The great mystery of “Kyoto Douran” remains the question of its length. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that they might try to do the whole Kyoto arc in 23 episodes, because absent any confirmation to the contrary that option remains on the table. I mean, it just doesn’t seem possible – even with some cuts the first anime took 34 eps. This one did the Tokyo arc at two chapters per episode, and the first two eps of this season have each covered roughly three. At 103 chapters the math doesn’t add up – fewer episodes than S1 for over twice the chapters, and a much better arc at that? And every week that doesn’t accelerate the pace would increase the pacing problem for what remains.

Well, I’m just going to tell myself it’s three cours until I know it isn’t. There’s so much good stuff to come, so many great characters not yet or barely introduced. We start off with Megumi, lamenting that she’s been left behind in Tokyo and asked to watch the doujin at that. While she’s checking up on it finds it has an uninvited visitor – Shinomori Aoshi, with whom Megumi has a very unpleasant personal history. He’s returned searching for  the Battousai, presumably to stage the final act of his revenge drama. Megumi refuses to tell him anything, but Saitou doesn’t (much to her irritation).

Saitou (they fought for the same side in the Boshin War) has in mind that Aoshi, exceptional enough to have become commander of the Oniwabanshu at 15. might be a useful tool in the battle to come. A common view, and indeed one held by Shishio Makoto as well. He sends four warrior monks to the graves of Aoshi’s comrades to await his inevitable arrival and “invite” him to meet with Shishio. Shishio is in no doubt over how this will end ep – the four are indeed sacrificed pawns, much to Aoshi’s disdain (though not so much that he refrains from killing them). After that it’s a considerable level up in lackey level but Shishio still declined to meet Aoshi himself.

We met both Shishio and his “attendant” Seta Soujirou in the finale of the first season, but this is their first real – albeit abortive – introduction to the story. I’ve long held the opinion that Himura Kenshin is probably the closest thing to the perfect shounen protagonist. Add in that Shishio is possibly the greatest antagonist in shounen and it’s no wonder this is arguably the greatest story arc in shounen. Soujirou is no slouch either – even in Shishio’s very memorable cadre of followers he stands  out. There will be plenty of time to dig deeper into the character of these two, but for now their appearance is brief and gives little away about either of them.

Meanwhile, Kenshin has made his way to Odawara, the first major waypoint on the Tokaido Highway from Edo to Kyoto. With the formidable Hakone mountains looming ahead, the castle town was a place to rest and fortify oneself for the trials ahead. But Kenshin is disinclined to do any such thing with people around potentially becoming collateral damage. He heads straight for the foothills to sleep rough, where he overhears what sounds like a girl in trouble from some bandits (or worse). Despite his intent to avoid any unnecessary human contact on this journey, Kenshin knows he can’t walk away from this.

Makimachi Misao is certainly one of those great and crucial characters waiting to be unleashed on the audience. There are various power levels in Rurouni Kenshin, some more obvious than others. The four idiot bandits are of no consequence to Misao – her level  is different from theirs. Once she learns they have money (freshly stolen) she executes her plan to turn the tables and it goes off without a hitch. Until Kenshin shows himself, that is. Surprised he is at what’s just gone down, but theft is theft. Again, he can’t let this slide even knowing it represents a potential entanglement he would very much like to avoid.

Misao is 16, overconfident, and brash. She’s even less at Kenshin’s level than the bandits were at hers. She’s doing something she knows is beneath her because it would be inconvenient not to. But Misao is no trivial person – she’s a strong and powerful young woman with a profound sense of loyalty. Loyalty to the Oniwaban, which took her in, and to Aoshi who was obviously the person she was searching for in Edo. The red strands of fate stretch all through this arc, and their entanglements are the source of so much of its drama. Drama we’ve just barely gotten a taste of.