Ask John: Will the Revenge Arc Ever be Animated?

Question:
I have recently finished watching Rurouni Kenshin (through Tales of the Meiji) Trust, Betrayal, The Movie, and Reflections. I have read that Reflections provides a different ending than what the creator wrote in the Jinchuu Arc. I was wondering if the Jinchuu Arc will ever be animated, and if the Rurouni Kenshin manga will ever be licensed for release in the US?

Answer:
SPOILERS INCLUDED

If you’ve seen the “Reflections” DVD, you’ve already seen all of the Jinchuu story arc that’s going to be animated.

In the Rurouni Kenshin manga, the Kyoto story arc is followed by the famous “Jinchuu” (Revenge) arc that reveals Himura Kenshin’s past life with Tomoe and how he accidentally killed her. The bulk of the revenge arc deals with Tomoe’s younger brother Enishi, by this time a grown man, seeking revenge on Kenshin for Tomoe’s death. The manga’s revenge arc concludes with Kenshin and Kaoru visiting Tomoe’s grave and Kenshin passing on his sword to Yahiko.

Much to the frustration of Rurouni Kenshin fans, the Rurouni Kenshin TV animation skipped over the revenge arc, replacing it with the much maligned Christian saga that was not in the manga. Kenshin & Kaoru’s visit to Tomoe’s grave was animated and was intended to be the final TV episode, but since the Christian arc was comissioned, the grave visit episode was never broadcast on Japanese television and was not used as the TV series final episode. The brief flashbacks to Kenshin’s life with Tomoe seen in the manga were expanded into the 4 episode long Rurouni Kenshin Tsuikohen OAV series, released in America on the “Trust” & “Betrayal” DVDs. The two episode long Seishohen OAV series, released in America under the title “Reflections,” consists of a re-cap of the Rurouni Kenshin saga including the climax of the Jinchuu story arc, and a story finale that occurs roughly 15 years after the manga and TV series endings.

The brief scenes of Kaoru being kidnapped by Enishi and Kenshin’s final fight with Enishi included in the “Reflections” OAVs are likely to be the most fans will ever see of an animated adaptation of the Jinchuu story arc from the manga.

Viz has announced that the Rurouni Kenshin manga will debut in America this November.