I agree that Kaoru gets a bad rap. I've always thought that most of the characters in RK have a "comic" personality as well as a "serious" personality. Kenshin has an "Oro?" personality as well as his kickass side. Why can't people accept that Kaoru can be both the anime girl who can't cook and has temper flares and also the girl who loved Kenshin enough to follow him to Kyoto and who kicked ass at the Aoiya? Kaoru-bashing is one of my pet peeves.