Rurouni Kenshin

[B-Man]

I have recently bought the entire series of Rurouni Kenshin and I must say that it is a phenomenal story. It is well written and I was surprised with a few of the plot points. I even picked up the issue of Shonen Jump with the extra chapter of Rurouni Kenshin (unknowingly) and I loved that extra chapter.

Any one else out there read Rurouni Kenshin?

[Haruspex]

I've read nearly 90% of it, and I like it also. It's not as supernatural as other comics, but very exciting nonetheless.
The storyline is also very compelling, in my opinion.
Definitely in my top ten.

[elliott20]

If you're just talking about manga canon, it's one of my faves.

Kenshin has enough of a balance between reality and near fantasy to keep my suspense of disbelief alive. I felt that the last story arc started to lose a bit of a steam but it was a good story.

I chose not to watch the anime OVA because those I hear were so immensely depressing that it would destroy the entire series prior to it.

[UglyPanda]

I enjoyed it, but there were too many fight scenes. It was always one-on-one until everyone was defeated, never two-on-two and if there were multiple combatants in the same room, they would be defeated in sequence. The author even said he threw in a few enemies so the secondary characters would get a chance to look good. Otherwise, it was a pretty good story.

By the way, EAR DRUMS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!. You'll get it if you read the last volume.

[Poison_Fish]

I'm not a fan of the series, but I wouldn't call it bad. It never quite took with me. I guess I feel if I want awesome nonrealistic shonen feats of techniques, I'll go the full deal. Kenshin borders to much on that (Besides, hitting the sword to the ground to cause explosions.. ehh).

I suppose if I want a dose of realism in my sword swinging, I'd take Blade of the Immortal (Granted, the fact that the main character can live through most of anything isn't realistic, but everything is done in such a good way)

[Daraken]

I chose not to watch the anime OVA because those I hear were so immensely depressing that it would destroy the entire series prior to it.

The first two OVAs, Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal are pretty good, retelling the beginnings of Kenshin in a much more violent and darker manner.

However, I really dislike the third OVA, Samurai X: Reflection. Even the mangaka, Nobuhiro Watsuki has said that the OVA doesn't represent what he felt would happen to Kenshin. I like to pretend this OVA doesn't exist. :smallwink:

PS: Anyone else a fan of Hiko Seijuro? Such a badass. :smallbiggrin:

[Closet_Skeleton]

I'm not a fan of the series, but I wouldn't call it bad. It never quite took with me. I guess I feel if I want awesome nonrealistic shonen feats of techniques, I'll go the full deal. Kenshin borders to much on that (Besides, hitting the sword to the ground to cause explosions.. ehh).

I suppose if I want a dose of realism in my sword swinging, I'd take Blade of the Immortal (Granted, the fact that the main character can live through most of anything isn't realistic, but everything is done in such a good way)

I believe Kenshin is a good series but it never really interested me. The stories aren't really that compelling. Sometimes it scrapes the bottom of the barrel in trying to be differant from the previous arc.

I've never been able to find any Blade of the Immortal :smallfrown:

[elliott20]

The first two OVAs, Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal are pretty good, retelling the beginnings of Kenshin in a much more violent and darker manner.

However, I really dislike the third OVA, Samurai X: Reflection. Even the mangaka, Nobuhiro Watsuki has said that the OVA doesn't represent what he felt would happen to Kenshin. I like to pretend this OVA doesn't exist. :smallwink:

PS: Anyone else a fan of Hiko Seijuro? Such a badass. :smallbiggrin:
Hiko Seijuro is indeed much of a bad ass. If the man was born in a starwars setting, he'd live a Jollee like existence.

Yeah, it's the third one that I really disliked. the first two was just a more stylistic retelling of the original story and that was fine with me. The third one was just sad for the sake of being sad.

[doliemaster]

My god finally I find fans of this anime/manga I thought I was the only one who knew it existed anymore!
I managed to find the first season on DvD and must say I use it quite often since buying the books cost so frink'in much!The best arc was oniwabanshu and held my favorite character Han'nya who I wish had lived longer but died like a hero.

[TheThan]

I haven't read the manga but I do happen to have the 1st season, its one of the few animes I own, I enjoyed it greatly. I plan on picking up the second one of these days, when I can afford it. I've refused to watch the rest of it until I own it since I'm the one who introduced it to my friends, and then one of them ran out and bough the entire series before i had a chance to.

But still everyone else I know says the third season of the anime is not nearly as good as the first two. I'd be interested in collecting the manga but as mentioned above its expensive.

