Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AndresBoissiere
Yes, actually, you're all wrong. No spoilers. This is long BUT I think it's worth reading.
In case anyone is as confused as I was when I was researching how to watch Rurouni Kenshin, here's a description of what this actually is
Reflection consists of 2 OVA's put it's really divided in 3 parts:
1. A loose retelling of the series in the form of Kaoru's memories (this takes up the first OVA)
2. A brief adaptation of the manga's final arc which was never adapted in the original anime (maybe 1/3 of the 2nd OVA)
3. A non-canon conclusion to the series (2/3 of the 2nd OVA)
Reflection takes place years after the end of the event we're shown in the anime, but spiritually, it feels like a sequel to a series we never got. It's identical in tone to Trust & Betrayal (save for the faster pace of the…
Read at the sourceghost1991
i just want to tell you something
this is not a sequel to the manga
this didn't not happen in the manga
it is filler
it is like an alternative sequel or something like that
and the author didn't approve of this ending
so this is not the real ending of kenshin
the real ending in the not like this stupid ova
and i want to tell anyone who like the real kenshin that
------------------------------------------------------------------------- this show was really bad that i almost hated kenshin cos of it
what's wrong with this ova
what was they thinking when they make it
Read at the sourceAuddy07
This is how the entire anime should have been imo. This style is what drew me in to watching the series in the first place after watching Trust and Betrayal. I love the more realistic way the fights are portrayed and how the atmosphere is more gritty and less lighthearted. The main series is very over the top with the way they get "power ups" and such which just doesn't work with this kind of show. The way Trust and Betrayal and this one are shown are a complete 180 to the series. Some people will like the series more and others will like this more, just depends on what you want from this particular story. I would recommend watching all things related to Rurouni Kenshin and decide for yourself which you like more :)
Read at the sourceGrenge
This spoils everything, if you can read subtext, which I imagine you're intelligent enough to do, so consider that a warning.
You're going to die. That fact is beyond reproach. You, the person looking at this review, one day, are going to die. Maybe it'll be of disease, or an accident, or hopefully something peaceful, but it's going to happen. It comes, to everyone. Your life isn't threatened today, nor everyone's because life doesn't have some anime plot where the villain threatens the entirety of the human race to destroy it in one fell swoop. Nor will everyone's life end in a heroic sacrifice in a display of manliness. Odds are, our ends will come not with a bang, but a whimper, and when it comes, by disease or some other complication, and you see it closing in, you look back. Reflect…
Read at the sourceValentineWiggin
Okay, right now, I feel absolutely confused, and horribly sad. From the first to the last scenes of this OVA, I was repeating in my mind "this is not canon, even Watsuki told this is not canon..."
First of all, I have no problem with drama. It can be written amazingly, it can be heartwrenching, but beautiful, it can show a good message, an ending, where a hero, who lost too much finally gets to rest. But what I have a huge problem with, is when a story just kicks and hits a character, who suffered in his whole life. We could have seen an old, tired Kenshin, who finally got forgiveness, but Kenshin in this OVA is 43 years old! And after all that suffering, after everything he had to go through, he got leprosy, which is a horrible disease. He gone away in a sad and painful way, which hurt h…
Read at the sourcemikario
10/10.
To those complaining that the Kenshin and other Ruroken characters in the OVA are OOC compared to the manga, I understand that. The manga adopts a happy-go-lucky attitude geared towards a younger audience where Kenshin and pals go on wacky adventures and epic fights. But these two OVAs aren't the manga, and they aren't meant to be. They aren't direct prequels/sequels to the manga, they're a standalone series that uses the same characters. It's a different (darker) interpretation, but given Kenshin's dark and tragic backstory that was present in the manga, I totally understand that the story could've gone this way.
Yes, this story is sad, but there's plenty of happy-ending animes out there... this one portrays the darker, more realistic side of life. Tragic stories happen in real l…
Read at the sourceRose_Bomb
One thing that I need to be clear about with this OVA right off the bat – it is literally the MOST DEPRESSING thing I have ever seen. It leaves with you void in your soul. The entire OVA serves as a requiem for Kenshin Himura’s arduous life. A much different presentation style than the anime series.
If you are sensitive to sad endings or do not like melodrama, you should heed my advice and stay the hell away from this OVA!
Let’s move on.
