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Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal

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Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal
Cover of the Blu-ray release, featuring Yukishiro Tomoe (left), Himura Kenshin (right) and Yukishiro Enishi's eyes (center)
るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 追憶編
(Rurōni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Rōman Tan- Tsuioku-hen)
Genre
Created byNobuhiro Watsuki
Original video animation
Directed byKazuhiro Furuhashi
Produced by
  • Katsunori Narumo
  • Kazunori Noguchi
Written byMasashi Sogo
Music byTaku Iwasaki
StudioStudio Deen
Licensed by
Released February 20, 1999 – September 22, 1999
Runtime29 minutes
Episodes4 (List of episodes)
icon Anime and manga portal

Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, known in Japan as Rurōni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Rōman Tan- Tsuioku-hen (Japanese: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 追憶編, "Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story – Recollection (or Reminiscence) Chapter"), is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series, based on the Rurouni Kenshin manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki, and a prequel to its 1996–1998 anime adaptation. Trust & Betrayal chronicles the story of Himura Kenshin as the Hitokiri Battōsai during the final years of the Bakumatsu era while also revealing the origins of his cross-shaped scar and exploring his relationship with a woman named Yukishiro Tomoe.

The OVA series was first licensed by ADV Films for VHS and DVD releases in North America and the United Kingdom, and by Madman Entertainment for releases in Australasia, under the title Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal. Trust & Betrayal was later collected into a two-hour feature-length motion picture with new animated sequences and released theatrically in Japan. In 2003, this movie edition was eventually released in North America on DVD as a director's cut edition by ADV Films. After ADV Films' closure in 2009, Aniplex of America licensed the OVA series for a Blu-ray release in North America under its original title: Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal. The OVA was praised for its story, animation, art, music and Japanese voice acting.

Plot

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During a bandit raid that leaves a group of travelers dead, a young boy named Shinta is spared and rescued by the swordsman Hiko Seijūrō, a master of the legendary Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū style. Impressed by Shinta's act of burying both the victims and their attackers, Hiko takes him as an apprentice, renaming him Kenshin—a name he deems more fitting for a swordsman.

After years of training, Kenshin abandons his master in a heated dispute, believing he must join the revolutionary forces opposing the Tokugawa shogunate to fulfill Hiten Mitsurugi's oath of protecting the weak. He enlists with the Choshu clan's Kiheitai under Takasugi Shinsaku, later serving as an assassin for Katsura Kogorō alongside I'izuka, the clan's execution examiner. Kenshin gains notoriety as the feared "Hitokiri Battōsai", but during one mission, he kills Kiyosato Akira, a bodyguard whose dying strike leaves the first half of Kenshin's cross-shaped scar. Soon after, he encounters Yukishiro Tomoe, unaware she is Kiyosato's fiancée. Though conflicted, Kenshin spares her and brings her to his hideout. Katsura grows suspicious of a spy within the Choshu ranks after an assassin targets Kenshin—a secret known only to a select few.

Following the Ikedaya incident, Katsura relocates Kenshin and Tomoe to the village of Otsu, where they pose as a married couple. Over time, their relationship deepens, though unbeknownst to Kenshin, Tomoe had initially conspired with shogunate agents to avenge Kiyosato. Her brother, Yukishiro Enishi, alerts her to the approaching assassins, but by then, Tomoe has fallen in love with Kenshin. She attempts to dissuade the attackers but fails. Meanwhile, I'izuka—revealed as the true spy—manipulates Kenshin into confronting Tomoe, exposing her past ties to Kiyosato.

Distraught, Kenshin battles the shogunate agents but is gravely wounded. As their leader delivers a fatal strike, Tomoe intervenes, only for Kenshin's blade to accidentally kill her. With her dying breath, she completes his scar. Devastated, Kenshin vows to fight for Katsura's vision of a new era, then dedicate himself to protecting the innocent—without taking another life. Katsura later informs him that Shishio Makoto has replaced him as an assassin and dealt with I'izuka.

As the shogunate collapses, Kenshin briefly clashes with Shinsengumi captains Okita Sōji and Saitō Hajime, his future rival. After the war, the Hitokiri Battōsai vanishes, and Kenshin returns to the graves of the travelers he buried as a child, leaving Tomoe's scarf as a tribute. Later, Hiko discovers the scarf, recognizing that Kenshin has finally learned his lesson.

