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Himura Kenshin

Himura Kenshin (緋村 剣心), known as Kenshin Himura in the English-language anime dubs, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga Rurouni Kenshin created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Kenshin's story is set in a fictional version of Japan during the Meiji period. Kenshin is a former legendary assassin known as, more properly named Himura Battōsai (緋村抜刀斎). At the end of the Bakumatsu, he becomes a wandering swordsman, now wielding a —a katana that has the cutting edge on the inwardly curved side of the sword, thus being nearly incapable of killing. Kenshin wanders the Japanese countryside offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. In Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who invites him to live in her dojo, despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old.

When creating Kenshin, Watsuki designed the androgynous and small Kenshin to be physical opposite of the bulky Hiko Seijūrō, a character that appears in his first one-shot manga, "Crescent Moon in the Warring States". As a result, he was given a virile appearance with long red hair as well as cross-shaped scar in his face. He was also based on the hitokiri Kawakami Gensai. In Japanese, Kenshin has been voiced by Megumi Ogata for the drama CDs and Mayo Suzukaze for the animated adaptations. In the live-action films he was portrayed by Takeru Satoh. For the English dubs of the series, Richard Cansino voiced him in the first anime, J. Shanon Weaver replaced him for original video animation (OVA), and the duology film New Kyoto Arc. Micah Solusod did the dub for the live-action film trilogy.

Kenshin's character was well received by fans, with his holding the top spot in all reader popularity polls for the series. Critics of the series praised his strong personality and backstory which most critics found appealing. However, though some complained about his development during the OVA series; while his role in the prequel OVAs were praised, his role in the anime-only sequel OVA series resulted in criticism by various critics including Watsuki himself. Satoh's acting in the live-action film received positive comments due to how he fits the character as well as his fight choreography. A variety of collectibles based on Kenshin have been created, including figurines, key chains, plushies, and replicas of his sakabatō sword.

Creation and conception
Manga author Nobuhiro Watsuki discovered and used the story of Kawakami Gensai, a executed by the Meiji Government. Watsuki enjoys drawing Kenshin due to how he tends to sacrifice himself for others. While writing the series, once he thought Kenshin should think more about his future since he is more connected to his past. He also stated he would like to be as Kenshin but he does not believe their lives' style match. Kenshin's morals in regards to having the strength to protect others were influenced by Miyamoto Musashi's questions about the meaning of strength.

During the development of the series' pilot chapter, Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Watsuki and his editor argued over Kenshin's speech patterns, settling for a "slangy" one. For the final version of the first Romantic Story, Watsuki adjusted the dialogue; in his view, he made Kenshin sound "more as I prefer him now". Nevertheless, Kenshin was concerned about how Kenshin's manner abruptly changed when facing his opponent. Watsuki added Kenshin's trademark as a placeholder to be an expression of the English speech disfluency "huh". Watsuki notes that he was surprised at how well it caught on, and how much he ended up having Kenshin use the sound during the series. Watsuki also planned to make Kenshin more 30 years old; his editor commented that it was strange that the main character of a manga for teenagers to be of such an age, so he instead made him 28 years old.

Watsuki based most of Kenshin's abilities on a real swordsman of the Tokugawa period named Matsubayashi Henyasai, who was skilled in acrobatic techniques. However, one of Kenshin's moves where he stops an enemy's flamethrower by rotating his sword received multiple complaints with Watsuki admitting the move as somewhat out of place and "not really organic" to his world. By early publication of Rurouni Kenshin, Watsuki was unsure whether or not Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru would become lovers in future chapters. Sagara Sanosuke was created to be Kenshin's best friend who would punch him order to make him retain his composure. However, Watsuki did not think the idea worked as much as possibly. For the final fight between Kenshin and Shishio, Watsuki admitted he expressed more joy in drawing Shishio than Kenshin. During this arc and mostly the final fight between Kenshin and Shishio's fight Watsuki kept listening to the song "In The Blue Sky" from the video game Virtual On; the song's title was used in the final chapter of the Kyoto arc. Additionally, the final shot of Kenshin returning to Kaoru's dojo was inspired by the final shot of the Rurouni Kenshin anime's first opening theme:"Sobakasu" by Judy and Mary.

In the next and final arc of the manga, the story took a darker tone as most of the characters believed Kaoru was killed by Yukishiro Enishi which made Kenshin question his own way of living and escape to a village of wanderers. Watsuki did not enjoy angst in Kenshin so his friend Myōjin Yahiko took the place as the series' protagonist until Kenshin recovered. In order to make Kenshin recover, Watsuki introduced Tomoe's father, who is simply referred as "Geezer", who assists him in finding an answer to atone for his sins. Once Kenshin recovered, he runs back to the city in order to save Yahiko from Enishi's former comrade, Kujiranami Hyōgo. The fight was originally planned to last longer than the one-chapter shot but due to difficulties in drawing explosions Kujinarami made with his weapons, the fight ended with Kenshin cutting Kujinarami's weapon. In this arc's climax, Watsuki kept listening to the song "Hurry Go Round" by late musician hide which felt it suited the relationship between Enishi as well as Kenshin but in his darker persona. The author also commented he would like to have given both Kenshin and Enishi's characters a bigger contrast. A reader also asked Watsuki whether Kenshin could defeat his rival Saitō Hajime since they never got a final duel. Watsuki responded, saying the two are equally matched but the result might depend whether or not Kenshin had something to protect.

Design
Like several characters, Kenshin was influenced the Shinsengumi with Kenshin being affected by Okita Sōji and Saitō Hajime in order to give him an air of mystery. According to Watsuki, when he found that Kawakami maintained a duty to his dead comrades, he decided to create the title character. Since Watsuki's debut work contained a tall, black-haired man in "showy" armor, he wanted to make a character "completely opposite" to the debut character; the new character ended up "coming out like a girl". According to Watsuki, he used "no real motif" when creating Kenshin and placed a cross-shaped scar on his face "not knowing what else to do." During his fight against Shishio Makoto's army, Kenshin is given a new sword with a sheath made of wood. Though it is more difficult to draw, Watsuki decided to redesign the sword to make it look like the first one Kenshin had in the series.

At the end of the series, Kenshin appears with short hair. Initially, Watsuki had planned to make his hair shorter before the end; however, he found this to be similar to the character Multi in To Heart. Additionally, Himura Kenji was introduced in the finale as the son of Kenshin and Kaoru; even though the character was "cliché" Watsuki felt that Kenji had to appear.

In the first Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban, published in Japan in July 2006, Watsuki included a draft page featuring a redesign of Kenshin's character. To make his X-shaped scar more notable, Watsuki made it long enough to cross his nose. Kenshin's hair is tied in two tails, which are flowing to make him look younger, and shorter, and less androgynous. Watsuki also added a Habaki to Kenshin's sword to make it easier to draw by simplifying its structure, while also emphasizing strength. Kenshin's hitokiri look was also redesigned slightly, by making his clothes more worn and giving him Yukishiro Tomoe's neck scarf.

Portrayal in other works
When the live-action of the manga was made, Watsuki had several ideas about Kenshin's mind about his early appearances in the series. This resulted in the manga reboot Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration where Kenshin's characterization was expanded by the author who thought in retrospective about what he could add to him. He also wrote a prequel chapter to the original series which helped the readers to understand why Kenshin would stay in Kaoru's dojo. He challenged himself to express Kenshin's inner feelings. Watsuki compared Kenshin's role in the original manga to that of Kōmon in Mito Kōmon or Yoshimune's in Abarenbō Shōgun, where the supporting characters built the drama and he was the hero who would defeat the villains. This made it easy to express the thoughts of the surrounding characters but not Kenshin's, so he wanted to "dig deeper" into Kenshin this time. It turned out harder than he imagined. Although drawing it was not difficult, when he tried to make it entertaining the story got gloomier due to Kenshin's regrets. By chapter four he got worried it would be a repeat of the Jinchū Arc of the original manga. This is when he gave up digging deeper into Kenshin's thoughts.

Watsuki tried expressing more of Kenshin's inner feelings in Restoration; a man who brought about a peaceful new era can not find his place because of the acts he committed in the past. He tried expressing this with the "pool of blood" theme. The author said this version of the character seems slightly more immature than the original because he is more reserved and excitable; "perhaps he isn't too hero-like." Watsuki changed the way Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū and its techniques are written purely for fun. The editorial office even got a phone call pointing this out. The most noticeable change in his appearance is the addition of a white scarf, "scarf = hero." Watsuki also changed his cross-shaped scar; leaving it white for Kenshin, but shading it black when his Battōsai persona takes over. The author said because of the way he draws now, he struggled with Kenshin's hair, unable to get the original bushy feeling it had until the end. Alongside Restoration, Watsuki decided to write a prequel to the original series set before Kenshin's first meeting with Kaoru. Watsuki elaborated on the common question of "Why would Kenshin, who wandered for ten years, suddenly stop in the First Act?" In Act Zero an elder notices Kenshin's unhealed emotional scar and her kind advice has a slight effect on him, becoming the motivation for his actions in the first chapter.

The fact that the original manga ended with Kenshin as a family man bothered Watsuki as he was not sure if Kenshin should fight again now that he happily married. Upon watching the Rurouni Kenshin musical, Watsuki was convinced to write Hokkaido as soon as he finished writing his recent work Embalming. In order to keep the cheerful feeling of the original series, Watsuki wrote the new characters who are nicely treated by Kenshin and Kaoru. Upon helping the staff from the live-action films, The Final and The Beginning, Watsuki came up with new ideas to give Kenshin's story a happy ending despite his hitokiri actions. Watsuki believes that Takeru Satoh's portrayal of the main character stands out as stronger than the manga one, most notably in The Final. He felt that Kenshin was a "King Type" character similar to Monkey D. Luffy from Eiichiro Oda's One Piece as a result of how heroic they are. Watsuki also reflected on Kenshin's pacifism which became a common trend in other heroes in Weekly Shonen Jump protagonists like Luffy and Naruto Uzumaki who fight but are against the idea of killing their enemies while in the case of Dragon Ball dead characters are often revived. He believes newer series like Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen explored more the concept of death. Nevertheless, the Kenshin Watsuki was still written for the Hokkaido Arc with the idea of sparing his enemies.

