Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Anime
Review: Anime that doesn't focus on action packed futuristic melo-drama is rare. The Samurai X OVAs bring to screen true period depictions of life as a wandering swordsman caught between the hero versus anti-hero manner of the waning Tokugawa Shogunate and the emerging neo-colonialistic Meiji Era.
Packed with soul-renching scenes and dialog, Trust & Betrayal, embodies master story-crafting and animation. Fight scenes, blood and gore are matter of fact and skillfully woven into the story line without being obtusely "required" to add spice to an already rich tale.
Although this Director's cut draws from the origins of the widely popular Rouroni Kenshin TV series, it does not depict the typical slapsticized misadventures with which many are familiar. Trust & Betrayal portrays a serious meta-play of circumstance, chance, discipline, endurance, forgiveness, and love.
It isn't without flaw, however. English dubbing, though masterfully done, doesn't give justice to the emotion that can be detected within the original Japanese script. Setting an English dialog with English subtitles betrays the differences of translation loss, and in a few frames, the re-mastering of subtitles actually fails (some lines of original subtitles can be seen on film). These are minor imperfections, though, and forgivable given the breadth and scope of the story and art.
Trust & Betrayal is best watched in its original Japanese dub with English subtitles. The story flows without distraction, and the souls of a wandering swordmaster and of those around him are given center stage.
This is a masterful tale told with excellent artistic rendition that leaves a longing for more.
Highly recommended for audiences 13 above with parental guidance for swordplay and violence. An excellent buy.
Rating:
Summary: buy Rurouni Kenshin DVD , then this OVA;
Review: "Samurai X-trust & betrayal" is essentially a prologue to the Rurouni Kenshin TV series. Or they call it an OVA or direct-to- video animation film. I suggest to newcomers, to watch first the samurai X TV series then watch this to fully comprehend and grasp who Rurouni Kenshin is,it's cast members, & the central setting & ideas of the series.The film delves further to Kenshin early years or his past, before meeting Kauro, Sanosuke,etc. From a child, his name was Shinta, witnessing the murder of his parents, being adapted & raised by his mentor master Hiko, & up to being an eventual hired & ruthless assassin, thus,was christened as Battousai.This film comprises 4- 30 mins. episode and the movie characteristic story-elements itself are extremely dark & very depressing, talky, serious in tone & heavy,domestic, & the dramatic core story preceded the little action sequences, which is only a secondary emphasis. This movie is one of my favorites & is one of my most cherished DVD. Though not action-oriented like it's predecessor on TV, this movie simply is very memorable and lasting, as the story,mainly, explores a geniune, true-to-life example of how two people live a life, as in exemplified by Kenshin & Tomoe. More than about Rurouni Kenshin further adventures, which it is,as this prologue served to tie up loose ends of Kenshin's past-- his past origin. However, the film absolute high point is following the dramatic,day-to-day ,slice of life of Kenshin and his wife Tomoe,albeit rusely married.Kenshin & Tomoe living together as a virtual husband and wife thus, manifesting a true-to-life portrayal of a couple struggle to subsist on a daily basis.This side of Kenshin has never intensely delved before,his marital side. Though extremely hardcore in context to the film objective, this DVD ultimately proved a valuable souvenir, not solely because of Rurouni Kenshin but also this anime feature-lenght is rare, in terms of tackling such subject matter--heavy, marital relationship. Not to imply Rurouni Kenshin is a secondary importance to this DVD, which is not entirely correct, as this DVD is significant and a timeless collection of Rurouni Kenshin saga. Be prepared to view this movie because it's simply not easy to watch. You need to be mentally & emotionally ready to ingest this film as the film is extremely heavy & seriously depressing. I especially see fit to recommend this to anime lovers and anime watchers.Though I believe, in fact it can be appreciated by everyone when given the opportunity. But, for Rurouni Kenshin newcomers or tryers, it is more practical to watch first the actual TV series in contrast to this advanced DVD. That series shall served as your introduction to the world of "Samurai X" or "Rurouni Kenshini".The core story of Samurai X(Rurouni Kenshin), not only about learning its characters, but also explore into an era of samurai regime- such as it's setting in feudal Japan & the honor of being a samurai warrior.Some episodes are light-hearted and fun, some have good characterization piece, some episodes are subdued,poignant & talky as in the final TV episode & some if contain samurai fights,mostly are exciting, susepenseful & intellectually stimulating. If you are contemplating to sample, you need to start at Rurouni Kenshin DVD (the TV series)at least up to vol. l4, then return to this DVD for better comprehension and appreciation in regards to the casts of characters and story theme. Highest possible recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Top notch sword fight flick
Review: "Samurai X - Trust and Betrayal (Director's Cut)" is probably the best chambara anime that I have seen. Excellent story, top-notch animation, pathos and melodrama, over-the-top sword fighting...everything you want from sword-fight flicks. There is a big difference between good chambara and bad chambara, and there is far more bad chambara than good. This DVD is an overwhelmingly pleasant surprise. Medieval Japan is on good display here, with an nice blend between fact and fantasy. Not exactly Kurosawa, and not exactly "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," the warriors perform some pretty amazing feats befitting the super samurai that they are. The blood is fairly fountain-like, but not silly. This is my only experience with "Rurouni Kenshin," and to tell the truth, a friend had to force this DVD on me as I didn't want to see anything with the stupid name of "Samurai X." I am glad that I gave it a chance.
