Shishio Makoto


Shishio Makoto, known in the English anime in Western order as Makoto Shishio, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin manga series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is the primary villain of the series' Kyoto arc. Shishio was Himura Kenshin's successor as Hitokiri, or assassin, for the Ishin Shishi. Fearing he would threaten to reveal his victims publicly in order to gain leverage against them, the new Meiji government tried killing Shishio by dousing him in oil and burning him alive. But he survived and has recruited an army to get his revenge, with the government asking Himura to stop him. Shishio was based roughly on the original lead commander of the Shinsengumi, Serizawa Kamo.

Creation and conception

Watsuki said that his editor wanted him to do "a big story," leading Watsuki to create Shishio. Therefore, according to Watsuki, Shishio had no model for his personality. Watsuki originally intended for Shishio to be motivated for revenge since it would make it easier for Watsuki to express Shishio's grief towards the government. However Watsuki believed that this would make the story "smaller in scale." Therefore Watsuki had Shishio motivated for revenge and a desire to conquer, therefore making him destructive in a manner similar to that of Serizawa Kamo of the Shinsengumi. Watsuki believes that some influence from Genjuro Kibagami of Samurai Shodown II appeared in Shishio.
The visual model for Shishio is Aonuma Shizuma of Inugamike no Ichizoku ; Watsuki saw this film as a child and took influences from it. When it was decided that Shishio would be burned on much of his body, Watsuki thought of a rubber mask similar to the one that Shizuma has. Watsuki decided against this idea since he felt it would be difficult to realistically convey rubber in black and white, he felt he could not portray "the sheer agony" of Shishio's condition, and it would be more difficult for Watsuki to draw Shishio's expressions. Ultimately Watsuki decided to have Shishio wear bandages. Since Watsuki felt having the character simply wrapped in bandages would not "be exciting," the bandages on Shishio's face became crisscrossed, making what Watsuki describes as "weird headgear," and otherwise "fancied" the design. Watsuki wanted Shishio to be "cool, like Kibagami," so Watsuki added a "sexy companion," a pipe, a folding screen, and an umbrella.
Shishio's "Homura Dama" technique is original to the series, while the "Guren Kaina" is, in Watsuki's words, "pretty much a rip of "Daibaku Satsu," a move by the "Shura" Sogetsu Kazama character in Samurai Shodown IV.
In Volume 17 Watsuki stated that he thought, in retrospect, that Shishio was his version of "the appeal of evil." Watsuki explained that Shishio will not compromise his beliefs under any circumstances, has no objections to "using others as a means to an end," and seeks "absolute power" "with ruthless abandon." Watsuki stated that the character "is his own kind of ideal" and enjoyed drawing Shishio in his final fight with Kenshin. Watsuki felt that he could not draw the scene of Shishio's death as it appeared in his mind. Watsuki believes, "with some confidence," that the scene of Shishio in hell walking across a pile of skeletons is "as good a dramatization of a villain in RuroKen that we're ever going to get." Watsuki said that he would never write in a character like Shishio in all of the series he writes, but he planned to create a similar character in another series.
In history police were forbidden from entering the Mount Hiei temple grounds, so criminals gathered there and claimed that they were there for "religious enlightenment." Because of this Watsuki located Shishio's hideout on Mount Hiei in Rurouni Kenshin.

Background

After the death of Yukishiro Tomoe, Himura Kenshin became a free wielding swordsman to protect members of the Ishin Shishi. Shishio Makoto, born August 1848 in Kyoto Prefecture, became his successor as hitokiri and was responsible for the assassination of I'izuka, the man who had betrayed the Choshu party. The future Meiji government was more secretive about Shishio than Kenshin; many members of the Chōshū and Satsuma clans had very little information on him.
Later, the new Meiji government believed it would be in their best interests to eliminate Shishio. While they had found Himura to be an idealistic servant of the Imperialist cause, Okubo and other Meiji officials correctly concluded that Shishio was an opportunistic sociopath who would undoubtedly use his vast knowledge of government secrets to plunge the country into turmoil for his own personal gain. Thus, during the Boshin War, Shishio was knocked out from a gunshot to the head, doused in oil and burned alive by the Ishin Shishi. He survived, sustaining severe damage to his entire body to the point that he must wear bandages day and night to cover his disfigured skin, giving him an appearance similar to a mummy. It also limited the time he could fight. Any battle that surpassed fifteen minutes placed him in jeopardy of undergoing spontaneous combustion, as due to his lack of sweat glands he is unable to regulate his body temperatures.
Shishio, with the aid from a man named Sadojima Hōji, assembled a group of the best fighters in Japan, called the Ten Swords, to overthrow the Meiji government. He envisioned a Japan ruled by him, enforcing the principles of Social Darwinism through Anarchism and chaotic fighting. Using this belief, Shishio ran a campaign against the Meiji government, as he felt it was too weak to effectively lead the country. Using his motto, he molded an ideological disciple out of Seta Sōjirō, who served as his right-hand man, and the strongest of the Juppongatana. He planned to strengthen the economy with petroleum once he took over the country. At some point, he met Komagata Yumi, a former high-ranking geisha who despised the Meiji Government's new policies on prostitution, with whom he shared a romantic relationship.

