Synopsis: Ten years after the start of the Meiji Era, a Rurouni [wanderer] wanders into Tokyo to find a new life with new friends. Vowing never to kill, he tries to escape his past as the Hitokiri Battousai [roughly translating to sword-bearing master assassin], the greatest killer of the Bakumatsu.
However, enemies from his past threaten the hard-fought peace, unable to let go of their blood-letting ways.
[Taken from AnimeNfo.com because I'm too lazy to write one myself. I will of course review it and such, but I saw it a long time ago so this is a general overview, not a detailed description of every episode/chapter. Also, I just read the synopsis and it's crap so I rewrote the last line. Wouldn't want to be caught not giving credit where credit is due!]
Cast of characters:
Himura Kenshin – The protagonist, the fearsome, yet short, red-headed master swordsman bearing a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Successor to the Hiten Mitsurugi style, he is the official badass of the story. Hero of the Bakumatsu (overthrowing of the corrupt Japanese Shogunate to usher in the Meiji Period of governing without a monarch), Himura Kenshin seeks to atone for the sins of carving this bright future with his blood-soaked blade. As such, he’s sworn to never again take a life and threw away his sword, to replace it with a sakabato (reverse-blade sword), using the blunt killing edge to render his enemies unconscious. Yet, in true Japanese manga fashion, he alternates from deadly swordsman to that whimsical uncle who you feel slightly uncomfortable around during family reunions. Am I the only one? Ok then. [Random trivia, Kenshin is voiced by a woman in the anime]
Kamiya Kaoru – The female protagonist who is the obvious love interest/foil for our master assassin. She is the successor to the Kamiya Kasshin style, the “sword that protects.” She alternates between average swordsman and utterly useless female character necessary for every manga in existence. She’s the tomboyish character, not the uber-feminine type character, but she has her moments. Obviously she’s the catalyst for softening Kenshin’s rough edges and it’s her humanity that shows him he can change. Nevertheless, there still persists the feeling that he would be so much more of a bad-ass fighter without her softening him up, but I suppose that is the point, she’s supposed to make him more human *aggrieved sigh*.
Sagara Sanosuke – With the character of “wicked” emblazoned proudly on his back, he’s the rough-and-tumble fighter/scam artist/gambler/all around ne’er-do-well who is as immoral as Kenshin is noble. He starts off using a classic anime-style overly-large sword (is he compensating? eh? Eh???) but switches to bare fists. I suppose this is to emphasize his rapscallion nature, as swords were considered noble and only for “gentlemanly” warriors. Meh. Also, Kenshin’s pure swordsman light can’t be reflected in any way, so his entourage must necessarily have different styles. I’m not acknowledging Kaoru as a swordsperson here because she is so useless. Daylight lantern useless! His personal history is cool though, I enjoyed that short arc.
Myojin Yahiko – They get into his personal history after they introduce him so I won’t get into him too much. He’s the young, kiddy type character who idolized Kenshin (Kaoru’s in love so she won’t idolize him like Yahiko would and Sano has his own pride so he can’t idolize Kenshin no matter how much cooler he is). No anime would be complete without the young kid bursting with potential trying to become the best there is. *shot of the character standing with his head down, back to camera, wind flapping his clothes* “Stronger. I…I wanna get stronger! Strong enough to never need anyone’s help!” He’s dying to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi ryu [style] and who could blame him??
Minor characters to follow:
Gensai sensei – Doctor guy who knew Kaoru’s father and occasionaly heals their various scrapes and bruises. If this was a video game, he’d be the elder you go to for quick patching up after your missions. His two “cute” grand daughters are constantly playing with Kenshin despite the chores he has to do. Yes, he could kill you before you realized he was even there, but we have to show his soft side, so young children flock to him.
Megumi - She’s another character who gets introduced later, so I’m not going to spoil it.
More minor characters, but I realize as I’m doing this that explaining them would give away while you’re watching it that 1) they’re not throwaway characters and 2) whether or not they’re helpful or hurtful to Kenshin.
The Review:
The story was originally a manga and because it did so well of course they made it into an anime. You can read the manga first and watch the anime or the other way around, it doesn’t really affect anything. The anime remains faithful to the manga up to episode…63. Then the manga had ended, but those greedy greedy anime producers decided they could make this fantastic manga EVEN BETTER and boy were they wrong. You can read the manga from chapter 1-end but with the anime I suggest watching it up until the Kyoto Arc, tracking down the OVA “Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal,” watching the rest of the anime to 63, THEN watching the other two movies. The OVA explains much of the history that will give you a better appreciation of the events in the Kyoto arc. After 63, well, do whatever the heck you want. The movies were made after the series, so I suppose you can watch it to episode 95 (when they mercy-killed it) and then watch the movies. I can’t remember which one, but one is just like a long anime episode, while the other one is the conclusion to Rurouni Kenshin. Ok, I guess you should watch that one last…makes sense…
Normally I tend to like the anime or the manga better, but I couldn’t help but like both (up until anime episode 63, mind you). It helps that the anime remained faithful to the manga in terms of artistic style and story line so there is that. It was the first anime series I’d ever seen to completion and so of course it holds a very dear place in my heart. A friend hadn’t really liked it as much, most likely because he’d been exposed to so much other anime before Kenshin so it wasn’t as fresh or poignant to him. To me, all the cliches were rather new so I very much enjoyed the “I’ll sacrifice myself in some horrible, body-mangling way that leaves me in excruciating pain just long enough to see my friends make it safely, reflect sadly on my life, chuckle wistfully and die in the throes of unimaginable agony.” The comic scenes mixed with the serious scenes, another anime staple, were also very well done I thought. Of course since it’s an older anime the action scenes aren’t anything spectacular, but it’s a lot like watching the old saturday morning cartoons from when you were a kid. Sure, you know the Teenage Mutant Turtles aren’t anything really fantabulous to watch NOW, but you remember when you first saw it and it brings back nice memories.
There’s of course the unfolding love story between Kaoru and Kenshin, although it’s a huge plot point, I feel. He mostly goes around Tokyo helping those in need.
Overall, the power scaling wasn’t re-donk-ulous, entire crews weren’t introduced and then tossed by the wayside as the manga-ka [author] got bogged down with making the green rather than making an interesting story and couldn’t get himself out of the corner he’d painted himself in. I felt the plot tied up loose ends nicely and I wasn’t left feeling that they could have done so much more. The story ends the way it should, in a fairly expected manner, but it’s still gratifying. The later movies have sharper art and fancier animation so they’re nice to watch as well.
The Final Score:
In terms of a rating system, I haven’t come up with yet, so I’ll just say it’s worth more than a glimpse and I promise, no insanity. It’s the #1 anime I recommend to people because it’s a good starter anime. There’s not a lot of super-hocus-pocus and it’s very loosely historical so that lends it a more believable slant. Of course there is some super sword techniques but you know…it’s to be expected. It’s shounen afterall (Anime meant for young boys).
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being insanity and 10 being worth your time, I’d give it a 8.5. Combined with the manga and the movies, the Rurouni Kenshin franchise as a whole is well worth the time. My friend insists that he’s seen similar animes done better but I tell him to shove it because I hate him.
