Sakura Haruno

Sakura Haruno
(春野サクラ)
Sakura Haruno by Masashi Kishimoto
Debut	Manga Chapter 3 Naruto Episode 1
Seiyū	Chie Nakamura
Voice actor(s)	Kate Higgins
Profile
Age	12-13 in Part I 15 in Part II
Birthday	March 28
Blood Type	O
Height	Part I: 150.1 cm Part II: 165 cm
Weight	35.9 kg
Information
Current rank	Chunin
Current affiliation	Konohagakure
Current team	8-Man squad (Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sai, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka)
Previous team	Team 7 (Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno) Team Kakashi (Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sai)

Sakura Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. She is a member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, originally consisting of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. She is also considered part of the Konoha 11.

The name "Haruno" means "spring field" and "Sakura" means "cherry blossom," which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and short life span (sakura blossoms have historically been associated with samurai). In China, the cherry blossom is a symbol for feminine beauty, and love in the language of herbs. Her name in full means "the spring of cherry blossoms".

In the June 2006 issue of the American Shonen Jump, Masashi Kishimoto (in the voice of Kakashi) stated that Sakura would make the best ninja instructor, because "she has flaws in her personality, like stalking Sasuke, but Sakura is the closest to being normal".^{[issue # needed]} He also has stated that Sakura and Rock Lee were meant to symbolize human weakness (at least in the beginning of the series).^{[issue # needed]}

In Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Sakura is frequently in the Top 10, making the Top 5 once.^{[issue # needed]}

Background

Unlike her teammates, Sakura's childhood was devoid of any actual tragedy, only being marred by her early years in the Academy, where her sensitivity about her large forehead caused her classmates to tease her. Ino Yamanaka befriended her and gave her a ribbon that could accent her face and show others that her forehead didn't bother her. With Ino's friendship, Sakura came to develop her own identity and self-confidience. As Sakura's confidence in herself grew, she developed a crush on Sasuke, who Ino also had a crush on. When Sakura found out about this, she ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two. The two maintain this rivalry until the end of their match in the Chunin Exams, after which they begin to rekindle their friendship. Nevertheless, the two maintain a competitive relationship and constantly attempt to outdo the other.

Personality

At the series' start, one of Sakura's notable characteristics is her infatuation with Sasuke Uchiha. Initially this consists of following him everywhere in an attempt to help him and valuing his opinion and abilities above all others. Once Sasuke begins to be put in more dangerous situations, Sakura's display of her emotions shifts to concern for his well-being, first seen when he appears to have died and she goes against the Shinobi Code by crying for his loss. While his death turns out to be an illusion, Sakura maintains this method of showing her feelings for Part I's duration. The most long-standing example of this is the Cursed Seal Sasuke receives from Orochimaru as a source of power. In addition to worrying for Sasuke when he is left bedridden after the seal's use, Sakura also worries about the seal's potential to draw him away from Konoha. In time, her fears are realized and Sasuke abandons the village to seek out Orochimaru. Before he leaves Sakura attempts to stop him at the village exit, expressing her love for him and begging him to stay. She fails at this and changes tact, saying she will go with him, willing to do anything to be with him. Rather than leave her with words of parting, Sasuke gives her a simple "thank you" before knocking her out.

During Sasuke's long absence Sakura's driving force in life becomes a need to bring him back to Konoha. While it is unknown if her feelings for him have changed, her determination to bring him home overrides any other feelings she may have for him. As such, during their reunion after the timeskip, she willingly attacks him to make this task easier and to protect others from his attacks. Despite this new mentality in regard to Sasuke, Sakura still worries about his well-being, worrying about the lengths he has gone to get stronger and fearing what Orochimaru plans to do with him. Regardless of her conflicting approaches to Sasuke, Sakura is still unwilling to let anyone speak ill of him and readily beats anyone who badmouths him in an instant.

Sakura's opinion of Naruto is also one of her earliest personality traits. In Naruto's case, however, Sakura initially holds him to be a talentless idiot whose goal in life is to annoy her endlessly. While she continues to call him an "idiot" from time to time, Sakura abandons many of her convictions about Naruto as the two spend more time together. During each of his battles Naruto proves able to use numerous complicated jutsu in many ingenious ways, causing Sakura to value him as a teammate more with each passing mission. She even begins to find herself envious of Naruto's rapid progression and partly fearful that even he has surpassed her, and tries to replicate his methods of getting stronger. Once Sasuke leaves Konoha, Sakura, unable to join the retrieval team, asks for Naruto to bring him back, believing him to be the only person capable of getting through to Sasuke. Naruto promises that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise for a lifetime. It is with this that Sakura realizes the lengths Naruto will go to for those close to him, and she cries for him when he is left in the hospital after his failed attempt. While Naruto maintains that he will bring Sasuke back someday, Sakura resolves that next time they will bring him to Konoha together.

Sakura in Part II

In Part II, Sakura begins to learn of the various hardships in Naruto's life, particularly that he is the container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and that Akatsuki seeks to capture him because of it. Furthermore, should Akatsuki succeed in capturing Naruto and remove the demon fox from his body, Naruto will die. Because of these revelations, Sakura has acquired a worrying mentality for Naruto, and cries over the various difficulties he faces. To help him in overcoming these obstacles, Sakura has become very protective of him and does whatever is necessary to keep him safe. Upon finding that the medical abilities she has learned over the timeskip are ineffective in overcoming the demon fox, Sakura tries to see if there are other things she can learn to be of more use to Naruto. As the two spend more time together, she starts to see Naruto more than a very reliable comrade and a trusted friend. As a result of these newfound feelings, Sakura is generally more accepting of Naruto's personality traits and is much more capable of working well with him. She draws the line at his growing perversion, though, despite being aroused by Konohamaru's transformations into naked versions of Sasuke and Sai.