The gist of this OVA is to show the romance between Kenshin and Kaoru in a more realistic and melancholic manner than the original manga through a series of flashbacks. This may immediately raise red flags to somebody who has read the manga and has not seen Reflections. Why? Because this OVA is a far cry from a 1:1 panel adaptation of the manga. I canno…
Read at the sourceFloralFlames
I have recently become a fan of the Rurouni Kenshin franchise and binge-watched the first two seasons of the anime within days. The writing in the 2nd season was divine! I expected more of the same with the OVAs despite having no involvement with the creator. Not what I expected! Trust and Betrayal needed the dark telling to convey how Kenshin used to be, but Reflections should have shown the happier times. He's moved past his former detached self, and seeing how his goofiness came about would have been refreshing.
Story:
If Reflections did not tie itself to the Rurouni Kenshin name, I would like this story. Everything is depressing, and the dialogue fits in with a soap opera. The dark color schemes should have tipped me to that.
This OVA uses flashbacks to push along the story, which I…
Read at the sourceCobaltSigma
**THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN A FEW SPOILERS**
After finishing Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan and feeling dissatisfied with how abruptly the anime had ended I came in with high hopes that this would be able to fix the ending but it did the opposite of I wanted and made it worse than the ending in the original anime.
Story: (5/10)
The story of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen begins with a time skip and Kaoru recalling Kenshin saying that he needs to leave to someplace and she saying that she will wait for him to come back. One of my first problems with the ova was how they suddenly shows how Kenshin somehow obtained a disease from war and is now dying from it but then for some reason Kaoru also wants to get the same disease that Kenshin has to show her love but…
Read at the sourceYuYuDragon
I'm on a Rurouni Kenshin addiction right now. I've done a review on its prequel, the original story, its two specials which can be technically called sequels and now this so it's safe to say, I enjoy Rurouni Kenshin. Before you have my head I know this does not follow the manga and everyone who has read it wants to shit on this OVA. This review is for people who don't read manga like me (just not a fan) or people who want to watch this anyway.
Story- What's there to say. The first part is 95% flashback that you have already seen from the original series but remastered. The remastering is cool the flashbacks though are kinda unneeded. The second part gets way more interesting. There is a villain, from way back (SPOILER if you haven't seen trust and betrayal don't read ahead) Trust and Betr…
Read at the sourceKeiiko5
I love Rurouni Kenshin but this OVA is just depressing. To me it's like they are telling about his funeral basically. There are no "oro" no one is smiling everyone is just sad. And they even have Kenshin go off wondering again after he marries Karou and has a child with her.
The whole anime series was based around Kenshin, but this is just basically Karou laying on her death bed remembering him because he wondered off again. I mean I guess it's a great OVA if you really wanna kill the series and never pick it back up again since Kenshin and Karou both end up dying. But still, I think this OVA should have had a better storyline or at least a better ending. I mean I don't think the Kenshin we saw in the anime series or the manga would leave her after having a child with her come on now. -.-
Read at the sourcePotatomesh
Okay before I start things off, I would like to tell you all that I am a huge Kenshin fan. It was the first manga and anime that I started and finished. I enjoyed every part of it. Okay first off, I hate animes that go outside what the Manga and it's author intended to do. This OVA stayed true to many things in the manga, but the producer of the series wanted a dreary feeling of it. So the series was darker than it already was.
Story: This wasn't canon(even though it claimed to be, the author says otherwise). This took a huge turn in the story, away from the Manga also. It added things that were never there or explained, so that really hurt it for me.
Art: The art was really good, but as I said felt dark.
Sound: Sound was good, no complaints, music felt like it synced with the scenes.…
Read at the sourceHuntsman
"I knew then...I knew that the world needed him and that I couldn't change his way of life - that it wasn't mine...it wasn't mine to change. But even though I knew it...even though I knew it, I wanted to chase him, to somehow keep him." Himura Kaoru
Every journey has an ending, and with Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection brings to an conclusion Himura Kenshin's journey of atonement that he has been searching for since his final days as Battousai The Manslayer. Reflection strives to add on to the endings of the anime series Rurouni Kenshin and the manga series as well as giving fans of both a visually emotional yet satisfying ending to Kenshin's endless struggle for atonement for all the lives he has taken, which depends on whether you are a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, or have seen or read the anime…
Read at the sourceToucanbird
A sad closing tale to one of the greatest characters of all-time.
