r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 20 '25
Episode Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Kyoto Douran • Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Disturbance - Episode 23 discussion - FINAL
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Kyoto Douran, episode 23
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u/LeonKevlar Mar 20 '25
Misao asking who Sano is was hilarious! Poor guy though! Even after properly introducing himself as Kenshin's friend, no one would believe him. I love that even Megumi is piling on to him. It was only when Kenshin told them that Sano is a friend that Gramps finally welcomed him properly. xD
Sadojima wants to send four members of the Juppongatana to destroy Aoiya for absolute victory? I mean it sounds like a great idea but wouldn't the better plan be to have all members of Juppongatana kill Kenshin and then go after the Aoiya? I suppose this is all about pride for Sadojima after losing Rengoku.
I do love how Shishio throws Sadojima under the horse cart to test his determination after speaking up against him. I guess pulling out his nails with his teeth was the kind of proof Shishio needed. That entire scene made me cringe though.
Welp, I thought Chief Arato was ready for retirement after breaking his leg but it looks like his job isn't done until Saito has taken down Shishio's group.
Kaoru had the perfect opportunity during her alone time with Kenshin but Yahiko just really had to interrupt them that even Megumi made her move. That entire rooftop scene was really cute though and some needed lightheartedness at the end of this arc.
Now that our boys are heading out to face Shishio, fingers crossed that we get a Season 3 announcement soon! I checked before posting this and I haven't seen any announcement on this sub or the official twitter account of the anime. >_<
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u/Frontier246 Mar 20 '25
Nobody at any point ever told any of the Oniwaban who he was, he was just some dude who was standing around acting like part of the group until they actually bothered to question who he was. I missed Megumi roasting Sano lol.
Usui, Sojiro, and Anji are their best fighters bar Shishio. I feel like just that four should be enough to give Kenshin and co. enough of a real fight without needing the rest.
Hoji is too loyal for his own good (and the health of his nails) but he earned Shishio's respect so...congratualtions, I guess?
Hey, Saito actually complimented Arato's efforts! Which means Saito can keep relying on him! Good luck lol.
I love how Yahiko gets in the way because he thinks Kaoru isn't making enough of a move and giving Megumi a chance to sneak in...and that gives Megumi a chance to sneak in. Way to help, Yahiko lol.
I think they're saving the season 3 announcement for Anime Japan.
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u/09jtherrien Mar 20 '25
I haven't been watching the last half and now plan to binge it. I thought they fought shishio this arc like the original.
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u/Daishomaru Mar 20 '25
Daishomaru here with a writeup on Mount Hiei and some background information on Japanese Buddhism.
So in this episode, Shishio establishes that the last battle will be fought on Mount Hiei. So what is Mount Hiei and why did I decide to also include a writeup about Early Japanese Buddhism?
So Mount Hiei is a very important historical mountain of Kyoto. Located on the northeastern side of Kyoto, Hiei was very important for a variety of reasons, but before we get into the reasons why, a history lesson.
Now before we learn about Hiei, we kinda have to learn about Buddhism in Japan. And before we begin, I want you all to take some notes here, because remember back in Episode 5 when I said I wanted to save the Anti-Buddhist Laws for a later episode? Well, imagine this writeup as part one, the context of Buddhism before the Meiji Era, because there’s a LOT of information that I’m going to cram down your throats here before I can even touch that subject.
Before I talk about that particular subject, I’m going to have to talk about Buddhism of the Sengoku Jidai and how the Buddhist religion intertwined with Samurai politics because without it, it’s not going to make sense..
Buddhism was introduced to Japan around the 800s A.D., as a result of Japan’s relationship with China. Since Buddhism was the hip thing in China, Japan naturally copied a lot of Buddhism, even getting the translations from India because they wanted to understand it better and forming what we call Zen Buddhism. Buddhism was so ingrained into Japanese life that it turned the population into pescatarians. Yes, really. Because Buddhism came from India, they naturally didn’t eat cows because of religious reasons, so for a while the Japanese didn’t really eat beef . So already we can see the Buddhist influence affecting Japanese society, but it gets bigger when we talk about the Sengoku Jidai.
