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Rurouni Kenshin (Season 1)

Anime Info
Type:  TV Series
Length:  27 episodes
Genre:  Fantasy/Action
Review
Himura Kenshin is a wandering Samurai known as the legendary Battousai the Manslayer. During the revolution he fought along with the Imperialists and killed many people in hopes of bringing a more peaceful era. Now after the war is over, Kenshin is living his life to repent for all the people he has killed, and uses his sword only to protect the weak. After saving a dojo teacher, Kaoru, he decides to protect her and much of the series revolves around the dojo where they live.

Rurouni Kenshin is very episodic and aside from some character introductions early on, there is very little that effects the overall story. Most of the episodes deal with a different bad guy that leads up to an inevitable fight scene. A few of these action sequences are pretty good, but many are dumbed down by simple movements and still frames. They certainly aren't helped by the animation quality which is on the lower end. The strongest point of the show is its likable characters, but even they can get on your nerves at times when they are constantly fighting over frivolous things. I was also hoping that the romantic aspect between Kenshin and Kaoru would be explored more, since they obviously have feelings for each other.

Near the end of the show I was wondering if an actual story would appear but one never does, so it shouldn't be a surprise that there really is no ending. In fact, pretty much any of the episodes could have been used as a last episode. Not that there was anything to wrap up anyways.

With all these complaints I must say Rurouni Kenshin is not a bad show, the episodes did keep me fairly entertained, I just wish it did a number of things better. It does have a few good moments, but for the most part the first season of Rurouni Kenshin is average. Hopefully we'll see some improvements in the next season.

Overall:
Ryan Frost, 2004
Content

Language
An average amount of profanity.
Violence
There are a lot of fights throughout the show, and some of them can get a little bloody.
Sex
One episode has a brief scene of male rear nudity. Some other minor stuff such as guys saying they want to look into the girls side of a hotspring. There are also some scenes with men wearing loinclothes.