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Ah, I was referring to the original, but the Director's Cut is also good, for the same reasons you've stated.

However, I really disliked that we didn't get awesome music for when Kenshin and Tomoe met in the DC. The music added alot to the scene as a whole.

At a special request from Wolfenstein I decided to scan all the pages from the English translated book that came with the Tsuioku-hen BD in case anyone wanted to read it for a little more insight to the actual creation of the OVA.

I decided to use Image Venue instead of Photo Bucket for hosting 'cause I recently discovered that Photo Bucket now sucks, so hopefully this will be easier to read for everyone.

Tony K, you are amazing! A total bro!

There are truly some great insights in that booklet. Finally people can understand that strange menstruation scene!
The fact that Watsuki changed his original concept for the scar surprised the hell out of me! Tomoe manually scarring Kenshin, and it being an event of fate both speak two completely different things, I wonder why he decided to change it.
I was kind of dissapointed that he was so vague with the flower symbolism, though. There's so much depth there, but it seems that they didn't want to reveal all of the plot and just told the story as it was.

Anyways, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't extremely interested in knowing why Tomoe completed the scar, and I'm happy to see that everyone's interpretation on the matter was correct! She did give him the scar as a means to remember her, her love and their happiness by, and in effect of that, stoping the curse in the wound - overlaying a new happiness over the hatred of a destroyed happiness. That's some deep stuff. No wonder Kenshin's wound stops bleeding.

Now, if only I can get my hands on that Blue-Ray...but it costs so much on Amazon and Ebay.

Do any of you guys have reccomendations on where to purchase it?

Started watching the first episode.

Is the scar character a woman or guy? If the character is a guy, why he talks with female voice? Hormonal/fertility illness?

Or maybe the character is a woman? Then it is simple case; there are many historical anime which exploited cross-dressing motif -- though I would not believe such cross-dressing, you can immediately hear it is a woman, not a guy.

Also, there is openly woman character, but she is with a sword. Women were strictly banned to have samurai swords (both before and after Meji period; as well as men if they are not samurai), so it is weird. Another issue is that she is a horrible person (ungrateful), but authors suppose viewers have to like her.

Last edited by Tony K. on Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:24 pm; edited 1 time in total

Kenshin is a guy, albeit sort of feminine-looking. The Japanese voice is played by a masculine sounding woman. The English voice is played by a light, but not-quite-feminine-sounding guy. If you wanna' know why he's drawn that way, read the manga. The author actually talks quite a bit about his characters' designs and writing in his little footnotes throughout each volume.

Also, I think you should reserve judgement for the characters until you've actually finished the entire story. I think the Kenshin franchise is unique and rare in that it writes many of its characters (main and side) pretty well, considering how much or little screen time they get.

For the whole story, though,I suggest this viewing/reading order:

- TV series, 1-62; you'll get some filler in the first season, but the 2nd one is all a carbon copy, story-wise, so you won't miss a thing or have any extra fluff beyond ep. 28. Everything after episode 62 is complete filler, and actually got the show cancelled, so yeah, not very attention-worthy.

- 1st OAV (Tsuioku-hen / "Trust & Betrayal"); it's technically a prequel, but the story itself is actually told *after* the Kyoto arc in the manga as a flashback, which, then, sets up the final arc that was terribly adapted in anime form. It's pretty dark and violent in comparison to the series, I guarantee you'll love it. But I insist you endure the TV series, first.

- Manga volumes 19-28, the last arc in its entirety; please don't watch the 2nd OAV, like, ever. It only ties in the crux of the Jinchuu arc, but leaves out a lot of stuff. Not to mention the creator of the franchise disowned it for its deviation from what he originally wrote. I would say the Kyoto arc is better, but this one as a whole is still way better and more conclusive than what they did in the OAV.

Good luck.

EDIT: Added a fact about season 3 of the series.

Thanks for the guidance, Tony.

Those were my impressions after the first episode. With female voice I thought maybe there will be revelation later that this is a woman that pretended to be man for the purpose of revenge (typical cliché for historical anime). If not, then it is just strange choice by this anime's director.

