Rurouni Kenshin TV Series

[Gypsy]

EKmisao wrote up this awesome review. Check it out below!

http://www.christiananime.net/reviews.php?display=80

[Solid Ronin]

Sweet Review....I really need to work on my reviews

[Hitokiri]

very nice review

if you guys need a pic, just ask me.

[Retten]

Good review good movie now we need one of the OVAs there even better

[Destroyer2000]

Man..I was gonna write the RK Review. Oh well, I'll do an OVA. Prolly Trust & Betrayal.

Question, also: Tell me, what sexual content is there in the OVAs? I'm guessing in Trust & Betrayal, because from what I have heard, Kenshin and Tomoe aren't technically "married".

[Gypsy]

Actually, if everyone could hold off on writing an OVA review, I'd appreciate it. We've currently got a pending Samurai X OVA review that I haven't gone over yet. I justs didn't want anyone to do a ton of work for nothing.

[CDLviking]

The Shimabara is more a take on a Catholic cult, though.

Can anyone expand on this? What is the Shimabara?

[SwordSkill]

It's one of the arcs in RK...the Shimabara Arc, wherein a certain Japanese Christian, Shougo Amakusa, claims to be the savior of the Japanese Christians in Japan who are being persecuted. He does his "heaven-sent" function by killing those who oppose them and those whom he think will oppose them (e.g. the government), and after which he's supposed to bring the Japanese Christians to the kingdom of heaven.

As to its Catholic significance...

[spoiler]Turns out Amakusa was being manipulated by some Portuguese folk (the Portuguese were historically the first Catholic priests to spread Christianity in Japan).[/spoiler]

[Gypsy]

Slight change - this review is now only for the TV series - Hitokiri wrote up a seperate review for the OVAs.

[Destroyer2000]

Gah...ah well. Is anyone doing one of Reflections?

[Shao Feng-Li]

two things are mising from this reveiw

[shooraijin]

... which would be ... ?

[Shao Feng-Li]

there's yahiko's bare bottom shot when hes gonna take a bath, when this annoying rich kid sudenly barges in, and KAmatari, in the Kyoto Arc, is gay towards shishio. THe perv also flashes misao. just though people would want any surprises if they buy it.

[Gypsy]

Ok, well, thanks for mentioning those. Just to let you know, if there's actual content missing out of reviews, feel free to post them in a respectful manner. I'll add those two things into the review.

[cbwing0]

Here is the review I wrote a while ago for RK. It was somehow lost, and never got posted (I wrote it about 4 months ago). So, with Mod permission, here is my review:

Rurouni Kenshin Review

Let me begin by saying that I have seen all of the dvds, but not all of the episodes on Cartoon Network, so I cannot tell you specifically what has been edited out for tv in most of the episodes. However, I will say that the dvds are about on a PG-13 level, with some episodes definitely worse than others.



General Information:

English Title- Rurouni Kenshin
Japanese Title- Same, I think.
Subtitle- Wandering Samurai, Legend ofKyoto, Tales of the Meiji
Distributor- Media Blasters, Inc.
Your Name-cbwing0
CAA Threads for Discussion- [color=#0000ff]http://www.christiananime.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4657, http://www.christiananime.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4661 , http://www.christiananime.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4481, http://www.christiananime.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4367 .[/color]

Image URL- [color=#0000ff]http://www.egs-avatars.com/e_gs_images/mangas/kenshin/index.php[/color]



Genre:

History, Fantasy, Romance



Quick Info:

1.Rank-9.5

2.Suitable for ages 13 and up

3.Violence-5

4.Objectionable Language-4

5.Nudity-3

5.Sexual Situations-1

6.Objectionable Religious Material-2



Explanation:

Violence- There is a fair amount of violence, but it isn’t overdone. There are battle scenes, and the characters bleed when cut/struck. The Legend of Kyoto is definitely the most violence part of the series, although there is still not a tremendous amount. There are a few occasions when characters spit up blood, and when characters are run through with swords.



[spoiler=Makoto Shishio]People often talk about the death of Makoto Shishio as if it is extremely violent. I disagree. It is somewhat disturbing when he starts to go crazy, foaming at the mouth and thrashing about. The scene where he actually bursts into flames (he does not explode, as some have said), is not graphic. All you see is a figure engulfed in flames.[/spoiler]



Nudity-Some partial nudity in the bath scenes, but nothing incredibly revealing or graphic.



Sexual Situations-On one occasion, there is a suggestion that some thugs want to rape one of the characters, but it does not happen.



Religious Stuff-As the series is set in 19th centuryJapan, there are many references to Eastern Religions, including Buddhism and Feng Shui. However, they are not really promoted, but just part of the lives of different characters.



