Rurouni Kenshin: eps 1-16(and a whine and 1001 Nights of Snowfall)

[meganbmoore]

Amazon hasn't shipped 1001 Nights of Snowfall yet. Woe woe woe is me...

Anyway, decided a few days ago to tackle as much of this huge(95 episodes) anime as I can while I'm mostly free the next few days(Adult Literacy Council booksale this weekend...)

It's official:  Kenshin was definately too much of an anime for me when I first tried it out.  As about half the people on my flist and I didn't know each other yet at that time:  The first disc of Kenshin was the first anime I tried out, due to my love of the manga(it was at about vol 5-7 or so here at the time)  I fled in terror, due to it having so many stills and distortions and the fact that in the English dubbing, Tae has a southern belle accent.  After that, I checked out Inu Yasha and Samurai Deeper Kyo.  Inu Yasha has the same anime quirks, but toned down, and the story in Samurai Deeper Kyo is just different enough that it didn't stand out as much.  Eventually tried out and liked the Samurai X OVAs.  They're pretty good, but lack the central element of hope that carries Kenshin so much of the time.  Anyeay, a few months back, a friend was clearing out her DVDs and sent me the first disc, and being used to anime now, I liked it much more and got the whole series.  For example, when I first tried it, I LOATHED the opening song and skipped it each time after the first ep...now I keep skipping back to watch it again(and no, Certain People, it's NOT for Sano...he's barely there...)  Leading to now...

I think I like that I’m not actually getting to sit down with the whole thing until after reading the whole manga...adds a nice bit of perspective(even though they didn't do the Jinchu arc...*sulks*)

One thing that stands out in Megumi...in the manga, Watsuki admitted that he wasn't sure what he was doing with her at first beyond having another female around to interact with Kaoru and stir things up. As a result, it wasn't until around the start of the Kyoto arc, when he finally got a handle on her(only to write her out of the next...what? eight volumes?) that she really started to grow on me. The anime, however, has the advantage of not addressing the character until he was closer to having a handle on her, so she's portayed better from the start. As a result, I like her considerably more. Then also have the advantage of knowing that it's Megumi/Sano a lot more clearly, so they're able to focus on that. In the manga, I pretty much acknowledged that she was the closest to a love interest he'd have and accepted it(I'm apparently something of an oddity among anime/manga fangirls...as long as I don't flat-out object to my favorite's chosen love interest, I have no problems, even if I'm neutral about the character) but I rather like it here.

The first 12(through Aoshi, Megumi and Tsubame showing up, in case I'm off on the numberings) episodes are relatively faithful adaptations from the manga...the only real changes are in the handlings of the villains in the first arc-more sinister in the manga-and giving Kaoru a more active role. After that we go into original episodes.

The episode with the sumo wrestler was a fun side episode, but not a lot more. I wouldn't mind if the sumo wrestler(who clearly has a crush on Kaoru) became something of a recurring character, but I doubt it'll happen. The fake doctor was a fun ep...more Sano/Megumi than any specific scene in the manga ever was, that I recall.

But I really liked episodes 15-16, with the other manslayer(who had some serious Miyamoto Musashi vibes) It did a great job of emphasizing what the series is about...what men who know nothing about the sword do in times of peace. Those who can learn to put aside the sword and live in peace, and those who can't seek war and dissent because they don't know anything else. And in between, there are the ones like Kenshin, who can never really leave the sword, but crave peace more than anything.

Now to watch a movie before getting back to Kenshin.

Gaah...I gave into 1001 Nights of Snowfall spoilers...I'm a spoilerhound, but the comics/manga I'm most into, I tend to not want spoilers...for Fables, the only real exception was Wolves/#50, due to anticipation.  I'm just so incredibly weak when spoilers are offered.  *sticks to small character stuff in the offerings, as opposed to the big things*

Comments

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. Kenshin anime. Love it. The sumo wrestler kinda bored be, so I am glad he was a one-off. My true obsession with this series didn't start until their trip to Yokohama. Eeeeee!