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Official Site: Viz Media

, known as Kaoru Kamiya in the Media Blasters English-language dub and Kori Kamiya in the English Sony Samurai X dub, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki as a main protagonist of the media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, OVAs, movies, soundtrack, video game, and other collectible.

In the story, Kaoru is the teacher from a kendo school from Tokyo called Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. The school starts to lose all its students when an imposter starts killing a large number of people and claims to be the from the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū". Kaoru encounters him but before being killed by him she is saved by the real Hitokiri Battōsai, now a wanderer, Himura Kenshin, to whom she offers to stay in her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead of a hitokiri. As the series continue, Kaoru develops strong romantic feelings for Kenshin, who is constantly haunted by the wrongs committed in his past, and believes he does not deserve happiness. Kaoru has also appeared in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media relating to the franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and a series of OVAs. Her name means Frangrance.

Watsuki said that he used "no specific model" and "no specific motif" when designing Kaoru. He said that if he had to name one model, he would point to Chiba Sanako of Ryōma no Koibito. He wished to include the "commanding" quality from of Shōtarō Ikenami's Kenkaku Shōbai (JA). According to Watsuki Kaoru became a "plain, regular girl" despite the "commanding" quality. By the compilation of Volume 1 in Japan he believed that the character model worked and stated that many female readers of Rurouni Kenshin identified with Kaoru. He had not decided at the time on whether Kaoru should be Kenshin's love interest. Watsuki wished that he could design Kaoru to be "more cutely" and "more fashionable" but decided to tone the qualities down as he felt that she needed to express "down-to-earth" and financially "poor" characteristics as well. Watsuki described the ponytail as "de rigueur" for a girl who practices kendo. Watsuki says that he enjoys drawing Kaoru and that filling in her hair is "sometimes a pain." At the end of Rurouni Kenshin Kaoru gets a new hairstyle. Watsuki felt that Kaoru would not look like herself without her ponytail, but that her original hair style did not appear like what a mother would wear, so he created a variation for the ending.

When some female readers told Watsuki that they could not decide on whether Kaoru exhibited strength or weakness as a fighter, Watsuki responded by saying that Kaoru is "quite independent for her age" can easily "hold her own" against many dojo masters in town, making her a national-level champion at least; however she appears weak compared to Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke.

Kamiya Kaoru has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.