Rurouni Kenshin: Perfect Edition, Volume 8

The Rurouni Kenshin: Perfect Edition is Nobuhiro Watsuki's revised edition of the original work, published in a large B5-size format (a large 32-mo trim), with color pages fully restored, all covers completely redrawn, a newly drawn color illustration at the start of each volume, and additional character design sketches. Its binding and printing quality are clearly superior to the old single-volume editions. This is Volume 8 of the Perfect Edition. The story is still set in the eleventh year of the Meiji era. Kenshin enters Kyoto and, with the help of the "Old Man," leader of the Kyoto Oniwabanshu, searches for two old acquaintances at once: the aged swordsmith Arai Shakku, who forged his sakabato, and Hiko Seijuro, the master who taught him the ultimate secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. This volume continues the two threads of "sakabato" and "master and disciple": Kenshin defeats one of the Ten Swords and obtains Shakku's last surviving work, the sakabato; he then climbs to Hiko Seijuro's secluded dwelling to learn the final secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi style for the decisive battle against Shishio's faction. Meanwhile, Kaoru Kamiya and her companions also follow the trail to reunite with Kenshin. The inheritance of sword and conviction, and the opposition between the sword that kills and the sword that gives life, are brought to the fore in this volume.