Kenji Himura

Kenji is lively, stubborn and strongly attached to his mother. He enjoys climbing and exploring despite sometimes getting himself stranded, at which point his confidence quickly gives way to tears. His behavior toward Kenshin is more combative: he pulls his father's hair and reacts jealously when Kenshin receives Kaoru's attention.

The original manga only depicts Kenji as a small child, so little can be established about his eventual personality or ambitions from the main continuity. His teenage characterization belongs primarily to the anime-original Reflection OVA and should not be treated as the canonical continuation of the manga.

Kenji is still a toddler during his canonical manga appearance and therefore has no established swordsmanship or combat abilities. His parentage gives him a direct connection to both Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū and Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, but the original series never depicts him training in either style.

In the separate Reflection continuity, a teenage Kenji trains under Hiko Seijūrō XIII and demonstrates substantial aptitude for swordsmanship. His desire to inherit his father's strength is tied to his resentment of Kenshin's prolonged absence from the family. These events are specific to the OVA.

Kenji appears in the epilogue of the original manga, several years after the main conflict with Enishi Yukishiro. His presence establishes the peaceful family life Kenshin and Kaoru have built at the Kamiya dojo after the battles that defined Kenshin's wandering years.

The manga's final chapter shows Kenshin and Kaoru married and raising Kenji together, while Kenshin passes his sakabatō to Yahiko as a coming-of-age gift.

Reflection gives Kenji a substantially expanded, anime-original role. At fifteen, he has grown resentful of Kenshin's repeated absences and travels to Kyoto seeking instruction from Hiko. Yahiko eventually confronts him and gives him Kenshin's sakabatō, helping him understand the ideals his father attempted to uphold.

Kenshin Himura is Kenji's father. As a toddler, Kenji often treats him as a rival for Kaoru's attention and likes pulling his hair.

Kaoru Kamiya is Kenji's mother and the parent to whom he is especially attached.

Yahiko Myojin remains close to the Himura family and plays an important role in teenage Kenji's story in the Reflection continuity.

Seijuurou Hiko trains the teenage Kenji in Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū in Reflection, although he does not intend to make him the style's fourteenth successor.