Rurouni Kenshin is a manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It was published between 1994 and 1999 and was compiled into a total of twenty-eight volumes. It was adapted into a 95-episode animated television series and an animated film. In addition, a series of OVA episodes were also released. A new anime adaptation by studio Liden Films premieres in July 2023 as a re-adaptation of the manga, and while we’re waiting for the show, we have decided to tell you a bit about some concepts in order to prepare you for what’s coming. The topic of this article will be Himura’s sword, the popular Sakabato, as we will tell you everything you need to know about the popular weapon.
The Sakabato is a so-called strange blade created by the master swordsmith Arai Shakkū as his final blade. It was a standard-looking katana, but due to changing times and the peace brought on by Meiji, the blade was designed so unfit for killing, unlike Arai’s previous blades, which were powerful weapons designed specifically to make killing easier. As per tradition, two copies of the blade were forged – the Sakabato Kageuchi (Shadow Performer) and the Sakabato Shinuchi (Star Performer). Both of these blades will eventually be owned by Kenshin Himura, the story’s protagonist, who was also Arai’s good friend.
The rest of this article will focus exclusively on Sakabato, Himura’s famous sword from the series. We will tell you about Sakabato, the sword’s history, how Himura obtained it in the anime series, how he lost it, and whether he will return it. You’re also going to find out what Sakabato can do and why this sword, in particular, is so special and so important within the lore of Rurouni Kenshin.
The Sakabato is a special sword, which explains why it is so important for the lore
We all know that Kenshin Himura is the protagonist of the Rurouni Kenshin series. Having become a vagabond with the advent of the Meiji era, he wanders aimlessly in the country. He always wears a saber, which often gets him in trouble with the authorities (wearing a saber was banned in 1870).
He vowed to protect all the people he could after finishing the Meiji Era Restoration and killing for it, which included never killing again. He offers to stay with Kaoru for a while, not as a Battōsaibut rather as an ordinary traveler, after assisting her in preserving the reputation of his kendo dojo.
We also know that Himura is one of the series’ strongest characters, but how did he become so powerful? Is it just skill alone? Well, partially, but part of his skill definitely stems from his wielding his Sakabato, one of the best and most special blades in the whole series.
We will present the Sakabato to you in detail, telling you absolutely everything you need to know about this powerful and special blade that has made Himura so powerful.
In the Rurouni Kenshin series lore, the Sakabato is the last of the so-called strange swords created by the famous swordsmith Arai Shakkū, who was Himura’s friend. Arai was an eccentric genius, and the guy’s swords were always special, but he is best known for his so-called strange swords, which were more special than others and one of which was the Sakabato.
The Sakabato is very different from all of Arai’s former swords. Namely, the swords he had designed before were not just tools; they were – in fact – crafted in such a way that they were perfect killing tools. They are monstrous weapons designed to facilitate killing the wielder’s opponent, which is also symbolic because they were created during a time of chaos.
On the other hand, the Sakabato was created in a time of peace, when Meiji brought peace to Japan and the wars stopped. This is why Arai changed the symbolic value of his sword – he designed it in such a way that it wasn’t suited for killing at all, thus adapting its symbolism to the peace of his era. When there was war, he created swords that could kill; now that there was peace, he created a sword that would not kill.
In terms of its design, it was a typical shintoera katana. The hamonwas depicted in an extremely rare recreated hitatsura notare midare on both sides of the blade. This made it almost impossible to differentiate the curring edge from afar, but that was what Arai intended. Two copies of the sword were made, as per the tradition. The first one was the Sakabato Kageuchi (Shadow Performer) and the Sakabato Shinuchi (Star Performer). Unlike tradition, though, both of these swords made it into Himura’s hand.
The Sakabato Kageuchi was the first sword given to Himura by Arai himself; this shouldn’t come as a surprise as the two of them were friends. This happened immediately after the famous Battle of Toba-Fushimi. It was a powerful and trustworthy blade that Himura would go on using for the next ten years, which is why he was such a powerful samurai.
It was a simple sword, as the name suggests, with a simple hilt that had no decorations and a likewise simple, oval handguard. Himura wore the sword in a simple black steel sheath. It was eventually broken during Himura’s fight against Seta Sōjirō in Shingetsu Village, but despite that, it was a superior sword in many ways (the shadow copy was not as good as the original Sakabato, but it was still better than a regular katana, which is why Himura was able to use it so skillfully for a decade).
After handing Himura the Sakabato Kageuchi, Arai took forged and took the Sakabato Shinuchi to the Hakusan Shrine in Kyoto, where it was placed as the temple’s holy sword. It was hilted and sheathed in a shirasaya mount and was surrounded by paper charms for protection; it was a better and much stronger version of the original blade. This sword was also given to Himura with the permission of Arai’s son.
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