Before I begin, I would just like to say my review speaks from my experience of seeing only the animated series, the movie, and the Trust and Betrayal OVA. I haven't read the manga so I cannot speak in regards to it's accuracy to the manga. I watched all of these in a matter of a week since I had some extended free time to watch it all at once.
First of all, good God this was a depressing watch. From start to finish, this was probably the hardest hour and a half of an anime I ever had to sit through. It's hard enough when you grow so attached to a character through 95 episodes of an anime and then learn his back story in Trust and Betrayal, but to see such a wonderful character meet his sad end made for a difficult watch.…
Read at the sourceAbs0
This review is a comparison of the Trust and Betrayal OVA (hereforth referred to as TnB) to the Reflections OVA. Specifically, the fight scenes.
Animation: Not much difference. Although there are fewer fights in the Reflections OVA, they are animated pretty well, at least on par with those from TnB.
Choreography: Here is where they differ. In TnB the shorts were short and brutal, most consisting of at most one or two clashes before sword meets flesh. Just like what would have happened in real life. In Reflections the fights are long and consist of Kenshin bashing his sword against the enemy's sword until it breaks. It's fucking Bleach. All 3 of the fights in Reflections were "won" by breaking the other guy's sword. It's fucking stupid and lazy. In TnB the sword-breaking was kept to a m…
Read at the sourcekekekeKaj
Coming to "Rurouni Kenshin: Seisouhen" after "Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen", I had high expectations, as almost anyone would. Some of those were met, but perhaps more weren't.
Lets start with the animation. With "Tsuiokuhen" looking so amazing, I knew it would be hard for "Seisouhen" to match it, yet alone top it. "Seisouhen" still managed to disappoint though, even with the scaled back expectations. The character design changed yet again - it's different from both the character designs of "Tsuiokuhen" as well as that from the "Rurouni Kenshin" main series, and I don't like it nearly as much as "Tsuiokuhen" ones. Also, being set many years after series had ended, a lot of the characters have aged, and the way the art tries to reflect this isn't the best.
"Seisouhen" doesn't have much in t…
Read at the sourceartist-retired
Now Rurouni Kenshin is probably the best samurai manga story I have read to date, and I was pretty satisfied with the anime adaptation, so now I decided to check out the other anime versions, because I put it off for too long and to prep myself up for the recently announced new anime coming out in some time.
I decided to watch the 2 episode ova that acts as sort of a closure to the series, and well... My mind is a little mixed up after watching this.
*This is just my personal impression of this ova, if you do not agree, that's fine and I'm not trying to troll, I repeat: I'm not trying to troll anyone*
To be fair, I did not personally think of this ova as a bad anime, in fact it's very good, aside from a bit of melodrama overdose (And I'm usually a big sucker for melodrama), the story do…
Read at the sourceKuridoll
This had so much emotion, and feeling. I loved the art, the voices were ehh alright, but the story is awesome :D Makes me want to cry! every rurouni kenshin OVA makes me wanna cry LOL. but yah go watch it!! NOW!
Read at the sourcezealot1138
***Please do not read this if you have not seen this and/or do not like spoilers*** Thank you.
Samurai X: Reflections - the good and the mostly bad
So what's my beef with the third Samurai X OVA? Well, for starters, it's never a real positive when the creator is not involved with development of a new story (with George Lucas as the exception, as exemplified by the SW prequels). Also, I know people praise the animation as being far superior to the TV series, Rurouni Kenshin, but I wasn't a big fan of the new character designs. I'm all for high-quality, better action, more violence when appropriate, but don't strip the characters of the cool looks that made them unique.
I am very grateful for the OVA having animations of the parts of the manga that were never realized by the show (to whic…
Read at the sourcejmoriarty84
I have to say, ever since Naruto before the Shippuden arcs in the manga, I have come to hate flashbacks in the middle of an important segment of a story and does nothing to advance it, and this oav does nothing more than reinforce that. I am grateful they did include Enishi and has pretty much his foundational motivations down, but he wasn’t fleshed out and doesn’t really explore him in full depth such as his fighting style and the significance of his sword. I say you’re going to have to read the manga to fully understand his character and it also excludes Enishi’s comrades and the fights they have with Kenshin’s crew, and how Kaoru was able to stop Enishi from going crazy. I say if they dropped the flashbacks and did the Jinchu arc or part of it instead, they could have gotten a fraction…
Read at the source
