Liner Notes

Volume 2: Battle in the Moonlight

• sessha- An archaic form of "I," usually used in modern day Japanese to denote someone of the pre-Meiji era (usually a samurai). The form that Kenshin used to refer to himself when he is his usual persona of a calm rurouni/wanderer. On the formality scale, it usually ranges in "relatively noble/formal."
  
  
• Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu- "Hi" = fly/jump. "ten" = heaven/sky. "Mi" is a prefix that usually shows something belonging to God or the Emperor (although it sometimes is used to merely demote politeness) = holy. "tsurugi" = sword. Thus, it probably translates as the "Heavenly Sword Style."
  
  
• Shougitai- A group of formed members of the old Regime in Feb. of 1868 (noted as the 4th Year of Keisou, but better known as the 1st Year of Meiji). At its peak, it had roughly 2,000 members. It acted against the new government but soon perished in the Battle of Ueno back in their home turf on Kanei Temple (within Ueno Park) in May of the same year.
  
  
• aku (shumi)- Usually translated as "evil" but it can also mean any of the evil synonyms (wickedness/vice/wrong/criminal/etc) so "wicked" has been chosen. Furthermore, concerning "aku-shumi," shumi = hobby/tastes, so one combines the 2 to get "poor taste (in clothes)"
  
  
• zanza- The first "zan" is to cut/slice. The second "za" is actually "left." Weird pronunciation rules in Japan makes you read it as "za" even though you know it's "Sa" from Sanosuke. And since it is an abbreviation, I don't know if we can translate it (see below)
  
  
• akuichimonji- The lone kanji letter (aku = wicked) on the back of Sano's shirt. The character for the term translates as "wicked single character."
  
  
• zanbatou- Quite literally the "sword which slices horses" so maybe "horseslicer" is an option in English, but then that makes Sano's nickname "Horsa" or something like that...
  
  
• Shinsengumi- If you were to translate it, it would be "The Fresh Group" ...Aiiyaaa... In any case, they are a group of swordsmen who sided with the Tokugawa regime during the Meiji Revolution. In many cases of historical fiction, they are the protagonists (usually with the member Soushi Okita as the lead role) but not this one time ^^;
  
  
• ore- The masculine informal/vulgar form of "I" still used in modern Japanese. In modern speech, it probably is the most masculine/aggressive form of "I." This is the form that Kenshin uses to refer to himself when he is basically in Battousai mode.
  
  
• Battoujutsu- Literally "sword draw spell." This refers to any special attack that Kenshin has which involves him to sheathe his sword before an attack. As he mentions in Episode 7, the old nickname "Battousai" comes from the fact he is a master of his style of Battoujutsu.
  
  
• rasen-byou- "Rasen" = spiral. Byou in this case is like a tack or a tiny tiny dagger. (Jen's note: This is Beshimi's weapon but they are also coated with an anesthetic called jimsonweed. That's how Yahiko got sick).
  
  
• Oniwaban- Literally "The Garden Guard." The "shou" in this is just a plural-i-fication suffix and isn't part of the original form. "Oniwaban" was an actual job title back in the Edo time period of Japan (i.e., right until the Meiji Revolution). They were security guards for the inner garden of the shogun's castle in the Edo (which is also new Tokyo) but worked undercover as spies for the shogun to watch over the allies for their lord.
  
  
• shou- In ancient measurement of volume, 1 shou is 10 gou's and 1/10 a to. (Jen's note: What is a to? Did I sleep in math and miss something?) In modern terms, 1.80391 liters (which roughly equals 2 quarts). It is easier to think of this amount as "the size of a typical large brown bottle of sake sold in Japanese grocery stores" as that contains about 1 shou of sake (and thus called a 1-shou bottle).
  
  
• okigusuri- If literally translated, it means "placed medicine." In Japan, certain medications are always put together in a first-aid box of sorts. In most cases, the family determines which medications go in this box, and when a traveling pharmacist visits their house (every so often), the family pays just enough to the pharmacist to replenish their supplies of the medicines. (Jen's note: No profits for the poor pharmacist?) I called it a "medicine drawer" because my grandmother living in Japan has one of these, and she uses a miniature 2 drawer shaped box to store the medications she keeps a stock of.