I couldn't resist answering the question of whether or not Battousai is evil.
I'm a relative newcomer to the Kenshin series but I agree that he is not
evil. He has, from the first, had the idea of defending the weak and helpless
with his sword. The difference between Himura Kenshin and Himura Battousai is
the way they go about accomplishing that goal. As a young and idealistical
young man involved in one of the darker aspects of a war (being a hired
assassin rather than a common soldier) Battousai was told he had to kill in
order to protect those to weak to defend themselves and in order to create a
world were oppression would be no more. (Saitoh brings this up to Kenshin
during their dual). He continued to believe this even when his heart was
telling him there was a better way to reach his goal.
As the Battousai faded and his 'true self' emerged during his time away from
the war he came to understand that there was another way to defend the
people. Tomoe showed him that there was another way to reach his goal and
that defending the people had less to do with taking life then protecting it.
It is interesting to note that in the OVA Kenshin stops blindly attacking and
takes on a more defensive style after Tomoe's death. He has lost the desire
to kill without reason. It is from this one event that Himura Kenshin comes.
He choses nearly always to defend but never to attack. Every fight he has
been in he waits for the opponent to make a move first, which is not
something that Battousai would have done and even when he gets close to
becoming the Battousai he still manages to hold onto his 'true self' for the
most part (although his dual with Saitoh was a close call).
Battousai is not in and of himself evil, he was merely a product of the time
in which he lived. I have no doubt, however, that if Tomoe hadn't 'saved his
humanity' all the murdering he did as an assassin in the name of the
revolution would have warped his good intentions and he would become a
ruthless and coldhearted killer like his successor, Shisho.
Kenshin's Best Fan
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