Yukishiro Enishi

Infobox animanga character
name = Yukishiro Enishi
series = Rurouni Kenshin


caption =
first =
last =
creator = Nobuhiro Watsuki
voiced by = Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese OVAs)
Bill Wise (English OVAs)
age =
gender =
born =
death =
occupation =
relatives = Yukishiro Tomoe (sister, deceased)
Oibore (father)
aux1 name = Weapon
aux1 = Watō
aux2 name = Technique
aux2 = Watōjutsu

Yukishiro Enishi (雪代 縁) is a character from the manga "Rurouni Kenshin" by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is the primary antagonist of the final arc of the series, the Jinchū arc, and the younger brother of Yukishiro Tomoe.

Conception and design

Watsuki used "revenge" as Enishi's "model or concept." Since Watsuki created Shishio Makoto as a "manic-type" "going higher and higher and higher," the "Rurouni Kenshin" author wished to paint Yukishiro Enishi as a "depressive type" "falling deeper and deeper and deeper." Watsuki added that Enishi became "sort of wishy-washy" as Shishio's influence remained. Watsuki said that he could see the "obsession" within Enishi; therefore it fits the "Terminator-like" character that Watsuki intended to depict.Watsuki, Nobuhiro. "The Secret Life of Characters (53) Yukishiro Enishi," "Rurouni Kenshin" Volume 28. VIZ Media. 60.]

The author wrote that Enishi's admiration for his sister, obsession, and hatred for Kenshin reflects "Watsuki's dark side"; the author added that he has no older sister and no people that he feels a need to take revenge on. Since Shishio has aspects within Watsuki that the author considers to be positive, Enishi has Watsuki aspects that the author feels are negative.

Watsuki said that he "fell into bouts of self-disgust" while drawing Enishi. The author added that he felt attachment towards Enishi and that he would someday like to use Enishi in a future work.

According to the author, Enishi's design model is "a slightly deviant, white-haired, pointy-haired, handsome young man, appearing in a fancy Kamijō Atsushi-"sensei"-like manga." In other words, Enishi had no specific design model. Watsuki said that, since he had "inadequate art skill," he could not . The author added that some people mistakenly believed that Vash the Stampede of "Trigun" and Basara from "Macross 7" were design models for Enishi. Stating that "models are strictly models," Watsuki "converted" Enishi to his style. The creator gave Enishi glasses since Enishi appeared in the mafia, "shady Chinese clothing" since Enishi lived in China, and a "half-cape" originating from Gambit of "X-Men Age of Apocalypse". Watsuki believed that this is one of his "better" designs. The author felt that Enishi was "too handsome" for a final villain and that Watsuki tired of drawing "handsome types."

Background

When Enishi was an infant, his mother died and he was raised by his older sister, Tomoe. She raised him herself, becoming both sister and mother to him, and he grew to love her quite dearly.

When Tomoe became engaged to Kiyosato Akira, Enishi reluctantly accepted him because Kiyosato truly made Tomoe happy and she loved him. Kiyosato later joined the Mimawarigumi, believing that the somber Tomoe would be happy if he became a hero, only to be killed by Hitokiri Battosai (Himura Kenshin) for the new era. Tomoe left her brother behind to seek revenge, working with spies from the Shogunate to do so. Enishi became consumed by his loneliness to bring her back to Edo (now Tokyo) so they could be together.

When he was about ten, Enishi ran away from Edo, disappearing for seven months. He discovered the location of Tomoe through the Shogun agency and soon appeared before her, revealing that he was the Shogun agency's contact sent to Tomoe. While he believed that he was helping Tomoe's revenge, he did not know Tomoe had grown to love Kenshin, despite the fact he killed Kiyosato. She sent him away, hoping to protect Kenshin, leaving him angry and confused by her actions.

