(CR) Rurouni Kenshin (new TV series)

[Amarantine]

Originally Posted by GDB

And I don't really remember much tension yet at this point in the OG anime series, so only two episodes in is hard to really think it's lacking anything yet.

Yeah, the first part with genuinely high tension in the manga or the first anime was probably the Jinei story, and that should only begin in episode 6 or so.

No matter the version, Rurouni Kenshin has always had a very deliberate start and it takes a while for things to kick into high gear, so IMO it wouldn't really be fair to single out this remake for that.

[Mad Pierrot]

Similar to episode 1, episode 2 was benefitted by avoiding gags. Yahiko kinda seems more likable rather than a comic relief especially when he returns the elder's purse. For a second he reminded me of Syaoran Li. The violence is still intact based on the several blood losses we had so far. Still, explaining politics felt kinda weird considering the time they took to explain how it works

Yeah, the first part with genuinely high tension in the manga or the first anime was probably the Jinei story, and that should only begin in episode 6 or so.

Yeah, even the director himself compared people's comments about Kenshin's strength being similar to that of a superhero considering Jinei is the first dude to land a hit on the guy. Then again, I think it becomes more obvious in the fight against Shinomori Aoshi that the writer wanted to bring an even stronger enemy. A certain character later makes a major mention about Kenshin's endurance but that's pretty much spoiler content about the ending

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

I think it becomes more obvious in the fight against Shinomori Aoshi that the writer wanted to bring an even stronger enemy. A certain character later makes a major mention about Kenshin's endurance but that's pretty much spoiler content about the ending

Nah, what obvious from Aoshi is that "scary guy hyped by police and thugs as dangeorus killer" format didn't work well.
Thus following him, all future enemies are coming in group format, with their boss more or less hyped as swordsman equal or stronger than Kenshin.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Nah, what obvious from Aoshi is that "scary guy hyped by police and thugs as dangeorus killer" format didn't work well.
Thus following him, all future enemies are coming in group format, with their boss more or less hyped as swordsman equal or stronger than Kenshin.

I think Aoshi kinda worked well considering he actually nearly kills the guy with a move and such move becomes a plotpoint. Raijuta on the other hand is probably the worst villain in the entire series and Furuhashi knew it as he kinda revised his arc.

[Amarantine]

I think we should be careful about posting specific future story events without spoiler tags (it's kind of against the rules ). I know most people here seem to have watched the first anime and/or read the manga, but there can always be first timers around.

But yes, I agree that Furuhashi overall improved the Raijuta arc in the 1996 anime, and I'm curious to see how they will do it in this remake, assuming they do it at all and don't just skip it.

[magnumcyclonex]

Kenshin said some really insightful things this episode. Loving the adjectives Yahiko uses on Kaoru: Old Hag > Young Woman > Kaoru

Sanosuke next episode!

[grecefar]

Can't get tired of kenshin acting all cool and twice this chapter lol.

[Frontier]

Lucky break that Kaoru spotted Yahiko as he was dragged away by the Yakuza! Don't want to leave him in the clutches of one of the ugliest Yakuza bosses I have ever seen .

A lot of people didn't quite make it in one piece through the restoration, even people of high pedigree or reputation. Either they died or had to prostitute themselves to survive. But for Yahiko, his father died fighting for what he believed in and trying to live up to his honor, and his mother sacrificed her body to provide for him. And to honor his family Yahiko will stand up for himself, even if it means biting a dudes' dick .

Kenshin with the save! Not only does he knock a dude through a roof and intimidate his way out of a full on brawl (that he probably would've won), but if he spent so long visiting all the other criminal groups I have to wonder how many people he beat up just to get there ?

Yahiko wants to be stronger, Kaoru needs new students for her family dojo...what better win-win than by having Yahiko get taught by Kaoru? If only they didn't get along like cats and dogs. I mean, Kaoru isn't an "ugly hag" by any stretch of the imagination but Yahiko just can't shut his trap .

Nice to see Kaoru's skills aren't just for show! She took out those two thugs in seconds .

Nobuyuki Hiyama as a Rurouni Kenshin bad guy, everybody .

Poor Kaoru. Two former students who basically abandoned her end up getting drunk and using what she taught them to get into fights and cause more problems. But she's still their former master so she can only take responsibility for their actions, even at the cost of herself. That's the sign of a true sensei .

Luckily Kenshin arrives just in time and slice cannon fire in two !

Kaoru's past students may not have been worth all the trouble, but she finally has Yahiko's respect and commitment as a student and he's even calling her by name! I'd call that a win !

And if you wanted to see the gang get beat up, the post-credit scene has a certain tall and boisterous fighter beating the stuffing out of them and begging for a tougher opponent. Setting the stage for the debut of the one, the only, Sanosuke Sagara .

[Master_Yoma]

Well Kenshin just plows through all those yakuza just to rescue Yahiko and knocks that guys head right into the ceiling well that shut that idiot boss up and that jerk to

[FlareKnight]

I'm glad the show did let Kaoru have a few moments. Either she needed to beat Yahiko into the ground or beat someone else into the ground for him to accept that she's someone he can learn from. I suppose those guys were effective enough for that. And it also allowed her a moment to show her strength of heart to step up to try and protect the three behind her. Even if 2 of the 3 weren't really worth it.

