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Henya Kariwa was a member of the Juppongatana, an organization under Shishio Makoto's orders.

Appearance

Henya is a pale-skinned man of average height. He has tall spiky brown hair. His most noticeable feature is his emaciated appearance, which he achieved to ensure that he is the lightest weight possible so as to allow him to glide easily. He is usually hidden by his gliding "wings" which, when folded, look similar to a cloak. They are held in place by two crossed metal rings which circle his front and back vertically. His mouth is covered by a purple cloth and he wears ragged black pants and black shoes. His arms are wrapped in cloth and a long knife is protruding from under the cloth on his left arm, going over his hand. Two sets of explosives are attached to his back while hanging freely from the bottom; these are used to launch him into the air so that he can glide.

Personality

Henya has a cold personality, and is indifferent when he kills his own comrades.  He commonly references the game of chess, and claims that pawns should be sacrificed to achieve the greater goal.  He is also extremely arrogant, and when he was sent to kill Kenshin's allies at the Aoi-ya, he wanted to leave after claiming his opponents (Kaoru, Misao, and Yahiko) were unworthy and a waste of time and effort.

Relationships

Juppongatana - comrades

Shishio Makoto - hiree

History

Henya's appearances in the story don't have a very significant impact. He makes his debut when he accompanies Soujirou back to Shishio's compound and his major role is when he's sent to attack the Aoiya, along with Kamatari and Iwambo. His opponent ends up being Yahiko, who defeats Henya, despite his advantage. After the Juppongatana's disbandment, Henya is offered an 'under-the-table' deal, where he is offered amnesty in exchange for his services as an aerial scout.

Abilities

Henya in flight

Henya while flying.

Henya's technique is called Hiku Happa. Because he has such a light body, Henya is able to use dynamite to propel himself high in the air. Also, the dynamite might injure his enemies and cloud their vision, a moment Henya uses to strike them with the blade attached to his left arm.

Creation and conception

Henya is based in a real swordsman called Matsubayashi Henyasai. In design terms, he has a bat-like look. Because, originally, there was supposed to be no lookers in the Juppongatana (except for Soujirou), Henya was created to be monster-like.

Henya was supposed to debut as one of the Oniwaban back in the Megumi arc. However, that ended up being a dead end, and so he was enlisted as one of the Juppongatana. Also, Kenshin was supposed to engage him in mid-air battle, but because Kenshin had already mastered the final move, Henya would stand no chance against him. Therefore, the next logical person would be Yahiko, who follows in Kenshin's footsteps. He was also inspired by the character Freak from the Spawn comics.

In Live Action film

Hara Yuya is playing Henya in the Rurouni Kenshin live-action film sequel.

Appearances

We can find Henya:

  • Episodes: 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 52 and 61
  • Volumes: 11, 12, 14, 15 and 17
  • Openings: 2 (ep. 50 - 66)
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