History Fridge / RurouniKenshin

* The reason Kenshin became the pacifist rurouni he is now is because of his tragic past as a manslayer for Ishin Shishi. But what would've happened if Kenshin did not join Ishin Shishi and remained with Hiko until he fully mastered Hiten Mitsurugi skills? Obviously Kenshin would've done more than just [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpassing Hiko]], Kenshin would've inevitably killed Hiko with his newfound ''[[FinishingMove Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki]]'', as it is said that [[YouCannotFightFate the pupils of Hiten Mitsurugi school are destined to slay their respective teachers to master the ultimate attack]]. Take note that the only reason Hiko (and practically every Kenshin's opponents) survived Kenshin's ultimate attack in canon is because of Kenshin's sakabatou, which Kenshin would've never had if he did not join Ishin Shishi. Without the bitter experience of a manslayer and the wisdom of a war veteran, [[DespairEventHorizon Kenshin will definitely break]] after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone killing]] [[OutDamnedSpot his teacher]].

* The reason Kenshin became the pacifist rurouni he is now is because of his tragic past as a manslayer for Ishin Shishi. But what would've happened if Kenshin did not join Ishin Shishi and remained with Hiko until he fully mastered Hiten Mitsurugi skills? Obviously Kenshin would've done more than just [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpassing Hiko]], Kenshin would've inevitably killed Hiko with his newfound ''[[FinishingMove Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki]]'', as it is said that [[YouCannotFightFate the pupils of Hiten Mitsurugi school are destined to slay their respective teachers to master the ultimate attack]]. Take note that the only reason Hiko (and practically every Kenshin's opponents) survived Kenshin's ultimate attack in canon is because of Kenshin's sakabatou, which Kenshin would've never had if he did not join Ishin Shishi. Without the bitter experience of a manslayer and the wisdom of a war veteran, [[DespairEventHorizon Kenshin will definitely break]] after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone killing]] [[OutDamnedSpot his teacher]].

* I've seen a couple of people wonder how Anji is able to use Futae no Kiwami with the other parts of his body when the way he demonstrates it to Sano (and the way Sano specifically uses it) is by initializing the blow with the finger joints followed by the knuckles. If you look closely at the way it's practiced, it is very similar to the One-Inch Punch, a move popularized by Creator/BruceLee that is practiced by holding out your outstretched fingers towards your opponent and is often depicted as blowing people across the room. However, the keyword here is ''practiced'', as the fingers are only meant to show that the force being delivered in such a short distance. Really, it is minute muscle extensions and contractions when successfully performing it that makes it powerful (particularly the shoulder, hip, and lower body muscles) and much of those same contractions can be used to great effect in other strikes. The Futae no Kiwami very likely runs on the same principle, using proper form and muscle control to be able to deliver a devastating strike in a number in different ways.

* I've seen a couple of people wonder how Anji is able to use Futae no Kiwami with the other parts of his body when the way he demonstrates it to Sano (and the way Sano specifically uses it) is by initializing the blow with the finger joints followed by the knuckles. If you look closely at the way it's practiced, it is very similar to the One-Inch Punch, a move popularized by Creator/BruceLee that is practiced by holding out your outstretched fingers towards your opponent and is often depicted as blowing people across the room. However, the keyword here is ''practiced'', as the fingers are only meant to show that the force being delivered in such a short distance. Really, it is minute muscle contractions when successfully performing it that makes it powerful (particularly the shoulder, hip, and lower body muscles) and much of those same contractions can be used to great effect in other strikes.

* After Kenshin defeats [[spoiler:Shishio, thanks to Shishio's spontaneous combustion]], it's said that "the age chose Kenshin." This would really only be natural: it's said many dozens of times that Kenshin fought for the new age (that is, the Meiji Era) so if "the age" is a metaphorically living, breathing entity with the power to choose the winner of a swordfight, of course it's going to choose the one that fought to bring about its existence instead of the one trying to replace it.
* How was Saitou able to contact his old friend, Sugimura Yoshie [[spoiler: aka Nagakura Shinpachi]] at such short notice in the first place during the Hokkaido arc? This doubles into HistoricalInJoke territory, as it turns out. In real life, around the time the Hokkaido arc takes place (approximately 1883), the historical Sugimura just moved with his family to Otaru, Hokkaido in the previous year. Since it was implied in their dialogue that they still keep in touch with each other, it makes a lot of sense for Saitou to give heads up to Sugimura just in case, along with the fact that Otaru is rather close to Sapporo (just a few hours of train ride during the period. In modern term it's 25-minute drive).

