[Anime Log ] Rurouni Kenshin - Trust & Betrayal OVA

There are times when I watch Anime and sit through mindless drivel, lack of substance and general stupidity. This isn’t all too bad when you need a quick fix laugh or you’re just generally bored and can’t concentrate. Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X is none of this however.

Format: Anime (OVA)
Language: Japanese
Status: Complete
Author: Nobuhiro Watsuki
Genre: Samurai, Action, History, Romance

Rurouni Kenshin is hailed as one of the greatest Samurai anime of all time. Rurouni is a made up term by the author that sounds like ‘Ronin’, a term referring to a wandering samurai. The story is based on the famous tale of the 47 ronin. This also had a Hollywood adaption starring Keeanu Reeves, I didn’t really enjoy that much. But enough side tracking, this is a post about Kenshin!

The manga follows the wondering samurai, Himura Kenshin on his travels away from his past of bloodshed as the Hitokiri Battosai of the Bakumatsu. In short, the protagonist is supposed to be some deadly assassin that everyone fears. I will discuss the main anime in another post but to emphasise something of importance here, the Shounen manga/anime felt light hearted and comical. We gain glimpse of the samurai’s past and new relationship. Even moments when scenes seem to takes a serious tone, the anime does not escalate into anything too contrasting and the series didn’t provide too much in the way of dramatic impact. For this reason, I highly recommend watching the main anime series before the OVA to appreciate how different and well Trust and Betrayal executes its story.

Original Video Animations can be hit and miss but the production of this movie is outstanding. OVA’s can also be shorter episodes too but I class Trust and Betrayal as a movie in its own right. It adopts a gritty and more realistic art style that completely transforms the tone that I was accustomed to from watching the series. Rather than following the protagonist on his ronin style journey we go back in time before key events of ending the war. We get to see how Shinta becomes Kenshin after meeting his master swordsman teacher.

Kenshin has always had a tone of goofyness for comedy relief but this is completely removed from the OVA. Instead, we are presented with a more serious samurai and a female counter part for this story. While limited on time, the character development and relationship forming of this pair is skilfully portrayed with the plotline unwinding into a dramatic series of events. Political themes are present as to be expected as the Shogun era draws to a close.

I really loved the art style they used for this one and the animation quality was nothing short of a masterpiece. The score, voice acting and general composure of each scene has been acknowledged by industry. The dramatic turns in emotion can be felt in this outing and I had genuine chills at a certain scene towards the finale. The action scenes are graphic and fluid too. There is so much to like about this and the experience was well worth it. Kenshin’s main anime series left me a little underwhelmed but this OVA set things right. So I iterate once more, watch the main series to appreciate some of the easter eggs within this.

While the Author can claim success for these achievements and continues the Manga, Nishiwaki was found guilty of child pornography possession in 2017. He was fined 200,000 yen – almost $2000 (wow). His manga went on a lengthy hiatus at this time and has been announced to resume in a few days (June 4). I have not read into the whole atonement and line of duty to continue the series discussion but it will be interesting to see if sales of the manga will decline in lieu of his sins.