WARNING: This is an exercise in thinking WAY too hard about fantasy manga and real history.
So, for whatever reason (maybe filling a void with my list of followed Jump series going form 4 -> 2, I stopped Bleach again), I ended up going back and reading bits of Rurouni Kenshin again. I've always loved the series (oddly, with the exception of Kenshin himself-- too wussy for me too often).
BUT as I read through the series, I keep finding myself going "huh?" It's just hard to see exactly how Kenshin fits into the picture of history.
So, before getting into what's wrong/inconsistent with history, let's first take a look at what the series says:
-Kenshin trained under Hiko Seijuurou to learn Hiten Mitsuryugi ryuu
-At some point, he leaves his master saying that "he must go to protect the innocent people," fighting to bring the "end of the war" sooner for the sake of weak civilians.
-Kenshin is scouted by Takasugi Shinsaku to join the Kiheitai--which is the first modern militia in Japan, and the first fighting force to not use Samurai--in Choshuu (already you're raising an eyebrow right?). The assumption is that Kenshin is treated as a Choshuu samurai.
-Shinsaku eventually introduces Kenshin to Katsura Kogoro, major military leader of Choshu, who impressed with Kenshin's skill as a swordsman, makes him an assassin to kill off various people in the Bakufu (Shogunate) as "the Hitokiri in the shadows".
-Kenshin remains the hitokiri in the shadows until he is eventually called to fight in the Boshin wars, and leaves assassination to fight with the Shinsengumi openly.
-Shishio Makoto becomes the assassin in the shadows and continues assassinations for this Ishin shishi.
Okay, there is something that makes me go "huh?" at almost every point in this sequence of events.
First of all, the "Ishin Shishi" don't really exist until 1866, March-May-ish, when Choshuu and Satsuma join forces. Until this point, Choshuu is pretty much in a fight for its survival, with every other domain as well as the Bakufu all preparing a final war to wipe them out-- and Choshuu is still lead by the screaming remnants of the battered "Sonno Joi" (Revere the Emperor, Kill the Barbarians) creed.
Those who rallied around Choshuu at this point were either radicals who believed in ridding Japan of foreigners, or people loyal to Choshuu and taking up arms in order to save it. None of which makes sense in the picture of Kenshin's mission to "end the war to save the innocents [in Kyoto]". The Kiheitai isn't even in Kyoto at this point-- they're hunkering down to Choshuu preparing themselves to fight to the last against overwhelming Bakufu forces (all but assured as long as Satsuma-- who at this point is Choshuu's most hated rival-- sides with the Bakufu, which is all but certain).
Before 1866, the way to bring "an end to the bloodshed" isn't to join Choshuu, it's to wipe out Choshuu-- this is pretty much exactly the role of the Shinsengumi, who hunted down extremists and Joi-radicals in the capital up until the point where Choshuu is eventually forced to withdraw all its officials and Samurai from the capital completely (Satsuma threw them out, and the Shinsegumi fought with them).
But we all know the eradication of Choshuu is not what happened. Satsuma ends up joining up with Choshuu (in thanks to Sakamoto Ryoma and his band of low profile revolutionaries), seeing themselves as the next target if Choshuu should fall. Instead, a strategic alliance is formed, and with weapons procured by Satsuma, Choshuu smashes the Bakufu invasion in the summer of 1866, and the tides turn.
^None of this involves secret assassinations-- but instead secret trade operations followed by all-out-war.
It's only after this conflict, so in the fall-winter of 1866 when Choshuu and Satsuma show itself as a powerful alliance and calls the authority of the Bakufu into question. You could kind of say this is the formation of the Ishin Shishi, but not really-- in spring of 1867, Yamauchi Toyoshige of Tosa, who until this point is very close to the Bakufu, suggests that the Shogun resign and allow a peaceful change of power. This is another move engineered by Ryoma in his hope of revolution without bloodshed (as much as possible). At this point, Tosa joins the Satsuma-Choshuu alliance, who now have a unified mission/vision (though there are many amongst them who want an all-out war still) and can be called the Ishin-Shishi (tentatively). It's only at this point that Kenshin's mission statement even makes sense except...
