Hokkaido arc
The recent one-shot and the upcoming arc are akin go Dragon Ball Super in timing
Mainly before the distant finale and right after the last battle, this would explain the discrepancies with the finale.Kaoru's father
Is the leader of the rebels on Hakodate mountain that the military and Saito are shown to be preparing to attack at the end of the first chapter.Characters
Sojiro was a stronger fighter than Shishio
The only reason Sojiro lost his fight was because he was having a mental breakdown at the time. If memory serves, despite rushing at near full speed into Kenshin's "Hit-Them-Nine-Places-At-Lightspeed" attack, he was still able to get behind Kenshin and slash him across the back. Sojiro was surprised that it didn't kill Kenshin. Had he been at his normal best, the series would have ended there. Shishio, although he had the charisma/people skills necessary to lead his band of evildoers, had to use the fact that his opponents were very weakened (Sano breaking his fist on him), hidden armor ("Thank God I walk around with a thick metal plate on my forehead"), and a bunch explosion/fire themed weapons. All Sojiro had was a high-quality sword; his speed was all he needed. Also, it should be noted, he didn't have a time limit. Even though he supposedly believed that the stronger should dominate/kill the weaker, Sojiro either never let himself realize his superiority, or made an "exception" for him.- However, Shishio seems to be a lot more durable than Sojiro. Admittedly, all the people he was fighting were exhausted, but he still took all their ultimate techniques, then every single one of Kenshin's techniques and his not-quite-ultimate-but-still-extremely-powerful technique on par with the best techniques of the others. Plus, he was a lot more experienced than Sojiro and could instantly find anybody's weakness just by watching them fight.
- Shishio is severely underrated. He not only took out Aoshi, Saito, Kenshin, and Sano (Sano broke his fist on Shisho's face!!) in a straight fight, he is the very definition of made of iron. Shishio survives being hit with the second strike of the amakake ryu no hirameki, a strike Aoshi acknowledged is stronger than the one he received and Saito stated that if "[Shishio] survived that, he is truly invincible," which he did. To put in context, Kenshin's master almost died after being hit by the initial strike, surviving thanks to his strength and the sakabatou. Soujiro has speed but Shishio also dodged a point-blank gatotsu zero-shiki.
- While strong, Shishio fought Aoshi, Saito, Kenshin, and Sano after all of them were completely and utterly exhausted. None of them were at full strength at all during the fight due to the previous battles they had been in.
- Furthermore, Shishio can't really be said to even have any techniques at all. All of his "techniques" are entirely reliant on his gadgets, including the helmet that saved his life against Saito. For all his supposed "strength", he might as well be carrying revolvers and call them a "technique". And unlike Sojiro, who could only be hit by Kenshin's strongest and fastest attack, Shishio was hit by a barrage of Kenshin's regular Hiten Mitsurugi attacks. If not for the sakabatou, he would have been turned to mincemeat. So he has endurance, but little else.
- Shishio would've given Sojiro a Hannibal Lecture and block the Shun Ten Satsu without worrying about a vacuum aftermath arresting his movements, though. There's more to Shishio than just brute strength. He also wears you down mentally, which is Sojiro's weakness. People downplaying the brilliance of Shishio wearing down opponents to target them later as a Combat Pragmatist just don't get how the guy works. Also, if not for the sakabatou, Sojiro would also be dead.
Kenshin is sterile
It's a well established fact that Kenshin carries a reverse blade sword. As a tool, a swords function is to kill. So a sword that can't kill is basically a sword that doesn't work. And since we all know that swords are phallic symbols, then it's pretty safe to conclude that if Kenshin's sword doesn't work then his... um... "sword doesn't work."- Jossed by the Distant Finale - there's just about no way Kenji's not Kenshin's kid.
- They never explicitly say that Kenji is Kenshin's son. Just because he looks like Kenshin, and had Kaoru as a mother, and Kenshin said that he'd have to inherit the sword from Yahiko doesn't mean that he's Kenshin's son. Also ignore the part where the action bubble says that Kenji dislikes his daddy as he pulls on Kenshin's hair.
- It DOES say that Kenji hates his daddy in one of the final chapters when he's pulling on Kenshin's hair. So it's not unreasonable to say that Kenshin is Kenji's biological daddy. Of course, it could ALSO be that Kenji hates Kenshin because Kenshin isn't Kenji's daddy...
- One could also argue that Kenji is simply more attached to his mother than he is to his father. It's safe to assume Kaoru spends the most time tending to Kenji simply because she is the mother and his default caretaker. This doesn't mean that Kenshin is not the father/does not do his fair share of raising his child, but very young children tend to connect more with their mothers than their fathers.
