Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen

This had so much emotion, and feeling. I loved the art, the voices were ehh alright, but the story is awesome :D Makes me want to cry! every rurouni kenshin OVA makes me wanna cry LOL. but yah go watch it!! NOW!

**THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN A FEW SPOILERS**

After finishing Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan and feeling dissatisfied with how abruptly the anime had ended I came in with high hopes that this would be able to fix the ending but it did the opposite of I wanted and made it worse than the ending in the original anime.

Story: (5/10)

The story of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen begins with a time skip and Kaoru recalling Kenshin saying that he needs to leave to someplace and she saying that she will wait for him to come back. One of my first problems with the ova was ... how they suddenly shows how Kenshin somehow obtained a disease from war and is now dying from it but then for some reason Kaoru also wants to get the same disease that Kenshin has to show her love but to me that is very stupid thing to do. Another problem is how it does not have the original creator on board to work on this ova which to me usually means that the ova won't do very good because of how it doesn't have the original creator's writing to capture the magic the original anime had but there are those rare times where that there is something that isn't made by the original creator and is good but this is not one of those cases. I felt like the pacing of the movie seemed a bit odd at times and while the story shows all original anime's important events which was cool to see, it left out some other important events that happened. My final problems with the story is how the whole part with Enishi felt very rushed and the way the ova ended and how it didn't feel as effective as it could have been.

Art and Animation: (7/10)

The art is definitely the best thing about this ova. Even though I prefer the more goofy art that the original anime had, I still like these character redesigns and I found the backgrounds to be really nice looking. The animation in this is as equally as good as the art. The animation is very good during the action scenes and seeing the improved animation during the past events of the original anime is nice to see.

Sound: (5/10)

The soundtrack isn't anything memorable. All the old voice actors were back and they did a good job and the sound effects were average.

Characters: (4/10)

The worst thing about this ova was definitely the characters. As much as I love the characters in Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan this ova made the characters terrible. All the characters except Kenshin and Kaoru were all shoved to the side and were given barely any screen time which was very disappointing because it didn't give these characters satisfying conclusions. I felt like the romance between Kenshin and Kaoru was weak, even in the original anime I thought that their relationship was weak.

Enjoyment: (4/10)

I didn't enjoy this ova very much. I liked the art and animation and how the important scenes in the original anime had been animated with better animation.

Overall: (5/10)

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen is an ova that didn't give a satisfying ending to the anime and I wouldn't recommend this.

10/10.

To those complaining that the Kenshin and other Ruroken characters in the OVA are OOC compared to the manga, I understand that. The manga adopts a happy-go-lucky attitude geared towards a younger audience where Kenshin and pals go on wacky adventures and epic fights. But these two OVAs aren't the manga, and they aren't meant to be. They aren't direct prequels/sequels to the manga, they're a standalone series that uses the same characters. It's a different (darker) interpretation, but given Kenshin's dark and tragic backstory that was present in the manga, I totally understand that the story could've gone this way.

Yes, this story is sad, ... but there's plenty of happy-ending animes out there... this one portrays the darker, more realistic side of life. Tragic stories happen in real life, and this OVA gives you a glimpse into those emotions. Here are my ranking breakdowns:

Story: 10
As explained above, this is a perfect example of a tragic story that is masterfully done. I would say it's sad, but it's not depressing. Kenshin's scar disappearing at the end showed that he finally found inner peace through sacrifice, and I think this ending is very fitting for his character, who dedicates his life to sacrifice and atonement after leaving behind his "Battosai" persona. The flashbacks to Kenshin's earlier life are well-timed and executed, and the music enhances the emotions greatly. I especially like that they did not exaggerate fantasy elements and went with a more realistic tone - the closest they came to fantasy was Jineh freezing Kaoru with his gaze, but even that can be interpreted as caused by fear instead of "dark magic abilities" like in the manga.

