Samurai X - Trust & Betrayal (Director's Cut)

Rating:
Summary: In a word, Intense. A Standard to Judge Anime By
Review: Four years ago in 1999, I saw a bootlegged, fan-subtitled copy of Rurouni Kenshin OAV (direct to video) and was completely amazed. This became the standard that I judged other animated features by in years to come. All the other reviewers will agree that this is an excellent animated feature bleeding (literally) with high production values and quality animation. The questionable computer/live work and a few freeze frame shortcut animation sequences are my only, negligable gripes.

What's best about the plot is that there really is no good guy or bad guy, no cops or robbers, no cowboys and indians. An ambiguous sense of good and evil that is very human leaves the viewers to make their own conclusions. This is art. It encourages thought and interaction. "Cops and robbers" is propaganda, which tells you what to think, that the cops are always the goodguys and they always have to win (Hollywood movies).

The "director's cut," so to speak, must be the 1 inch CUT at the top and bottom of the screen (letterboxing). There are about 10 seconds of extra footage, with the music switched and even removed in some portions. Overall, I liked trust/betrayal better, but buy this DVD as a package/cheaper deal. It combines 2 dvd's in 1 and edits them together to run continuously for it's 4 segments. As you have been told from other reviews, don't buy if you already have trust/betrayal.

And as always, watch with original language dialogue (Japanese)and subtitles. Horrific English dubbing ruins even the best of movies, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Rating:
Summary: The Conflict: War or Humanity
Review: Himura Kenshin, now a wanderer, has his life's story told in this story of Trust & Betrayal. Death has followed him since he was a child and all he ever wanted was to use his sword to save people. This is the story of how one misstep could lead a young man into chaos and the one woman who could save him. Will he chose to be a manslayer, or a humble citizen? Watch to find out!

Overall the graphics are good. Some scenes use computer animated footage of real things which is creepy. There is a lot of blood shed and murder. For those who don't like that, DON'T WATCH! For fans, it explains his cross-shaped scar. One of the best movies yet!

Rating:
Summary: If Kurosawa made anime....
Review: I bought an import DVD of this title after having fallen in love with the original version. The director's cut has had all of the section breaks removed, letting the story flow as a continuous two-hour movie.

If you've never seen this OVA before, brace yourself. Its look and tone are almost completely different from the "Rurouni Kenshin" tv series and movie, with frivolity stripped away to yield a stunning examination of what happens to idealism when it's used to justify any means used to achieve those ideals. This OVA is not kid's stuff. It's violent and heart-rending and subtle, and you will never look at Kenshin the same way again.

It's probably best appreciated after seeing the second season of the tv series, which introduces a number of characters who also appear here. And once you've grown accustomed to the way Kenshin behaves ten years after the war, it's truly eye-opening to see the way he was and how/why he changed to what he later became. However, it can also be watched on its own, without having seen any other RK at all.

Some new footage was added to bump the runtime back up, but most of it is in tiny snippets that don't add much, with the spectacular exception of a battle sequence near the end where Kenshin fights his way across a bridge toward an artillery-besieged town. (By contrast, much more footage was added to the director's cut of Seisouhen (Reflections), including Kaoru's wedding and early married life, but no US release date has been announced for that as yet.)

Buy it. Watch it. Never forget it.

Rating:
Summary: Good? It's great!
Review: I didn't truely know what I was missing until I saw this DVD. I figured that Kenshin was always Kenshin ("...that I am")and not some huge assassin...but that's just me. Let's just say I didn't get to watch too much of Rurouni Kenshin after Saito shows up...heh-

Anyway, this DVD shows what Kenshin was like as a child and his life as an assassin...all the stuff I wanted to know as I watched the RK series. As some might describe it...the main color scheme is red. And I like that b/c while watching the series you think "Now if some dumb little kid is watching this they're going to think-'Hey! Kenshin's not getting bloody when he gets cut! Let me try!!'" (let's hope to God that they're not thinking 'I want to be an assassin when I grow up!') But I recommend this DVD to anyone who likes RK and a LOT (understatement) of blood (and I know this review wasn't helpful so don't rub it in...)