By this point in history, a Kyoto hitokiri is really not accomplishing much. The Bakufu morale is smashed, the Shogun calls all the leaders (including those from Satsuma and Tosa) to council him on potentially resigning, and the Shinsengumi have taken a serious fall from grace. Choshuu and Satsuma are preparing themselves for a potential war with the Bakufu. In fact, the end of the Swordsman is all but over.
At this point, Choshuu are the domain best trained in modern warfare-- they have all the training, all the drill, and thanks the combination of their innate natural resources (they gots the dough) and Satsuma's trade connections-- they're armed to the teeth. For the rest of the Boshin wars, the Shinsengumi find themselves on the losing side of a one-sided-beating where they are completely whipped in experience with modern weapons and warfare. The Kiheitai and Choshuu's other modern militia are the stars of this show, with cannons and rifles being center stage.
So when WAS this era of the Hitokiri and the blood-bath in the ancient capital of Kyoto? Well, it's pre-1866, pretty much up until 1864. It's when Sonno Joi was in full swing, and radical factions from Choshuu and Tosa (the Tosa ones absolutely detested by Tosa's Daimyo, Yamauchi) ran amok-- playing up to the sentiments of Samurai pride, blind vision of superiority, or otherwise sheer desperation (takeover by westerners inevitable????) rile up thinking, and actually receive blessing from the Emperor for a time.
It's in these times that legendary assassins and patriotic ronnin roam Kyoto, killing many Bakufu officials, and spilling much blood in contests against the Shinsengumi. It's at this point when the swords battles are in full swing. Only problem; no ishin-shishi at this point. No "noble cause to bring peace sooner to the innocents"-- just lots of patriotic extremists bent on seeing Japan wage all out war against the foreigners (an impossible battle to anyone with a brain, but leaders of Choshuu saw that as better than silently being taken over). Bottom line: Kenshin is not at all the type of radical war-monger that would have been a Hitokiri at the time.
All of this converges on the Ikedaya in 1864, where the Shinsengumi infiltrate and destroy the last rallying group of Choshuu/Joi leaders and loyalists banning together. Choshuu has already been evicted from the capital. Choshuu goes for a secret mission to seize the Emperor (save the Emperor from their view), and bring him back to Choshuu where he can be used as leverage against the Shogun. THAT never happens.
The Shinsengumi break in and DESTROYS this group. It is an absolute massacre, with ears and limbs of 50 or so Choshuu/Joi men flung across the hair, skin, and blood soaked Tatami as the 10-or-so Shinsengumi assailants break and bend 8-12 of their Swords/Spears in the process of literally butchering these guys. Where the heck was Kenshin in this? Well, if he had been there, he would have gotten his ass handed to him considering Kondo Isami and his 3 top captains, Okita, Nagakura, and Saitou (all on par with Kenshin supposedly) were all in the thick of it that night.
Katsura Kogoro is the only one who luckily manages to avoid the meeting and flee back to Choshuu with his life. The Shinsengumi has broken the back of the hitokiri by 1865, and Choshuu has fled from the city.
Poor thing for Kondo Isami and his wolves of Mibu though... this is pretty much their last great victory, and the height of their power. While the rising son of a farmer-turned-elite-Samurai would rise in rank in the Bakufu, the Shinsengumi's days as top dogs are coming to an end, and the Bakufu itself about to see the beginning of the revolution.
So again, Kenshin is... wha...?
So maybe somewhere after Choshuu beats the insurgency in summer of 1866, and the Shogunate's resignation in Nov of 1867 there might have been room for a "Hitokiri Battousai" to be fighting the Shinsengumi in Kyoto-- but at this point, that's largely inconsequential. The spirit of the Bakufu is already shaking, and more importantly the hay-day of the Shinsengumi and the Hitokiri is already OVER. (Not to mention Kenshin's joining somewhere in Choshuu in the fall of 1866, and then making the 2-3 month WALK to Kyoto supposedly).
