Rurouni Kenshin

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm honestly pretty excited about this if it means focus on some characters who didn't get to shine as much in the final arc like Aoshi and Soujiro, especially the latter. I'm kinda hoping it focuses exclusively on the supporting cast and Kenshin doesn't appear all that much in it. There's a lot more that I can see being done with other characters, but Kenshin's arc feels so complete to me as is that I'd like to see someone else get an arc and attention to themselves.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Info on the new Rurouni Kenshin manga.

-Starts in Spring
-Kenshin will be the protagonist
-There will be Five arcs
-Started the rough draft of Act 1 in February
-It's designed to be a jumping on point and can be read without previous knowledge of the series
-Will (obviously) be monthly

Personally, I was really surprised with the quality of the two-part prologue so I'm anticipating this quite a bit. Here's hoping he can finally put out this arc the way he has been wanting to since the original manga came out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Wow, Watsuki is going all out on this one. I'm hoping for it to turn out good. Personally, I feel as though Kenshin should be relegated to a supporting character role, though. The new story should be about this new kid and Kenshin would make a perfect sort of mentor-like figure to him. But, if Watsuki does the characters justice either way, then I suppose that I'm fine with Kenshin taking up the mantle once again.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm excited for this. If Watsuki has five new arcs planned then this is going to be a big addition to the story. I would've preferred a different lead than Kenshin himself since his character arc felt complete by the end of the manga, but we're going to get a bunch of returning characters and expansions to their stories anyway and Kenshin is one of my all-time favorite protagonists so I can't complain.

[Spark Of Spirit]

His teaser art showed Aoshi and Misao, Sojiro, Sanosuke, Saito, and Ashitaro, so I suspect they'll all play major parts. Yutaro has already made a cameo (he was a loose end in the original manga, so that was a nice surprise) and will hopefully do more, and Yahiko is a teacher now so he'll certainly be more involved.

While I didn't see the need for Kenshin to be the main character, if it involves him taking on a more mentor figure then it should be interesting.

Though there is one character I wonder will show up. How exactly could Enishi play a part in this story? As was stated in volume 28 from wiki:

Watsuki said that he "fell into bouts of self-disgust" while drawing Enishi. The author added that he felt attachment towards Enishi and that he would someday like to use Enishi in a future work.

Can he be redeemed?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You guys all know what a sucker I am for character redemption arcs. Enishi getting one would do be very fitting for him based on what was heavily implied with his last appearance in the original manga.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Enishi's easily the character I'm the most excited to see again. He was a great villain and foil for Kenshin, and his fate at the end of the manga was bittersweet, implying that he might one day find his way in life but it would take some time. Now that we know he'll be crossing paths with Kenshin and co. again, I really want to see how Watsuki handles his potential redemption arc.

[gunswordfist]

Damn, 5 arcs? This might convince me to get into an ongoing manga.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Delayed until Summer.

I don't mind him taking his time.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Watsuki does a good job of reintroducing the key characters from the original series as well as the new ones from the two-shot earlier this year. Having the thing that instigates Kenshin and company to journey to Hokkaido be a recent photo of Kaoru's supposedly deceased father is an interesting motivator that both gets you curious to unravel the mystery while also giving the character's some emotional stakes in this arc.

I also like how Watsuki is going in the direction that I predicted he would with Ashitaro's character, having him be a naturally violent kid brought up by people who associated violence with empowerment, in addition to being homeless and forced to fend for himself for most of this life. However, there is some good left in him and it's up to Kenshin to guide him away from his violent past and see if he can prevent Ashitaro from walking down a similarly tragic path that he did when he was his age. It's, in a way, the ultimate form of Kenshin's redemption, in that he now has the chance to stop someone else from turning into the next Battousai. Watsuki does still possess the fundamentals of how to compel readers to be engaged in a story from the start.

And I had such a fanboy moment when we ended the chapter with Saitou about to take action. We just can't have a new Rurouni Kenshin arc be all that hype without the most bad-ass RK character being a major player in it.

Overall, this is off to a really interesting start. Please don't let us down, Watsuki!

[Spark Of Spirit]

I also liked the sign joke with Sanosuke's face on it.

The old cast and the new are meshing together quite well. It definitely feels like a proper extension of the original story, considering it was always intended to be.

I'm definitely going to enjoy reading this every month.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Well, shit. Watsuki's been charged with child porn possession.

[Foggle]

"I like girls between late elementary school and second year junior high." -- Nobuhiro Watsuki, 2017

[gunswordfist]

I..have a bunch of things I want to say. I will just say that this is another series on my "dead to me" list

[VLordGTZ]

As expected, the Hokkaido Arc manga is going on indefinite hiatus until further notice.

Even if Watsuki is only given probation instead of jail time like Shimabukuro did after his child prostitution charges, the series will probably follow a fate similar to Seikimatsu Leader Den Takeshi and quickly end once the series returns.