Independent of her feelings for her teammates, Sakura's holding of herself sees a change during Part I. While she does not realize it at the time, Sakura's initial role is guarding Team 7's object of interest while Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi fight off any hostile forces. It is not until the second phase of the Chunin Exams that Sakura realizes how unfavorable this role is, as she is the sole protector of her defeated teammates during an attack by the Sound Genin. Although she attempts to fend them off with a series of preset traps, her efforts prove futile against the Genin team and Kin Tsuchi is able to grab Sakura by the hair and immobilize her. As Kin condescends her for putting more effort into her appearance than her ninja abilities, Sakura becomes distraught that people are always fighting for her because she can't fight for herself. Deciding to change this, Sakura cuts her hair with a kunai to free herself from Kin's grasp and does all in her power to battle the Sound Genin, buying enough time for reinforcements to arrive. This new resolve remains constant throughout the rest of the series, as Sakura readily comes to the aid of a teammate in need of protecting.

Within Sakura resides an "Inner Sakura", a manifestation of her inner emotions that, aside from comic relief, serves as a representation of Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of "Shānnarō" (しゃーんなろー). The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "hell yeah", "hell no", or "damn it" depending on the situation. VIZ replaced the phrase with "Cha!" in the English anime, similar to what they did with Naruto's "dattebayo" to "Believe it!". Inner Sakura's appearances are fairly infrequent, her last appearance being Sakura's fight during the Chunin Exams (where it is implied that Inner Sakura may be similar to a separate entity in Sakura's mind). Inner Sakura briefly resurfaces later on during one of the anime's filler arcs, in which she fears that she is less observant than even Naruto is, and again at the start of Part II. This large gap between appearances is likely due to Sakura becoming more comfortable with herself, and no longer having what she says contrast how she actually feels.

Abilities

At the start of the series Sakura has few defining abilities, the only notable trait being her intelligence. Having honed the art of memorization and taking tests during her time in the Academy, Sakura can answer questions others in her age group cannot. This is most immediately apparent during the written portion of the Chunin Exams, where Sakura is the only Genin capable of answering the test's questions without cheating. Aside from this, Sakura's talents are initially lackluster, her overall skill and stamina being below average. As such she acts as the final defense for Team 7's objective, fending off any opponents that get past Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi. Soon after one of Team 7's first missions, however, Sakura discovers that she has excellent control over her chakra, allowing her to use jutsu to their maximum efficiency.

Sakura's chakra control is put to little use in Part I, due primarily to nobody training her in how to use it in battle. The only contribution it makes is during Konoha's invasion, where her chakra control allows her to become one of the few Genin able to repel the genjutsu that befalls the area. After Sasuke leaves Konoha and Naruto proves unsuccessful in bringing him back, Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice and begins to receive training that will put her chakra control to use. While the things she learns are seen in practice during the anime's filler arcs, they do not begin to play a big role until Part II.

With Tsunade's training, Sakura becomes an excellent combat medic-nin. Her medical abilities have thus far allowed her to heal the fatal injuries of others with relatively little effort and, as seen in the anime, reconstruct dead bodies. Her skills are greater than that of many experienced medic-nin, as she is able to cure injuries others would deem a lost cause with little effort. This is first seen when she uses Poison Extraction Technique (毒抜きの術, Dokunuki no Jutsu^?) to utilize chakra to pull some poison from Kankuro's body without doing bodily harm to him, and then proceeds to make an antidote for the poison that no others have managed to create. In her training Sakura has also learned to pick up on an enemy's movements in a short period of time, as good medics need to be able to avoid damage and survive a battle if they are to fulfill their purpose.

In battle, Sakura can rely on the strength taught to her by Tsunade. By building up and releasing her chakra with precise timing, Sakura can easily decimate most obstacles and turn them to rubble. Over time and through repeated use, Sakura has become able to use this strength instinctively and does not need to put any effort into using it. Creating this strength is an impossible task to do without precise chakra control, as noted by Kakashi. This strength, coupled with her medical expertise, her quick temper, her new disposition, and the beauty she gains over the timeskip has caused many to see Sakura as another Tsunade, and even capable of eventually surpassing Tsunade herself.

Plot overview

Although Sakura is present for many of her teammates' actions during Part I, she does not begin to play a key role in the plot until Part II. Her newfound place in the story is first seen during her battle with Akatsuki member Sasori whom, with the help of Chiyo, she is able to defeat. As congratulations, Sasori tells her of a spy within Orochimaru's ranks, which gives her and the rest of Team 7 a chance to find Sasuke. Despite their efforts and the help of new team member Sai, they are unsuccessful in bringing Sasuke back. Once learning of Sasuke's defeat of Orochimaru, however, Naruto and Sakura decide to try again, and after assembling an 8-man team they set out to find Sasuke or, Sasuke's target, Itachi Uchiha.

Other media

Sakura has appeared in all three Naruto movies. In the first movie she frequently encounters Mizore Fuyukuma. After numerous encounters, Sakura manages to defeat him with Sakura Blizzard Technique (桜吹雪の術, Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu^?, English "Sakura Blizzard Jutsu") by throwing numerous kunai attached with bags of exploding tags at him that, once covering Mizore, Sakura detonates with an additional exploding tag to catch him in a large explosion. In the second she battles the wolf-like Fugai, whom she kills by using metal pillars to reflect Fugai's ear-splitting howl, which causes the pillars to collapse in on her. In the third she fights Karenbana, and by breaking a chandelier to cover the floor in glass, Sakura is able to pick up on Karenbana's high-speed movements and deliver a finishing blow to her face, instantly defeating her. Sakura will also appear in the upcoming fourth movie, which takes place during Part II. In Jump! Ultimate Stars, Sakura is able to use Tsunade's Painful Sky Leg.

She has also been in many of the games based on the series. While she is a versatile character in these games, her health is low. In games based off of Part I, she has several non-canon techniques due to having relatively few known techniques, such as moves involving Inner Sakura attacking her opponent or Kurenai Yuhi's Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind.

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Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake
(はたけカカシ)
Kakashi Hatake by Masashi Kishimoto
Debut	Manga Chapter 3 Naruto Episode 3
Seiyū	Kazuhiko Inoue
Voice actor(s)	Dave Wittenberg
Profile
Age	26-27 in Part I 29 in Part II
Birthday	September 15
Blood Type	O
Height	181 cm
Weight	67.5 kg
Known relatives	Sakumo Hatake (father, deceased)
Information
Current rank	Jonin
Current affiliation	Konohagakure
Current team	8-Man squad (Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sai, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka)
Previous team	Team Fourth (Fourth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, Rin) ANBU (Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, other ANBU) Team 7 (Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno)

Kakashi Hatake (はたけカカシ, Hatake Kakashi^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is the leader of Team 7, originally consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. After Sasuke defects, Team 7 receives Sai as a replacement.

