival of the fittest. He was a megalomaniac at best, who was shot and set on fire. I thought it was stupid he survived, but he did. If I were to kill him, I'd rather behead him and case closed. I just love how Shishio's goons were diverse, how he had a loyal manservant in Hoji and his whore Yumi. I just thought that his death was well-fitted for one awesome villain. After he was defeated, he was burned together with his hideout. I thought it was crazy how he eventually wanted to take over Hell... hmmm if he were in Shinkenger, how can he defeat Chimatsuri Doukoku?
For the Anime, I was glad that not all the villains were purely evil. The Shimabara Arc, having Shogo Amakusa whose religious beliefs were persecuted. It did try to connect to real life events including Paul Miki and his friends' execution. Shogo Amakusa was really Shogo Muto and he had a sister named Sayo Muto. I thought that here, Shogo was more anti-hero than a real villain. He simply wanted to set a land of equality but he did it the wrong way. I just love how the arc ended up with Kukai, his treacherous henchman die of karma instead. For me, the whole Shogo story was where he was less of a villain and more of an anti-hero. In the end, he and his followres were instead exiled to Holland, a land where they could enjoy their freedom.
The Feng Shui arc was really boring for me. I couldn't really remember too much.
Overall, I was thinking after the popularity of this series, a live movie and another would not be surprising.
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