Forum - View topicThe Meiji Arc: Is It Really That Bad?
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Iritscen
 Posts: 793 |
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I can't help but feel a little weird about the fact that, although I am a big Kenshin fan, I own all the DVDs and manga EXCEPT the infamous third arc of the anime. I mean, I shied away from it because I heard bad things, but I can't help but wonder how bad it really was and what happened in it, even knowing that it's not canon because of the manga's Jinchu arc. Is it like:
Meiji : Kyoto :: DBGT : DBZ? Or is it not that bad, just inferior to the previous arc? (no spoilers please) |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Is that the one where Kenshin gets blinded by Amakusa Shogo?
Because that was really the best of the post-Kyoto storylines. The others were way, way worse. |
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The Frankman
 Posts: 1160 Location: Binary Culture HQ |
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I've watched it now and I really see no real difference between it and the pre-Kyoto Arcs (in terms of a min-arc it's second only to the Pirate arc). Now a complaint I've heard is what more could have been done with the "Son of God" implying for a guy that powerful the arc was over way to quickly. However I attribute that more because it followed up an awesome story in the Kyoto arc.
The writing doesn't seem to suffer either, so I really don't get the hate. The only thing I can gather is maybe people don't like the heavy-handed/obvious religious overtones it takes. But no one's perfect. |
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Clodus
 Posts: 497 Location: Kansas |
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as a kenshin fan myself, i would say dont buy the rest of the dvds as its equivilant to naruto fillers. I've seen the series many times but i tend to skip the meiji arc when i do a marathon with some friends. the only reason i bought mine was because im the kind of person who dont mind fillers and i have to have a perfect collection or none at all. the storyline itself is very dull and boring. in fact it was so bad, when the series was airing on toonami, they cut out the meijii arc because they didn't receive enough ratings. i suggest watching the subs if u can find any to see if u like it or not
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rainbowcourage
 Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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also a devout kenshin fan, and i can say this:
the third arc will NOT ruin your opinion of the show, however the depth is lacking. By the end the plot is repetitive and then a guy shows up using taboo, which the animators pass off as magic. That's pretty lame. There's some cool stuff in it. I would suggest watching it, as you will probably not be at rest until you do (the ending episode sucked in my opinion, though) It just makes me so sad whenever I think...they didn't animate the 3rd and supposedly greatest arc where spoiler[ kenshin & kauru marry and have kenji, sono meets his family, etc. ] and the OVAs did not do it justice. In fact seeing the animation style so different in the OVAs is rather disturbing, not to mention how creepy Kauru's eyes look *shudders* I also do not like reading manga, so I've never read the 3rd arc  Petition VIZ to do the third arc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry bout the tangent 
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slickwataris
 Posts: 1334 Location: Carol Stream, Illinois |
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they finished releasing it last year 
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Obaa-chan
 Posts: 16 Location: Israel |
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It's bad. I'm an avid Kenshin fan, but I just gave up on that season 4 chapters before the end, because it was just so damn boring. It's fillers, so no plot line, no character development. There's not much fighting either, at least I don't remember fighting, so even if there were, they must've been very unremarkable. Mostly the chars run around doing nothing. And some chapters are so idiotic they just make you howl in frustration. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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There is a topic from March that covers this here:
animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34153 There is one from the end of last year here: animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=28295 There is one dedicated to the third season here: animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22161 and another thread where I explain why I love the third season here: animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21973 There are a few other threads that are around that talk about the third season, but I think you can get a general sense of what people think from these. I still stand by my opinion that this season is strong due to the idea of the conflict between the old and the new as well as the East meeting the West. Moving the story away from the fighting also really worked for me. I will admit that this was a really bad move for the studio since this made the series less appealing to their established fan base who wanted more shounen action. |
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Amethyst Alchemist
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 312 Location: where it's always a good morning |
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I don't think the arc is that bad. I would definitely buy it if you have the rest of the series. I think it's about the same as the rest of the series. I just don't really think any of the series is that good. I'm a HUGE fan of the OVAs, but I just don't think the series is written well at all. In fact, the only legit versions of Kenshin I was willing to buy were the OVAs.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11314 Location: Frisco, TX |
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I've seen Season 3 once, then never again. Aside from the Bount arc in Bleach and that Hunter exam on the boat in Hunter X Hunter, I never really liked filler to begin with (if I knew it was filler, that is). If I were you, I'd at least rent it or borrow it first. The writing is pretty spread out all over the place and never really gives you time to let things sink it. It's just a bunch of quick fixes to kill time until they were supposed to animate Jinchuu (flashbacks and all).
But of course, since the ratings totally plummeted, the series got cancelled and Studio DEEN made the OAVs. If the filler was enough to get the series cancelled, though, I'm sure it's not that bad... .
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kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
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Well, that just convinced me never to buy the third season. Like the OP, I own just the first two seasons, and then I stopped due to all the rumors I kept hearing about the godawful third season. I always wondered if maybe I should go back and finish it, but I think I'll just pretend the anime ended them coming home after the Kyoto Arc. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16941 |
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Shoot, you guys should be praising God you're not me. I bought the damn third season on vhs. That's 20 bucks a pop for those vhs tapes. There were about 8-10 of them. So that's about, estimating prices and taxes, $160-$200 spent on those vhs tapes. See back then crack was all the rage. We'd all smoke some sweet pipe rock and go buy vhs tapes, and then run through the woods like little retarded monkeys flinging our own feces at each other. Brilliant
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ivorymoose
 Posts: 240 |
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It is a long story why I have not watched the third season despite ordering the entire collection! I shall watch it soon, I don't think it will be as damaging as the OAV "Reflections". Errrrr.......I really pretend "Reflections" never existed, I find "Reflections" scary.
I am into RK because I like the Art of War, I like to watch how Kenshin deals with his opponents and the tactics he used to defeat the enemy. I'm into this for the ideology and politics. Like what I mentioned in the FMA thread, we need to wait 25 years to see if a title is truely a classic, RK is 10 years old, we only need to wait another 15 more years to see if this is still ranked top 20 in Japan with a strong international fan base. I have a strong feeling RK will make it! 
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Iritscen
Posts: 793 |
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Thanks for the feedback guys. All things considered, I think I will rent it. I really do care about the characters, not just the swordplay, so I would like to see what they did with the characters even though it's not canon. Just because, as rainbowcourage said, I won't be at rest until I've seen it.
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SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
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I've never heard it described that way, but it makes perfect sense. Watsuki's theme of change was continued, even in the non-canonical storylines of Shimabara-hen, Yuutaro-hen, Fusui-hen, and the fillers in between. I liked the latter part of the TV series just about as much as I liked Tokyo-hen. The development of characters wasn't a main focus, but rather to bring familiar characters into entertaining scenarios for the week. If I were to cite any complaint is that right after Kyoto-hen, the third story arc, Shimabara-hen makes for a very, very strong start but the following multi-part adventure, Yuutaro-hen just wasn't as good and the final arc, Fusui-hen was even worse. The typical comedy fillers that were used in between the three are all very entertaining and I personally think they're worth buying. However, despite how big of a Kenshin fan I am, I also know that I'm very much in the minority because I don't outright bash the post-Kyoto anime because it's not lifted directly from the manga nor do I think Seisou-hen was all that bad of a production. |
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