As the series opens, a montage of the violence of the revolution that ended the Tokugawa era and created Japan's first modern era, Meiji (a revolution called the Bakumatsu), is accompanied by this monologue:

140 years ago,
in the upheaval of the Bakumatsu,
there was among the Isshin Shishi in Kyoto one called "Hitokiri Battousai"
In the chaos, he killed and carved the way to the new era, Meiji.
He was the strongest man, Battousai.
However, he vanished as the war came to an end.
His whereabouts are still unknown.
Hitokiri Battousai became a legend.

Flash forward ten years to the year Meiji 11 (1878), a street in Tokyo, the misty dawn hours of an early spring morning. A red-haired man carrying a pack on his shoulder and a sword at his hip walks down the street; he has a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. A woman weilding a bokken runs up to him and challenges him, calling him "Hitokiri Battousai," much to his surprise. He dodges her attack, but crashes through a fence and lands in a heap with an "Oro...", and the woman thinks this might not be the man she's after, the legendary killer who has been murdering in the streets around town. To confirm, the man tells her that he's just rurouni, a wandering swordsman, and shows her his sword, called Sakabatou---the blade is reversed, dull on the convex edge and sharp on the back, concave edge, plus it looks brand new and obviously hasn't been used in a string of murders. The woman, however, doesn't let the rurouni off the hook, insisting that carrying a sword is illegal and suspicious, but just then, a police whistle sounds and she runs off in search of her real target. The rurouni, who had seemed like a harmless bumbler until now, deftly catches his sword in the sheath and watches her go with narrowed, serious eyes.

The real killer, a huge, masked man, is indeed the cause of the disturbance, and is cutting down a squad of police. The woman runs in and attacks him, but her bokken is no match for his sword and his brute strength, and the killer is bringing his sword down on her for a fatal blow when the rurouni runs through, snatching her up and carrying her out of harm's way. As more police arrive, the killer runs off, shouting that he is Hitokiri Battousai, a practioner of Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu. The woman struggles after him from the rurouni's arms, crying that Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu is her family's style and that this man is killing in its name, but she faints. "A courageous girl," the rurouni says.

Back at her dojo, she wakes up and recalls the violent incident early that morning, but when she comes out and finds the rurouni, he's befriended Ayame and Suzume, the two little girls around the dojo, and is making breakfast---and his cooking is better than hers. The woman---her name is Kamiya Kaoru---has her wounds treated by Dr. Genzai, the little girls' grandfather who has been a family friend and the dojo's doctor for years, as the rurouni plays with the girls. Since he seems to have nowhere to go, Kaoru offers to let him stay with her, even though she doesn't know who he is. "You must have your reasons for being a rurouni," she tells him. "I don't see any reason to question you more." He smiles.

Inside the dojo, the nameplates show only Kaoru as the assistant master and a few students. She tells the rurouni that the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu school was founded by her father, with the ideal of using swordsmanship to bring out people's potential instead of hurting or killing, to foster life instead of destroying it, and because of that, she's outraged that Hitokiri Battousai is smearing the school's name and her father's ideals with his killings. When her students arrive at the door of the dojo, she announces that the whole school will defeat the pretender together, but instead, her students tell her that they've been harassed by their friends and chastised by their parents because of what the killer has done to the school's reputation, and Kaoru's last three students leave her.

Later, Kaoru is taking a bath, and becomes teary-eyed, tempted to be discouraged, but she vows to stand up for her school even if she's alone and maintain a positive outlook, and to seal the resolution, takes a deep breath and dips her head in the water to wash away her tears. (Actually, I think here's some cultural significance to this gesture that I don't quite understand.) She submerges her head for the space of one breath and then comes up, but the rurouni, tending the fire to heat the bath from outside, only hears her go under and thinks she's trying to drown herself in despair. He runs in to save her, but instead merely catches her nude.

Although her arms were crossed so that neither we viewers nor the rurouni saw anything really, he's in the doghouse for this---almost literally. She shuts him in the storage shed for the night. Through the door, he asks her an unexpected question, recalling the way the killer Battousai fought: was there a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu who fought with his left hand because of a ruined right thumb? Kaoru is insulted, insisting that the school built on her father's ideal could never actually create a heartless monster like Battousai, and again vows to defeat him and regain her school's honor, even at the risk of her life, but the rurouni feels certain that Kaoru's life and happiness were more important to her father than his school, and tells her that her father wouldn't have wanted her to throw away her life to protect it. "What does a rurouni like you know!?" she cries. Later, in bed, she reflects on his words and sees their merit (or maybe just realizes that she forgot to leave him water and kibble), and goes back out to apologize, but the shed is empty. The rurouni has disappeared without even telling her his name.

Meanwhile in another part of town, the killer has taken his mask off to reveal a long beard and a wicked, toothy grin. He smashes straw figures, surrounded by thuggish "students" who address him as "Our master Gohei---I mean Battousai!" He announces that his serial murders are nearly over, and that it's time to show Kaoru the wrath of his smashed thumb.

Seque into a flashback, 11 years ago in Kamiya Dojo. Hiruma Gohei---aka "Battousai"---is a student and has brought a real sword to the dojo and begun slicing into his fellow students. As the six-year-old Kaoru watches from the doorway, her father enters the dojo, demanding to know why Gohei has broken the school's principle not to harm others. Gohei insists that Master Kamiya's way is nonsense. A sword is made to shed blood, and that's what Gohei's sword wants, but when he attacks his master, Kamiya skillfully disarms him with one stroke of his bokken, crushing Gohei's right thumb. Having thus destroyed his ability to weild a sword with that hand, Kamiya expells Gohei from the dojo, telling him never to return, but before he leaves, he sees little Kaoru in the doorway and fixes her with a vicious gaze...

Kaoru wakes with a start, realizing that the rurouni was right, and she knows the student with the crushed thumb, but no sooner has she found Gohei's name in the dojo records than he and his students storm into the dojo. He waited eleven years, developing his strength with his left hand, began taking his revenge by destroying the school's reputation using Hitokiri Battousai's name, and now plans to complete that revenge by killing Kaoru and destroying the dojo. She takes a bokken and resists, but again, his brute force overwhelms her. As he and his students plan her horrible demise, she protests that swords are meant to save people, but her attackers only laugh.

