(CR) Rurouni Kenshin New TV series Anticipation

[Magin]

Of course, there's always the OTHER option that no one even wants to talk about...

It's possible this goes the way of Shaman King'21 and other recent remakes- i.e. becomes terrible and no one will talk about it anyways. Sadly, most of the recent remakes of old anime have turned out like this: Shaman King, Urusei Yatsura, and even Trigun. Decently hyped at first, but then fizzled out because "Doesn't live up to the original/had different expectations"

[Mad Pierrot]

The idea of the pacing scares me considering how latest reboots like Shaman King rushed a lot of story arcs. The Jinei arc already lasted only two episodes back in the 90s.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

The idea of the pacing scares me considering how latest reboots like Shaman King rushed a lot of story arcs. The Jinei arc already lasted only two episodes back in the 90s.

Shaman King 2021 had bigger problem than pacing. The whole execution is underwhelming. It was so bland that most emotional moments fell flat. It's almost like the studio did it with "I'll do it quick so I can go home"-mentality. The 2nd+ season improved a bit but it was too little too late.

I don't mind if the new RK will condense the story, as long as the execution is done well.

[Amarantine]

Originally Posted by zztop

Didn't the 1st anime faithfully cover the manga content, at least as far as the Shishio/Kyoto arc? Iirc it mainly diverged with all the filler stuff afterwards, and that was to buy time until the Jinchu arc was finished manga-side (which failed to happen in time).

Kyoto was very faithful in the first anime, Tokyo less so. Not only were the manga stories interspersed with anime original ones that messed with the overall pacing, some of the canon stories also received significant alterations, especially the later ones like the Raijuta arc or the one with Sanosuke's old friend. Certain moments in the Aoshi arc were also censored and cut from the anime due to the violence.

So yeah, I hope they will be able to stick closer to the manga this time, because the Tokyo arc wasn't really done justice in the first anime IMO (Kyoto was virtually perfect though).

And I agree they shouldn't try to incorporate anything from the live action movies, especially since I wasn't a fan of the changes in those. Though I could see them introducing Saito earlier like in those since he already briefly appeared in one of the trailers for this new TV series.

[Tactics]

That PV ... I'll keep my expectation low then.

Beauty of Vs. Aoshi and Vs. Saito is unique 90's anime charm.

Juppongatana and Jinchu fights are easy to modernized compare to that two.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Magin

Of course, there's always the OTHER option that no one even wants to talk about...

It's possible this goes the way of Shaman King'21 and other recent remakes- i.e. becomes terrible and no one will talk about it anyways. Sadly, most of the recent remakes of old anime have turned out like this: Shaman King, Urusei Yatsura, and even Trigun. Decently hyped at first, but then fizzled out because "Doesn't live up to the original/had different expectations"

I thought the Urusei Yatsura remake was great and Trigun's had a lot of great buzz .

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Amarantine

Kyoto was very faithful in the first anime, Tokyo less so. Not only were the manga stories interspersed with anime original ones that messed with the overall pacing, some of the canon stories also received significant alterations, especially the later ones like the Raijuta arc or the one with Sanosuke's old friend. Certain moments in the Aoshi arc were also censored and cut from the anime due to the violence.

So yeah, I hope they will be able to stick closer to the manga this time, because the Tokyo arc wasn't really done justice in the first anime IMO (Kyoto was virtually perfect though).

And I agree they shouldn't try to incorporate anything from the live action movies, especially since I wasn't a fan of the changes in those. Though I could see them introducing Saito earlier like in those since he already briefly appeared in one of the trailers for this new TV series.

What sort of changes did you not like about the movies? Plot, or set design?

Plot-wise some of them were likely done to adapt the more outlandish character designs for RL and cuts/compresses to ensure the movies fit their 2-hour limit, although I am aware some changes might not have set well with fans (underused Yahiko, 2nd half of movie's Kyoto arc being very different from manga).

