Yukishiro Enishi

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Yukishiro Enishi (雪代縁) is a character from the manga Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is the major antagonist of final arc of the series, the Jinchū arc, and the younger brother of Yukishiro Tomoe. His only anime appearances are in OVAs, where he is voiced by Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese) and Bill Wise (English)

[edit] History

When Enishi was an infant, his mother died and he was raised by his older sister, Tomoe. She raised him herself, becoming both sister and mother to him, and he grew to love her quite dearly.

When Tomoe became engaged to Kiyosato Akira, Enishi reluctantly accepted him because Kiyosato truly made Tomoe happy and she loved him. Kiyosato later joined the Mimawarigumi believing that the sombre Tomoe would be happy if he became a hero, only to be killed by Hitokiri Battōsai (Himura Kenshin) in cold blood. Tomoe leaves her brother behind to seek revenge, working with spies from the Shogunate to do so. Enishi becomes consumed by his loneliness and selfishness to bring her back to Edo (now Tokyo) so they could be together.

When he was about ten, Enishi ran away from Edo, disappearing for seven months. He discovered the location of Tomoe through the Shogun agency and soon appeared before her, revealing that he was the Shogun agency's contact sent to Tomoe. While he believed that he was helping Tomoe's revenge, he did not know Tomoe had grown to love Kenshin, despite the fact he killed Kiyosato. She sends him away, hoping to protect Kenshin, and leaving her brother angry and confused by her actions.

After witnessing Kenshin's accidental killing of Tomoe, his hair turns snow white from the stress and grief of losing her. Enishi becomes more unstable and swears Jinchū (Man's Punishment), to be brought down on Kenshin's head for destroying his sister's happiness and then killing her. He disappears to China where he is taken in by a kind and wealthy family after suffering month of hardships in the wilderness. He later kills them all and takes their money, unable to bear seeing how happy they were.

In 1878, he returns to Japan after becoming a powerful overlord in the Chinese underworld (almost forgetting to how to speak Japanese in the process) and begins his Jinchu campaign with his "comrades".

[edit] Story

Enishi is the main antagonist of the Jinchū arc of the manga, which the Seisōhen OAV is roughly based on. In addition to his own desire for revenge, Enishi believes that Tomoe wants revenge as well and constantly sees the image of his sister smiling on him. The purpose of Enishi's Jinchū is not to kill Kenshin, but to plunge him into a living hell by taking away person he cares for the most, like Kenshin did to him. After having his comrades attack various acquaintances of Kenshin, Enishi reveals himself to Kenshin and declares that he will attack Kamiya Dojo in ten days. In the attack on Kamiya Dojo, Enishi fights and defeats Kenshin before delivering Jinchū. Enishi accomplishes Jinchū by leaving a doll of Kamiya Kaoru made by Gein to appear as though Enishi killed her with his sword, which effectively drives Kenshin into a semi-comatose state of depression, much to Enishi's glee.

After Enishi completes Jinchū, he takes Kaoru back with him to an isolated island with no plans of allowing her to return to Tokyo until Kenshin dies from his state of "living hell". He leaves his organization in the hands of his subordinate, Wu Hei Shin, a man who cares more about profits than anything. Enishi states that he only used the organization to obtain the resources he needed to actuate his revenge. As Enishi rests, he closes his eyes to see Tomoe again but is shocked to discover that his sister is no longer smiling at him. In a moment of madness, he attempts to strangle Kaoru, only to experience severe convulsions, which cause him to fall to the floor vomiting. Kaoru concludes that this reaction is a result of the psychological trauma of witnessing his sister's death; his subconscious cannot allow him to lay hands on any woman who (in his eyes) resembles Tomoe. This, it is concluded, is why he instructed Gein to make the Kaoru replica instead of simply killing Kaoru himself. Later on, Enishi hears reports of Kenshin fending off Kujiranami Hyogo in Tokyo and becomes convinced that Tomoe is unsatisfied with his revenge. He concludes that subjecting Kenshin to a living hell was "too kind", and that in order to avenge his sister he must show Kenshin "the real thing".

