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Samurai X - The Motion Picture (Rurouni Kenshin) Actor: Samurai X Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Animated Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-03-27 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 "great anime" After fathfully watching Rurouni Kenshin on TV I decided to check out this DVD. It lived up to the tv program. The animation was same as the cartoon on TV, but the voice cast was diffrent. It was very odd and I dont think I got use to it but it wa still good. If I could I would give this movie 6 out of 5!!! ""In the sadness, I was holding my dream tightly."" The timing of this film is after the 'Samurai X' OVA's. The year is 1879, sometime during the progress of the 'Rurouni Kenshin' television series. The bloody overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate has been followed by the Meiji restoration, but all is not well. Samurai led by Takimi Shigure regret the passing of the old days and plan to start a counter-revolution. Himura Kenshin, one of the samurai who fought to overthrow the Shogunate, finds himself forced by destiny to oppose Shigure. In the past, a mistake by Shigure left his closest friend, Takatsuki Gentatsu without sufficient resources for a raid. Unknown to Shigure, Kenshin is the samurai who killed Gentatsu. Both men were deeply affected by this, at the restoration of the Meiji, Shigure was sworn to vengeance. And Kenshin had his sword blade reversed, determined never to kill with his sword again. Now, in Yokohama, Shigure plots the death of the British Governor. When Kenshin helps protect Takatsuki Toki (Gentatsu's sister) Shigure befriends Kenshin and eventually asks him to take care of Toki if something should happen to him. In the meantime, forces in the government intend to use Shigure as a means for achieving their own ends, creating a multi-layered scenario of betrayals that will culminate in the final battle between the two honorable opponents. Despite (or perhaps because of) the highly romanticized depiction of samurai behavior and swordmanship, this becomes a dramatically engaging story instead of a simple tale of blood and swashbuckling. Kenshin's youthful appearance and the antics of his friends keep the film from being overwhelmingly tragic. Thus it is a well-balanced plot with many subtexts to add to its richness. Artistically, the film is first-class. The battle scenes are cleanly detailed, and the choreography of the sword fights is beautifully done, if a bit fantastical. The scenes have a fluid grace that will cause the viewer to stop action often, just to admire the illustration. This film, and the related tales of Rurouni Kenshin set a new standard for Samurai based anime, that is rarely equaled. Watching the OVA series before seeing the movie version will provide the viewer with useful background information, but the film stands quite well on its own, making it a fitting introduction to this popular and long-running series. "Wandering Kenshin" A good movie for anyone who is a fan of the Rurouni Kenshin series. Taking place after the Kyoto arc(check out the series if you are unfamiliar with this), this is much better than what happens afterwards in the anime. Check this out if you like the series. "Flashback to the Bakumatsu" Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke take a trip to Hokohama. This is a place of trade and Westerners. Anyway, the movie was overall pretty good. However, there are a lot of flashbacks in this movie. Kenshin flashes back to the Bakumatsu. We see him killing the same guy, over and over. It is very redundant. The fights in the end are fantastic. A very cool Battojutsu technique is seen only in this movie. The music is very fitting as well. "Actually makes a good transition between Seasons 1 and 2." To date (12/2/02), this is the only theatrical film based upon the story and characters of the Rurouni Kenshin series. I will skip a summary of the plot, since this will have been covered adequately in other reviews. ADV, not AnimeWorks, produced this American release, and the dubbing team is the same actors who voiced the OVA miniseries (i.e., not the main series crew). This is one of the chief problems with the film (insofar as its American release is concerned); for while the dubbing crew did an outstanding job for the OVA, in my opinion, they had a hard time shifting to the occasionally light-hearted and comic tone required for the theatrical film. (They do much better when the tone shifts to drama.) The dubbing writers chose the odd tactic of representing the antagonist (he isn't really a villain) as being someone who can mimic and improve upon other people's fighting styles--in this case, Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi. It's a novel notion, and almost works; but it doesn't really match what is happening on the screen, and certainly doesn't match the original dialogue (so far as I know--the subtitles say he's using his own style, and that fits the series psych-philosophy of dueling much better.) The storyline takes place during the continuity of the main series. Exactly when, is a matter of debate. Internal evidence (as well as production characteristics) indicate that it should be placed after the main series Kyoto arc, but before the concluding feng shui arc of season 3 (when most of the government buildings in Tokyo are wiped out). There are some secondary thematic similarities to the 3rd season Shimabara arc; but the film has a more dramatically satisfying conclusion, in my opinion. (At least the fight scenes are better--so far as they go; they aren't better than the majority of fights during the Kyoto arc...) Artistic values are fairly high 3rd-season level, although not yet at the level of the final main series ep nor the OVA. I found no music in the movie (or on its soundtrack, which I've bought) from the 1st or 2nd seasons; it's all from the 3rd season. (Or it may be that the 3rd season borrows music liberally from this movie, the 2nd season, and a little from the 1st season... The 'new' music first appears in the aforementioned Shimabara arc.) Although the ep isn't strictly canonical (it isn't borrowed from the manga, so far as I know, and other eps don't reference it), I still recommend it as part of a series watch-through. Personally, I prefer to watch it just prior to the beginning of the Kyoto Arc (essentially the whole of the 2nd season). There is nothing too far out of line for shifting the order this early, except for Sano's one use of the futonokiwami move: but in English this is ignored (I don't remember if he says the name of the move in Japanese); and all throughout the 3rd season he is unable to punch with that hand (having broken every bone trying to use the punch on Mikoto Shishio). Besides, as is common for 'strong man' characters in most fictional stories, the RuroKen writers tend to ramp Sano's strength up and down however necessary for the situation at hand: he's splitting huge trees in half with one punch in season 2, partly for comedy-value, _before_ he learns the futo', for instance! Punching a blockade out of the way is in the same vein, I think. Hajime Saito's involvement with the story may seem problematic; but I argue that it can still fit a pre-2nd season 'ep'. We know from season 2 that Kenshin knows Saito is alive; that Saito has been keeping an eye on Kenshin; and that Kenshin wasn't expecting Saito to come after him in _this_ fashion (maybe come after him some day, but not like _this_). This is commensurate with Kenshin meeting Saito briefly in this film. Nothing in season 2 indicates that Kenshin is surprised to learn Saito is a police officer. Saito meets virtually no one in the film who has any bearing to the Kyoto Arc. Saito's involvement in the film is admittedly abrupt, in terms of a 'plot introduction'; but if the film is screened right before Kyoto starts, then the hanging question "Who _was_ that guy!?" is satisfactorily answered right from the beginning. Thus, my recommendation of view order: Season 1 (skipping the False Prophet DVD 4, as to taste), temporarily skip the train robbery ep (DVD 5), then do the short arc introducing Sano's friend (DVD 6), then do the train robbery ep, which the theatrical feature could be seen as beginning with. (The 'modern day' majority of the movie begins with Sano and Kaoru doing their steam/ghost argument while riding the train to Yokohama. Title credit song is highly annoying, btw. |g|) Then after the theatrical, go straight to Kyoto Arc and play out from there. (The coastal pirate arc of Season 1 can be skipped, or put in earlier, as to taste.)