Set designs were a bit budget at first, although I thought it grew really nice by the last movie (I especially liked how they designed Enishi's base of operations in that one).

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I thought the Urusei Yatsura remake was great and Trigun's had a lot of great buzz .

AFAIK both are rated slightly above average in Japan forums.

Urusei Yatsura audience talked about how the quality is high but conflict presented is too old if they're aiming for younger audience.
Trigun Stampede case is somewhat similar. The quality is high but who is the target audience, what are they tried to achieve by telling the story like that?

I guess one of recognized issue for remake is target audience, I don't think RK will have same issue unless they make drastic change to flow of events.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Tactics

AFAIK both are rated slightly above average in Japan forums.

Urusei Yatsura audience talked about how the quality is high but conflict presented is too old if they're aiming for younger audience.
Trigun Stampede case is somewhat similar. The quality is high but who is the target audience, what are they tried to achieve by telling the story like that?

I guess one of recognized issue for remake is target audience, I don't think RK will have same issue unless they make drastic change to flow of events.

I see what you are saying; Urusei Yatsura's plot might be considered too old fashioned by the younger anime fans (not surprised given it is adapting old material without updates; it's even set in the 1980s).

For Trigun, I think theoretically it was meant to attract both old and new viewers by its status as a remake/reinterpretation of the manga. A fresh take on old material. My impression is that the new viewers can't really appreciate new Trigun because they don't really know old Trigun, while the old viewers feel betrayed that it's not their dreamed of 1:1 adaptation of the manga that covers everything to a T(even if Stampede's creators say there is a method to their reinterpretation madness).

[Amarantine]

Originally Posted by zztop

What sort of changes did you not like about the movies? Plot, or set design?

Plot-wise some of them were likely done to adapt the more outlandish character designs for RL and cuts/compresses to ensure the movies fit their 2-hour limit, although I am aware some changes might not have set well with fans (underused Yahiko, 2nd half of movie's Kyoto arc being very different from manga).

It was the changes to the plot. I only watched the movies once a while ago, so it's hard to recall the specifics now, but yes, I do remember being particularly unimpressed with the the 2nd half of Kyoto, especially...

Spoiler:

Shishio actually convincing the Japanese government to hunt Kenshin for him.

You may like and defend those changes if you wish, but I see no reason whatsoever why this new anime should incorporate any of them. It's an anime adaptation of the manga, not the movies. And it's a full animated TV series, which will almost certainly span multiple seasons, so there is no need to change and compress things to the extent the movies did.

[Sage Shinigami]

Originally Posted by Magin

Of course, there's always the OTHER option that no one even wants to talk about...

It's possible this goes the way of Shaman King'21 and other recent remakes- i.e. becomes terrible and no one will talk about it anyways. Sadly, most of the recent remakes of old anime have turned out like this: Shaman King, Urusei Yatsura, and even Trigun. Decently hyped at first, but then fizzled out because "Doesn't live up to the original/had different expectations"

The Kenshin trailer makes this look like it'll be better than every remake since Brotherhood.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Sage Shinigami

The Kenshin trailer makes this look like it'll be better than every remake since Brotherhood.

Fruits Basket was pretty great...

[Magin]

Originally Posted by zztop

I see what you are saying; Urusei Yatsura's plot might be considered too old fashioned by the younger anime fans (not surprised given it is adapting old material without updates; it's even set in the 1980s).

For Trigun, I think theoretically it was meant to attract both old and new viewers by its status as a remake/reinterpretation of the manga. A fresh take on old material. My impression is that the new viewers can't really appreciate new Trigun because they don't really know old Trigun, while the old viewers feel betrayed that it's not their dreamed of 1:1 adaptation of the manga that covers everything to a T(even if Stampede's creators say there is a method to their reinterpretation madness).