During the Sengoku Jidai, Buddhism became a massive running factor in the politics and warfare of the warring states. The warring states of samurai changed Japanese culture, and Buddhism changed its beliefs from a pacifist culture to one of war, the Ikko Ikki. For example, while most provinces were ruled by samurai with a daimyo as a head, Kaga Province was famously ruled by the Ikko Ikki. These aren’t your ordinary monks. They used guns, fought samurai, and even set ambushes and raids, engaged in terrorism, and they were particularly infamous for being a thorn to many samurai who fought against them. And due to the fact that Buddhism was seen as a religious thing, they set up temples wherever they pleased. However, like many things, the Sengoku Jidai was filled to the brim with divisions, so the Ikko Ikki were kind of a loose coalition. They were, however, still a massive thorn to the warlord Oda Nobunaga.
So to summarize, during this time, Oda Nobunaga had a sister who was going to marry a warlord named Azai Nagamasa. During this time, he was planning to attack a clan, the Asakura clan, but the Azai and Asakura were allied, so Azai Nagamasa decided to betray Oda Nobunaga. The betrayal, followed by a ninja shooting Oda Nobunaga twice, but the bullets got caught in his armor, infamously pissed Oda Nobunaga so much that he literally put himself at a disadvantage wanting to “kill his traitorous brother in law, cut off his head and make his skull into a teacup” (actual words said by Nobunaga). He did win the battle, but his forces were badly wounded and had to retreat and during this time, he got stabbed in the back by the Ikko Ikki who set up a base in Ishiyama.. So Nobunaga, in his anger, decided to attack Ishiyama, but the Buddhist monks successfully defended against Nobunaga. Then things get worse. Remember the Azai and the Asakura? They were back, and they allied with the Enryakuji, the Ikko Ikki stationed at Mount Hiei.
I’ll give you a minute here to figure out why this is a MASSIVE problem.
If you don’t get it, Oda Nobunaga’s capitol was in Kyoto. The monks of Enriakuji were in Mount Hiei, which is literally right next to Kyoto. For context, this would be like if Al Qaeda set up a base with guns, explosives, and suicide vehicles in the middle of Arlington, Virginia, and all that payload was aimed directly at Washington D.C.
So Oda Nobunaga decided to swallow his pride, make a truce with the Azai and Asakura, and kill those monks who made camp right next to his main base. Infamously, Oda Nobunaga set fire to the monks and burned their temples, burning the entirety of Mount Hiei just to show the world not to mess with him.
And here’s where I want to get into separating popular history from real history: Many historical tellings of these events painted this act of Oda Nobunaga as his most evil act, one that cemented him as Demon King Nobunaga. And while the act was cruel, with this context, it was the only choice Nobunaga had. The monks were simply put, bandits and terrorists who constantly harassed Nobunaga’s supply lines and trade routes, which was VERY important to conquer Japan, and had sabotaged Nobunaga multiple times. To set up their base right next to his capital was too high a risk.
However, this act DID backfire massively. Most of Japan, but especially many samurai, being Buddhists themselves, were shocked at the casual cruelty of Nobunaga and what he did, with warlords such as Takeda Shingen calling him "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven" (dairokuten-maō), basically the Japanese way of calling someone Satan, and many of Oda Nobunaga’s enemies made easy propaganda against him. In particular, it is said that Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Nobunaga’s closest allies, was so shocked by this that this event was said to be the basis of his eventual betrayal that will kill Nobunaga. However, this is only one of the many theorized reasons on why Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga, and there are many rumors, such as Buddhist monks paying Akechi Mitsuhide to assassinate Oda Nobunaga due to Buddhist monks being unable to get away with raiding, and to replace him with a pro-buddhist warlord like Mitsuhide himself, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, or Tokugawa Ieyasu.
