Rurouni Kenshin: Greatness, or an overrated show that came along at the right time?

Lots of love for the Trust and Betrayal OAVs in here. I thought Trust was astounding but Betrayal was rather disappointing. Cheaply done CGI, poor pacing, poor direction, it didn't come close to matching the expectations set in Trust.

As for the TV series, I see many of the criticisms here come from people who've only seen a dozen episodes or so. Which is understandable. Why stick with something you don't like? But I feel like Kenshin is a series of story arcs, and obviously the Kyoto arc is the high point of the series. If you just went out and got the second DVD set, that's basically all you need if you want the "best" of the TV show, although the payoff is conceivably less for those who didn't sit through the first part of the series.

As for the "dull lead" complaints, I actually think it's better if you go into the show knowing what he was BEFORE he became a pacifist goofball. You'll understand much more where he's coming from and appreciate him more.
 
Thought I'd bring this back since there is no thread to talk about Rurouni Kenshin (and I'm not all that good in making topics )



I need to slap myself for saying that because I am currently rereading this and I've been coming across things I've not read during my first read. And I don't recall skipping anything, but it is possible that I did since I didn't think I need to read the Kyoto arc. (boy was I wrong there as well) The first time I read this I jumped straight into the Jinchuu arc, and imagine my surprise, I'm just now coming across Trust and Betrayal in manga form. (I don't even recall reading this) There's a lot of comedy here that I didn't expect to see considering that the OVA was so serious. I suppose it is welcomed though, since I don't really have any issues with it.

I've definately been enjoying myself while reading this again. Kenshin is definately my type of main character. (He's not stupid, nor an airhead, and he uses his head before rushing to a fight) But Aoshi still remains my favorite overall. The cast is enjoyable... As well as Koaru, which is surprising because I couldn't stand her in the anime. I still have issues with Sanosuke because the guy talk too much. When I first saw him in the anime I thought he would be a great character, but during the Kyoto arc the guy wouldn't shut his mouth for nothing. He's a lot like Kuwabara (but better).

They need to revive this series because I would've liked to have seen Enishi's Watojustu (that is it, right?) animated.
 
Having just read the Toyko arc in the manga, I was wondering if anyone knows why they changed the anime so much from the manga. For example the Raijuta arc was almost completely different and other arcs were missing several really cool scenes from the manga. Was the Kyoto changed from the manga also or did they keep that basically the same?
 
I think the anime staff just wanted to do its own thing, not to mention they had to stay as far back from Watsuki as possible.

The anime also had more Gensai, plus his granddaughters...looking back I think a lot of the changes were gratuitous, but I hold far more love for the comic than I ever will the anime.


EDIT: Yeesh, this thread keeps getting drudged back up. It's almost funny.
 
Haha, yeah like Jacob said, I hold the manga in much higher regard besides the Remerabrance OVA (Trust & Betrayal) and the Kyoto Arc itself, mainly because the Staff really made the arc itself feel a lot more epic especially due to Noriyuki Asakura's score.

As a Hardcore Kenshin fan, I can't say I didn't like the filler, personally I loved them; be that as it may they were hit and miss but the Shimabara Arc (aka the Christian Arc) was a highlight of anime filler period in my opinion.

As for the anime series as a whole? It highly ranks among the best of the best and a personal favorite of mine, especially with Shonen.
The Remerabrance OVA made that arc feel more epic in my opinion though it was bit bleak, but in terms of story, animation, etc?
That OVA is a masterpiece of animated cinema.
 
Kenshin overrated? I don't think so.. it hardly gets praised and some people label it as boring because it deals a lot with drama mixed with some Japanese history.

This series is way different than your typical shonen/super hero series in all sense of the word. Quality storylines, characters who weren't stereotype, awesome music and battles, etc.
 
That's fine if that's your opinion, but I seriously disagree with you there, personally. I mean, Rurouni Kenshin was something that stepped up a little bit above the level of what all the other typical shounen were doing, whereas after reading it and highly anticipating Wakatsuki's later works to be just as great, I found that BR was disappointingly generic in so many ways. That's not to say that it was bad by any means, and it hasd some unique qualities to it, but in all honesty I just did not get the same level of entertainment out of BR that I did out of RK, mainly because I found RK to have more interesting characters, personally.
 
