Book 1

Rurouni Kenshin 1

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 October 2003

Book 1

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 1

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 23 December 2003
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with he coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.

Book 2

Rurouni Kenshin 2

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 19 November 2003

Book 2

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 2

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 20 January 2004
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

When the chief of the Police Sword Corps himself comes asking for favors, things must be bad. Hitokiri Udô Jin-e--a black-hatted, crazy-eyed slayer who fells both targets and innocent bystanders alike--is steadily working his way through a list of former Ishin Shishi patriots now ensconced within position of power in the Meiji government. Can Kenshin withstand the hypnotic, paralyzing effect of Jin-e...?

Book 3

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 3

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 23 March 2004
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

"Spider's Web"...like ordinary opium, but better processed. Half the cost to produce, but twice the profits! To the people of Aizu, Takani Megumi was a daughter in a famous family of doctors, in which everyone--women and children alike--studied medicine. But to grasping industrialist Takeda Kanryû, she is the hen who lays the golden egg--the only one who knows the Spider's Web formula! To stay with Kanryû is to send even more to their deaths. But to stay with Kenshin and the others is to invite theirs...

Book 3

Rurouni Kenshin 3

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 21 January 2004

Book 4

Rurouni Kenshin Volume 4

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 17 March 2004
With his killer blade, legend-warrior Hitokiri Battosai once helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era, and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. It's now 1878, ten years after the bloody Meiji Revolution that marked the end of the rule of the Shogun and the Samurai in Japan. In Tokyo, where swords have been banned, Kaoru bumps into the wandering Kenshin while looking for the Battosai, who is ruining the name of her fencing school by killing people in the streets using her signature style. Thus begins an extraordinary relationship between Kaoru, a master swordswoman with a heart of gold; Kenshin, a past master who has vowed never to fight again; and the seemingly invincible would-be Battosai. Volume 4: Held captive and running out of hope, Megumi ponders the two options she's been given: A life of suffering, or a peaceful death. Meanwhile, Kenshin and the others continue their battle with the elite former guards of Edo Castle - the Oniwabanshu - as led by the enigmatic Shinomori Aoshi. Foes who spit fire, throw poison darts...How can Kenshin and his friends overcome a seamingly endless number of foes?

Book 4

The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

Shinomori Aoshi was once the leader of Edo Castle's elite guard, the Oniwabanshû. But with the fighting at an end and the shôgunate overthrown, the brilliant Aoshi and his four most loyal onmitsu, or spies, find themselves without a home or a purpose. When fighting is your life, loyalty to those lost ideals (and to the man who most symbolized them) may be the one thing left. But Megumi's life is at stake, and however sympathetic Kenshin may feel, he will fight on, to the last man if necessary...

Book 5

The State of Meiji Swordsmanship Isurugi Raijuta, a truly old-school swordsman, comes to Kenshin and requests his aid in reforming the state of swordsmanship schools, or kenjutsu dojo, in Japan. Although Kenshin is intrigued by Raijuta's ideals (chiefly, that there is a need for a nation-wide, unifying school), Raijuta's plan to "weed out" the schools he deems unfit is not in accordance with Kenshin's deepest-held beliefs. Given the choice of either joining Raijuta's "Shinko-ryu" movement or dying, Kenshin walks away, choosing neither. But Raijuta isn't willing to let Kenshin off the hook so easily...

Book 5

The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

Isurugi Raijûta, a truly old-school swordsman, comes to Kenshin and requests his aid in reforming the state of swordsmanship schools, or kenjutsu dojo, in Japan. Although Kenshin is intrigued by Raijûta's ideals (chiefly, that there is a need for a nation-wide, unifying school), Raijûta's plan to "weed out" the schools he deems unfit is not in accordance with Kenshin's deepest-held beliefs. Given the choice of either joining Raijûta's "Shinko-ryû" movement or dying, Kenshin walks away, choosing neither. But Raijûta isn't willing to let Kenshin off the hook so easily...

Book 6

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 6

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 3 August 2004
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

Kenshin's battle with Raijûta to decide the fate of Meiji Era swordsmanship is coming to a head. One fact is quickly becoming apparent: Raijûta will stop at nothing to ensure the supremacy of his own school of sword-fighting! Reunited with a member of the former Sekihô Army--that doomed civilian unit--Sanosuke runs into trouble of his own. Old alliances are challenged when a plan to topple the current government by any means necessary is shared...and as his friend puts it, Sano's either "in," or "in the way." Plus a bonus installment containing the first story Nobuhiro Watsuki ever published!

Book 6

Rurouni Kenshin 6

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 July 2004

Book 7

Rurouni Kenshin Volume 7

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 September 2004

Book 7

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 7

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 September 2004
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

The Shinsengumi--fearsome and formidable protectors of the Shôgunate. Kenshin knows them well, having done battle with them during the final days of the Meiji Restoration. One man in particular--Saitô Hajime, captain of the third unit--lingers in Kenshin's mind. Now an officer of the law and known as "Fujita Gorô," Saitô arrives on the steps of the Kamiya Dojo, challenging Kenshin to a duel that will force a reawakening of Kenshin's own past. But the confrontation with Saitô is just the beginning of something much larger, something that will involve the future of the new Japan...

Book 8


Book 8

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 8

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 January 2005
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

In the 11th year of Meiji, on the day marked in the Western calendar as May 14th, time once again begins to flow. The shocking midday murder of Department of Internal Affairs Chief Ôûkubo a fait accompli, Kenshin leaves for Kyoto, scene of chaos and bloodshed--against the wishes of nearly everyone who knows him as the gentle "rurouni." Awaiting him there is Shishio Makoto, the hitokiri who replaced the cold-eyed assassin Himura Battôsai who forswore further killing and took up the reversed-blade sakabatô. But does Kenshin go to Kyoto for a duel...or for a death-match?!

Book 9

Rurouni Kenshin 9

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 1 December 2004

Book 9

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 9

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 7 December 2004
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

A glimpse of the new Japan if the mad ambitions of Shishio Makoto should succeed is revealed when Kenshin arrives in Kyoto and meets him at last...although the epic battle between them will have to wait. Pitted against Shishio's soldiers, Kenshin's reversed-edge sakabatô is broken--can it be reforged? Should it be reforged? For time has once again begun to flow, and violence once more washes over the land. Although Kenshin has abandoned the ways of the hitokiri and has sworn to take life no longer, a new assassin has now arisen--one whose taste for blood and thirst for power knows no bounds…

Book 10


Book 10

Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 10

by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Published 4 January 2005
The battle to decide the fate of Meiji-era swordsmanship has begun!

Action, romance, and historical intrigue help make Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, the tale of a wandering swordsman set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, one of the most popular Shonen Jump titles among fans to date. Himura Kenshin, once an assassin (or hitokiri ) of ferocious power, now fights to protect the honor of those in need.

His sakabato broken in battle, Kenshin seeks out the man who forged it--Arai Shakkû--only to be turned away. Seikû, son of the legendary swordsmith, had for a time been continuing his father's work (the forging of katana, meant for killing), but has since given up that calling and spends his time making humble cooking knives. Respecting Seikû's wishes, Kenshin leaves without the desired blade...but not before Shishio's spies learn that Shakkû has forged one last sword. Meanwhile, Shishio arrives in Kyoto with orders for his ten generals or "Ten Swords" to join him and put into motion a plan to take over Japan. Chô, one of Shishio's "swords," learns early of Shakkû's final blade and determines to secure it at any cost. Now, armed only with his broken sakabatô, Kenshin must face Chô in battle...