Then we come to the Boshin wars, which break out after Yoshinobu resigns his Shogunate, and the Ishin-Shishi make war on the last Bakufu extremists (including the Shinsengumi no surprise) trying to hold power despite that resignation. At this point Kenshin supposedly stops assasinations in the shadows (which would have happened for 6 or so months in the least relevant point of the Bakumatsu for an assassin?), and joins the Ishin-Shishi to fight the Boshin wars in Aizu.
All of that makes sense. Saitou says he lasts fights Kenshin in Toba-Fushimi, which was an important battle in the Boshin wars in which Saitou did actually take part in. Fine. But what the heck was Shishio Makoto doing at this point?
Shishio Makoto-- legendary antagonist of the series-- with the start of the Boshin wars in 1867, supposedly takes over for Kenshin as the Ishin's hit-man in the shadows of Kyoto. Wait. WHERE??
After he resigns his post, Yoshinobu retreats to Edo. He takes everyone of relevance with him. The Shinsengumi even retreat to Kantou by boat (with a bed-ridden Kondo Isami and Okita being tugged there unceremoniously, heck even Saitou is out of commission with an injury at this point in time, having gotten his ass handed to him in open conflicts with Ishin forces. Okita's all but dying of his TB.). Everyone of importance in the Bakufu has already retreated to Edo with their tails between their legs.
JUST WHO THE HECK WAS SHISHIO KILLING IN KYOTO?? The Shogun palace Janitors?
So, yeah... I could go on, but I think that sums up my recent train of wtf?? When re-reading Rurouni Kenshin. (Shishio Makoto was "burned to make sure he was dead" in the era when be-heading was as ceremonial as it was standardized)
So, for whatever reason (maybe filling a void with my list of followed Jump series going form 4 -> 2, I stopped Bleach again), I ended up going back and reading bits of Rurouni Kenshin again. I've always loved the series (oddly, with the exception of Kenshin himself-- too wussy for me too often).
BUT as I read through the series, I keep finding myself going "huh?" It's just hard to see exactly how Kenshin fits into the picture of history.
So, before getting into what's wrong/inconsistent with history, let's first take a look at what the series says:
-Kenshin trained under Hiko Seijuurou to learn Hiten Mitsuryugi ryuu
-At some point, he leaves his master saying that "he must go to protect the innocent people," fighting to bring the "end of the war" sooner for the sake of weak civilians.
^wait, don't you mean:
"I have to go make sure Joi happens-- we must prove the superiority of Samurai discipline, and the power to murder the barbarians."
or
"I must murder those Bakufu in order to make sure we go to war with the foreigners, only through years of bloodshed in the foreseeable future can Japan be free."
or even
"Those bastard Bakufu are going to wipe out Choshuu-- I must go save them."
or something that sounds remotely what a Hitokiri would actually be aiming at?
"I have to go make sure Joi happens-- we must prove the superiority of Samurai discipline, and the power to murder the barbarians."
or
"I must murder those Bakufu in order to make sure we go to war with the foreigners, only through years of bloodshed in the foreseeable future can Japan be free."
or even
"Those bastard Bakufu are going to wipe out Choshuu-- I must go save them."
or something that sounds remotely what a Hitokiri would actually be aiming at?
-Shinsaku eventually introduces Kenshin to Katsura Kogoro, major military leader of Choshu, who impressed with Kenshin's skill as a swordsman, makes him an assassin to kill off various people in the Bakufu (Shogunate) as "the Hitokiri in the shadows".
-Kenshin remains the hitokiri in the shadows until he is eventually called to fight in the Boshin wars, and leaves assassination to fight with the Shinsengumi openly.
-Shishio Makoto becomes the assassin in the shadows and continues assassinations for this Ishin shishi.
Okay, there is something that makes me go "huh?" at almost every point in this sequence of events.
