I agree with all that you had to say (I must admit, I skimmed some of it)... and actually, having passed by those words before "is battousai evil"... I was kind of sickened that anyone would bother asking. Then... it kind of starts as what one terms as "evil". Do they mean sick? Do they mean satanic (religiously evil) or spiritually evil? Do they mean badass murderer? You know? It's kind of undefined. So that alone gives me reason to say "hell no". Aside from that... Kenshin from childhood to battousai to rurouni has always had good intentions. He killed for a new era which would be about peace and happiness. He killed with god in mind (I won't go into that, cause I'm not sure exactly what he thinks religiously... I just remember "heaven's justice"... bleh, I'm not religious). In any case, he killed with hope for it being good. I think he had the right head on his shoulders while doing it...knowing that there is no right or wrong in war, people just die for their beliefs. Another thing that makes this question a little tricky is that, Im sure, we all kind of think of Kenshin, the "hero"... as always being perfect. Maybe from day one. This isn't necessarily true and I'm only starting to realize it now. After all, he was only 14 when he became the hitokiri (right?) and kids will be kids. I know they grew up at an early age back then, but still. He also came close to what katsura kogoro called "madness". And this is probably the key event to where the question comes from. He killed a LOT in this time period... and he killed a LOT after Tomoe died (more here because he was actually in battle, rather than being a shadow assassin). It would be here that someone might deem him "evil"... but it's not as if he forgot his goals of peace because he killed like mad. Anyway... I think that Kenshin may not always have been the perfect person... because he does learn things throughout the series/manga ... important things that he didn't know before. Anyway... I know this, but I don't think he was ever "evil".. and that the question is actually a little irrelevant because of the definitions of "evil". I think Kenshin is a very smart person and has always had a good heart. I admire him. anyway... that's my 2 cents off the top of my head. I'd like to stretch this topic to my website when it gets up finally.. ^_^ I like to hear some smart talk about RK... the depth of the story is my favorite aspect. Iris*
I must say that I agree with Iris ^_^
