Myōjin Yahiko

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Myōjin Yahiko
Rurouni Kenshin character
Myōjin Yahiko by Nobuhiro Watsuki
First appearance	Rurouni Kenshin manga chapter 3 Rurouni Kenshin anime episode 2
Voiced by	Japanese Miina Tominaga[1] Minami Takayama (drama CD)[2] English Wendee Lee (Credited as Elyse Floyd)[3]
Profile
Age	10[4]- 15[5] (in the end of the manga)
Date of birth	August 1868[6]

Myōjin Yahiko (明神 弥彦, Myōjin Yahiko^?), known as Yahiko Myōjin in the English-language dub, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki as a main protagonist for the series and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, Original video animations (OVAs), movies, soundtracks, video games, and other collectibles.

The fictional setting takes place during the pre-Meiji period of Japan. Yahiko is an orphan from a samurai family and was forced to work as a thief to repay the debt that he had supposedly owed due to his parents death before they could pay it back. When he is rescued by the main character of the story Himura Kenshin and decides that he would grow up to be just like Kenshin but due to his strong beliefs in not teaching anyone else the sword style he had obtained, he enlisted Yahiko to be trained by Kamiya Kaoru, the teacher of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū. As the series progressess, Yahiko becomes skilled at the swordmanship and comes to face many opponents. Yahiko has also appeared in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media relating to the franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and an OVA series.

Contents 1 Creation and conception 2 Character outline 2.1 Background 2.2 Personality 2.3 Techniques 3 Plot overview 4 Appearances in other media 5 Reception 6 References

[edit] Creation and conception

Nobuhiro Watsuki, creator of Rurouni Kenshin says that he used no particular logic when drawing Yahiko except for the "defiant" eyes and "mussed" hair, as Watsuki describes the traits as "a must" in a shōnen comic.

Watsuki created Yahiko from emotions originating from junior high school. Watsuki enjoyed practicing kendo "almost as much as drawing manga." Watsuki described himself as "weak" and "an embarrassment to my 183 centimeters of height." A member of the starting squad once because the school suspended another student originally intended to be a starter, Watsuki failed to achieve a win in a league tournament. Watsuki found frustration, a desire to improve his kendo skills, and "being awful" despite his desire to succeed. As an "outlet" for Watsuki's kendo emotions, Yahiko "knows a pain that hero-types like Kenshin and Sanosuke can never know." As Watsuki further developed the story, Yahiko became a comedic character. Watsuki desired to draw Yahiko in a manner that readers can envision him as being a "great" swordsman five to ten years later. ^[7]

[edit] Character outline

[edit] Background

Yahiko is a samurai descendant. Yahiko's father died during the Battle of Ueno during the Boshin War, slain at the Keneiji Temple. His mother died of syphilis in a brothel to put food on their table not long after giving birth to her son. Yahiko was originally forced to live as a thief for the local Yakuza, who tricked him into believing that he still had to pay off the money the gangsters gave to his mother to buy medicine. With the help of Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru, he becomes an apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū style.

[edit] Personality

A hotheaded child, Yahiko is arrogant, cheeky, a user of profanity, and bad-mannered; and he already bestowed upon himself the title 'Tokyo Samurai'. As the years go by, Yahiko learns the principles of Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū, which coincides with Kenshin's ideals. Even though he overrates himself, Yahiko defeats several enemies - even one of Shishio's henchmen.

In time Yahiko becomes a master swordsman, whose skills are nearly equal to Kenshin's. He also becomes an assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo, which has become prosperous again. On the day of his fifteenth birthday after battling Kenshin in a one-strike match, Kenshin gives him the Sakabato. By this time, he has grown into a level-headed, contemplative, and caring young man.

Yahiko has a friend/rival, Tsukayama Yutaro, who is a rich boy who was tricked into believing his sensei, Isurugi Raijūta, cared about him and a brief student of the Kamiya dojo after he revealed that he was never trained by Raijuta (In the anime, he was quickly defeated by Yahiko, while in the manga, the battle was halted as Yutaro could not hold his shinai properly).

Yutaro, however, was hit by Raijūta's Tobi Izuna (a huge gust of wind from an overhead swing that can kill someone), in his right arm and his nerves were damaged so he could never use a sword again. Yutaro moved with his father to Germany so that his father could seek treatment for his arm, thus allowing Yutaro to one day use that arm again. Before he left, Yahiko swung his bamboo sword at him and he blocked with his walking cane and said "Even without my other arm, I can still use a sword" and promised that he'll return to Tokyo to challenge Yahiko.

He has a sweetheart, Sanjo Tsubame, who works at Akabeko (a restaurant where Yahiko also works) as a waitress.