Shortly thereafter Kenshin, having abandoned his catatonic state, travels to the island along with all the rest of the Kenshin-gumi: Yahiko, Misao, Sanosuke, Megumi, Saito and Aoshi, as well as several police squadrons that are forced to wait at bay due to the island's protective minefield. After landing ashore, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Saito and Aoshi fight with the four bodyguards of Enishi's former right-hand man, Heishin. After all four guards (who refer to themselves as the "Su-Shin", or "Four Gods") are defeated, Enishi appears (followed by Kaoru), and beats Heishin unconscious for going against his orders and attacking Kenshin. He and Kenshin then begin fighting. Enishi has the upper hand on Kenshin for most of the battle and after seeing Tomoe's image frowning at him again, decides that killing Kenshin would make him the same person as Kenshin, who killed his sister, so he throws down his sword and tells Kenshin to kill himself with it. Kenshin throws it back to him, saying that he does not intend to die. They fight some more and Kenshin eventually gets the upper hand and defeats Enishi. Enishi is unable to continue fighting since his sister is no longer smiling on him.

As Enishi is left defeated, Heishin rises from the underbrush of the forest in which he had been lying, holding a pistol and angrily attempting to shoot his former boss, as well as all the others, for humiliating him. Kaoru steps between them and Enishi's vision blurs her image with one of Tomoe. Enishi strikes down Heishin with a punch and tries to kill him, stopped only by Kenshin who does not wish to see any more unnecessary bloodshed. Kenshin warns Enishi that if he continues living the life of a criminal, Tomoe will never smile for him again. While Kenshin thanks him for saving Kaoru, Enishi breaks down and reveals his deep regret for being unable to save Tomoe.

Afterwards, Enishi is apprehended by the police; as he is being lead away, Kaoru gives him Tomoe's diary, which she asked Makimachi Misao to bring with her from Kyoto. It is later revealed that Enishi escapes from police custody to the village where Kenshin stayed during his comatose period. He is a broken man and is soon joined by the kind old villager, Oibore - who, unbeknownst to him, is actually his father (whether Oibore himself knows this is left ambiguous). Oibore ironically remarks that the white haired man looks familiar to him, to which Enishi lifelessly replies with the same notion. Oibore notices that Enishi has not thrown away Tomoe's diary and assures the broken man that he will recover and leave the village someday, just like Kenshin. His fate thereafter is unknown.

[edit] Techniques

Enishi's sword style is Watōjutsu, a style composed of the kenjutsu and Chinese sword fighting used in conjunction with the Watō, a Chinese-made Japanese sword over 30 inches long (classified by Saitou as a Tachi). Watōjutsu is the combination of the speed and slashing style of kenjutsu form with the strength and flexibility of a typical Chinese sword art. Enishi taught himself Watōjutsu from a manual that he found which is also referred to Garyu (self-taught) Watōjutsu. Watōjutsu includes techniques that perfectly counter those of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū, but within the context of the story this is coincidental; Enishi's Watōjutsu is entirely based around offense and power, heedless of defense, but his command of speed and height proves effective in matching many of the techniques in Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū.

Shūgeki Tōsei(蹴击刀势）: (Kicking Sword Rush) Enishi kicks the flat side of his blade to increase the speed and force of the strike when he swings his Watō upward. The power of this sword attack is so powerful it can sever tree trunks with ease.

Kaishi Tōsei（回刺刀势）: (Spiral Pierce Sword Rush) Enishi blocks his opponent's attack with the hilt of his Watō and spins around his enemy's defense on one foot, leaving him a complete opening in which to attack his opponent. This technique is very similar to Kenshin's Ryūkansen, and was used to counter it.

Shōha Tōsei（掌破刀势）: (Destructive Palm Sword Rush) Much like the Shūgeki Tōsei, Enishi uses his palm to push the Watō during a downward strike, increasing its speed and force.

