The Ozi

Hak and the Dragon Warriors - Opening

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If this isn’t fate…I don’t know what is?

Photos/caption by Lauren Boutz

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So my favorite manga is probably Rurouni Kenshin: the Story of the Hitokiri Battōsai the deadliest assassin in Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate. His parents were killed at a young age and he turned to become an assassin to survive and purged his emotions and was a cold-blooded killer. Before the events in the manga a tragedy happens to him (tl:dr; there is an enemies to lovers undercover plotline where she eventually dies to save him when she intended to kill him) which causes him to change his ways and vows never to kill again. But it’s a happy action manga about a gentle, peace loving man atoning for the deaths he caused by using his strength to protect others but not cause death any more by using a katana where the sharp edge was on the wrong side.  It is a great story with a VERY good prequel movie and a VERY good live action trilogy adaptation. At no point does Kenshin forget that he was a killer – and he kills LOTS of people and was very sociopathic at that part of his life. And yet, this does not make him any less irredeemable or incapable of change and atonement. His commitment to pacifism also doesn’t make him less of a badass or a wimp. He finds love and has children, but his commitment to live his life in service of others and to protect others continues until his death.  This is all to say: Redemption does not have to equal death to make a compelling story. You don’t need to make the villain “less bad” to meet some arbitrary line where redemption is acceptable. What is needed is a profound realization that what was done was wrong and a commitment to amend ones life every day and improve the life of those around you. Its not an easy story to write, but it is a beautiful one to watch. 

oro!