Actors
Watsuki received letters from fans describing Megumi Ogata's audiobook voice as a "good fit" for Kenshin. Watsuki said that he imagined Kenshin's voice to be "more neutral". The fact that the audiobook voice actors, especially Ogata and Tomokazu Seki, who portrayed Sanosuke, did not voice their corresponding roles in the anime disappointed Watsuki.

In the anime adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin, Watsuki's designs were combined with the voice talents of voice actress Mayo Suzukaze. She said that she started feeling like Kenshin after years of work as his voice, but says that providing the voice for his character was one of her best experiences. In producing the English dub version of the series, Media Blasters considered following suit, with Mona Marshall considered a finalist to voice Kenshin. Richard Hayworth was eventually selected for the role, giving Kenshin's character a more masculine voice in the English adaptation. Marshall was also selected to voice the younger Kenshin during flashback scenes. Clark Cheng, Media Blasters dub script writer, said that localizing Kenshin's unusual speech was a difficult process. His use of de gozaru and oro were not only character trademarks that indicated his state of mind, but important elements to the story. However, neither is directly translatable into English, and in the end the company chose to replace de gozaru with "that I did," "that I am," or "that I do." Kenshin's signature oro was replaced with "huah" to simulate a "funny sound" that had no real meaning. Daryl Surat of Otaku USA said that the grammar in Kenshin's dialogue in the Media Blasters dub and subtitles resemble the grammar in the dialogue of Yoda, a character in Star Wars. Saito is replacing Suzukaze with the 2023 series which appealed to him since he was a fan of the series ever since he was a child and looks forward to creating his own take.

In the live-actions films of the series, Kenshin was played Takeru Satoh. In casting Satoh, director Keishi Ōtomo said the actor was a good fit for the character, citing their physical similarities. Producer Shinzō Matsuhashi shared similar feelings as Ōtomo. During the making of this film, both Watsuki and his wife found Satoh as an ideal actor him. Watsuki was surprised by Satoh's work as well as the special effects in the first film which made Kenshin's character realistic. For the Kyoto duology films, Ōtomo said he did not have to put much advice to Satoh as his acting in the first film attracted multiple positive reactions by the staff and the audience. He then stated "Even without saying this or that from the side, he created an image of Kenshin, including his behavior, swordplay, and speech, through the necessary preparation and hard work. So I didn’t worry at all".

During an interview, Satoh said Rurouni Kenshin was one of the first manga he read to the point he would play sword-fights with his friends. Additionally, once he was cast as Kenshin, Satoh started intense swordsmanship training. Satoh said he liked Kenshin's character to the point of enjoying role in the three films. However, the actor expressed pressure in doing the role as a result of having to take part in multiple fighting scenes. Nevertheless, Satoh said he enjoyed Kenshin's lines due to the impact they have on most characters, most notably his enemies. Due to the Kyoto films showing a darker characterization of Kenshin as he struggles against different strong rivals, Satoh also said his work became more challenging. Still, he found it interesting. A scene that Satoh enjoyed was Kenshin's fight against Sawagejō Chō due to the fact Kenshin is forced to attack his enemy even though he does not know his weapon is deadly which goes against his morals; as a result, Satoh briefly showed Kenshin's hitokiri side for a brief moment. The actor said he discussed this scene with the director who pleased with the result. Kenshin's strongest technique, the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki, was Satoh's favorite move as he likes its meaning. While Kenshin shouts his attacks' names in both manga and anime, Satoh instead decided to say the names after performing those moves.

During shooting of the film Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, the battle between Kenshin and Enishi had to be remade several times because Satoh got exhausted of moving four times in total. Satoh praised Arata's work as Enishi as he made the antagonist terrifying to the point the comical Kenshin acts with more tension in response to his threats which made him drop the signature sound effect "Oro". Arata also praised Satoh's works as he carried the franchise across several years in the live-action films. Watsuki believes that Takeru Satoh's portrayal of the main character stands out as stronger than the manga one, most notably in The Final.

In Rurouni Kenshin
Himura Kenshin, born is a legendary former assassin. He is a peerless swordsman who practices the, a fictional ancient sword art based on Battōjutsu, that enables him to exercise superhuman speed and reflexes, foresee his opponent's movements in battle, as well as perform many powerful sword techniques. Most of his techniques were originally intended to be lethal, but Kenshin has since modified the use of these techniques in accordance with his vow never to kill. To this end, he fights using his sakabatō (a reverse-edge sword). After finishing his job as an assassin in the Ishin Shishi, Kenshin assumes the life of a wanderer. Ten years after the Revolution, he arrives in Tokyo, where he meets Kamiya Kaoru. She invites him to stay in her dojo even after she discovers that Kenshin is the "Battōsai". Kenshin wants to protect every individual from danger without harming others. Formerly known as "the strongest hitokiri," Kenshin is the main target of many old enemies and people who want to gain his title. Thus, he avoids letting others get too close to him for their own protection. However, he eventually begins to rely on his friends, allowing them to fight alongside him.

During his stay in Tokyo, Kenshin establishes lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, such as the former Shinsengumi member Saitō Hajime. Saitō's arrival is a test ex-Ishin Shishi Ōkubo Toshimichi made in order see Kenshin's power to see if he can defeat Shishio Makoto. Shishio is the brutal, once-successor to Kenshin's position as Chōshū's hitokiri, masterminds a movement seeking to overthrow the Meiji Government, Kenshin leaves Tokyo to stop him. To defeat such a foe, Kenshin is forced to resume his training and mend his relationship with his teacher Hiko Seijūrō, who taught and took care of him as a child. He learns the, which deals nine simultaneous strikes to the fundamental targets of swordsmanship. The Kuzu-ryūsen, however, is a part of the test used for the initiation in learning his strongest technique:, a battōjutsu that surpasses the speed of the Kuzu-ryūsen. Even if the technique is defeated, it can generate a vacuum in its wake and sucking the opponent in; as this happens, the body is spun around for a second stronger strike. Throughout the training, Kenshin increasingly wants to survive to any combat so that Kaoru will not be shocked by his death. After finishing his training, Kenshin's friends reunite with him and help him defeat Shishio and his army.

Months later, a man known as Yukishiro Enishi starts attacking all the people Kenshin meets as an act of revenge for the death of his sister Yukishiro Tomoe. At this point, it is revealed that Kenshin was married to Tomoe in the Bakumatsu, but accidentally killed her while trying to rescue her from a group of assassins. When Enishi learns of Kenshin's feelings towards Kaoru, he sets out to kidnap her. He succeeds and leaves behind a professionally made decoy of Kaoru with a sword in her heart, making everyone believe that she has been murdered. Kenshin falls into a severe depression and runs off to a village of outcasts to mourn. After a while, he is forced to stand up and fight upon learning one his friend is in danger, returning to his former self in the process. Meanwhile, his friends discover Kaoru is alive. The group goes to rescue her on Enishi's island. A battle between Kenshin and Enishi follows. When Kenshin wins, he and Kaoru return home. Afterwards, Kenshin learns that since the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū is only suitable for a wide-framed muscular build like that of Seijūrō's, his body will eventually begin to deteriorate and he will soon be unable to use it again. Five years later, Kenshin is married to Kaoru and has a son named Kenji. After an encounter with Kaoru's student Myōjin Yahiko, Kenshin gives his sakabatō to him as a gift for his coming-of-age.

Printed works
Kenshin first appeared in two chapters of Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, the pilot chapters of the manga, in which he arrives in Tokyo and defeats several groups of villains attacking families. In these stories, Kenshin is given a similar personality to the one he has in the series, but his name is not mentioned. Following the original series' ending, Watsuki wrote two shorts where Kenshin makes brief appearances; in Yahiko no Sabato Kenshin and Kaoru entrust Yahiko with taking care of a dojo whereas in Haru ni Sakura he reunites with all his friends and learn about the place where Saito left and learn of his friend Sagara Sanosuke through a letter after he left Japan.

The manga's reboot, Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, follows Kenshin's stay in Tokyo as in the original series. After attacking a drug dealer known as Takeda Kanryu, Kenshin becomes the target of many of his warriors. This leads to a fight against his old enemy Jin-e from the Shinsengumi who tries to encourage his hitokiri be reborn by using Kaoru as a hostage and nearly killing her. However, as Kenshin is about kill Jin-e, Kaoru stops him; following Jin-e's suicide, Kenshin stays in Kaoru's dojo. Before the reboot, Watsuki also wrote a prequel chapter where Kenshin meets a western doctor during his years of wandering.

In 2016, Watsuki wrote a sidestory named The Ex-Con Ashitaro in which Kenshin appears to save the young title character from a group of enemies. Shueisha later revealed Ashitaro is the prequel to an upcoming from Rurouni Kenshin: the Hokkaido Arc. In the Hokkaido arc, Kenshin's group learns that Kaoru's father is alive and decide to go to Hokkaido to find him. Yahiko returns Kenshin his sakabato to aid him in possible fights but Kenshin's stamina keeps reaching its limit when fighting. Although Kenshin is primarily interested in finding Kaoru's father, he learns from Saito's adopted son Mishima Eiji of a new threat in Hokkaido who aim to conquer Japan rather than westernize the country. For this purpose, Saito calls Shishio's surviving allies and one Shinsengumi, Nagakura Shinpachi, to aid them in the battle. Sanosuke also returns to aid Kenshin in the battle.