~Aiko-chan

Rating:
Summary: A True meaning of life
Review: I got this dvd 2 days ago and let me tell you it is the best! The action is quite spectacular and the visuals are stunning.Any anime fan should get or at least see it, even though i'm just an ordinary anime kind of guy! It is suggested 17+ but hey, im 13 and I enjoyed this as much as any person would, Its got blood and alcohol, Damn! They really should stop talking about saki, theyre obsessed with it!^_^

It is about a boy named Kenshin to some of us whose caretakers get killed. He gets saved by a master of the art of sword known as hiten-mitsurugi.

Its whole visual style is superb. And as everyone says "they mix real life into it that makes it kind of silly" well, they do but it doesnt ruin the movie. This tells you everything you should know before the rurouni kenshin tv series.It has got hell alot of kick ass action. Of course youd think its all action its not, there is a HUGE chunk thats all romanc.It sucks that Tomoe died.But It is still a good dvd.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie but not like the "Rerouni Kenshin" series
Review: I got this movie for christmas expecting more of a the "Rerouni Kenshin" looks... you know the slap-stick humor, the wide eyes in shock whole thing. But the movie is NOTHING like the cartoon series. That was my mistake, I was expecting the cartoon series. DON'T! Its a sad movie and not much humor is in it.
I am going to tell you the story but im not going to ruin it for you. The story is this, Shinta was an orphan whose parents died of sickness so he was turned into a slave. But his slave masters were attacked and he was saved by Hiko. Hiko changed his name to Kenshin and taught him Hiten Mistourougi(I think thats how its spelled) syle of swordmanship. Kenshin became an assassin. Later he picks up a girl named Tomoe after being attacked. Time passes and then Kenshin's clan was attacked so he had to run. The leader of Kenshins clan advises him to move out of town and pretend to be husband and wife with Tomoe. That's only the first part but I can't really tell the second part without ruining the movie. But this dvd explains how Kenshin got the cross-shaped scar on his cheek.
The movie is a sad movie but one of the best parts of the movie is the music. The music can stay in your head for quite awhile. Unlike the cartoon series, none of the music uses rock instruments(electric guitars, drumset, etc.) it uses classical music instruments. So expect classical music.
There are some complaints, but not enough for me to give it 4 stars. First of all you can't really tell if when the first movie ends and the second begins. Also the ending credits are in japanese and the subtitles won't tell you who helped to make this wonderlful movie. I also thought there was going to be some more extra features but there isn't just previews to other anime movies.
As another reviewer had said before this is a hard movie to watch. You have to be set to see a sad movie. You also have to have a open heart or sorta interested into love stories or you won't see how sad and great this movie really is, but if you are you will feel the emotions of the movie and see the greatness of this movie.
Oh I almost forgot, this is both trust and betrayal put together, don't buy them separate or your wasting money, and if you do buy them separate "Trust" is a cliffhanger so you will be itching to get the "Betrayal" movie. Just buy this dvd so you can watch it in one sitting.
I hope this review helps you to go out and buy this movie, anime fan or not.

