Rurouni Kenshin 4 part ova

[Goemon]

I just finished watching the first of four part ova of Rurouni Kenshin & it is quite amazing, im so shocked that work of this quailty has been out so long with me missing it. (its extremely different from the less mature series) From the first half-hour section alone i already respect the wrighting and wonderful art more than ninja scroll or any other samurai/ninja ova i've seen. The artwork & music is beautiful along with a great story, here is a small preview and info from amazon.com

"The action unfolds in 1864, at the beginning of the revolution against the Tokugawa Shogunate that culiminated in the Meiji Restoration. The orphan Shinta is transformed by master swordsman Hiko into Kenshin, an assassin who believes he is using his sword to bring about a better world. When he and the mysterious Tomoe hide from the intrigues of Kyoto in a remote mountain village, Kenshin finds peace, raising crops and savoring the passage of the seasons, but this tranquility cannot endure. Furuhashi choreographs the characters' inner conflicts as skillfully as the epic sword fights, infusing them with an elegant sensuality. In either format, Samurai X OVAs capture the violence and poetry of samurai culture in a story of exceptional emotional depth."

Here is a pic of the dvd from amazon that contains all four parts of the ova-


I Definately consider this an instant classic and have already ordered the dvd to put along side with the greats such as ghost in the shell and ninja scroll.

[RoninBuddha]

WHOOT!!!

RK is me fave anime of all time, one of the best!! ;D

and the best part is the 1st OVA series... really cool!!

SUPERB!! especially on the DVD (in terms of sound)
the ANimation is one of the best ive ever seen, not just bcuz its hella bloody, but it was really good. The distinct art style really fits the mood of the OVA (serious and dramatic) and i really liked the way they depicted the chars especially Tomoe , the stroy is OK, the way they mixed historical events with fiction is neat... and even basing some chars from true people was nice (Saito and Aoshi based from Sairo and Hijikata of the Shinsen Gumi). In this OVA, you really see the emotions of kenshin (shinta ), and you see how SKILLFULL he really WAS (im emphasizing WAS cuz in the series, he kinda reek'ed).... the Battle are so awsome that i could almost cry

belive me i could go on all day on how GREAT this OVA IS, that is how much i LOVE the RK series!

i have the JPN DVD so i dont know about the D'Cut stuff there (mind tellin'?)

and Kaz - I WANT THAT RK CLOCK! ;D j/k!

and please, dont even get me started about howawful RK 2nd OVA -Seihousen was

peace, boku wa shiranai...

[Goemon]

Though i just ordered that dvd i've only seen the subbed dvd rip i got off overnet & i love it so much i ordered it. (though i definately didn't cancel the almost finished dl's of the other 3 parts ;D) I just hope the dvd has an option between sub and dub. (i hate dubbed anime for the most part) Anyways buddah im totally hooked & though i'm not a fan of the series what i've seen so far is excellent, when you mentioned the second ova being awful, are you talking about the one that's supposed to be after the series when Kenshin is old? I was thinking of buying that one 2 but i'm not sure now if you think it sucks, can you tell me a bit more about it

[RoninBuddha]

Goemon said:

I was thinking of buying that one 2 but i'm not sure now if you think it sucks, can you tell me a bit more about it

well, dont let my opinions infuence you, i personnaly have the DVD of the 2nd OVA, for collectors sake... but what i hated about the 2nd OVA is that:*spoilers*

-Kenshin dies from a freakin diesease (and i think its STD too, where's the Honor in that? )
-WTF is wit Sano? an oversized mullet hair?! and what's whit the tiger fur?
-the lack of awsome battles
-the whole package (the story telling, the moon, the chronology)

the only thing i loved about it was the equally good animation like the 1st ova and the battle between Kenji (Kenshin's Son, yep, he has a son, and they barley knew each other) and Yashiko...
and the evil look Saito gives in Kaori's dreams

but overall, it was a mediocre ending to a grand and excellent series

[Daaren]

I only saw the first part of the 1st ova and its awesome
I must see the other ones, i'll try to buy them someday when i'll have some money left (freakin money )

[Goemon]

I just finished watching the directors cut dvd & im extremely dissapointed It was cool that all the episodes where spliced together to make 1 movie but it's shocking to me that whats supposed to be a "professional" translation job is actually more loose/lame then the fan sub (possibly import) & ruins the film for me, for ex. one of my fav. lines said by Kenshin's master in the begining of the fansub "no point in introducing myself to the dead" has been replaced with the cheesy "silly to introduce myself, cause i'm about to kill you!"

Also for some crazy as hell reason the beautiful music has actually been removed from most of the movie & some parts they have been changed to drastically spoil memorable scenes. I got the better picture and sound quality i wanted but lost everything that made the film so special to me and made me consider it one of the greatest movies i've ever seen not just in the anime category.

I wish there was a way to own the film on dvd translated correctly & with the original music, i read somewhere that if i bought the movie in its 2 seperate dvd form it would have the proper music but still the lame translation, what a sad situation. Anyways as you can tell i definately love the ova's but don't recomend buying the american versions. Do you own the american version or just the fan sub like me buddah? or by any chance the import? i been thinkin that one could be the rip i got from overnet if not a fan sub

[Raiken]

I've also heard it's much better to buy the seperate dvds. Try this site to compare them

www.animeondvd.com

[Goemon]

Thanks dude but i think if im to spend the cash on it agian i would get the import disc's cause there is a higher chance that they will have different english subs and i'm pretty sure the seprate english discs will have the same translation as the english one i have.