In 2021, Watsuki created the manga "Sakabatō Shogeki" (逆刃刀 初撃) that shows the first time Kenshin used his sakabatō.

Other works
In the 1997 movie Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture, Kenshin meets a samurai named Takimi Shigure, who tries to overthrow the Meiji Government and avenge the deaths of his family during the Bakumatsu. Kenshin encounters Shigure and defeats him to avoid the start of a war while avenging one of his friends killed by Kenshin in the past. However, he fails to bring his fight give a peaceful resolution as Shigure's own men betray him and several of his soldiers die alongside him.

In the OVAs of the series, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal from 1999, Kenshin's life in the Bakumatsu is explored. In Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection released in 2001, as time passes, Kenshin becomes tortured with guilt for leading a happy life after such a destructive past. He decides to wander again, and Kaoru strongly supports him, promising to welcome him home with a smile and their child. Kenshin eventually becomes ravaged by an unknown disease. However, he decides to assist in the First Sino-Japanese War as he had promised the Meiji Government. After the war's end, Sanosuke discovers a gravely injured Kenshin on the shore, who has lost his memory and cannot return to Japan. Sanosuke arranges for Kenshin's return to Tokyo and Kaoru. The two finally meet, and Kenshin collapses into her arms as he clutches her. Kaoru then notices Kenshin's scar has faded away, signifying his death. After watching the last OVA, Nobuhiro Watsuki was quite unhappy with how the story ended, saying that "Kenshin went through so much crap and deserved a happy ending."

Kenshin also appears in other animated retelling of the series titled New Kyoto Arc from 2011 and 2012.

In the live-action movie trilogy, Kenshin is portrayed by Takeru Satoh. The first film retells Kenshin's arrival to Tokyo while making new allies and enemies whereas the second and the third ones from 2014 show his fight against Shishio's forces. The Final focuses on his fight against Enishi's forces while The Beginning focuses on his past as a hitokiri and meeting with Tomoe.

Kenshin is a playable character in all of the Rurouni Kenshin video games, as well as the crossovers Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars. In June 2013, Kenshin was confirmed to be a playable character alongside Bleach's protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki in J-Stars Victory Vs for the PlayStation 3. In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, a cardgame was developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment with Kenshin appearing as a character card.

It was announced in November 2018 that Kenshin Himura along with Shishio Makoto would be playable characters in the Weekly Shōnen Jump cross-over video game, Jump Force, developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Teppei Koike also portrays Kenshin in the Kyoto arc musical and has expressed joy of doing it, having read the manga when he was younger.

Popularity
Kenshin has been highly popular with the Rurouni Kenshin reader base, having ranked first in every Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity poll of the series, always with more than double the votes of the second place character. Two polls by the official Rurouni Kenshin anime featured Kenshin as one of the series' most popular characters. In the first, Kenshin was at the top, while in the second, he placed second. His Battōsai incarnation was also fifth in the latter poll. Kenshin has also been featured various times in the Animage's Anime Grand Prix polls, ranking as one of the most popular male anime characters. In a Newtype poll in March 2010, Kenshin was voted the eighth most popular male anime character from the 1990s. An abundance of merchandise have been released in Kenshin's likeness including keychains, action figures, and plush dolls. Since the manga was published, non-functional and functional sakabatō have been produced for purchase by collectors and fans. In a poll by Anime News Network, Kenshin was voted as the second best male anime character with long hair, being surpassed by Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. In 2014, IGN ranked him as the fifth greatest anime character of all time, saying that: "Although Kenshin's momentary lapses make him a complete badass and set the stage for some of the most epic sword battles ever animated, Kenshin always goes back to his sweet persona once the danger is gone." Kenshin was also fifth in IGN's Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time with writer Chris Mackenzie describing him as: "A classic example of a classic anime type, the peace-loving killing machine." Kenshin's Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki technique has ranked third in a Japanese survey that featured the most popular moves in manga and anime. In a poll by Anime News Network, he was voted as the top "guy". In a Japanese TV special from August 2017, Kenshin was voted as the 16th "strongest hero" from the Showa Era as well as the 15th one from the Heisei Era.

Serdar Yegulalp from ThoughtCo. also listed the series as one of the "Best anime romances" with a bigger focus on Kenshin and Kaoru. For the 9th Asian Film Awards, Satoh was nominated in the "Best Actor" category for his portrayal of Kenshin. In the Japan Action Awards 2012, Satoh also won an award in the category "Best Action Actor".

Critical reception
Several publications covering manga, anime, video games, and other media have praised and criticized the character. Tasha Robinson from SciFi.com remarked "Kenshin's schizoid personal conflict between his ruthless-killer side and his country-bumpkin" side was a perfect way to develop good stories which was one of the factors that made the series popular. Marco Oliveier from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University said that the sakabatō symbolises Kenshin's oath not to kill again which has been found challenging by other warriors. According to Ashley D. Lake from UC Riverside, Kaoru represents the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu values defied in the Meiji era that Kenshin chooses to protect due to the values it offers to people, something rare in anime series due to prominent violence during the time Rurouni Kenshin premiered in Japan. Megan Lavey from Mania Entertainment highly praised Kenshin's characterization in the manga due to his seriousness as well how he intends to tell his friends his feelings contrasting some episodes from the anime where Kenshin is more comical. Lavey also highly praised the fight between Kenshin and Saito Hajime in the manga's seventh volume and Kenshin's killing intent displayed against his rival. Similarly, his first fight against Saito in the anime adaptation earned high praise by Anime News Network writer Mark A. Grey considering one of the best ones from the series. Entertainment Weekly found comical how whenever Kenshin is not fighting he is doing the laundry or cleans the dojo which brings a light tone that appealed the writer. T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews website criticized Kenshin's super deformed appearance in comedy scenes claiming it does not suit the context of the character or the series. Mania.com remarks that Kenshin has a "smartass" attitude in a review of volume 8; while they noted that is a common attitude in the anime that makes him look out-of-character. Anime News Network's Mike Crandol praised Kenshin for being a character that all people enjoy watching due to his comedy scenes. Facultad de Lenguas (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba compared Kenshin to Musashi Miyamoto from Vagabond due to their relationship with historical figures rarely explored in manga. In About.com's Top 8 Anime Love Stories, Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship ranked 8th with Katherine Luther noting it is a "classic romance." Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network highly criticized Kenshin in the OVA's retelling of the Kyoto arc for lacking all the development he faced in both the manga and anime of this arc.

For Sony's OVAs of the franchise, there have also been multiple response. Matthew Anderson from DVD Vision Japan found the series' title "Samurai X" unfitting for Kenshin as the reviewer regarded the character as a hired killer rather than as a samurai as seen across the prequel OVAs. Rio Yañez from Animerica said one of the major themes of Trust is understanding the repercussions and after-effects murder can have, something that Kenshin has yet to comprehend though others have tried to point it out to him. Mike Crando from Anime News Network highly enjoyed Kenshin's characterization in the prequel as he refers it as "it is a fascinating and emotional character study in its own right" due to Kenshin's character development across these four episodes from "an idealistic youth to a cold-hearted killer, only to be redeemed through love lost and the realization that swinging his sword is destroying his own life as well as the lives of the people on the receiving end". Additionally, the reviewer enjoyed the OVA's director's cut for showing more fights between Kenshin and Shinsenguimi, the special forces where Saito originated from. Earl Cressey from DVD Talk found Kenshin as a "complex" character and said his relationship with Yukishiro Tomoe might appeal the viewers. Carlos Ross from T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews shared similar feelings and enjoyed the romance between Kenshin Tomoe despite its tragic outcome. Yegulalp from ThoughtCo. also listed the series as one of the "Best anime romances" with a bigger focus on Kenshin and Tomoe.

Kenshin's development in the Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection OVA series has received negative reviews by many publications. Anime News Network also adds that in Reflection he "continues to be his old mopey self" and criticizes the fact that he never says "oro", while IGN felt that some moments of the relationship between Kenshin and Kaoru were depressing. While criticizing the characters' sad decisions, Serdar Yegulalp from About.com wondered whether the OVAs had to make viewers accept Kenshin's death wish after so much time of wandering and feeling a mortal disease. However, some reviewers noted Kenshin's personality in the OVAs was one of the most complex ever to be animated remarking on the fact that he can not forget his bloody past, despite having a peaceful life. Don Houston from DVD Talk noted the controversy between the fandom as they refrained from treating Reflection as canon due to how tragic the life of Kenshin's family became. Ridwan Khan from Animefringe shared similar feelings, but noted Kenshin had no new enemies to fight after Enishi, leaving him with his disease story arc.

Besides the printed series and its animated adaptations, there have been comments regarding Kenshin's role in the live-action films where he is played by Takeru Satoh] Deborah Young from The Hollywood Reporter comically compared the character to Michael Jackson but praised his portrayal of swordsmanship. Matt Schley from Otaku USA commented that Satoh did a good performance making Kenshin into likeable protagonist. Both Nick Creamer and Ko Ransom from Anime News Network shared similar opinions, noting Satoh managed to adapt the character well. Schley once again praised Satoh's role in the finale alongside other actors. For the last movie, Creamer expressed that Satoh kept doing a fine work as acting as Kenshin, praising his battles like Young. While enjoying the final duel between Kenshin and Shishio Makoto, Hayley Scanlon from UK Anime Network felt it took too much screentime. Lito B. Zulueta from The Enquirer also enjoyed the fight between Kenshin and Shishio, the actors, as well as how the character of Kenshin has helped popularized the term of samurai in western culture. David West from Neo criticized Kenshin's long training with his teacher but still found that in the film, Kenshin's vow of not killing anybody remains true. Satoh's action sequences from The Final and his rivalry with Enishi were also the subject of praise. Meanwhile, the younger Kenshin from The Beginning shocked critics for how coldhearted he is in his assassin works during the Bakumatsu but changes into a more peaceful person when meeting Tomoe. In retrospect, F. Liu from International Journal of Education and Humanities noticed that the accidental murder of Tomoe caused the awakening of the protagonist's wiser personality as he realized the horrible actions he has been causing leading to his transformation into a wanderer once the Bakumatsu ends, abandoning his bushido and becoming more benevolent in the process.