Rating:
Summary: Clear thoughts on a cool night
Review: I had watched the rourouni kenshin series on television but I was a bit unprepared for this. The tv show is bright cheery, the color scheme always give the feel of a bright sun shiny day. This however was veryyy different. It's raw, dark, kenshin is as serious as serious gets, cold, on the verge of being a machine even. You see him for a moment in his youth which reminds you of the bright cheery Kenshin from the series but it's not long before you see those glimmering eyes frozen by the spilling of blood. I must be honest this is a pretty bloody film. The dialogue is precise cool unemotional, yet at the same time somehow builds up a ongoing tension of emotion. I don't know how others might have felt. I watched this for the first time late late at night one evening when I couldn't get to sleep. I ended up watching the whole thing start to finish ending at about three or four am. I don't want to speak about the actual storyline but I will say that the ending seemed to provide a release for that building of emotion, but it wasn't so much as release as it was a settling. Or rather a soothing of a storm. Something about it made me feel very Zen, very peaceful. It was late or rather early when I finally got to bed but I had to lay back and just stare up at the ceiling for a few minutes savoring that feeling, it was like all of a sudden I was comepletely content with all I had done and was just there at peace. I recall even remarking to myself that it really struck me as bizarre that a animation could do that to me. I suppose howver I identify well with the concept of swordsmanship and the warrior. If your one of those film critic types who is going to analyze animation style and plot scheme etc, then you may miss it all and that would be too bad, but if your the type that can just sit back and watch a movie without having to raise your hand asking questions or making comments every five minutes, I think you'll be glad you added this one to your shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Woah!!
Review: I loved this movie. The animation is superb (except in the few small scenes with intertwine real images with animation) and the story dark and chilling. Just for a note, this OVA (Original Video Animation) is properly titled Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal. Samurai X is an American title to catch buyers (just a note in case that turned you off).

Storywise, this is basically the story of a revolution against the tyrannical military-government in Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate, a dictator who over-ruled the Emperor himself. Our anti-hero Kenshin's life is followed from his days as Shinta, and the meeting of his master, Hiko, to the end of his Hirokiri Battousai days. We have Kenshin as a little child, innocent with his top and memories of family, then Kenshin the brutal assassin for the Choshu (I believe that's who he worked for, haven't seen it in a few weeks) Clan, and finally we see Kenshin as the lover of Tomoe, a mysterious woman Kenshin meets after an ambush.

I don't wish to reveal the story any further. To sum up a recommendation, a dark and emotional story, superb animation (save the live action/animation shots which are minimal), a romance between two emotionally scarred people, fantasticly choreographied sword fights, and a two-for-one bundle. If this sounds like you, I bet you'd like Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust and Betrayal "Director's Cut" (Samurai X).

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story though very violent
Review: I only started watching the Rurouni Kenshin series this year but I was hooked immediately! I love the RK series and when I found out there were RK movies I was really excited. I only have Trust/Betrayal right now and I loved it. It was very violent (at times) but an awesome movie. The movie isn't all blood and swordfighting though, it also has love in it. But the swordfights are awesome!

The quality of animation is spectacular but there is superimposing done that is terrible for the movie. There is superimposed water, fire, and a shot of an actual tree in actual snow. But don't let that bother you if you are considering buying this DVD.

It took me a while to realize that this is both Samurai X: Trust and Samurai X: Betrayal in one DVD. It is an awesome deal if you want both (like I did). It is suggested for 17 and up for extreme violence, usage of alcohol, and some mature themes. But it is an awesome movie! Oh and beware of the first seen, it is pretty intense with violence.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie!
Review: I ordered this dvd a week or 2 ago and let me tell you it is the best! The action is quite spectacular and the visuals are stunning.Any anime fan should get or at least see it, even though i'm just an ordinary anime kind of guy! It is suggested 17+ but hey, im 11 and I enjoyed this as much as any person would, Its got blood and alcohol, Dang! They really should stop talking about saki, theyre obsessed with it!^_^

It is about a boy named (no spoilers here) or Kenshin to some of us whose caretakers get killed. He gets saved by a master of the art of sword known as hiten-mitsurugi.

Its whole visual style is superb. And as everyone says "they mix real life into it that makes it kind of silly" well, they do but it doesnt ruin the movie. This tells you everything you should know before the rurouni kenshin tv series.It has got hell alot of kick @$$ action. Of course youd think its all action its not, there is a HUGE chunk thats all romance but all of this plus a great story make this numba 1 in my world!

P.S. this is my first review. Tell me if ya liked it!