(CR) Rurouni Kenshin (new TV series)

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

If only they made anime of sources that are either complete or almost complete, we wouldn't need 'brotherhoods.'

Problem is that in Japan, anime’s are made to promote the source manga or light novel. Not the other way around. Not many anime are made from complete material because of that. It take extraordinary popularity to pull that off.

[Guardian Enzo]

Fortunately RK has that.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

If only they made anime of sources that are either complete or almost complete, we wouldn't need 'brotherhoods.'

Yeah, we wish the anime industry cared that much about the quality of their works
Alas

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

My impression of the episode compared to the OG:

The Good:

• Better Kaoru
• Better pace
• Better voices
• Better animation
• More faithful to the manga (because the showrunners most likely can't outdo Furuhashi when it comes to changing the materials for the better)

The Bad:

• Bland BGM

The Mid:

• The Remake art-style is fine & dandy, but I also miss the more gritty style of the OG.
• The OP1 is just as poppy as the OG OP1. Both I'm not really a fan of but it's fine. The ED1 is also pretty good on its own but the OG ED1 just hit me more.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/FJGZOELiZFc

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[SeijiSensei]

I laugh nearly every time Kenshin speaks because he reminds me of Shenhua, whom Revy calls the "Yes-it-is lady" in Black Lagoon.

[Tactics]

I will keep my expectation low.

First episode doesn't leave impression 'this change is for the better'.

What I meant is, its not difficult to understand FMA:B easily better than past FMA anime because it is indeed 'better' all-around for being more faithful (which is given considering Pride and Wrath reveal served as prelude to last leg of story in source material so anime cannot overstepped that); or rare case like HXH where both 1999 and 2011 version have each of their pro and cons, that 2011 is indeed 'better' but doesn't invalidate enjoyment you could get from 1999 version.

Impression I got from first episode of RK 2023 is, "This will be mid at best". Then again, maybe they could prove me wrong once it reach Aoshi.
They definitely tried to one-up past musics with the new OP and ED insisted "we're more serious, we're different!" but ... yeah, no way they can truly compete with old ones, especially the ending songs.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Blaat

I like this change and I've heard lots positives about the live action movies, might have to check them out one day.

I'd argue that there's a bunch of things that the LA movies did better than even the anime & manga. The fight coreography is definitely one of them (except for Saito's gatotsu, that one was awkward).

[MeoTwister5]

I don't think Gatotsu would have ever been choreographed believably in LA, which is probably why he only used it like twice or thrice in the films.

[GDB]

Only thing I didn't like was how the subs translated Kenshin's speech pattern. It very, very clearly kept missing what the subject and tense was that they were referencing, thus making for a very jarring line.

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

Problem is that in Japan, anime’s are made to promote the source manga or light novel. Not the other way around. Not many anime are made from complete material because of that. It take extraordinary popularity to pull that off.

I know the answer...I just don't like it.

Originally Posted by GDB

Only thing I didn't like was how the subs translated Kenshin's speech pattern. It very, very clearly kept missing what the subject and tense was that they were referencing, thus making for a very jarring line.

Out of all the things they had to remember from the dub, this was the worst. "De gozyaru" hardly needs to be subbed with this idiocy.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

I'd argue that there's a bunch of things that the LA movies did better than even the anime & manga. The fight coreography is definitely one of them (except for Saito's gatotsu, that one was awkward).

Which things did you think the liveactions did better? Agree on the choreography, esp. them depicting Kenshin knowing some unarmed combat so he's not totally helpless without his sword. Plus a few "fight smart not hard" moments.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by zztop

Which things did you think the liveactions did better? Agree on the choreography, esp. them depicting Kenshin knowing some unarmed combat so he's not totally helpless without his sword. Plus a few "fight smart not hard" moments.

I like some character depictions in the LA movies better. For example,

Spoiler for Future RK Materials:

Seijuro Hiko looks more badass in LA without his gaudy "dracula cape" & I like the LA Cho better than his manganime counterparts, among others.

