Kenshin, el Guerrero Samurai: Final

Kenshin lasted a long time: OVAs, Movies and more then three years of television - but all good things must come to an end.

Will Kaoru get Kenshin? What will happen to Yahiko and Sanouske?

This 2-part Kenshin OVA answers those questions and ends the series in a worthy way. It is not as good as some of the other OVA's and TV episodes, but not bad at all.

You could see it as a summary of the TV series plus a final episode.

Fans will definitely not want to miss this, if only to close the magnificent book of Kenshin.

Rating: 8/10

This was an excellent film, or OVA as I've seen other people call it. But I have never seen any of this series or anything, so I watched it as a movie and had no knowledge of any of the characters or their backgrounds. At first everything was really confusing, but when I listened carefully to everything that was said and payed really close attention to what was going on, I was able to catch on and understand the plot and most of the characters' motivation. I loved the story, and I was in tears at the end because this was put together so well and I felt like I could feel what the characters were feeling, and everything was so sad and so sweet at the same time. If you haven't seen this yet, I strongly recommend it.

The new 2 OVA of Ruroni Kenshin(THE OVA THAT ENDS THE SERIES) brings the same quality of animation and plot of the first four. However, there is a problem, at least, in the first episode of 2. In the first OVA series, it explained well the characters and the facts for those, who never heard about Kenshin TV series enjoy and understand everything about the sad Killer with a X in his face. In the new OVA, you need to watch the TV series to understand in a better way what happens. Some Scenes were made to give a satisfaction to the fans, like the kiss between Kenshin and Kaoru(who never kissed in the TV series), a simple thing for those who never watched the TV series. All the plot is based in a confused flashback, with lack of explanation about the new characters( characters of the TV series). Even Kenshin is superficial. Fans will want to kill me, but it's true. The new OVA is far from the original first 4 episodes. In the other hand, it maintain the realism of the battles, being loyal with history, different than the TV series that everyone has special techniques using even magic. I give a "So-So". Better in second episode, my hope, explaining what is happening, because I don't know what is the climax of the story. Here in Brasilia, when my anime club showed it, it was a success! You ask why. Because Kenshin for them is Kenshin(=good)and final dot.

I have one major complaint about Seisô Hen. Seisô Hen was not written by Watsuki (creator of Rurouni Kenshin, so the ending in the manga is different than the OVA. The ending to this OVA is far more depressing, and according to an interview with Watsuki, he prefers the manga ending because "Kenshin went through so much crap he deserved a happy ending". The beauty of Rurouni Kenshin being fiction, you can choose which ending to believe in. Quite frankly the ending entirely ruined it for me.

That aside, what you do have is a masterful OVA. The animation, artwork, and sound are of spectacular quality. When it comes to technical merit, this gets a 10/10. However technical qualities won't make up for the ending.

If you've read the manga, go ahead and give it a watch. Just keep in mind that the ending is not what Watsuki wanted. I've seen it once and plan on never watching it again

Seisô hen basically means after so many years have lapsed. i think it's a beautiful production and its really worth a try. a word of caution though, i notice many who followed the anime/Manga didn't find this OVA very worthwhile. but if you didn't, and only watched Tsuioku hen, then your in for an awesome treat. it's mainly Kaoru reminiscing about her and Kenshin's past. about their past encounters and so forth, so to anime viewers, it's more like a whole summary of the series but to non-anime viewers, it's like a whole burst of information! all the stuff you missed out on! though anime viewers say that it isn't accurate. but oh well, i had nothing to lose. Kenshin goes off to china and just doesn't come back, Kaoru's ill after contracting his disease from him but still awaits his return. Kenji, out of frustration, left for Kyoto to seek the skill of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu from Hiko. Sanosuke manages to find Kenshin only to realise he's lost his memory, only with one thing left: he has to go home. so Sanosuke helps him out, sends him home to japan, back to Kaoru. then this is the best part. *weeps and sobs her head off*

the soundtrack is awesome. i got ordered and imported from Japan, waited a month for it. that's how much i adore it. just listening to the songs with your eyes closed or whatever, brings back all the emotions you felt when you were watching the show. yeah.

by the way, i didn't watch the anime. so it was superb to me.