I thought the main characters in Buso Renkin were very interesting. And the main romantic pairing actually was well executed without all the ridiculous navel gazing.
 
Eh, the romantic pairing didn't do much for me in BR, personally, but to be honest I don't find romantic pairings to be a very appealing factor for most shounen that I read, period, including in RK (except for Kenshin's back-story with Tomoe, which was actually done really well, IMO). As I read in the Shounen Jump manga Bakuman, having romantic pairings in shounen manga is just a staple that most mangaka follow as it usually helps attract a few other types of readers, but most don't ever choose to go that in-depth with it in favor of other elements of the series that would be more appealing to young boys, or whatever other demographic that they are aiming their series at. I have come to realize that this is very true for most shounen manga, although there are a few exceptions (but those are the manga that actually choose to focus more on romance, in the first place, usually).

Wait, that was completely off-topic....ummmm....so, what was this thread about, again?
 
Which is why I especially liked what he did in Buso Renkin since 1. he didn't avoid it. And 2. he actually DID something with it without all the stupid navel gazing and dragging of the feet. A Shonen story that actually went somewhere with the romance subplot and gave it an actual resolution.
 
True, but the reason that it still fell flat for me, personally, was just because of the same reason that I said before: he didn't make me care about the characters quite enough in order to enjoy that the romance sub-plot actaully went somewhere.
 
...Woah! A Buso Renkin discussion! I'm in! Personally I don't think it's right to compare it with Rurouni Kenshin by any means(there both completely different even if they are made by the same guy)

I love them both a lot though, Buso Renkin I agree had a great plot and set of characters. I was kind of sad when it ended, but it had a awesome ending anyways(yet the anime cut out some of my favorite parts, yet those parts only worked for the manga so eh)

It was really impressive for a ten volume manga and 26 episode show to get me so interested.
 
After reading the manga again recently, I think it's very odd how great it still is. That and the fact that the manga has dated better than the anime has. It's fast paced, great drama and suspense, intriguing characters, and extreme enthusiasm and care by Watsuki in every single panel of it.

I actually have to wonder how much he truly thought about this world and all the themes he wanted to get across, because he does it as well as any of the best manga I've ever read.

Could we not have a Buso Renkin discussion here? I want to keep this thread positive.
 
I concur.
While I will end the Buso Renkin topic by stating, it was good for what it was, but it did feel overtly generic, especially coming from Watsuki.
But yes, it is surprising how seamless the Kyoto Arc flows into Jinchu Arc, and yeah you had each character that was intriguing had a past and conflict they had to deal with.
Though, Kenshin's backstory is my favorite of any anime or manga character, mainly because (and I've said this in other threaRAB before) and especially for a Shonen manga? Added Jump!? The Remerabrance Arc is almost Shakespearian.
 
And since this is the overt Kenshin thread, I'd figure I'd move the "Jinchu Animated" subject over here.
From my knowledge though, the Jinchu Arc was in preproduction, there were storyboarRAB released with the anime deluxe box in Japan.
Added it does explain these
 
Ooh, nice find Christopher. It's really too bad that it didn't happen.

Buso Renkin was a decent enough action story, but it wasn't actually about anything. RK's tale of one man's struggle at redemption and against his darker nature was much more engaging. Tokiko is also your classic tsunadre, whereas I find both Kaoru and Megumi more interesting and likable ultimately. Kenshin's length also allows it to better focus on its secondary cast, mostly Sansouke and Yahiko and Aoshi. This is not to say that Buso Renkin is bad, just that it's quite standard by way of comparison.

It is true that BR's anime adaptation is more faithful and conclusive than RK's TV series, however. That's only fair to concede, the qualities of the Kyoto arc notwithstanding.
 
I would have used the choice neither greatness nor overrated if it were available. I went with pretty good because the action scenes and the fighting are good. The show has interesting characters, and any show with multiple samurai fights are interesting. Still, I can't place it under the category of greatness for reasons already mentioned: 1) no real ending, 2) the show didn't get to air every episode on TV, and 3) The show was licensed by Sony as Samurai X and was in the process of trying to be put on TV for multiple years before Media Blasters got it, redubbed it, renamed it Rurouni Kenshin, and then got it onto Toonami. The original dub, with every episode available by the way, can now be seen on Crackle and Hulu.
 
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