Customer Reviews

Rurouni Kenshin - Shadow Elite, Vol. 3

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rurouni Kenshin stands for wanderer Kenshin. During the "bakamatsu", the war which brought about the Meiji period in Japan, a legendary "hitokiri" (assasin) was instrumental in putting the new government in place. Near the end of the war, he decided to become a rurouni and atone for his crimes of killing.

Some years later Himura Kenshin was stopped on the street by the owner of a dojo and from there the story begins.

I can't stress this enough but the story have the most wonderful plot ever :). It is a serious yet lighthearted series. Historically, some of the characters existed and some of the events did happen :). Fight wise, many weapons were real and certain moves real as well. Fantastic & intricate plotline - a tangle of politics, morality, the past coming into clash with the new era and Kenshin himself trying to atone for his sins and protect those around him.

Alright, now that the intro is done for those who don't know. I suspect this video contains episodes 9-12. If so, 9-11 is the continuation of what started as a new short story from episode 8 with the introduction of a new important character and the tangle the new character is in. Episodes 8-11 introduces a group of new character and the plot become important to what will happen way later on in the most important 1st arc of the series - the Kyoto arc. Specific to 9-11, there is a lot wonderful skillful fighting and character building. Beautiful plot and story - you do not wnat to miss these episodes.

Episode 12 is specific to one of the main characters and is an episode of character development with style :).

I do hope this has been useful in getting people to want to purchase the series :). I am obssessed with the series and believe me it is THE series to obssess over so buy it!

This DVD features episodes ('eps') 9-12, first season. All four are critical eps, insofar as they deal with important characters and/or feature highly distinctive and entertaining stories.

Eps 9-11 conclude the four-ep arc started in ep 8 (the final ep of the previous DVD), and the threat level against Kenshin & Co. continues to ramp up very satisfactorily.

Ep 9 is the weakest of the arc, in terms of flat-out action; but sets up the reason for the action in eps 10-11, and meanwhile it does feature the first solo fight of Kenshin's main sidekick, Sanosuke Sagara. Of particular interest in eps 8-11, is the introduction of Aoshi Shinomori (sp?), a fan-favorite villain/hero who (in these eps, anyway) is actually a better fighter than Kenshin! (Let's put it this way: Kenshin forces an impressive draw, and although he ends badly cut-up by Aoshi, he never managed to get his own blade through Aoshi's defenses.) Another impressive feature about this arc (and about the series in general) is that the villains aren't always entirely villainous. Arguably, these eps (along with ep 8 from DVD 2) comprise the best story-arc of the first season.

The 12th ep seems at first to be slightly disposable, but has its own unique charm: it's marks the first time that young Yohiko has gained enough strength to stand up effectively for justice by himself. A minor continuing character is introduced in it. It is 'canonical', in the sense that it comes from the manga, and future episodes refer back to it.

These episodes still feature one of the better end-title song/credit sequences for the series, 'Tactics' (although the actual words, when translated, are extremely dippy. |g|) The opening title song, 'Freckles', is still here. The 12th ep may feature the second end title-sequence/song for the first season, which I found to be less impressive. (Typical cheerful sappy J-Pop.)

Okay let me start off saying that this DVD contains Violence, minor profanity, and a LOT of blood. When I say a lot I am not joking. If your about 8 or under watch the kitty versions on cartoon Network (You will still get the point and they are not that corny). But if your parents say yes then feel free to buy it. it may say 13 and up but people don't always follow the ratings. I am 11 and I still think it is a little babyish about how Kenshin never wants to kill again. I first heard about this series on Carton network but i could not exactly get to see a lot and it was close to when they started to end putting it on. So later on I heard about it from one of my dads freinds who let's me borrow some of his DVD's. Then when he let me borrow some i was amazed at the animation. Like this DVD, the second one was pretty good too, I saw it with my freinds and they liked it. This one is really focused on the fate of Megumi Takani. A guy named Kanryu Takeda who is in a way working with the Oniwaban group led by Aoshi Shinamori is trying to catch her to make opium. It was the first time I heard that word but anyways the battle scenes are pretty good but there is another episode in this DVD about a girl who Yahiko has a crush on. She is being used by this gang of theives who want to use her to get money. But when Yahiko gets her out of that mess she is F R E E. One funny thing to do in this episde is when Karou kamiya (Yahiko's teacher) comes to congragulate him you change the voice speaking thing to Japanese. And it sounds really funny. One thing that puzzles me is why do girls like Aoshi. I know he is a sort of nice guy but can't you see the way he is cruel the rest of the world? He doesn't give a darn about innocent pedestrians. Please. I need to know that way i can... well thats no ones buisness. This DVD was like so good but you need to see the rest of the series to like this even more. I havn't seen all of Legend of Kyoto or Meji Era, but if they are both better then Wandering Samurai then they would both have to be extremly good to top this series