First of all, the "Ishin Shishi" don't really exist until 1866, March-May-ish, when Choshuu and Satsuma join forces. Until this point, Choshuu is pretty much in a fight for its survival, with every other domain as well as the Bakufu all preparing a final war to wipe them out-- and Choshuu is still lead by the screaming remnants of the battered "Sonno Joi" (Revere the Emperor, Kill the Barbarians) creed.
Those who rallied around Choshuu at this point were either radicals who believed in ridding Japan of foreigners, or people loyal to Choshuu and taking up arms in order to save it. None of which makes sense in the picture of Kenshin's mission to "end the war to save the innocents [in Kyoto]". The Kiheitai isn't even in Kyoto at this point-- they're hunkering down to Choshuu preparing themselves to fight to the last against overwhelming Bakufu forces (all but assured as long as Satsuma-- who at this point is Choshuu's most hated rival-- sides with the Bakufu, which is all but certain).
Before 1866, the way to bring "an end to the bloodshed" isn't to join Choshuu, it's to wipe out Choshuu-- this is pretty much exactly the role of the Shinsengumi, who hunted down extremists and Joi-radicals in the capital up until the point where Choshuu is eventually forced to withdraw all its officials and Samurai from the capital completely (Satsuma threw them out, and the Shinsegumi fought with them).
But we all know the eradication of Choshuu is not what happened. Satsuma ends up joining up with Choshuu (in thanks to Sakamoto Ryoma and his band of low profile revolutionaries), seeing themselves as the next target if Choshuu should fall. Instead, a strategic alliance is formed, and with weapons procured by Satsuma, Choshuu smashes the Bakufu invasion in the summer of 1866, and the tides turn.
^None of this involves secret assassinations-- but instead secret trade operations followed by all-out-war.
It's only after this conflict, so in the fall-winter of 1866 when Choshuu and Satsuma show itself as a powerful alliance and calls the authority of the Bakufu into question. You could kind of say this is the formation of the Ishin Shishi, but not really-- in spring of 1867, Yamauchi Toyoshige of Tosa, who until this point is very close to the Bakufu, suggests that the Shogun resign and allow a peaceful change of power. This is another move engineered by Ryoma in his hope of revolution without bloodshed (as much as possible). At this point, Tosa joins the Satsuma-Choshuu alliance, who now have a unified mission/vision (though there are many amongst them who want an all-out war still) and can be called the Ishin-Shishi (tentatively). It's only at this point that Kenshin's mission statement even makes sense except...
By this point in history, a Kyoto hitokiri is really not accomplishing much. The Bakufu morale is smashed, the Shogun calls all the leaders (including those from Satsuma and Tosa) to council him on potentially resigning, and the Shinsengumi have taken a serious fall from grace. Choshuu and Satsuma are preparing themselves for a potential war with the Bakufu. In fact, the end of the Swordsman is all but over.
At this point, Choshuu are the domain best trained in modern warfare-- they have all the training, all the drill, and thanks the combination of their innate natural resources (they gots the dough) and Satsuma's trade connections-- they're armed to the teeth. For the rest of the Boshin wars, the Shinsengumi find themselves on the losing side of a one-sided-beating where they are completely whipped in experience with modern weapons and warfare. The Kiheitai and Choshuu's other modern militia are the stars of this show, with cannons and rifles being center stage.
So when WAS this era of the Hitokiri and the blood-bath in the ancient capital of Kyoto? Well, it's pre-1866, pretty much up until 1864. It's when Sonno Joi was in full swing, and radical factions from Choshuu and Tosa (the Tosa ones absolutely detested by Tosa's Daimyo, Yamauchi) ran amok-- playing up to the sentiments of Samurai pride, blind vision of superiority, or otherwise sheer desperation (takeover by westerners inevitable????) rile up thinking, and actually receive blessing from the Emperor for a time.
