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The most interesting thing about "Rurouni Kenshin"

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is the ethical conduct of its titular protagonist.

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Having grown up as a murderer in service of a revolutionary movement

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which later took over the country,

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Kenshin has seen no shortage of bloodshed,

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and is trying to put it as far behind him as possible.

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He's taken up a vow never to kill again,

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and to use his superhuman swordsman abilities only to protect those in need.

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But what particularly fascinates me about Kenshin is his combination of optimistic pacifism

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and down-to-earth realism about what it means to protect others.

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In an early episode of the series,

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one of the government officials whom Kenshin helped bring to power

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offers him a job within the government,

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imploring him to help affect change on a broader social level.

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However, Kenshin understands that in order to unify a people under one ideology of peace,

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a regime will have to combat anyone with different ideas

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about how society should operate,

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thereby perpetuating a cycle of questionably justified violence in politics.

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Rather than trying to fight in the name of any ambiguous ideals

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or to try and force his own ideas about the betterment of society onto others,

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Kenshin instead chooses to do good on a moment-to-moment basis,

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protecting only those who are obviously suffering immediately in front of him.

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He harbors no illusions that he is making any kind of broad social change in doing so,

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or that all of his actions are necessarily justified.

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He is simply helping out where he can

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and hoping that what he does is going to benefit those whom he protects.

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This methodology is hardly uncommon for this type of superhero-like character,

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but what makes Kenshin so interesting is that he has at least thought through all of this

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and come to the conclusion that this is the life he wants to lead.

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His discomfort with participating in government comes from his own dark past,

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and the violence in which he partook to make the current government possible,

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notwithstanding what he needed to do to keep it in power.

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At 28 years old, Kenshin is one of the older

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and more storied shonen anime protagonists.

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And his age lends him a depth of wisdom

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not often seen in anime characters.

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Personally, Kenji's Philosophy resonates with me

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in particular as an entertainer.

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I know that what I'm doing is not going to affect any kind of

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large-scale change on the world around me,

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and that my work is of questionable benefit

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to humanity on the whole.

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But if something I made can at least brighten people's day

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and help them to deal with the general bullshit

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that they have to put up with in their everyday lives,

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then I feel like I've at least helped out in passing to make things better

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for whoever happens to stop by and see my videos.

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I have a difficult time putting stock into any one ideology's

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ability to lead humanity towards a brighter future.

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So for me, it's easier to sidestep the issue entirely

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and just try to make people happy as much as I can.

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If this kind of video is something which interests you,

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then be sure to stick around on my channel

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as I continue this new series talking about what I find to be

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the most interesting aspects of various media

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which I don't have much else to say about.

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Support me on Patreon to help keep these videos coming

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and to more easily keep up with the endless deluge of content

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that I release across a ridiculous number of channels.

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Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you in the next one