Though his name is written in the manga using kana, Japanese syllabic scripts that carry no particular meaning, the family name "Hatake" can be written in kanji (Chinese characters) as 畑, or 畠 which means "field" or "farmland". The name "Kakashi" can be written in kanji as 案山子, which means "scarecrow". Understandably, Naruto uses a scarecrow look-alike of Kakashi to practice on the day before Team 7's first test, since he then considered Kakashi as the main one to defeat. Also, when Sakura spies on Kakashi so he would take off his mask, he replaces himself with a scarecrow to get rid of her.

Kakashi is a popular character, consistently ranking in the Top 6 in Shonen Jump magazine's official polls.^{[issue # needed]} He has taken 1st place in these polls twice.^{[issue # needed]}

Background

Kakashi's first team under the Fourth Hokage

Like his father, Sakumo Hatake whose skills have been compared to that of the Legendary Ninja, Kakashi is considered a genius shinobi, graduating from the Ninja Academy at age 5 and achieving the rank of Chunin at 6. A few years after these accomplishments, Kakashi's father was disgraced by the village for abandoning a mission in favor of saving his comrades, which cost the Land of Fire dearly. Deeply ashamed and ostracized even by those he had saved, Sakumo committed seppuku, leaving Kakashi to bear witness to the event. After his father's suicide, Kakashi began to adhere strictly to the rules of the shinobi – in particular the rule dictating that the success of the mission must come before the well being of one's teammates, causing him to become arrogant, humorless, and by-the-book.

At the age of 13, Kakashi achieved Jonin status. As a reward for his accomplishment, he was assigned to lead his team on a sabotage mission to blow up a bridge in order to prevent enemy forces from attacking Konoha. Shortly after the mission started, Kakashi's teammate, Rin was captured by enemy shinobi. Kakashi's other teammate, Obito Uchiha immediately stated his intention to save her, but Kakashi said they had to focus on completing the mission, opting not to make the same mistake his father had. Though Kakashi believed that they had to complete their objective and they parted ways, a little reflection on Obito's words and Rin's prior kindness eventually convinced him that his father had done the right thing in saving his teammates. This revelation prompted Kakashi to turn back to join Obito in the rescue effort, although he initially claims that he did not believe Obito could survive on his own—a statement that is more or less supported by how his arrival coincided with saving his oblivious teammate from a ninja's attack.

During their attempt to save Rin, Kakashi lost his left eye as a result of taking an enemy ninja's attack for Obito. To protect Kakashi in return, Obito managed to awaken his Sharingan and killed their assailant. Soon after saving Rin, a rockfall technique was triggered and a rock struck Kakashi on his blind side. He would have been buried beneath the rocks had Obito not pushed Kakashi out of the way, getting the right side of his body almost completely crushed in the process. Shortly before he died, Obito had Rin (a medical ninja) implant his Sharingan eye in Kakashi's damaged eye socket as a gift. As his first act with his new eye, Kakashi avenged Obito by killing the enemy ninja with his now-perfected Chidori technique, bringing the Kakashi of today into being.

Years later Kakashi would become a member of the Konohagakure ANBU where he served as a squad leader. During this time, he had several kōhai, named Yugao Uzuki and Tenzo, and recognized the latter as the most successful of his kōhai. It is unknown when or why he left ANBU, but he still wears iron guards on his gloves, a characteristic of ANBU uniforms.

Personality

Obito's death profoundly changed Kakashi, and Kakashi adopted many of Obito's traits. One such trait was Obito's concept of teamwork, which is most clearly seen in the way Kakashi tests newly-graduated students hoping to become a squad under him. He uses the bell test to test his students, which requires the three students to get the two bells he keeps on his person. Only those who get a bell get to pass, which would be difficult even with teamwork, as at least one ninja would fail regardless. However, the rule is only a ruse; the point of the test is to foster teamwork and to teach the students that teamwork is more important than the rules. Team 7 is the only team to realize this, and as such becomes the only team Kakashi passes into Genin-status. Kakashi also inherits Obito's chronic tardiness, due primarily to losing track of time during his frequent visits to Konoha's memorial site, where Obito's name is engraved. Ironically, this very habit is one that Kakashi was often annoyed at Obito about. Obito was supposedly late due to random good deeds.

Despite these changes, some of Kakashi's previous personality remains. He is fairly dispassionate compared to his subordinates and fellow Jonin, almost never showing emotion. He often says things that sound harsh but mean well, such as suggesting that Rock Lee brought his career-ending injuries on himself by using forbidden taijutsu techniques. While Kakashi is willing to help his students, he remains somewhat aloof and unwilling to let anyone too close to him, noting that he no longer has anyone important to him.

Kakashi's personal life appears to be as much of a mystery as the face behind the mask he has worn for most of his ninja career. He has no living family, or at least none he cares to acknowledge, and he's confirmed that everyone he loves is already dead. He is immediately recognizable as the son of (or mistaken for) his father, the "White Fang of Konoha" (木ノ葉の白い牙, Konoha no Shiroi Kiba^?). Though his face has never been seen, episode 101, which is devoted to Team 7 trying to remove their sensei's mask, implies that he is in fact quite handsome. He takes off his mask in front of Team 7 only to reveal another mask, suggesting that his face, like much of the rest of his personality, is something he does not readily share.

Kakashi has an ongoing, albeit slightly one-sided, rivalry with Might Guy, with Guy constantly proclaiming that Kakashi is his rival, and considering his and Kakashi's subordinates rivals. Kakashi, however, seems indifferent to their rivalry, which annoys Guy to no end. Guy randomly challenges Kakashi to contests of skill, and Kakashi has acquired a record of 49 wins and 50 losses in doing so. Given that the contests that make up this figure are so varied (ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to sumo-wrestling), this is not much of an achievement on Guy's part. Nevertheless, Guy is proud of his record.