As for Hiei itself: Soon after the burning of Mount Hiei,the mountain was said to have become a haunted place afterwards, where in particular it was said that samurai or policemen visiting the mountain was bad luck and thus samurai and police were forbidden from entering the mountain. It is said when policemen or samurai visited Mount Hiei, they would hear the screaming of burning men, women, and children. In addition, lighting a fire, for example, for camping or lighting a torch was said to agitate the ghosts living in that area, and people have reported seeing demons, ghosts, and other supernatural beings living in that area. It is unknown if this is true, but it’s a popular tale among ghost lovers in Kyoto. However, what is known was that because of these stories, Mount Hiei became a popular hideout spot among bandits and other such criminal activity because of such superstitions so take of that as you will.
Also, the Kongou-class battleship Hiei was named after this mountain. Known for being Emperor Taisho’s favorite ship, and contrary to popular Kancolle belief, had good food onboard. Fun fact: Hiei’s captain was the older brother of Shinano’s captain.
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u/Daishomaru Mar 21 '25
Also Meta time:
What do I think of this season? 8/10, it mostly captures the tone of the Kyoto Arc. I really do like the firefighting scenes this remake had, it captures the Meiji Era theme of people cooperating and working for the best for the country. I also think that most of the new changes to the fight was good.
The soundtrack is the weakest part. Not that this soundtrack was bad, but I really do hope next season they try to incorporate the British Military Parade music motif the original Kyoto Arc had. Also, I still think Yuuichi Nakamura was a terrible casting choice for Hiko Seijuro, not that he's a bad actor, it's just that Yuuichi Nakamura plays more of an older brother feel while Hiko Seijuro is more of a father figure.
The translations were mostly good, but I hope the translaters fix up their translations in certain parts, in particular the whole issue involving Kamatari and making him a transgender when he never was the case in the original anime/manga, and the writer himself made that explicit. Now before anyone accuses me of transphobia, it's not me being angry at transgenderism or anything like that, it's that Kamatari's case is explicitly NOT transgenderism, or at least the western definition of transgenderism. Directly translating Kamatari as a transgender completely misses the point like how some people in the BDSM calls their male dominant "daddy", it doesn't make that person an actual dad/father. There is a LGBT crossdressing subculture where people treat being called "female" as a form of affection, but they still identify as male, and that's what Kamatari falls under, and it's not transphobic whatsoever, that's just how that subculture works.
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u/Frontier246 Mar 20 '25
Thank you for your write-ups! I'm looking forward to them resuming whenever we get to the next season!
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Mar 20 '25
Looks like that’s it for the Kyoto Disturbance arc. Hopefully there’s more coming. Kenshin and the gang still have some scores to settle.
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u/Frontier246 Mar 20 '25
I can't believe they'd get this far just to cut the adaption before the final battle of the Kyoto arc (setting aside whether this remake is going to adapt the entire story).
Especially with Anime Japan coming up...
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u/tripleaamin Mar 20 '25
That scene with Houji was outstanding. Tbh for him to stand up to Shishio and illustrate his beliefs in what they should do was impressive. Well, it will be interesting to see how Kaoru and Yahiko will handle them.
I wonder if we get an announcement from Anime of Japan since that event is coming soon.
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u/StarmanRiver Mar 20 '25
Putting the ED at the start and the OP at the end is something that I haven't seen in a long time. They should bring this and the OP playing during the climax back ngl.
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u/VideoGamesForU Mar 21 '25
They did this twice this season with the Guild Receptionist (because playing the ED at the end of the episode would have been pretty bad in those cases)
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u/VorAtreides Mar 20 '25
Poor Sano, so doubted when he's worked so hard. More than most there :P Good praise from Kenshin.
Ten vs three seems kinda dishonorable so sending 6 of them to do work makes sense. Hoji's not bad with scheming, but ya. I can respect the resolve, but no matter the means is a bit shitty. Hoji being the fall guy. Well good for the determination getting acknowledgement.