After witnessing Kenshin's accidental killing of Tomoe, his hair turned snow white from the stress and grief of losing her. Enishi became more unstable and swore Jinchu (If the heavens won't punish Kenshin, then he will), for destroying his sister's happiness and then killing her. He disappeared to China, where he was taken in by a kind and wealthy family after suffering months of hardship in the wilderness. He killed them all and took their money, unable to bear seeing how happy they were.

In 1878, he returned to Japan after becoming a powerful overlord in the Chinese underworld (almost forgetting how to speak Japanese in the process) and began his Jinchu campaign with his "comrades".

Plot overview

Enishi is the main antagonist of the Jinchū arc of the manga, which the Seisōhen OVA is partly based on. In addition to his own desire for revenge, Enishi believes that Tomoe wants revenge as well and constantly sees the image of his sister smiling on him. The purpose of Enishi's Jinchū is not to kill Kenshin, but to plunge him into a living hell by taking away the person he cares for the most, just like Kenshin did to him. After having his comrades attack various acquaintances of Kenshin, Enishi reveals himself to Kenshin and declares that he will attack the Kamiya Dojo in ten days. In the attack on Kamiya Dojo, Enishi fights and defeats Kenshin shortly before delivering Jinchu. Enishi accomplishes his goal by leaving a life-size doll of Kamiya Kaoru, made by the corpse-artist Gein, to appear as though Enishi drove his sword through her heart, effectively driving Kenshin into a semi-comatose state of depression, much to Enishi's glee.

After Enishi completes the Jinchū, he takes Kaoru back with him to an isolated island with no plans of allowing her to return to Tokyo until Kenshin dies from his state of "living hell". He leaves his organization in the hands of his subordinate, Woo Heishin, a man who cares more about profits than anything. Enishi states that he only used the organization to obtain the resources he needed to actuate his revenge. As Enishi rests, he closes his eyes to see Tomoe again but is shocked to discover that his sister is no longer smiling at him. In a moment of madness, he attempts to strangle Kaoru, only to experience severe convulsions, which cause him to fall to the floor vomiting. Kaoru concludes that this reaction is a result of the psychological trauma of witnessing his sister's death; his subconscious cannot allow him to lay hands on any woman who (in his eyes) resembles Tomoe. This is why he instructed Gein to make the Kaoru replica.

Techniques

Enishi's sword style is Watōjutsu, a style composed of kenjutsu and Chinese sword fighting used in conjunction with the Watō, a Chinese-made Japanese sword over 30 inches long (classified by Saito as a Tachi). Watōjutsu is the combination of the speed and slashing style of kenjutsu form with the strength and flexibility of a typical Chinese sword art. Enishi taught himself Watōjutsu from a manual that he found which is also referred to as Garyū (self-taught) Watōjutsu. Watōjutsu includes techniques that perfectly counter those of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū, but within the context of the story this is coincidental; Enishi's Watōjutsu is entirely based around offense and power, heedless of defense; he never attempts to block, but rather counter-attacks his opponent to utilize his superior offense. His command of speed and height proves effective in matching many of the techniques in Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū. He is also the only person to ever fully block a Kuzu Ryūsen; when Kenshin attempted the technique again, Enishi prevented him from even finishing the first strike.

nihongo|Shugeki Tōsei|蹴撃刀勢|Kicking Sword Rush – Enishi kicks the back edge of his blade to increase the speed and force of the strike when he swings his Watō upward. The power of this sword attack is so powerful it can sever tree trunks with ease.

nihongo|Kaishi Tōsei |回刺刀勢|Spiral Pierce Sword Rush – Enishi blocks his opponent's attack with the hilt of his Watō and spins around his enemy's defense on one foot, leaving him a complete opening in which to attack his opponent. This technique is very similar to Kenshin's Ryūkansen, and was used to counter it.

nihongo|Shōha Tōsei|掌破刀勢|Destructive Palm Sword Rush – Much like the "Shūgeki Tōsei", Enishi uses his palm to push the Watō during a downward strike, increasing its speed and force.

