Customer Reviews

Rurouni Kenshin - TV Series Volume Three

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jumping from the second season's brilliant Kyoto arc to the filler episodes of season 3 will likely seem a bit jarring to most viewers: near the end of the Kyoto arc you see Kenshin standing over the grave of someone from his past that he claims to have slain with his own sword, effectively setting up what was supposed to happen next; however, the third season completely ignores this and moves on to an increasingly inane group of stories.

The reason for this is that the next story arc in the manga was still being written at that point, so these filler episodes were created during the waiting process and became an entire season. Unfortunately, the Jinchuu (or Revenge) arc that was supposed to be season 3 never came to fruition as the episodes in this box set received such poor ratings that the show was pulled. This is especially sad considering numerous online testimonials point to the Jinchuu arc being the best of them all-- no small feat considering its predecessor.

...BUT...

This review is not supposed to be a lament of what could have been. As it stands, this is what we got with regards to the regular anime ending for Kenshin-- disregarding the OVAs that attempt to summarize the Jinchuu arc-- and this is what must be reviewed.

Considered completely out of context of the show, this set might be considered alright. In fact, I found some enjoyment out of quite a few of the episodes. For instance, despite being a bit plodding, the Christian rebellion storyline (the first of four major ones) is pretty enjoyable at the better moments. The two that follow aren't bad, but they aren't great either. To be honest, the only storyline in the group that I found to be utterly garbage was the last one, which involves Feng Shui-- also known as the Geomancer storyline. This group of episodes is so out of character for the entire series that it can hardly be watched without feeling a bit of disgust.

While I found a little enjoyment in it, should you come into this season expecting another Kyoto-like execution, you'll be severely disappointed. This stuff was never written by the original author of the manga and feels very much out of place at times, especially during the last two storylines. Furthermore, the ending leaves very much to be desired: it feels like a big letdown after the buildup over the entire series, which is all I'll say regarding it in this review.

So, basically, it comes down to this: if you are a completionist, go ahead and get this one (as you will anyway :p), but keep in mind that it nowhere near lives up to the rest of the series. Beyond that, if you are able to suspend your disbelief pretty well, you can possibly find some enjoyment from this season as I did. Otherwise, it's probably best to stay away and consider the anime complete at the end of the Kyoto arc.

If you want the complete story as it was supposed to happen, then read the manga-- I believe books 19-28. In lieu of that, you can watch the three Samurai X OVAs: Trust, Betrayal, and Reflection. The first two summarize the portion of the manga that deals with Kenshin's Battosai days, while the latter includes some of the Jinchuu arc as part of an overall flashback on the series from Kaoru's view. Note, however, that the OVAs are brief in their treatment of the final storyline, and they also trade the goofball tone of the series for a very serious and almost depressing atmosphere.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big Kenshin fan. I started reading the manga and was so hooked I had to start the anime. Fortunately, I had read before seeing the third season that Watsuki (the writer/artist for Rurouni Kenshin) was finishing the Kyoto plotline just barely ahead of the anime artists and that for the third season the anime would be different than the books otherwise I would've been highly disappointed by the anime. It was extremely obvious that the anime writers didn't have a good grip on Kenshin's character (as was obvious as well in some of the "filler" episodes in season 1), or they thought it was a great idea for a character, but wanted Kenshin to be their character instead of realizing that they were just borrowing Watsuki's character. Still, this season does have some interesting characters and episodes. If you're a fan who just wants more Kenshin and is willing to completely suspend your disbelief, then you'll enjoy it. If you only want Kenshin exactly as he is in the manga with no deviation at all in character, you're not going to enjoy this as much as you hope.

I bought this item only to find out that on the inside all 8 discs were stacked right on top of each other in a single disc holding slot. I was expecting the discs to be on pages with 2 discs a page like the other 2 season boxsets. The discs arent even labeled 1-8 so if you take out more than one to get down to the lower discs you could not only get them out of order and that end up being a pain but by the way this is set up its much easier to damage and scratch your discs up while taking them out because of being locked in tightly against each other.

I know there is a version of this with pages and 2 discs a page just like the other 2 I have, I ordered it once but it was recieved so damaged that I had to return it from the discs being knocked out of the holders and scraped up too badly to watch.

The show is really good, I love it even though season 3 seems a bit slower than the rest but its all still a good show.

The tv show is great, my only problem with the thing is that the case is a horrible set up. Seasons one and two both came in nice cases with an individual slot for each disc, the designers just got lazy for this one, every disc is piled into one large slot.

While the series on whole might not be for everyone I'm sure once you give it a try you'll find yourself more and more entranced and entertained at the series in general. The series primary character Kenshin and his group will face many adversities as well as personal choices both on their quests and in their final destination after it's all over. While the series animation won't have the standard CGI effects we've seen with animes in the last ten years or so it's still drawn well and the soundtrack fits the series well. If there is any complaint about the series in general it's that while the subbed cast did their roles very well sadly the dubbed cast weren't as good especially for some of Kenshin's friends as they didn't seem to put as much emotional feeling when saying their lines in the series. The dvd case set itself is also annoying as it holds all seven dvds in one case with flaps that have the disc overlay with one atop another and if you're not careful removing the disc it could cause some scratches on those dvds. At the end though a great and entertaining series awaits anyone willing to try out the series for themselves the only thing I do recommend is that you get the first box set before this one as you will get confused on what's happening and who the characters are of you don't....

When you think of bad and lazy final seasons, a few shows come to mind, like Star Trek TOS and even, Sliders, but at least those shows had their final season broadcast, Rurouni Kenshin didn't have this.

Basically what happened after the end of Season 2, the writers of the Anime ran out of material from the Manga, so they made their own...and out came some easily forgettable story arcs and episodes that just run together.

maybe I am being negative after the epic arc Season 2 contained, then going to this lazy stuff, its like going from Star Trek II to Star Trek III.

now to be fair, if you view this season on its own, its quite entertaining, meaning if you watch it without considering the quality of Seasons 1 and 2.

I would only buy this if you are a completest and want the whole set.

I loved the 1st season and the 2nd season was amazing. Samurai x the ova (Trust and betrayal, the motion picture and reflection) is just phenomenal! This 3rd season marks the end of the series and is fun to watch but it doesn't compare to the rest of the series..I recommend getting this season if you enjoy the others...And i highly recommend the others the story and message behind them are amazing!

Just as I remember it from Cartoon Network way back when. Good show if you like Samurais and fighting with a little romance mixed in. Although the music is a little corney at times the show is one of my favs.

I could not this item anywhere else they where all on back order. Amazon was cheap and great timing on shipmint.

The DVDs are fine so I can see. The box in which the DVDs came in was smashed and broken but DVDs seem to play OK.