The Other Kenshin Hype – A Reflection on Reflection
by Michael Nicolas,
Before I begin I just wanted to point out a few things for future columns.
If there is something I forgot to add during my first few columns was an e-mail address. Sorry about that, in all the haste of starting this column a few weeks ago, it simply never crossed my mind about actually providing an e-mail. I should give that now, [email protected] . Believe me when I say I'll read every letter I get and even try to respond.
In my first column, I kept mentioning, “My old anime club”. I realize now that its going to sound somewhat awkward to keep saying “My old club”, or something like that. So I might as well mention “The club” by name. I used to head YAMA, an anime club at York University in Toronto. The name of this column is a tribute to YAMA, its home, and the lessons that heading it taught me.
Okay to the topic at hand.
Perhaps one of the biggest anime news stories of last month was the announcement of the Rurouni Kenshin TV series debuting on Cartoon Network in March. My congratulations go to John Sirabella and everyone at Media Blasters, this I believe will be the first of their titles to make the mainstream television airwaves, even if the TV deal may have been brokered by Sony. I was always a fan of the Bang Zoom dub of the series and I am very relieved to know that this will be the English version used for the broadcast. I had the chance in the spring of 1999 to see the first dub (aka. international) version made for Kenshin just before a YAMA show and honestly speaking it didn't impress me one bit.
Now since all the talk concerning Kenshin in North America right now surrounds the TV series, there is another rather significant upcoming Kenshin anime release that is somewhat lost in all of this right now…the final one.
I remember what I said when I saw the ADV release of the first Kenshin OAV at the end of 2000. At the time there was absolutely no indication that there would be anymore Kenshin anime, with perhaps its greatest story yet to be told. I said that if the Kenshin anime were to continue, ADV would have a big role in that happening. I actually said this a number of times to friends, and even Cookie and Tempest (one of my “audition” columns from about two years ago went into detail of this belief). Then at the end of 2001, we hear about the existence of Rurouni Kenshin: Seisouhen (Reflection). Not so surprisingly, ADV had something to do with it. Not so surprisingly, ADV already had the North American rights to it. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Kenshin would see one final breath in the anime light.
In early 2002, as expected, I saw a “fansub” of the Seisouhen. Now admit it folks, most of you reading this column who are big Kenshin fans chances have already seen an underground version of Seisouhen already, so I am not saying anything too shocking. The following isn't meant to be a spoiler to those who haven't seen it yet. But having seen it, it brings up some interesting thoughts about the Kenshin character, and plays an interesting game of “What if”.
What if 10 years of wandering never cheered up Kenshin? What if Kenshin openly showed the emotional scars of his violent past? What if Kenshin as a wanderer remained the bitter, dark, dreary, and depressing person he was when he was an assassin? What if Kenshin never smiled to Karou? What if Kenshin never said “oro”? What if Kenshin actually came to the conclusion that no matter what his beliefs are now, he may never truly come to terms with his past, and thus never find inner peace? What if the Kenshin as we knew him in the TV series never existed?
I know people might think that we've already gotten used to the Battousai Kenshin when we saw him in Remembrance, the first OAV. But if the TV series, and more specifically the Kyoto arc told us one thing about Kenshin, its that the Battousai Kenshin and the Rurouni Kenshin are two different people sharing (or is it fighting over) the same body. Many of us accepted the Kenshin we saw in the OAV because we knew that his past was bloody; and because he made enough references to it in the course of the TV series. But at the same time we “knew” that the 10 years between the Meiji Restoration (the OAV setting) and the early Meiji era (the TV series), would put Kenshin through his reflection and make him into a more gentle person, as opposed to bitter.
What the Seisouhen OAV did to me was surprise me, not because it was dark (that's common enough for OAV follow-ups of TV series), not because of what I saw, but because of what I didn't see. The first OAV placed Kenshin in another time and setting, one we had yet to become familiar with. The second OAV placed Kenshin in the time and place we had gotten used to seeing him, yet he wasn't the same. The first OAV got me used to the fact that Kenshin was dark, and how dark he really became. The second OAV hit me with the idea and maybe the reality, that Kenshin remained dark.