It's in these times that legendary assassins and patriotic ronnin roam Kyoto, killing many Bakufu officials, and spilling much blood in contests against the Shinsengumi. It's at this point when the swords battles are in full swing. Only problem; no ishin-shishi at this point. No "noble cause to bring peace sooner to the innocents"-- just lots of patriotic extremists bent on seeing Japan wage all out war against the foreigners (an impossible battle to anyone with a brain, but leaders of Choshuu saw that as better than silently being taken over). Bottom line: Kenshin is not at all the type of radical war-monger that would have been a Hitokiri at the time.
All of this converges on the Ikedaya in 1864, where the Shinsengumi infiltrate and destroy the last rallying group of Choshuu/Joi leaders and loyalists banning together. Choshuu has already been evicted from the capital. Choshuu goes for a secret mission to seize the Emperor (save the Emperor from their view), and bring him back to Choshuu where he can be used as leverage against the Shogun. THAT never happens.
The Shinsengumi break in and DESTROYS this group. It is an absolute massacre, with ears and limbs of 50 or so Choshuu/Joi men flung across the hair, skin, and blood soaked Tatami as the 10-or-so Shinsengumi assailants break and bend 8-12 of their Swords/Spears in the process of literally butchering these guys. Where the heck was Kenshin in this? Well, if he had been there, he would have gotten his ass handed to him considering Kondo Isami and his 3 top captains, Okita, Nagakura, and Saitou (all on par with Kenshin supposedly) were all in the thick of it that night.
Katsura Kogoro is the only one who luckily manages to avoid the meeting and flee back to Choshuu with his life. The Shinsengumi has broken the back of the hitokiri by 1865, and Choshuu has fled from the city.
Poor thing for Kondo Isami and his wolves of Mibu though... this is pretty much their last great victory, and the height of their power. While the rising son of a farmer-turned-elite-Samurai would rise in rank in the Bakufu, the Shinsengumi's days as top dogs are coming to an end, and the Bakufu itself about to see the beginning of the revolution.
So again, Kenshin is... wha...?
So maybe somewhere after Choshuu beats the insurgency in summer of 1866, and the Shogunate's resignation in Nov of 1867 there might have been room for a "Hitokiri Battousai" to be fighting the Shinsengumi in Kyoto-- but at this point, that's largely inconsequential. The spirit of the Bakufu is already shaking, and more importantly the hay-day of the Shinsengumi and the Hitokiri is already OVER. (Not to mention Kenshin's joining somewhere in Choshuu in the fall of 1866, and then making the 2-3 month WALK to Kyoto supposedly).
Then we come to the Boshin wars, which break out after Yoshinobu resigns his Shogunate, and the Ishin-Shishi make war on the last Bakufu extremists (including the Shinsengumi no surprise) trying to hold power despite that resignation. At this point Kenshin supposedly stops assasinations in the shadows (which would have happened for 6 or so months in the least relevant point of the Bakumatsu for an assassin?), and joins the Ishin-Shishi to fight the Boshin wars in Aizu.
All of that makes sense. Saitou says he lasts fights Kenshin in Toba-Fushimi, which was an important battle in the Boshin wars in which Saitou did actually take part in. Fine. But what the heck was Shishio Makoto doing at this point?
Shishio Makoto-- legendary antagonist of the series-- with the start of the Boshin wars in 1867, supposedly takes over for Kenshin as the Ishin's hit-man in the shadows of Kyoto. Wait. WHERE??
After he resigns his post, Yoshinobu retreats to Edo. He takes everyone of relevance with him. The Shinsengumi even retreat to Kantou by boat (with a bed-ridden Kondo Isami and Okita being tugged there unceremoniously, heck even Saitou is out of commission with an injury at this point in time, having gotten his ass handed to him in open conflicts with Ishin forces. Okita's all but dying of his TB.). Everyone of importance in the Bakufu has already retreated to Edo with their tails between their legs.
JUST WHO THE HECK WAS SHISHIO KILLING IN KYOTO?? The Shogun palace Janitors?
So, yeah... I could go on, but I think that sums up my recent train of wtf?? When re-reading Rurouni Kenshin. (Shishio Makoto was "burned to make sure he was dead" in the era when be-heading was as ceremonial as it was standardized)
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