[Kazuya_UK]

The original Kenshin OVA's just leave me absolutely speechless. There's many other animes that I feel VERY strongly about, but this is by far the one that is most special to me for so many reasons. The artwork is incredible, the music is some of the best I have ever heard *anywhere* and basically it is just a fantastic (but very tragic) story. I also love the fact that every time I watch it I still see something that I haven't spotted before - there's quite a lot of subtle touches and some cool symbolism if you look carefully... it's just such a good production in every way in my opinion. And I totally agree - although they aren't as well known, they definitely rank alongside (or maybe even above for me) stuff like Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D 1+2 and all the other classics.

Unlike many people, the OVA was what originally got me into Kenshin, and I started watching the TV series later on. For the record I love both of them, although they are very different. The TV series exists to be more comedic, although if you watch right the way through, the Kyoto arc is also very dark at times (as well as being possibly one the best anime/manga story arcs of all time). On the other hand the OVA exists to be much darker, and show you why Kenshin became the person he is and why he wanted to forget his past. I appreciate both for what they are, and love them to death

I own a DVD of the second OVA, but I don't own the original one for the exact reason that you mentioned. The SVCD I have was one released by AVCD, and until I can be sure that any DVD I get is as good as that rip I will not buy it, as I refuse to have my favourite anime destroyed by a bad hack-job by a western company. As for the 2nd OVA, I don't *TOTALLY* hate it, but I refuse to count it as part of the real storyline, rather as a seperate entity. The reason I say this is because the creator of Kenshin actually went on record stating that he disliked how the studio ended it, and that he personally wanted it to end the way he left it in the mangas - on a happy note.

I'd recommend any fans of the series to do the same... I don't think I know anyone that enjoyed the way it ended at all.

Kaz

[Goemon]

Kazuya_UK said:

The SVCD I have was one released by AVCD, and until I can be sure that any DVD I get is as good as that rip I will not buy it, as I refuse to have my favourite anime destroyed by a bad hack-job by a western company.

Damn Straight! i can't help but feel that i threw away 25 bucks, having the subing be so bad makes me sick to my stomach, it kinda pains me to see a script i now concider a masterpiece be ruined making the dialoge seem just plain wrong.

I love the ova's so much though and i can't stand watching treasured films from a computer monitor in my un-comfy chair, im concidering buying the import dvds that contain subs and see how they've translated it, im hoping buddha-kun has the import movies so he can tell me if they are translated correctly ;D

EDIT: just went back and read your post Buddah, you do have the import, can you confirm from the import if the line kenshins master says about "no point in introducing myself to the dead" the same or is it like in the english dub i have, im just curious if its worth buying the japanese editions.

[seiryu]

It was never released in the US?
Cos i have them on one DVD by Dynamix, a company that releases great titles over here in Europe.
These are the first 4 ovas we´re talking about that show the story of Kenshin before he got his scar and stuff,right?

[Goemon]

seiryu said:

These are the first 4 ovas we´re talking about that show the story of Kenshin before he got his scar and stuff,right?

Yeah, i have the the one that all the episodes are edited together to make one film by adv. Even the seprate released episodes by adv have the same bad subbing though. I found a $20 pack thats an import has all 4 episodes and could possibly have different/better subbing so im thinkin about getting that if buddah can confirm that the jap. imports have a different text then the adv.

Does the dvd you have Seiryu splice all four episodes into the theatrical film version (they rearranged some of the music and i hate it) or are they split into the 4 parts like they're supposed to be.

[Kazuya_UK]

I just checked on the AVCD rip that I have, which was ripped from the 2 DVD's that were released with 2 episodes each. On that part that you mentioned at the start, Kenshins master says "You are about to die, so knowing my name is useless to you". That sounds better than what you mentioned in the DVD you have, and most of the other subbing seems quite good. Far better than watching it dubbed, or with dodgy subtitles anyways

I'm not 100% sure who released the DVD that this rip came from, but I think I might find out and buy it. It's the one that is labelled as "Samurai X: Trust" and "Samurai X: Betrayal" anyway...

Hope that helps,
Kaz

[Goemon]

Thanks kaz, seems thats not too bad. Those that you mention are sold seperately and are sold seperately and together can run about 40$ all together, after spending 20 already on the crap i bought... I found this pack with all four episodes for pretty damn cheap & its the import versions with english subs. 216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:mNjEZmvxovsJ:animestand.com/dvd/a/kenshin4.shtml+Rurouni+Kenshin+ova+wallpaper&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
It's not wide screen screen which i like & the episodes are seperated so i know the music will be correct but id still like to know how the subtitles of the jap. import are. Buddah mentioned he had the import version, now if he would only check this thread agian...

[BM2]

How come I haven't seen this thread before
I am so totally RK!
It is the most complete I have ever watched...
And the OVAs....
*thinks of Reflection and the tears come*

I must admit though that the motion picture was lame...
The voices both in English and Japanese were soooo irritating
It is really for fans only, I guess.

But Kenshin still rocks!!!!!