In The Renegotiation of Modernity, Kenshin's heroic nature as a wanderer was compared to both Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter due to how he wishes to protect the weak people, seeing nothing wrong with such trait as heavily explored in the series when confronting the young Seta Sojiro who had opposite values in terms how should the strong men act. This soft masculinity exemplified. also in the balance between Kenshin's supernatural strength and small design, led a major impact in the audience due to how likable the protagonist is. His introduction marks his values with the sword which also affected Kaoru, Yahiko's and Sanosuke's values upon their meetings. In doing so, Rurouni Kenshin laid" more than twenty years ago the foundation of a fresh paradigm of humanity based on tenderness and mutual acceptance as a counter-movement to the individualism, competition and efficiency that characterize the project of modernity".

title: Himura Kenshin


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Dependent clause

A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, subclause or embedded clause, is a certain type of clause that juxtaposes an independent clause within a complex sentence. For instance, in the sentence "I know Bette is a dolphin", the clause "Bette is a dolphin" occurs as the complement of the verb "know" rather than as a freestanding sentence. Subtypes of dependent clauses include content clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and clauses that complement an independent clause in the subjunctive mood.

Content clause
A content clause, also known as a "noun clause", provides content implied or commented upon by its main clause. It can be a subject, predicate nominative, direct object, appositive, indirect object, or object of the preposition. Some of the English words that introduce content clauses are that, who (and formal whom), whoever (and formal whomever), whether, why, what, how, when, and where. Notice that some of these words also introduce relative and adverbial clauses. A clause is a content clause if a pronoun (he, she, it, or they) could be substituted for it.

Examples:
 * I know who said that. (I know them. The dependent clause serves as the object of the main-clause verb "know".)
 * Whoever made that assertion is wrong. (They are wrong. The dependent clause serves as the subject of the main clause.)

In English, in some instances the subordinator that can be omitted.

Example 1:
 * I know that he is here.
 * I know he is here.

Example 2:
 * I think that it is pretty. (less common)
 * I think it is pretty. (more common)

Relative (adjectival) clause
In Indo-European languages, a relative clause, also called an adjectival clause or an adjective clause, meets three requirements:
 * 1) Like all dependent clauses, it contains a verb (and also a subject unless it is a non-finite dependent clause). However, in a pro-drop language the subject may be a zero pronoun: the pronoun may not be explicitly included because its identity is conveyed by a verbal inflection.
 * 2) It begins with a relative adverb [when, where, how, or why in English] or a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, what or which in English]. However, the English relative pronoun (other than what) may be omitted and only implied if it plays the role of the object of the verb or object of a preposition in a restrictive clause; for example, He is the boy I saw is equivalent to He is the boy whom I saw, and I saw the boy you are talking about is equivalent to the more formal I saw the boy about whom you are talking.
 * 3) The relative clause functions as an adjective, answering questions such as "what kind?", "how many?" or "which one?"

The adjective clause in English will follow one of these patterns:

 * Relative Pronoun [Functioning as Object of Verb] +  Subject  +  Verb
 * This is the ball that I was bouncing.

 * Relative Pronoun [Functioning as Object of Verb] (Omitted but Implied) + Subject  +  Verb
 * This is the ball I was bouncing.

 * Relative Adverb + Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
 * That is the house where I grew up.
 * That is the house where I met her.

 * Relative Pronoun [Functioning as Subject] +  Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
 * That is the person who hiccuped.
 * That is the person who saw me.

 * Relative Pronoun [Functioning as Object of Preposition] + Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb) + Preposition
 * That is the person who(m) I was talking about.
 * That is the person who(m) I was telling you about.

 * Preposition + Relative Pronoun [Functioning as Object of Preposition] + Subject + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
 * That is the person about whom I was talking.
 * That is the person about whom I was telling you.

 * Possessive Relative Pronoun + Noun [Functioning as Subject] + Verb (possibly + Object of Verb)
 * That is the dog whose big brown eyes pleaded for another cookie.
 * That is the dog whose big brown eyes begged me for another cookie.

 * Possessive Relative Pronoun + Noun [Functioning as Object of Verb] + Subject + Verb
 * That is the person whose car I saw.

For a discussion of adjective clauses in languages other than English, see Relative clause.

English punctuation
The punctuation of an adjective clause depends on whether it is essential (restrictive) or nonessential (nonrestrictive) and uses commas accordingly. Essential clauses are not set off with commas; nonessential clauses are. An adjective clause is essential if the information it contains is necessary to the meaning of the sentence:

 * The vegetables that people often leave uneaten are usually the most nutritious.

The word "vegetables" is non-specific. Accordingly, for the reader to know which are being mentioned, one must have the information provided in the adjective clause (in italics). Because it restricts the meaning of "vegetable", the adjective clause is called a restrictive clause. It is essential to the meaning of the main clause and uses no commas (and so does not experience a pause when spoken).

However, if the additional information does not help to identify more narrowly the identity of the noun antecedent but rather simply provides further information about it, the adjective clause is nonrestrictive and so requires commas (or a spoken pause) to separate it from the rest of the sentence:

 * Broccoli, which people often leave uneaten, is very nutritious.

Depending on context, a particular noun could be modified by either a restrictive or nonrestrictive adjective clause. For example, while "broccoli" is modified nonrestrictively in the preceding sentence, it is modified restrictively in the following.

 * The broccoli which (or that) people leave uneaten is often nutritious.

Adverbial clause
"He saw Mary when he was in New York" and "They studied hard because they had a test" both contain adverbial clauses (in italics). Adverbial clauses express when, why, where, opposition, and conditions, and, as with all dependent clauses, they cannot stand alone. For example, When he was in New York is not a complete sentence; it needs to be completed by an independent clause, as in:

 * He went to the Guggenheim Museum when he was in New York.

or equivalently

 * When he was in New York, he went to the Guggenheim Museum.

Sentence structure
A complex sentence contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus (one or more) dependent clauses is referred to as a compound-complex sentence. (Every clause contains a subject and predicate.) Here are some English examples:

My sister cried because she scraped her knee. (complex sentence)
 * Subjects: My sister, she
 * Predicates: cried, scraped her knee
 * Subordinating conjunction: because

When they told me (that) I won the contest, I cried, but I didn't faint. (compound-complex sentence)
 * Subjects: they, I, I, I
 * Predicates: told me, won the contest, cried, didn't faint
 * Subordinating conjunctions: when, that (implied or understood)
 * Coordinating conjunction: but

This sentence contains two dependent clauses: "When they told me", and "(that) I won the contest", the latter which serves as the object of the verb "told". The connecting word "that", if not explicitly included, is understood to implicitly precede "I won" and in either case functions as a subordinating conjunction. This sentence also includes two independent clauses, "I cried" and "I didn't faint", connected by the coordinating conjunction "but". The first dependent clause, together with its object (the second dependent clause), adverbially modifies the verbs of both main clauses.

Non-finite dependent clauses
Dependent clauses may be headed by an infinitive, gerund, or other non-finite verb form, which in linguistics is called deranked. For instance:

 * Sit up straight while singing.

In these cases, the subject of the dependent clause may take a non-nominative form. An example is:

 * I want him to vanish.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Dependent clause


text:
Koji Yamamoto

Koji Yamamoto may refer to:

 * Koji Yamamoto (actor) (born 1976), Japanese actor
 * Koji Yamamoto (baseball, born 1946), former Japanese All-Star baseball player
 * Koji Yamamoto (basketball) (1952–2001), Japanese Olympic basketball player
 * Koji Yamamoto (baseball, born 1951) (1951–2016), former Japanese professional baseball player

title: Koji Yamamoto


text:
Independent clause

In traditional grammar, an independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself.

Independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or by using a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet, etc.).

Examples
In the following example sentences, independent clauses are underlined, and conjunctions are in bold.

Single independent clauses: Multiple independent clauses:
 * I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone.
 * My favourite flavour is chocolate.
 * Let's go to the shop.
 * I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone ; my favourite flavour is chocolate.
 * I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone, so let's go to the shop.

title: Independent clause


text: User talk:69.79.7.200

title: User talk:69.79.7.200


text:
UNESCO nomenclature

UNESCO Nomenclature (more properly UNESCO nomenclature for fields of science and technology) is a system developed by UNESCO for classification of research papers and doctoral dissertations. There are three versions of the system, offering different levels of refinement through 2-, 4-, and 6-digit codes.

Two-digit system
11 Logic

12 Mathematics

21 Astronomy, Astrophysics 22 Physics

23 Chemistry

24 Life Sciences

25 Earth and space science

31 Agricultural Sciences

32 Medical Sciences

33 Technological Sciences

51 Anthropology

52 Demography

53 Economic Sciences

54 Geography

55 History

56 Juridical Science and Law

57 Linguistics

58 Pedagogy

59 Political Science

61 Psychology

62 Sciences of Arts and Letters

63 Sociology

71 Ethics

72 Philosophy

title: UNESCO nomenclature


text:
Talk:Koji Yamamoto

A Japanese Actor in Shinsengumi on NHK who portrays Hijikata Toshizou.

title: Talk:Koji Yamamoto


text: Talk:Diatom

title: Talk:Diatom


text: Category:Vice-chancellors of Austria

title: Category:Vice-chancellors of Austria


text:
User:Kizzle/John Kerry Military Combined

Senator John Kerry served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1970. Kerry's time as commander of a Swift boat has received considerable attention during his political career.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry's Vietnam war record became the subject of controversy. In television advertisements and a book "Unfit for Command", the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) questioned Kerry's service record and the merit of his combat medals. Several SBVT members were in the same unit with Kerry, but only one, Stephen Gardner, served on the same boat. Other SBVT members included two of Kerry's former commanding officers, Grant Hibbard and George Elliott. Hibbard and Elliot have alleged, respectively, that Kerry's first Purple Heart and Silver Star were undeserved. In addition, members of SBVT have questioned his other medals and his truthfulness in testimony about the war. Defenders of John Kerry's war record, including nearly all of his former crewmates, have charged that organizers of SBVT had close ties to the Bush presidential campaign and that the accusations were false and politically motivated.

