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Best First Episode Tournament: Post-Mortem

The first episode of the trust and betrayal OVA deals with the bloody beginnings of the wandering swordsman Kenshin and is set before the TV series during the bloody period of upheaval in Japan known as the meiji Restoration era.

The story opens most notably with the music '' In memories: A boy meets the man'', by Taku Iwasaki. During the opening scenes we see Kenshin as a young boy and learn that Kenshin's real name is Shinta. He is traveling with a group of women who have been caring for him after his parents died of cholera and was sold to slave traders. The group is set upon by bandits and massacred. Kenshin is saved by a master swordsman, Seijuro Hiko. Sejiro leaves the scene telling Kenshin that it is pointless to hold any grudges and commenting that he has become used to the smell of blood so much that events like these no longer surprise him.

Later Seijuro returns to the scene to find that Kenshin has amazingly buried all of the corpses including those of the bandits and erected grave markers. Seijuro is impressed and offers up some sake to the dead. He tells Kenshin that he will train him in the most deadly of all the sword techniques and that his name from then on will be Kenshin rather than Shinta.

Kenshin cuts his training short to fight in the struggles despite Seijuro's advice that he would live a life as a murderer if he did. Kenshin maintains that he wishes to save people and use his skills for the people. Most of the rest of the story centres on Kenshin's life as an assassin and the beginning of strife for Katsura in the Choshu, however there are flashbacks every now and again that show Kenshin's training with his master. Tomoe, a kind girl with a tragic past, also meets Kenshin for the first time and her effect on Kenshin’s heart begins.

The first paragraph in particular is really not necessary, the only thing there that IMO you need is to situate when the OVA is set in comparison to the anime (especially since one point of this tournament is to get people to watch things they haven't which means you should be targetting your guide to people who may not have seen the series, like myself).

I was trying hard with a balance between those who had already seen it and those who hadnt in mind to be honest.

Ikari1 wrote:

I was trying hard with a balance between those who had already seen it and those who hadnt in mind to be honest.

That's fair but I think the majority of the people who are using the guide heavily will be those who haven't seen the episode and are unable to do so before voting, as I had to do for the first group. Though a quick synopsis is probably also helpful for those who have seen the show to remember exactly what happens, in case it has been awhile.

And the new write-up definitely gives me a better idea of what happens in the episode than I did before. It's still longer than most but I'm assuming that since it's an OVA it is also longer than a standard television episode and so some extra length is to be expected.

And then Ggultra2764 had to go and nominate this sludge for the best first episode.

Let's see if I can do some cleanup on the Trust and Betrayal summary so it isn't as lengthy with details.

Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal, "The Man of the Slashing Sword"
Type of Series: Historical action/ drama
Synopsis: The master swordsman of Hiten Mitsurugi, Hiko Seijuro, saves the life of a boy named Shinta who is the sole survivor of his caravan getting attacked by bandits. When Hiko later comes across the boy, he is shocked to see that Shinta had buried the corpses of the bandits and their victims and made grave markers for them. Taking the boy under his wing and renaming him Kenshin Himura, Hiko trains Kenshin in Hiten Mitsurugi sword techniques. When Kenshin is a teen, conflict arises between the Ishin Shishi (nationalist patriots) and the Tokugawa shogunate over Japan's future. This leads Kenshin to abandon further teachings in Hiten Mitsurugi and have a falling out with Hiko to aid the Ishin Shishi in their efforts against the shogunate. Kenshin becomes infamous among the shogunate as a merciless young assassin named Hitokiri Battousai who is tasked with slaying major figures within the Tokugawa shogunate while serving under the young lord, Katsura Kogoro. Kenshin acquires the first half of his cross-scar after killing the bodyguard Kiyosato Akira and later comes across a young woman named Tomoe who witnessed one of his slayings and passes out from being drunk.
What Makes It Great: Trust and Betrayal's first episode makes a strong impression from the start to those who seen the Rurouni Kenshin TV series. Gone are the light-hearted moments exhibited by Kenshin and the show's slapstick comedy as you become exposed to the violent and tragic past that Kenshin experienced in this first episode as you are exposed to a far more darker, violent and serious twist to the series franchise. The episode offers a good amount of depth to Kenshin's character to show you how he became involved in Hiten Mitsurugi and became an assassin as you can certainly see that the many killings that the young man executed for Katsura's cause have affected him mentally to the point where he's emotionally hardened and focused solely on helping with the Ishin Shishi's efforts. Tomoe's appearance at the end of the episode serves as an effective hook to get you into later episodes as Kenshin experiences doubt over having to slay an innocent bystander who witnessed his latest murder. The episode's overall presentation does enough to stick out with its scenery and character designs drawn in realistic detail and fight sequences being fluid, quick and intense as they occur. The musical score consists of energetic and dramatic musical tracks that flow effectively with the episode's intense moments.

If Ikari1 and anyone else has no problem with this entry, feel free to use it as a replacement for Trust and Betrayal's entry information.