[spoiler=Feng Shui]Feng Shui is used like magic to create wind, fire, etc. near the end of the series. Some people might be bothered by this, but it is really not that bad[/spoiler]



Plot-A wandering samurai named Kenshin Himura comes toTokyoduring the course of his wanderings, and spends some time with a female teacher of swordsmanship at the Kamiya Dojo. Over the course of the series, new people come and go in the dojo, with a core of characters that remain throughout the series. Kamiya Kaoru, the master of the dojo, soons learns that Kenshin is actually the legendary Hitokiri Battosai, a manslayer from the Meiji Revolution 10 years earlier. Since that time, Kenshin has vowed never to kill again, taking up a reverse blade sword to protect innocent people.

Kenshin’s abilities are needed to battle various villains during the series, although some of the villains become heroes by the end of the story. Although Kenshin is largely disappointed with the current government (which he helped to create) he is called upon to defend it on numerous occasions.

Unlike some anime series, the intense battles (mostly duels) are accompanied by the development of various themes, and several romances. These themes include loyalty to the government, God’s justice, altruism, self-improvement, pride, corruption, past vs. future, friendship, oppression, and the nature of man (there are more, but this is a good sample of them). The romances are varied and engaging, providing something for those that do not like lots of battles. There is also a great deal of comedy in the series, most of which made me laugh out loud.

The characters are all interesting and complex, with different motives, personalities, and goals. I empathized with many of the characters, good and evil, which is important any the series. Very few of the villains are completely, irredeemably evil; and likewise the heroes are not perfect. This provides an important element of the conflict would be lacking in a series that was trying to show a simple morality tale.

In between the three major sagas, there are a number of shorter storylines, most consisting of 1-4 episodes. These are important for the series, because they provide a great deal of comedy; and development of individual characters. These shorter stories allow you to see sides of the characters that you might not see if the series was nothing but combat.

Rating: 10/10



Additional Comments:If you haven’t purchased the dvds, but still want to own the series, you’re in luck. Media Blasters, Inc. is re-releasing the entire series in three boxed sets. Wandering Samurai is already for sale, with Legend of Kyoto coming in March (3/30, to be exact), and Tales of the Meiji presumably coming sometime later in the year. In addition to collectors cases and a cheaper total price, the sets come with extras not found on the original dvds. I would guess (that is, I would hope) that Cartoon Network will bring back the series some time this year to help sell the sets, but that is pure speculation on my part.



Music:The soundtrack fits the series, and contains many different songs. Thus, you will not grow tired of the same songs played over and over, or with songs played at inappropriate times. The songs in the credits have lyrics, and a few of them are translated. They sound a little weird, as most translated songs do. Rating: 8/10

[cbwing0]

Here is part 2:

Sub/Dub-[color=black][font=Verdana]I’ve only watched the dubbed versions of the episodes, and I can say that they are well-done. The voice actors put the proper emotion in their voices, there is no “awkwardâ€

[Kisa]

YAY Rurouni Kenshin! ^_^

[Shao Feng-Li]

i suppose it would be fair to warn that later on in kyoto, sanosuke gets ticked at saito and gives him the finger, but i might be mistaken but i doubt it. there is some cussing but the worst is, i think, both the b words are said once. i think that happens in kyoto. and so you know, kamatari fiasko does a lil more than hint

[Destroyer2000]

Yes, there is one openly gay character in Kyoto, but it is a minor character, not see in anymore than 5 episodes, and to me it seems that most characters looked down upon her/his actions with disgust, but not hate, as they tend to his/her wounds afterwards.

[Heart of Sword]

i suppose it would be fair to warn that later on in kyoto, sanosuke gets ticked at saito and gives him the finger, but i might be mistaken but i doubt it.

I really don't think you were mistaken, that seems to happen often in the manga. (Maybe it means something else in Japanese though.) He does it to Yahiko once in the 5th book. (Unfortunately, Sano's kind of like that. -.-x)

[Shao Feng-Li]

yup thats sano all right. RK, could use a few minor tweaks, other than that, i could call it perfect

[One and Only]

i agree on all the the post... almost. in the japanese version (downloaded from computer) the language was very rough. the f word came up numerous times and not just once or twice a episode... the good thing though is that the language was very toned down in the second season

[shooraijin]

If this was subtitled, that was probably a decision made by those particular fansubbers, I would think (not knowing the version you're referring to).

[Shao Feng-Li]

THw worst I saw in the subtitled version from Anime Works, which I think is the official version, the worst I saw was sh**, and that was from Sano are or a baddie.

[Destroyer2000]

The Media Players and Anime Works version wasn't fansubbed, was it? If so, I'm down about 220 bucks on junk...he says the same things he did on the CN version, though, so...I wondered about the subtitles. They weren't accurate.

[Jasdero]

I liked this show. But the art style has changed. It's not as... nice...

[One and Only]

hmm destroyer... did you just buy one series or all 3.... i can get the original (not bottlegged) for $50 each. and man, no clue where these were from but man (the subs that i watched).... there was every word in there but m**** (i'll just stop there)

[Knives]

EKmisao wrote up this awesome review. Check it out below!

http://www.christiananime.net/reviews.php?display=80

I thought someone else had already done and RK review