Pluskylang Great Film overall

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

dezzie-jane I must say that this is THE BEST ANIME I have EVER seen!!! It definitely is the perfect mix of romance, story, history, mystery, and all other good things all rolled into one series! I especially love it because of its strong storyline and characters. Every character has a history and this anime has been created in a way that allows them to show you that background on each character, making each character all the more interesting. I also like the subtle romance it portrays and the way that it intertwines real Japanese history with fiction - that was probably the best part, actually.Anyway, from the first episode, I was hooked...I was so hooked, I finished the series within like a month and half. Now, I'm on to reading the manga, which is just as good as the anime. This is one anime that I can watch over and over and not get bored of!

cloud77712577 I greatly enjoyed Kenshin, possibly even loved it. But having seen all of it, I must warn you, don't watch the final season. It degenerates from a moral filled story into a Dragon Ball Z clone, which just happens to take place in the Meiji era of Japanese history. Around 25-35 episodes that have no strong plot, and do very little to develop the characters.To start, this show has wonderful characters. They are all introduced cleverly, and develop wonderfully. While there are several "good" characters, they are not just clones of each other with different voices and looks. Each one has his/her own problems, and their own past. Fortunately for the viewer not well versed in the history of the Meiji Restoration, the character's do more than just state their story and reason for fighting. Each main character typically gets one episode dedicated to fleshing out their back stories. By the end of the series, you feel that you know the characters a great deal.The episodes are also well written, and must closely follow the manga (Japanese comic) upon which they were based. It is here we encounter our problem however. You see, the original manga remains an ongoing series in Japan. This presented a problem to the animators, who still needed to finish up the show, and not just leave viewers with the message,"Go buy the books when they come out." across the TV screen. So they started to write new material. For the last season, they completely abandon the show's concepts that made it popular to begin with.So for the remainder of the show, you must endure mind numbingly unimaginative fight scenes. The character's only develop in a physical sense, with Sanosuke gaining some new moves, along with Kenshin. By the end, the conclusion of Kenshin and Kaoru's romance seems to be no more than an after thought. I would recommend skipping the "Kyoto Story Arc," as it's called, and either reading the manga as it comes out, or purchasing the Samurai X DVDs.

white-tancho The television series of Kenshin is supposed to depict his redemption. It would have been inappropriately tragic and hard to understand if the two OAVs were actually put as part of the series. Kenshin's redemption comes by helping the few that he might. Everyone that Kenshin meets has some sort of problem and has a tragic past with a lesson to learn from it. Even minor characters such as Kaoru's father depict this fact. All of the "bad guys" have a reason for what they are doing and have some sort of tragedy attached to them. Kenshin would have been in Shishio's position had he not quit being the assassin for the Choshu clan. Like Kenshin said, they might have been allies had they met at another time and under different conditions. Emotion dominates the majority of the series if one looks very closely.In the Jinchuu Arc (bad sum-up of it is the seisouhen-2ndOAV). This shows the attempt at revenge by Enishi who also appeared in the firstOAV. Enishi begins to realize what Kenshin did. Kenshin is known to be really sorry for his sins when he just let Enishi try to kill him. Tomoe's spirit appeared which might tell you that she really did love Kenshin. The best/worst part of this is when Sano brings Kenshin home. Kenshin's such a mess. He worked so hard to redeem himself. Was he able to do it? This is questionable since he was able to help many people, but his son turned out to be a mess because Kenshin was never home to bring him up in the same way that he was a true father to Yahiko. Kenshin gets home and is really content being with Kaoru. We see his scar has faded and gone… he died (the legend of the scar created in great hate…). Kaoru smiles through her tears – Kenshin accomplished his task and she finally got to see a smile from the bottom of his heart as she always wished (she told Kenshin that he didn't have to smile just to look happy when he really wasn't… anyone remember?). How ironic that it was in death that Kenshin could finally be happy!! Okie… so that was a pretty bad sum-up of what I wanted to say. It's just that there's too much to say, so I kinda left most of it out… it's the really basic parts of the story and stuff that I see in it. I love the music from the series. My cousin actually played one of the background songs (the one played in the back when Kenshin leaves Kaoru to go to Kyoto with all of the fireflies around them and stuff…) at his wedding!! I really love the song 1/3 junjou na kanjou. It's by Siam Shade. (Actually, Kenshin was the starting point for many bands – they took small ones like Siam Shade, Bonnie Pink, Judy and Mary… plus, L'arc en Ciel did what's supposed to be their best song – Niji – L'arc en Ciel means "arch of the sky" in French and Niji is rainbow in Japanese)It's how one third of your heart will never be put into your love – you'll always live in memories. It's really sad. Kenshin's really an emo series… They should make that an anime genre.

SimpleWalrus First off i am a serious fan of this anime, it alone got me involved in anime and manga..Anyway the person who wrote that they don't get this anime and didn't think it was all that great probably hasn't seen the OVA's which would probably fill in the plot hole that they spoke of in the beginning of their entry. The OVAs sum up his childhood through adolescence and i think you cant truly appreciate this anime until you've seen them, because it really helps you understand the "inner" Kenshin and you even get to see a bit of Shishio at the end when he kills the traitor, so i think that would help them to understand the plot and really make Kenshin much more enjoyable to anyone who enjoys a good anime