At this point, one of their cronies appears at the door, but when asked what's happened, he collapses, revealing the rurouni behind him, come back to save the day (complete with the appropriate guitar riff). Kaoru tells him to run, but he is unswerving, and Gohei demands "you believe this crap about swords helping people, too, huh?" to which the rurouni replies with one of the archetypal lines of the entire series:

No.
A sword is a weapon.
Sword techniques are killers' techniques.
That is the truth.
What Kaoru-dono says are the words of someone who has never dirtied their hands; an idealistic joke.
But I prefer that joke to the truth.
It is my hope that in the world to come, that joke will become the truth.

Gohei, unimpressed, orders his students to kill the rurouni, but when he draws his Sakabatou at last, they are no match for him; he anticipates their moves and strikes with such speed that it seems like magic. As the last of his henchmen hit the floor, Gohei recognizes the red hair and cross-scar, and the rurouni adds that Hitokiri Battousai's style is not Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu or whatever Gohei uses, it is a very old style called Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, "...and if I didn't use this reverse-blade sword, it would surely kill you all." The rurouni is the real Hitokiri Battousai, but Gohei remains bold; if he can kill the rurouni, then the name "Hitokiri Battousai" and the title of "strongest," will be his, but as he raises his sword to attack, the rurouni vanishes, then attacks from above with a downward stroke that crushes the fingers of his left hand and smashes him into the floor. Thus rendering Gohei unable to use a sword with either hand, he says he has no attachment to the name "Battousai," but can't let it be taken by such a person.

As the dust settles, the one lackey still conscious discovers that none of his cohorts are dead; they were only knocked unconscious. At a word from the real Battousai, he runs off to confess Gohei and his group's actions to the police.

The rurouni apologizes to Kaoru, saying that he didn't mean to decieve her, but only didn't want to tell her who he was if he didn't have to. He moves to take his leave but she stops him. "How am I supposed to rebuild Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu all by myself!?" she demands, and asks him to stay and help. He points out that all the trouble to get rid of the fake Battousai would be wasted if the real Battousai came to stay, but she counters, "I didn't say I wanted Battousai to stay, I want you, the rurouni---" She stops herself, and asks that if he's leaving, he at least tell her his name.

"Himura. Himura Kenshin."

But when he closes the door, he hasn't left. He says he's a little tired of wandering, and will stay, if Kaoru doesn't mind that as a rurouni, he doesn't know when he might have to leave, and that he might catch her in the bath again. On that last point, Kaoru's solution is a playful punch, but he doesn't dodge as she expected, and goes crashing down. That day, as Genzai tends to Kenshin's bruised face, Kaoru reflects happily on their new beginning.

For these early episodes, I probably won't have too much to say as far as comparing my two subtitled versions, because at this point the Hecto fansubs were really bad; they were never great, and got better as they went along, so you can imagine that in ep 1... ih... It was enough to get the basic gist of what was happening, but a lot of the details were way off, and as they say, God is in the details. To give you just a taste: they misunderstood the word "tsujigiri", meaning "street murder," as "Fuji-Giri" and thought it was the name of a technique.

Not that I totally let Anime Works off the hook. See below, under "Ramblings."

Putting that aside for the moment, the first episode naturally debuts the first opening and ending themes, Sobakasu and Tactics respectively.

In my experience, Sobakasu ("Freckles") is a song that most people either love or hate. Back in the university anime club, I found some members loved it for its nutty vocal acrobatics, but now most people I hear mention it hate it so much that they claim the English-dub version (which I've never heard) is an improvement! 0_0 Myself, I'm somewhere in the middle, but on the cooler side. Don't hate it, but I like the second opening theme much better. Near as I can tell, Sobakasu's lyrics are either very difficult to translate or just really don't make a whole lot of sense. Of course with the Hecto fansubs, I never could tell (see the next paragraph), but the Anime Works translation was almost equally strewn with non-sequiturs, both in the lyrics themselves and their juxtaposition with the images. The song translates "Memories I have are always beautiful in my mind" while Kenshin is being accosted by chain-weilding basket-hatted thugs, for instance.

My experience with Tactics is a bit more interesting. I always liked the sound of it pretty well, but it was hard to really like it until I got the commercial subs because Hecto's translation of the lyrics was so incredibly bad. The phrase "snobbish neck" came into it somewhere, and they mis-subbed the lines of the song that are sung in English---I'm not kidding! Given an actually good translation, I think it's a good song, although not so very high on my list of favorite RK end themes. I also find it interesting that it uses the image of Kenshin drawing his sword with his mouth as his hand is wrapped in chains---that does happen in the series, but not until episode 28 or 29. It is a really cool image, though. Maybe they were trying to tie in the basket-hatted thugs from the opening? Who are those guys anyway? They're never actually in the show. (When I was young, there was an episode of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues---it seemed good when I was fourteen or so ^_^;---where it's just a day in Kwai Chang Kaine's life, and there are these ninjas who keep attacking him for no discernible reason. When asked who they were, he said "I do not know," but acted like this was a perfectly normal part of his day. I'm thinking Kenshin maybe gets that sometimes.)

Comparing this with the manga, this is a rendition of its first chapter, but while the main point is the same, the anime version is significantly altered. Genzai and his granddaughters don't appear---I think I've seen Genzai later in the manga at least peripherally, but Ayame and Suzume are unique to the anime, as far as I know. There is also no backstory of Hiruma Gohei having been a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu, or of him having his hand broken, and while he provides the muscle, his older brother Kihei (a really quite normal looking old man who doesn't appear in the anime) is the evil mastermind, and had been staying with Kaoru for months to earn her trust. In fact, the villains' headquarters is a former dojo in the next town called "Kiheikan".
---begin parody---
KENSHIN: Any connection with your housekeeper, perhaps?
KAORU: Come on! What would be the chances of that?
KENSHIN: Considering the shifty-eyed take he did when I said that, rather good, I'm afraid...
KAORU: Oh, what do you know!
---end parody---
Kihei had been using that influence to try to convince her to sell Kamiya Dojo---he had his own plans for the land---and when her devotion to her kenjutsu school and her father's ideal of "The Sword that Protects Life" proved too strong for that, he and Gohei smeared the school with the Battousai act, and finally attacked her to force her thumbprint on the property deed. Basically, I would say that the anime version stips this story down to its essentials, and the backstory of Hiruma actually coming from Kaoru's father's school helps to dramatize the most important theme of this episode and in fact a central theme of the series: the choice between strength that destroys and strength that nurtures. But I'll readily admit that I show the anime some favoritism, and it added some padding of its own in a more stereotypical vein: the issue of Kenshin's cooking didn't come up in the manga, nor did the bath incident (instead of being shut in the shed, Kenshin simply excused himself planning to investigate the fake Battousai - in the anime, we never do find out what he was doing while he was gone, or how he knew about all this).

