Myojin Yahiko

Nobuhiro Watsuki created Yahiko, drawing on his youthful impressions of kendo. Despite the fact that he liked the classes, Vatsuki never achieved any noticeable progress in this art and for all the time of training he could not win a single battle. Despite the constant desire to become better, he remained a weak student and felt very awkward due to the fact that his impressive growth did not at all correspond to more than modest fighting skills. As a result of the remaining unsatisfied claims of the author, Yahiko also understands in the course of the story that such a desire to become stronger in the absence of appropriate capabilities is a pain that is unknown to heroic characters like Kenshin or Sanosuke ^[9] . Watsuki himself considered Yahiko one of his favorite characters and considered the most successful chapters of the manga to be those that talked about his first fight ^[10] . And in the third part, while Kenshin was grieving over Kamiya Kaoru, considering her dead, the author even temporarily made Yahiko the main character: young readers needed an active figure with whom they could identify themselves ^[5] .

In terms of appearance, Yahiko Watsuki was not guided by any special examples, with the exception of a shaggy head and a daring look, which, according to the author, simply must be possessed by heroes of the manga in the shonen genre (for boys and boys). In addition, Watsuki tried to draw Yahiko so that readers could imagine him as a great sword master in the future ^[9] . At the end of the manga, when Yahiko became a teenager, Watsuki changed his appearance, wanting readers to consider him a suitable candidate for the role of the main character in a possible continuation of the work. For a new appearance, Yahiko Watsuki borrowed Kenshin's physical data and the character of Sanosuke. Yahiko, in addition to some personality traits, also received the hieroglyph “aku” ( Japanese 悪 “evil” ) from Sanosuke, sewn on clothes and symbolizing the willingness to protect deceived people. Watsuki, he said, was thinking of creating a continuation of the manga in which Yahiko, his girlfriend Sanjo Tsubame and friend Tsukayama Yutaro would become the main characters. Although the author said that he was not going to create such a manga, in the plans he saw Yahiko and Tsubame as a married couple, whose son, Xinya, would become a master of the sword ^[11] .

The expanded manga edition (the so-called "kanzenbang"), released in Japan in July 2006 , contained a single page on which Watsuki once again changed the character's appearance. According to the author, Yahiko was the leader of the surrounding street children, and, in confirmation of his status, wore a foreign vest, taken from a foreigner mocking the vagrants. Yahiko’s hakama was unusually short - the decaying fabric had to be constantly cut. He wrapped his hands in bandages to protect them during fencing training, and wore two swords - a sinai (bamboo sword) and a real katana , which had been passing from generation to generation in his family. Two swords were supposed to symbolize the duality of Yahiko’s character, which, like Kenshin, was forced to balance between protecting people and killing them ^[12] .

Past

The idea of ​​Yahiko's past is given almost immediately after his appearance in the story. According to the plot, father Yahiko was a samurai and died in the Bosin war , fighting on the side of the forces of the shogunate , and his mother, left without a livelihood, was forced to go to work in a brothel. A few years later, she died of illness, and the Yakuza members demanded that Yahiko pay her debts. Having no sources of income, Yahiko was forced to steal in order to pay a certain amount every month ^[13] .

Character

The main motive for Yahiko's actions as the story develops is the desire to become a great warrior, similar to Kenshin. To this end, Yahiko overtakes his initial dislike of Kamiya Kaoru and decides to train under her command, learning to handle the shinai ^[14] . Nevertheless, he remains a bold, impudent and self-confident boy and often quarrels with his teacher, which serves as a constant source of comic scenes ^{[15] [16]} .

The ten-year-old Yahiko is shy of his age and does not like to be called small ^[13] , but age does not prevent him from being stubborn and proud. He resolutely stands up for a girl named Sanjo Tsubame , whom the attackers forced to help organize the robbery of the restaurant, and fights with the robbers, despite their overwhelming superiority in number and strength ^[17] . Yahiko willingly and without envy recognizes someone else’s talent in fencing: Tsukayama Yutaro , the same age as Yahiko, whom he sincerely considers the genius of fencing, becomes one of his friends ^[18] .

