Hokkaido arc
Characters
- However, Shishio seems to be a lot more durable than Sojiro. Admittedly, all the people he was fighting were exhausted, but he still took all their ultimate techniques, then every single one of Kenshin's techniques and his not-quite-ultimate-but-still-extremely-powerful technique on par with the best techniques of the others. Plus, he was a lot more experienced than Sojiro and could instantly find anybody's weakness just by watching them fight.
- Shishio is severely underrated. He not only took out Aoshi, Saito, Kenshin, and Sano (Sano broke his fist on Shisho's face!!) in a straight fight, he is the very definition of made of iron. Shishio survives being hit with the second strike of the amakake ryu no hirameki, a strike Aoshi acknowledged is stronger than the one he received and Saito stated that if "[Shishio] survived that, he is truly invincible," which he did. To put in context, Kenshin's master almost died after being hit by the initial strike, surviving thanks to his strength and the sakabatou. Soujiro has speed but Shishio also dodged a point-blank gatotsu zero-shiki.
- While strong, Shishio fought Aoshi, Saito, Kenshin, and Sano after all of them were completely and utterly exhausted. None of them were at full strength at all during the fight due to the previous battles they had been in.
- Furthermore, Shishio can't really be said to even have any techniques at all. All of his "techniques" are entirely reliant on his gadgets, including the helmet that saved his life against Saito. For all his supposed "strength", he might as well be carrying revolvers and call them a "technique". And unlike Sojiro, who could only be hit by Kenshin's strongest and fastest attack, Shishio was hit by a barrage of Kenshin's regular Hiten Mitsurugi attacks. If not for the sakabatou, he would have been turned to mincemeat. So he has endurance, but little else.
- Shishio would've given Sojiro a Hannibal Lecture and block the Shun Ten Satsu without worrying about a vacuum aftermath arresting his movements, though. There's more to Shishio than just brute strength. He also wears you down mentally, which is Sojiro's weakness. People downplaying the brilliance of Shishio wearing down opponents to target them later as a Combat Pragmatist just don't get how the guy works. Also, if not for the sakabatou, Sojiro would also be dead.
- Jossed by the Distant Finale - there's just about no way Kenji's not Kenshin's kid.
- They never explicitly say that Kenji is Kenshin's son. Just because he looks like Kenshin, and had Kaoru as a mother, and Kenshin said that he'd have to inherit the sword from Yahiko doesn't mean that he's Kenshin's son. Also ignore the part where the action bubble says that Kenji dislikes his daddy as he pulls on Kenshin's hair.
- Never mind the fact that Kenji is a dead ringer for Kenshin, does anyone here actually believe that Kaoru would bear anyone's child but Kenshin's? I could actually see them adopting a child orphaned by the wars, but let's be serious here: the original idea for this theory is just a roundabout way to a flacid dick joke that doesn't hold up if you think about it for more than a second. It's a *reverse*-blade sword, not a blade*less* sword. It works just fine on the rare occasions Kenshin uses the cutting edge.
- They never explicitly say that Kenji is Kenshin's son. Just because he looks like Kenshin, and had Kaoru as a mother, and Kenshin said that he'd have to inherit the sword from Yahiko doesn't mean that he's Kenshin's son. Also ignore the part where the action bubble says that Kenji dislikes his daddy as he pulls on Kenshin's hair.
- It DOES say that Kenji hates his daddy in one of the final chapters when he's pulling on Kenshin's hair. So it's not unreasonable to say that Kenshin is Kenji's biological daddy. Of course, it could ALSO be that Kenji hates Kenshin because Kenshin isn't Kenji's daddy...
- One could also argue that Kenji is simply more attached to his mother than he is to his father. It's safe to assume Kaoru spends the most time tending to Kenji simply because she is the mother and his default caretaker. This doesn't mean that Kenshin is not the father/does not do his fair share of raising his child, but very young children tend to connect more with their mothers than their fathers.
Shishio's death, then, can be seen as him taking the resemblance to its ultimate conclusion by dying like Nobunaga.
Possible Crossovers
The modus-operandi of his soldiers, "Them" is quite literally Shishio Makoto's ideology made manifest; The flesh of the weak is food for the strong. And sure enough, only people pragmatic, cruel, cynical, selfish and above all strong as Shishio Makoto was were able to survive in this Hell on Earth. 133 years after losing to Himura Kenshin's idealism through a "technicality", the evil warrior is sadly finally able to prove his point.