Rating:
Summary: A Work of Art Without A Doubt!
Review: Beautifully drawn, Samurai X is just an anime masterpeice. I would reccomend it to any anime fan of Rurouni Kenshin, or anime lover. In fact, anime lover or not, everyone will most likely find a way to enjoy this movie. It is aimed at more mature audiences, probably because of the excessive blood and gore, alcohol use, mature themes (including a non-graphic sex scene) But, despite the name, It includes romance, and angst as well. When you do watch this movie, I would also recommend that you are ready for something completely different from the popular tv series. In Rurouni Kenshin, you have a much more uplifting and suspensfully wonderful anime, but heed my word, if that is the only thing that floats your boat, you may not want to watch Samurai X Trust and Betrayal. As awesome beyond belief as this anime is, the plot is very angsty and depressing, with a more romantic theme. Being a huge fan of our favorite, sweet, kind, and peaceful warrior, Kenshin, myself, it was surprising to see such a strangely different side to him. Tha animation takes a little getting used to, but it's diverse style is what made me appreciate it more. In fact, when I saw it, I was amazed at how much more serious and (to me) prettier than the tv show it was. It is also interesting to see the perfectly spaced out character development, with reticent and beautiful Tomoe, and troubled, assasin man, Kenshin. And as an aside, you may be better off seeing the tv show, or at least up to episode 14, to really get the idea. And you will also be pleased to know this also explains how our favorite Samurai got that mysterious X scar, hence the name. All in all, I distictly remember watching a video clip for it, and being awed at its amazing beauty. (Not to mention I was bawling my eyes out, being that it was the saddest scene!)
Samurai X is just great, with action, blood, sake (gotta love that), Samurai(and be fair! EVERYONE likes a samurai), saddness, reality, romance, trust, and betrayal. The name says it all. One of the best yet!
Rating: 
Summary: If you already own trust and betrayal, skip this dvd
Review: because there is NO point getting this for 10 seconds worth of additional scenes that you really aren't going to notice much.
Gee, let me see.. there is that additional .05 sec of kenshin stabbing and twisting his sword, additional .10 sec of using two hands to cut down a man, additional 3 sec of battle in the bridge scene, couple additional facial shots in different angle.. and oh, all four anime packed into one dvd in original Japanese OVA style.. and this coming from a guy who saw trust and betrayal over 10 times. I really wonder what was ADV's point of bringing this masterpiece back as "director's CUT" when there really.. isn't much to offer other than saving $$ If you haven't seen or own trust and betrayal, by all means get this DVD. your basically getting two for one deal, but if you already own both, trust me - skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Watch an epic love tragedy unfolds before your very eyes!