Over time, Yahiko begins to have romantic feelings for Tsubame, whom he saved, in whose eyes the boy, who defends the weak, becomes more and more like Kenshin ^[19] .

Abilities

Considering Kenshin as a role model, Yahiko watches his fights and learns to imitate some of his techniques that he successfully applies in battle ^[20] . In addition, under the leadership of Kaoru, Yahiko studies the style of Kamiya Kassin ( Japanese 神 谷 活 心 流 ) , and after several months of training, Kaoru recognizes the likelihood that Yahiko is the strongest in his country for his age ^[16] . Feeling that his skill is still not enough, Yahiko learns two final techniques of Kamiya Kassin style. The essence of the first of them, called Hadome ( 刃 止 め ) , consists of crossing arms above the head without releasing the shinai, and thus blocking the opponent’s weapons. Using the second technique, Hawatari ( 刃 渡 り ) , a sharp movement of the wrists can knock out a blocked weapon from the hands of the enemy ^[21] . Over time, Yahiko learns to stop blades with unprotected fingers and is known for this ability ^[22] .

At the beginning of the manga, Yahiko tries to steal money from Kenshin and Kaoru to pay off his debt. He is released with his wallet, and Yahiko, embittered by other people's pity, announces to the Yakudze that he does not intend to steal anymore. Kenshin rescues Yahiko in time, who is almost beaten to death for such impudence, takes him with him to the dojo and makes him a student of Kaoru ^[13] . Wanting to become stronger, Yahiko practices hard and, thanks to her determination, helps Sanjo Tsubame out of trouble ^[17] . He later helps Kenshin fight Sishio Makoto , a dangerous conspirator trying to overthrow the current government and conquer Japan. Yahiko defeats one of Shishio 's men named Kariva Henya , who is able to soar in the air ^[20] . A few months later, one of Kenshin's enemies, Yukishiro Enishi , attacks the Kaoru dojo. Yahiko helps repel the attack by defeating the enemy minion Otova Hyouko ^[23] , and then takes part in the rescue of Kaoru, which Enisi abducted ^[24] . Five years later, Yahiko's mastery turned out to be sufficient to become a Kamiya Kassin style teacher ^[22] . Kenshin, pleased with the progress of Yahiko, gives him his sakabato sword ^[4] .

Yahiko's prototype character first appeared in Watsuki's short manga Rurouni: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan . In this work, Yahiko was a member of the Kamiya family, which consisted of himself and his two sisters, Kaoru and Megumi; he was to inherit the family dojo ^[25] . Much later, the animated film " Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi e no Requiem " was created, in which Yahiko appears along with other main characters ^[26] , as well as OVA " Rurouni Kenshin: Seisou Hen ", where Yahiko is shown matured and has a more realistic appearance look, rather than in manga and anime. According to the OVA story, Yahiko returns home Kenji , the son of Kenshin and Kaoru, who went to study fencing with Kenshin's former mentor Hiko Seijuro ^[27] . Yahiko is also present in all Rurouni Kenshin video games ^[28] , including Jump Super Stars ^[29] and Jump Ultimate Stars ^[30] .

Several online portals devoted to manga, anime, video games and other similar products have published reviews containing criticism of the character. Thus, a columnist from the AnimeOnDVD website praised Yahiko's development in the course of the plot, noting that he gradually became a good fighter and has remarkable potential due to his courage ^[31] . The same opinion was shared by the reviewer who compiled a review for anime * magazine , in which the manga “Rurouni Kenshin” was called “the story of Yahiko, a young samurai striving to imitate the legendary hitokiri ” (that is, Kenshin) ^[32] . A critic from THEM Anime Reviews, on the contrary, considered Yahiko an annoying and annoying character, although he admitted that episodes with him are successful ^[33] . One of the reviewers also spoke approvingly about the appearance of Yahiko in OVA, noting the good work of the animators to create a new, more realistic look of the hero ^[34] .