Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc

In 1883, Himura Kenshin, having married Kamiya Kaoru, become a father to Himura Kenji and with his body deteriorating, still fights for those in need. Former criminals Inoue Aran and Hasegawa Ashitaro, the latter a former member of Shishio Makoto's faction, have become live-in students at the Kamiya Dojo in Tokyo. Kubota Asahi, a member of the Yaminobu, also starts living at the dojo. The Yaminobu accidentally leave behind a recent photograph taken in Hokkaido of Kaoru's father Kamiya Koshijirō, who was thought to have died in the Seinan War. After being given back his sakabatō or reversed-edge sword, Kenshin, his family and the new residents of Kamiya Dojo head to Hokkaido to find Koshijirō.

There they reunite with Sagara Sanosuke and team up with Saitō Hajime when they get involved in stopping the mysterious group named Kenkaku Heiki, who launch attacks throughout Japan in order to gain battle experience to fend off future foreign invasions of the country. Saitō recruits his former comrade Nagakura Shinpachi and former Juppongatana members Seta Sōjirō, Yūkyūzan Anji, Sawagejō Chō, Honjō Kamatari and Kariwa Henya to aid them.

Himura Kenshin (緋村剣心)

Once the former legendary assassin known as Hitokiri Battōsai, Kenshin now lives a peaceful life with his family. His body is deteriorating due to use of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū style of swordsmanship. After being given back his sakabatō from Myōjin Yahiko, Kenshin continues to protect the weak for as long as his body will hold up.

Hasegawa Ashitarō (長谷川明日郎)

An orphaned 16-year-old boy just released from prison. Born in Niigata Prefecture, he survived by stealing crops and foraging the mountains. Although claiming to have served five years in a Tokyo prison for dine and dash, it is suspected to actually have been for being a gofer member of Shishio Makoto's faction, which planned to take over Japan before disbanding when their leader died five years ago. He possesses Shishio's sword Mugenjin, but due to his propensity for entering uncontrolled fits of rage, Kenshin asks him not to draw it. Ashitaro's given name was formerly written as 悪太郎 ("evil child"), before he changed it to 明日郎 ("tomorrow's child").

Inoue Aran (井上阿爛)

A 16-year-old boy who grew up in the Westernized portion of Japan. He was jailed in Tokyo for three months for attempting to be a stowaway on a ship to the Americas. He is revealed to be half-Japanese with blond hair, and suspected to be the son of a prostitute to foreigners.

Kubota Asahi (久保田旭)

A war orphan who was raised by the Yaminobu, but claims to hate violence and desires to stop killing. Following their failure to kill Kenshin during the Bakumatsu, the Yaminobu lost status and were reduced to working as mercenaries for hire. Kubota was hired out to Shishio Makoto's faction and later trailed Ashitaro in order to retrieve Shishio's sword.

Kenkaku Heiki (劍客兵器)

A mysterious group who claim to have originally been formed by ancestors in the Kamakura period who stopped the Mongol invasions of Japan. Having stayed hidden for over 500 years, they take over Mount Hakodate and launch other attacks in Japan in order to gain battle experience to fend off future foreign invasions.

In the final tankōbon volume of the original Rurouni Kenshin, published in November 1999, Nobuhiro Watsuki said that he had ideas for a "Hokkaido episode, a sequel" but wanted to start a new manga and so ended the series.[1] In September 2012, Watsuki revealed that he considered drawing the Hokkaido arc before creating Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration. But with the theme of the series concluded in the final arc of the original and unable to come up with a new theme, he said that there was "just no way" he could write it.[2]

On November 4, 2016, Watsuki began a two chapter spinoff titled Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro (-るろうに剣心・異聞- 明日郎 前科アリ, Rurouni Kenshin Ibun: Ashitarō Zenka Ari) in the December 2016 issue of Jump Square.[3] His wife, Kaworu Kurosaki, is credited as story consultant.[4] The second chapter, published on December 2, 2016, revealed that the story is actually a prologue to a new arc of Rurouni Kenshin scheduled to begin in spring 2017.[5] Delayed until summer,[6] Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc began publication on September 4, 2017, in the October 2017 issue of Jump Square.[7] In order to promote the series, multiple posters of Kenshin were on display in Shinjuku Station.[8]

On November 21, 2017, Watsuki was charged with possession of child pornography. That same day, Shueisha suspended publication of new chapters of The Hokkaido Arc beginning with the January 2018 issue, which was released on December 4, 2017.[9] The manga resumed serialization in the July 2018 issue, released on June 4, 2018.[10]

The two-parts of Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro were published on November 4 and December 2, 2016 in Jump Square.[3][3] Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc began monthly publication in the same magazine on September 4, 2017.[7] Publisher Shueisha began collecting the chapters in tankōbon volumes with the first released on September 4, 2018.

Viz Media released an English translation of The Ex-Con Ashitaro in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The first part was included in the December 19, 2016 bonus issue and the second in the January 2, 2017 bonus issue.[11] On September 4, 2017, they began simultaneously publishing The Hokkaido Arc in the magazine as it ran in Japan.[12][13] Following Watsuki's being charged, Viz did not continue English publication when the series resumed in Japan,[14] making the November 6, 2017 issue its last.[15]

The first volume of Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc debuted at number four on Oricon's list of the best-selling manga with 172,160 copies sold.[20] By its sixth week, it had sold 322,520 copies.[21] The second volume debuted at number three with 201,590 copies sold.[22] In February 2019, Jump Square announced that the series had 800,000 copies in print.[23] Volume three debuted at number three, selling 111,231 copies.[24]

Based on the first volume only, the January 2019 issue of Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine included Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc at number 21 on its annual "Book of the Year" list for 2018. The list was voted on by 4,275 book reviewers, writers, and bookstore employees.[25]

• Official page at Jump Square (in Japanese)