Reality? Well think about it. If there is one thing the TV series did, it gave us a romantic version of the early Meiji era where chivalry could exist in late 19th century Japan. Something that didn't come through in the TV series but comes through well enough in the OAVs is the fact that the Meiji Restoration and the resulting era were tough times. The Restoration was very violent and bloody. The era was tough in the sense that daily life was very hard in a land that was starting to modernize itself to the outside world.
I know that all of this might sound like a word of caution. But Reflection is still an easy recommendation for die hard fans of Rurouni Kenshin. I have to bring this up because I've heard from enough people who have already said they don't regard it as part of the Kenshin story. Doesn't help Reflection's case that Nobuhiro Watsuki (Kenshin's creator), has all but disregarded it as well. Despite all of that, the final OAV gives us an excellent new perspective on the Kenshin saga…and an end. I'd normally say closure, but to those who have seen it, it really is an end. I tend to differentiate between notions of "end" and "closure".
So what if the gloss was all gone? What if the Kenshin you knew was no longer there? Would you still watch?
If there is one failing of this OAV, and perhaps any adaptation of original paper works for that matter; it's that it still doesn't give us the whole story behind Kenshin's greatest battle. To that end, I'll make one final prediction concerning Kenshin…the manga will be announced for North America within the next 6 months. This is not because I have any inside info, its just my gut, especially now. Rurouni Kenshin is perhaps the most popular Japanese manga to not have a North American pickup, and the announcement of the TV series on Cartoon Network will only give it greater exposure and momentum. Obviously the inside track belongs to Viz because of Shonen Jump (where Kenshin ran in Japan), but anything can obviously happen considering that this was a long running manga going almost thirty volumes.
So what do you think? I'll bet you think I'm nuts. Well short of telling me to my face and me smacking you with a Kendo stick, please e-mail me, [email protected]
If there is something I forgot to add during my first few columns was an e-mail address. Sorry about that, in all the haste of starting this column a few weeks ago, it simply never crossed my mind about actually providing an e-mail. I should give that now, [email protected] . Believe me when I say I'll read every letter I get and even try to respond.
In my first column, I kept mentioning, “My old anime club”. I realize now that its going to sound somewhat awkward to keep saying “My old club”, or something like that. So I might as well mention “The club” by name. I used to head YAMA, an anime club at York University in Toronto. The name of this column is a tribute to YAMA, its home, and the lessons that heading it taught me.
Okay to the topic at hand.
Perhaps one of the biggest anime news stories of last month was the announcement of the Rurouni Kenshin TV series debuting on Cartoon Network in March. My congratulations go to John Sirabella and everyone at Media Blasters, this I believe will be the first of their titles to make the mainstream television airwaves, even if the TV deal may have been brokered by Sony. I was always a fan of the Bang Zoom dub of the series and I am very relieved to know that this will be the English version used for the broadcast. I had the chance in the spring of 1999 to see the first dub (aka. international) version made for Kenshin just before a YAMA show and honestly speaking it didn't impress me one bit.
Now since all the talk concerning Kenshin in North America right now surrounds the TV series, there is another rather significant upcoming Kenshin anime release that is somewhat lost in all of this right now…the final one.
I remember what I said when I saw the ADV release of the first Kenshin OAV at the end of 2000. At the time there was absolutely no indication that there would be anymore Kenshin anime, with perhaps its greatest story yet to be told. I said that if the Kenshin anime were to continue, ADV would have a big role in that happening. I actually said this a number of times to friends, and even Cookie and Tempest (one of my “audition” columns from about two years ago went into detail of this belief). Then at the end of 2001, we hear about the existence of Rurouni Kenshin: Seisouhen (Reflection). Not so surprisingly, ADV had something to do with it. Not so surprisingly, ADV already had the North American rights to it. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Kenshin would see one final breath in the anime light.