By the way, this anime was very popular, but is super old. Now is the time for countless retelling versions of older anime, even when it is not necessary (for example, HxH 2011 is not really better than the original, though now it is in 16:9 format ratio), so why would not they make this whole thing anew? Update drawing style, add rich backgrounds, fix the voice of main hero?

People have been clamoring for a Kenshin remake since about the time Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood got its own. Some had speculated that the live-action Kenshin movies and New Kyoto Arc OAV might've been the beginnings of some remake trend, but it's yet to be seen if the whole franchise will actually get a full-fledged TV series reboot, yet.

Honestly, the original Kenshin TV series, while a little rough on the art and animation here and there even for mid-'90s standards, has some very positive and, in my opinion, irreplaceable aspects. Specifically, I love the music and the voice acting. The composers switch between the TV and OAVs (but both are utterly astounding in the context of the mood changes from lighter to darker tones). Both use a great deal of western influences in their compositions that give both a pretty grandiose aura, especially the OAV. Hell, the Tsuikoku-hen OAV will raise the bar for anything related to the Bakumatsu era. It's *that* epic.

And while it may seem weird to hear a woman playing a man. I wholeheartedly ask you to put some faith in Mayo Suzukaze's acting ability. Pitch and tonality be damned, I've seen the anime so many times and revere her acting so much that I can't imagine anyone else's voice doing the job. Kenshin's character is actually a bit dainty for good reason, but has something of a "dark side," which you'll see in flashes throughout the series. Yes, Suzukaze's voice will change to reflect that darker side of Kenshin's personality, but you'll have to bear with the adjustment until the entirety of his character progression is revealed (up through the Kyoto Arc) and his tragic back story is explained (in the OAV). After that, it will all make sense on why there are 2 distinct "personalities" to his character and maybe see why they decided to cast a woman for the role.

Trust me on this. She will do a great job. I would stake my collection of souls on it.

They should re-boot this show because season 3 exists and the jinchu arc does not. Both are a criminal offense against good taste.

I have watched it to eighth episode, and it is very entertaining so far, I took it in one breath. Even though there are maybe issues (including naivete), I have never felt insulted by authors (yet). No character was made acting ridiculous in the circumstances and setting this show offers just for sake of moving story forward -- unlike many anime that are profoundly mediocre (like SOA I/II, god forbid). The storytelling has to be smooth just like in this Wandering Swordsman anime -- it is good example.

As to retelling, I have issues with such protects making changes purely for the sake of changes. For example, the voice cast for the original HxH from 1999 was superb, and the music was epic, a true rarity. There was no point to change that other than because of stupid licensing issues. As result, the new cast for HxH 2011 was in places just as good as old one, but in other times, alas, weaker. Music for the first year and half of this retelling project was quite horrible, and only later part added really good music.

I have no definitive opinion of this Wandering Swordsman show yet on the issue of cast and music, but this could be similar case. If so, then whether the renewal will get same cast and music or not will depend whether the same studio will receive the contract (Studio Deen), or it will be a different studio. In latter case people will most likely not bother to license voice recordings and music, and will rather make it all anew. Which would be sad, but typical for Japanese anime bureaucrats who are historically crazy about never letting anyone to license anything to a point where people have stopped trying.

Bugnin wrote:

They should re-boot this show because season 3 exists and the jinchu arc does not. Both are a criminal offense against good taste.

This "Jinchu" arc is the place where whole thing gets proper ending? Or it is in some later part of manga, or in differently-titled manga (or side manga)? I am asking because usually, if anime is good, I trust it with the story, and only read parts of manga that were not made into anime.

The Kenshin manga is essentially broken up into three acts:

1. The first act, which takes place in Tokyo and establishes most of the main cast and contains a couple mini-arcs (Jin-e and Obiwan-shi)
2. The Kyoto arc
3. The Jinchu arc.

