Ruruoni Kenshin (Introduction, Terms and Setting)

I have rewatched the 95 episodes of the series and those will be the focus of this review. I have not read the manga on which the series is based and as such I won't have much to say about the differences (with the exception of the Filler arc This will be addressed further in the Plot section). For the purposes of this review I will not be discussing the movie and miniseries associated with the show.

Introduction:

Rurouni Kenshin was one of my favorite shows growing up, but (much like Gundam Wing) as a child I was more interested in the fighting and action than the politics and such that made up the primary plot lines. This series was introduced to me by Cartoon Network's Toonami block. This show is one that is primarily responsible for my love of samurai. It also inspired many fights using bamboo sticks in the backyard.

The title means "Wandering Samurai Kenshin," it follows the classic structure of the wandering hero. As you read through the review think of the great westerns. A wandering hero (usually a former soldier) who is wandering and attempting to atone for the sins of his past. Tales of wandering samurai were not unheard of in the time period. The story of Kenshin Himura is loosely based on an actual wandering Samurai of the era.

Terms:

• Meiji Era = the term Meiji means "Enlightened rule." This Era began as the result of a people's revolution, over throwing the Shogunate and putting in place a government that respected people of all classes
• Meiji Government = the Government put in place as a result of the Revolution.
• The Revolution = refers to the populist uprising against (and subsequent over throw of) the Shogunate. This revolution involved many highly skilled soldiers and great deal of blood shed.
• Tokugawa Shogunate = the previously ruling people in Japan. They were the highest ranking of the nobles in Japan and as such were the most powerful family.
• Hitokiri Battosai = A title given to Kenshin Himura, because of his legendary fighting prowess during the Meiji Revolution. It is usually translated "Battosai the Manslayer." This title haunts Kenshin who has taken up a life of defending (rather than ending) lives.
  
• Reverse-Blade Sword = as part of Kenshin's conversion to non-violent ways he now carries a sword who's traditionally sharp side is blunted the sharp edge being on the traditionally blunt side.
• Hiten Mitsurugi = Kenshin's style of combat. It requires a great deal of speed, accuracy, focus and willpower to use effectively. This combined with it's heavily guarded secrets, makes it a rarely seen (and very effective) fighting style. Many of the moves are so quick that only the greatest swordsman are capable of defending against it.
  
• Kamiya Kasshin = The sword style of the lead female character, Kaoru, and her apprentice, Yahiko. The followers of this discipline believe in "a sword that protects." As such they do not wield metal sharpened blades but rather wooden sparring swords.
• Sekihotai = a secret army that was betrayed by the government and executed save for a few members, including Sanosuke Sagara.
• The Oniwaban Group = a collection of Ninjas and skilled warriors that play a pivotal role during the revolution and in it's aftermath.
• The Juppongatana = literally, "The Ten Swords," they are the special attack force of the Shishio Faction.
• The Shishio Faction = The primary collection of antagonists during the Kyoto Arc of the series. They are lead by Makoto Shishio, and their primary goal is to return Japan to the state of chaos it was in during the revolution.

Setting

The Setting is 11 years after the revolution that toppled the Tokugawa Shogunate and set in place the Meiji Government. In this Meiji Era, it is illegal for anyone other than the police to carry swords, however many who do carry swords in the open are former soldiers from one side or the other of the Revolution.

The sad truth is that the Meiji Era has no place for these men, even those who helped to secure it's peace. Many of these soldiers now despise the Meiji government for its betrayals, and some even seek revenge against it. It's a prosperous time, and the populous is filled with optimism and hope for the future.

The primary setting of the show is on the outskirts of Tokyo. There are a few places that are frequented by the cast, they include:

• The Kamiya Dojo: home of Kouru Kamiya, as well as the rest of the primary cast (Kenshin Himura, Yahiko Myojin and Sanosuke Sagara). It's the site of many events of the show.
• The Ako Beko: a local restaurant that the cast frequents, it is often a place where plot points and new characters are introduced.

The next section will discuss the Characters.

-matt

A note about the DS9 reviews.

I've decided that rather than type up a new review for each season I'll do what I do with my anime reviews and wait until I've completed the entire work before typing up a new review. This is partly a stall because of time and partly because I hate trying to type up these things knowing that I'm missing possibly relevant information. There is no telling when I'll finish the series, but I know my roommate will be pushing to continue watching throughout the coming semester.

DS9 - Season 1 (Characters)

Characters:

In this portion I will focus on the primary cast. Any notable recurring characters will be mentioned in later discussions.

Benjamin Sisko:

The newly installed Commanding officer of DS9, he comes here with mixed feelings, torn between duty and his recollection of the dangers of this life (which cost him his wife during an attack by the Borg-Controlled Jean-Luke Picard). This moment defines much of who Sisko is and the decisions he makes. He is a dedicated and loyal individual. He is usually level headed, but is apt to express aggression more quickly than Picard ever was. Sisko is clever, resourceful and wise for his age, making him the perfect Emissary for the prophets (a title given to him by the Bajoran religious leader when she learned of his contact with the wormhole beings).