Those guys were probably a fair example of the kinds of students she had to this point. Sadly I can imagine most there would see a small dojo run by a woman as one not worth their time. And she probably could only gather the kind of vaguely curious types that would run at the first sign of trouble. Might be starting from as small a point as possible, but at least she's got one student too proud to let himself fall like those guys.

Yahiko may have terrible eyesight (I mean who can seriously call Kaoru ugly?), but at least he's got plenty of self-respect. Needed to stand his ground and fought as best he could for the honor and pride of his parents. He needed saving this time around and probably will for a while. He's a kid. But now that he's actually willing to learn, he should be able to gain the kind of strength he desires for himself. Just have to keep walking that road.

[Amarantine]

Man, can't believe they wasted the legendary Nobuyuki Hiyama on that pathetic nobody instead of having him play a proper important villain later, but alas, that seems to be the norm here: awesome veteran seiyuu only get to play minor, episodic characters. I guess they're too expensive for regular roles.

Anyway, this episode did a solid job in joining together the rest of Yahiko's story with the chapter about the Kamiya dojo being attacked by those thugs, with the thematic throughline of Kaoru getting a good disciple to make up for the disappointment of the ones that left. Kaoru and Yahiko may butt heads, but Kenshin saw that they were exactly what the other needed.

Looking forward to Sanosuke next week. I think I might actually have a harder time adjusting to his voice than Kenshin's, since his new voice sounds much cleaner and way less rough and raspy than Yuji Ueda's iconic performance (one of the best in the 1996 anime).

[Mad Pierrot]

It felt really obvious like they had to mix two chapters but at least introduced Yahiko earlier last week. Gotta say that bite Yahiko move was something I never understood as a kid until yesterday and I was like "His d!ck!"

If I recall well, the line of Kenshin needing to buy a lot of stuff in a shop was an original running gag until the Raijuta arc where Kenshin gets tired of that and downright refuses it with a smile: "You know what? I think I'll do something else"

[Kanon]

Everybody talking about Hiyama, but I found it funnier that Hidenari Ugaki, best known for playing Majima in the Yakuza series, played the yakuza boss. It's pretty rare for him to get roles in anime, but I actually heard him twice this week.

Really like Kenshin's new voice, but I've never been fan of grown men being voiced by women in the first place.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I'm glad the show did let Kaoru have a few moments. Either she needed to beat Yahiko into the ground or beat someone else into the ground for him to accept that she's someone he can learn from. I suppose those guys were effective enough for that. And it also allowed her a moment to show her strength of heart to step up to try and protect the three behind her. Even if 2 of the 3 weren't really worth it.

I really hope this anime tries more of this treatment to Kaoru as she didn't get enough screentime in fights from the mnaga. Furuhashi realized from day 1 this and made her more active in the Oniwabanshu arc. The liveaction also did history with her by making her fight Shishio's men in Kyoto in the freaking ship

[ditn]

The quick flick of the villain in the roof, always liked that scene
its slowly coming back, been forever since ive seen the episodes.

[Friday]

DAMNNN!!!!

"you know when you are old...

when you are watching a newer version of your past life"

must be running out of ideas to bring this classic back.

I'll watch the Sonosuke episodes and that's it!!!!!

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Really like Kenshin's new voice, but I've never been fan of grown men being voiced by women in the first place.

I assume Sato Takeru's role as liveaction Kenshin was able to prove that you can have Kenshin played/voiced by a man and still keep the softspoken demeanour.

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

I really hope this anime tries more of this treatment to Kaoru as she didn't get enough screentime in fights from the mnaga.

On the downside, watching this episode and (re)watching the liveaction movies made me realise that liveaction Yahiko hardly got any moments to shine. Unlike the manga/anime where you get to see Yahiko's backstory, motivations and growth, all those didn't make it into the liveaction in favour of focusing on the central plots. Which left movie Yahiko as that boy who was already staying with Kaoru at the dojo, hung out with the gang and followed them around.

That said, I get that the liveactions had to deal with compressing several volumes' worth of story arc material into 2-hours (or 4-hours in the case of Kyoto Inferno and Legend Ends total), and likely Yahiko's stuff was considered less relevant in the greater picture of things to focus on.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Amarantine

I know most people here seem to have watched the first anime and/or read the manga, but there can always be first timers around.

Raises hand and waves it violently.

[Last Sinner]

I watched a few eps of the original and dropped it from how much it did the spoofy things. And that was a long time ago, so I guess I'd be considered new.

3 was better than 2 but...to spend an entire episode to develop a single minor point is irritating. 3 only had an uptick for me since Kaoru was able to show her own capabilities. Otherwise it fell regularly into the 'Kenshin goes somewhere, douches show up, Kenshin returns and owns them, rinse and repeat' cycle.

Kind of got the feeling the character art was off a fair bit off this episode.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Raises hand and waves it violently.

Sorry. I'll be more subtle

By the way. I noticed something weird about the handling of Kenshin so far. He never uses violence to defend himself like the guys who tried to arrest him in the first two episode. He only uses it when people are being in danger. I don't remember the term but it's the value of the sword he and Kaoru share. Satsujinken maybe? In case somebody remembers, Raiden from Metal Gear Rising constantly mentions this until he confesses it was all a facade. It's a common value of swordsmen apparently.