I too am a fan of Samurai X, and have seen all the Rurouni Kenshin episodes up to the defeat of Shishio, so I'm not unaware of where you're all coming from. The Kenshin story line is loosely based, and I say loosely, on the real thing. Saito Hajime was a real member of the Shinsengumi. You're bound to see a Shinsengumi-based anime with Kondo Isami. But don't expect to find too many similarities between the characters in Kenshin and the people of real life. As for Gensai, I have read (in books, not just online) of a person of fair significance with the nickname of "Killer Genzai," part of the whole Kyoto political circle, overt and covert, but without looking at the book (to find his last name) I don't know if it's the same character as the one you all think to be the basis for "hito-kiri battousai." I read that he had killed so many people that even he couldn't count them all. But my question to you is, are you comparing the real-life people to the characters, or the characters to the real-life people? There's only so far you can go in comparing a real person to a cartoon character, or any story-based character for that matter, after all the former is much more complex than the latter. Another thing, real Japanese history isn't going to have the same hyped-up legends of "super-sonic sword techniques," or some "battousai the manslayer" who "struck fear into the hearts of the masses." If that's what you're looking for, you're not going to find it. I'm not saying that the real-life history was dull, boring, or lacking in drama, but frankly the connections you're looking for are sketchy at best. Sure, maybe Kenshin was based on Genzai, a man who by the way does not resemble the gentle Kenshin Himura in the least. Just maybe the Saito of Rurouni Kenshin's left-handed thrust (ridiculous in real sword fighting) was based on an actual peculiar move of the real Saito. Regardless, the similarities you're all looking for don't really go any deeper than that, whatever supposed style whoever used, though assuredly not the rock-cutting, pillar-slicing, invincible-lightning-move-from-hell techniques we see in popular animes about the time.
As for my previous posts, I can assure you the information is correct. As a self-made student of Japanese history, I have literally spent hundreds hours in researching and cross-referencing various histories, both in books and online sources. Oh, and to correct a potential fallacy for you Samurai Warrior fans, Ieyasu wasn't the bumbling, cowardly, incompetent fool that the game makes him out to be. People often give the impression of him riding Nobunaga's and Hideyoshi's coat tails to success, but the fact is he took eventual control of the entire country and established a stable form of centralized feudalism that lasted a little over two-hundred fifty years. Hideyoshi's "unified" Japan wasn't as stable politically as people would like to believe, especially in light of the ease in which there was turmoil upon his death. Ieyasu was no less than Hideyoshi or Nobunaga, though people nowadays tend to downplay his ability, especially in favor of the "underdog" Toyotomi family. Just take a look at all the people who always find fault with one character and always seem to find the positive with another. In this case, I'm not criticizing Hideyoshi or his family, I'm merely refuting the common criticism that Ieyasu seems to magnetically attract. I hope that the information I have given in these posts will be of positive use to someone, and will have shed some light on the times discussed. If anyone finds fault with what I have said, please note it and allow me the freedom of a response.
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