Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku romantan

The original anime adaptation was great, it's the first adaptation of Kenshin that I fell in love with. Then, I watched the movies with Satoh Takeru were awesome. Satoh will Always be the best live action Kenshin and Battousai. I was itching and hoping for a newer version anime for Kenshin. I haven't read the manga, but I understand they strayed pretty far from the source material in the 1996 series. Im hoping with this new version, they'll stay true to Kenshin's story and have more of a balance of characters. Im on episode 11, and so far there's more chemistry between Kenshin and Kaoru, Kenshin and Sano and all together the bond between all of them as friends. The Jin-e arch was amazing in this version, gave me chills seeing him revert to Battousai. Which, I think the actor they chose for the sub version does an incredible job as Kenshin and Battousai. Overall, I think this is a worthy, and very very good remake.

The text is more coherent but very explanatory, almost obvious.

Kenshin is definitely more haughty, in the first episodes he is even a little arrogant, taking away the charm of the super humble wanderer.

Animation slightly updated but without surprising improvements.

But the biggest loss of all is the soundtrack. In addition to the completely dull opening and ending (when the originals were outstanding), you don't hear anything during the anime. No classical Japanese music or instrumentals demarcating the era, and nothing exciting. I don't like the acceleration of events, it also gives in to a generation Z culture, taking away the charm of shifting time and space to a historical era. It lacks the soul of the Japanese flute, the cuts of peaceful scenery and water fountains.

Another loss is the voices, especially for Brazil. It's not too bad because Kenshin hasn't changed that much but he's very youthful. Sano's voice was iconic. For now we await greater cohesion in the main arc of Kyoto hell, and the animated sequel to the manga. Maybe the remake of Seiso-hen.

Rurouni Kenshin, or Samurai X, is one of my favorite fictional stories, not just anime/manga. The anime of the nineties totally marked my generation, it is an epic with a very deep message, historical accuracy and great action.

This remake, based on the first episode, left me with very good impressions. Everything seems to indicate that it will be a completely faithful version of the original story, which is to be appreciated since said story is perfect. The animation and voice acting in general are very well done.

There is only one negative detail that I want to comment on, to my personal taste, the opening theme is horrible! It doesn't match anything with the style of the anime, it's a shame because the openings of the classic anime were very good. I was about to lower a note of the score for that, but the truth is a rather minor detail.

I'm glad that the new generations can now enjoy and learn from Kenshin Himura's philosophy, let's hope that everything continues on the right track and that they at least end up adapting all the content of the manga.

My dad always said, "Oh, Kenshin, Kenshin is awesome," and stuff like that. But I never had the patience to watch the old series. But I saw that this remake was released by an unknown studio, Liden Films, and I decided to watch it. I'm not kidding when I say I almost had a breakdown when I saw how good the anime is. Great animation, one of the best openings I've ever seen (the second one almost made me have another breakdown because the music was so addictive), good script... Did I mention the animation? Anyway, everything in this anime gives me enormous joy, especially the fights, because the satisfaction of seeing Kenshin beating everyone up is priceless. I would like everyone to watch it without fear, because besides being really good, it's an extremely competent reboot and a great alternative to study Japanese history, because the plot is literally centered on Ancient Japan. Thank you guys at Liden for the masterpiece.

Rurouni Kenshin is about an ex-assassin who vows never to kill again. Throughout the story, he is haunted by his past as he tries to uphold his vow and still be able to save the people around him.

This series, while still remaining shonen (for teenage boys) with majority of its tropes, can actually be pretty deep at times, and it is very poetic in how it tells its story. Everything has layers of meaning. Characters' names, appearances, and events that take place often have symbolic properties down to the trees in the background.

The most obvious example is how everyone around Kenshin either stands for his redemption or they are foils to him, particularly the villains; this is a lot more apparent in the second arc.

Another thing I really like about this show (and manga) is its depiction of history. It's not rosy-lensed about the new or old ages. It takes place in the 1870's right when Japan was beginning to modernize after the Imperialists defeated the Shogunate. It's basically the same time as "The Last Samurai", dealing with similar things, except it doesn't romanticize one side over another. It shows the good and the bad that the modernization led to. It also shows the reasons it happened in the first place. In short, it shows that corruption led to the civil war, and now the new government is just as corrupt. The ones constantly caught in the middle of it all are the common people, who suffer just the same under the new government. It can be surprisingly smart at times given how "cool", action-oriented, and comedic it is.

Comparison to the old series:

The action animation is much more fluid as should be expected. The colors are more vibrant. And the natural scenery is beautifully animated with digital effects only a modern anime can offer.

I think the music is pretty good. There are no themes I really object to. The old series will always have an iconic score, however. Personally, a lot of the music in the old show felt dated (90's) and out of place in an historical setting. The new show does not make the music sound any more authentic, but it distracted me less. With that said, the old show still had some really good music, which I admit was more memorable, but that should not discount the new score.

The style of the new show is certainly more mainstream. The directors did not choose to make the show feel radically different from everything else, which I do not mind at all. Whatever one can say about the old show, it had a very unique style. The choice of tilted angles, random color changes,bright flashes and their abilities being displayed in writing when the characters are in combat was both unique and fun to watch. Certain choices, however, I found to be odd and distracting, such as x-ray colors. So, with that said, I do not mind the more generic mainstream feel, but I do wish they were a little more creative, and they are difinitely getting there. The Kyoto arc so far has had some really cool creative visual choices.

The new show follows the source material much closer, which is almost always a possitive. There is no filler and the scenes take direct panels and put them to screen. Because the manga was not always that detailed and tended to make every conversation a simple back-and-forth of faces, though, the new show suffers a little bit from lack of unique angles; many shots are basic, but I do not think it is bad. That said, I like how the new show does not add filler and tries to be more faithful; we just have a less creative, less ambitious retelling of the original manga, and that is fine with me. It is better to be faithful and do a great job than to be less faithful and hope it works. For me, the old show felt like half the time the creative choices did not work at all, while the other half went above and beyond anything I could have hoped for.

The biggest advantage the new show has over the old one, which strongly justifies its production, is that the studio plans to adapt the ENTIRE story, not just the first two arcs. Yes, yes, the manga was not complete when the old show was airing, but still, even after the last arcs were written, I wonder why they didn't try to adapt them. There were several OVA's that adapted parts like Trust and Betrayal and Reflection, but they weren't continuations.

In conclusion, this new adaptation of the beloved manga faithfully honors the source material and even if you were not a fan of the original show, you would still probably really enjoy this show. I personally think it's better than the original in most ways (e.g. Lack of filler) and it's not hard at all to keep up with. I am not in any way downplaying the significance or greatness of the old show. I think it's really good, but it has its flaws as does this new one. If you were a fan of the old show, I still highly recommend this one because it still tells the story we all love; moreover, it will tell the WHOLE story.