Review: Being a huge fan of the original manga and TV series, it was a great joy to hear of the prequel OVA (original video animation). From the moment Himura Shinta witnessed the killings of his companions to Himura Kenshin's longing gaze as he left the Chosu clan, there was not a single moment during this OVA that did not move me with awe, sadness, sympathy, fear, anger, hate, and any other emotion you might've felt. In the true tradition of Japanese Kabuki tragedy, Rurouni Kenshin - Tsuiokuhen embodies everything that a romantic tale from the Meiji Era should have. From the extremely subtle yet meaningful love story of Kenshin and Tomoe, to the brief yet bloody sword battles of the Shinsen Gumi and Chosu factions, this OVA is filled with breathtaking attention to detail. Animation is perhaps the least perfect element of this OVA. The reason for this is the use of live footage for the few water sequences. Somehow the image of real water set crashing against an animated beach doesn't go down well for me, Fortunately, this is very very few in numbers and doesn't affect the overall rating of the OVA. From the animation of the sword battles to the character designs of Tomoe and Kenshin, every single line and movements were drawn to draw out various emotions from the audience. That said, the use of muted colour perfectly convey the atmosphere most appropriate for this melancholic drama. This OVA simply has one of the best soundtracks ever! Not just for anime, but in the film world in general. Taku Iwasaki's use of string and flute absolutely spot on for the mood needed to reinforce the images on screen. The quality is so good that i was often confused as to whether is was synth or orchestrated. In my opinion, this rates just as highly, if not better, with anime soundtracks of Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Saishuu-Heiki Kanojo, and Rahxephon. Perhaps the strongest, but also potentialy weakest, element of the OVA is the story. They managed to start and conclude, beautifully i might add, the love story of Kenshin and Tomoe, which, in hindsight, was perhaps the main theme of the OVA. There was never any danger of the story left unfinished. The background to which the love story is set, was the Meiji restoration of the mid-19th century. The producers also combined seamlessly the historical epic story with the love story, and still manage to include real life characters such as Katsura Kogoro, his teacher Kido Koin, and Shinsen Gumi members such as Okita without any awkwardness. In fact it only added to the epic feel that we are experiencing history in its making. Some people confuse the story as simply that of how Kenshin got his scar, an element which was also well done. The scar was not simply character design nor a cosmetic convenience. A point well worth reminding to watchers of the TV series. Never could one imagine how to make such simple injuries to something more. Yet the makers of this OVA managed to make it into Kenshin's destiny, a reminder of his tragic past. As i said before, the story have one potential weakness, that the background story of Meiji Restoration requires a somewhat significant understanding of 19th century Japanese history. Otherwise newcomers to the Kenshin saga might be lost as to the relationships of the various clans and characters and what their allegiances are to both the Tokugawa Shogun and Emperor Meiji. Nevertheless, this OVA is a prequel, and therefore the producers are assuming that you've seen the TV series. Taking this into account the only conclusion must be that the story element is, yet again, flawless. The characters are the most important element to an anime, along with story, in my opinion. Unless, of course, it is intended to be short stories, as in the case of Full Metal Panic Fumoffu. The character of Kenshin may not be the most sophisticated nor original character ever written, however, his character development is perfect when you combine it with that of Tomoe's. The way the characters interact with each other is simply understated, yet perfect. People may not like how Saito Hajime and Okita, as well as Hiko Seijuro are not as developed as can be. However, their characters are already given much more room to develop within the TV series. With so many potential points that may have affected the review of this OVA, we must never forget one fact that this is a prequel. One must watch the TV series if they are to enjoy it to the maximum. Points such as lack of character development for the side characters and the confusing background story will only be felt by those that have never watched the TV series. The value of this OVA lies in not only its collectable value, but also in the opportunity of watching a classic epic love tragedy. This is an anime truly worth the tag of a tragic love story. And it is eminently watchable. Anyway, you can always impress those anime-sceptics with this breathtaking OVA. To me, the word flawless is a very hard word to give out easily, seeing as it encompasses a plane of existence that is inhabited by the very few. Rurouni Kenshin - Tsuiokuhen is as flawless as an anime can ever hope or aspire to be.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing...No other words for it
Review: DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SOME SPOILERS!! Now I'm a fan of the Rorouni Kenshin Series and an anima otaku (fan) but when I first saw the Trust/Betryal OVA, I was blown away. The animation is superb and the storyline is much darker and less comical then Rorouni Kenshin. Not that I don't like funny but seeing Kenshin kill mercilessly is something else that should be seen to fully appreciate the series.
The first part (Trust) begins with a stunning crafted (and violent) scene where Shinta (Kenshin) sees his entire slaver "family" killed by bandits. His master-to-be, Hiko, saves him and changes his name to Kenshin.
We skip a couple years and see Kenshin in his late teens (17 or so) where he's an assassin who kills political members. But his assassin career doesn't last, during a mission, he recieves the first slash of his X scar. He meets Tomoe, the fiancee of the man who gave him the scar, soon after. As his comrades are killed in a raid, he and Tomoe escape to the mountains where they become lovers.
The ending is extremely sad where Kenshin, after learning that Tomoe was working to kill him, stumbles blindly through the snow to find her, still contemplating whether to kill her.
He gets the slash on his back we see later in the series turning that time and is almost beaten before he finally gets the sense to swing and kill him. But with the same blow, he kills Tomoe who was trying to protect Kenshin from his opponent's final strike.
Kenshin cremates Tomoe in a small house and walks away, his last defense against his killer instinct taken away by his own hands. This is an overall triumph in Japanese animation. The violence, extreme and graphic at times, is not a reason to skip such a terrific anime. If you are a true Kenshin Fan, you need to see this.
