Battōsai
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Battōsai (抜刀斎) is a term used in the fictional universe of the manga and anime series Rurouni Kenshin. The name is romanized as Battōsai in the English manga and Battousai in the English anime.
Battōsai is the nickname for a particular swordsman, the protagonist in Rurouni Kenshin, who was skilled in battōjutsu (抜刀術), a technique that requires unsheathing the blade in one fluid motion). Battō (抜刀) literally means "sword drawing" and sai (斎) is a suffix added to pen names or professional working names.
The story of Rurouni Kenshin stars Himura Kenshin (Kenshin Himura in the English anime) who mastered a variety of battoujutsu techniques of the school "Hitten Mitsurugi-Ryû". He was the legendary Hitokiri (人斬り literally "human slayer") Battōsai. As the story goes, Kenshin was a fifteen-year-old assassin nicknamed "Battōsai". He was famous for his speed, accuracy, silence, swordsmanship, and his flaming red hair. Kenshin was a short, skinny bishōnen type that would often cause him to be underestimated by the less well-informed of his opponents. When on the job, he dressed in a dark blue kimono and grey hakama using a Katana tucked into his obi. In the Meiji era, the outer blade of Kenshin's sword was dull with the sharp edge on the inside, as Kenshin made the oath never to kill another man after participating in the Meiji Restoration.
| Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X) |
|---|
| Characters |
| Himura Kenshin | Kamiya Kaoru | Sagara Sanosuke | Myōjin Yahiko | Takani Megumi | Shinomori Aoshi| Makimachi Misao| Minor characters |
| Terms and Historical references |
| Samurai | Shinsengumi | Battousai | Meiji period | Saitō Hajime | Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu | Ishin Shishi | Three great nobles |
