

When Kenshin is content and in his normal, day-to-day state, his eyes are
purple.

![Kenshin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SDWZo.jpg)

Yet, when he is incensed or when he must resume his Hitokiri Battousai
persona, his eyes turn yellow:

![Battousai](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KqDKO.jpg)

Why do Kenshin's eyes change color?


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2012-12-12T17:31:34.403
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rurouni-kenshin
Why do Kenshin's eyes change color?


In this [Wiki](http://kenshin.wikia.com/wiki/Himura_Kenshin), it is stated
that:

> Kenshin's eyes, too, are unusual, being a deep violet. In the anime series,
> when **Kenshin's eyes change to reflect his psychological reversion to
> Hitokiri Battōsai** , their color shifts from violet to gold.


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It's just an artistic style especially used in the earlier days of manga/anime
to show a different, more serious state rather than the character's usual
jovial self. Many animes did this before the millennia and everyone just sort
of accepted it. As they evolved, fewer anime do this now except the ones
aiming to parody earlier works.

I personally prefer this to when he would glow red in Season 1 to show his
angry state. What didn't make even more sense was when he went into the
glowing state in the _Requiem_ movie which takes place after he learned _Ama
Kakeru Ryu no Hirameki_ (which was supposed to suppress his _hitokiri_ side
since he came to terms with it).


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We realized it is more because Kenshin has a split personality. When he is
forced to get serious in a battle and loses himself to it, his personality
changes.

The prime example is when he was fighting an old rival from the war after
Sanosuke got hurt. He punched himself in the face to bring his kinder much
gentler self out.

When his eyes change, you know his other personality has emerged.


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It isn't a split personality, something which we now believe doesn't exist and
isn't used as a diagnosis anymore. I believe that his eyes change color for
artistic/symbolic effects. His soul is fractured, so he must shed parts of
himself in order to become a better fighter. When he is truly in danger, he
reverts back to the manslayer, a killer above all others.

After he finishes his training with his master, his soul is mostly at peace
and he doesn't need to bury himself to become stronger and can thus reach a
higher potential than he ever could as a manslayer.

From [All The Tropes - Eyes of
Gold](https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Eyes_of_Gold),

> It's said that eyes are the window to the soul, and in fiction, their color
> is often the first way to hint at a character's true nature. In particular,
> characters who have gold and yellow-colored eyes tend to have some form of
> supernatural origin or powers that place them above normal humans.


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