Rurouni Kenshin, along with Dragonball Z, helped anime make huge strides in North America during the late 1990s. While panned by anime critics, with whom I agree, you’ve got to give Kenshin at least some credit for allowing the medium to get more airtime so we could enjoy better shows. With all that being said, Kenshin is not a terrible show by any means but it is a great example of why 90+ episode shounen shows will always struggle to stay fresh and exciting through such a long run. Yes, I realize I said in the introduction post I wouldn’t review any shounen programs but since I’ve already seen this one front to back (inspired by the OVA Samurai X) I might as well prove my word means nothing as quickly as I possibly can.Rurouni Kenshin follows the journey of wandering samurai Kenshin Himura as he seeks to atone for the murders he committed during the war that started the Meiji era. Once known as Battosai the manslayer Kenshin has traded in his weapons of war for a reverse-blade sword symbolizing his devotion to nonviolence. His skills are still quite formidable though and, as is the case with any good shounen program, he will put his talents to use in a series of progressively tougher fights to save his loved ones.
One of the cool things about Rurouni Kenshin is unlike other shounen shows which take killing extremely lightly, and in fact use it as a key feature to draw audiences, this series takes Kenshin’s new pacifist views very seriously. Kenshin will go through the entire series continually avoiding hundreds of perfectly good opportunities to off his foes. While this is neat at the beginning as the 90 episodes drag on you begin to question how much further the writing team can really get Kenshin without having him kill anyone. Divided into three major story arcs, The Tokyo Arc (episodes 1-27), The Kyoto Arc( episodes 28-62), and “filler” episodes (63-95), the series is just too long for its own good.
That’s really this show’s biggest flaw. It takes too long to get off the ground and really start a cohesive plot, 27 episodes in fact, and while the Kyoto Arc is great at the beginning by the time the creative team milks it for everything it’s worth on the way to the conclusion you care more about it ending soon then you do if it ends well for Kenshin and friends. After the Kyoto Arc everything goes way downhill and those episodes are the major reason for the series’ cancellation. When I first began even considering watching anime I automatically assumed shows with longer run times would be superior, why wouldn’t I want as many opportunities as possible to go on adventures with my favorite characters? After finishing Kenshin, my first shounen show, front to back I realized just how wrong I was. While the 26 episode cap most series stay under may seem restrictive at first after a bit of experience with anime you begin to realize quitting while you’re ahead is not always such a bad thing. Kenshin is a show that does nothing particularly poorly, and it has some really interesting points, but it kills all the momentum it scrapes together by stretching everything out so much.
The characters in Rurouni Kenshin aren’t particularly original but they do a good enough job of keeping you interested. Kenshin is obviously the main draw here but his supporting cast has their owns set of goals and quirks that keeps the show interesting. While it would be easy for a show about a samurai atoning for his wartime sins to become dark and brooding the tone of this series is surprisingly light-hearted throughout. While Kenshin’s inner demons are always just under the surface he hides them very well and younger viewers would probably never even get the turmoil that’s going on. This, along with Kenshin’s devotion to pacifism, makes the show a great anime for kids.
Kenshin’s animation and music are both just passable. Ironically the filler episodes, by far the worst plot-wise, sport the best production values of the entire series. The dub isn’t particularly noteworthy either, but considering that when it was released anime voice acting standards were nonexistent it’s above average for its era. Much like the other elements of this series, the animation, music, and dub exist in that awkward spot between memorable and horrible.
To wrap things up, Rurouni Kenshin isn’t a total waste of your time but there are many better options for anime fans to enjoy. The show is solid but unspectacular in all of its elements and the ridiculous amount of episodes makes the whole series seem loose and unwieldy. It’s a shame too because the premise is solid, as the far superior (and shorter) prequel Samurai X proves, but the poor execution dooms the series to mediocrity.
Final Score: 6.0Story: Passable
Animation: Passable
Soundtrack: Passable
Dub: Passable
Also Try: Samurai X, Samurai Champloo
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