Sanosuke & Nishiki Paintings is the 18th episode of the Rurouni Kenshin 2023 anime adaptation.
Synopsis[]
During a quick visit to the Akabeko, Sanosuke kindly accepts an errand for Tae and Tsubame, to get them the latest popular nishiki-e prints during their busy day. To Sanosuke's surprise, he discovers prints of his late mentor Sagara Sōzō and that makes Sanosuke recognize the artist's name as an old friend. Who is the artist that makes the nishiki-e prints nowadays? What is this person's motives in this new Meiji era?
Summary[]
To be added
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Sagara Sanosuke
- Sagara Sōzō
- Shu
- Tomo
- Sekihara Tae
- Sanjō Tsubame
- Myōjin Yahiko
- Himura Kenshin
- Kamiya Kaoru
- Tsukioka Tsunan
- Takani Megumi
Anime Notes[]
- There are some differences in the events of this episode between the anime and the manga:
- In the original manga, when Sanosuke sets up the party, only Tae and Tsubame are invited apart from the Kenshingumi. In the anime, Ginji, Tomo and Shu are also present.
- In the original manga, everyone (including Yahiko) drink sake, and at the end there is a scene of a drunk Yahiko sleeping. All the references to heavy drinking are omitted in the anime.
- The scene of Tsukioka Tsunan painting a portrait of Kenshin is an anime original scene. It is not present in the manga.
Trivia[]
- The episode was titled after Acts 45 46, and 47 that are Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the same story.
- The Nishiki-e is a type of Japanese multi-coloured woodblock printing, a technique used primarily in ukiyo-e. It is created by carving a separate woodblock for every colour, and using them in a stepwise fashion.
- Some of the Nishiki-e paintings showing on the stand where Sanosuke is trying to buy the Iba Hachiro one are real historical paintings:
- "Beauty Looking Back" - Painted by Hishikawa Moronobu in the late 17th century.
- "Otani Oniji III" - Painted by Tōshūsai Sharaku in 1794.
- "Comb" - Painted by Utamaro in 1798.
- Kenshin asks if Sanosuke is interested in "Shunga" erotic printings: it was a popular genre of ukiyo-e, and most of the ukiyo-e painters also produced shunga as well.
Gallery[]
To be added