There are also things that the LA did better by omission. For example, there are no Fuji & Iwanbo since they are so outlandish and the LA movies benefitted from their absence even though they're supposed to be part of the famous Juppongatana.

One other thing is that I like most of the story, plot & pace of the first LA movie compared to the same arc in the manganime. The LA movie trimmed the fat & effectively told the core story within a movie runtime. Still, I'm not a fan of the part where Jine kidnapped Kaoru to use her as bait in any iteration.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

I like some character depictions in the LA movies better. For example,

Spoiler for Future RK Materials:

Seijuro Hiko looks more badass in LA without his gaudy "dracula cape" & I like the LA Cho better than his manganime counterparts, among others.

There are also things that the LA did better by omission. For example, there are no Fuji & Iwanbo since they are so outlandish and the LA movies benefitted from their absence even though they're supposed to be part of the famous Juppongatana.

One other thing is that I like most of the story, plot & pace of the first LA movie compared to the same arc in the manganime. The LA movie trimmed the fat & effectively told the core story within a movie runtime. Still, I'm not a fan of the part where Jine kidnapped Kaoru to use her as bait in any iteration.

Spoiler for Spoiler Hiko and movie discussion:

I recall Watsuki saying he was influenced by USA comic books when designing some characters. For example, Hiko Seijuro's Dracula cloak was modelled after the cloak worn by the comic character Spawn.
https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/spawn-300

Considering the original Tokyo arc was a series of adventure of the week storylines, I liked the movies' focus on Kanryu as the central antagonist (his belief that the Western ways + lots of money would win out against samurai tradition and principle, fitting for the old-to-new transition of the Meiji). Which I don't think was illustrated that well in the manga, since I felt Aoshi and his crew got greater focus in that storyline.

[frubam]

Watched the first ep. As someone who was introduced to the series by the old Anime Works dub(well the ADV dub for "Samurai X" came before it, but I would say they are two different kinds of show), it felt weird to not obviously hearing Kenshin's trademark speaking style by Hayworth(old TV dub) or Dorothy Melendez(sp?)'s Kaoru(which people who are more acquainted with the JP dub would be more prone to hearing in JP). That kinda sucked =0<.

Nice to see the OP/ED since I usually avoid those due to being a bit spoilery in certain aspects. The OP theme was nice and catchy, and decently choreographed. The ED was okay, but I didn't like the past depiction as an inclusion segment; felt it wasn't representative of the show. I wasn't a fan of the theme either; not bad, but not great either.

Animation was really clean, colors were vibrant when needed. Actions scenes didn't skimp on the movement thankfully, and were all pretty to look at. I hope they can keep that consistency going(though 1st ep looking good is usually a given[and if it isn't, then its doomed to failure ]).

Since the initial story is decades old, its not anything amazing as a starting episode, far as its story is concerned.

Now I feel it'll be annoying to play the comparison game of the original TV vs new TV every episode, but I'll do it for this first one. Yep, busted out the good ol' DVD to watch it again. I haven't read the manga, so I don't know how accurate it is to the source, but I felt the original TV had a better 1st episode than the new one.

Spoiler for orig TV comparisons:

Gouhei being directly tied to Kaoru and her dojo, as well as his specific revenge, made me more invested in him being defeated. Although the new TV had better animation in general(old TV had a nice fluent moment every once in a while, but not overall[still shots, etc.]), the irony of Kenshin smashing his fingers vs just beating him(both done using the HM style attack ofc) felt like a much more satisfying end. Also, in the original, Kenshin's presence is built up over the course of the episode(staying at her dojo for the night, spending time with the kids, etc.), so at the end, when he decides to stay, it feels far more organic than in the new TV, where it feels whimsical.
Overall, the original's 1st episode just has more impact for me, while the new 1st ep was just "okay".

Overall, I'll still watch it, assuming the animation can keep at this consistency; and moreso if its more accurate to the manga(which, I'll have to rely on the forums denizens to keep informed =03).

