Samurai X Reflection

Publisher
ADV
Director
Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Production
Sony, Studio Deen
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
85 mins
Year
2001

Samurai X Reflections: Review and Comments

By Alex Lawson
26th Nov 05

Samurai X Reflections is the continued story of Kenshin from the anime Rurouni Kenshin. Just like Samurai X Trust and Betrayal, this is not a humorous OVA. As the title says, the first half of the movie is about how Kaoru reflects on the past when she meets Kenshin. If you have seen the first and second season of the anime, then most of the “past” will be recognizable. There are the fights between Kenshin and Udoh, Sojiro, and Shishio. There are even the fight scenes where Sonosuke and Kenshin duke it out both times they fought in the first season. The story of Reflections is that Kenshin goes out to war once again, but the Hiten Misturugi style of sword fighting has left Kenshin with a terrible disease because his body was too small to handle the pressure of Hiten. Kaoru’s love for Kenshin is so great that she also extracts the same disease as Kenshin because she wanted to feel Kenshin’s “pain and sorrow.” After the war is over Kenshin fails to come back to Japan and Kaoru keeps on waiting for him.

The second half of Reflections is the more and near the present and contains important scenes from Trust and Betrayal. If you haven’t seen Trust and Betrayal I would do so before watching Reflections. The story is much more depressing and a tearjerker if you understand the story of Kenshin and Tomoe. It has a cool fight scene with Enishi (Trust and Betrayal), and the way the fight ended was one of the most depressing endings I have ever seen. Kaoru stops the fight but the way she ends the fight made it sad. There is also a fight scene with Yahiko and Kenji, who is Kenshin and Kaoru’s son, which shouldn’t be missed either. The bad part about the fight scenes is that they are pretty short, no more than a minute long except maybe the Enishi and Kenshin’s fight. I think after reading an Amazon.com review of Reflections, someone was complaining about how Sonosuke just left Kenshin on his own to find his way through Japan. I have been told that Sonosuke could not enter Japan because he has a huge bounty on his head. All the scenes that are not recognizable were supposed to be part of the anime series, but the producers decide on a pretty bad filler season which cancelled the show. Instead the unrecognizable scenes are supposed to be in the manga, which I believe have not been released in the U.S. or Europe yet.

With the help of Sonosuke, Kenshin finally makes it back to Japan but his memories are jumbled up. Sonosuke had said that once he sees Kaoru again everything will come back real quick. I really don’t want to spoil the ending but let’s just say that Kaoru and Kenshin’s love are so strong that I rate their story as the Number One love story I have ever seen.

The animation is quite smooth and more realistic than the anime series. The storyline is one of the most depressing stories probably ever written. Not only is it sad but seeing Kenshin the way he is, is really sad. I have been a Kenshin fan since it first aired on Cartoon Network a few years back and the way the OVA ended was what I was not expecting at all. The music sets the tone for everything. Most of the music is re-made music from the Trust and Betrayal. I personally think that the sad, doleful tone of the music is part of the reason why Reflections is so gloomy.

If you are a Kenshin fan like me this is definitely a movie to check out because there is no doubt in my mind that this is the last Kenshin story to be told. For everybody else, you will have to like deep and depressing love stories; it is more depressing if you are a Kenshin fan. Do NOT get this if you just want comedy or a lot of fighting. If you feel like crying and feeling sorry for the characters watch this, you won’t be disappointed!

9/10

-- Alex Lawson 26th Nov 05

Samurai X Reflection Images