[The_Shaman]

RK was one of my first anime series, and the manga was also among my first. It is, imo, the best in its genre. The first OVA (the four episode story of young Kenshin, I think you consider it the first two) was simply brilliant. The second... Well, they tried to cram the entire 3rd arc + some more in two series.


At some point I started translating the manga into Bulgarian, but then my laziness got the better of me. Oh well, I hope I at least introduced some kids to samurai manga that wasn't a plotless badassfest :smallwink: Not that RK doesn't have its fair share of badasses... Hiko is one, definitely, but overall I prefer Saito.

[Malek]

read it whole and I must say it's an awesome manga. Didn't wath the anime version but I've heard that it doesn't cover the whole story.

[elliott20]

the anime is not bad. The quality of the animation definitely does a good job. but there was a huge deviation in terms of storyline from the Shishi-o storyline onwards that basically screwed up the entire continuity between the manga and the anime. My suggestion? Stick the manga as canon storyline.

[UglyPanda]

The manga came first and the anime had an entire season of filler which led to its cancellation. The manga also had an ending that the author wasn't ashamed of. Just accept the canon to be screwed up.

[Joran]

I liked Kenshin. The first OAV is definitely worth watching; it's not too depressing, I don't think, but it really lends a different spin to your view of who Kenshin is.

The first OAV is one of the shining examples of how Anime are completely different from Cartoons and would be one of the first ones I would show to a person that didn't know anime.

That said, I have one major complaint about Kenshin:

I'm somewhat annoyed they kept going with the "Kenshin can't kill anyone, so the villain will die some convenient way so Kenshin won't get his hands dirty" =P

I think Trigun and Vash the Stampede handled the theme of pacifism in a violent world much better by exploring it to its necessary extremes.

[Nightwing]

I loved that show.

[UglyPanda]

Something that has been bothering me is that everyone makes a big deal out of Kenshin's reversed-sword. They say crap like, "How can he win, his weapon is weaker!?"; "With this technique, even your sakabato can kill people."; Or, my favorite: "His sword is sakabato and he is winning?"

Kenshin's sword is still made out of metal, right? That means he has been fighting with a heavy metal rod throughout the whole series. How is that in any way non-lethal? Even baseball bats are lethal, so beyond his own self-control, what keeps him from killing everyone? Every character acts surprised when Kenshin wins a fight, but it's still a powerful weapon. Seriously, that sword is in no way a show of his vow of nonlethal force.

[elliott20]

basically, they could have just given him a wooden Bokken and that would have had the same effect. Except, you know, a wooden stick is not really all that pacifist like... I know! Let's just reverse the blade on the other side and suddenly it's not lethal anymore!!

[Dariendel]

I don't like Kenshin Himself, but the most of the characters around him. Seriously, do you think a reverse-edged Sakabattou cannot kill?

Hajime Saitou should have his own series/manga.

[StudlyDuck]

The anime is a decent supplement, but the "Jinchu" storyline got completely cut out. That storyline is where a lot of the secondary characters really got a chance to take center stage for a while. It's a crying shame.

Something that has been bothering me is that everyone makes a big deal out of Kenshin's reversed-sword. They say crap like, "How can he win, his weapon is weaker!?"; "With this technique, even your sakabato can kill people."; Or, my favorite: "His sword is sakabato and he is winning?"
It's not just that his weapon is weaker. It's what the weapon represents. It means he's holding back in every fight, while his opponent is usually fighting at full strength.

[elliott20]

Hajime Saitou should have his own series/manga.
Quoted for Truth.

But then again, seeing as he was based on a historical figure whose fairly popular in the Japanese media, I'm sure there's probably one out there already.

[Dariendel]

Quoted for Truth.

But then again, seeing as he was based on a historical figure whose fairly popular in the Japanese media, I'm sure there's probably one out there already.


And there should be an episode where he and Battousai finally settle the score.

[StudlyDuck]

Really, now? In the final volume of the manga, Saitou says that he has no interest in settling the score with a warrior who does not kill.

[Midnight Lurker]

I was an early-adopter fan of RK; I had most of the untranslated manga in my possession before Viz started the English print run. :)

Here's a thought for anyone reading this who also plays In Nomine: Saitou Hajime is obviously a Malakite of War. I mean, he'd have to wear a sign to be more blatant about it. Which has me wondering about the possibility of a storyline in which Shishio actually manages to unseat Lucifer and become the new Lord of Hell...

[B-Man]

I just bought the Samurai X OVAs (Director's Cut) yesterday and I have to say that the quality of the artwork astounds me. I love the first one. The second one is a wee bit too depressing for my tastes. 'Specially the ending.