Though he evasively says that he has "many hobbies" when asked about himself, he is commonly seen reading of "Icha Icha Paradise" (イチャイチャパラダイス, Icha Icha Paradaisu^?, literally "Make Out Paradise"), an adult and probably pornographic novel authored by Jiraiya that is a runaway bestseller in the Naruto world. Kakashi most prominently reads it while training and speaking with his team, and is later seen reading the second known volume in the series, "Icha Icha Violence" (イチャイチャバイオレンス, Icha Icha Baiorensu^?, literally "Make Out Violence"). In Part II Naruto gives him the new "Icha Icha Tactics" (イチャイチャタクティクス, Icha Icha Takutikusu^?, literally "Make Out Tactics"), which, during their second bell test, Naruto manages to use against him by attempting to spoil the ending and thus distracting Kakashi long enough for him and Sakura to grab the bells.

Abilities

Kakashi's Sharingan.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye gives him a significant advantage in battle, as he can copy enemy techniques and use them as his own, as well as track and predict his opponent's movements flawlessly. Because it is a transplanted eye, his Sharingan eye is always active. While this would not be much of a problem for an Uchiha, his non-Uchiha blood causes it to use much more chakra than it should. Because of this, he covers it with his headband and only utilizes it in the most dangerous battles. Kakashi's use of the Sharingan is as good as that of Itachi Uchiha, though the aforementioned handicaps brought about by the nature of his eye make him somewhat weaker in comparison. In Part II Kakashi is able to develop his own Mangekyo Sharingan. With his variant he is able to manipulate space-time to conduct long range attacks, and in its two uses has been capable of severing another's arms and otherwise sending things to different dimensions. Much like the standard Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan tires Kakashi considerably, and after using it only three times he was hospitalized for a week due to its chakra usage.

With his Sharingan Kakashi has been able to copy more than one thousand jutsu, giving him the nickname "Copy Ninja Kakashi" (コピー忍者のカカシ, Kopī Ninja no Kakashi^?) or "Sharingan Kakashi" (写輪眼のカカシ, Sharingan no Kakashi^?). As a result, Kakashi's arsenal most prominently features ninjutsu abilities and has led to him becoming a specialist in the field. Many of the jutsu he has been seen copying in the series are water-based attacks, though most of these he only uses against the person he copies them from. He does, however, use Water Release: Water Encampment Wall on occasion as a way to block attacks. He less frequently uses other elemental attacks such as Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique to attack opponents or Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique (土遁・心中斬首の術, Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu^?, Viz "Groundhog Technique Decapitation", English TV "Headhunter Jutsu") to pull opponents below ground and immobilize them. He can also create shadow clones, though because he lacks Naruto's chakra reserves, he exercises the ability with caution, rarely creating more than one at a time.

While Kakashi specializes in the use of ninjutsu due to his Sharingan he is fairly adept with other jutsu types, though his use of them is rarely seen. Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique (魔幻・奈烙見の術, Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu^?) causes his opponent to see what they would find a horrifying vision, keeping them preoccupied until they can overcome the illusion. Thousand Years of Death (千年殺し, Sennen Goroshi^?) consists of Kakashi forcefully plunging his index and middle fingers into an opponent's rectum. While only capable of launching the opponent humorous distances in typical uses, the fingers can be replaced with kunai attached with exploding tags to actually do damage to an opponent. He has also started using sealing jutsu, as seen when he attempts to use Evil Sealing Method (封邪法印, Fūja Hōin^?, English TV "Curse Sealing") to seal Sasuke's cursed seal. His proficiency with this ability seems to be in its beginning stages, as the aforementioned jutsu is reliant on the user's will to keep the seal active. He is also quite adept at taijutsu and often matches taijutsu skill with his rival, Might Guy. Because of his well-rounded prowess in jutsu, Kakashi is the highest-ranking technique specialist and one of the strongest ninja in Konoha, as indicated by both Sakura and the manga databooks.

When he was younger Kakashi was taught how to use the Rasengan by the Fourth Hokage. Because the Rasengan is meant to have the user's chakra nature mixed with it, Kakashi attempted to add his lightning-based chakra to it, though was ultimately unsuccessful. In time he instead created the Chidori, which has since become the only jutsu that he has not copied from someone else. After the jutsu's initial creation Kakashi was unable to use the Chidori to its full potential as the sheer speed of the attack left his normal eyes unable to see any form of an enemy counterattack. After acquiring the Sharingan, however, he was able to overcome this shortcoming. Through repeated use and increased proficiency with it, Kakashi's Chidori has been upgraded and renamed to the Lightning Blade due to him having cut through a bolt of lightning with it.

Kakashi has his own personal pack of Ninken, which he calls into battle with the Summoning Technique. The dogs were apparently trained by Kakashi, and most are even able to speak. Kakashi typically uses the dogs for tracking purposes and summons them whenever he is in need of finding someone. The dogs can communicate with Kakashi via howls. If need be, the dogs can hold someone in place while Kakashi catches up.

Since being defeated by Itachi Uchiha in Part I, Kakashi has apparently trained to increase the speed at which he forms hand seals. Naruto and Sakura both remark upon this speed during their second bell test in Part II.

Plot overview

While he makes frequent appearances throughout Part I, Kakashi's role largely deals with protecting his students and keeping them unified. Most prominently he tries to steer Sasuke away from seeing Orochimaru as a source of power, even teaching him how to use the Chidori so that he will not rely on the Cursed Seal for power. In time, however, Sasuke begins to turn against his team and readily attacks them, which, despite Kakashi's protests and attempts to convince him that revenge should not be pursued, ultimately leads to his betraying Konoha. As Naruto and Sasuke carry out a final battle Kakashi rushes to their location to prevent them from killing each other. He arrives too late and Sasuke escapes, and Naruto and Sakura go their separate ways to find their own methods of getting stronger.

Kakashi begins to take part in more battles in Part II as he no longer needs to focus his attention on his students, who have improved greatly over the timeskip. As Akatsuki becomes increasingly more active, Kakashi joins the various battles in defeating its members. Likewise, Kakashi joins Naruto and Sakura's efforts in bringing Sasuke back to Konoha and has since organized an 8-man team that is in part dedicated to this cause. Still, Kakashi has not fully outlived his role as guidance for his students, and he helps Naruto in creating the Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken.