Gein faked his death
He does mention someothing about someothing that has both beauty and functionality right? It was his own doll which ended up being burned. The fire burned everything that could distinguish it from a human. Shishio considers himself the Spiritual Successor to Oda Nobunaga
Like Nobunaga, Shishio survived what seemed to be a fatal assassination attempt. Like Nobunaga, Shishio calls himself a demon. Like Nobunaga, Shishio hates the status quo and wants to destroy it. Like Nobunaga, Shishio is obsessed with making Japan a strong nation so it can stand on the world stage rather than be so caught up in its own problems that it gets trampled under the foot of western imperialism. Like Nobunaga, he has (among other retainers) a beautiful woman by his side, a young man who is utterly loyal to him, and The Starscream.Shishio's death, then, can be seen as him taking the resemblance to its ultimate conclusion by dying like Nobunaga.
Possible Crossovers
High School Of The Dead is what happens if Shishio Makoto WON his war to take over Hell.
After 133 years, the warlord was finally able to gather enough warriors from a Japan made apathetic, selfish, cruel, cold, unfeeling, hateful and cynical by westernization. As George A. Romero predicted, Hell was so full that it no longer had space, so Shishio mustered his armies and struck back at reality.The modus-operandi of his soldiers, "Them" is quite literally Shishio Makoto's ideology made manifest; The flesh of the weak is food for the strong. And sure enough, only people pragmatic, cruel, cynical, selfish and above all strong as Shishio Makoto was were able to survive in this Hell on Earth. 133 years after losing to Himura Kenshin's idealism through a "technicality", the evil warrior is sadly finally able to prove his point.
Speculations for the Live Action movie sequel
- The story will be a combination of the Kyoto and Jinchuu arcs. While Shishio's burning will still be a part of his character, it's eventually revealed that he faked his death and continued living on as a black arms dealer who is secretly working behind the scenes to conquer all of Japan, though he wears bandages to keep his identity a secret from the Meiji. He takes in Enishi, who is Composite Character of Enishi and Soujirou, having witnessed his sister's death and eventually ending up abused until taken in (My guess would be instead of an evil stepfamily, he would be sold in the black market as child labor). His personality will also encompass both characters, having a Slasher Smile amongst others, but when he's alone or really frustrated, his rage and hatred comes out. Shishio's war on the Meiji will be the A plot while Enishi's own personal war on Kenshin will be the B plot. The Composite Character trope will also extend to the skills of both characters. Enishi will have a much more wild version of Soujirou's style while Shishio will utilize Watoujutsu. Shishio will have knowledge of Enishi's past, which he will use to taunt Kenshin in his battle:Shishio: You say that my ideals are wrong? That the ideal of not killing and protecting the weak is right? Then tell me why you failed to protect that woman? Tell me why Enishi only came to his own after I took him under my wing? You see, Battousai? You use your own ideals to shield yourself from the very truth of this world as do the rest of those Meiji fools. I, however, embrace it wholeheartedly and the result... (Beats down Kenshin) is this!
Impossible crossovers
Kenshin is a descendant of Nanashi
It's fairly obvious that Sword of the Stranger is set long before Rurouni Kenshin. Both Kenshin and Nanashi are jaw droppingly good swordsmen (although Kenshin has outdone his ancestor), both feel guilt over bloody pasts and carry "useless" swords because of it, and both have red hair, in a country where it's beyond rare. You don't have to stretch your imagination to see it. Kenshin is a descendant of Inuyasha and Kagome.
His resilience and and strength are lingering demonic abilities.- That might also explain his red hair, which is unusual for Japan...
- It would also explain his "Battousai" mode. His lingering youkai blood manifests in the Battousai's golden eyes and cold, vicious Knight Templar mindset (which is characteristic of all higher youkai) but is diluted enough that it doesn't overwhelm his sanity.
Kenshin and Kurama are the same person
Long red hair. Big eyes. A lot older than he looks. Seems friendly and sweet, until you see him in a fight.- At one point during the Dark Tournament, someone leaves a nice cross shaped scar on Kurama's face.
Aoshi (with or without Misao) is the ancestor of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba
Though the resemblance shows up more in Seto than Mokuba. Think about it. Tall, sharp features, penetrating stare, Jerkass personality... they even have similar haircuts. And when Aoshi is defeated by his rival, he goes off to brood, just as Seto did after being defeated by Yuugi. And then there's the trench coats...- Well, Misao can be pretty cruel at times (mainly if her victims are called Sanosuke Sagara and Yahiko Myoujin)... Not as much as Manga!Mokuba, but yet...
- Hell, just throw in Reiji Mitsurugi while you're at it, since the hairstyle, features and stare show up on him the most. And he does a similar thing to Aoshi: Upon defeat, he leaves for a while, comes back a changed person, and decides to help the one who defeated him in his own way. Oh, right. You might know him by a different name: Miles Edgeworth.