My only complaint with the story is the very beginning, where Kenshin falls off the ship and drowns. Except he doesn't. Apparently, he survived and washed ashore (not shown on screen) on an island, where Sanosuke later finds him. It would have been fine if the true ending was Kenshin being knocked overboard during a storm on his return from the war, but since it wasn't, this was just confusing.

Art: 9
The art is good, and I think it executes the realistic style well. Unlike in the first OVA, there weren't as many (or as obvious) instances of usage of real life scenes to supplement the animation. I think I can show this to a friend that doesn't watch anime and not receive any comments about how anime is "immature" or "just for kids".

Sound: 10
Without the music, these two OVAs would not be the same. Truly the best score I've seen in any film. "In Memories - KO TO WA RI" captures the essence of the story perfectly.

Character: 10
The mix of flashbacks and present-day scenes enhances the nostalgic feeling. We see glimpses of how great a swordsman Kenshin was during the Bakumatsu, and we see bits and pieces of how his interactions with his past (Saito, Jineh, Enishi, Tomoe, Hiko, etc...) shaped him into the man he is today. My favorite moment was when Enishi saw the spirit of his sister protecting Kenshin right when he was about to deliver the killing blow. This scene combined with the ending music from the first OVA was very powerful and brought me to tears.

Enjoyment: 10
This OVA isn't just about feeling sad or depressed. Tragic stories have existed since the beginning of literature, with examples such as The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men... the list goes on. When done well, a tragic story can bring out deep emotions in a good way. Seisou-hen does it flawlessly.

Overall: 10
For the reasons above, I award this OVA a 10. I am extremely glad that I discovered this OVA series, and I will remember this story for decades to come. If your only gripe against it is that it's non-canon, don't let that deter you. Just think of it as an alternate interpretation.

Okay, right now, I feel absolutely confused, and horribly sad. From the first to the last scenes of this OVA, I was repeating in my mind "this is not canon, even Watsuki told this is not canon..."

First of all, I have no problem with drama. It can be written amazingly, it can be heartwrenching, but beautiful, it can show a good message, an ending, where a hero, who lost too much finally gets to rest. But what I have a huge problem with, is when a story just kicks and hits a character, who suffered in his whole life. We could have seen an old, ... tired Kenshin, who finally got forgiveness, but Kenshin in this OVA is 43 years old! And after all that suffering, after everything he had to go through, he got leprosy, which is a horrible disease. He gone away in a sad and painful way, which hurt him hurt his friends... and Kaoru, but I will speak about her later.

The animation is outstanding, as well as the sound. This makes the highly depressive story of the OVA even stronger. The character portrayals are mostly great. My two personal favourites was Sano and Saito. Sano is an amazing friend, and he really showed it in this story. He saw Kenshin, he remembered, how he was, and when he was so weak, that he could barely stand, Sano never let him go. He stayed strong, and supported Kenshin, having some of the most beautiful scenes in the story. And there was Saito, who finally let go of Kenshin's throat, and I felt so sorry for him. His monologue showed how much he held on to the idea of one day ending their fight, of one day really deciding who is the better... and when he told, that Kenshin is no longer the Battousai, so he accepts his decision, it was obvious, how painful it was for him, how much he had to give up for this acceptance. When he says "I'm the winner, because I survived... how dull victory it is", it has that background meaning that "I couldn't change, I couldn't adapt to the new age, I just stayed the same". It was beautiful, but painful.

And Kaoru... she just... I lost all my faith in her. She was so... stupid, I can't say anything else, that I really got angry. It's not romantic, to willingly catch a disease, your husband is suffering from! It's not romantic, it's crazy! I just... I don't know what to say, I kind of liked Kaoru's character until now, she really loved Kenshin, and she really wanted to help him, but the choices she made in this OVA made her look like an idiot. And I'm more than angry, that Kenshin accepted these choices. He is just... I can't believe he is like that.

All in all, you should watch this story, but I still not consider it canon. It's just not fair... that's the most fitting expression for it. Kenshin deserved a better ending than this.