So Urusei Yatsura started out excellently- lots of talk, seeing old characters with new paint jobs, etc. Lots of great things in the anime.
But... it suffers from the issue of the old Rumiko Takashi works, specific to this and Ranma 1/2: lots of gags that are now considered old and outdated, so the humor is completely whiffing... and it's supposed to be a comedy series! You have your violent tsunderes that everyone hated after Louise in Zero no Tsukaima, and Ataru is your pervy lecher... which means that today's audience can't self-insert. And that's ignoring how being a perv is taken more seriously these days- sure, Ataru might deserve all the beatings he gets, but I expect that people would rather just see him shunned completely. Plus the fact that there's pretty much no progression in any of the relationships, and what little there is moves at a glacial speed. All this to say, conversation of UY has all but died off. Granted, it IS planned for four cours, so it's not just going to disappear.

Trigun suffers more from the issue of nostalgia. I only recently learned that it's more faithful to the manga, and that technically speaking this is a pseudo-prequel. However, the old fans were used to Vash's goofiness before the badassery came out, and wanted to see that with a new paint job. Add in that 3D remains jarring in anime, and it just became a recipe for disaster. Or more accurately: it was promoted as a "new project", which is so vague in its meaning that it can be interpreted in several different ways. In other words: "Trying to please everyone and actually please no one". Mind you, I did catch a few minutes of it, and while it had potential... yeah. the marketing for it was just a mess.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Fruits Basket was pretty great...

The problem I had with the Furuba remake was that it reminded me of all the elements of the manga that drive me crazy. It was designed to be a totally faithful remake to make up for what Takaya (as is her right) deemed was excessive liberty taken by Akitarou in the first one. Problem is I thought Akitarou’s changes were mostly for the better, so my problems were more with the source material than the remake itself (which did exactly what it was engineered to do).

For my personal tastes, the RK manga is less flawed than Furuba, and thus will fare better if it gets a totally faithful reboot. Which is obviously what I’m hoping will happen.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

For my personal tastes, the RK manga is less flawed than Furuba, and thus will fare better if it gets a totally faithful reboot. Which is obviously what I’m hoping will happen.

Faithful is good, although I wouldn't discount out some aspects of the live-action which I thought improved on the source material.

Spoiler for movie aspects:

Ex. Movie Kenshin does pretty well in unarmed combat, compared to manga/anime who is quite reliant on being armed with his sword. Plus some fancy set design, like the Akabeko restaurant being fancier in the movies compared to the source.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by zztop

Faithful is good, although I wouldn't discount out some aspects of the live-action which I thought improved on the source material.

Spoiler for movie aspects:

Ex. Movie Kenshin does pretty well in unarmed combat, compared to manga/anime who is quite reliant on being armed with his sword. Plus some fancy set design, like the Akabeko restaurant being fancier in the movies compared to the source.

Some parts of the liveaction do feel better like Hiko's sense of justice, the inclusion of Misao on a serious fight to or Enishi's karma.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

The problem I had with the Furuba remake was that it reminded me of all the elements of the manga that drive me crazy. It was designed to be a totally faithful remake to make up for what Takaya (as is her right) deemed was excessive liberty taken by Akitarou in the first one. Problem is I thought Akitarou’s changes were mostly for the better, so my problems were more with the source material than the remake itself (which did exactly what it was engineered to do).

For my personal tastes, the RK manga is less flawed than Furuba, and thus will fare better if it gets a totally faithful reboot. Which is obviously what I’m hoping will happen.

Well, as someone who loved the original manga and never watched the original anime, I guess I was the target audience .

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Well, as someone who loved the original manga and never watched the original anime, I guess I was the target audience .

It's worth watching for "Teru Teru Momiji" alone (but a lot else, besides).

[Magin]

I think we're all of three weeks away from the Japanese broadcast? Maybe closer to two weeks.

Either way, the latest PV:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/_qZyHQhwXnU

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[AntonKutovoi]

Satoshi Hino as Saito? Good choice.