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I watched Kenshin years ago, for whatever reason, I never ended up watching Tsuiokuhen, which was a big mistake, as it's a very good OVA that explains the events which inevitably led to Kenshin being who he is in the anime itself.

Tsuiokuhen is short, and almost inexcusable to watch if you've seen the main Kenshin anime. With only 4 episodes, it merely takes up a few hours to watch, and it's well worth the experience.

The OVA is separated into "acts". Acts I and II are based a lot around the politics of the era, as well as the fighting. I watched this subbed, and I ... found it difficult to keep the names of all the clans and such straight. So many different words were thrown at me out of nowhere, it really dampened the story for me, even though it was still good. The action however, is absolutely tremendous. All the actions scenes are amazingly crisp and gory, it's jaw-dropping to watch, with the only flaw maybe being that it's a bit too dark for some of these scenes.

Act III is the act that really chronicles how Kenshin changed into the man he ended up being in the anime. This was my favorite act, it had a lot of character development, and was a really strong act overall.

Act IV concludes everything. It's sad and emotional... but not quite on the level I was expecting after all the build up. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I had hoped.

Tsuiokuhen is short and fun. I easily recommend it to anyone who has watched Kenshin, and to people who haven't as well.