Cheap Samurai X - Betrayal (Rurouni Kenshin) (DVD) (Kaeko Sakamoto, Kazuhiro Furuhashi) Price

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Customer Reviews of Samurai X - Betrayal (Rurouni Kenshin)

I'm just here to help you make the decision. So I'll just skip right to the point: this is the most beatiful piece of animation I have ever seen. Even though the animation doesn't resemble that of the Rurouni Kenshin tv-series I can assure you that once you start watching it, that won't bother you a bit. The OAV is a lot more serious than the tv-series, as it is about Kenshin's past. It masterfully captures the feelings of the people in it and it really helps you understand Kenshin and his actions. I wasn't able to take my eyes off the screen during the four episodes, because you get to witness such awesome fight scenes and experience such strong feelings(especially in the end).

The only recommendation I have is tfor you to watch it with the Japanese voices and english subtitles, since the english voice acting really is nothing compared to that of the Japanese, they truly put their heart and soul into it.

Hope you enjoy the OAV as much as I did =)

This DvD was incredible
Betrayal, the 3rd and 4th episodes in the Rurouni Kenshin OAV, was masterfully done. The animation quality is far better than the Rurouni Kenshin series, obviously. The music is beautiful, and the voice acting is excellent. When I refer to voice acting, I am assuming that you are watching the Japanese version with subtitles--English dubs on Anime are bad, and sometimes they reach a point of being offensive due to the sheer inexpereince of the voice actors.

After seeing trust, I was expecting more assassinations; I was pleasantly surprised to find that the killing stopped... For a while, anyway. The first episode is Kenshin and Tomoe getting closer, while Tomoe seems to be considering something, something very dark. The cold assassin, Kenshin the Hitokiri Battousai (a nickname he was given for being such a good assassin), eventually grows to love Tomoe. The last episode brings a closure to the OAV masterfully. This DvD is worth every penny, and I have already watched it multiple times.

(Note to parents) Although Betrayal, and Trust, are masterpeices, like many things, I would not suggest this be viewed by children, due sexual referances, graphic violence, and a sex scene. I would not suggest this DvD as a present to your little ones.

Revealed at last: how Kenshin earned his cross-shaped wound
Telling fans of the "Rurouni Kenshin" series that "Samurai X: Betrayal," the second half of a four-episode anime mini-series is where we find out why Kenshin has that "X" shaped scar on his face should be enough to get them to check out this prequel. The story is set in 19th-century Japan and in the first half, "Samurai X: Trust," Shinta, a young man sold into slavery after his parents died, is trained by the mystic swordsman in Japan to be the most feared assassin in Japan and given the name Kenshin. When he grows up our young hero meets Tomoe Yukishiro, a mysterious young woman whose fiancé had been murdered by Kenshin.

This DVD of "Romantic Tales from the Meiji Era" includes "Act 3: The Previous Night at the Mountain Home" and "Act 4: The Cross-Shaped Wound." In Act 3 Kenshin tries to live a life of peace that is at odds with his brutal life as he and Tomoe hide out in Otsu, posing as a simple farmer and his wife. Kenshin even thinks of making the fantasy real, although there does not seem to be any reason for him to fall in love with the mysterious Tomoe, but then the "traitor" is revealed to Kenshin, setting up the tragic end game in Act 4. As the title indicates, this is where we learn how Kenshin received his distinctive wound and the most impressive part of the tale is that writer Nobuhiro Watsuki and director Kazuhiro Furuhashi come up with something that is both surprising and lyrical. You might have trouble reconciling the contemplative Keshin we see at the end of "Samurai X" with the more childlike one of "Rurouni Kenshin," but it is hard to deny the power of this story.

I think watching "Samurai X" after enjoying "Rurouni Kenshin" is the correct order for viewing, even though it is the prequel to the series. There are profound differences between the two, with "Samurai X" being more sophisticated that the series, with the violence heightened and the comic elements stripped away. The prequel is not intended for young viewers, even if they are fans of the series, because even though we all know that Kenshin becomes the "Hitokiri Battousai" (i.e., "the man who slashes even as he draws his sword"), his being an assassin constitutes an even darker chapter in his early life.