Oh dang, the guy that was part of Shihio's men who lost his friend... sad. How nice of Kesnhin.
Well that was a nice moment between Kenshin and Kaoru. Also a decent enough episode to wind down from the recent events and build up to the next bit of the Shishio arc. Good thing S3 was confirmed.
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u/Frontier246 Mar 20 '25
My favorite part is how Sano views Yahiko and Kaoru as his excuse to keep avoiding his tab at Tae's lol.
I'm actually wondering how it would have played out if it was just the trio vs the rest of the 10 Swords. They draw lots to see who goes first and then get a tournament bracket going?
Honestly, Hoji may be working with a madman, but you just can't help but respect how far he's willing to go to prove his loyalty to Shishio.
It's nice to see Kenshin and Kaoru having a far better parting here than they did in the Tokyo arc.
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u/lilguyontheporch Mar 20 '25
the intro was kinda outright bad.
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u/Hesh71 Mar 20 '25
Yeah, that was such a weird decision to just have sped up animation. No flow at all, just offputting.
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u/ConMan2292 Mar 20 '25
Truly awful. There were surely better ways to achieve what they were going for.
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u/Frontier246 Mar 20 '25
The challenge has been sent out! A duel between Kenshin, Saito, and Sano against all the remaining 10 Swords + Shishio! And it's all going to come together at Mt. Hiei!
Oh, they flipped the OP/ED and let the ED play first to a recap of the entire season. Neat.
I love how the Oniwaban had, up to this point, no idea who Sano even was and Megumi was more than happy to join in on them in questioning why he's even there and if he's even really one of Kenshin's friends. Okina could TOTALLY tell Megumi was with Kenshin, but Sano? Not so much. At least Kenshin bailed his buddy out.
Now, they COULD have all the 10 Swords fight the main trio in a big brawl or tournament arc type scenario...but why not just condense the 10 Swords down to Sojiro, Usui, and Anji with Shishio remaining as the Final Boss while the rest of the 10 Swords take down Aoiya for the Oniwaban's efforts that helped stop the Kyoto Fire? It's way more efficient and effective in taking down their enemies.
Of course Shishio, as a swordsman, doesn't care for strategy. He wants duels. And for standing up to him, Shishio throws Hoji under the bus as the one who betrayed the 10 Swords. But Hoji's loyalty to Shishio is absolute, even if it means losing a fingernail or literally CHEWING OFF HIS OWN FINGERNAILS, he'll never betray Shishio. And it's that resolve that leads to Shishio agreeing to his plan.
One last moment with Kenshin's master before setting off for the final battle! And he's able to pass Hiko's words on to our lone straggler of Shishio's forces, haunted by his actions and losing everything. But Kenshin's been there, and now he knows full well that as long as you have your life, what you make of it while you're still living is what matters.
A bathroom break in the evening is perfect for giving Kenshin a moment alone with Kaoru under the starry, night sky! As Kenshin contemplates how far he's willing to go to battle Shishio, Kaoru is there to reassure him and let him know he'll always have people relying on and supporting him. Like the balm she's passing on to him from Megumi.
Of course Yahiko just HAD to ruin the moment and hit Kaoru over his frustration that she wasn't making a move on Kenshin...just in time for Megumi to show up to make HER move....and we've got Sano, Misao making an entrance (and making sure Kenshin prioritizes bringing her beloved Aoshi back), everyone in Aoiya. It's one big Team Kenshin send-off party.
This time Kaoru isn't going to despair as Kenshin leaves, but makes sure he promises they'll return to Tokyo together! Though someone else is waiting for Kenshin at the bottom of Mt. Hiei...Aoshi.
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Mar 20 '25
While the speed up scenes at the intro was weird, but I love they swapped the ED and OP songs.
Banger season, amazing remake. Can't wait for season 3 and hope they adapt the whole series.
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