Other media

In the first Naruto movie, Team 7 encounters numerous Yukigakure ninja that seem to know Kakashi from prior encounters, though this is never elaborated upon. Towards the movie's end, Kakashi encounters Nadare Roga and defeats him using a variant of the Front Lotus.

Kakashi also appears in the third Naruto movie, acting as the leader of Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee. He fights Ishidate during the course of the movie, and has his arm turned to stone by his ability. He is later restored by Sakura. Near the end of the movie, Kakashi provides a distraction for the rest of his team by using a water jutsu to ward off Shabadaba's soldiers.

Kakashi is also playable in most of the video games for the series. in the fighting games, he is a fairly strong character, and his sharingan can also be utilized. This is most noticeable in the clash of ninja series, where he can use the sharingan to copy an opponent's special move.

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Naruto

Naruto (ナルト, Naruto^?) is a manga series written and illustrated by manga artist Masashi Kishimoto with an anime adaptation. The main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, unpredictable adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition, as well as to become Hokage, acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Shonen Jump magazine. As of volume 36, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan.^[1] Viz Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump magazine. Naruto has become Viz's best-selling manga series.^[2] To date, the first 15 volumes are available. In order to catch up to the translated anime, Viz plans to release volumes 16 to 27 three at a time over the months of September to December 2007.^[3]

The first of two anime series, produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex, premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002, and is still being aired. Viz also licensed the anime for North American production. Naruto debuted in the United States on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on September 10, 2005, and in Canada on YTV's Bionix on September 16, 2005. Naruto began showing in the UK on Jetix on July 22, 2006. It began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007 in Australia, although it could be watched on Cartoon Network in 2006. The first series lasted nine seasons, while Naruto: Shippūden began its first on February 15, 2007.

Plot overview

Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the nine-tailed demon fox attacked Konohagakure. Powerful enough to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains with a swish of one of its tails, it raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of the Leaf Village – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his own life to seal the demon inside a newly-born child, Naruto Uzumaki. The Fourth Hokage, who was celebrated as a hero for sealing the demon fox away, wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox.

The Leaf Village, however, shunned him, regarding Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage forbid anyone to discuss or mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating him like an outcast and as a result he grew up an orphan without friends, family, or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief.

However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared for and acknowledged him. His graduation from the academy opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world, including his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.^[4]

The main story follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also confides in other characters that he meets throughout the series as well. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of the Leaf Village.

Throughout all of the Naruto plot, strong emphasis on character development changes the plot, with very few things happening because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. However, other characters are developed, such as Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto's peers in the other teams and villages. Several major villains come into play as well, the first being Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from Kirigakure, and his partner, Haku. Later, in the Chunin Exams arc, Orochimaru is introduced as an S-Class missing-nin at the top of Konoha's most wanted list. Later still, a mysterious organization called Akatsuki begins to pursue Naruto for the nine-tailed demon fox inside him.

Characters

The main characters, Squad 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and team leader, Kakashi Hatake

Naruto has a large and colorful cast of characters, running a gamut of detailed histories and complex personalities, and allowing many of them their fair share in the spotlight; they are also seen to grow and mature with the series, as it spans several years. As fitting for a coming-of-age saga, Naruto's world constantly expands and thickens, and his social relations are no exception – during his introduction he has only his teacher and the village's leader for sympathetic figures, but as the story progresses, more and more people become a part of his story.

The students at the Ninja Academy, where the story begins, are split up into squads of three after their graduation and become Genin, junior ninja. Each squad is assigned an experienced sensei. These core squads form a basis for the characters' interactions later in the series, where characters are chosen for missions for their team's strength and complementary skills; Naruto's squad 7 becomes the social frame where Naruto is acquainted with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, and their sensei Kakashi Hatake, forming the core of his world-in-the-making. The other three-man teams of his former classmates form another such layer, as Naruto connects with them to various degrees, learning of their motives, vulnerabilities, and aspirations, often relating them to his own. The groups of three are not limited to the comrades Naruto's age – groups in the story in general come in threes and multiples of three with very few exceptions.

Sensei-student relationships play a significant role in the series; Naruto has a number of mentors with whom he trains and learns, most notably Iruka Umino, the first ninja to recognize Naruto's existence, Kakashi Hatake, his team leader, and Jiraiya, and there are often running threads of tradition and tutelage binding together several generations. These role models provide guidance for their students not only in the ninja arts but also in a number of Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideals. Techniques, ideals, and mentalities noticeably run in families, Naruto often being exposed to the abilities and traditions of generation-old clans in his village when friends from his own age group demonstrate them, or even achieve improvements of their own; it is poignantly noted that Naruto's generation is particularly talented.

Character names often borrow from Japanese folklore and literature (such as the names borrowed from the folktale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari), or are otherwise elaborate puns; often there is a noticeable influence of the story behind the name shouldered by the character.^[5]

Anime details

See also: List of Naruto episodes, List of Naruto: Shippūden episodes, and List of Naruto media

Even though it debuted some time after the manga, the anime quickly caught up, since one anime episode usually covers one or two manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of action, sometimes adding filler content in between. By the time the last canonical arc of the anime concluded, it was quickly gaining on the manga and consequently switched to anime-only filler episodes to allow the manga to broaden the gap once more. Most of the filler episodes are stand-alone stories, with a few being part of arcs that are several episodes long. The filler episodes lasted for 85 episodes, the duration of the first series. After the series moved back into manga-adapted episodes, it was renamed Naruto: Shippūden (疾風伝, Naruto: Shippūden^? lit. Hurricane Chronicles). The new series premiered on February 15, 2007.

The anime generally remains true to the manga, usually changing only minor details (causes of death, loss of limbs, and other injuries have been lessened in the anime) or expanding on parts skipped by the manga. The filler arcs, though unreferenced in the manga (save for a few scant scenes), deal with the breaks between story arcs, most prominently the period between the mission to retrieve Sasuke and Naruto's departure from Leaf Village at the end of the original series. The filler arcs also often shine the spotlight on minor characters that have received little narrative attention otherwise.