See above about my bones to pick with the Anime Works subs. They call this neck of the series (commonly known as the Tokyo Arc, although there are numerous story arcs within it) "Wandering Samurai" when I've seen no evidence that Kenshin was ever a Samurai---he's referred to as a swordsman; to say that it's the same thing would be like saying every swordsman in feudal Europe was a knight. But in contrast with ADV retitling the movie and OVAs "Samurai X" (whose idea was that? That sounds like some kind of futuristic dystopian sci-fi mecha thing!), Anime Works can be easily forgiven here. They cannot so easily be forgiven for the stereotypical Chinese Restaurant font they used on the episode title. More substantially, their translation is a lot better in terms of accuracy, but not so strong stylistically. I have a friend who soulbonds Kenshin, and when I met them before seeing the Anime Works translation myself, it struck me that that Kenshin spoke in a kind of stagey, overdramatized way as compared to what I was used to (Gomennasai, Himura-san! ^_^;;), and then when I saw the Anime Works tapes, I understood why. They subbed the series in that kind of tone. The use of the word "slay" sticks out in my mind; it sounds archaic and unnatural. Worse yet is the fact that every character talks like that. Hiruma Gohei is obviously supposed to have a rough, uncultured kind of voice, but I caught him using that kind of high-diction language as well ('Throwing the school into the abyss'?? Come on!). They even did this kind of thing on the back of the box, for goodness' sake! "Sagas"?? That doesn't sound clever, it just sounds dumb; now get down off that high horse and call them "episodes" like a normal person!

This brings me to the point of the "gozaru": as I recall from my Japanese studies, this is the plain humble form verb for "to be," used regarding oneself when talking to a superior. I've heard that while the more formal conjugation, "gozaimasu" (as in "ohayou gozaimasu (good morning)" or "arigatou gozaimasu (thank you)") is still in use, "gozaru" is not, so Kenshin's frequent use of it would seem to carry a connotation of and humility and respect for the listener, as well as an archaic tone, perhaps analogous to English "knightly" expressions---but mind you I'm very glad none of the subbers have had Kenshin saying "thee/thou" and "forsooth" all the time. Anime Works didn't do anything that clunky, but their translation is kind of infamous for rendering "de gozaru" as "that it is" or variations. Thankfully it's done sparsely enough from what I've seen to not hurt as much as I feared, and it's not technically inaccurate, but again, it sounds unnatural and distances the audience from the character. Anime Works had understandable reasons for doing this---notably, when Kenshin goes into Battousai mode he drops the "gozaru", so it's important to show the change (although there are also several visual cues, especially narrowed yellow eyes)---but this was not an ideal solution. When I watched some later episodes featuring Battousai Kenshin, I actually didn't find the loss of the "that it is" very noticeable; in subs at least, one learns to just filter it out anyway. I certainly wouldn't want them to have used Hecto's solution of, as usual, throwing swearwords at the problem (their Battousai Kenshin cussed a lot, but you definitely noticed the difference!), but as a writer myself, I can't help but think that an obvious change in diction could be accomplished without resorting to such obvious markers. Fiction authors do it all the time---often one can set it up and write dialog where the reader doesn't need to be told who's talking in every line; they'll know who it is because the way each character talks is distinct, and I think that the difference in how the two Kenshins talk could have been brought off more effectively that way, but instead everybody talks like they've been transplanted from a high-fantasy novel, with the word "ultrasonic" then cropping up randomly and looking paintfully out-of-place ("ultrasonic"!? The hell!?).

Basically, at least here in the early stage, I'm thankful for the accuracy of the translation, but I feel that there's insufficient aesthetic sense behind it; I'm almost tempted to say that while Hecto's translation was awful, they actually did a better job with giving the dialog a believable style. Even in my Japanese homework back in college, I know that translation is art as well as science, with a balance to be struck between literal accuracy and maintaining the spirit and natural sound in the second language. Perhaps to expect strong stylistic writing decisions on top of the translation is asking a lot, but it isn't asking too much, I think.

However, on a more positive note, the picture quality of the Anime Works tapes is orders of magnitude better than my old fansubs, and I was able to appreciate anew all the things that happen visually in RK (in many anime, too), that you just generally don't see in American animation and all the subtle beauty it adds. Changing palettes for different lighting conditions, the shadows of the clouds drifting across as Kaoru stood outside the storage shed... RK also uses a lot of "incidental shots" of random objects, but it never seems out of place. In some cases, all these touches add to the thematic richness (but that's something to harp on later), and even if it doesn't work on that level, it helps create a rich texture, the sensation that what you're seeing is a world, not just a show put on for your benefit.

Yet another thing I want to praise (since it's episode one, I'm mashing in a lot of my generalized comments on the series here) is the RK TV tone. I liked the Trust and Betrayal OVAs, but if it came to a vote, I'm a TV series person. Maybe the gravity of the OVAs is easier to take seriously, but to me, the TV series' mixture of deep, meaningful issues, seriousness, and the darkness of violence with chibi effects and lighthearted humor is an important part of the Rurouni Kenshin spirit. Of course, it's far too easy to have something that's striking dramatic poses one moment and cracking the same old jokes the next, but I believe that RK really transcends that. Even in the midst of the darkness, the joy of being alive is not extinguished; I think that's part of the show's message, and something which the humorous content meaningfully captures.

While I'm here in generality-land, some general notes on the manga. The tone of the manga is basically like the TV series, with similarly stylized drawings and the combination of serious drama and action with lighthearted slapstick, etc. However, while it's nothing like the OVA style, the manga isn't as sanitized as the anime. There's more splattering blood, more severed body parts flung across panels, and more general ugly realism, but not with the OVA's grimness about it. As compared to the anime, the manga has more of an adolescent male feel to it, and I don't mean that as a label of immaturity or even as a bad thing, just when I try to think what it reminds me of, it vaguely touches on what my older brother and his friends were like when I was a kid. (If my brother reads this, he probably won't know how to take that. ^_^;)

Something else I've noticed about the manga, and this is true of every character, but this is the most notable case. Through the course of the manga, Kenshin's hair gets progressively smaller. Not that this is a bad thing---here in chapter 1 (or worse, the proto-Kenshin character in the "proto-RK" stories published as bonuses in the first and third tankoubon) it looks like he has a Lhasa Apso on his head. But the truth is that the art in any comic matures as it goes on, and in RK, Watsuki-san gradually progressed toward a more bold and simple, less fussy style (not that his art is ever less than gorgeously rich in detail), with smaller hair. Another fun manga fact: the front leaf of the first tankoubon has a little note in which Watsuki confesses that he didn't even take Japanese history in high school, and is a bigger fan of the Shinsengumi than the Isshin Shishi (Kenshin's side, which Anime Works translates as "Imperialists"), and basically explains that he's really a phoney. But that doesn't detract from the greatness of what he created, and personally it warms my heart to be assured that it was a human being that created RK, as perfect as the end product may sometimes seem.

