Rurouni Kenshin Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Kasshin-ryū Reborn is the fourth chapter of the Rurouni Kenshin manga.

Synopsis[]

Soon after Yahiko starts his training at the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, a couple of Kaoru's former students come to ask for help. They are being harrashed by a group of bandits, known as the Hishimanji Gurentai. But things are not as they appear, since the gang claims the former students were the ones that caused a turmoil. Who are the gang clan, and what are their real motives? is Kaoru going to be able to protect everyone from any firepower the gang possess?

Summary[]

A week after he was freed from the Yakuza, Yahiko's wounds have healed and he is doing kenjutsu training at the Kamiya Dōjō.

On the second day of Yahiko's training, while Kenshin is absent from the Dōjō to buy food, and as Kaoru is about to start teaching Yahiko, former students of Kaoru burst into the Dōjō asking for help. They are soon followed by a gang of outlaws, the Hishimanji Gurentai, who start attacking the Dōjō with a Wooden cannon.

As Kaoru soon learns, those former students of hers got drunk and attacked the Hishimanji with their swords. As their former teacher, Kaoru feels responsible for their dishonor and steps outside the Dōjō to meet the gang of outlaws, stating that she will take all the blame. This prompts Yahiko to follow her and attack the Hishimanji's leader. The latter then states that he will kill Yahiko, but before he can attempt anything, Kenshin comes back from shopping, telling the outlaws to stop their actions.

The Hishimanji's leader, despite one of his men advising him otherwise, orders the firing of the cannon at Kenshin, who cuts its ball of clay in half with the edged part of his katana, to the shock of those present. The outlaws then go away, leaving the Dōjō alone.

Kaoru's former students also go away, in shame, being told by Kenshin to forget they were ever students at the Kamiya Dōjō and to never again pick up a sword. The rurouni then consoles Kaoru, telling her that while she can teach people, she won't reach all of them. Yahiko then tells Kaoru to stop crying, that it isn't like her, and, determined to become as strong as Kenshin, tells her that he'll settle for her as a kenjutsu instructor.

Characters in Order of Appearance[]

Chapter Notes[]

This chapter has several differences with other portrayals of the events of the story in different itterations of the franchise:

Differences with the 1996 anime[]

  • This Act did not have a proper adaptation in the 1996 anime, but some of its elements were used in other episodes:
    • In Episode 1 three students appeared at the Kamiya Dōjō to resign, on the wake of the discredit that the Dōjō was having by the False Battōsai. Two of those students had a strong resemblance to Hira and Satō.
    • In Episode 14 the Hishimanji Gurentai does appear:
      • But while in the manga, the Hishimanji Gurentai is a gang that go after Hira and Satō, in Episode 14 they are companions to Raikō, a fake healer who wanted to scam people for money.
      • While in the manga they attack Kenshin with a wooden cannon on the Kamiya Dōjō, in the anime they are on a shrine that Raikō was using. Kenshin still cuts the cannonball in half as in the manga.
      • The Hishimanji Gurentai leader resembles the manga one, but the plot of that episode centers on Raiko.
      • In the manga, Kenshin scares Hishimanji Gurentai away, while in the anime they fight, and the Hishimanji is defeated.

Differences with Rurouni Kenshin: Origins[]

  • This act was not adapted as part of the live action movie.

Differences with Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration[]

To be added

Differences with the 2023 anime[]

  • In the manga the Hishimanji Gurentai uniform includes a manji symbol that is omitted in the anime (probably due to the manji's similarity to the swastika).

Trivia[]

  • The first three pages were originally released in color.
  • The concept of a wooden cannon is real. They were used on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries for real combats. In Japan, wooden cannons were used in the Boshin War. A wooden cannon may have some metal pieces, but it did use gun powder to throw mud balls, which were powerful enough to make damage to enemies.

Gallery[]

To be added

Advertisement