Forum - View topicREVIEW: Rurouni Kenshin GN 18
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ACDragonMaster
 Posts: 405 |
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"best part"? In what universe are you talking here?
Okay, as far as the anime goes, Kyoto is the best arc. But in terms of the manga? I have to say I enjoyed the Jinchuu arc far more. Not so much necessarily for the villains (well, Enishi himself is fine, his henchmen are the typically assortment of freaks as you'll find in Ruroken villain gangs) but rather for the story. For the drama. For the emotion. Rurouni Kenshin still remains the only manga I've read that's shocked me enough with a scene that I had to actually set the book down for a few minutes before I could read on. In short, this arc has a lot going for it, just you wait and see. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I don't mean to sound critical here, but does RK really deserve an A in art? It's good, but really nothing spectacular or innovative going on. I'll agree with your scores of Eyeshield (the art is a big part of the charm) and maybe Deathnote, but the best I'd give this title is a B.
That little bit of bitching aside, I agree with all other points of the review. It isn't my favorite manga coming out, but it's well above average in the genre. I never read the final story arc, so I can't comment on the Kyoto/Jinchuu debate, but according to the guy I borrow the trades from Jinchuu is the better arc, but I'll just have to see. |
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milcor1
 Posts: 337 |
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After reading Lone wolf and cub, Vagabond, and Blade of the immortal, RK is like a strand of hair in my bowl of soup.
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Wouldn't go that far, but I agree that it isn't on the same level as those titles. If I was younger, I'd probobly be a huge fan, but as it stands it's a fun read, even if it isn't as engaging or compelling as those titles. Plus, compared to other shonen samurai manga (Samurai Deeper Kyo, Peacemaker) it's just about brilliant. |
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ACDragonMaster
Posts: 405 |
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Have you seen the OVAs? A lot of people I know think that the OVAs are really excellent, especially compared to some of the series. However, many people I've talked to who've read the Jinchuu arc, the OVAs make them cringe because of their inferiority to the original story. |
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mufurc
 Posts: 612 |
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I also think that in the manga, the Jinchuu arc is at least as good as the Kyoto arc. Yes, the villains are really weird, but I like them this way, and Enishi is in every part as creepy and powerful a chief villain as Shishio was; he's one of the best characters in the whole manga. His last fight with Kenshin is one of the most emotionally charged scenes I've ever seen, in anime or manga. It's a real shame that this arc has never been properly animated.
I'm one of these people. Actually, I never really understood the hype about the first OVA (I haven't seen the second), as I always thought it was good, on its own, but too much of an angst-fest to be really good. (I like angst as much as the next person but in most cases less is more...) And compared to the manga, the OVA is really nothing to write home about, at least not in terms of character and story. (Though the music was really good.) For me, the OVA was like a stilted, theatrical tragedy. In the manga, the story, the characters are alive. |
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Izlude
Posts: 323 Location: Wherever The Wind Takes Me |
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Was there really alot of angst in the 1st Kenshin OVA? Kenshin or even Tomoe never seemed filled with anxiety or even depression really. Just really...mellow 
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ACDragonMaster
Posts: 405 |
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Oh, totally. I'd managed to read the manga long before I saw the OVA (though I saw the series first). When I finally *did* see the first OVA, my exact comment on it was that it "was like an angsty teen's LiveJournal". And then proceeded to leaf through my manga and scan fifteen different pictures from that part of the storyline each with a distinctly different emotion Kenshin was clearly feeling at the time, to prove my point that the numb/angstiness of the anime was a large step down. Good for AMV material to Linkin Park songs, maybe, but lacking the strong emotional charge of the manga. I haven't even bothered watching the other OVA.
See, that's the point. In the manga, Kenshin especially goes through a whole range of emotions, and Tomoe has quite a bit of inner feelings herself, though she doesn't show it as much. In the OVA, they come off as very flat, varying between being just numb and rather angsty. Angsty like teenage LiveJournal post angsty. This especially stuck out to me at the end when Kenshin's going through the woods and such- in the manga, that scene is powerful, he is for once in his life absolutely furious and his anger is what keeps him going. In the OVA, he's just... blah. There's nothing much to say about it. It was really disappointing because the manga had so much potential to it, but they completely fell short that in making the OVA. |
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Izlude
Posts: 323 Location: Wherever The Wind Takes Me |
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Yeah, I agree there, Kenshin even acted like a goof, and when Tomoe smiled, damnit, she did in the manga. The OVA falls very flat in the emotional department, everyone comes off as being just really plain.