Getting back to the anime while backtracking to the subject of things that get better as they go along, in episode one, we of course hear our first "Oro"s---some of which unfortunately sound like Kenshin is recovering from a bad chest cold. But before long, his VA, Mayo Suzukaze, will be rolling them out like there was never anything more natural. All in all, I think she does a remarkably good job of making Kenshin appropriately soft-voiced while also sounding believably male.

As if I have room to talk about any of this. I set out to make this episode guide funny and entertaining, and in the course of this episode, I don't seem to have gotten around to much of that. Hopefully in future episodes, when there are less generalities to comment on, I'll get more into that, but for now, I've rambled enough...

It's a peaceful day at Kamiya Dojo. The sky a calm blue, Kenshin doing the laundry and playing with the little girls... It's far too peaceful for Kaoru's taste. Even with the fake Battousai gone, none of her students have come back, and Kenshin won't even practice kenjutsu with her. When Genzai and the girls get hungry, she decides that Kenshin can make it up to her and cheer her up by treating everyone to lunch.

On the way to the restaurant, the group is utterly lacking in consideration for Kenshin's budget, but he has something more important to think about when he sees the young boy in the yellow kimono from the title sequence (see below) pick the pocket of an old man. However, as the old man decides to buy a toy for his joyful grandchild, the thief changes his mind and quietly slips the wallet back, all without being detected. Kenshin, however, saw the whole thing, pats the thief on the head, and calls him a good kid, but the boy is not amused as Kaoru drags his supporter away. Further emboldened by passersby remarking on Kenshin's sword, he runs after Kenshin, slams into him from behind, and runs off with his wallet. Kaoru tackles the kid to the ground and gets it back, but Kenshin gives it to the thief and tells him "Kid... Don't get caught next time." As he and a protesting Kaoru walk away ("Kenshin! That was our lunch!!"), the boy seethes at the gesture and throws the wallet after them, hitting Kenshin in the head. "I'm not a kid!" he shouts. "I'm Myojin Yahiko, of a family of Tokyo Samurai! I'm not so down and out that I need pity from strangers!" Kenshin apologizes for underestimating him, and tells Yahiko that he should cherish his Samurai pride. As Yahiko glares at them and runs off, Kaoru thinks he was just arrogant, but Kenshin says that in a different time, he'd have been a fine Samurai.

Later, on a riverbank, Yahiko reflects on Kenshin's words, but several members of a yakuza come up to him, demanding his pickpocketing earnings for the day to pay back the money he owes them. When he tells them he doesn't have any money for them, they beat him, saying that it could take him 10 or 20 years to pay them back.

Meanwhile, Kenshin and company are sitting down to lunch at Akabeko---we viewers' introduction to our heros' favorite restaurant---and Kaoru talks about Yahiko with her friend Tae, the hostess and owner. (BTW, watch in the background here; Genzai feeds lunch to Ayame and Suzume and it's just too cute!) Tae heard that Yahiko's parents died when he was young, and that his mother suffered a long illness. The leader of the Shuei Yakuza paid her medical expenses and took Yahiko in after she died, but forced the boy to pick pockets to pay back the cost of his mother's care. Kaoru is enraged at the yakuza's abuse of Yahiko and sets off to rescue him. Kenshin tries to stop her, but gets an elbow in the face and a ceramic bull to the head for his trouble. "I didn't think you were so cold-hearted!" Kaoru snaps, and runs off.

At the Shuei Yakuza's headquarters, the members have dragged Yahiko back and tossed him aside, and are demonstrating trick dice that will guarantee them to win at gambling when Kaoru bursts in in her dojo clothes, wielding a shinai. She exhorts Yahiko to leave this criminal life behind, but the gang's best fighter, Gasuke, tells her that he owes them a lot of money and they can't let him go, unless Kaoru will pay the debt for him. She asks how much, but instead of an answer, she gets dragged over to the dice mat and they offer to let her gamble for it. Kaoru didn't overhear earlier and agrees to decide it with one dice-toss: if she wins, Yahiko is free, but if she loses, she belongs the the Shuei Yakuza as well. Yahiko tries to tell her not to do it, but she's confident---after all, her fortunes always say "good luck," and she won a raffle lately for 10 lbs. of rice!

The thugs throw Yahiko to the floor, make the dice toss---and Kaoru wins! The yakuza members realize that the dice were switched, and Gazuke wrenches the trick dice out of Yahiko's hand. As they threw him down, he used the sleight-of-hand skill learned from their pickpocketing to make the switch, but even if Kaoru won, the men aren't about to let them go.

Still, Yahiko remembers Kenshin telling him to cherish his pride, and insists that he won't be their pickpocket anymore. He'll repay his debt with honest work. At this, Gasuke laughs. "You idiot! There was no debt to begin with!" he says. "With or without it, you're our dog until you die!"

Kaoru has had enough and comes to his rescue. She makes short work of the gangsters with her shinai until Gasuke, calling himself "Hitokiri Gasuke," challenges her. He parries her blows, slices her shinai in two with a sword hidden in his staff, and finally knocks her through a wall into the adjoining room, where the yakuza boss is having a meal.

The boss orders Gasuke not to kill Kaoru while he's eating, and has Yahiko brought to him. As the gangsters bring him and shove him to the floor, the boss tells him that in the new era, nothing matters except money, and his Samurai pride won't bring in a penny, but Yahiko won't back down. One of the men scoffs, calling Yahiko's father a fool who died fighting the the current of the times, and as for his mother--- Before the man can continue, Yahiko gives him a hard kick to a vulnerable spot (::whistles faux-innocently::) and rises to his feet, shaking with rage. He shouts that his parents lived with dignity and pride, and that he will not allow anyone to insult them, but when the boss tells Gasuke to show Yahiko who's boss and Gasuke raises his sword, it seems there's nothing he can do. Kaoru throws herself between them, but all seems lost until...