New episodes, animated by Studio Pierrot, air weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan during the Golden Time slot (Japan's equivalent of prime time in the US). As of October 5, 2006, it shows on Thursday nights. The series has also spawned four movies, Naruto the Movie, Naruto the Movie 2, Naruto the Movie 3, and Naruto: Shippūden the Movie. The first three are available on DVD,while the fourth one was released on August 4th 2007.

English-language broadcast

On September 10, 2005, Naruto had its hour-long premiere in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV on September 16, 2005. In the United Kingdom, Naruto premiered on Jetix on July 22, 2006. In Australia and New Zealand it premiered on Cartoon Network on September 27, 2006. It also began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007, in Australia.

In its English anime release, Naruto was aired with a TV-PG rating in the US and a PG rating in Canada. More explicit episodes, such as Jiraiya's debut and the battle with Zabuza, have been given a TV-PG-DS or a TV-PG-V rating.^[6] References to alcohol, Japanese cultural differences, mild language, mild sexual situations, and even blood and death remain in the English version, though reduced in some instances.^[7] Other networks make additional content edits apart from the edits done by Cartoon Network, such as Jetix's more strict censoring of blood, language, smoking and the like. So far, only one episode, the "lost OVA", has received a TV-Y7-FV rating, but this was likely due to Cartoon Network neglecting to update the rating for usually in the timeslot that this special ran in TV-Y7-FV programs ran. Repeated viewings (such as the on August 8, 2007) have listed the special as TV-PG-V, As did all commercials for the special.

Reception

The series' length and popularity is comparable to that of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, another popular action-oriented shōnen manga. Since its creation, Naruto has spawned a large number of fansites that contain detailed information, guides, and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in August 2003. Like many other manga and anime titles, Naruto has also spawned its own collectible card game.

Prior to the anime's North American debut in 2005, several scanlation and fansub groups translated the series and made it available for free download on the internet. Despite North American companies' perceived tendency to prosecute fansubbing groups more frequently than Japanese companies,^[8] there are some that have continued to translate new Naruto episodes due to the extremely large gap between the English and Japanese versions.

Although the early part of the series has been called "childish" and "goofy", with a focus on toilet humor, "formulaic battles" and a simplistic plot, the series later develops.^[9]

Volume 7 of the manga has recently won a Quill Award for best graphic novel in North America.^[10] In TV Asahi's latest top 100 Anime Ranking, Naruto ranked 17th on the list.^[11]

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Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin
るろうに剣心 (Rurouni Kenshin)

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚, Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan^?)^[1] is a manga and anime series created by mangaka Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English versions of the OVAs as well as the movie are released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai ("Man killer - Master of the Sword"). Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994 to November 4, 1999, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by VIZ Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."

Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by VIZ Media and distributed in the United States and Canada.

Plot overview

The story starts with Kenshin meeting Kaoru in Tokyo. Kaoru is in pursuit of a man who claims to be the Battousai, and at first believes Kenshin is the man, but after seeing Kenshin's clumsiness and "sakabato" ("reverse blade sword"), she decides he can't possibly be the legendary manslayer. The actual culprit turns out to be a former student of the Kamiya dojo who seeks revenge after being expelled. Kaoru is captured and held captive by the fake Battousai, but Kenshin appears on the scene, reveals that he is the real Battousai, and proceeds to defeat both the fake and his gang without killing any of them. He uses a powerful, ancient style of swordsmanship known as "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu." When offered a place at the dojo, Kenshin decides to temporarily stop being a Rurouni and stay at the dojo, starting the first of three manga arcs.

Characters

Usage note: Character names are given in Japanese order with the given name after the family name. The English anime dub uses the Western order (family name after the given name) while the English manga uses the Japanese order.

Nobuhiro Watsuki, in each tankōbon, details the creation of the characters, as well as the influences he had for the characters' personality and design. Influences include historical figures (prominently seen with members of the Shinsengumi) and fictional sources including X-Men and Marvel characters, and SNK video games characters, mainly Samurai Shodown and Last Blade ones.

Rurouni Kenshin main characters:

• Himura Kenshin (Kenshin Himura)
• Kamiya Kaoru (Kaoru Kamiya)
• Sagara Sanosuke (Sanosuke Sagara)
• Myōjin Yahiko (Yahiko Myojin)
• Takani Megumi (Megumi Takani)
• Saitō Hajime (Hajime Saito)
• Makimachi Misao (Misao Makimachi)

Media

Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story

A prototype series titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story^[2] first appeared as a pair of separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993 in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Special.

The story released in the first manga features an earlier version of Himura Kenshin helping a wealthy girl named Raikōji Chizuru. Chizuru would later be the prototype for Rurouni Kenshin's heroine, Kamiya Kaoru. Chizuru also makes a cameo in the Seishouhen OVA with Kenji in the final scene.

The second story, which though released second in the manga format was indeed the first 'Rurouni' one-shot, has Kenshin saving the Kamiya family's dojo from a corrupt crime lord who seeks to marry the family's oldest daughter, Megumi (later to become Takani Megumi), with the aid of her younger siblings, Kaoru and Yahiko (the heir to the Kamiya dojo, later to become Myojin Yahiko). While Kaoru and Yahiko's characters are similar to their incarnations in Rurouni Kenshin, Megumi's personality is distinctly different as she is more timid and submissive than her eventual incarnation in the series, and Watsuki has noted her personality from that part has been transferred to the character of Sekihara Tae.

Rurouni Kenshin

In 1994, Watsuki created an ongoing version that was published in Shonen Jump until its conclusion in 1999. The manga consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The storyline of Kenshin is divided into three storyline arcs: Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Jinchū (人誅編, Jinchū-ban^?). The Jinchū arc (also known as the "Ending Arc", "Revenge Arc", and sometimes spelled "Jinchuu Arc") was not animated, except for the parts about Kenshin's background which formed one of the OVAs released.

