Kishibe Rohan Does Not Move...Or Does He?

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On June 24, 1997, Hirohiko Araki released the first (sixteenth) episode of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: At a Confessional in Weekly Shonen Jump. He was initially tasked with writing a story that was not a spin-off of an existing series. Despite this, he added Rohan as a narrator, to move along the story smoothly. The title of the series reflects this. In English, it is called Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan because Rohan is the narrator (and also reference to Nietzsche). In Japanese, it is called 岸辺露伴は動かない (translated as: Kishibe Rohan Does Not Move) because Rohan is not the central figure of the story.

However, as the series progresses, it starts to be apparent that Rohan is not just the narrator. He is more and more involved with the stories. So it begs the question: how many chapters does Rohan move in?

Fair Warning! There might be some spoilers.

Rohan Does Not Move

From my research, there are two stories in which Rohan does not move (as in, he's just a narrator).

Episode #16: At a Confessional

Well, I just explained it, so...

Episode #4: The Harvest Moon

Rohan was used to introduce the story, to pique reader's interest. In fact, out of the forty-seven pages the story is composed of, he is only seen in the first two. That's really it. If you exclude Rohan, it can definitely be passed off as its own standalone story.

Rohan Was Moving

There are stories where Rohan is the narrator, but he is narrating a story he is a part of. As in, he is essentially retelling an experience or event he was a part of. Now, I did not classify Episode 16 in this variety as the main story itself (i.e. main conflict) does not include Rohan. He was just kind of there. Nevertheless, there are many stories in which Rohan was moving.

Episode #2: Mutsu-kabe Hill

This story does not see Rohan moving as much. A majority of the story follows Rohan narrating a tragedy. It's his involvement in the last part of the story that I think classifies the story as him moving. By encountering and battling against the Mutsu-kabe Hill Yokai, he directly influences the story and its ending.

Episode #7: A Rainy Monday

Rohan is heavily involved in the story. Like, he is the main character and the narrator. He not only saves multiple lives, but he also tricks the audience with a chicken drumstick (funniest thing I've ever seen. 10/10 writing).

Episode #9: The Run

Rohan is also heavily involved in the story as he gets his fingies broken and causes a man to fall several stories down.

Episode #11: Drip Painting Style

This one is similar to Episode 2 in that he does not really involve himself in the story...for the first half. The second half has him preventing a terrorist attack, so yeah I'd say he definitely moved.

Rohan Is Moving

These stories see Rohan actively moving out and about. He's not even narrating the stories anymore. Rohan is moving (and heading towards your location. You have ten seconds.)

Episode #5: Millionaire Village

Ngl that corn looked bussin. I understand why Rohan would voluntarily move to eat that corn. And without him moving, I guess Kyoka would've died so good thing he got up and hiked for like three hours.

Episode #6: Poaching Seashore

Again, Rohan moved, or in this case, swam. (I'm running out of things to write)

Episode #8: Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Rohan was only really present for the first half of the story. The rest sorted itself out/moved along on its own well. You could say Rohan was the impetus for the story to conclude.

Episode #10: Hot Summer Martha

Seventy-one pages is actually wild. They are all filled with Rohan. The main character is Rohan, the villain looks like Rohan. It's as if the author likes drawing Rohan.

Conclusion

You may notice that I have not included some stories, namely: Rohan au Louvre, Kishibe Rohan Meets Gucci, and Episode #12: Bruschetta. Well, the issue is that I did not read them yet. If you know where to read Episode 12, please tell me!

Out of all the TSKR stories, only two of them really see him as only the narrator: one who does not move. So, is it still right to call the series Kishibe Rohan Does Not Move? I mean, they've established all the copyright already; and with the Rohan empire expanding, it's tough to change. Amidst the stories, he's seen moving, laughing, shouting, even falling. But one thing Kishibe Rohan does not do is frolic. He is a man who chides, scoffs, and is very serious in these stories (they're mostly life or death scenarios, so understandable). When we see him happy, he does not frolic at all (Poaching Seashore only sees him laugh). That is why, I propose, the series name should be changed to Kishibe Rohan Does Not Frolic. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. (If he frolics in Rohan Au Louvre, I will crash out.)

Oh, and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan can stay because he indeed speaks (unless he just loses his voice in Episode 12).

References

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