Chōten Tōsei（朝天刀势）: (Morning Sky Sword Rush) A follow-up to the Shōha Tōsei, where the Watō has been stabbed into the ground. Enishi steps on the pommel of his Watō and jumps into the air, and then retrieves his Watō by pulling on the cord attached at the hilt. This is followed by an upward whip-like slash at the overhead enemy. This is a ground-to-air attack that Enishi used to counter Kenshin's Ryūtsuisen.

Gōtsui Tōsei（轰堕刀势）: (Thundering Hammer Sword Strike) Using the Watō to stab his opponent, Enishi then proceeds to lift him in an arc over his head and slam him into the ground. To do this, the sword and the arm must have enough power to support the opponent's weight. In the manga, Kenshin prevented himself from being fully impaled by taking the initial stab into his arm.

Shikkū Tōsei（疾空刀势）: (Sky Stride Sword Strike) One of Enishi's most visually impressive techniques. First, Enishi jumps normally by holding the Watō at the perfect position (generally behind his back, gathering power for the slash). When he reaches his maximum height from the ground, Enishi steps on his Watō and jumps off of it (i.e. using the blade of the Watō as a step to jump) to increase his height and/or move through the air at the same time it is followed by a powerful arc slash due to kicking his tachi to attack the opponent. Thus, this makes him appear as if he is walking in the air. This is the technique that gave Enishi the edge in air-to-air combat with Kenshin, sealing both the Ryū Tsui Sen and the Ryū Sho Sen.

Senran Tōsei（战岚刀势）: (Battle Wind Sword Strike) An attack in which Enishi ducks like a tiger and slashes upwards by spinning around. Initially, Enishi will start in a pose similar to Kofuku Zettō Sei （i.e ducking with left leg bend inward and the right leg extended outward） but, by holding the extended Tachi at diagonal position he begins to spin, adding momentum to his attack. Afterward Enishi will rush towards his target with an attack similar to that of an unstoppable tornado. This technique has successfully countered most of the Kenshin's ground techniques, completely leaving Kenshin unable to even begin his attacks.

Kofuku Zettōsei（虎伏绝刀势）: (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush) His Zetsugi (ultimate attack). Enishi holds the tachi with the hilt facing down and the blade parallel to the back of his arm and ducks as in the Sen Ran Tō Sei. He then rises and brings up his tachi, slashing the opponent's chest- this is the technique that Enishi used to counter the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. Kenshin's ougi. This is due to Enishi's crouching stance that allows him to dodge the first strike of Kenshin's extremely fast Battojutsu as well as resist the stunning effect by using the ground as support of the initial shock wave and maintain his own offensive stance. During the second attack, Enishi uses the vacuum caused by the first strike of Hirameki to propel him and quickly slashes Kenshin's chest. In order to successfully complete this move his timing must be perfect, or he will be left open for a counterstrike. In their second duel Enishi attempted this attack once again, but due to his lack of inspiration (Tomoe's support) and Kenshin's renewed will, he was unable to defeat Hirameki. Thus, this is the only move shown in the series that could defeat Kenshin's ultimate move.

In addition to his Watōjutsu, Enishi possesses an odd ability that he calls the Nerves of Insanity (Frenzied Nerves or "Kyoukeimyaku" (狂经脉）in the Viz translation). When using this ability, the nerves throughout his entire body bulge, creating a branching, veinous network of ridges on his skin which looks similar to swollen blood vessels. This ability causes him to become super sensitive to everything around him. In this state, Enishi's senses, speed, and reaction time are dramatically increased, enabling him to immediately react to attacks before they're performed. With this ability, he claims he can see every drop of blood, hear every move of his enemy, and even feel every grain of sand that falls on his body. Consequently, his opponent is completely outmatched in every way offensively. Enishi developed this ability as a result of a continually active brain state, even when sleeping, born from Enishi's hatred and revenge for Tomoe's death. However, it's also a double-edged sword that lowers his defensive capabilities through his extremely heightened senses and thus it can be used against him (e.g. Kenshin's Ryu Mei Sen (Dragon Howl Strike) which attacks an enemies ears via a miniature sonic boom) He is also the only person to ever fully block a Kuzu Ryuu Sen (with the Kyoukeimyaku he prevented Kenshin from even finishing the first strike).

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