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Dec. 31st, 2015 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
echigo_wargodThis is entirely for reference.
In the anime, Kenshin is a minor character for most of the series, as it primarily focuses on Masamune and Yukimura. While the world differs between the anime and the game, Kenshin's personality and abilities do not change. Since the anime is based on the game, I draw from both for reference (only for Kenshin, not the world around him), as well as history.
One of Kenshin's most known aspects is his rivalry with Takeda Shingen. Many times the two lords clashed in Kawanakajima.
The battles are never explicitely named in the anime, though at the start of each season, Kenshin and Shingen face off in battle in a river. Each time, the battles end in a draw, just as they do historically.
In his ending FMV in Basara 1, he states no one could defeat him.
(Forgive the bad dubbing for the first game.) He seems to long for someone who can actually challenge his skill and prowess, make him feel alive.
In the second game, their rivalry comes to light.
The opening to Kenshin's storymode re-enacts the fourth battle at Kawanakajima. Kenshin arrives at night, coming down the mountain on horseback, surprising the Takeda. Boldly he attacks Shingen himself, who is forced to defend with his signal fan. The two clash then Kenshin heads off (almost comically) in the opposite direction, leaving their battle, once again, in a draw.
In Basara 2, also there is a stage in Kenshin's story mode called Battle of Kawanakajima where the player must assault the Takeda. In Basara 3, Kenshin becomes an NPC, though in Ieyasu's story mode, he tells Ieyasu his heart has grown cold since he heard of Shingen's sickness. He's lost his rival. Though the anime doesn't cover Basara 3 at all, separating him from his rival has caused him to grow cold again.
Kasuga never existed historically (at least not within any sort of documents), though Kenshin's castle was called Kasugayama. In the anime, Keiji points out that Kasuga had intended to kill Kenshin but instead fell in love with him. She doesn't confirm or deny that happening, though in Kenshin's intro in Basara 1 (forgive the bad dubbing once again), this is confirmed true.
Each time he speaks with her, she's absolutely enamorated by him immediately. He also appears with many many roses. This brings us to our next subject.
There's a lot of questions about Kenshin's gender. When I first got into Basara, I had this same question. And I wasn't alone. In an interview in the anime, the sound director asked the producer if Kenshin was a man or a woman and recieved a shrug of god in return. Apparently everyone simply assumes Kenshin is a man. Here's the facts.
This aspect wasn't touched on as much in the game or the anime, though throughout both, he is called the War God of Echigo. This is where historical fact comes in to fill in the blanks. Kenshin was a Buddhist monk serving Bishamonten, the Buddhist war god, before he became a samurai. With his battle prowess and tactical genius, many people believed he was actually the avatar of Bishamonten, which is how he got his nickname.
In the anime, he prays to Bishamonten on a pretty regular basis. In fact, the flags his soldiers carry bear the first kanji in Bishamonten's name. In the game (at least in Basara 3, since that's the only one I've fully played through), when Kenshin arrives on the scene, the NPCs freak out in fear of him). Very few daimyo want to cross paths with him.
Kenshin historically was a military genius. This aspect shows through in more than just his face-offs with Shingen and the battles at Kawanakajima. Kenshin is portrayed as an incredibly bold strategist. He forces stalemates (as he did against the Maeda) and attacks Shingen head-on in his own camp. He rides with his army and shouts formation commands from within it, each has a code name which is relayed across the army during battle. He has a rather unusual army, employing at the head a ninja who once tried to kill him and a general who claims he's invincible. He knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses and uses those aspects to form his plans.
In the second season of the anime, the Maeda move to siege Echigo. Getting wind of this attack, Kenshin confronts the Maeda with a small unit while sending the full force of the army behind the Maeda to attack Kaga in their absence. This is actually a historical move he uses against Oda Nobunaga and a tactic he stole from Shingen then modified to his liking.
His fighting style is similar to Iaijutsu. His movements are incredibly fast, accurate, and efficient. He is one of the fastest characters in the game.
Since I ran out of space, specifics and details here.
Charm
Kenshin is considered to be incredibly charming. He has a very calm and pleasant way of talking and tends to appeal to a good many people with his calm and gentle nature. Outside battle, of course.
Drinking
In the anime, he drinks with Keiji and Yoshihiro, and Kasuga always has sake ready for him when he returns. In the game (noted in his Basara 1 ending), he drinks out of a ridiculously large sake bowl. Historically, he was a heavy drinker. Too bad it killed him.
In the anime, Kenshin is a minor character for most of the series, as it primarily focuses on Masamune and Yukimura. While the world differs between the anime and the game, Kenshin's personality and abilities do not change. Since the anime is based on the game, I draw from both for reference (only for Kenshin, not the world around him), as well as history.
Rivalry with Shingen
One of Kenshin's most known aspects is his rivalry with Takeda Shingen. Many times the two lords clashed in Kawanakajima.
The battles are never explicitely named in the anime, though at the start of each season, Kenshin and Shingen face off in battle in a river. Each time, the battles end in a draw, just as they do historically.
In his ending FMV in Basara 1, he states no one could defeat him.
