Friday, September 29, 2006

Anime Report: Samurai X: Reflection



The last of the Samurai X OAVs, "Reflection" brings the saga of master swordsman and assassin Kenshin Himura to its end. There is no peace for Kenshin. The world holds no place for him. Even though he is doomed to fail in his attempt to atone for the blood staining his soul, he can not stop trying.

"Reflection" takes place years after the "Rurouni Kenshin" TV series, and is utterly lacking in the humor the series was known for. But many of that series' characters show up in the OAV, and there are liberal flashbacks to tell what parts they have to play in Kenshin's story.

Kaoru, Kenshin's long-suffering wife, is waiting for the wandering samurai to return to her -- and wondering if she can ever hold a place in his heart like his first, doomed love, Tomoe. Will she live to see him again?

I've watched, and adored, the Samurai X OAVs. But I've only seen scattered episodes of Rurouni Kenshin. "Reflection" is beautiful and bittersweet, but I wonder if it would have affected me more deeply if I was familiar with the TV series. It makes me want to watch it -- good for my anime viewing, bad for my bank account (there are more than 20 DVDs)

We popped in the first disc of RK, afterwards -- the only one we own. We had to stop after watching two episodes, but it was striking to see Kaoru so young, funny and full of spirit. It will be an interesting ride.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You want anime? go watch Chobits, its terrible.
Or Final Fantasy Unlimited, worst none sense making anime ever.

Fyre said...

I'll rate Excel Saga or anything related to Dragonball Z as the worst anime I've ever seen.

DBZ makes me want to kill. I have no idea why so many people love it.

I haven't seen Chobits or FFU yet -- I wonder how they measure up.

Anonymous said...

INTOP (in the name of pie all initilized) go watch chobits, you'll hate me fore it.