Rating:
Summary: Rurouni Kenshin OAV is Excellent, This DVD is mediocre
Review: First, the two stars are for this directors cut DVD, NOT the series. I absolutely LOVE this series. I decided to buy this DVD because I fell in love with the divx bootleg versions of the OAV, which were fan subbed. I can literally watch the divx versions over, and over again. I expected the DVD to be at least as good as the divx version, plus more because it was a directors cut and it would be DVD quality. I was wrong. The amount added to this directors cut DVD isn't even noticeable. The main difference is that the episodes are all spliced into a continuous movie. The MOST disappointing part of this DVD was that they CHANGED the sound track. They TOOK OUT the background music in some of my favorite scenes. I was shocked. Why the hell did they do this? The animation and the background music were absolutely perfect together. It seemed like reactions and emotions of the characters were timed to fit with the music. The music added a lot of drama and made the scenes very memorable. But in this directors cut the music is missing. No words can express how disappointed I was. I guess I should point out that I don't even watch anime with dubbed voices anymore. From my experience, American voice actors suck. I wasn't even able to watch 5 minutes of this DVD with dubbed voices without getting sick. My second disappointment was with the English subtitles. I do not speak Japanese fluently (yet), but from what I know, I was able to see that the English translations were not very accurate in many parts of this DVD. Although the English in the fan sub wasn't perfect (broken grammar, misspelled words, etc), I felt the translations were more true to the series and Japanese culture in general. Third disappointment was that when inserting the DVD I was greeted with a very obnoxious advertisement for some stupid anime magazine. When are these stupid companies going to realize that I don't pay $25 for a freaking DVD to see god damn advertisements?
This is the last non-imported Anime DVD I will buy in a LONG time. The Rurouni Kenshin OAV is my favorite Anime series of all time, and I hate this DVD. If there were an American company that sold Anime DVDs that WERE NOT dubbed, had ACCURATE English subtitles, and didn't put advertisements on the discs, they would get 100% of my business. Until that day comes, I will continue to buy imports. If you're going to buy either the directors cut or Trust and Betrayal separately, I would buy them separately, solely for (what I assume to be) the unchanged musical sound track. But, this is just my opinion, I don't actually have the separate DVD's.
Rating: 
Summary: Action Packed and Touching
Review: For a while I wanted to see the Trust and Betrayal DVDs, but didn't really want to spend the money for both of them. When I saw that you could get both on one DVD for the price of one, I didn't hesitate to buy. After watching it, I agree to a few of the things said by other reviewers.
*This DVD is full of action and blood, yet also touching. It has the best of both worlds. Love and violence. Who could ask for more?
*The sudden computer graphics stuck in the middle of animated scenes was very distracting and at times annoying. Luckily, this does not happen too often, so was not enough to ruin the movie.
*As for the dubbing, the change in the characters' voices was not so strange. If you can accept the fact that this DVD takes place before the TV show, Rurouni Kenshin, then it shouldn't bother you. It's normal for someone's voice to change as they get older, so why not Kenshin's?
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, evocative, emotionally wrenching animation
Review: For anyone who is a fan of samurai films, wrenchingly emotional love stories, or just beautifully detailed animation, this film is highly recommended. For fans of the "Rurouni Kenshin" series, this is essential viewing, as we see Kenshin's past and learn about how he came to be the man he is in the TV show, set ten years after the end of this film. While the film is essential, I'm not sure that this version is really better than the earlier one. The "Director's Cut" combines all four episodes of this story, released earlier as two separate DVDs ("Trust" and "Betrayal"). The film has been letter-boxed for this edition, and there are some slight changes-- an added battle scene, bits of additional dialogue, etc. The biggest advantage of owning this version is being able to see the whole story without interruptions from credits or having to switch discs. At the same time, there are some things about the "Director's Cut" that are annoying. First, ADV films chose to remove the option of watching the English dub of the film with the English subtitles on. Granted, most people would chose either just the dub or the Japanese version with the subtitles, but keeping the subtitles on while watching the English dub can be helpful in showing additional detail about what's going on, and can point out where the English version changed things from the Japanese (which is occasionally important; in at least two scenes, characters give very different motivations for their actions in English and Japanese). ADV also chose to remove the extras which were present on the previous edition of this film-- the screenwriter's notes on the process of preparing the English edition, and a set of introductions to the historical characters in the film. I don't understand why they took these features out; they were both interesting and useful for an audience which probably doesn't know a lot about nineteenth-century Japanese history. Usually, one would expect a Director's Cut to have more extra features, not fewer. Because this was done by a different studio than the one that did the English version of the TV show, there are also some historical details or references to things that are important for the TV show that don't show up here in the dubbing. The English version wasn't aimed at an audience that would already know the show, while the original Japanese version was. Since this was done by a different studio, this also means that the English voice cast for "Samurai X--Trust and Betrayal" isn't the cast from the "Rurouni Kenshin" shows; this is only relevant for three characters, and is usually not too distracting.
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