Another panel of the wall is kicked in, and the already-familiar guitar riff announces Kenshin, come to the rescue. (Genzai and Tae must have finally thrown a bucket of water on him or something; Kaoru left him out cold.) The boss tries to call for his men, but Kenshin says that since they didn't want to let him in, they've already been treated to a nap, and he tells the boss to hand over Kaoru and Yahiko. Gasuke charges at him, but Kenshin smashes him into the ceiling without even drawing his sword. The boss, cowering, gives Kenshin what he wants.

Yahiko protests that Kenshin didn't have to save him, that he could have fought for himself, and Kenshin apologizes for underestimating him again. "Let me repay you by tending to your wounds," he says, taking Yahiko by his kimono, slinging him onto his shoulder and walking away, with Kaoru close behind.

The gangsters begin to chase him, but their boss stops them. When he saw Kenshin's eyes, he knew that they were those of a Hitokiri, not a yakuza Hitokiri like Gasuke, but the real thing. He knew that Kenshin could have killed them all, and if all he wanted was Yahiko, they were lucky to get by so easily.

On the way home, Yahiko weeps with frustration, saying that he wants to be strong, so that he won't have to be saved by someone like Kenshin, and can defend his parents' pride for himself. Kenshin brings him to Kamiya Dojo, and tells him that he'll be learning kenjustu there to become stronger. At first Yahiko is delighted, but when it turns out that Kaoru, not Kenshin, will be the instructor, he doesn't want to learn from such an "ugly" woman, and Kaoru doesn't want to deal with his attitude. Poor Kenshin's caught in the middle again as Yahiko jeers and Kaoru chases him around the dojo, but nonetheless, he's the first student to begin rebuilding Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu.

Interesting fact: Yahiko's VA, Tominaga Miina, had a small but crucial role in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. She was the voice of Rastel, Asbel's sister who died in Nausicaa's arms early in the film, killed in the wreck of the transport carrying the God Soldier, and whose resemblance to Nausicaa is a recurring plot point. A very different voice than Yahiko's to be sure! I confirmed this at the Miyazaki fansite Nausicaa.net; check under Nausicaa's credits for a link to Tominaga-san's list of credits.

In comparing this episode's story with the manga, it's again changed, though not as substantially as episode 1. Firstly, this episode is based on chapter three of the manga, chapter two corresponding to episode three---basically, the anime transposed the two stories. As such, this chapter opens as several people had seen Kenshin fight the sword-bearing police and gathered at the dojo, but Kenshin tells them he isn't from the school and isn't taking students, so he asks them to leave, which they do---all of them. Kaoru is not amused. Instead of going out to eat (Genzai and family are still absent, and Tae and Akabeko aren't introduced in the manga until later), they are walking to another dojo where Kaoru can practice when Yahiko makes his entrance---picking Kenshin's pocket as it happened in the anime is the first we see of him. Kenshin's words to him about his pride convince him to reject the yakuza, who beat him up. Kenshin leaves Kaoru at the other dojo, and later, as she's on her way back, she sees the yakuza men carrying Yahiko away, but apparently goes home anyway ("Um, Kaoru, maybe... you could lend a... well, nevermind..." ---Kaoru's attempted intervention and the gambling scene are not in the manga, nor was the ruse about Yahiko owing the yakuza money). Back at the Yakuza base, Yahiko's beating and berating continues until Kenshin bursts in out of nowhere to rescue him and brings him back to the dojo to learn from Kaoru. The overall effect is a bit more loosely-strung than the anime version.

The following chapter of the manga, chapter 4, further develops Yahiko and Kaoru's relationship. In it Kaoru has sent Kenshin out shopping and Yahiko's attitude is, typically, getting in the way of any training when two of Kaoru's former students, Hira and Sato, burst in calling for help as they are being chased by the Hishimanji, a militant yakuza who wear uniforms decorated with manji (similar to swastika, although the use of the symbol here has nothing to do with Nazism). Kaoru knocks out the two pursuers with one blow, impressing Yahiko, and the students claim that the yakuza are angry because they intervened in trouble they were causing. When the rest of the gang appears, the group retreats into the dojo, but the situation only gets worse. Yahiko smells alcohol on Hira and Sato's breath; it turns out that they lied, and the gang is actually chasing them because they were drunk, got into a fight, and broke a gang member's arm with their shinai, violating the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu principles they were taught. Worse yet, the gang has a cannon which they fire into the dojo, knocking down a wall so they can enter. Kaoru offers herself to placate their vengeance, feeling that she must take responsibility for her students' behavior, but Yahiko won't stand by and let her do so, and says so with a kick to the Hishimanji leader's face. The gang is about to kill the lot of them when Kenshin returns to save the day, and when they try to kill him with their cannon, he slices the ball in half in mid-flight with the back of Sakabatou. At this the gang retreats. Hira and Sato are expelled from the school, but their failure, by contrast, teaches Yahiko something about his own true pride as a Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu student, and he becomes more serious about his training. This story does not appear in the anime, but the character designs of Hira and Sato were used---with different names---for two of the three students who left the school in episode one, and the Hishimanji and their cannon were co-opted into a more villified role as the fake spiritual healer Raikou's sponsors in episode 14.

In other notes, the anime left me a little shaky on the specifics of Yahiko's backstory, so here's what I could figure out:

Yahiko's father died as a member of the Shogitai. Historically speaking, in Edo in May of 1868, when the Bakumatsu ended, the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, peacefully relinquished power to the Emperor, but not all of his followers were ready to give up. As the imperial army approached, the Shogitai---approximately 2,000 warriors fiercely loyal to the Tokugawa government---waged one final battle for the shogun. Against such odds, they were slaughtered, but they were heroic men who died fighting for what they believed in. Today, a monument to the Shogitai stands in Ueno park in Tokyo. (This information comes from this article about Ueno park.) Thus, with 1868 as the date of his father's death, compared with Yahiko's age when RK takes place, I can only conclude that his father died when he was a baby, possibly even before his birth. In any case, it's unlikely that Yahiko has any conscious firsthand memory of him.

As for his mother, the anime was equivocal, but the manga clearly insinuated that having lost her husband, she was forced to work as a prostitute until she became sick, and quite possibly she was killed by a venereal disease. This is what Yahiko meant when he said his mother sacrificed her life for the money to raise him; obviously he's proud of his mother's devotion and appreciates her sacrifice, no matter the nature of what she had to do.