* The reason Kenshin became the pacifist rurouni he is now is because of his tragic past as a manslayer for Ishin Shishi. But what would've happened if Kenshin did not join Ishin Shishi and remained with Hiko until he fully mastered Hiten Mitsurugi skills? Obviously Kenshin would've done more than just [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpassing Hiko]], Kenshin would've inevitably killed Hiko with his newfound ''[[FinishingMove Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki]]'', as it is said that [[YouCannotFightFate the pupils of Hiten Mitsurugi school are destined to slay their respective teachers to master the ultimate attack]]. Take note that the only reason Hiko survived Kenshin's ultimate attack in their final training session is because of Kenshin's sakabatou, which Kenshin would've never had if he did not join Ishin Shishi. Without the bitter experience of a manslayer and the wisdom of a war veteran, [[DespairEventHorizon Kenshin will definitely break]] after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone killing]] [[OutDamnedSpot his teacher]].

* When Eiji Mishima shows off a map of the region that shows that Shingetsu was wiped off the map, the location of the village is merely given an X over it. To modern day viewers, this would seem kind of silly, but to think about it would give every reason why to not go to somewhere with an X on it. Not only would such a place not have treasure, throughout the developing world at this time, and even for developed places like the United States of America, things like electricity and telecommunications were not in place yet for civil infrastructure, and even out in the country, plenty of areas were still stuck in post Dark Ages levels of rustic development. Not only would this mean that there would be no such things like cellphones, but neither ways to communicate to the police, and mankind in these days prior would generally have a warrior caste to deal with such things like overzealous killers and highwaymen if anyone wanted to travel, which in the Meiji Era, was pretty much disbanded immediately. Having an abandoned village out in the country would mean that it would be filled with animals like bears and wolves, or as a good hiding place for criminals and bandits. The fact that Senkaku and his men essentially rule over Shingetsu and will be all to willing to enforce a death penalty on outsiders would definitely have the village fall into the latter.

* Has anyone ever thought much about the Kaoru doll and that it was made in her EXACT LIKELINESS, right down to the intimate details? Looks like [[DirtyOldMan Gein's]] [[PeepingTom been up to something...]]

** Enishi undressed Kaoru! Or maybe Gein or one of his henchmen did. Still, it’s pretty traumatic addition to the whole kidnapping spectacle.

* While the [[Film/RurouniKenshin live-action film]] is chock full of merits, one thing might get the attention of those who closely watched the anime: Saitou, instead of working for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okubo_Toshimichi Okubo Toshimichi]] (a powerful yet statesman-like Meiji government leader), he was made one of the direct subordinates to Army Chief [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamagata_Aritomo Yamagata Aritomo]] (a known military commander and war-hawk in the Meiji and Taisho period). While both were portrayed as benevolent bosses in the anime, General Yamagata was known in real life to harbor anti-democratic and expansionary sentiments. Considering that Yamagata's policies would pave the way for [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Showa-era Japan's military expansion in Asia]], it was probably quite appropriate that Saitou, the series' KnightTemplar by virtue of his {{Shinsengumi}} track record, would side with him.

* While the [[Film/RurouniKenshin live-action film]] is chock full of merits, one thing might get the attention of those who closely watched the anime: Saitou, instead of working for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okubo_Toshimichi Okubo Toshimichi]] (a powerful yet statesman-like Meiji government leader), he was made one of the direct subordinates to Army Chief [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamagata_Aritomo Yamagata Aritomo]] (a known military commander and war-hawk in the Meiji and Taisho period). While both were portrayed as benevolent bosses in the anime, General Yamagata was known in real life to harbor anti-democratic and expansionary sentiments. Considering that Yamagata's policies would pave the way for [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun Showa-era Japan's military expansion in Asia]], it was probably quite appropriate that Saitou, the series' KnightTemplar by virtue of his {{Shinsengumi}} track record, would side with him.

* One WMG revolved around why Shishio was laughing as he combusted. Just figured it out upon re-watching the series: Shishio's wish was for Japan to become militaristic and expand into the world, right? Kenshin thought he was going to stop that from happening if he defeated Shishio--and then [[WorldWarII what did Japan end up doing anyway?]]

** Secondly, it provides a good justification for how he easily defeated Saitou, Sanosuke, and Aoshi. While it could simply be attributed to being just that Badass, he already had knowledge of all three of his opponents techniques: He blocked off Saitou's gatotsu with his headband, and since Saitou's gatotsu is merely a set of variations was able to counter it. With Sanosuke, he already had knowledge of Anji's techniques and knew he could merely take the hit. And he had already tested Aoshi with four of his mooks.