I really liked our introduction to Sisko. We have this immediate understanding of his depth and purpose in life. With the loss of his wife in an attack, he redoubled his dedication to his son. I like him, he is generally more intense than Picard usually was, but more under control than Kirk. He is passionate, dedicated and capable of all the duties he has. I enjoy watching him navigate all of the politics and religious issues that arise under his comman. He’s a clever guy and that’s what I like he’s not perfect, but he is doing all he can to do what’s right.

Kira Nerys:

A former soldier in the resistance against the Cardassian Occupation, Kira is the first officer of DS9 (though she is not technically a Federation Officer, but the Bajoran liaison to DS9). She is a quick to anger and slow to logic. She is not a bad person necessarily, but her better judgement is often blinded by prejudices and assumptions gained during her time as a resistance fighter. She is often torn by her loyalty to the Federation and to Bajor, giving her several internal struggles about her past and what her future can be.

I honestly didn’t like her at first. She’s pushy, forceful and arrogant. As her story and past became clearer, I began to understand. She wasn’t just some jerk. Kira was a soldier, who spent her whole life fighting the Cardassians for Bajoran freedom. She has been fighting for so long that she doesn’t know how to stop. With the arrival of the Federation she felt they were just there to replace the Cardassians as the next rulers of Bajor. I love watching her relationship with Sisko mature from being two people with mutually exclusive goals to being united for the betterment of the station and the people of Bajor. Her main purpose on the show is to help us as we learn more and more about the history of Bajor and to represent this race to the viewers.

Odo:

Odo is a changeling. He appears as an approximation of a humanoid but with the lack of eye brows or any definition between his brow and the tip of his nose. He is capable of liquefying and taking on other shapes, a very useful skill as he is also the Security Officer of DS9. Many of his suspicions center around Quark given a long history of distrust (dating back to a time before the series began). He is exceedingly smart, but very dry. Odo has a great deal of trouble understanding traditional humanoid behaviors (since he isn't one), but he is quite capable of drawing connections and executing investigations.

Of the primary cast Odo is my favorite. He serves much of the same purpose as Data does for TNG. He is there to call into question the emotional irrational behaviors of the people around him. I love watching him try to understand why the humanoids behave as they do. The episodes where he is struggling with his identity as the only known being of his kind were some of my favorites. I like his ability to have a singular focus on a task, and watching him unravel the details of a crime on the station can be quite intriguing.

Julian Bashir:

The medical officer on the station, Julian is surprisingly immature for a doctor. He often flirts with Dax (a fruitless effort) and he cracks wise to superiors officers. That said he is an exceptional doctor. He is the go to person for getting an understanding of the new species, strange diseases, and several other physiological anomalies faced by the occupants of DS9. He tends to be overly verbose and sometimes quite condescending (without meaning to be).

Bashir is (more or less) a joke character. He’s the always necessary super-skilled medical officer, but it seems like even in episodes that featured him heavily he was mostly there to lighten the mood. As a character I don’t dislike him, but if he only shows up in the background I’m never really disappointed. He’s clever, and definitely a capable doctor, but other than being the doctor he is rarely shown to be a necessary character.

Jadzia Dax:

She is a trill (a symbiotic being with both a humanoid and worm-like component). Being a trill, she has memories of many previous hosts, including Curzon (who was Sisko's mentor). However Jadzia is a young woman, and as such is very different from the old man, Curzon. She is very logical, rarely allowing her emotions to cloud her judgement. She carries the wisdom of many lifetimes, yet the personality of a youthful woman.

I’m really intrigued with the sort of being Dax is but I don’t always find her as interesting as her species. She is a fairly dry character and her main purpose is to act as a science officer and as a mentor to Sisko and other characters (given her hundreds of years of wisdom). As I said I’m more interested in understanding the nature of the trills than I am with Jadzia specifically, the one episode that really focused on her was mostly good for me because of the discussion of the trills.

Miles O'Brien:

It is fair to say, in some sense, that the Chief Operations Officer, is to the technical what Bashir is to the living. All of the computers, electronics and technology fall under O'Brien's command. He is easily flustered, but very dedicated. He struggles some self-confidence problems, and he is very loyal and can be quite aggressive when he chooses to be.

Okay so Miles is the touch stone for TNG fans coming into this series, but he also serves the role of a well intentioned guy who is always looking to do things the right way. He is loyal to his wife and does all he can to help her feel at home on this station. He is highly respectful of all of his superior officers, though he has been known to cop an attitude with them. I identify most with Miles, because of his tendency to want to find a balance where everyone is happy.

Quark:

A Ferengi and the proprietor of the popular hangout, Quark's (big surprise I know). He is known for his underhanded dealings, which is why Odo tends to come to him first whenever there is a crime. He tends to have some unsavory characters come through the bar, so it's likely that even if he wasn't a part of the crime, he may know something. Quark occasionally show's some decency but he is rather cut-throat

As I said I find the Ferengi very entertaining. I like Quark because he is consistently. You always know that he’s doing things for himself, and the only question much of the time is what exactly is it that he is doing? It’s fun to watch the times when he and Odo get into it. There actually seems to be a sort of adversarial respect between the two. The code by which the Ferengi live is held in high regard by Quark (a Ferengi among Ferengi), and he is often the “moral” leader of the Ferengi on the station. He’s always fun to watch.