Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 14
- ISBN
- 9781591167679
- Publisher
- VIZ
- English release
- Pages
- 192
Rurouni Kenshin 14 collects Acts 112–120, beginning with the injured Sanosuke and the defeated Anji. The fighting has left wounds that a bandage can address and damage that the medicine Kenshin carries cannot. Before the group moves onward through Shishio’s stronghold, Sanosuke argues over what remains of Anji’s original purpose. This book continues an expedition already in progress. Its opening is concerned with what follows a victory over an opponent, rather than introducing that opponent or starting the expedition afresh.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
Sanosuke does not ask Anji to admit that wanting to save vulnerable people was a mistake. He asks him to change the means. That distinction meets a serious objection: Anji says people are not so easily saved by kindness. Sanosuke answers with the children who flourished under his care before their deaths. The answer does not undo what happened to them, and the scene does not show a completed recovery. It challenges Anji’s decision to let their final suffering invalidate everything that preceded it. Care can have been real even when it did not prevent catastrophe. The opening turns from defeating an enemy to disputing his account of his own life. A ruined outcome does not entitle him to erase the good he once did.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links on this page are affiliate links, which cost you nothing extra. They never influence what appears on this site or what the commentary says about it.