The Jinchu arc is actually more about the beginning of Kenshin than the end. It explains what made him who he is and ultimately allows his character to come full circle in a redemption of sorts. Very well written. The actual ending to the series is a short epilogue that takes place a few years after the Jinchu arc, but it's a wonderful ending.

The first two acts of the Kenshin manga were animated as seasons one and two of the anime. The Kyoto arc was adapted beautifully. It's one of the finest anime seasons in any series ever.

....and then instead of waiting for the manga to finish, they decided to create an entirely new story for season 3 separate from the manga. It is nothing short of terrible.

They had the good sense to go back and animate Kenshin's origin story from the Jinchu arc in OVA form (Trust and Betrayal), but while they're not bad, the tone is so different it really doesn't even feel like a Kenshin story.

The third OVA (Reflection) is the de facto finale to the anime, taking place decades after the main story. They even try to shoehorn in parts of Jinchu arc in flashback form. To summarize: it's insulting to everything the story stood for. The tone is disgusting. The story itself is agonizing. The treatment of the main character is ugly and completely unnecessary.

Thanks, I will re-read this reply of yours after I watch whole thing to see what to do.

As to how watching goes: episode twelve, where the boy gets spoiler[beaten by four evil men and then gets up to continue training the same evening to prepare to beat them next day] is too much naivete for me, too much little kids' show. Also, it is third damsel in distress story in just twelve episodes, it is overboard.

MaxSouth wrote:

Thanks, I will re-read this reply of yours after I watch whole thing to see what to do.

As to how watching goes: episode twelve, where the boy gets spoiler[beaten by four evil men and then gets up to continue training the same evening to prepare to beat them next day] is too much naivete for me, too much little kids' show. Also, it is third damsel in distress story in just twelve episodes, it is overboard.

Yahiko is Kenshin-in-training. He's very gifted as a swordman, though he's not particularly useful because of his age. He's enough of a match for unskilled street thugs, though. I don't see that as too much of a stretch. Yahiko is never treated as someone that has any business fighting elites alongside Kenshin.

The Jinchu arc (again) is where he finally starts to become able to stand on his own. Yahiko's character is really a blend of both Kenshin and Karou, and you see a lot of both of their qualities in him as things progress.

On a side note, if you can't stand watching women get rescued, any story involving 1800's japan is probably something you should avoid.

MaxSouth wrote:

As to how watching goes: episode twelve, where the boy gets spoiler[beaten by four evil men and then gets up to continue training the same evening to prepare to beat them next day] is too much naivete for me, too much little kids' show. Also, it is third damsel in distress story in just twelve episodes, it is overboard.

There are some filler episodes throughout that Tokyo arc. Here's a list if you wanna' skip:

Episodes

12-18, 22, 25-27

All the canon stuff is told a little differently in the manga (and in my opinion, better, especially the Raijuuta story, but it's still kinda' weak, overall). Once you get to the Kyoto arc, though, it's nothing up upward awesomeness from there.

Also, Kaoru becomes quite a bit tougher by the end of Kyoto. So don't worry about her. Pretty much every character gets to shine during that arc (aside from Megumi, 'cause she's just a doctor).

Thanks for the guidance, guys.

More comments:

1) this anime, among many from the past, uses flickering as visual effect. It is truly amazing that before scandalous epilepsy fits that viewers have experiences years layer from different anime directors never had idea that they should not use such effects. Personally, I do not have epilepsy at all, but those effects are annoying every time. Anime directors had to grasp the idea of not using such visual effect many decades earlier.

2) there is certain music that actress has for swordsman's voice, which is kind of unique. And I like how she makes funny sounds (that later One Piece's main hero also does, though differently).

3) It looks like at least three male characters of this anime are voiced by women. Now I am starting to remember that this was a thing in old anime. By now, this tradition has gone (which makes sense to me as voice and gender should not contradict to each other).

4) Sano/"rooster" guy's voice actor stresses "rough r" sound too much.

5) I like how children are depicted; the cutest thing ever. I hate when authors make children behave fake, and there is nothing like that here.

