Both Kaoru Kamiya and Megumi Takani (Kamiya Kaoru and Takani
Megumi in Jap) are proverbial casts in the hit manga “Rurouni Kenshin” aka
“Samurai X”.
Yes, I said both Kaoru and Megumi in one. I don’t wish to stir
any confusion with the characters (much as I am confused myself) but otakus who
are well versed with the manga would easily recognize the mixed
persona in my
portrayal. (Lols.@_@) I was supposed to cosplay Kaoru, whose costume for her
typical kimono is what I was wearing in this cosplay but I ended up looking
like Megumi because of my hair. (Haha.) I’m really sorry about that. Anyways,
they have close to identical kimonos after all.
Samurai X is one of the most famous anime/manga series in
Japan (even in the Philippines), where it meant “trust and betrayal”. It would
be a very long blog if I relate the whole plot so I’m posting a link for this one
instead. You can check it by the end part. It’s a heart-warming romantic-tragic
story…
Samurai X: Overview
The plot commenced during the dark periods of the Meiji era in Japan. Kenshin Himura, the famous lead character, was rescued from slavers when an encounter killed everyone in their village but him. After the wrathful event, he was adopted by one of the masters of a Divine Justice School of Swordsmanship where he was rigidly trained. Soon before finishing his training, Kenshin decided to join the Ishin Patriots in Meiji restoration. (It was also his way of retaliation for what happened to their village.)
As the story progressed, he became known as the great assassin
“Hitokiri Battosai”. During the Bakumatsu war, he killed a lot of people. But
this included the woman he loved, Tomoe, by accident after trying to save her
from a group of assassins. This caused Kenshin’s change of heart. He started to
devote himself into saving people instead of assassinating. This was when he
met Kaoru. They fell in love with each other. Kaoru accepted him even after
finding out eventually that he was the famous Battosai.
When Yukishiro Enishi, the brother of Tomoe, found out about
this, he set off to kidnap Kaoru. He set up a scene where Kenshin thought the
latter died with a sword in her heart. Kenshin started wandering off to a
village where he mourned for her death. After five years of severe depression,
his friends discovered that Kaoru’s still alive. He fought Yukishiro to gain
Kaoru back and succeeded. They continued their lives as a couple.
However, an epidemic of cholera hit Japan in the story. Kenshin
was affected by the disease unfortunately. Having found out about this, Kaoru
persuaded him to share his sorrow with her through making love. From there she also had cholera. But it was Kenshin who died first. He died in the arms of Kaoru while they were
dreaming about having to witness the cherry blossoms for the rest of their
eternal lives...
Kamiya Kaoru
Kaoru is the main female protagonist in this series. She was
portrayed in here as a very kind and caring lady.
She was a teacher in one of the schools in Japan. During
that time, a lot of her students were killed. It was rumored to be an act of
the Battosai. Kenshin, who was at that time wandering and have already sworn to
stop the killings, learned this and saved her from the Battosai impostor. After
saving her life, she asked Kenshin to stay at her dojo since the latter had no
place to stay in. She also thought of Kenshin as a gentleman rather than an
assassin. Soon, they fell in love with each other, got married and had a child.
Takani Megumi
Megumi, on the other hand, is one of the regular casts. Her
name means “blessing” in Japanese. She is one of those characters in the story
who had a dark past. Her father, Takani Ryusei, who is a well-known doctor in
their province died during the Boshin Wars while her family went missing.
She is also a doctor herself.
She is also a doctor herself.
She was under Takeda’s tyranny after her family’s
disappearance where she was forced to create opium. In opium remorse, she left
the group. This caused a group of men to pursue her which really was
troublesome for Megumi. This was how he came across Kenshin who was then with
Sanosuke at a gambling house. Megumi was aided by the two and they set forth
the dojo of Kaoru.
Arriving at Kaoru’s place, the latter was very jealous of
Megumi, being a stranger brought by her husband. Megumi, who is shrewd and loves
playing pranks advanced to this and acted as if flirting Kenshin. This was
always her act throughout the series while purposely making Kaoru jealous for
fun. She eventually became good friends with Kaoru and the others though.
When the Onowabanshu discovered this, they sent men to Kaoru’s
place to kidnap Megumi or kill her friends. To save the others, she decided to
return to Tadeka’s mansion. There, she was ordered to commit suicide to end her
dishonorable life. She was about to do so but Sanosuke came to her rescue and
convinced her, along with Kenshin, to do this by helping others instead as
atonement for her sins.
-fin-
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| Define "glares" =) |
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| Group shot.. You will find 3 Kaoru's here in different versions.. =) |
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| Group shot.. I love the clouds in this pic.. |
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| One candid moment... |
Here are the helpful links I promised (^__^):
P.S. The pictures I posted here were taken at Ninoy
Aquino Parks and Wild Life during our Samurai X fun pshoot. Special thanks to
Ms. Lian Tablan for majority of my personal shots, I wouldn’t have been able to put this up without her. (She’s a great photog) ^_^
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