Commission, training, and tour of duty on the USS Gridley

On February 18, 1966, Kerry enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves. He began his active duty military service on August 19. After completing sixteen weeks of Officer Candidate School at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island, he received his commission on December 16.

On January 3, 1967 Kerry began a ten-week Officer Damage Control Course at the Naval Schools Command on Treasure Island, California. On March 22, he reported to the U.S. Fleet Anti-Air Warfare Training Center for training as a Combat Information Center Watch Officer.

Kerry began his first tour of duty June 8, 1967, serving as an ensign in the electrical department on the guided missile frigate USS Gridley. On February 9, 1968, the Gridley set sail for Western Pacific deployment. The next day, Kerry requested duty in Vietnam, listing as his first preference a position as the commander of a Fast Patrol Craft (PCF), also known as a "Swift boat." These 50-foot boats have aluminum hulls and have little or no armor, but are heavily armed and rely on speed. (Kerry's second choice was to be an officer in a river patrol boat, or " PBR", squadron.) "I didn't really want to get involved in the war," Kerry said in a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."

The Gridley traveled to several places, including Wellington in New Zealand, Subic Bay in the Philippines, and the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam, where the ship supported aircraft carriers. The ship had no enemy contact during this time, and departed for the U.S. on May 27, returned to port at Long Beach, California on June 6.

Ten days after returning, on June 16, Kerry was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, junior grade; on June 20, Kerry left Gridley for special training at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado. After completing Swift boat commander training on November 17, Kerry reported for duty at Coastal Squadron 1 of Coastal Division 14 at the Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam, arriving on December 1.

Kerry's tour of duty as commander of a Swift boat
The two Swift boats that Kerry successively commanded took part in Operation SEALORD, the brainchild of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. The goal was to project a U.S. military presence more aggressively into an area that had long been a Viet Cong stronghold. As part of that plan, the Swift boats were assigned to patrol the narrow waterways — inlets, canals, and coves — of the Mekong River delta, to monitor enemy movements, interdict enemy river-based supply lines, invite attack and otherwise draw out hostile forces.

During a four-month tour of duty as boat commander, Kerry led five-man crews on patrols into enemy-controlled areas near the Cua Long River. His first command was Swift Boat PCF-44. In late January 1969 Kerry was transferred to PCF-94, which he led on 18 missions over the next 48 days.

First Purple Heart
On the night of December 2, 1968, while Kerry and his crew were patrolling Cam Ranh Bay, they saw people running from a boat on a nearby shoreline, according to two crewmen who were on duty with Kerry that night. When the Vietnamese refused to obey an order to stop running, Kerry ordered the crew to open fire. During this encounter, Kerry suffered a shrapnel wound in the left arm above the elbow. The shrapnel was removed and the wound was treated with bacitracin antibiotic and bandaged. Kerry returned to duty the next day, conducting a regular Swift boat patrol. It was for this injury that Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart.

Allegations against First Purple Heart
Grant Hibbard, Kerry's former commander, and other SBVT members have questioned Kerry's first Purple Heart, received for a wound sustained on December 2 1968. They assert that the injury was much too minor to merit a citation since the only treatment Kerry received was bacitracin and a bandage, and that he returned to service immediately. SBVT also claims that the wound was not from enemy fire but was from shrapnel of a grenade he fired himself.

The criteria for the Purple Heart specify citation for any injury received during combat requiring treatment by a medical officer. Under military regulations, the Purple Heart is awarded for "friendly fire" wounds in the "heat of battle", so long as the fire is targeted "under full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment."

An article in the Boston Globe described the circumstances in which Purple Hearts were given to wounded soldiers in Vietnam:
 *  'There were an awful lot of Purple Hearts — from shrapnel; some of those might have been M-40 grenades,' said George Elliott, Kerry's commanding officer. 'The Purple Hearts were coming down in boxes. Kerry, he had three Purple Hearts. None of them took him off duty.  Not to belittle it, that was more the rule than the exception.'

In Douglas Brinkley's book Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, Brinkley notes that Purple Hearts were given out frequently:

 * As generally understood, the Purple Heart is given to any U.S. citizen wounded in wartime service to the nation. Giving out Purple Hearts increased as the United States started sending Swifts up rivers.  Sailors — no longer safe on aircraft carriers or battleships in the Gulf of Tonkin — were starting to bleed, a lot.

In the SBVT advertisement, Dr. Lewis Letson asserted "I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury," but did not specify what the alleged lie was. Kerry's medical records list a medic, J. C. Carreon, as the "person administering treatment" for this wound. Dr. Letson's name does not appear on the record, but he claims that it was common for medics to sign the paperwork even though Letson would treat the patient. However, the claim cannot be verified as Carreon died in 1992.

On the night in question, Kerry's skimmer opened fire on suspected guerrillas on the shore. During this encounter, Kerry suffered a shrapnel wound in the left arm above the elbow. Accounts differ over the crew aboard the skimmer, the source of Kerry's injury, and several other major details. No after-action report for this incident is known to exist.

SBVT's claims about the incident are primarily based on an account by retired Rear Admiral William Schachte, then a Lieutenant. Schachte regularly led training missions for recently arrived officers such as Kerry. Schachte has stated he was the senior officer on Kerry's skimmer on the night of Kerry's injury, and had participated in all previous skimmer missions up to and including that evening. Schachte stated that the skimmer opened fire because of suspicous movement on the shore. In an August 2004 interview, Schatche stated there was no hostile return fire, and Kerry was "nicked" by a fragment from an M-79 grenade launcher he fired himself.  In an April 2003 interview, Schachte had described the action as a "firefight" and said of Kerry: "He got hit."

Kerry crewmates Bill Zaladonis and Patrick Runyon dispute Schachte's account. Zaladonis stated that "Myself, Pat Runyon, and John Kerry, we were the only ones in the skimmer." Runyon added, "Me and Bill aren't the smartest, but we can count to three." They recounted that the skimmer opened fire on suspected guerrillas attempting to evade the patrol, as they ran from sampan boats onto the shore. Both Runyon and Zaladonis believe, but are not completely certain, that the skimmer received return hostile fire; Runyon commented, "It was the scariest night of my life." Runyon also stated that he is "100 percent certain" that no one on the boat fired a grenade launcher.  Zaladonis has noted that Schachte went on "a bunch of" other skimmer missions and speculated that Schachte might have inadvertently mixed up his dates.

SBVT also points to the narration of a subsequent event in Tour of Duty (pp. 188-189). Brinkley opens the account of a four-day cruise by telling us how "Kerry —who had just turned 25 on December 11, 1968— was a fine leader of his men". He goes on to quote Kerry's reflections in his notebook: "A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky." SBVT argues that this journal entry shows that the incident could not have involved enemy fire. Others argue that Kerry was referring to ambushes, a common misfortune for Swift boats which Kerry had not yet suffered.

Kerry's meeting with Zumwalt and Abrams
At the time, the U.S. military command in Vietnam had an established policy of "free-fire zones" — areas in which soldiers were to shoot anyone moving around after curfew, without first making sure that they were hostile. Such encounters could result in the deaths of innocent civilians. Kerry has stated that he never thought he or his crew were at fault: "There wasn't anybody in that area that didn't know you don't move at night, that you don't go out in a sampan on the rivers, and there's a curfew." Nevertheless, he soon concluded that the policy should be changed.

On January 22, 1969, Kerry and several other officers had an unusual meeting in Saigon with Zumwalt and with Army Gen. Creighton Abrams, the overall commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Kerry and the other officers reported their view that the "free-fire" policy was alienating the Vietnamese. In addition, Kerry (though only a lieutenant) bluntly told Vice-Admiral Zumwalt that the Swift boats' actions were not accomplishing their ostensible goal of interdicting Viet Cong supply lines.

According to some who retell the story, Kerry and the other visiting officers' concerns were dismissed with what amounted to a pep talk. One of the other officers who participated later recalled, "We all looked at each other and thought, 'What is this crap?'" Kerry later said that the Saigon meeting left him "more depressed than when I came." Nevertheless, he returned to his unit. Then, in late January, he was transferred to Swift Boat #94. This boat conducted 18 missions in the next 48 days, almost all of which were in the Mekong Delta.

Second Purple Heart
Kerry received his second Purple Heart for action on the Bo De River on February 20, 1969. The plan had been for the Swift boats to be accompanied by support helicopters. On the way up the Bo De, however, the helicopters were attacked. They returned to their base to refuel and were unable to return to the mission for several hours. Kerry recorded the situation in his notebook: "We therefore had a choice: to wait for what was not a confirmed return by the helos [and] give any snipers more time to set up an ambush for our exit or we could take a chance and exit immediately without any cover. We chose the latter."

As the Swift boats reached the Cua Lon, Kerry's boat was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade round, and a piece of hot shrapnel hit Kerry's left leg. Thereafter, they had no more trouble, and reached the Gulf of Thailand safely. Kerry still has shrapnel in his left thigh because the doctors tending to him decided to remove the damaged tissue and close the wound with sutures rather than make a wide opening to remove the shrapnel. Kerry received his second Purple Heart for this injury, but he did not take any time off from duty.

