Rurouni Kenshin

[Spark Of Spirit]

Nice choices. Your number one is also my number one.

The twist about Soujiro's abilities being that they are actually his biggest weakness as a person was pretty intense. Kenshin's experience of being in similar situations to the younger fighter and basically leading the boy's thought process to its logical conclusion of self-destruction and despair all through an extremely cool fight is the stuff the best shonen is made of. It's also a reflection of the whole series from Tokyo to Kyoto to Remembrance to Revenge about growing, accepting pain, and living life as it is (and not how you want it to be) at the same time.

First time I read that fight I think I teared up. Rare for a fight to do that, but it happened.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thanks.

And yes, I had such a strong emotional response to the fight with Soujiro myself. It's the perfect example of how shonen battles can represent much more than punches, kicks, and energy blasts. At its core, this fight is a conflict of ideals, and Soujiro ultimately realizing that, despite his gratitude to Shishio, he doesn't have to be just like him. He can choose a more peaceful path through life despite his past.

Also, the conclusion of the fight is a thing of beauty. It reminds me of a classic Kurasawa or Leone film, in which rather than have a flurry of fancy action, tension is built up through atmosphere and tone, with the actual fight being decided in one swift and quick motion that you are in heavy anticipation of until it's all over before you even realize it. It's absolutely incredible.

I'm glad to know that it's your favorite too.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Great list! Mine's not too different:

10. Misao and Kaoru vs. Kamatari
9. Aoshi vs. Gein
8. Aoshi vs. Okina
7. Kenshin vs. Saito (anime)
6. Yahiko vs. Hyogo
5. Sanosuke vs. Anji
4. Kenshin vs. the Yaminobu
3. Kenshin vs. Soujiro
2. Kenshin, Sanosuke, Saito, and Aoshi vs. Shishio
1. Kenshin vs. Enishi (second fight)

I wasn't ever particularly big on Miaso, but I found her fight with Kamatari very entertaining and a great character moment for her (moreso than Kaoru, though it was still nice to see her actually be in a fight for once).

You make great points about Kenshin vs. Soujiro, but for me the Kenshin vs. Enishi fight was really great for what it meant in both characters' personal arcs, and left the most of an impression on me as the culmination to a fantastic series, so...that's why it's my personal favorite. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Awesome list, man!

Don't get me wrong about the Enishi fight. While I did say that it didn't give me the same impact as the others, clearly it still managed to be incredibly emotionally satisfying for me in concluding Kenshin's arc, hence why it's still one of my top 5 fights in a series full of excellent ones.

On another note, I'm really glad to see that the Hyogo and Anji fights both made your list! Both seem to get overlooked by fans who prefer the "cool" types of characters, but I highly enjoyed both Yahiko and Sanosuke, myself, and both of these fights were excellent points of character development for both of them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, and the Kamatari fight was a really fun and entertaining one. It would've been an honorable mention for me, which means a lot in a series that doesn't have a single badly done fight, IMO.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks!

Yahiko is actually my second favorite character in the series. I really enjoyed his character development and growth throughout the series, and his fight with Hyogo was a great culmination of it. And Sano vs. Anji was a great fight between two great characters with different ideals they wanted to prove to one another (though, the same can be said for a lot of fights in the series, but in Sano's particular case it made for a great capper to his growth during the Kyoto arc).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, Yahiko is great, and he's much more than just the "bratty kid" shonen archetype that certain fans attribute him to. In many ways he brings a heart to the series that would definitely be missed in his absence. Watsuki has even stated numerous times that he considers Yahiko to be his favorite character.

Oh, and on a random note, I can't believe that I never mentioned it, but Hyogo's character design is yet another X-Men reference, this time to Apocalypse.

[gunswordfist]

I mentioned that Hyogo looked like Apocalypse long ago.

I personally think the Raijuta (sp?) fight in the manga wasn't that good and his "arc" is the only bad part of the series.