(Forgive the bad dubbing for the first game.) He seems to long for someone who can actually challenge his skill and prowess, make him feel alive.
In the second game, their rivalry comes to light.
The opening to Kenshin's storymode re-enacts the fourth battle at Kawanakajima. Kenshin arrives at night, coming down the mountain on horseback, surprising the Takeda. Boldly he attacks Shingen himself, who is forced to defend with his signal fan. The two clash then Kenshin heads off (almost comically) in the opposite direction, leaving their battle, once again, in a draw.
In Basara 2, also there is a stage in Kenshin's story mode called Battle of Kawanakajima where the player must assault the Takeda. In Basara 3, Kenshin becomes an NPC, though in Ieyasu's story mode, he tells Ieyasu his heart has grown cold since he heard of Shingen's sickness. He's lost his rival. Though the anime doesn't cover Basara 3 at all, separating him from his rival has caused him to grow cold again.
Kasuga
Kasuga never existed historically (at least not within any sort of documents), though Kenshin's castle was called Kasugayama. In the anime, Keiji points out that Kasuga had intended to kill Kenshin but instead fell in love with him. She doesn't confirm or deny that happening, though in Kenshin's intro in Basara 1 (forgive the bad dubbing once again), this is confirmed true.
Each time he speaks with her, she's absolutely enamorated by him immediately. He also appears with many many roses. This brings us to our next subject.
Gender bending
There's a lot of questions about Kenshin's gender. When I first got into Basara, I had this same question. And I wasn't alone. In an interview in the anime, the sound director asked the producer if Kenshin was a man or a woman and recieved a shrug of god in return. Apparently everyone simply assumes Kenshin is a man. Here's the facts.
- Kenshin is voiced by a woman named Romi Paku in both the anime and game, Japanese version.
- All the men in Basara are very manry except for Kenshin, who looks rather frail and gentle. He has no defined musculature and has a rather wiry frame. Despite this, he shows great strength, able to face off on equal grounds with Shingen and pick up Kasuga who's almost the same size as he is.
- He speaks a Keigo, an incredibly formal and honorable form of Japanese. This doesn't go to say keigo makes him effeminate (as Yukimura also uses keigo, though in a much more comical form); it just makes gender confusion much more difficult to discern.
- Historically Kenshin never married, which has lead some to believe he was a woman posing as a man and that many of the drawings of him were to make him look more masculine.
- Freaking GACKT has played Kenshin in a recent TV drama. JUST LOOK AT THIS
- He sits in both masculine and feminine positions. This one needs a bit of explaining. The proper way to sit in Japan is on one's knees with the feet tucked under, laying flat on the ground. This is called seiza. Both men and women sit in seiza. In the anime, he also sits with his feet in front of him, more of a western style of sitting and considerably more masculine and less formal. In the game (as noted in his ending in Basara 1 (listed as Frost Ending)) he's sitting with his legs out to the side, a position considered incredibly feminine.
God of War
This aspect wasn't touched on as much in the game or the anime, though throughout both, he is called the War God of Echigo. This is where historical fact comes in to fill in the blanks. Kenshin was a Buddhist monk serving Bishamonten, the Buddhist war god, before he became a samurai. With his battle prowess and tactical genius, many people believed he was actually the avatar of Bishamonten, which is how he got his nickname.
In the anime, he prays to Bishamonten on a pretty regular basis. In fact, the flags his soldiers carry bear the first kanji in Bishamonten's name. In the game (at least in Basara 3, since that's the only one I've fully played through), when Kenshin arrives on the scene, the NPCs freak out in fear of him). Very few daimyo want to cross paths with him.
Strategy and battle
Kenshin historically was a military genius. This aspect shows through in more than just his face-offs with Shingen and the battles at Kawanakajima. Kenshin is portrayed as an incredibly bold strategist. He forces stalemates (as he did against the Maeda) and attacks Shingen head-on in his own camp. He rides with his army and shouts formation commands from within it, each has a code name which is relayed across the army during battle. He has a rather unusual army, employing at the head a ninja who once tried to kill him and a general who claims he's invincible. He knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses and uses those aspects to form his plans.
In the second season of the anime, the Maeda move to siege Echigo. Getting wind of this attack, Kenshin confronts the Maeda with a small unit while sending the full force of the army behind the Maeda to attack Kaga in their absence. This is actually a historical move he uses against Oda Nobunaga and a tactic he stole from Shingen then modified to his liking.
His fighting style is similar to Iaijutsu. His movements are incredibly fast, accurate, and efficient. He is one of the fastest characters in the game.
Since I ran out of space, specifics and details here.
Miscellaneous skills and aspects
Charm
Kenshin is considered to be incredibly charming. He has a very calm and pleasant way of talking and tends to appeal to a good many people with his calm and gentle nature. Outside battle, of course.
Drinking
In the anime, he drinks with Keiji and Yoshihiro, and Kasuga always has sake ready for him when he returns. In the game (noted in his Basara 1 ending), he drinks out of a ridiculously large sake bowl. Historically, he was a heavy drinker. Too bad it killed him.
