Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story: Volume 26: A Man's Back

by Nobuhiro Watsuki, 185 pages

This Meiji Japan era story about a former assassin turned wandering swordsman who refuses to kill has become a classic in the world of Japanese comics (a.k.a. manga). This volume finds our gentle but deadly wanderer Kenshin at the dojo he has finally acknowledged as his new home and where he is recuperating both from a personal tragedy and from a fight to protect those left behind. Meanwhile, his friend Sanosuke travels to the village of his childhood and reconnects with his family as he tries to better understand himself and those closest to him. When he returns to Tokyo and the dojo, he and his companions launch a rescue mission to save one of their own.

I've been reading this series for months, laughing along with the characters as they tease one another, cheering as they support one another, and watching anxiously as they battle it out with one misguided baddie after another. It is silly and serious, sweet and sad, and--so far--hopeful. The author, in his many amusing side bars and "free talk" pages, chats self-deprecatingly about his latest action figure purchases and favorite console games along with the inspirations for many of his characters and plots, a good number of which have roots in real historical figures. He also swears he plans to give the story--years in the making--a happy ending. He better!