The Jinchū arc contains a large amount of Himura Kenshin's backstory including the meeting of his first wife, (Yukishiro Tomoe), and the events that resulted in his infamous cross-shaped scar. The story arc is primarily focused on characters from Kenshin's years spent as the Hitokiri Battōsai, who seek revenge against him for his past actions. The Jinchū arc also has a stronger romantic theme to it.

Yahiko no Sakabatō

In 2000, it was followed up by Yahiko no Sakabatō (弥彦の逆刃刀, ("Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword")^?), which VIZ Media released in the September 2006 edition of Shonen Jump. The story follows the character of Myojin Yahiko, who reluctantly accepts an assignment to teach at the Kikuhara Kasshin Shintō style dojo. At the dojo, Yahiko finds that Midori, the daughter of the dojo's master, and three students are being held hostage by a criminal, Mutō Kaname, and his followers. Yahiko quickly defeats Mutō and a police officer, Lieutenant Kitaki, who attacks Mutō with the blind belief that all criminals must be executed for the sake of the Meiji era. Yahiko returns to the students and subjects them to harsh training for the rest of his duration at the dojo.

He returns to Tokyo at the end of the month and then takes off to Akabeko to visit Sanjō Tsubame, not knowing the whole trip was planned by Kenshin for Yahiko to become stronger.

Kenshin Kaden

Haru ni Sakura is six pages long and in full color. The story takes place years after the manga's conclusion, when Kenshin and Kaoru have married and have a young son, Kenji. Many of the series' major characters who have befriended Kenshin reunite (or otherwise reveal their current whereabouts) with him in a spring picnic.

Rurouni Kenshin Kanzenban

Starting in July of 2006, the Japanese publishers of Rurouni Kenshin released the long-awaited kanzenban edition. Each Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban volume features a new cover, and there's also a color panel inside the book that is new art as well. The Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban is slated to run 22 volumes (as opposed to the original 28 Tankōbon each book will contain more chapters than the basic editions), with two coming out monthly. As a bonus, the Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban will include "Yahiko no Sakabato", an extra story that ran in Shonen Jump and was never collected into a book in Japan. In Germany it was added to volume 28.

Novels

Originally from Shueisha's Jump j-Books. Voyage to the Moon World is an original story (that was later adapted in the anime), but the rest are adaptations of manga and anime stories. Only Volume 1 has been translated into English so far.

1. Volume 1

   Voyage to the Moon World and Sanosuke and the Nishiki-e By Kaoru Shizuka (1996/10). ISBN 1421506041

2. Volume 2

   Yahihiko's Battle and Kurogasa By Kaoru Shizuka (1997/10). ISBN 4087030636

3. Shimabara Arc

   TV Anime Shimabara Arc (#67-76) 1999/2. ISBN 4087030776

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Anime

For a list of episodes from the anime, see List of Rurouni Kenshin episodes.

The television series was split into three approximate seasons, with the first 27 episodes generally following the Tokyo Arc, episodes 28-62 closely following the Kyoto Arc, and episodes 63-95 being "filler" non-manga based episodes designed so that Watsuki could have more time to finish the Jinchuu plot so it could be animated. The anime series slid from high popularity after the Kyoto Arc because of all the "filler" episodes to eventual cancellation before the Jinchū/Revenge Arc could be animated. The anime series began airing on Japan's Fuji TV on January 10, 1996 and ended on September 8, 1998. It was produced by Aniplex (formerly SPE Visual Works) and Fuji TV, and was animated from episode 1 to 66 by Studio Gallop, whereas the episodes from 66 onwards were animated by Studio Deen. The TV series was later licensed in North America by Media Blasters.

The animated series enjoys immense popularity worldwide, and although designed primarily for young male fans, its detailed exploration of emotion and relationships (especially the romantic relationship that develops between Kenshin and Kaoru to eventual marriage) attracts many young female followers as well.

Movie

Main article: Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi he no Requiem

A movie, Samurai X: The Motion Picture , known in Japan as Ishin Shishi he no Requiem (―維新志士への鎮魂歌, Requiem for the Ishin Patriots^?)^[3] which tells a story where Kenshin meets a samurai who was very close to a man Battosai murdered in the war. The samurai is trying to start a revolution to overthrow the Meiji government.

OVAs

Kenshin as an apothecary

The OVA series, which features a number of historical characters, attempts to be more realistic and accurate than the TV series, which begins as a romantic comedy but evolves into a period drama. The OVA made use of live footage spliced with animation cells giving the series a different feel than straight animation. Both OVAs were re-released internationally in "Director's Cut" forms that spliced the separate "episodes" together into continuous movies, as well as adding some extra footage. The order of musical cues in both director's cut OVAs were significantly lessend and altered, although the tracks themselves were not altered or omitted.

The first OVA series, Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal , known in Japan as Tsuiokuhen (追憶編, Recollection^?)^[4] and later edited into a movie as Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal -Director's Cut, was set during the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and telling of Kenshin's childhood and teenhood. Only a few characters from the TV series appear in this OVA, namely Kenshin, Kenshin's master, Hiko Seijuro (Seijuro Hiko in the English anime), and Saitō Hajime (Hajime Saito in the English anime), as well as a cameo by Makoto Shishio in silhouette at the end. The OVA mainly depicts the life of Kenshin as Battosai and his time with his first wife, Tomoe. Kenshin is nine years old at the beginning and eighteen years-old at the end of the OVA.

Himura Kenshin leaving the Ishin Shishi

Main article: Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen

The second OVA series Samurai X: Reflection , known in Japan as Seisōhen (星霜編, Time^?) ^[5] and later edited into a movie as Samurai X: Reflection -Director's Cut, was set both during and after the TV series and telling of Kenshin and Kaoru's later years, differs from the manga on many key plot points, such as the details in regard of the Jin-e and Enishi fights. The OVA is best described as a montage of singular events surrounding the life of Kenshin, told from the point of view of Kaoru.

Sakabatō

The sakabatō (逆刃刀, lit. reverse-blade sword) is the main weapon of the character Himura Kenshin. It was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki as an original weapon that represents Kenshin's unwillingness to kill.

On a normal katana, the outwardly curved side of the sword is sharp, while the inwardly curved side of the sword (棟, mune) is blunt. In contrast, the sakabatō has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword.

