Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 21
- ISBN
- 9781421500829
- Publisher
- VIZ
- English release
- Pages
- 192
Rurouni Kenshin 21 contains Acts 178–186 and opens near the end of the Remembrance flashback. Kenshin is wounded and struggling against an opponent who has no reason to offer an even contest. The contents finish the numbered Remembrance sequence before returning to the continuing story, so this book joins the earlier-life account to the present conflict. Start that account in the preceding books if it is unfamiliar. The opening is its dangerous continuation, not a separate origin story that can be read without the setup.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
The opponent refuses to close carelessly even when Kenshin is badly hurt. He can wear him down while remaining outside the range of a decisive response, and calls this cunning rather than cowardice. The distinction is uncomfortable because it is effective. Kenshin’s determination does not oblige an experienced enemy to grant him the kind of contest determination could win. Alongside the fight, Tomoe wakes and recognizes the person she has come to love in the man she originally intended to kill. The preview has not yet shown how she will act. These opening pages make the impending choice harder by placing it beside a battle whose terms are deliberately unequal. The flashback’s closing stretch cannot be reduced to the swordsman trying harder.
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