Rurouni Kenshin/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• One WMG revolved around why Shishio was laughing as he combusted. Just figured it out upon re-watching the series: Shishio's wish was for Japan to become militaristic and expand into the world, right? Kenshin thought he was going to stop that from happening if he defeated Shishio - and then what did Japan end up doing anyway?
• From the Trust and Betrayal OVA, near the end when Kenshin is limping along using his sword for a crutch the sword can be heard making some metallic sounds. This turns out to be the sound of loose pins within the handle, indicating just how out of practice Kenshin had been (thus not maintaining the sword) and emphasizing the desperateness of the situation.
  • Also, the pin being loose in the reverse-blade sword is actually a plot point in the manga, as it was supposed to be a sign of how the sword was designed to blunt its own force so that it would never kill. Because no one ever died of being hit with a thin metal stick of extraordinary hardness.
• At one point, when Okubo asks Kenshin to kill Shishio, some of the Kenshin-gumi wonder if Kenshin would have been executed after the Bakumatsu if he hadn't vanished, which is what happened to his real life counterpart.
• After taking some proper kenjitsu classes, the name 'Battousai' gained a new significance. A battou is a move you do by drawing the sword really fast- in other words, it's an opening move. He didn't get the name because he was so much better at doing battou's compared to everything else; he just happened to kill his opponents that fast. Zashiki-Warashi
• Many people point at Saito's claim of having given up drinking as being a change that Watsuki made, since the real Saito was known to be a drinker until he died. However, the same scene where he says that he's given up (or is just cutting back) on drinking, Saito also says that drinking tends to make him want to kill. Being that he was in the middle of an undercover investigation of dirty politicians, (who would certainly fall under Aku Soku Zan, and whom Saito did later go back to kill off) the drinking thing is probably a polite lie that Saito made up just so he wouldn't jump the gun and blow his investigation.

Fridge Logic

• If Shishio's so vulnerable to overheating, why did he fight on a battlefield surrounded by fire?
  • He was that confident in his strength.
    • IIRC, they were fighting in a small arena inside a mountain in late 19th century Japan. The giant torches might have just been for light, and I'm fairly certain that Kenshin said that they were flaring up so much as a reaction to Shishio's ki, like how Kenshin's ki causes leaves to split as they pass by. Of course, since they were doing this in said arena inside a mountain, I guess it might also create the leaves in the first place...
• If Yutaro's wound "opened without a drop of blood," why did he pass out?
  • It's called pain. Look it up.
• Meta example. Hannya's original back story would've had him naturally deformed, which turned him into an outcast. This was changed because (according to the author at least), he had a talk about it with the editor and they concluded that it's too dark and needs to be changed. If that was too dark, what about Sojiro's back story?
  • It wasn't that it was too dark; it was that he didn't like the message that a person's fate can be decided from birth.
  • Not to mention the ableist Unfortunate Implications.

Fridge Horror

• Has anyone ever thought much about the Kaoru doll and that it was made in her EXACT LIKELINESS, right down to the intimate details? Looks like Gein's been up to something...
  • How familiar would anyone who examined the body have been with Kaoru's intimate details?