6) Before Kyoto part there were only smaller stories, not the best thing I like, though I had to say that I loved the villains, they are cool.

7) For some time I thought that the author is a woman because the swordsman is made to be so soft and gentle, wearing pink clothes, always taking care of children, cooking and laundry, and never indicating sexual attraction. This image of such man is as much (shojo) fantasy to me as supernatural powers heroes have. But the manga is shonen and the author is a guy -- which was a bit surprising. (Though I was not sure author was woman because in such case there would be active romance going on in this case -- this element is lacking for a shojo hypothesis. Also, there is harem around the swordsman.)

8) I hate that some characters smoke. Hirotaka Suzuoki, actor for Saito, was avid smoker, as well as his character, and has died of lung cancer in 2006. It was an amazing voice, unique timbre. He could have been working for at least two more decades. I hate Japanese propaganda of tobacco; not many people understand how evil it is.

9) It turned out that the same author also has done Chemical Weapons manga. I did not read it, but I have seen the anime -- was very consistent and coherent, heroes had cool superpowers and abilities, some of the designs were unique are part the memory forever (like butterfly guy). Many accuse that project of being cliche, but I find it useless critique because there is just no way to create a shonen manga that would not be cliche. More importantly if the execution of high quality or not, and in that case it was.

MaxSouth wrote:

3) It looks like at least three male characters of this anime are voiced by women. Now I am starting to remember that this was a thing in old anime. By now, this tradition has gone (which makes sense to me as voice and gender should not contradict to each other).

Kenshin, Yahiko, and who else.. Soujirou? It's a little more understandable for the latter 2 since they're both still in their teenage years. But you really don't see a lot of adult male characters voiced by women, anymore, which I think is part of Kenshin's charm.

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4) Sano/"rooster" guy's voice actor stresses "rough r" sound too much.

Well, he pretty much grew up a street thug and even lived in an area called "Ruffian Row." I love the fervor in which he disagreed with everything; it always feels very "spirited."

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5) I like how children are depicted; the cutest thing ever. I hate when authors make children behave fake, and there is nothing like that here.

Interesting trivia: Ayame and Suzume (the doctor's grandkids) don't even exist in the manga. They were created specifically for the TV series.

Quote:

6) Before Kyoto part there were only smaller stories, not the best thing I like, though I had to say that I loved the villains, they are cool.

Yeah, most of the Tokyo arc is really just for building the world and characters. It sort of constructs everything to be "mostly happy, with a few dire situations." But by the time you get to the Kyoto arc, *everything* just gets really dark and serious (mood, story, characters, music, etc.). And once you realize the scope of the plot and get all this character exposition, it turns out to be a pretty brilliant piece of storytelling.

Quote:

8) I hate that some characters smoke. Hirotaka Suzuoki, actor for Saito, was avid smoker, as well as his character, and has died of lung cancer in 2006. It was an amazing voice, unique timbre. He could have been working for at least two more decades. I hate Japanese propaganda of tobacco; not many people understand how evil it is.

Saitou was my 2nd favorite character next to Aoshi, and I completely agree with your assessment on Suzuoki's voice; it's a very unique one and I always enjoyed the characters he played. I was really sad when I learned of his passing, and it is an ironic shame that both he and one of his most renowned characters were such heavy smokers.

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9) It turned out that the same author also has done Chemical Weapons manga. I did not read it, but I have seen the anime -- was very consistent and coherent, heroes had cool superpowers and abilities, some of the designs were unique are part the memory forever (like butterfly guy). Many accuse that project of being cliche, but I find it useless critique because there is just no way to create a shonen manga that would not be cliche. More importantly if the execution of high quality or not, and in that case it was.

In his little side notes of the Kenshin manga, Watsuki frequently mentions his obsession with the X-Men comics and how he 1) put some of their designs into his Kenshin characters, and 2) occasionally mentioned how he wanted to tie-in or pay homage to the franchise. Obviously, with how stylish and super-powered Busou Renkin turned out, it's easy to see some of those influences.

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