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Daughter of Aizu is the nineteenth chapter of the Rurouni Kenshin manga.

Synopsis[]

After a brief encounter with Kenshin, Han'nya leaves the Kamiya Dōjō carrying the unconscious Beshimi and Hyottoko. Meanwhile, Megumi, proving to have knowledge in medicine, saves Yahiko from being poisoned thanks to his instructions. Doctor Gensai reveals to Kaoru and Sanosuke who Megumi Takani is and her provenance from a missing family of doctors. Meanwhile, Megumi tells Kenshin how she ended up working for Takeda Kanryū, and how she wants to trade dangerous opium. For his part, Aoshi Shinomori orders Han'nya to find out everything he can about Kenshin during the next three days.

Summary[]

A ninja with a demon mask named Han'nya appears in front of Kenshin and tells him for the moment he only wants to take Beshimi and Hyottoko, to which Kenshin initially does not object, but after receiving a refusal from Han'nya when he asks for an antidote attacks him. Han'nya stops Kenshin's Sakabatō with his hand and strikes him, with which Sanosuke notes that Han'nya was a fighter with years of training in Kenpo. Han'nya says that his inevitable fight will continue another time and leaves carrying Beshimi and Hyottoko.

Meanwhile, Yahiko is still unconscious from Beshimi's poison dart. Kaoru suggests sucking out the poison, which Megumi says will only lead to an infection. She is checking Yahiko's symptoms and deduces that he was poisoned by some herb, so she asks Kaoru to get him a prescription from a doctor, Kenshin to boil water, and Sanosuke to buy ice.

A while later, Yahiko remains bedridden in the office of Dr. Gensai Oguni, who tells Kaoru and Sanosuke that Yahiko will recover in a few days thanks to Megumi's recipe, which was meticulously made requiring university knowledge in medicine and poisons. Dr. Gensai learns that the prescription was written by a woman and deduces that it was Megumi Takani, who was an assistant to a fellow Gensai doctor who was murdered three years ago.

Meanwhile, at the Kamiya Dōjō, Megumi proceeds to leave her place when Kenshin suddenly appears in front of her, scaring her. Kenshin thanks Megumi for saving Yahiko and asks where she is going, to which Megumi says that she is leaving Tokyo. In that, Kenshin shows that he knows that Megumi is from Aizu since he was familiar with the accent of that place after her battles during the Bakumatsu. Megumi gives up and tells Kenshin about her past.

At the office, Dr. Gensai tells Sanosuke and Kaoru that Megumi came from a famous family of doctors, who believed that all social classes deserved equal treatment, with Megumi's father, Ryusei Takani, a firm believer of said philosophy, and that after learning how advanced medicine was, he went with his family to Nagasaki, later returning to Aizu. To his misfortune, the battle of Aizu occurred some time later, in which Megumi's relatives participated as battle medics. Ryusei was killed and Megumi's brothers disappeared, leaving her alone. Five years ago, Megumi worked for a colleague of the doctor, who was murdered three years ago, after that, Dr. Gensai did not know what happened to Megumi and asks Kaoru and Sanosuke to let her see her, to which the latter they realize they haven't seen her in a while.

At the Kamiya Dōjō, Megumi tells Kenshin that she took the job of a medical assistant without knowing that he worked for Kanryū, who would provide him with the ingredients to create opium and the doctor manufactured it. Said opium required fewer ingredients but was more addictive, being capable of converting all of Tokyo into addicts in five years. When Kanryū tried to learn the refinement process from the doctor, the latter refused to give it to him, as he wanted all the profits, and was accidentally killed. Since Megumi knew the process, Kanryū forced him to make it, causing Megumi to go into a depression that brought her to the brink of suicide. She continued to work in medicine hoping to meet her family that she must be waiting for her somewhere.

Kenshin comforts her by telling her that by escaping from Kanryū and limiting opium manufacturing she has reduced the number of her deaths, and that it is time for her to stop suffering from her, inviting her to stay at her Dōjō. Kaoru who appeared together with Sanosuke agrees to host Megumi, since she knows her loneliness, while Sanosuke watches the scene in silence.

Aoshi Shinomori is in his office talking with Han'nya, who informs him that Beshimi and Hyottoko will not be able to fight for a few days and reveals that during his encounter with Kenshin, the latter took advantage of his attack to hit him in the kidneys with the handle of his sword, leaving him unable to fight for three days. Aoshi orders Han'nya to find out everything about Kenshin for the next three days, believing that he might be someone interesting.

Characters in order of Appearance[]

Chapter Notes[]

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

Differences with the 1996 anime[]

  • In the manga Kenshin has a little scuffle with Han'nya (and hits him in the kidney) before Han'nya makes his escape. This is in contrast with the anime where Han'nya simply commends Kenshin's skills, before escaping immediately.
  • In the manga Kenshin and Sanosuke found that that Megumi has opium packets with her while they were still at the gambling place. In the anime Sanosuke discovers it while Yahiko is brought inside the Kamiya Dōjō.
  • In the manga there are more details about the background of Megumi and Takeda Kanryū (mentioning a previous doctor that was killed by Kanryū). This is simplified in the anime where it's implied that Megumi was working with Takeda Kanryū from the beginning.
  • In the manga Oguni Gensai appears for the first time to treat Yahiko, and he explains some of Megumi's backstory. In the anime it is Kenshin who explains the beginning of Megumi's backstory.
  • In the manga while Kenshin and Megumi are talking aoutside the Dōjō there is a panel that shows wounds from cuttings in Megumi's wrist (pointing at a previous suicide attempt). This is omitted in the anime.

Differences with Rurouni Kenshin: Origins[]

  • In the manga, Beshimi poisons Yahiko, which leads Megumi to treat her using her medicine knowledge. This is in contrast with the live action film, where Gein poisons a nearby well which leads to lots of people being poisoned, and that leads Megumi to treat them using her medicine knowledge.

Differences with Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration[]

To be added

Differences with the 2023 anime[]

  • In the manga while Kenshin and Megumi are talking aoutside the Dōjō there is a panel that shows wounds from cuttings in Megumi's wrist (pointing at a previous suicide attempt). This is omitted in the anime.

Trivia[]

  • It is revealed that Megumi is from Aizu, a region located in today's Fukushima prefecture in the north east of the Tōhoku region of Honshu.

Gallery[]

To be added

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