nihongo|Chōten Tōsei|朝天刀勢|Morning Sky Sword Rush – A follow-up to the "Shōha Tōsei", where the Watō has been stabbed into the ground. Enishi steps on the pommel of his Watō and jumps into the air, and then retrieves his Watō by pulling on the cord attached at the hilt. This is followed by an upward whip-like slash at the overhead enemy. This is a ground-to-air attack that Enishi used to counter Kenshin's Ryūtsuisen.

nihongo|Gōtsui Tōsei|轟堕刀勢|Thundering Hammer Sword Rush – Using the Watō to stab his opponent, Enishi then proceeds to lift him in an arc over his head and slam him into the ground. To do this, the sword and the arm must have enough power to support the opponent's weight. In the manga, Kenshin prevented himself from being fully impaled by taking the initial stab into his arm.

nihongo|Shikkū Tōsei|疾空刀勢|Sky Stride Sword Rush – One of Enishi's most visually impressive techniques. First, Enishi jumps normally by holding the Watō at the perfect position (generally behind his back, gathering power for the slash). When he reaches his maximum height from the ground, Enishi uses the fact that his jump has exactly canceled gravity, giving him a split second to make a second jump. Thus, this makes him appear as if he is walking in the air. This is the technique that gave Enishi the edge in air-to-air combat with Kenshin, sealing both the Ryūtsuisen and the Ryūshosen.

nihongo|Senran Tōsei|戰嵐刀勢|Battle Wind Sword Rush – An attack in which Enishi ducks in a manner like a tiger's crouch, and slashes upwards by spinning around. Initially, Enishi will start in a pose similar to Kofuku Zettōsei （i.e ducking with left leg bend inward and the right leg extended outward） but, by holding the extended Tachi at diagonal position he begins to spin, adding momentum to his attack. Afterward Enishi will rush towards his target with an attack similar to that of an unstoppable tornado. This technique has successfully countered most of Kenshin's ground techniques, completely leaving Kenshin unable to even begin his attacks.

nihongo|Kofuku Zettōsei|虎伏絶刀勢|Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush – Enishi's Zetsugi (ultimate attack), he holds the Watō with the hilt facing down and the blade parallel to the back of his arm and ducks as in the "Senran Tōsei". He then rises and brings up his tachi, slashing the opponent's chest – this is the technique that Enishi used to counter the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki, Kenshin's own ultimate attack. This is due to Enishi's crouching stance that allows him to dodge the first strike of Kenshin's extremely fast Battojutsu as well as resist the stunning effect by using the ground as support of the initial shock wave and maintain his own offensive stance. During the second attack, Enishi uses the vacuum caused by the first strike of Hirameki to propel him. In order to successfully complete this move his timing must be perfect, or he will be left open for a counterstrike. However, in his second battle with Kenshin, the attack fails and Kenshin delivers a clean hit with the second attack of the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki

In addition to his Watōjutsu, Enishi possesses an odd ability that he calls the nihongo|Nerves of Insanity|狂經脉|Kyōkeimyaku ("Frenzied Nerves" in the Viz translation). When using this ability, the nerves throughout his entire body bulge, creating a branching, veinous network of ridges on his skin which looks similar to swollen blood vessels. This ability causes him to become super sensitive to everything around him. In this state, Enishi's senses, speed, and reaction time are dramatically increased, enabling him to immediately react to attacks before they are performed. With this ability, he claims he can see every drop of blood, hear every move of his enemy, and even feel every grain of sand that falls on his body. Consequently, his opponent is completely outmatched in every way offensively. Enishi developed this ability as a result of a continually active brain state, even when sleeping, born from Enishi's hatred and revenge for Tomoe's death. However, it is a double-edged sword that lowers his defensive capabilities of being struck physically, increasing the pain greatly due to his increase nerves (as stated by Aoshi Shinomori), as well as through his extremely heightened senses, thus it can be used against him (Kenshin's "Ryūmeisen" (Dragon Howl Flash) which attacks an enemy's ears via a miniature sonic boom).

References