But then again, the OVA was meant to be a little more realistic than the manga and tv series in the way it expressed the characters. Still, would it kill the animators to draw Kenshin with big round eyes and a oro?
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mufurc
Posts: 612 |
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Yeah, but this is what I meant by writing that in the manga, as opposed to the OVA, the characters were alive. Realistic characters =/= broodangstmopemope. Real people, even serial killers can smile, screw things up, get angry, embarrassed, etc. Real people have different facial expressions, not just one melancholic set of features that never really changes. |
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ACDragonMaster
Posts: 405 |
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If that's true I think it failed pretty badly. I mean, it's normal for people to feel emotions, especially a teenage boy who's just gotten himself into all sorts of difficult situations. The OVA doesn't feel very realistic at all, the characters have basically one emotion the entire time. It's not very believable. I mean, in the manga there's that sheer, absolute horror in Kenshin's eyes when he spoiler[kills Tomoe], and then his utter despair and anguish afterwards. In the anime, it seems like a little shock, but hardly anything more. I dunno, somehow it just doesn't seem all that realistic that a fifteen-year-old boy would be so emotionally dead while doing all of that... |
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Izlude
Posts: 323 Location: Wherever The Wind Takes Me |
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Trust me, there's alot of emotionally dead teenage boys out there =3 The OVA to me was very realistic in the way characters behaved and spoke. Even in the english dub. One of the major things common in alot of anime/manga of the shonen genre is that the way characters react, overreact and things they say tend to be pretty predictable, and even feel forced in. Not that those sort of things are bad, but it makes them feel less realistic than what they may be shooting for, then again, when your in the shonen genre, nothing is ever realistic really, but there are plenty of exceptions to that as well. I find Death Note in particular to have a very realistic tone in the way characters behave and speak. If Death Note is ever animated, I'd like to see the crew that did the Kenshin OVA's to do it. |
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mufurc
Posts: 612 |
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Not to mention that the whole point of that scene was the sheer, absolute horror and anguish, not that from that time Kenshin had something to really angst about. In the OVA, that scene was very nicely done, animation- and music-wise, but it was more of an aesthetic thing than a real tragedy (um, I hope I'm being clear here). It didn't feel real to me - I felt I was watching two random tragic characters playing out a classic tragedy. I'm not saying it was bad, but it didn't have any effect on me, as opposed to the manga - which I read after I saw the OVA. (Also, about reacting and overreacting - I think that there are situations in which one can freely show one's emotions without being accused with overreacting and being melodramatic. The situation mentioned above is one of them. I mean, it's not that I wanted him to drop to his knees and scream "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" but... some real reaction would've been nice. Ah well.) I don't like about the hype about the OVA because it makes most people watch it before watching the series or reading the manga, and many of them apparently can't appreciate the series/manga because they're "too bright" and have *gasp* humor and suchlike. (I even heard some people say that the series and the manga butchered such a great, dark story...  ) After seeing Kenshin all omg emotionally dead!!1, it's pretty hard to understand how he became the Kenshin known from the rest of the story. In the manga, he wasn't emotionally dead - he was empty and aimless, but he was still (potentially) the Kenshin from later on. In the anime, they're two vastly different characters.
Last edited by mufurc on Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sesshomaru_7_7_7
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I think the Rurouni Kenshin manga are the best, the art, and the action is awsome! Rurouni kenshin is my favorite manga.
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ACDragonMaster
Posts: 405 |
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Except the point is, Kenshin's not. He can be withdrawn, yes, but he was pretty angry when he left his training, and while I'm sure he was plenty numb to things as the Battousai, there's no way that's not having a huge emotional impact on him. He finally finds someone he feels he can somewhat trust and be happy with, and then that happens... it just seems unrealistic that through all of that, Kenshin doesn't seem to feel a thing. Without emotion, what's he doing with Tomoe, anyway? It makes no sense. |
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