In early 2002, as expected, I saw a “fansub” of the Seisouhen. Now admit it folks, most of you reading this column who are big Kenshin fans chances have already seen an underground version of Seisouhen already, so I am not saying anything too shocking. The following isn't meant to be a spoiler to those who haven't seen it yet. But having seen it, it brings up some interesting thoughts about the Kenshin character, and plays an interesting game of “What if”.
What if 10 years of wandering never cheered up Kenshin? What if Kenshin openly showed the emotional scars of his violent past? What if Kenshin as a wanderer remained the bitter, dark, dreary, and depressing person he was when he was an assassin? What if Kenshin never smiled to Karou? What if Kenshin never said “oro”? What if Kenshin actually came to the conclusion that no matter what his beliefs are now, he may never truly come to terms with his past, and thus never find inner peace? What if the Kenshin as we knew him in the TV series never existed?
I know people might think that we've already gotten used to the Battousai Kenshin when we saw him in Remembrance, the first OAV. But if the TV series, and more specifically the Kyoto arc told us one thing about Kenshin, its that the Battousai Kenshin and the Rurouni Kenshin are two different people sharing (or is it fighting over) the same body. Many of us accepted the Kenshin we saw in the OAV because we knew that his past was bloody; and because he made enough references to it in the course of the TV series. But at the same time we “knew” that the 10 years between the Meiji Restoration (the OAV setting) and the early Meiji era (the TV series), would put Kenshin through his reflection and make him into a more gentle person, as opposed to bitter.
What the Seisouhen OAV did to me was surprise me, not because it was dark (that's common enough for OAV follow-ups of TV series), not because of what I saw, but because of what I didn't see. The first OAV placed Kenshin in another time and setting, one we had yet to become familiar with. The second OAV placed Kenshin in the time and place we had gotten used to seeing him, yet he wasn't the same. The first OAV got me used to the fact that Kenshin was dark, and how dark he really became. The second OAV hit me with the idea and maybe the reality, that Kenshin remained dark.
Reality? Well think about it. If there is one thing the TV series did, it gave us a romantic version of the early Meiji era where chivalry could exist in late 19th century Japan. Something that didn't come through in the TV series but comes through well enough in the OAVs is the fact that the Meiji Restoration and the resulting era were tough times. The Restoration was very violent and bloody. The era was tough in the sense that daily life was very hard in a land that was starting to modernize itself to the outside world.
I know that all of this might sound like a word of caution. But Reflection is still an easy recommendation for die hard fans of Rurouni Kenshin. I have to bring this up because I've heard from enough people who have already said they don't regard it as part of the Kenshin story. Doesn't help Reflection's case that Nobuhiro Watsuki (Kenshin's creator), has all but disregarded it as well. Despite all of that, the final OAV gives us an excellent new perspective on the Kenshin saga…and an end. I'd normally say closure, but to those who have seen it, it really is an end. I tend to differentiate between notions of "end" and "closure".
So what if the gloss was all gone? What if the Kenshin you knew was no longer there? Would you still watch?
If there is one failing of this OAV, and perhaps any adaptation of original paper works for that matter; it's that it still doesn't give us the whole story behind Kenshin's greatest battle. To that end, I'll make one final prediction concerning Kenshin…the manga will be announced for North America within the next 6 months. This is not because I have any inside info, its just my gut, especially now. Rurouni Kenshin is perhaps the most popular Japanese manga to not have a North American pickup, and the announcement of the TV series on Cartoon Network will only give it greater exposure and momentum. Obviously the inside track belongs to Viz because of Shonen Jump (where Kenshin ran in Japan), but anything can obviously happen considering that this was a long running manga going almost thirty volumes.
So what do you think? I'll bet you think I'm nuts. Well short of telling me to my face and me smacking you with a Kendo stick, please e-mail me, [email protected]
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