In another translation-tone gaffe, when Kaoru wins the gamble and the gangsters circle them, Yahiko protests "The chick won." "Chick"! I laughed out loud!

Seriously, though, would it kill these people to include a few cultural notes on the VHS tapes? I can hope they at least put a bunch of stuff like that in the DVD features, but I don't generally buy DVDs... Believe me, it can be done. Practically all the good fansubs I saw back in college would include cultural notes relevant to the episode in the opening or ending credits where viewers would have a good chance to read them. But no such luck here; not only do they not explain who the Shogitai were (I've been an RK fan for years and I didn't know until I looked it up for the above notes), they also drop the word "mon" without explaining that at that place and time, it was the smallest coin in the currency. This while they sacrifice all manner of grace and style by translating "Hitokiri" as "Manslayer." (Not just clunky, but sexist! Women can get killed by expert swordsmen, too, you know!) But as you know by now, I'm way too picky about this stuff...

BTW, little self-defense here... On episode 1, I ranted about the various titles applied to the series that call Kenshin a samurai when he never was one at all. Well, at some point in this episode, Gasuke shouts at him "You're descended from Samurai, too, huh?" but if you think about it, that's not evidence, it's an assumption leapt at by a hotheaded character who didn't actually know a thing about it, so I'm not going to take seriously anyone who pulls that line out to argue that Kenshin was, in fact, of Samurai blood. Sorry. Do not pass "Go", do not collect $200.

Moving on, it's nothing to fault someone for when it happens in episode 2, but as I alluded to above (with a link to this paragraph) Yahiko is an example of Chiriko Syndrome. Back in my days in the JFW (a fanfic writers'/Soulbonders' club), we compiled a whole list of "syndromes," and this one is the condition in which you know a newly introduced character is going to be important because "Hey, it's that guy/girl/kid/giant robot/etc. from the title sequence!" To a certain extent it's unavoidable, and in most cases---including RK's---it's harmless (Yes, Kenshin and Kaoru, the first two people we see in episode 1! Their importance was given away by the title sequence! For shame!), but it can still be amusing to point out. The syndrome was named for Chiriko of Fushigi Yuugi because in that case, it wasn't so harmless: a plot point hinging on impersonation was pretty well gutted. ("Hey, he's not in the title sequence!")

But more to the point for this time, although he's a regular, I have to admit that I've never really gotten into Yahiko as a character. I mean, I can understand his issues in an intellectual kind of way, but I've never really clicked with him. Much as I dislike gender stereotypes, I think Yahiko's kind of macho attitude gives him more "boy appeal" than connection with viewers like me---not that I'm your typical shoujo-viewer, but I'm a bit more in that direction. One of the great things about RK is that it can support both viewpoints, as well as the appreciation of someone like me who enjoys good action and good romance, but above all demands some really worthwhile emotional resonance and substance.

The reconstruction of Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu has begun, and it's Yahiko's third day of training at the dojo. Kaoru starts the daily routine with a meditative breathing exercise, but Yahiko just isn't the meditative type. He taunts her and runs, and she has to chase him across the dojo. After three days, Yahiko's sick of this Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu stuff; he wants to get to the part about beating people up, and although Kaoru shouts that that's the wrong mindset and that the school is about a sword that protects people, he just doesn't get it. He bursts into the room where Kenshin is making rice balls with Ayame and Suzume, wanting Kenshin to teach him his combat style instead of this "sword that protects" nonsense, but Kenshin says he has no intention of passing on his style, and just tells Yahiko again that Kaoru is his teacher. Ayame and Suzume, however, oblige him with rice balls.

Over lunch, the feuding teacher and student can agree on one thing: Kenshin's being a jerk, leaving Yahiko frustrated after telling him to become strong, and foisting his attitude on Kaoru. But Kaoru does think Yahiko is spirited like she is, and Yahiko does think Kaoru's a strong swordswoman, but seeing Kenshin fight was just incredible. Coming to think of it, Yahiko begins wondering who Kenshin is and why he's staying at this neglected dojo. He seems to have killed a lot of people---he must have been a criminal; he must be a fugitive from the law! "He's so cool!"

Kaoru, however, doesn't think it's so cool and begins to worry. Why is Kenshin a rurouni, after helping to create the new government? No one knows why he disappeared at the end of the Bakumatsu. She recalls rumors that he killed someone he shouldn't have, or knew too much, and that he might be wanted by the authorities, but as she watches him and works herself up, there seems to be nothing on his mind except making lunch (and wrestling back the fish from a stray cat). Kaoru finally snaps and orders him to tell her the truth, but she said it out of nowhere, leaving Kenshin with no clue what she was talking about, and a moment later she knows she shouldn't pry. She turns away to collect her thoughts and finally begins to ask him, but somehow it's Genzai standing there instead of Kenshin, who we're told nipped off to buy some tofu (Kaoru does a great take here, though).

Meanwhile, police have come to the dojo, accompanying a mysterious man in a horse-drawn carriage. The police chief demands to talk to Kaoru and that she tell him the whereabouts of "Himura Battousai"---the fake Battousai's henchmen who were arrested claimed that the real thing was there. The officers threaten Kaoru with arrest and even death for hiding him, but she still resists. Yahiko, overhearing the conversation about "Himura Battousai" realizes that Kenshin is Hitokiri Battousai, and Kaoru shouts to him to run and warn Kenshin that the police are at the dojo to capture him. The police give chase, but Yahiko manages to get away.

The man in the carriage looks forward to seeing Kenshin soon.

However, the folks at the dojo aren't the only ones having police trouble. Kenshin's on his way back with the tofu with Ayame and Suzume in tow when they encounter a group of sword-weilding police who shout belligerently and terrorize the townspeople. Seeing the sword at Kenshin's hip, one of the officers thinks he must be very bold to break the sword prohibition in front of the police, and wants a match---"I'll let you go if you win," but Kenshin refuses to fight in front of the children and shows them that it's just Sakabatou, a reverse-blade sword. At this, the cops think Kenshin's a harmless wimp and spill his tofu, which rather miffs the girls, but Kenshin just lets the police pass---for now.

