May 13, 2015
"You truly make blood rain..."
"Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuiokuhen" or "Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal" in the English release was an 4-parts OVA produced by Studio Deen in 1999 and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who also served as a director of the anime series. The OVA serves as a prequel to the anime series and an adaption of Chapter 165 - 179 of the manga of the same name.
Story:
The story shows the origins of Kenshin Himura, from his childhood days on how he meets his future master, Seijuro Hiko up to his days as a Hitokiri Battōsai, an assassin during the Bakumatsu era.
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It shows Kenshin’s perspective as an assassin and his reason for doing it, giving him more depth as a character and filling up the questions you asked when you’ve first watched the anime series. The OVA shows the origins of Kenshin’s rivalry with Hajime Saitou and also Yukishiro Tomoe, the woman who’ve forever changed Kenshin’s life, leading to his life as a Wanderer who refused to kill.
The OVA has made some few changes from the original material; it takes a more darker, mature, and realistic approach than the manga, where the fantasy looking characters now looks like a Edo period characters, the comedy bits are thrown out of the window, and the fights are actually not teleporting attacks. Like I said, the story itself is pretty much the origins of Rurouni Kenshin franchise, you can watch it without watching or reading the manga or the anime but it is still suggested that you should at least watch the anime series until the Kyoto arc to make it more memorable and makes you have a sense of familiarity to the characters.
Animation:
The animation also one of the points that make Trust & Betrayal memorable and Studio Deen tries to make the animation, realistic as possible and they succeed. For example the technique “Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū”, Hiko and Kenshin’s technique has been portrayed as very fast yet brutal technique and Deen actually took the effort to make it exactly like that and not as a set of flying and transporting attacks. The character design doesn’t have the common anime designs, the characters actually look Japanese in the old times.
Studio Deen also makes an effort on the animation to have detail on every frame; you can see the texture on every leaves, wood, swords, and blood. But sometimes the Studio uses real life clips to replace some of the animation which can disturb you if you are absorb watching the OVA. But nonetheless the animation is still smooth and rich on detail.
Sound:
Taku Iwasaki provided and composed the atmospheric music that helps back up the mood and the background of the OVA. The soundtrack has the mix of oriental and western music. A part of the soundtrack, a personal favorite; In Memories KO-TO-WA-RI also helped in setting the mood in one of the most important moments in the OVA.
The sound design is also great; you can tell that the sound team prepared a variety of these things. Every clash of katana, rain, and the cuts of skin and flesh, except for the blood; it has that high pressure sounds that makes you wonder how the Japanese imagined that how blood works.
The Japanese voice cast also superb, Mayo Suzukaze also returned to voice Kenshin Himura and she did great in voicing the monotone and cold hearted Himura Battōsai. Junko Iwao also did a good job in voicing silent Tomoe Yukishiro. Some of the cast from the original anime series also returned such as Hirotaka Suzuoki and Suuichi Ikeda, the ones who voiced Hajime Saitou and Seijuro Hiko respectively.
Overall:
The OVA is one of the great anime that belongs in the Chanbara and Tragedy genre. It is also one of the best animation ever produce, on today’s anime standards. The OVA can also be watched as a standalone or you can watch it after watching the anime series—stopping at the Kyoto arc then proceed watching this. It is a must watch on the fans of the Rurouni Kenshin franchise or a fan of Historical anime.
Note: This is my first review, critical advice is greatly appreciated and English is not my native language
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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