Kenshin Vs. Saito (anime) is still my favorite Kenshin anything. Not only because of how surprisingly fluid the animation is but the build up to the fight. Saito taking out Sano was just plain cool but what I liked even more was Kaoru willingly letting Saito walk in on her property. That part was just beautifully directed. Then he gets comfortable in the dojo as Yahiko drools all over Saito examining his blade. Saito could have killed everyone before they realize it and with Kenshin far out of reach. That of course pissed off Kenshin.

Anyway, I can't make a top 10 or even top 5 myself. I need to go back to both versions of the series.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Honestly, it's been a long time since I've either watched or read the Raijuta arc (and both the manga and anime versions are very different). While it's definitely one of the weaker arcs in either version, I remember still enjoying both to a minor extent, but I'll have to revisit both versions to see how each holds up.

[gunswordfist]

I mentioned that Hyogo looked like Apocalypse long ago.

I personally think the Raijuta (sp?) fight in the manga wasn't that good and his "arc" is the only bad part of the series.

Kenshin Vs. Saito (anime) is still my favorite Kenshin anything. Not only because of how surprisingly fluid the animation is but the build up to the fight. Saito taking out Sano was just plain cool but what I liked even more was Kaoru willingly letting Saito walk in on her property. That part was just beautifully directed. Then he gets comfortable in the dojo as Yahiko drools all over Saito examining his blade. Saito could have killed everyone before they realize it and with Kenshin far out of reach. That of course pissed off Kenshin.

Anyway, I can't make a top 10 or even top 5 myself. I need to go back to both versions of the series.

Also, Shishio vs Kenshin is my favorite manga fight.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Spoiler

[close]

Rurouni Kenshin Hokkaido Arc to be serialized in Jump SQ. Yes, it's going to be a thing.

Can't say that I'm not nervous.

[gunswordfist]

Holy shit, what??!!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Had Watsuki's post-RK works not been as mixed in quality as they were, my reaction to this news would be: HOLY SHIT! THIS IS AMAZING!

As it stands, I'm currently feeling more like this: Well, hopefully it's good....

To be clear, I think that Watsuki is capable of better output than he has had in the past decade and a half, and Rurouni Kenshin is still my favorite Shonen Jump manga to this day, but much like how Toriyama's prime was when he had his heart firmly in his manga and can never completely recapture that passion for Dr. Slump or Dragonball again, the same applies to Watsuki for Rurouni Kenshin. Unless Watsuki is willing to take risks with his story-telling and create compelling villains and write out a great story structure like he did for the Kyoto and Revenge/Remembrance arcs, I don't imagine that this new venture will really be quite what die-hard Rurouni Kenshin fans such as myself are really looking for.

[Spark Of Spirit]

He'd planned do this since RK was still running but never got around to it. I wonder if the reason he's choosing to do it now is because he's got new ideas to make it work. This might sound controversial, but I'm hoping Kenshin doesn't take the lead here (at least willingly) since his arc ended with Revenge. This would be a good chance for Aoshi, Sanosuke, Yahiko, or Soujiro, to take the lead since their character arcs haven't quite reached the same logical endpoint as Kenshin did yet.

Also there is no excuse for Viz to not pick this up. They've run everything else RK related in Jump.

Only question will be is if it is successful and has an anime is there any chance we can finally get the Revenge arc animated? Hopefully by Nishimura and MAPPA? Just dreaming.

[VLordGTZ]

Kenshin is a huge favorite among the Viz staff, so I'm pretty sure they'll pick it up for their magazine.  Sasaki Hisashi , the editor of Rurouni Kenshin, even works at Viz now, so it would be interesting to see his thoughts on the new chapters during the SJ podcast.

I still haven't finished RK, so I'm going to try find time to read through it before the new arc starts.  Though I'm already trying to catch-up on World Trigger, Blue Exorcist, and 100+ volumes of Baki so we'll see how that goes.