Kaoru is the daughter of Souji Okita and Sei Kamiya from Kaze Hikaru
She was adopted by missing, surviving members of the Kamiya family. Saito didn't recognize her because Sei had her in secret and he never found out about her, and she fell though some time hole in her early childhood which explains why she's older than she should be.- Sorry dude, Kaoru's dad is named Kamiya Koshijiro, said by a master of some dojo in the manga, also, in one of the pilot chapters, Koshijiro was actually friends with Kenshin
- The pilot chapters diverge from the series canon. She could have been adopted by Koshijiro who could be a distant relative of Sei's. Situations like those were really common back then. Besides, they never mention her mother in the series, do they? (And even if they did, it could have been Koshijiro's wife, not necessarily her biological mother). It would also explain why she looks like Souji and her personality is like Sei's.
- It's entirely possible that Saito did recognize her, and that's why he spared her; his fight with Kenshin was as much testing him for the Meiji government as playing a Parental Substitute for Souji.
Rurouni Kenshin takes place in the Marvel Universe.
Apart from some character designs being clear Shout Outs to Marvel characters, some characters do have clearly superhuman abilities that don't seem like Charles Atlas Superpowers. Sano, Sojirou and Enishi have clearly demonstrated superpowers, and their powers appeared right after incredibly traumatizing events, similar to many mutants. As to why Jin-E was the only person in centuries to master his particular style's ultimate technique, well, the reason is that the founder was a mutant who could hypnotize people, and Jin-E is another mutant who has hypnosis-related abilities.- Well, the creator is a big fan of Marvel, so that makes sense.
Shishio is Captain Aizen.
Think about it. Disregarding the part where Shishio meets Yumi and Houji in hell, we have the fact that: 1. We see his unburned face once or twice, and he is shown to be quite handsome; 2. Shishio was a planner, always trying to deceive his opponents and predict their next moves; and 3. He's arrogant and quite the Magnificent Bastard, always being supremely confident in his own capabilities. So what about Aizen? He's 1. Quite handsome; 2. A planner, constantly deceiving his enemies (and allies!), and easily predicting the main cast's next moves; and 3. He's arrogant and a Magnificent Bastard. Heck, he even got a Shikai that helps him deceive people! His previous life as Shishio gave him extremely good swordsmanship skills, allowing him to take down other Shinigami using their Shikais and Bankais with ease. He simply changed his name to allow him to go incognito (plausible, seeing as how we never saw a way of keeping track of the people in Soul Society).- This one would just like to state that it would sorta be kinda ironic if true given the fact that the head Captain of the Gotai 13 uses fire based abilities, like Shishio. This one would also like to state that the idea of Shishio and Aizen being the same person scares the ever living crap out of me. Just try and imagine a merging of Shioshio and Aizen's abilities and that would probably be Aizes Bankai. Have fun trying to sleep tonight!
The story takes place in the same world as Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple.
Seriously,they both have Charles Atlas Superpower's far beyong the level of possibility,moral differences of the to kill or not to kill type,in both series most of the truly strong villains, even some complete monsters have honor (in both there are exceptions) and both of them have a history that fits our world, while some things are hidden. Whether Shisio was the creator of Yami or (most probably) if he is a member who modeled the Juppongatana after it, I leave it to your debate (through for that to be correct,the armed division should be similar to the unarmed division in terms of leadership,and that is another wmg altogether)
Among the "secrets" to be leaked out by Shishio Makoto's existence was Sakamoto Ryoma's assasination
In-universe history: Sakamoto Ryoma was one of the Ishin Shishi's greatest patriots. However, he's a peaceful man who simply wanted to put the Shogunate at gunpoint so it would surrender power back to the Emperor. To complicate things, the domains fighting against the Shogunate (including Choshu, who Battousai worked for) wanted to pound the Tokugawa to the ground. Since Ryoma had greater influence among the Shishi, his pacifist views were bound to conflict with the more confrontational revolutionaries. To neutralize him and make an instant martyr, Katsura or any other Choshu leader sent Shishio to kill him and make it look like the work of Shogunate agents. We know Katsura and Choshu are far more ruthless than what they let on, and Ryoma's pacifism was, sadly enough, too early for its time.
Megumi was raped by Kanryuu and his men.
With Japan having this strict Last-Name Basis, her family being killed and all...
Kenshin Himura was indirectly involved with ending the inhuman rituals in Higurashi universe
Kenshin Himura and The Patriots known as Ishin Shishi were responsible for Meiji era, and it has been established that Hinamizawa was originally called
Onigafuchi. The Original Watanagashi Festival also had a frighteningly literal meaning before Meiji Era Government prohibited its practice, hence the existence of Cotton drifting festival.