Silver Star
Only eight days later, on February 28, came the incident for which Kerry was awarded the Silver Star. On this occasion, Kerry was in tactical command of his Swift boat and two others. Their mission included bringing a demolition team and dozens of South Vietnamese soldiers to destroy enemy sampans, structures and bunkers. Along the Bay Hap River, they ran into an ambush. Kerry directed the boats “to turn to the beach and charge the Viet Cong positions,” and he “expertly directed” his boat’s fire and coordinated the deployment of the South Vietnamese troops, according to the Navy’s medal citation to Kerry. When Kerry heard that another Swift boat had been ambushed, he and his crew rushed to assist them. Kerry’s boat came under fire from several Viet Cong B-40 rockets, with one hitting and shattering the crew cabin windows. The normal procedure would have been to fire to shore and then retreat to an off-shore location.

Instead, Kerry ordered Del Sandusky, the second-in-command and navigator, to take the boat ashore, directly towards the enemy's position. As they reached the shore, a Viet Cong soldier jumped out of the brush, carrying a rocket launcher that could have seriously damaged the boat. With the enemy soldier only a short distance away from the boat and crew, forward gunner Tommy Belodeau shot him in the leg with the boat's 7.62x51 caliber M-60 machine gun. "Tommy in the pit tank winged him in the side of the legs as he was coming across," Fred Short said. "But the guy didn't miss stride. I mean, he did not break stride." According to crewmate accounts, Belodeau's machine gun jammed after he fired, and while fellow crewmate Michael Medeiros attempted to fire, he was unable to do so. Kerry leaped ashore and, followed by one of his crewmembers, pursued the man and killed him. The medal citation notes that Kerry "then led an assault party and conducted a sweep of the area" until the enemy had "been completely routed." As the Swift boats returned from the mission they again came under fire, but Kerry "maneuvered his craft through several strafing runs which completely silenced the enemy."

Kerry and Medeiros searched the soldier's corpse and took the rocket launcher, returning to the boat. The mission was judged highly successful for having destroyed numerous targets and confiscated substantial combat supplies while sustaining no casualties.

Kerry's commanding officer, Capt. George Elliott, joked that he didn't know whether to court-martial him for beaching the boat without orders or give him a medal for saving the crew. Elliott recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, and Admiral Zumwalt flew into An Thoi to personally award the medal to Kerry. The Navy's account of Kerry's actions is presented in his medal citation.

Sources close to Kerry say the incident had a profound effect on him: "It's the reason he gets so angry when his patriotism is challenged. It was a traumatic experience that's still with him, and he went through it for his country." It affects the way Kerry lives his life every day, the source said, since "he knows he very well would not be alive today had he not taken the life of another man [he] never ever met."

Allegations against Silver Star
Kerry's Silver Star medal has been called into question by George Elliott, Kerry's former commanding officer and a SBVT member. Elliott's stated position on the award changed during the course of the 2004 Presidential campaign.

Kerry's medal citation indicates that he charged into an ambush, killing an enemy preparing to launch a rocket. In his 1969 performance evaluation, Elliot wrote "In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, LTJG [Lieutenant Junior Grade] Kerry was unsurpassed. He constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. On one occasion, while in tactical command of a three boat operation his units were taken under fire from ambush. LTJG Kerry rapidly assessed the situation and ordered his units to turn directly into the ambush. This decision resulted in routing the attackers with several KIA [Killed in Action]. LTJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach."

During Kerry's 1996 re-election campaign, Elliott responded to criticism of the medal, "The fact that he chased armed enemies down is not something to be looked down on." In June 2003, Elliott was quoted as saying the award was "well deserved" and that he had "no regrets or second thoughts at all about that."

More recently, however, Elliott has signed two affidavits that criticize the award. The first, in July 2004, stated in part, "When Kerry came back to the United States, he lied about what occurred in Vietnam..." After the release of this first affidavit, Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe quoted Elliott saying, "It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here...I knew it was wrong...In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."  Elliott contended that Kranish had substantially misquoted him, but the Globe stood by its account, calling the disputed quotes "absolutely accurate".

The story prompted Elliott to release a second affidavit, in August 2004, in which he stated, "Had I known the facts, I would not have recommended Kerry for the Silver Star for simply pursuing and dispatching a single wounded, fleeing Viet Cong." . The second affidavit made what Elliott called an "immaterial clarification", in that he admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the circumstances of the shooting. Rather, his initial statement that Kerry had been dishonest was based on unspecified sources and a passage contributed by Kranish to a biography of Kerry.

Kerry’s crew members who were there that day do not agree with Elliott’s characterization of the event. They contend that the enemy soldier, although wounded, was still a threat. For example, one of them, Fred Short said, "The guy was getting ready to stand up with a rocket on his shoulder, coming up. And Mr. Kerry took him out ... he would have been about a 30-yard shot. ... [T]here's no way he could miss us." Del Sandusky, Kerry’s second in command, described the consequences to the lightly armored Swift boat: "Charlie would have lit us up like a Roman candle because we're full of fuel, we're full of ammunition."

Another eyewitness, William Rood, now a Chicago Tribune editor, recently gave an account that supports Kerry's version of the events of that day. Rood was commander of PCF-23, which was one of the two Swift boats that accompanied Kerry's PCF-94.

Rood discounted several specific charges made by SBVT about the incident. In his (second-hand) book account, O'Neill implied that Kerry chased down a lone "teenager in a loincloth clutching a grenade launcher which may or may not have been loaded," without coming under enemy fire himself. In contrast, Rood stated that there were multiple attackers, there was heavy hostile fire, and the guerilla Kerry shot was "a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the Viet Cong usually wore" armed with a "loaded B-40 rocket launcher". Also, O'Neill called Kerry's tactic of charging the beach "stupidity, not courage." Similarly, Hoffman characterized Kerry's actions as reckless and impulsive. However, Rood stated that Kerry's tactic of charging the beach was discussed and mutually agreed with the other boat commanders beforehand. He also notes that, at the time, Hoffman praised all three boat commanders and called the tactics developed "a shining example of completely overwhelming the enemy" and that they "may be the most efficacious method of dealing with small numbers of ambushers."  O'Neill responded that Rood's criticism was "extremely unfair" and stated that Rood's account of events is not substantially different from what appeared in his book, for which Rood had declined an interview.

Commenting on the Silver Star issue, Republican Sen. John Warner, who was Under Secretary of the Navy at the time, stated "We did extraordinary, careful checking on that type of medal, a very high one, when it goes through the secretary...I'd stand by the process that awarded that medal, and I think we best acknowledge that his heroism did gain that recognition."

Bronze Star and third Purple Heart
On March 13, Kerry's boat hit a mine while cruising the Bay Hap River. Army Lt. James Rassmann, a Green Beret who was sitting on the deck of the pilothouse eating a chocolate chip cookie, was knocked overboard as Kerry's arm was hit. Just afterwards, the boat came under attack from sniper fire on both sides of the bank.

Rassmann dived to the riverbottom as the Swift boats escaped. Coming back up for air, the enemy repeatedly fired at him. Rassmann was heading to the north bank, expecting to be taken prisoner, when Kerry realized he was gone and came back for him. Kerry rescued Rassmann under heavy fire, and the boat escaped to the Gulf of Siam. Rassmann later put Kerry in for a Bronze Star, which he was later awarded with Valor device. The Navy's account of Kerry's actions is presented in his medal citation:

 * Lt. Kerry directed his gunners to provide suppressing fire, while from an exposed position on the bow, his arm bleeding and in pain, with disregard for his personal safety, he pulled the man aboard. Lt. Kerry then directed his boat to return and assist the other damaged craft and towed the boat to safety. Lt. Kerry's calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Naval Service. (Wikisource)

Kerry was again wounded in this incident, for which he also received his third Purple Heart. His injuries included several shrapnel wounds in his left upper buttock, which were treated with antiseptic lotion and bandaged. He also suffered bruising and contusions from hitting the bulkhead, which was treated with warm soaking. He spent two days out of service while recovering.

Kerry lost five friends in war, including Yale classmate Richard Pershing, who was killed in action on February 17, 1968.

An additional account of the incidents for which Kerry was decorated appears in Snopes.

Allegations against Bronze Star
Kerry's Bronze Star has been criticized by former Swift boat commander Larry Thurlow. During the incident leading to the medal, Thurlow was in overall command of a five-boat fleet including Kerry's. In 2004 Thurlow, along with two other SBVT members, alleged that Kerry's citation for bravery under fire is false because neither Kerry's boat nor any of the others was under hostile fire. In a sworn affidavit about the incident, Thurlow testified, "I never heard a shot." Of the five boat commanders present, beside Kerry and Thurlow, two others are SBVT members who now claim that there was no hostile fire during the incident. The fifth, Dan Droz, was later killed in action; however, his widow recalls Droz's account as being consistent with Kerry's.

Several other witnesses insist that there was hostile fire during the incident. Jim Rassmann, the Special Forces captain Kerry rescued, wrote, "Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river...When I surfaced, all the Swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water." Del Sandusky, the driver on Kerry's boat, PCF-94, stated, "I saw the gun flashes in the jungle, and I saw the bullets skipping across the water." Wayne Langhofer, who manned the machine gun on Dan Droz's PCF-43, stated, "There was a lot of firing going on, and it came from both sides of the river." Michael Medeiros, aboard PCF-94, recalled "a massive ambush. There were rockets and light machine gun fire plus small arms." Jim Russell, the Psychological Operations Officer of the unit, who was on PCF-43, wrote "All the time we were taking small arms fire from the beach... Anyone who doesn't think that we were being fired upon must have been on a different river."