Further into town, though, these sword-bearing police are stirring up worse trouble. They brutalize first someone who shoplifted one hand-towel when even the rightful owner pleads with them not to make a big deal out of it, and even abuse the local police who assure them that they can handle it. The sword-bearing police are an elite force, their haughty captain says, authorized to carry swords, liscensed to kill. Yahiko, searching for Kenshin, comes upon this scene as they've arrested not only the shoplifter, but also the owner for siding with him, and then they arrest the owner's daughter for pleading on her father's behalf. Yahiko can't stand by and watch this madness; he tries to intervene with his shinai, but succeeds only in getting himself arrested, too. The four "criminals" are thrown against a wall and bound, and the captain of the sword-bearing police orders his men to execute them all. "We have to kill occasionally so we don't dull our instincts as swordsmen," he announces with a laugh. The crowd grumbles, but they are cowed by the bloodthirsty police.

The execution is about to get underway when the crowd stirs and Kenshin appears to face the police (cue the guitar...). If the victims were guilty of any wrongdoing, he says, he will take the responsibility in their place. The captain is intrigued by his bravado, and the man who spilled Kenshin's tofu earlier says that he's just a wimp, but the captain disagrees; to him, here is a man who smells of blood. He whips out his sword, bringing the point an inch from Kenshin's face, but Kenshin remains impassive.

Back at the dojo, a policeman arrives to announce that they've found their man. Someone with red hair and a cross-scar on his cheek is fighting with the sword-bearing police in town. Hearing this, Kaoru wrestles with the police, escapes, and goes rushing to Kenshin's aid.

Meanwhile, when Kenshin refuses to draw his sword, the sword-bearing police captain orders the execution to continue, and when the crowd shouts out protests, he orders all of the onlookers arrested for sedition, telling his men to kill any who resist. As the officers turn on the screaming crowd, Kenshin at last draws his sword, attracting everyone's attention and insisting that if the police want to fight, they should fight him and not harm the innocent. Now assured that he can claim self-defense, the captain orders his men to attack, but Kenshin's Sakabatou flashes through them like lightning, and they fall to the ground as one. Yahiko watches, looking awed, yet horrified. Kenshin tells the captain---the only police swordsman still standing---to swear before the townspeople not to abuse his authority again; after that, he says, he will let himself be arrested for wearing a sword or for assault, but the captain will not accept this.

Kaoru, the police from the dojo, and the carriage arrive in time to see him attack Kenshin, and Kaoru and the man in the carriage recognize his powerful Jigen sword style (although watching the Anime Works version, I have doubts that he actually shouted "Chest" when he used it. He didn't even seem to be aiming at Kenshin's chest, so it's just such a non-sequitur...), but the man in the carriage knows that it is no match for Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. Indeed, Kenshin finishes the captain with one blow (and, perhaps more impressive, slows down the rate of the captain's fall until he sheathes his sword).

The battle concluded, the onlookers joyfully rush at Kenshin, shouting that he's their hero (he could easily have crowd-surfed if so inclined), but Kaoru and Yahiko know the police are still chasing him and drag him away, only to be stopped within ten feet by the police chief, who orders their arrest. However, the man in the carriage emerges at last and orders Kenshin and his friends to be unhanded. To him, it was obvious which party was in the wrong, and he says the sword-bearing police should be punished for their abuses. Further, he orders the police to treat Kenshin with respect, since he was a hero of the revolution. To Kenshin, he says "At last we meet again. I've been searching for you for ten years."

Kenshin replies, "You've grown a mustache, Yamagata-san." Kaoru realizes that the man standing before them is Yamagata Aritomo, the commander in chief of the Meiji Government's army and one of the most politically powerful men in Japan.

Yamagata wants to speak with Kenshin, and Kenshin prefers to talk in the open, so then and there, he requests that as a hero who made the new government possible, Kenshin accept a high-ranking post in its army. However, Kenshin says he has no desire to be honored for his role as Hitokiri (in the Anime Works subs, he doesn't want to be given "a reward for manslaughter"---what, for killing people in car accidents?? I mean, that would be impressive in a way, since at that point in history he would have had to invent the car to do it, but seriously, "manslaughter" does mean unintentional killing, a mischosen word on the translator's part...). Yamagata realizes that Kenshin disappeared after the war because he didn't want to kill anymore, but he insists that Kenshin should not be ashamed, that it was noble work for the cause of the revolution, and those who think otherwise---

"Will be suppressed by government authority," Kenshin interrupts, giving Yamagata a jolt as he calls that the same kind of thinking that led to the abuses of the sword-bearing police. "We fought with swords not for power or glory, but for a world where people could live happily," he says. "If we forget that, we're just tyrants."

As Kenshin walks away with Kaoru and Yahiko, Yamagata calls after him that the times have changed, swords are banned, the Samurai are no more. Without the power of the government, he says, one sword is useless, but Kenshin tells him "Even if it's just the people I see as I walk by, I can protect them with one sword." Yamagata watches them go, vowing not to give up on his old ally.

On the way home, Yahiko has learned from Kenshin's actions and words the importance of a sword to protect people, and finally resolves for himself to be Kaoru's student, while Kaoru begins to understand why Kenshin became a rurouni: to be unfettered by an authority like the government and use his sword to protect people freely, according to his own heart. "That's our Kenshin."

I noticed something odd in comparing my two subtitled versions: the old Hecto fansubs had some background music that the Anime Works version didn't. As Kaoru is worrying about Kenshin's past catching up with him, with the the mental image of the ring of swords closing in on him, in the Hecto tapes there's a kind of disturbing, repetetive, harpsichord-ish music. It had a strident effect and I don't really miss it, but it's still odd to think that it was removed. After noticing that, the whole episode seemed conspicuously silent in terms of background music, but it was probably just that I was suddenly paying attention, and I didn't watch them over to see exactly how much was taken out. Also, my Hecto tapes' sound quality is too bad to know if this is a change or not, but moments later, as Kenshin is wrestling the stray cat, within the din is a conspicuously loud and realistic meow that seems out of place. Talk about nitpicking here, eh? However, this is one episode where I'm really glad to have the Anime Works tapes now. Hecto did a pretty good job of butchering Kenshin and Yamagata's conversation. (So, I can grudgingly forgive the word "manslaughter" cropping up, but as you saw above, I did find it an amusing slip.)