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by frubam

Now I feel it'll be annoying to play the comparison game of the original TV vs new TV every episode, but I'll do it for this first one. Yep, busted out the good ol' DVD to watch it again. I haven't read the manga, so I don't know how accurate it is to the source, but I felt the original TV had a better 1st episode than the new one.

Spoiler for orig TV comparisons:

Gouhei being directly tied to Kaoru and her dojo, as well as his specific revenge, made me more invested in him being defeated. Although the new TV had better animation in general(old TV had a nice fluent moment every once in a while, but not overall[still shots, etc.]), the irony of Kenshin smashing his fingers vs just beating him(both done using the HM style attack ofc) felt like a much more satisfying end. Also, in the original, Kenshin's presence is built up over the course of the episode(staying at her dojo for the night, spending time with the kids, etc.), so at the end, when he decides to stay, it feels far more organic than in the new TV, where it feels whimsical.
Overall, the original's 1st episode just has more impact for me, while the new 1st ep was just "okay".

Yup, that's Furuhashi & co for you. Doing their adaptation-magic since the 90s. They're not afraid to do some changing from the source to actually make things (arguably) better.

They didn't do shit like Promised Neverland S2 where even a blind man can see the incoming trainwreck from the bad decisions of changing the story that will obviously make it (much) worse.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Yup, that's Furuhashi & co for you. Doing their adaptation-magic since the 90s. They're not afraid to do some changing from the source to actually make things (arguably) better.

They didn't do shit like Promised Neverland S2 where even a blind man can see the incoming trainwreck from the bad decisions of changing the story that will obviously make it (much) worse.

Oh, that's an interesting note =03. Well, in the long run, I do hope that this new adaptation's adherence to the source material will make the overall narrative stronger, even if this Furuhashi's changes made the original material more coherent. It's also nice to see what the original source/story was, since I never read the manga, even though, again, it wasn't the strongest start.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

Problem is that in Japan, anime’s are made to promote the source manga or light novel. Not the other way around. Not many anime are made from complete material because of that. It take extraordinary popularity to pull that off.

By that principle, this makes the decision to make this season's anime adaptation of Reincarnated As A Vending Machine even more baffling given the source light novels were discontinued in 2017 (although the author did write the original WN to completion).

[Amarantine]

While I feel Furuhashi did an absolutely amazing job with the Kyoto arc (which I think will be impossible for this remake to top), I personally found the Tokyo arc in the 1996 anime to be a downgrade compared to the manga. Even setting aside the various fully original stories and episodes of highly inconsistent quality (that train episode never failed to put me to sleep), there were many changes, additions and omissions to the canon stories that felt needless and questionable IMO.

Which is why I'm excited after seeing how much more faithful to the source material the first episode of this remake was. I now look forward to seeing all the little moments and touches that were lost in adaptation in the 1996 anime, and I feel this could certainly end up being the definitive animated version of the Tokyo arc.

[Guardian Enzo]

It’s kind of ironic that Furuhashi was also the director of HxH 1999, and when the 2011 came out and was more faithful to the manga there was an instantaneous flood of “not as good as the original” commentary (that never totally dried up all the way to the end).

There are many questions about this RK reboot, not least whether it will even be complete. And I love the ‘96 series, especially the Kyoto Arc. But it wasn’t perfect, and I’m prepared to acknowledge if there’s stuff the 2023 does better.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

It’s kind of ironic that Furuhashi was also the director of HxH 1999, and when the 2011 came out and was more faithful to the manga there was an instantaneous flood of “not as good as the original” commentary (that never totally dried up all the way to the end).

Yep, and for good reason. Faithfulness is not the be-all end-all of adaptations. Spoken as a fan of HxH 1999, FMA 2003, Full Metal Panic! Gonzo & of course RK 1996.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

There are many questions about this RK reboot, not least whether it will even be complete. And I love the ‘96 series, especially the Kyoto Arc. But it wasn’t perfect, and I’m prepared to acknowledge if there’s stuff the 2023 does better.

Me too. In fact, I already did make a list of good things from this episode above.