#神谷活心流

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Learn kendo at Kaoru Kamiya’s dojo!
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Learn kendo at Kaoru Kamiya’s dojo!The main heroine of Rurouni Kenshin. She is a master of the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, a martial arts school founded by her father, Goro Ito, and serves as the deputy instructor (eventually becoming the full-fledged instructor) at the Kamiya Dojo. In town, she’s renowned as a beautiful young woman known as the “Kendo Beauty.” As befits someone who carries the legacy of a top-tier school, her swordsmanship is truly exceptional; however, since Kenshin and those around him are monstrously strong, her abilities don’t quite stand out. That said, while she loses to Hiruma in the early stages, by the middle of the story she joins forces with Yukishiro Enishi and defeats one of the Ten Swords, Honjō Kamatari, demonstrating considerable skill. In the anime version, when her weapon—a wooden practice sword—is broken, she also practices unarmed techniques such as aikido, jujutsu, and judo, displaying mastery-level proficiency. Though rarely highlighted, the fact that she can precisely execute a knee strike using a snapped wooden sword reveals her extraordinary physical strength. In times of crisis, she fights wielding non-sword weapons like wooden or bamboo swords, appearing in her traditional gi and hakama with a ribbon tied off her obi. After encountering Himura Kenshin during a certain incident, she accepts him—even after learning that he is the legendary swordsman Battōsai, once hailed as the strongest of the Bakumatsu era—and takes him in as a lodger. In the one-shot version, she was depicted as Megumi’s younger sister and Yahiko’s older sister. Generally cheerful and energetic, she possesses a strong sense of justice. However, she can also be quick-tempered and easily angered, often bickering with Yahiko, engaging in slapstick humor by punching Kenshin and others, and even drawing her bamboo sword on occasion (though in Kenshin’s case, this is almost always for unreasonable reasons, and in Yahiko and Sanosuke’s cases, even discounting her fiery nature, it seems more like excessive mischief than unjust punishment). Moreover, early in the series, due to her trusting nature, she readily believed lies told by Hiruma Kibei—who pretended to be down-and-out in order to seize the Kamiya Dojo’s land—and by two former students seeking her help (“They claimed they were beaten up by drunken thugs, but ended up resenting me instead”), falling victim to deception time and again. Within the story, along with Saitō Hajime comparing Megumi to a “fox” and Yukishiro Enishi to an “weasel,” Kaoru herself is likened to a “tanuki.” Confident in her own beauty, she even shows off her figure—revealing a cleavage when stripped down—and becomes furious if called “ugly” (which, admittedly, is only natural for a girl…). Additionally, especially in the early chapters, whenever other women approach Kenshin, led by Megumi, her mood would sour instantly, revealing a rather jealous side. Incidentally, her personality differs most markedly between the original manga and the live-action film adaptation released to commemorate the movie’s theatrical debut.
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