Personality

Shishio is extremely ruthless and coldblooded. He lives by the belief that weak only exist for the benefit of the strong and generally appears devoid of compassion or mercy throughout the series.
But in spite of his sinister nature, he seems genuinely in love with Yumi whom he professed understood him as thoroughly as he understood her. He also possesses a dark sense of humor, claiming initially to Kenshin that he had enslaved an entire town so he could bathe in the hot springs with privacy. He was also able to form some bonds to a degree with Sōjirō and Hōji.
Shishio displays capable intelligence throughout the series. He is quite crafty, being able to hide from the Meiji government despite their efforts to find him, and his plans nearly succeed in bringing them down. He also learns from his mistakes; after his brush with death from being knocked out with a bullet to the head, he takes to wearing a hachigane to keep that weakness from being exploited.

Technique

Shishio's sword, like Kenshin's, is a work by master swordsmith Arai Shakku: a blade called Mugenjin; its self-sharpening serrated edge flaked away in a regular pattern as it was used and it had become soaked in the flesh and body fat of the victims he had killed over the years. As a result he is able to execute fire-oriented techniques using the oils as fuel.
Shishio's monstrous strength, stamina, resistance to injury, and ability to read his opponent place him in at least the same league as Kenshin.. Though it was stated that Shishio's previous knowledge of their abilities decreased the effectiveness of these techniques. In addition, he has the unique ability of being able to neutralize any technique he has seen before even once.
Shishio uses Mugenjin to execute techniques referred to by Hōji as "The Three Secret Swords":
For all of his power and skill, Shishio had a fatal weakness: Because he was set on fire, most of his sweat glands were burned. Therefore, once he engaged in battle, his body heat rose far above normal levels. Though Hōji believed Shishio's body heat contributed to his power in battle, it became his downfall, as he spontaneously combusted after 30 minutes in battle.

Plot overview

Kenshin and Saitō Hajime both spend a considerable amount of time looking for Shishio, meeting him once in Shingetsu Village. However, Shishio left soon after they found him. After the ordeal in Shingetsu village, Kenshin ventured onward to Kyoto where they would have their duel. Upon arriving in Kyoto, Kenshin searched for the swordsmith Arai Shakkū to forge a superior sakabatō. Shakkū died during the ten years that Kenshin had last seen him, and found his son Arai Seikū as head blacksmith instead. Kenshin instead sought after his former mentor Hiko Seijuro XIII, but discovered Seikū's predicament which involved one of the members of the Juppongatana : Sawagejō Chō.
Meanwhile, Seta Sōjirō manages to convince Aoshi Shinomori to form an alliance with Shishio so the former could find Kenshin, while the latter could receive Aoshi's help to stop the Oniwabanshu and dig out Kenshin's location. Soon after, Shishio succeeds in reuniting the Juppongatana and begins to proceed with his master plan.
After defeating and arresting Chō, he revealed that Shishio had planned to have the Ten Swords burn down Kyoto. However, Kenshin and Saitō find that the plan to burn down Kyoto was just a diversion, and the Shishio's real plan was to use a steel plated battleship, Rengoku that Hōji had purchased for him to attack Tokyo. Kenshin, Saitō, and Sagara Sanosuke pursue and intercept Shishio in a harbor not far from his target; And using a set of explosives Sanosuke obtained from his long-time friend, Tsukioka Tsunan, destroys the Rengoku. However Shishio, Sōjirō, Hōji and Yumi, escape.
Although his plan was foiled, Shishio was still not beaten, and instead arranged a duel to the death at Mount Hiei. Knowing that, Kenshin, Saitō, and Sanosuke travel there the next morning. While they were doing so, however, Shishio sent most of the Juppongantana out to kill Kenshin's friends at the Aoi-Ya, keeping only his strongest subordinates with him, and Shinomori Aoshi who had allied himself to Shishio in order to get to Kenshin. The members of the Ten Swords sent to the Aoi-Ya, however, were all defeated.
After defeating Aoshi and Sōjirō, Kenshin faced Shishio himself. Kenshin had been worn out and injured from his consecutive fights with Aoshi and Sōjirō, and Shishio knocked him out fairly easily. Saitō entered and ambushed Shishio, attempting kill with a blow to the head. However, Shishio's hachigane stopped the attack, after which he easily blocked every move Saitō used against him and defeated him. Sanosuke also entered to fight Shishio, but could not even injure Shishio, despite landing a direct Futae no Kiwami to the face. Finally, Aoshi entered, and managed to stall Shishio long enough for Kenshin to regain consciousness.
The two continued their fight, during which Shishio's body started to overheat to dangerous levels, but kept fighting despite that. At one point, Yumi intervened, standing in the way of a blow from Kenshin. Taking advantage of his moment of vulnerability, Shishio ran his sword through Yumi in an attempt to hit Kenshin. Kenshin ridiculed Shishio for betraying his love, but Shishio remarked that he understood that he did what Yumi wanted of him, which was in fact the case. Eventually, Shishio's body heat rose to the point where his blood evaporated and the fat and oils in his body ignited. The end result was Shishio combusting, and continued to burn until all that became of him was ash. He is later seen in Hell with Yumi and Hōji, commenting that they try and take it over.

In other media

Shishio starred in a two-chapter spin-off titled published in Jump SQ. in 2011, which tells how he met Yumi and formed the Juppongatana.
Shishio also appears in flashbacks of Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro and ', as the character Hasegawa Ashitaro was a low-level member of his forces and possesses Shishio's sword Mugenjin.
Shishio is portrayed by Tatsuya Fujiwara in the 2014 live-action films ' and .
Shishio is a playable character in the video games J-Stars Victory Vs and Jump Force.