This is one of the good ones to own out of the Rurouni Kenshin series. This finishes the little plot dealing around Megumi and her introduction, who later becomes Sano's eye-candy... Anyway, it's a great DVD to own having some great battles and a vilan you want to kill yourself. I recommed getting Battle in the Moonlite as well. Also the Flames of Revolution is a great addition as it goes to detail a little more between Kenshin and Kaoru. Kenshin can be a little like Tenchi universe at times, so do bare with it if you aren't familiar with Kenshin at all. Samurai X is also about Kenshin, a little older and prior to his no-killing days. I would also recommend getting the Samurai X motion picutre, same art as the Wandering Samurai and moving to the point were my mother cried... but she does that, a mother thing. She also cried during this DVD, Shadow Elite, so go on and add it to your collection of Kenshin. I wouldn't suggest starting with this one, it won't be confusing, your just missing some really good stuff in the beginning.

It is a minor regret that Episode 12 of "Rurouni Kenshin" was not episode 8, because that way the four-part storyline begun in Episode 8, "A New Battle" would have all ended up on Volume 3. In that episode we were introduced to Megumi Takani, a young woman descended from a long line of doctors who is now involved in producing opium for a drug ring, and Aoshi Shinomori, the former master spy and assassin, who is now the chief enforcer for the opium ring. By this point the core group has been established around Himura Kenshin as he and Sanosuke take up arms against Aoshi and the drug lord Kanryu. In Episode 9, "The Strongest Group of Ninjas," Kenshin's group meets up with the fearsome warriors of the Oniwaban who call Aoshi their leader. However, these battles are just a prelude for the main contest, an epic swordfight between Kenshin and Aoshi that involves all of the strengths of this acclaimed anime series. This is a fight where who the two warriors are, how they were trained, and the very weapons with which they fight all matter. This is not a quick and dirty fight but a classic duel of superior swordsmanship and the most memorable sequences in "Rurouni Kenshin" to this point in the series.

Episode 10 "Fare Well, The Strongest Man" reminds us of the old lesson that the enemy of my enemy can be a strong ally as both Kenshin and Aoshi are provided with a rude reminder by Kanryu that technology is threatening to make the samurai and his sword obsolete. Unfortunately, despite the more adult and sophisticated turn these episodes take for the most place, we are still subjected to the cutesy anime pretty much every time Kenshin's interest in Karou is touched upon. This same thing is employed in Episode 12, "The Birth of a Boy Swordsman," where "little" Yahiko suddenly finds himself having funny feeling in the presence of the new girl working at the dojo. But like virtually every woman in "Rurouni Kenshin," this one has secrets and Kenshin and the others must let Yahiko fight his own battle.

Volume 3, "Shadow Elite," is where this anime series proves it is a cut above the rest and one of those classic examples of animation that is too good for the kids at which it is supposedly aimed. This is one anime that bridges the younger and older audiences. In terms of the Extras this time around the Liner Notes offer only a few new Japanese terms (e.g., "kempo," "Kougen Ittou-ryu"), there is an art gallery, rules for a fan art contest (too late), trailers for other anime, and the original Japanese credits (the original lyrics are an absolute hoot). I hear the series gets even better, which is pretty impressive given where it is at this point when we are only a dozen episodes into the saga. Of course, it is hard to be a wandering samurai if you stay in one place, but that is just another minor matter.

In ushering in the meiji era there was a man known as Hitokiri Battousai translated it means man slayer. He was greatly feared by all and anyone who met up with him perished to his blade but then suddenly he dissapeared and for years at a time noone knew what became of him. The meiji era is now in effect and swords are illegal except those carried by officers. Kenshin Himura the wandering samurai was once that legendary man slayer and as atonement for his sins he has sworn to never kill again so he carries around a reverse blade which is a sword that uses the dull side with the sharp side facing in. However bad habits die hard and evil seldom fades so now kenshin must protect his new found friends from that evil. Loosely based off of real life events Rurouni Kenshin is bound to be an anime you will love.

For those of you who've watched the first two discs and still wonder if the series is going to fall apart, don't worry. Kenshin is still going strong through these episodes.

It was also nice of Animeworks to increase the number of episodes on this disc from 4 to 5.

