July 11, 2008

• Favorite Scenes: Kenshin

  So Friday is Favorite Scenes Day! I’m going to be posting descriptions of and possibly clips from my favorite scenes in anime, movie, video games, books, or whatever.  I’ve done this in the past.  Here are links to my two previous favorite Scenes entries:

  Cowboy Bebop: Green Bird

  Naruto vs Sasuke

  OK so today I’ll start off with not one but THREE scenes from another one of my favorite anime series of all time, Rurouni Kenshin  (It is *NOT* called Samurai X).  Easily it ranks amongst the top ten and maybe the top five. It’s only weaknesses are that the TV series starts off a little slow and the third ARC doesn’t follow the Manga and thus as you can expect really really sucks. I personally don’t like the Second OAV very much but that’s just because I found it depressing. And the Movie also doesn’t follow the manga but is not that horrible nonetheless.

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  SCENE 1:   Kenshin in the Graveyard
  
  This isn’t so much a scene as an *image* really. During the first part of the first OAV series we see a little boy named Shinta being transported along with a caravan. Bandits arrive and slaughter everyone and Shinta barely survives due to the timely arrival of a mysterious swordsman who kills all the bandits and then leaves Shinta in shock.

  The next day the mysterious swordsman returns to the location thinking that he should at least bury the dead. (guess he was too lazy to do it the previous night)  And there he finds, Shinta standing in a graveyard filled with graves he spent all night digging himself.  

  This is the dialog that progresses from that point on:

  Swordsman:  “You made graves for the bandits as well as your family?”

  Shinta: “They were slave traders, not my family. I was sold to them after my parents died of cholera. After they died, there were no bandits or slave traders. Just dead bodies.”

  Swordsman: “What are these stones for?”

  Shinta: “Kasumi-san, Akane-san, Sakura-san. I only met them yesterday, but I wanted to protect them. I was the only boy in the group, but they tried to protect me. They said “Please spare the child.”   I was too young to help. I wanted them to have special graves, so I wanted good stones. Those are the only ones I could find. I don’t even have flowers to put on them.”

  Swordsman: *poors sake over the stones*  “It is unfortunate to enter Nirvana without having tasted good Sake, so this is my tribute to them.”

  Shinta: “Arigato”

  Swordsman: “I am Seijuro Hiko, a swordsman.”

  Shinta: “Swordsman?”

  Seijuro: “My boy, you failed to protect something very delicate. You were entrusted with those three lives. Your tiny hands will remember how heavy their bodies were, but you will carry the far heavier weight of their lives with you forever. You have already carried them.  Now you must acquire the strength to support yourself, and to protect others. Then, you will be able to live your life, and protect others.”

  Shinta: “Protect?”

  Seijuro: “What’s your name, boy?”

  Shinta: “Shinta”

  Seijuro: “Much too delicate a name for a swordsman.  From now on your name will be Kenshin. “

  Kenshin: “Kenshin…”

  Seijuro: “I am going to teach you, boy.  Teach you my forte!”

  And that’s it. Here’s a link to the full first part of the oav.  Honestly I could have done without some of the dialog. It’s OK, but it’s a little cheesy. I honestly never liked Seijuro all that much to tell you the truth.

  But it’s that scene that stands out in my mind as the one part of OAV series I’ll never forget. That singular image of the tiny little boy standing in
  a field of freshly dug graves staring at the three special tombs he created for his friends that counts as one of my favorite scenes.
  It serves as a perfect introduction to the character of one of the greatest heroes in Anime and really in *anything* I’ve ever seen.

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  SCENE 2:   Kenshin and Kaoru – first surprise
  
  This scene takes place really early, at the end of episode six. A mysterious assassin has been causing trouble for our heroes and Kenshin is getting ready to face him. Kaoru goes to see him off before the fight. Here’s a clip of the scene:

     
  
  Admittedly when I first saw this scene I was somewhat tired, but I remember being totally shocked. Floored, really. I totally was not expecting that ending. Maybe it’s just the huge contrast since the scene starts off so sweet and normal and sort of just like a number of other scenes in the anime up until that point. I just didn’t expect Jine to come flying out of nowhere and snatch of Kaoru! I was amazed! It’s really at this point where I sort of woke up and started paying attention to the series. This sort of shocked me into being really interested in it. I was like Woah!! I wonder what’s going to happen next!  It was such a great cliff hanger and made me dying to see the next episode.

  Unfortunately the actual battle that results is only decent. It’s a step up from the previous battles but not what seemed to be hinted at what might happen by the end of episode 6.  No, we don’t get *that* until a bit later. In fact we get it in…

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  SCENE 2:   Kenshin vs Saitoh
  
  Words cannot describe this scene. Just watch it.

  Simply put, I think this is probably the best fight scene in anime. The music is brilliant. The animation so fluid and elegant. The way in which every image and word reenforces the characters’ development reflecting the characters feelings. It just builds up so much tension and drama and keeps you guessing about what’s going to happen left. Annoyingly it has the classical anime peanut-gallery aspect where secondary character comment on the battle at hand, but it is kept to a bare minimum. The action tells the story and the words are there just to add dramatic tension and further develop the characters.

  It’s a beautiful fight. The memory of it sticks with you through the series as Kenshin travels to Kyoto and fights that inner battle with himself trying to be a hero without reverting to the manslayer he once was.  It’s a work of art for the history books. And that’s why it counts as one of my very favorite scenes.

  • 11:23 pm
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