Here are Kenshin's main four characters. What's cool is that they're all strong people and all fighters; although Yahiko and Kaoru sometimes require protection, none of them are *really* weak links. They can usually stand up for themselves to some extent.

Himura Kenshin - the main character, of course. He seems to have two completely different attitudes - this serious, sharp-eyed look when he's in battle, or suspicious about something, or thinking seriously. And a dopey, friendly, innocent sort of look when he is with his friends.

Kenshin does chores at Kaoru's dojo, he stopped being a wanderer to stay there. He loves Kaoru but he never really says so; his actions speak louder than words, and he always protects her. Kenshin is not a romantic, he's very true to himself and always acts in a way that seems normal to him. He's good with kids and kind to people in trouble. He doesn't like to fight, and has taken a vow never to kill, but he will take up his reverse-bladed sword in defense of anyone in need of protecting.

For a while, Kenshin struggled with himself in battle; he used to be a cold-blooded killer, and when he fought seriously, that 'Hitokiri' side of himself would resurface. He managed to fight it, and learned to be extremely strong without reverting to Hitokiri, instead relying on his wish to protect people, and on his will to live.

He can be kind of dopey, his catch phrase is "oroooo?" heheheheheheh. ^_^;; He gets beaten up by an angry Kaoru sometimes.

Kenshin is very reliable, he's good at being in the right place at the right time. His skills are top-notch; he can sense people around him, he can tell when people are being sincere or not, and he has an extremely good memory and knowledge of techniques and styles, political groups, etc. He can see an attack once and then that attack won't work on him again because, in one moment, he will have identified how the attack works and how he can stop it. He's really impressive.

Kamiya Kaoru - runs the Kamiya Dojo and teaches the art of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Her main pupil is Yahiko, and the two fight like brother and sister (rather hostile brother and sister, at that). She sometimes complains about having to support Kenshin, Yahiko and Sanosuke financially; she doesn't make much money herself. Her cooking is atrocious. ^_^;;

Kaoru has recognised her feelings for Kenshin as what they are, but as of yet hasn't seemed to really talk it over with him. But she worries about him a lot, especially since Megumi told her that Kenshin's body wasn't going to be able to take the strain of many more tough battles. She always yells "Kenshin!" in a worried way, but Kenshin can take care of himself. Sometimes he has to protect her, because often she stubbornly refuses to stay out of danger's way; she wants to stay near him and make sure he's okay, and sometimes she fights too. She's good with her wooden sword.

Kaoru is rather aggressive and hot-tempered, but she's also kind in a friendly, determined sort of way. She's very strong-willed and has beaten up the three guys a number of times. Of course she cares about all of them extremely. One thing I like about the show Kenshin is that the main characters are constantly fighting among themselves, but as soon as there's danger, they drop all ill-will and try to protect each other and encourage each other, worry about each other, that sort of thing. They show their friendship very strongly when it counts.

Myojin Yahiko - a bratty, loud-mouthed kid. He's like a miniature Sano, actually. ^_^. He's rather reckless and aggressive, but he is learning. Most of all, he wants to become strong. His hero is Kenshin and he's glad to have the chance to learn to fight; he makes the most of it, and is never afraid to join in a battle. He practises very hard but complains that he's hard done by, because the others often make him do chores or discount him a little 'cos he's younger. He learns a lot in the series.

Tact, discretion and manners are unknown to Yahiko, but he is a good-hearted kid, if rather rough in manner. Heh, I remember one scene, where his best friend and rival, Yutaro, was looking dejected 'cos it seemed like his arm was permanently injured and he might not be able to master Budo after all. Yahiko felt bad to see him so sad, and responded by snapping that he shouldn't mope around like a wimp, and started attacking him with his Budo. Yutaro couldn't help but defending himself against the onslaught, and seemed to realise that maybe he could still fight after all - he vowed he was going to recover so he could practise hard and beat Yahiko. That's Yahiko's way of encouraging, provoking him out of his self-pity.

Yahiko's one of my favourite characters. He's funny, and he tries so hard... Just don't call him 'Yahiko-chan'. ^_^.

Sagara Sanosuke - or Sano, for short. He's a very strong man but rather reckless and short-tempered. Doesn't seem capable of calculating the consequences of his actions, he just does what he feels like. In some ways he's easy-going, but he gets provoked easily, and he's pretty aggressive. You don't want to get on Sano's bad side.

But Sano, under his bluff and bravado, is a good-hearted guy. He can be a real softie sometimes, but that's usually hidden under his swearing, arrogant attitude and cockiness. He's also a slob, and squanders his money on gambling with his friends (Sano does not have good luck, but that doesn't seem to deter him ^^;).

Sano is just like an older version of Yahiko; both squabble with Kaoru a lot, both eat a lot, and have bad table manners, both are rather ill-mannered and prone to getting angry easily. Sano likes to beat people up. ^_^;; Despite some of his less admirable qualities (which aren't annoying, just funny ^_^.), Sano tries his hardest to protect people, even if he has nothing to gain from it.

He thinks with his fists more than his head; he's not particularly brilliant in the brains department, but nor is he an idiot. He's just... not an intellectual, to say the least. ^_^; He usually fights with his fists rather than with swords, although he did use a - what's it called, zanbatou or something? that huge sword for killing horses? - he did use one once, against Kenshin. He originally met Kenshin to fight him, because Kenshin helped establish the government that betrayed Sano's group, but he learned that Kenshin's motives were good at least, and they became friends.

Back