Age: 26 Okashira of the Onmitsu Oniwabanshuu (Leader of the Oniwabanshu Ninja/Spies, the protectors of the Bakufu castles) Date of Birth: January 1853 Blood Type: A Height: 182 cm (5'11", almost 6'0") Weight: 72 kg (158 lbs) First Appearance: Volume 3, chapter 16 (manga), episode 8 (anime ) Distinguishing features: complete lack of expression, black hair, blue/green eyes, goofy white and yellow trenchcoat, and two kodachi ( short swords.) Later on in the story, he wears his black shinobi gi with the infamous butt-bow. ^^ He's perhaps one of the most demented characters in Rurouni Kenshin. That's why I like 'im! Although it also makes people hate him. ^^ Fighting Style: Kodachinitouryuu (double-kodachi style) Seiyuu: Yasuhara Yoshito Character Model: Hijikata Toshizo #1 Fangirl: Makimachi Misao, the new Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu ^_^ SHI: four NO: from MORI: forest AO: blue, pale SHI: purple Aoshi - "that depressing guy", as he's irreverently nicknamed by Yahiko, is the cold, calm, and collected (former) Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, the Edo Palace Guards. He's often described as a dark, depressing, gloomy, and obsessed man, but he MUST have some good qualities, since so many people were willing to die for him. ^^ Aoshi has a rather obsessed, fanatical personality. His loyalty to the people who follow him knows no bounds, and once he sets his mind on a goal, practically nothing will keep him from achieving it. (Well, a few good beatings always helps him think straight! ^^) His main obsession for the first..oh...fourteen volumes of the manga appears to be "proving his strength". But what really drives Aoshi - as Kenshin realizes - is the need to escape his guilt over the deaths of his four men. He *feels* responsible for their deaths, (whether or not he actually IS ;;^^) and this is such an intolerable situation for him that he willingly gives up everything else he stands for to avoid the truth, that they're dead and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The quiet, dedicated personality which had made him such a respected ninja leader now became warped and twisted into cold, single-minded obsessiveness. Aoshi became a 'shura' - a demon - and did his best to escape reality by dedicating his whole life to 'punish' Battousai and 'prove' the strength of the Oniwabanshuu. Of course, once he had some sense beaten back into him, Aoshi -still- has lost his equilibrium, and sits in the temple meditating, trying to find some peace again. Of course, this was partially him trying to avoid facing the other Oniwabanshuu after all the evil he did as a 'shura.' Go figure. ^^ He's not a BAD sort in general - just reserved and with a MASSIVE dark side. This manga scans shows the stylin' fifteen-year-old (or was he thirteen? o.o) Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu. Note the EXTRA-long bangs, the high ponytail, the long scarf (presumably purple...his shinobi gi is usually colored as dark blue and purple), and the long sleeves. No gloves. So this is how his first shinobi gi looked. Note the changes between it and his 'adult' shinobi gi! ( If you're really bored that is o.o ) You only get a brief glimpse of this outfit in manga volume 3. This is the standard outfit Aoshi wears whenever he appears in the first...20 volumes of the manga - basically, he takes the shinobi gi from above, gets rid of the pale purple linings ^^, cuts his hair, takes off the scarf, puts on some fingerless gloves, and then gets that godawful pale yellow and white trenchcoat. ^^ I maintain that no matter how cool the trenchcoat looks when fluttering in the nonexistent wind, he'd look a whole lot better if he just stuck to the shinobi gi. ^_^ And now, my favorite outfit of his. He's got the purple-and-blue thing going again (I ASSUME. ) This time, he's got the long sash-type-thing (you can tell I'm terribly technical about clothing names - I'd call it an obi, but I'm not sure if that still applies! ^^) which is tied in the back by a truly odd-looking knot (the 'butt-bow!' ^_^). He's now got shorter open sleeves, but he's still using the fingerless gloves. Now, whether the sash is 'cute' or 'weird' depends on your personal preferences. ^_^ And recently, he changed looks yet again. @.@ In the 'Kenshin Kaden', there's a post-RK story called "Haru ni Sakura" - Cherry Blossoms in the Spring. And our favorite moody dork visits the Kenshingumi in...A SUIT. A western-style black suit. I could really get to like this. Unfortunately, he spoils the effect by also wearing that damn white trenchcoat again. ;_; Oh well. ^^ Aoshi's meant to be handsome. And for the most part, he is. *.* But Watsuki's art style has changed DRAMATICALLY over the 28 volumes of manga, and, in my opinion, recently his art verges towards the downright UGLY. Maybe he's procrastinating or something. ^^ Here's Watsuki's preliminary character sketch of the moody dork from his 'making of the character' freetalk. No complaints here, really, right? So he cleaned it up and then came... ...the early years. He looked kinda like Saitou, with fewer bangs. It's certainly an interesting look, huh? ;;^^ Here are a few more shots of him at this stage: [ one ] [ two , from volume 4, where he looked more like himself. ] And here's Aoshi as he appears in the first half of story. (so, totally nuts, then?) Really long, feathery bangs, narrowed eyes. A lot of care is put into the shading and expression and the features. He's started to look a lot less like Saitou; I guess it's beneath Saitou's dignity to be "pretty" like this. >D I can't decide if I like Kyoto-hen Aoshi better than the Aoshi above. Both show a lot of attention to detail and (okay, I'm shallow) dammit, he looks good. Note the SLIGHTLY shorter, less fluffy bangs - he must have switched shampoos. Oh, and he's supposed to be 'sane' here so he's frowning a little less. ^^; So what the heck happened HERE? No mouth, no nose, no real shading, spiky bangs, rounded head, and the eyes...>_< Unfortunately, most of the artwork in the very latest volumes is like this. The characters are getting more rounded and stylized and less detailed. I've noticed that towards the middle or end of a series, a lot of artists kind of go on autopilot and their art gets hyper-stylized. Sometimes the results are good, but sometimes... Aoshi can't be ugly, can he? ;_; More pictures from both the good AND the bad art eras can be found in the image gallery. " Even when I wrote the paragraph about Beshimi, I was just adding the Oniwabanshuu impromptu to the story, and although I was glad that Aoshi would appear, I was in trouble because I had no idea what he looked. But, as models for the Oniwabanshuu, my beloved Shinsengumi came to mind, and Aoshi naturally grew out of the Shinsengumi’s Hijikata Toshizou. But, there are two ways that Hijikata is portrayed in books and novels (if you’re a fan of the Shinsengumi I think you’ll understand.) " One is the way he is represented in "Burning Sword:" Hijikata with great combat instincts who fought until death (this is the Hijikata I’m a fan of.) But the Hijikata who killed his gentler feelings, who played the role of a demon and cried within his heart, who buried his human weakness, is the Hijikata that Aoshi is based on. How Aoshi, like Hijikata, fought until death we won’t give away here, but it won’t be long until he reappears. " Other than this model , I didn’t have any particular design, but used one from my sketchbook. However as time went on, the image of Hijikata became looser, his bangs got longer, more in the modern style. I tried to go back and fix it, but it would have made you laugh (hey!) so I left it how it was. The coat I took from that popular American comic . . ." ( X-Men, natch ;;^^ ) From Volume 4, translated by maigo-chan [ pin the butt-bow ]