There haven’t been many times with this series where I’ve been unsure about what was coming next. Oh sure, I forget some of the details – time will do that, and a lot has passed since I last watched the original or read the manga. But the big stuff is so iconic that it’s imprinted on my fandom with Sharpie. Kenshin facing off with Aoshi on board the Rengoku, though, is new territory. It didn’t happen in the manga, change-drunk Furuhashi didn’t do it, and as far as I remember it didn’t happen even in the live-action movies.
I don’t know if this is a Game of Thrones-style butterfly wing moment. I tend to doubt it, because nothing need fundamentally change to accommodate this tweak. Yes, some things will probably (I’m assuming) have to be different but not on the “overhaul” level of Benioff and Weiss. Which is obviously good, given how that experiment ended up. In point of fact I kind of like both the idea of Aoshi and Ken fighting here and the way the fight is being executed. It looks great first of all, but it also forces some interesting choices by the other principals on board the ship.
So what we have here is, for all intents and purposes, a 95% anime-original episode. That should be a harrowing prospect but damn if it wasn’t pretty great. In point of fact I always thought the manga version of the Rengoku showdown was a little abbreviated. Aoshi’s insertion certainly complicates matters considerably. Kenshin doesn’t have to worry about Aoshi messing with anyone else, at least – that’s obviously of no import to him. So Kenshin sends Sano off the find the engine room and blow up the ship. Unfortunately that relies on Sano’s sense of direction (or ability to follow directions). Not to mention broadcasting his intentions to the Purgatory’s afterguard was not exactly a Mensa move.
Kenshin is left paired off with Aoshi, and responds to his attacks entirely with defensive moves. Shishio is happy enough to let Aoshi defer his own faceoff with Kenshin under the circumstances. Why not, then, stop Sano in his tracks? Well, it’s complicated. Saitou remains on deck, and Soujirou – who doesn’t care all that much about politics – refuses to leave Shishio’s side. None of the other Ten Swords were even in on the joke. That leaves only Houji to go after Sano, which – despite thus far having displayed no combat skills – he does.
It’s not as if events in Kyoto are following the template either. As far as I remember most of that is original, too. Certainly Arato’s role in the Kyoto incident has been greatly expanded. Henya and Kamatari are making short work of Arato’s men, and the captain steps in to effectively trade his own life for a chance to let the wounded retreat. Kamatari is disinterested, but Henya bemused. He accepts the deal, with the condition that should Arato fall – or even kneel – the hunt for survivors will continue apace. Arato has no seeming hope of victory, but neither any leverage with which to negotiate.
Likewise I don’t recall Iwanbou squaring off against the Oniwaban members here (I won’t swear to it). And I’m certain that Usui confronting Misao at this point of the narrative is new. So I have no idea where that’s headed – it’s left as a cliffhanger here (among others). But I do know that Usui is by their own reckoning one of the baddest among badasses in the Juppongatana. And Misao, for all her determination and dexterity, should be no match for him even with Kaoru and Yahiko throwing their irons into the fire.
Houji is courageous, no question. And even more indisputably loyal and enthusiastic for his master and his plans. No doubting his sincerity when he goes after Sano with the white roses (those thorns hurt), but Houji is in way over his head. A head that’s just about to meet Sano’s fist (he seems to refrain from unleashing Futae no Kiwami on said noggin (which would certainly be fatal). There’s still the matter of Sano not getting lost and winding up in the galley or something, but at the moment there are no one but zaku seemingly in his path.
Shishio, for his part, is captivated by the spectacle he’s witnessing. So much that he tells Sou-chan to shut up, probably not least because he doesn’t share Soujirou’s opinion about the likely outcome. Kenshin knows Aoshi is not his true opponent; he knows that he must survive to fight Shishio or this crisis will never be resolved. Unfortunately Aoshi has leveled up since their last meeting, and now wields twin kodachi with incredible skill. And when Kenshin sees Aoshi readying for a Kaiten Kenbu attack with both blades, he knows he’s going to have to answer the call.
As with Soujirou’s refusal to leave Shishio’s side, this is complicated. Of course Kenshin knows full well that Shishio’s eyes are fixed on the fight with laser-like precision. But Aoshi leaves him no choice – if he dies here it makes no difference if he takes his secrets to the grave. So he unleashes Kuzuryuusen on Aoshi – the second-most powerful attack in the Hiten Mitsurugi canon. Showing Kuzuryuusen to Shishio is a grave decision that Ken will not have taken lightly – one we can assume he felt was absolutely unavoidable. It’s also something he didn’t have to do in the original versions, and it will be fascinating to see what ripples spread across the plot from the impact of this rather sizable stone.