- The story will be a combination of the Kyoto and Jinchuu arcs. While Shishio's burning will still be a part of his character, it's eventually revealed that he faked his death and continued living on as a black arms dealer who is secretly working behind the scenes to conquer all of Japan, though he wears bandages to keep his identity a secret from the Meiji. He takes in Enishi, who is Composite Character of Enishi and Soujirou, having witnessed his sister's death and eventually ending up abused until taken in (My guess would be instead of an evil stepfamily, he would be sold in the black market as child labor). His personality will also encompass both characters, having a Slasher Smile amongst others, but when he's alone or really frustrated, his rage and hatred comes out. Shishio's war on the Meiji will be the A plot while Enishi's own personal war on Kenshin will be the B plot. The Composite Character trope will also extend to the skills of both characters. Enishi will have a much more wild version of Soujirou's style while Shishio will utilize Watoujutsu. Shishio will have knowledge of Enishi's past, which he will use to taunt Kenshin in his battle:Shishio: You say that my ideals are wrong? That the ideal of not killing and protecting the weak is right? Then tell me why you failed to protect that woman? Tell me why Enishi only came to his own after I took him under my wing? You see, Battousai? You use your own ideals to shield yourself from the very truth of this world as do the rest of those Meiji fools. I, however, embrace it wholeheartedly and the result... (Beats down Kenshin) is this!
Impossible crossovers
- That might also explain his red hair, which is unusual for Japan...
- It would also explain his "Battousai" mode. His lingering youkai blood manifests in the Battousai's golden eyes and cold, vicious Knight Templar mindset (which is characteristic of all higher youkai) but is diluted enough that it doesn't overwhelm his sanity.
- At one point during the Dark Tournament, someone leaves a nice cross shaped scar on Kurama's face.
- Well, Misao can be pretty cruel at times (mainly if her victims are called Sanosuke Sagara and Yahiko Myoujin)... Not as much as Manga!Mokuba, but yet...
- Hell, just throw in Reiji Mitsurugi while you're at it, since the hairstyle, features and stare show up on him the most. And he does a similar thing to Aoshi: Upon defeat, he leaves for a while, comes back a changed person, and decides to help the one who defeated him in his own way. Oh, right. You might know him by a different name: Miles Edgeworth.
- Sorry dude, Kaoru's dad is named Kamiya Koshijiro, said by a master of some dojo in the manga, also, in one of the pilot chapters, Koshijiro was actually friends with Kenshin
- The pilot chapters diverge from the series canon. She could have been adopted by Koshijiro who could be a distant relative of Sei's. Situations like those were really common back then. Besides, they never mention her mother in the series, do they? (And even if they did, it could have been Koshijiro's wife, not necessarily her biological mother). It would also explain why she looks like Souji and her personality is like Sei's.
- It's entirely possible that Saito did recognize her, and that's why he spared her; his fight with Kenshin was as much testing him for the Meiji government as playing a Parental Substitute for Souji.
- Well, the creator is a big fan of Marvel, so that makes sense.
- This one would just like to state that it would sorta be kinda ironic if true given the fact that the head Captain of the Gotai 13 uses fire based abilities, like Shishio. This one would also like to state that the idea of Shishio and Aizen being the same person scares the ever living crap out of me. Just try and imagine a merging of Shioshio and Aizen's abilities and that would probably be Aizes Bankai. Have fun trying to sleep tonight!
Seriously,they both have Charles Atlas Superpower's far beyong the level of possibility,moral differences of the to kill or not to kill type,in both series most of the truly strong villains, even some complete monsters have honor (in both there are exceptions) and both of them have a history that fits our world, while some things are hidden. Whether Shisio was the creator of Yami or (most probably) if he is a member who modeled the Juppongatana after it, I leave it to your debate (through for that to be correct,the armed division should be similar to the unarmed division in terms of leadership,and that is another wmg altogether)
In-universe history: Sakamoto Ryoma was one of the Ishin Shishi's greatest patriots. However, he's a peaceful man who simply wanted to put the Shogunate at gunpoint so it would surrender power back to the Emperor. To complicate things, the domains fighting against the Shogunate (including Choshu, who Battousai worked for) wanted to pound the Tokugawa to the ground. Since Ryoma had greater influence among the Shishi, his pacifist views were bound to conflict with the more confrontational revolutionaries. To neutralize him and make an instant martyr, Katsura or any other Choshu leader sent Shishio to kill him and make it look like the work of Shogunate agents. We know Katsura and Choshu are far more ruthless than what they let on, and Ryoma's pacifism was, sadly enough, too early for its time.
With Japan having this strict Last-Name Basis, her family being killed and all...
Kenshin Himura and The Patriots known as Ishin Shishi were responsible for Meiji era, and it has been established that Hinamizawa was originally called Onigafuchi. The Original Watanagashi Festival also had a frighteningly literal meaning before Meiji Era Government prohibited its practice, hence the existence of Cotton drifting festival.