Although it is not mentioned in Unfit for Command, Thurlow himself was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions during the same incident. Thurlow's citation includes several phrases indicating hostile fire such as "despite enemy bullets flying about him" and "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire", and speaks of fire directed at "all units" of the five-boat fleet. Thurlow's medal recommendation, signed by Elliott, used the phrasing "under constant enemy small arms fire." Robert Lambert, Thurlow's chief petty officer, won his own Bronze Star for "courage under fire" for pulling Thurlow out of the water. Lambert still insists that the boats were receiving fire from the enemy.

Thurlow claims that his Bronze Star citation (given to him after he had left the military) is in error. He now states that he noticed some errors when he received the citation in 1969 but saw no reason to try to correct the record. He and others in SBVT claim that Kerry wrote the after-action report upon which all the citations were based. However, Lambert's medal citation contains considerable detail about the incident which would not have been visible to Kerry given his position across the river at the time.  The report is initialed "KJW", who SBVT claims is Kerry. However, Kerry's initials are "JFK", and SBVT cites no reason why Kerry would have included a "W". These same initials "KJW" appear on other reports about events in which Kerry did not participate. A Navy official stated to the New York Times that the initials referred, not to the author of the report, but to the headquarters staffer who received it.

Several documents beyond the medal citations indicate hostile fire during the action. The weekly report from Task Force 115 twice refers to the incident as "an enemy initiated firefight". According to a damage report, Thurlow's boat received three bullet holes that day; he now claims at least one bullet hole was from action the previous day. Kerry's boat had three blown-out windows and other damage that had to be repaired before it could resume patrols. Also, later intelligence reports confirm the presence of hostile forces, with six Viet Cong casualties from the incident.

Cambodia mission
One chapter of SBVT's forthcoming Unfit for Command questions Kerry's repeated statement that he was sent on an illegal, secret mission into Cambodia during Christmas December 25, 1968. On March 27, 1986, Kerry made a speech to the Senate that included the following passage:

 * Mr. President, I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there: the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared—seared—in me.

Kerry indicated that this event was a turning point for him, causing him to distrust the United States government, and spurring his opposition to the war upon his return from Vietnam. At the time, President Lyndon Johnson had falsely denied military incursions across the Cambodian border. SBVT points out that, in a 1979 article in the Boston Herald, Kerry mistakenly identified the president in question as Richard Nixon. Nixon was actually president-elect at the time, and he had not yet issued his own false denial. None of Kerry's crewmates has confirmed ever being sent to Cambodia. Some have, however, stated that they may at some point have entered Cambodia without knowing it. James Wasser, who was on PCF-44 on that December mission, while saying that he believes they were "very, very close" to Cambodia, does not recall actually crossing over. Wasser acknowledged uncertainty, stating "I don't know exactly where we were. I didn't have the chart," and "It is very hard to tell. There are no signs." Michael Meehan, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign responded to SBVT's charges with a statement that Kerry was referring to a period when Nixon had been president-elect and before he was inaugurated. Meehan went on to state that Kerry had been "deep in enemy waters" between Vietnam and Cambodia and that his boat came under fire at the Cambodian border. Meehan also said that Kerry did covertly cross over into Cambodia to drop off special operations forces on a later occasion, but that there was no paperwork for such missions and he could not supply dates.

Based on examination of Kerry's journals and logbook, historian Douglas Brinkley placed the missions soon after Christmas. In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph, Brinkley stated "Kerry went into Cambodian waters three or four times in January and February 1969 on clandestine missions. He had a run dropping off U.S. Seals, Green Berets and CIA guys." Brinkley added, "He was a ferry master, a drop-off guy, but it was dangerous as hell. Kerry carries a hat he was given by one CIA operative. In a part of his journals which I didn't use he writes about discussions with CIA guys he was dropping off."

In the book, O'Neill argued that a Swift boat commander would have been "seriously disciplined or court-martialed" for crossing the Cambodian border. The book also asserts that border was impassible — posted with a large warning sign and patrolled by several PBR's precisely to prevent such crossings. Critics point out the inconsistency between this description and O'Neill's own claims documented in a conversation with President Nixon in 1971. O'Neill: "I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water." Nixon: "In a Swift boat?" O'Neill: Yes, sir."

Navy Inspector General Report on Medals
In September 2004, Vice Admiral Ronald A. Route, the Navy inspector general, completed a review of Kerry's combat medals, initiated at the request of Judicial Watch. In a memo to the Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, Route stated

 * ''Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed. In particular, the senior officers who awarded the medals were properly delegated authority to do so. In addition, we found that they correctly followed the procedures in place at the time for approving these awards.

 * ''Conducting any additional review regarding events that took place over 30 years ago would not be productive. The passage of time would make reconstruction of the facts and circumstances unreliable, and would not allow the information gathered to be considered in the context of the time in which the events took place.

 * ''Our review also considered the fact that Senator Kerry's post-active duty activities were public and that military and civilian officials were aware of his actions at the time. For these reasons, I have determined that Senator Kerry's awards were properly approved and will take no further action in this matter.

Return from Vietnam
On March 17, 1969, shortly after his third wound, on March 17, 1969, Commodore Charles Horne, the commander of Kerry's coastal squadron and a military administrator, filed a document allowing Kerry's reassignment to the U.S. He was entitled to this early departure from Vietnam (subject to approval by the Bureau of Naval Personnel), because those who had been wounded three times, "regardless of the nature of the wound or treatment required...will not be ordered to serve in Vietnam and contiguous waters or to duty with ships or units which have been alerted for movement to that area."

After a final patrol, Kerry was transferred to Cam Ranh Bay for five or six days. His tour of duty in Vietnam ended in early April. On April 11, he reported to the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Military Sea Transportation Service, where he would remain on active duty for one more year as a personal aide to an officer. On January 1, Kerry was promoted to full Lieutenant; on January 3, he requested discharge. After having been listed as completing his service on April 29, he officially left active duty on March 1.

In total, Kerry served on active duty for three and a half years, from August 1966 until March 1970. He was transferred to the Naval Reserve in 1970, and was later transferred to the Standby Reserve in 1972, where he no longer was required to participate in Reserve activities. He received his honorable discharge in 1978.


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The Varsity (restaurant)

The Varsity is a restaurant chain in Atlanta, Georgia. The main branch of the chain was the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world, taking up two city blocks and accommodating up to 800 diners. The main location ended car-side service in 2020. There are now six other branches across metropolitan Atlanta.

History
Originally named "The Yellow Jacket", The Varsity was established in 1928 at the corner of Luckie Street and Hemphill Avenue in Midtown Atlanta. Its founder, Frank Gordy of Thomaston, Georgia, a Reinhardt University graduate, briefly attended The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), studying industrial management. Popular legend states that Gordy dropped out, but according to Janice McDonald, he actually transferred to Oglethorpe College. As the business grew, Gordy was forced to move the restaurant to 61 North Avenue (on the northwest corner of Spring Street). To accommodate the crowds, the present structure now covers two city blocks. It was here that the name was changed to "The Varsity," reflecting his desire to expand to other college campuses. During the drive-in era, The Varsity began its curbside service. The Atlanta location ceased offering curbside service in July 2020 but later reintroduced it in September of that year, in modified form.

The current location in Atlanta is now adjacent to the Downtown Connector's interchange with North Avenue. When that freeway (now I-75/85) was built by GDOT, it took out several blocks of Williams Street and much of The Varsity's western parking lot, forcing a parking garage to be erected as a replacement. The restaurant and the Georgia Tech campus sit on opposite sides of the Connector, linked by the North Avenue bridge.

The enterprise has since expanded all around the state of Georgia. They include the cities of Bethlehem, Cartersville, Dawsonville, Kennesaw, Norcross, and Rome. Former Varsity locations include the cities of Athens and Alpharetta. The first Athens location opened in 1932 at the corner of East Broad Street and College Avenue, but was closed around the late 1970s. Another Athens location opened further west on West Broad Street near Milledge Avenue in the 1960s. The latter location for demolition in 2021. The Varsity location in Athens closed in June 2021, though the company hinted that it might return to Athens. The Alpharetta location closed on February 1, 2016, as it had become unprofitable, and the building has since been demolished. In 2023, a new Varsity opened in Bethlehem. During that same year, construction for a location in Rome began. Although it was supposed to be open by the end of the year, it is still under construction as of March 2024.

The Varsity, Jr., located in northeast Atlanta, was the only other location of the chain to offer curbside service. The Varsity, Jr. closed in August 2010, having been at that location for more than 40 years, after the city of Atlanta did not approve the chain's plans to replace that building. The plans for the new Varsity, Jr. were instead used for the new location in Dawsonville. The restaurant offers catering services to the metro Atlanta region for both corporate and non-corporate functions, going as far east as Conyers and Stone Mountain, Georgia.

There is also a mini-Varsity on the campus of Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia. Frank Gordy met his wife, Evelyn, at Reinhardt in 1924 and went on to Georgia Tech to finish his education. Their custom-designed home was later moved from Atlanta to the Reinhardt University campus. The Gordy family gave part of their land to Cobb County for what is now the Mountain View campus of Chattahoochee Technical College and the Mountain View Aquatics Center, the rest was sold in the 1990s for upscale tract housing and strip malls. Gordy Parkway, a loop named for Frank Gordy, serves all of these.

Culture

One of the best-known employees at the Varsity was Erby Walker, who worked there for 45 years until he died in 2008. He started at the Varsity at the age of 15 sweeping floors, and was nearly fired on the first day, but soon graduated to the kitchen. Mr. Walker was noted for his ability to move the service line quickly, especially during the rush period right before a Georgia Tech football game. His signature catchphrase was, "Have your money out and your food on your mind, and I'll getcha to the game on time!" He retired in 2003, but came back three weeks later. That year Walker was inducted into the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Hospitality Hall of Fame.

Comedian Nipsey Russell began his entertainment career at The Varsity in the 1940s as a carhop. The creative and resourceful Russell would dress in a flamboyant style and pepper his order-taking duties with jokes and amusing songs, thereby earning him extra tips. U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all visited The Varsity during their terms in office. Mad artist Jack Davis has done advertising for The Varsity.