[edit] Techniques

Instead of a bokken used by the masters of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu style or for those who are considered advanced in their studies, Yahiko uses a bamboo shinai. He was trained by Kamiya Kaoru and became quite adapt to it over the 6 month span. According to Kaoru, Yahiko is the strongest child in Japan.

Hadome: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's defensive succession technique. If the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style is attacked, they perform the Hadome by crossing their arms over their head (and possibly other places as well, but this is the most common form and the only one shown in the manga) and catching the blade with the back of their hands. This allows the user to maintain their grip on their sword while catching the opponent's blade at the same time. Kaoru rarely uses this technique however, because it requires that the timing be perfectly right or else the attacker will be given a fatal opening. However, if properly used, it can be chained into the Kamiya Kasshin offensive ougi and thus ensure instant victory.

Hawatari: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's offensive succession technique. It is a counter-attack and can only be performed after a successful use of the Hadome technique. From the Hadome position, the defender will twist his wrists, thus stripping the weapon of their attacker away from their wrists and possibly throwing them to the ground. Since the defender will still have their grip on their own weapon they can almost instantaneously follow up with an attack of their own and therefore deliver the final blow on their now defenseless opponent.

He successfully performs the succession techniques on Genbu, one of the bodyguards of Yukishiro Enishi's associate Woo Heishin, the successor to Enishi's successful shady Shanghai-based arms dealing business. Using a variation of the Hawatari, he manages to break Genbu's weapon- a pyrotechnic staff which can be separated into multiple sections. At the end of the series, Yahiko is so skilled that he's able to catch a blade using only two knuckles, and has become famous as the "man who has caught 1000 blades".

Hadachi: Blade Break This is the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū Style's master secret. It is a counter-attack, performed after the opponent swings their sword. The opponent's blade is caught barehanded, apparently between the fingers and palm of the dominant hand, blade-edge down. This cuts the user's palm, but not enough to prevent the practicioner from further fighting. Yahiko, not Kaoru, uses this attack, in the Yahiko no Sakabatō act.

Ryūtsuisen (Dragon Hammer Strike) To counter-attack the "Fire Flight" of Kariwa Henya of the Juppongatana's, Yahiko grabs a screen door that has been blown off a building by dynamite, and rides it on the next explosion to get higher than his opponent, allowing him to bring his bamboo shinai down on him from above. He also shouts out the name of Kenshin's version of the move as he does it.

Ryūshōsen (Soaring Dragon Flight) Yahiko used this to battle Kujiranami Hyōgo.

[edit] Plot overview

[edit] Appearances in other media

In Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, he is known as Kamiya Yahiko (神谷 弥彦, Kamiya Yahiko^?) and is the brother of Megumi and Kaoru.

[edit] Reception

Yahiko has been featured consistently in the Shonen Jump popularity polls of the series, commonly placing in the top ten characters and reaching 3rd place once.^[8]A plethora of merchandise have been released in Yahiko's likeness including, key-chains^[9] wall scrolls,^[10] and action figures in both of his child and teenager appearances.^[11][12] Elyse Floyd, the voice actor of Yahiko in the English dub commented that his first impression of Yahiko was to be a "hoot" character since the character wants to become a great warrior, to follow and honor the traditions presented him and his loyalty but at the same time he is very innocent and vulnerable making him an unpredictable character. Since most of Elyse's characters he has performed are considerably younger than Yahiko, he considers him as one of his most difficult ones remarking the fact he is always screaming, but however he considers his comedy scenes as his favourite part of his works in Rurouni Kenshin.^[13] In an interview with Miina Tominaga, who is the seiyū for the character, has commented that she was a bit afraid when performing the voice of Yahiko in the OVAs since the character was now an adult, but she ended very happy with her performance.^[14]

Watsuki described Takayama, the CD voice actor, as having "a lot of energy" and a great fit" for Yahiko.^[15] Various anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Yahiko's character. AnimeOnDVD.com praised Yahiko's development as he becomes during the series a good fighter and his courage shows a remarkable potential.^[16] T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews criticized Yahiko to be a bit annoying during the start of the series but also has his enjoyable moments.^[17] His design in the OVA series has been praised for being one of the few to be well translated from his original manga design.^[18]

[edit] References

v • d • e Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki Franchise Episodes • Volumes • Trust & Betrayal • Reflection • The Motion Picture Characters Himura Kenshin • Kamiya Kaoru • Sagara Sanosuke • Myōjin Yahiko • Takani Megumi • Shinomori Aoshi • Makimachi Misao • Hiko Seijūrō • Himura Kenji • Saitō Hajime • Shishio Makoto • Seta Sōjirō • Yukishiro Enishi • Yukishiro Tomoe • Minor characters • Villains Historical Terms and References Samurai • Shinsengumi • Meiji period • Hajime Saitō • Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu • Ishin Shishi • Three great nobles