This is honestly one of the best anime I've ever seen. I loved the animation, the characters, everything. I loved this one especially, but also the series in general. It's wonderfully realistic. Most anime are whacky fantasies, which I enjoy, but don't feel for. Rurouni Kenshin is real, complete with the love, war, hate and strife that comes with real life. I am very interested in swordplay and fencing. This is the perfect series. The animation is beautiful and you get an indepth view into the characters and their fighting. It's not just people hitting each other, but logistics and reasonable weaponry with practical answers to each amazing trick of the eye. Keep in mind that the animators are not afraid to show a bit of blood and gore. This is not the best show for younger viewers. But the brutal beauty and sheerness of the violence itself brings out something very rare. Anime fan, or if you just want a good story, this series is the best !

Ruroni Kenshin: Vol. 3: Shadow Elite contains three terrific episodes in the (looooong) anime series about Kenshin, a wandering swordsman with a mysterious and violent past, and Kaoru, a young lady who runs a doujo. Other friends have joined the gang, the handsome fighter-for-hire Sanosuke and the scrappy orphan Yahiko.

Episode 9: Strongest Group of Men - We learn about Megumi Takane's past, the terrible secret she is keeping, and whom she is fleeing from. The Oniwaban group of ninjas are out to kidnap Megumi and bring her back to her "employer," Kanryuu. Kanryuu has hired the Oniwabans for this purpose. The leader of the Oniwabans is Aoshi. He is the only member of the group who is not grotesque-looking; in fact he is quite handsome.

Sanosuke fights Shikijou to try and save Megumi.

Episode 10: Aoshi - Inside the mansion where Megumi is being held and considering hari-kiri (suicide), Kenshin fights the impressive Hannya. With his demon mask and red and black striped muscular arms, Hannya looks like an ancient demon out of Japanese folklore.

Episode 11: Farewell, Strongest Men - Aoshi and Kenshin battle. Aoshi is extremely agile and inflicts damage on Kenshin. Aoshi tells the story of the history of the Oniwaban group, and how they now have no place in society because of their freakish appearance and lack of any skills besides fighting. You feel a lot of sympathy towards them.

The vile Kanryuu interrupts with a monstrous invention - the Gatling Gun.

Episode 12: Birth of a Boy Swordsman - This is all about Yahiko, and his first real battle. He is smitten with a young girl newly employed at the neighborhood restaurant Kenshin and his friends frequent. But the girl has been placed in the restaurant for a sinister reason.

This episode is lighter than the deadly serious ones mentioned above. The end of the episode is hilarious. I watched it over and over!

Extras are a smashing art gallery, liner notes consisting of the cultural and historical background of some names and terms featured in the episodes.

Note: If you are a girl, prepare to sigh/drool when you go to "Setup" on the menu. There is the best picture of Kenshin, and some haunting romantic music. I just stared and stared!

As another reviewer has mentioned, the producers of the English language version of this series missed an opportunity when they left the episodes in their original order. Episode 12, The Birth of a Boy Swordsman, is excellent on its own. It is about Yahiko's first steps to maturity as a member of the Kenshin extended family when he meets a young woman whose past thrusts Yahiko into a conflict with a gang of ruffians who might very well be the end of him. Unfortunately, because the first three episodes are part of a story that started on the previous DVD, episode 12 feels out of place with its radically different mood from its fellows.

The first three episodes, and the last episode from the previous DVD, make up a story arc that begins when one of Sanosuke's friends dies as the result of using a 'new' kind of opium. In the conflict with the Oniwaban ninja that follows, Yahiko is poisoned, only to be rescued by Megumi, a doctor who turns out to have been responsible for the opium as part of her servitude to one of Tokyo's crime rings.

This puts Sanosuke in a conflict between gratitude and a desire for revenge, but Kenshin senses Megumi's inner quality. In no time at all, Kenshin and Sanosuke are at war with the Oniwaban, who want to prove they are the best fighters in Japan - over Kenshin's body. What starts out as a war with evil turns into a battle for honor in which we quickly learn that sometimes the apparent villains aren't the real bad guys. In the final clash the real enemy turns out to be greed and the creeping influence of the West over Japans future.

As is usually the case, the writer's make excellent use if the ussues that really were meaningful during the Meiji restoration of the middle 19th Century. The influence of the West, and the dissolution of the Tokugawa Shogunate created many opportunities for both ill and good. Opium and modern weapons both came with a high social price, and Kenshin, although a loyalist, was one of those who felt that new times do not have to mean an end to social responsibility. What is special about this series is that it makes this backdrop meaningful in a personal context as it works its way through the group living at the Kamiya sword school. For Western audiences this is both a delightful series and an excellent introduction to some of the key forces in Japanese history.