$~~Seisou
Hen~~$
Seisôhen
takes place fifteen years after the anime ends. Kenshin is called upon
by the government to once again help in their time of need, and he departs,
leaving a worried Kaoru and Yahiko behind.
Seisôhen could be considered a sequel to Tsuiokuhen, since it picks up from
where the first OVA left off. Consisting of two episodes, the first is
basically a recap of the entire series, but is shown in the form of Kaoru's
reminiscing. And the episode ends when Kaoru is taken captive by Enishi
(Tomoe's younger brother from the Tsuiokuhen OVA).
The second of the two episodes begins with Kaoru's memory of being on the
island with Enishi. And turning back to reality, we learn that
Kenshin has been spending most of his life helping the needy, and he's
contracted an illness (leprosy?) that Kaoru has acquired as well. Megumi
has come back to Tokyo to assist Kaoru, and Yahiko has headed to Hiko to find
Kenji (Kaoru and Kenshin's son who ran off to learn Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu).
Meanwhile, back in China, Sanosuke finds a deathly ill Kenshin and goes
through great lengths to get Kenshin on a ship home.
This episode ends with a heartwrenching scene where Kenshin and Kaoru reunite
under the sakura trees (where he left her in the beginning of the Kyoto Arc).
She greets her husband as "Shinta" as he requested before he left.
And as they watch the sunset, the sakura falling all around them, you learn
that Kenshin's scar has finally faded, as well as the worn soul of our hero.
Himura Kenji
He is the son and only Himura child and is
training under Hiko Seijuro, in the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, since he does not
desire to claim the Kamiya Kassin Ryu of his mother's as his sword style. He
desires strength above all else and that is why he sought out his father's old
master. He hopes the by using the Hiten Mitsurugi he will learn what true
strength is. He appears to have a temper that is a combination of Battousai and
Kaoru's own but he looks very much like his father did at his age, which appears
to be 14. His hair is even red like his father's. He hates his father because
Kenshin was often gone on missions to help people and thus Kaoru was left alone
to raise him. He wants to become a legend even greater than his father was as
Hitokiri Battousai. He fights Yahiko in a duel as a test of his strength and receives
the sakabatou from him at the battles end, having at last learned what true
strength is. He returns to Tokyo to be at his mother's side and to wait for his
father to return.
Myojin
Yahiko
He is now the one who hold the sakabatou
Kenshin carried for so long, which was passed to him on his 15th birthday, and
is Kenshin's successor. He has grown since the end of the manga and, at 27, is
an accomplished swordsman of the Kamiya Kassin Ryuu. He now lives above the
Akabeko, presumably with Tsubame. He remains fiercly loyal to Kenshin and, as he
did during the Kyoto Arc, he firmly believes that Kenshin will return from the
war in China as he has after the end of every battle. He believes this even when
nearly everyone else had returned from 'the continent' but of Kenshin there
appears to be no sign. He is the one who returns to Kyoto to bring Kenji back to
his ill mother and the one who teaches Kenji the true meaning of strength. He
passes the sakabatou on to Kenji after they duel and returns to be at Kaoru's
side until Kenshin returns.
Himura
Kenshin (Shinta)
He never seems to show his true age, but
Kenshin is now 45 and has surely lost his ability to use the Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryuu. This does not, however stop him from helping the Meiji govenment or from
trying to protect the lives of others no matter who they are. He returns to 'the
continent' at the request of Yamagata Aritomo, even though he has no wish to be
a part of the war that is brewing between Japan and China and despite the fact
he wishes never to return to China. He is suffering from a death illness, which
makes him appear more frail then he was before, contracted during the time he
spent helping the ill. But still, he goes to war anyway. Except for flashbacks,
Kenshin is seen only once in 'real time' and that is when his ship is caught in
a storm at the beginning of the Seisou Hen. He rescues a sailor that had been
thrown overboard and is thrown overboard himself while saving the man. As
always, Kenshin thinks of others before himself. Later we see him severely
weakened and with only one thought in his mind and that is to return to Kaoru as
he promised her he would.
Himura
Kaoru
Kaoru is now a mature woman many years
married, with a grown son and her hairstyle and mannerisms indicate this. She is
now 35 years old and acts less rashly then she did in the past. She calmly
accepts that Kenshin will go off to war one final time and, when he doesn't
return with the others who have left, she calmly waits for his return instead of
demanding that they all go in search for him as she would have in the past. She
has great faith that he will always return to her, no matter what happens or how
far he must go. She allows him to continue on his path of helping people, even
though this takes him away from his family. She endures the pain of seperation
from the man she loves even to the point of willingly contracting the same
deadly disease he has because she knows she can never change the way of his
heart and that he will always return to her.
Hiko
Seijuro the 13th
At 60, Hiko still has the same presence he
always had and still seems to have that arrogance about him as well. He still
wears the mantle of the Hiten Mitsurugi Master, indicating that Kenshin never
accepted it to become the Fourteenth Master. Hiko is training Kenji in the Hiten
Mitsurugi Ryuu, persumable at the boy's request, so that he can become strong
enough to face an unnamed man in Tokyo that he wishes to defeat in battle. That
unnamed man is none other than Yahiko. Kenji believes he will learn the meaning
of true strength by learning his father's sword technique. Hiko himself desires
not to pass it on because it only caused trouble and grief for both himself and
Kenshin. He will be the final master of the school and it will die with him,
though its teachings will remain.
Yukishiro
Enishi
The brother of Kenshin's first wife, Tomoe
who seeks revenge on Kenshin for the death of his sister in the Revenge Arc. He
appears near the end of the first part of the Seisou Hen during the snippet we
get of the heretofore unanimated Jinchuu Arc. The opening of the second part
features the final battle between Kenshin and Enishi. We see Enishi struggling
with his hatred for the man who killed his sister and his anger and grief at not
being able to protect her happiness. But despite the fact that Tomoe has
forgiven Kenshin, Enishi will not. He fights Kenshin who in the end accepts
Enishi's judgement and prepares himself for death, until Tomoe steps in once
more to save her beloved's life.
Sagara
Sanosuke
He is seen only in flashbacks in the first
part but he makes an entrance in the second part. He has been wandering the
world and ends up in China sometime during the War. Someone likely contacted him
to find Kenshin when Kaoru become seriously ill. He is the one who manages to
find Kenshin, who has become to weak to travel. He swears to return Kenshin home
to Kaoru and the others and he nurses Kenshin, helping him to get enough
strength to make the journey home. He credits Kenshin with changing his life for
the better and does everything he can to make sure that Kenshin returns to Japan
before heading off himself to parts unknown.
Tsubame
TSubame still works at the Akabeko and is
married to Yahiko. She sees Kaoru returning daily to the docks to wait for
Kenshin. She worries that Kaoru will always be alone because Kenshin has still
not returned from the war on the continent and Kenji has been gone for some
time. She watches over Kaoru when the later falls ill and she is also the one to
discover Kaoru crying a few moments before she disappears from her room, seeking
Kenshin who is making his way slowly home again. She finds it sad that Kaoru has
allowed herself to contract the same disease as Kenshin.
Takani
Megumi
Megumi has now lived in Aizu for the past
15 years but at Kenshin's request she agrees to keep an eye on Kaoru for him
while he is away during the war. Yahiko contacts her when Kaoru becomes ill and
she returns to Tokyo to be at her friends side. She is the one who first
mentions that the disease that both Kenshin and Kaoru have is one with no cure
and that there is nothing medicine can do to help either of them, except to slow
down the disease's spread. It seems she still feels strongly about Sanosuke,
even though he has left years before.
