Product Description

Charmed by his peaceful life in Tokyo, Kenshin's thoughts linger on the past. A former member of the Shinsen-gumi, Saitou Hajime was more than a match for the Battosai during the days of the Revolu-tion. Now, Saitou's plot requires the help of a full-strength Kenshin. Therefore, he will attack Kenshin and his loved ones until the violent killer within resurfaces.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93221 in DVD
• Brand: Media Blasters
• Released on: 2001-06-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Customer Reviews

Himura Kenshin takes his sword and wanders the Earth again
Every time I watch the opening credits for "Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai" in addition to trying to sing along with the original Japanese version of "Freckles" I note the irony that Himura Kenshin has not exactly been doing a lot of wandering in these episodes. So when I suddenly noticed that the title of the series is now "Rurouni Kenshin: Legend of Kyoto" and ironically our hero might be returning to his wandering ways:

Episode 28, "Prelude to the Impending Fight: The Shadow of the Wolf Draws Near" begins with a scene from Kenshin's past, showing the Battousai earning his title of man-slayer. One of the recurring elements of the series has been people from Kenshin's past showing up to pick a fight. This time the visitor from the past is Saitou Hajime, A former member of the Shinsengumi and his most formidable opponent form the days of the Revolution. In his first effort to get the Battosai to resurface, Saitou attacks Sanosuke and wounds him the Gatotsu, Saitoh's signature attack. From this calling card Kenshin knows that Saitoh has returned and the question is whether our hero still has the skills to defend himself and his friends. This was actually the final episode of the first season, and since 28 is divisible by 4 you have to appreciate that they did not leave this as a cliffhanger ending to volume 7.

Episode 29, "Strongest Opponent From the Past: Merciless Fangs Strike!" has Saito biding his time before he faces Kenshin, allowing another assassin, the bully Akamatsu, to take his turn. Meanwhile Kenshin's friends are catching on that someone is after him. Akamatsu is not really a match for Kenshin, which means it is time for him to come face to face with Saito and for the battle to begin.

Episode 30, "The Devil of Vengeance: Makoto Shishio's Plot" continues the fight between Kenshin and Saito, while Kaoru worries she will lose Kenshin to the Battousai. But at the height of the battle a new character arrives and changes everything as "Rurouni Kenshin" takes a dramatic turn towards an even larger story arc.

Episode 31, "A Wish Unrequited: Kenshin Departs" is where everything changes as an assassination attempt forces Kenshin to make a fateful decision.

The episode ends with a bit of text that had me panicing because I thought that I had reached the end of the series (I watched the end of "Cowboy Bebop" last week, so I would not have been suprised). However, this is only the start of the second season of "Rurouni Kenshin" and the Kyoto story arc. "Shadow of the Wolf" is actually the prelude for this epic story. If you thought "Rurouni Kenshin" was good before, and that should be a given since you have made it to Volume 7, you should be impressed with how they have upped the ante again for Season 2.

Twilight in Kyoto
The only advice I can give is, strap yourself in and pray to the gods that you aren't thrown off!

"Shadow of the Wolf" is the first installment of Rurouni Kenshin's second story arc, what many have come to call the Kyoto arc. A remnant of the Revolution, long believed dead, has come back to haunt the world, and Kenshin is the only man alive able to stop him.

If you have, up until this point, classified "Rurouni Kenshin" as goofy and light-humored, then you're in for a very rude awakening! From here on out, things become very dark, very, very quickly. Many of the people in my anime club refused to continue watching, because it was so graphic!

But it is this segment that defines what Kenshin is about! So, unless you're simply in this for the laughs, you'd better prepare yourselves for one wild ride!

BUY THIS NOW
Kenshin is one of the my favorite anime television series. While the animation quality may not stand up against the artwork of OAV works like Cowboy Bebop (which I recommend even more then Kenshin), Rurouni Kenshin has such a great story that it really pulls you in and holds onto you to the last second. The first several DVDs are really more character development (which IS important, don't get me wrong) they focus on the history of the characters surrounding Kenshin, and occasionally throw in a good bit of comedy. But this DVD is where all the exciting stuff kicks off! If you liked the first few DVDs, then you are gunna love this new story arc! Now that we've met the other characters we start to focus on Kenshin himself as his gloomy past comes back to haunt him. This DVD is the start of what is called the Kyoto Arc, from here Kenshin is challenged to face his inner self and deal with his bloody past. I warn you though, if you watch this DVD, you will be crying out for the next one as soon as it ends!