Reviews

Rurouni Kenshin (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 2: Includes vols. 4, 56 by Nobuhiro Watsuki

b00kdragon's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

xaijar's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm surprised to find some scenes in the manga that were left out or adapted in the original anime series. I am happy though that the revamped anime series is staying much truer to the manga. 

I love Yahiko! He's got so much pride and he's hilarious!

I love the rivalry he develops with Yutaro. It's heart-warming watching a rivalry give characters purpose and drive to achieve their best.

The story writing is excellent and hilarious! Can't wait for more! 

frasersimons's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Still enjoyable, but half of the volume is essentially one fight and afterward there’s even less time between fights. The asides where it talks about the time period are still my favourite, those seem to be getting less frequent. The humour still works, there isn’t the weird shonen incel & sexualization, and the stories are rooted in trying to be a good person in changing, turbulent, and impoverished times, so it resonates more with me. Plus, the anime may have been my first introduction to the medium, so there’s some nostalgia. I do hope it goes into more character building and less X reason to have a fight, but I imagine the audience wanted lots of fights. Is what it is. 

ehmannky's review

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I am still enjoying myself and having a good time with revisiting this series but I will say that I think it's bullshit Yahiko got to go along to rescue Megumi and Kaoru doesn't (I know this is a manga written for boys originally and he's the audience stand in and the comic relief but boooooo he's more useless than Kaoru let her go on the dangerous missions). 

mcmallow's review against another edition

4.0

3.5

sgp05's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I did not expect Han’nya to look like that since I thought the old man from last time was how he actually looked. It was sad when all of the Oniwabanshu sacrificed themselves. Takeda is a coward, as most RuroKen villains seem to be. Kaoru should just outright tell Kenshin that she has a crush on him. I wasn’t really interested in the Yahiko story arc but it was interesting to finally see his progress. Isurugi seemed to be an interesting villain at first but he quickly devolved into someone unrecognizable. How could such an intimidating appearing villain just turn out to be a scam artist after the battle with the dojo master earlier? Why would you reveal your dastardly deeds in a monologue out of nowhere? I don’t know how his confidence as a swordsman was destroyed for life, but whatever. I liked reading about Yutaro and Yahiko butting heads and was kinda sad when his right arm was paralyzed. I’m glad he’ll be able to do swordsmanship still but he feels li,e wasted potential since the creator himself said that he probably wouldn’t reappear. The sudden art change was a bit jarring. I thought Sanosuke’s ideals would be a foil to Tsunan’s, but nope, he decided to be terrorists together. Luckily Kenshin was there to stop them, which was obvious that it would happen since Sanosuke is one of the main cast and couldn’t go down that path. 

About the extra story at the end of the book, Isshinta is an annoying snot-nosed character, and I just hate snot. It was kind of confusing at first that there were two characters both named Natsu. Hiko is basically just Kenshin, so I can understand why the editor thought Hiko was the main character. Also, Hiko took 3 bullets like a champ and barely seemed fazed.

Now I’ll talk about things in the book that aren’t about the plot. I find it hilarious that Kenshin was the only one to get 0 points in the popularity contest despite being the main character. It’s probably because he literally has no character trait other than being strong. It sounds like the creator is upset that more women seem to read RuroKen then men despite being targeted towards men since it’s brought up so many times for no reason.

puzumaki's review against another edition

4.0

Great way to immerse ones' self in historical Japan (yes, I know it's fiction, but it really does pull the reader into a different era).

armeneely's review against another edition

4.0

Dunno why, but this is the manga I'm currently able to stick with. Love the anime and live action movies very much!

libbyxreads's review against another edition

3.0

I did not enjoy this volume as much as the first one. I will say that the Megumi/opium/Oniwabanshu arc kept my attention much more than the other stories. The action was great (Aoshi vs Kenshin was intense). Unfortunately, my interest dipped when I got to Raijuta--I just didn't care for that character and story line at all. I couldn't wait to finish to it.

I was however pleased to see some character development for Yahiko (even though he's my least favourite out of the main four) and some focus on Sano towards the end of the volume. I would like to see more Kaoru in action instead of standing in the sidelines all the time making commentary about Kenshin's battles of the day (nothing against him, I love the guy *points at profile pic*).

littlekinggone's review against another edition

5.0

*reread April 2014*