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The legend
blizzarddog5 is online now
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Rurouni kenshin
Plot: Himura Kenshin is a vagabond with a dark past and sunny disposition. Not a ronin but a rurouni, he was never a samurai, but an assassin of utmost skill in the Meiji restoration, who in the turning point of the war simply walked away. His travels lead him to Tokyo in the 11th year of the Meiji era, where he befriends a female Kendo master, a former thief, a brawler and a doctor all with their own secrets. Together they fight off the enemies surfacing from the dark past that Kenshin cannot escape.
Review:
This has been one of the *hot* series in recent years, and it has reason to be popular. With such a storyline, Kenshin is just plain silly! Oro? When the action hits a lull, he is to be seen going into SD, or at least squished-face form quite often. This seems, frankly, wrong, until you put it into the context of the character and the series.
Kenshin is regaining his innocence. With each life he saves, or spares, he seems to gain a bit of himself back. He's able to live a relatively good life with the spirited girl Kaoru, and their growing collective of friends, like the wild-tempered, but trustworthy Sanosuke, and the plucky pickpocket Yahiko (who, yes, is initially annoying, but he has his moments). Almost every single one of these characters, as well as a goodly portion of others, has great characterization (and suitably tragic background), and many of the so-called bad guys are really would-be-heroes who just happen to be working for someone else. (Like the four underlings of Aoshi ...) You could be rooting for Kenshin to defeat a character in one episode, and then find yourself rooting for that very same character in the next.
Another thing this series has going for it is the plot, which, so far, has been pretty darn good for a "popular" series. Not epic, by any means, but with no obvious logic loss, except for a few battles (which no normal human should ever survive - but this IS anime). But what holds this together well is the drama and action, which are placed well together. and giving a very authentic-seeming historical sound to it. The way of life circa 1860-1880 seems well-presented,
Plus the fact that every technique, no matter how ineffective or visually powerful, has to have a ponderously long name that's apparently supposed to mean something impressive. ("Hey, I've seen that technique before! It's Crane-Eating-a-Large-Marshmallow-Fist!") It's minor, but it gets silly fast.
Occasional, later in the series, the show does lapse into filler (as many shows of this length are wont to do), but overall, Rurouni Kenshin does remain an exciting, enjoyable watch. It's a lot of fun, and it appeals to action-lovers. surprisingly enough. Maybe that's because it's intensely character-driven as this is. Kenshin himself proves to be actually one of the more memorable characters of the last few years of TV shows, with his motivations, and the conflict always present between the truly human Himura Kenshin and his other self, Hitokiri Battousai.
I give this a 10/10
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Last edited by blizzarddog5; 06-13-2008 at 04:07 PM..
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