Reviewed on May 31st, 2006

Visually

Samurai X visually is probably the coolest I've seen. The blood and violence parts are great. Other than that I really don't have anything else to say about it visual wise.

Audio

The music is one of the main supporters to the Samurai X. It's music is great and cool to listen to. The voice dubbing is mediocre compared to other anime series but it's tolerable to listen to. Plus the quality makes up for it!

Storyline

Anime fan favorite Himura Kenshin is an affable, honorable man who tries to protect the weak and preserve life in all forms. Three years of Rurouni Kenshin TV series told how he gathered a group of like-minded, lonely, good-hearted people after the Meiji Restoration replaced the Tokugawa Shogunate, and traveled around Japan in his quest to atone for his actions as a bodyguard and assassin in one of the rebel factions that overthrew the Shogunate. As the Hitokiri Battousai, the legendary swordsman who could not be bested in battle, he murdered untold numbers of people. That period of his life is spelled out in a four-episode OVA series. Samurai X: The Motion Picture blends the divergent animation styles of the TV series and the OVAs in telling a story that touches on both eras of his life. After a final dramatic battle with insane revolutionary warlord Shishio in the TV show (which Media Blasters continues to release, though they're over half a year away from that point in the series), Kenshin and his friends return to Tokyo by train, passing through Yokohama, where they stop to see the new Western-style architecture that's been drawing tourists.

They also meet some obnoxious Western-style Westerners: a group of drunken, rowdy foreign sailors in the process of smashing things and attempting to assault a local girl. A samurai defends her, displaying phenomenal speed, power and self-control, and Kenshin and company see to it that he and the girl escape the police afterward. Kenshin speaks briefly to the samurai, Shigure Takimi, and determines that he's a man of skill, honor and strong personal beliefs--a traditional warrior after Kenshin's own heart. Unfortunately, some of Takimi's strong beliefs include the conviction that the Meiji government is hopelessly corrupt and must be overthrown. Acting to avenge a clanmate 14 years dead, Takimi has drawn together an army of the disaffected and is plotting to kill the visiting British foreign minister. Kenshin, as one of the few men Takimi can truly respect, steps in to try to calm Takimi before it's too late. The problem is, they've met before--as the Battousai, Kenshin was the one who killed Takimi's long-mourned comrade.

DVD

Well the DVD is pretty cool with some special features. Nothing to complain and degrade about.

Overall

Overall Samurai X: The Motion Picture is a superb anime movie. It is very intriguing to most people who have Cartoon Network. They have seen Rurouni Kenshin but they never saw the Samurai X the anime that started it all.

by Aidan