Although the origin of the sakabatō is the cause of some confusion amongst fans, Watsuki has stated in an interview that the sakabatō was his creation. There is no record of reverse-bladed katana ever having been used historically in Japan and there is no existing school of swordsmanship that employs them. However, since the manga was published, non-functional sakabatō have been produced for purchase by collectors and fans.

Trivia

This is a trivia section.

The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

This section has been tagged since May 2007.

• Kenshin's original Japanese dialogue contains some unusual words which can cause problems in translation. Most of the time, he refers to himself with the extremely humble pronoun "sessha" (translated by Viz as "this one") and uses the formal verb "de gozaru" (conveyed by MediaBlasters by sentence-final phrases like "...that it is"). He shares this vocabulary with some characters in other series, such as Goemon Ishikawa from Lupin III. (However, he refers to himself in the first person in the English version of the anime.) He also addresses most women with an honorific that was generally reserved for feudal lords; the translation "Miss Kaoru" does not really express the same degree of extreme courtesy as "Kaoru-dono". When in Battōsai persona, Kenshin stops being so polite; "de gozaru" disappears, and "sessha" is replaced with the more typical brash male pronoun "ore". Kaoru is quick to catch onto this fact, as is demonstrated after the fight with Jin-e.
• Both Kenshin's name and his semi-nonsensical exclamation "oro" are tributes to Watsuki's favorite comedian, Ken Shimura. As used by Shimura and Watsuki, "oro" expresses surprise or dismay, based on the similar exclamation "ara" (generally considered feminine). As proper Japanese vocabulary, "oro" only exists as a word for lochia. It seems in the English version that "oro" has been translated into "huh?" in the English anime dub (Although in episode 62 of the dub, Kaoru notices that Kenshin is saying "oro" rather than "huh?") . However, "oro" is kept intact in the English manga.
• The source of Kenshin's cross scars were introduced later in the series (or in the animated version, during the OVA), but the source of the idea was revealed during an interview with the creator of the series. During concept design, Nobuhiro Watsuki started out with the usual, stereotypical masculine swordsman. He then proceeded to draw a character that, in appearance, was the complete antithesis of the other design. Even he felt that the character design of Kenshin resembled a girl. He added the scars, out of desperation, to make the character look more manly.
• The word Battōsai (抜刀齋) translates into Master of Sword Drawing. Battō (抜刀) is the action of drawing a sword; Sai is a suffix which has no literal meaning, but in this context, can refer to having mastered a set of skills or knowledge. The name directly indicates Kenshin's mastery of all forms of Battōjutsu. However, Kenshin did not give himself this name, nor does he value it.
• The name Samurai X was created to be used as an international name for the Rurouni Kenshin series, it is used for many different versions of the series. ADV Films' English language release of the OVA's and the movie used the Samurai X as so not to confuse their releases with Media Blasters, which had the TV series. This name is unpopular with fans of the series, who also point out that Kenshin was not technically a samurai to begin with, although a few fans of the OVAs say Samurai X makes Kenshin sound more brutal. His use of a surname before the end of the Shogunate may mean that the Ishin Shishi granted him a samurai-equivalent status although he was born into a family of peasant farmers (peasants were not permitted to have family names).
• Watsuki, being a fan of American comics, particularly Marvel, based some of the characters in Rurouni Kenshin on various characters in X-Men, Spider-Man and numerous other Marvel characters. Kenshin's enemy, Jin-E, was physically based on Gambit while Shinomori Aoshi's long coat and the length of his double-kodachi (based on Gambit's cue stick/bō) are borrowed from the same character. Saito Hajime's character design (dark blue uniform, white gloves, hairstyle and 5 o'clock shadow) and credo of brutally killing those who are evil were patterned after The Punisher while his smoking habit and penchant for sarcastically berating his friends (especially Sanosuke) are inspired by Wolverine. Moreover, Kenshin himself also exhibits wit, sensibilities, and morals similar to Spider-Man. The character design of Yatsume Mumyoi, a character from the Jinchu arc (see above) is extremely similar to the supervillain Venom from Spider-Man, something which Watsuki himself points out in his respective character-commentary section. The cloak of Hiko Seijūrō, Kenshin's master, Watsuki admits in one of the manga commentaries was inspired by the cloak of Spawn.
• According to Watsuki's Secret Life of Characters sections, his characters are also visually based on characters from other popular anime series. Sanjō Tsubame's haircut was modeled on Hotaru Tomoe's from the Sailor Moon series while Yukishiro Tomoe and Honjō Kamatari are based on Rei Ayanami and Yui Ikari respectively of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• The alternate title for Kenshin, Samurai X, is used in another Watsuki series; Buso Renkin. The Sword Samurai X is Shusui Hayasaka's Buso Renkin (an alchemic weapon).
• In the first appearances of Yahiko, he is shown to be naming himself as Myōjin Yahiko, Tokyo Samurai, though by Meiji era, most members of the samurai class became shizoku, who retained the same salary but were no longer permitted to wear and draw a katana unnecessarily in public. In later releases by Viz depicting Yahiko's introduction, Yahiko refers to himself as Tokyo Shizoku, confusing many of the readers who had seen the previous edition. In the English dub by MediaBlasters, he refers to himself as "Yahiko Myojin: Son of a Samurai."
• This series is also, in part, inspired by the classic SNK game Samurai Shodown, as Watsuki frequently makes references to the game and its characters in his own character notes. It is also noteworthy that the Last Blade games series, also from SNK, has many characters that in turn took elements from Rurouni Keshin characters, most notably Moriya Minakata, whose cloak was inspired by that of Hiko Seijuro and whose primary skills are in battoujutsu.
• The character Baiken from Guilty Gear was heavily inspired by Kenshin, to the point where her initial physical appearance in the first game was a pallette swap of Kenshin. It is said that Daisuke Ishiwatari (the character designer) got the idea when he saw a picture of Kenshin and mistook him for a woman.
• There is a scene in the manga, during the beginning of the Jinchuu arc where Kenshin tells his friends of his past and of Yukishiro Tomoe, where in one page, Kenshin is not wearing two toed socks, yet the page after and the following one clearly shows his wearing two-toed socks.

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