The Varsity was featured in the PBS documentary A Hot Dog Program by Rick Sebak. It also appeared in the movie We Are Marshall while the coaches are recruiting players.

Service
The Varsity bills itself as "The World’s Largest Drive-in Restaurant." According to the Atlanta History Center, The Varsity receives over 30,000 people on days when a football game is playing. The restaurant receives several more visitors during Supercross Saturday and on Saturdays in July in general.

In 1996, The Varsity stated that it served over 5,000 fried fruit pies, two miles of hotdogs, 300 gallons of chili, 2,500 pounds of potatoes and 2,000 pounds of onions every day. It also described itself as the largest seller of Coca-Cola in the world. In 1998, The Baltimore Sun reported that the restaurant sold over 12,000 hotdogs a day and could deliver over 1,000 hotdogs a minute via conveyor belt. In August 2018, Garden & Gun reported that the restaurant could manufacture up to 2,400 fried fruit pies an hour.

Books

 * What'll Ya Have: A History of the Varsity. Dick Parker. Looking Glass Books, 2003. ISBN 978-1-929619-18-4
 * Images of America: The Varsity. Janice McDonald. Arcadia Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7385-8797-4

title: The Varsity (restaurant)


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Montreal Royales

The Montreal Royales were one of eight teams in the short-lived Canadian Baseball League (2003 only). The Royales of the CBL, unrelated to the Montreal Royals of 1939–1960, were strictly a road team which never succeeded in obtaining a "home" field in the Montreal area to play, despite several efforts to negotiate one. All nine of their home games were played in neutral cities such as Sherbrooke (Amedée Roy Stadium). The Royales finished their season at the bottom of their division with a 10-22 record.

title: Montreal Royales


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Black Cat, White Cat

Black Cat, White Cat (Црна мачка, бели мачор) is a 1998 Serbian romantic black comedy film directed by Emir Kusturica. It won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival.

The literal translation of the title is actually "Black pussycat, white tomcat". The movie characters speak in Romani, Serbian, and Bulgarian frequently switching among them.

Plot
Matko Destanov, a small-time Romani smuggler and profiteer, lives with his teenage son Zare in a ramshackle house by the Danube River in eastern Serbia near the Bulgarian border. He has plans to steal a whole train of smuggled fuel. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-using old gangster, who is an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko plots the details of the job with an ally named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster who has a harem, juggles grenades, and cheats at gambling. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious. Matko is unable to repay his loan, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt if Zare marries Afrodita, Dadan's dwarf sister. However, Zare (17) is in love with Ida (26), a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band. Grga Pitić is having problems of his own, as he wants his grandsons, including the 2.00m giant Grga Veliki, to get married.

The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone despite the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married to someone else. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan, Matko and Dadan's criminal cronies. Meanwhile, Grga Veliki is driving his father and brother to Matko's house so that they may visit Zarije's grave (Grga Pitić and Zarije old friends). The fleeing bride stumbles across Grga Veliki, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Pitić arrives on the scene, after his wheelchair had fallen out the back of the truck and rolled downhill, and he is delighted that Grga Veliki has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match.

The groom conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing dice, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with a laxative. Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse, only to fall into the manure. His harem and cronies desert him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat set for Bulgaria with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, the blessing of their respective grandparents and, as witnesses, a black cat and a white cat.

Cast

 * Bajram Severdžan as Matko Destanov
 * Srđan Todorović as Dadan Karambolo
 * Branka Katić as Ida
 * Florijan Ajdini as Zare Destanov
 * Ljubica Adžović as Sujka
 * Zabit Memedov as Zarije Destanov
 * Sabri Sulejmani as Grga Pitić
 * Jasar Destani as Grga Veliki
 * Salija Ibraimova as Afrodita
 * Stojan Sotirov as Bulgarian Customs Officer
 * Predrag Laković as Priest
 * Miki Manojlović as Priest

Production
In the aftermath of the worldwide success, as well as the controversy of his previous feature, Palme d'Or-winning Underground, Kusturica was so hurt by the aggressive criticism coming from several French intellectuals that he publicly announced his retirement from movies at the age of 41.

He later changed his mind, deciding to come back with a project on Gypsy music which he originally envisioned as a documentary with a working title Musika Akrobatika. The idea further evolved and Kusturica decided to add narrative flourishes of his own, so Musika Akrobatika got transformed into a fictional feature Black Cat, White Cat.

Reception
Black Cat, White Cat received a positive response from critics, garnering an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews with an average score of 7.1/10. The site’s critics consensus reads, "Rambling and eccentric, Emir Kusturica's comedy captures the life and energy of the Gypsy family at the heart of the tale."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote a positive review, summing the film up as "a mad scramble through the Felliniesque realm of Mr. Kusturica's imagination". She further praised Srđan Todorović's portrayal of Dadan Karambolo as "a repetitive but irresistible turn" before concluding that "Mr. Kusturica so evidently adores all of the film's other characters that Black Cat, White Cat becomes a wild, warts-and-all celebration of their lives and like Fellini, Kusturica finds true grace where it's least expected and makes films utterly, uncompromisingly his own".

In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas refers to the film as a "raucous, knockabout comedy, a paean to love, freedom and friendship", before concluding that despite being two hours and nine minutes long, Black Cat, White Cat "gets away with it better than most over-long movies due to its beguiling rambling shaggy dog-story quality."

In a generally positive review, J. Hoberman of The Village Voice refers to the film as "bravura moviemaking by any objective standard" and a "vehicle for the director's lowdown magic-realist fantasies about Romany gangsters, which has a velocity that belies its jerry-built mise-en-scène" concluding that "Black Cat, White Cat is determined to twist every character into an ideogram for vulgar humanity" while wondering if "these gypsies are a screen on which the Bosnian-born director can project his own feelings of ostracism and homelessness".

Salon's Andrew O'Hehir wrote a positive review, describing the film as "manic, carnivalesque, and treating death as a minor (and temporary) inconvenience" and commends "Kusturica's convincing portrayal of his homeland as a social and architectural ruin, where everything is either falling apart or overbuilt in misbegotten grandiosity". O'Hehir concludes with "Kusturica strikes a half-ironic tone throughout this overcrowded, cacophonous masterpiece that’s almost impossible to categorize. In the tradition of Eastern European film, he’s satirizing the conventions of rural magic realism at least as much as he’s embracing them. But there’s nothing cynical or cold-hearted about Black Cat, White Cat. Like the waves of geese, pigs, goats, dogs and cats that sometimes threaten to overwhelm the human characters, it is recklessly, indescribably alive".

Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the film's characters who "whether freakish or treacherous, come up wonderfully human."

Web critic James Berardinelli praised the film as "something fresh and vibrant in an era when something as idiotic as Armageddon is the top-grossing movie of 1998 and films generally follow safe, comfortable patterns because that's what the studios' research shows that audiences want". He commended the film's "earthy feel as well as its charm that lies in it lacking the polished glaze of most big budget features although being expertly filmed", praised the performances of Bajram Severdžan and Branka Katić, and concluded that "while not a masterpiece, Kusturica's latest film is a real treat for those in search of a healthy dose of laughter set in a culture whose intricacies are rarely captured on film."

Soundtrack
Music has an important place in this picture, as it is present in almost every scene. Zarije is especially devoted to music as he's seen with the local band playing specially for him on the way from hospital and then at the fair near the lake.

 * Track listing
 * 1) "Bubamara Main Version" – 3:57
 * 2) "Duj Sandale" – 2:49
 * 3) "Railway Station" – 2:33
 * 4) "Jek di Tharin II" – 3:55
 * 5) "Daddy, Don't Ever Die on a Friday" – 3:18
 * 6) "Bubamara" – 2:36
 * 7) "Daddy's Gone" – 1:07
 * 8) "Long Vehicle" – 6:01
 * 9) "Pit Bull Mixed by Pink Evolution" – 3:40
 * 10) "El Bubamara Pasa" – 3:20
 * 11) "Ja Volim Te Jos/Meine Stadt" – 3:14
 * 12) "Bubamara Tree Stump" – 0:33
 * 13) "Jekdi Tharin" – 2:42
 * 14) "Lies" – 0:30
 * 15) "Hunting" – 1:01
 * 16) "Dejo Dance" – 1:01
 * 17) "Bulgarian Dance" – 1:25
 * 18) "Bubamara Sunflower" – 3:10
 * 19) "Black Cat, White Cat" – 8:52

Other songs from the film, not included in the original soundtrack album:

 * 1) "Where Do You Go" - Performed by No Mercy Club Mix version (Scene at Dadan's house)
 * 2) "Nowhere Fast" - Performed by Fire Inc. (Ida is seen dancing to music video of this song)
 * 3) "Money, Money, Money" (ABBA) - Covered by Dadan
 * 4) "Ne dolazi" - Covered by Matko
 * 5) "Dunaveki vali" - Performed by music box
 * 6) "Lubenica" - Covered by Dadan
 * 7) "Jek Ditharin" - Performed by Braca Lavaci
 * 8) "Von cerena todikano svato" - Performed by Ljubica Adzovic
 * 9) "An der schönen blauen Donau" - Performed by the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra

 * Personnel
 * Vojislav Aralica – guitar, keyboards
 * Šaban Bajramović – vocals
 * Rade Kosmajac – keyboards
 * Zoran Milošević – accordion
 * Bokan Stanković – trumpet

A few reprints of the soundtrack wrongly list Goran Bregovic as composer of the music.

Trivia
The vehicle driven by Zare Destanov (Florijan Ajdini) is a 1966 Renault Caravelle.

One of Dadan's cronies is invariably seen reading the Italian comic Alan Ford, which became very popular in the Balkans.

title: Black Cat, White Cat