Manga comparison: As noted above, this story was chapter 2 of the manga, occurring before Yahiko's introduction. In the manga version, the police didn't come to the dojo to look for Kenshin, but rather Kenshin and Kaoru were out shopping when the police stopped Kenshin for illegally wearing a sword. The sword-bearing police intervened, their haughty captain throwing his weight around and challenging Kenshin, who insisted on going quietly and refused to draw his sword. The sword-bearing police did not threaten to execute innocent townspeople (or Yahiko, who hadn't even been introed yet) and force Kenshin to come to the rescue as in the anime; in the manga, the captain simply thought Kenshin must be very confident in his skills to wear a sword in Tokyo, and wanted the excitement of fighting him. However, he did (as in the anime) order his men to turn on the protesting crowd, and Kenshin finally drew his sword to draw the police's attention and protect them. While all this was happening, Yamagata, searching for Kenshin and drawn to Tokyo by word of "Battousai" that resulted from Gohei's exploits, arrived at the police station and spoke to the Chief, and when an officer arrived to tell the Chief about the incident in town, Yamagata recognized Kenshin's description and rushed to the scene to see Kenshin vanquish the sword-bearing police, and when it was over, he delivered his offer. It and the response are pretty much the same as the anime version.

The anime version's lesson for Yahiko also fills the gap of the manga's chapter 4 (see above, Notes on episode two), but perhaps with a somewhat different spin.

And of course, Yamagata-san was a real historical figure, one of several to appear in Rurouni Kenshin. At this point, I wish I had something really interesting and insightful to tell you about him, but... ima, nanimo nain desu ga...

Speaking of Yamagata-san, I don't know about anyone else, but even though I know RK has vastly fictionalized the historical facts it incorporates, it just gives me a chill everytime the show brushes against the real world. You know, that sensation of "Oooh-h-h! ::shudder:: ...Do that again!"

I have got to say, if you read my fanfiction (which you should, if you don't), after a re-watch of this episode, Hakata-san in Changing Leaves really has trouble seeming like much of a jerk. He was still in the wrong, but at least he made a principled decision to summarily kill someone...

Which actually leads indirectly into the big thing I wanted to ramble about this time if you'll just be patient. You'll be glad to know I'm pretty much done chewing out the various subtitlers (for this page of the guide, anyhow), but I wanted to muse a bit on the anime/manga comparison. Making this guide is actually my first time reading the manga through (and in many cases, my first time watching the Anime Works translation, as well), and it has been kind of an eye-opening experience to compare and contrast them. Of course, in each entry, I've been comparing the specifics of the storylines, but I wanted to take a moment here for broader comparisons. Note that I'm talking about fairly subtle differences here. When someone says "they're different in this way", it's always tempting to see it as a large rift, but in this case it really isn't. Also note that this is based on a comparison of the anime episodes 1-3 with the manga chapters 1-4, so as the series continues, the relation is sure to change.

As I mentioned on episode one, the anime does a lot to sanitize the manga, mostly in terms of gore and sexual references, but at this point, there also seems to be more of a tendency to go for clear battle lines in the stories. The manga doesn't seem to be going for a deeply considered thematic muddying of the lines between good and evil, but in its different treatment of chapter one and the revelations of who was at fault in chapter four, it does seem to cloud the waters a bit more. In comparison, the anime seems to hold our heroes more faultless and make the villains more bloodthirsty; here in episode three, the anime practically demonized the sword-bearing police (see, there's the connection the the Hakata-san comment), looking into the future (ep 14) we find it turned the Hishimanji from having been provoked into a role of pure villainy, and episode one assigned Hiruma Gohei more bloodlust than in the manga, where this was all about a greedy land-grab. (Yahiko's "owners" in his intro were jerks either way, though.)

The anime's purified treatment also extends to the main characters. Manga chapter 1, for example, points out that Kaoru is trusting to a fault, which at once grounds her taking Kenshin in but also puts some responsibility on her for buying into Kihei's plot, but the anime doesn't treat her critically there. Of course, I notice this most in the characterization of Kenshin. Again, note that these are subtle differences, but manga Kenshin strikes me as not quite so hapless, a bit more pragmatic, perhaps not so altruistic-to-a-fault, and while he still never kills, manga Kenshin has threatened people with the back of Sakabatou once or twice; of course in both versions he's always there to save the day, but the manga gives him a bit more air of general control over the situations.

In sum, I would say that the manga probably has the edge in realism, and the anime sacrifices a bit of it for charm. From a literary standpoint, I don't consider that a good thing exactly, but I as an RK fan "grew up" on the anime, and if I'm honest, nothing is going to stop it from being my personal favorite. (Who wouldn't love cute puppy anime Kenshin?? ::huggles:: KENSHIN: "Oro?") But that doesn't mean I can't criticise, and in its defense, there are moments when I think the manga takes the "less pure" approach too far. In chapter three, when Kaoru sees the Yakuza dragging Yahiko away and just goes home, I had to see that as out of character. I'm also not going to get into it right now, but I think that anime Kenshin's altruistic-to-a-fault quality (i.e., his martyr complex) is important to the overarching story, so myself I give the anime props for playing it up more, as when he offers himself to the sword-bearing police in place of the people they were about to kill. In general, some of the anime's simplification can be forgiven because it plays more directly into the themes of the story.

However, one thing I cannot forgive my beloved anime version for (especially looking into the future again; this will get much much worse than anything reviewed thus far): as compared to the manga, the anime tends to undercut Kaoru. In one of Watsuki's creator's notes in the first Tankoubon, he just cleared it up for those who were wondering: Kaoru can kick serious butt (it may not be so obvious when she's standing next to guys like Kenshin and Sano, but she can). See how easily she polished off two of the Hishimanji in chapter four. The anime tends to play Kaoru weaker and more "femmy." See Yahiko's intro and compare the manga version---they go out so Kaoru can practice at a neighboring dojo---to the anime version: Kaoru gets Kenshin to take her out to eat. Later in that episode, she makes a decent showing fighting the Yakuza, but still gets mowed down by Gasuke (who is implied to be kind of a poser) and Kenshin has to save her. As a Psychotic Feminist Bitch, of course I have to get gripey about this (although as I said, we ain't seen nothin' yet; just watch poor Kaoru's spine turn to jelly when the filler stories start >_<;;), although not quite so gripey as I am about the fact that the Kaoru action figure we got here in the States came with a broom. A cutesie kimono that she probably wouldn't be doing housework in, and a broom, when I don't recall ever seeing her sweep (Yahiko, yes, Kaoru, no). It's called an action figure! Dojo clothes and bokken maybe? "Nope, sorry, eat it all you girls looking for strong role models, just keep doing your housework!"

::pant pant:: Sorry, bitterness got a little out of control there... ^_^;;

But on the level and pulling focus to my larger subject, I'm happy to report that watching the episodes in detail for this guide has actually given me a whole new appreciation for how good even the very first episodes of RK are.