Cast

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Main article: List of Rurouni Kenshin characters
Character Japanese voice[3] English voice[4]
Himura Kenshin
Shinta		 Mayo Suzukaze
Masami Suzuki		 J. Shannon Weaver
Katherine Catmull
Yukishiro Tomoe Junko Iwao Rebecca Davis
Yukishiro Enishi Nozomu Sasaki Brian Gaston
Hiko Seijūrō Shūichi Ikeda Joe York
Katsura Kogorō Tomokazu Seki Corey M. Gagne
Takasugi Shinsaku Wataru Takagi Jason B. Phelps
Saitō Hajime Hirotaka Suzuoki Ken Webster
Okita Sōji Akari Hibino J. Shannon Weaver
Kiyosato Akira Tetsuya Iwanaga Ray Clayton
Iizuka Ryūsei Nakao Lowell Bartholomee
Katagai Mitsuaki Hoshino Douglas Taylor
Tatsumi Minoru Uchida John Paul Shephard
Ikumatsu Hiromi Setsu Lara Toner
Hijikata Toshizō Rikiya Koyama
Kondō Isami Hiroshi Takahashi
Shigekura Jūbei Satoshi Tsuruoka Charles C. Campbell
Landlady Shizuka Okohira Lainie Frasier

Production

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Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi returned from the 1990s TV series to make Trust & Betrayal

Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi returned from the 1990s Rurouni Kenshin television series and requested Masahide Yanagisawa to design the character based on his skills. Masashi Shogo worked for the screenplay. Another staff member was Yuji Mitsuya who worked as recording director. Furuhashi took liberty with the animation and often did stares from Yukishiro Enishi's point of view to see his sister die. While the OVAs are notorious for its violence, Furuhashi decided to use only the first episode as a major delivery of Kenshin's murders in order to tone down the gore. Nevertheless, Furuhashi aimed to make the fights realistic to give the viewers a disturbed impression whenever somebody is cut and the symbolism in Kenshin's scar. Furuhashi was mainly influenced by the drama Hissatsu when making the OVA. In order to contrast the style of the television series, Furuhashi watched Zatoichi movies. He also used influences from Akira Kurosawa's works and the novel Rashomon. Furuhashi wanted to make the art more realistic, resulting in kimonos and hakama moving in a different fashion too.[5]

Daryl Surat of Otaku USA stated that this series uses a more "realistic" art style than the television series uses, and that the series has "graphic, bloody violence galore" beginning in the opening sequence.[6] The decision to have Tomoe manually give Kenshin his second scar was the original decision for the manga. Furuhashi revealed that Nobuhiro Watsuki told him the original idea during a phone call during the middle of the original anime's production. Furuhashi did not expect Watsuki to change his mind and was confused when he saw the manga version so he decided to stick to the original plan. Nevertheless, Furuhashi also wanted to remind viewers of the style of the television series by often featuring flowers and leave the impression of a period drama. In order to focus more on Kenshin and Tomoe's romance especially with the former's focus on bloodshed, the director decided to make one scene of the latter menstruating and symbolize her conflicted feelings towards her husband. In contrast to common romantic stories, Furuhashi was interested in showing a married couple dealing with everyday's lives and keep focus on the fact that the wife might want to kill her husband. The antagonists facing Kenshin were written to give a major threat to the protagonist in the fourth episode and symbolize more the theme of the end of the Edo period to show both sides have their own fair side.[5]

One of the major themes of Trust is understanding the repercussions and after-effects murder can have, something that Kenshin has yet to comprehend though others have tried to point it out to him.[7]

Release

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Digipak art of the Blu-ray collection illustrated by Atsuko Nakajima

Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, with the screenplay written by Masashi Sogo [ja], and animated by Studio Deen.[8] The four episodes were first released on four VHS sets by SPE Visual Works from February 20 to September 22, 1999.[9][10] A "Director's Cut" volume, which included the four episodes, was later released on VHS on November 20, 1999,[11] and on DVD on December 18 of that same year.[12] It was later released in four DVD sets on March 23, 2001.[12] Aniplex launched a Blu-ray set on August 24, 2011.[13]

In North America, the OVA was licensed by A.D. Vision and released under the title Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal.[8] They first released the series in two VHS sets; Trust on August 22, 2000,[14] and Betrayal on November 14 of the same year.[15] It also released on two DVDs on October 10 and November 7, 2000.[16][17] The "Director's Cut" DVD volume was released on May 20, 2003.[18] Aniplex of America released the OVA on a Blu-ray set, under the title Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, on August 23, 2011.[19]

In Australia and New Zealand, the OVA was released by Madman Entertainment on two DVD sets on December 4, 2000, and March 20, 2001.[20][21] In the United Kingdom, two DVDs were released by A.D. Vision on January 27 and March 17, 2003.[22][23]

Music

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The music for Trust & Betrayal was composed by Taku Iwasaki. A soundtrack album, containing 16 tracks, was released on March 20, 1999.[24]

Reception

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Trust & Betrayal's story, animation, art, music and Japanese voice acting have all been heavily praised by various critics and, consequently, the series itself has been widely acknowledged as a masterpiece and one of anime's crowning achievements.[2][8][25][26]

THEM Anime Reviews gave the entire OVA series a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars, with reviewer Tim Jones stating, "powerful, evocative, saddening, and heavily charged, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal is a series that goes far beyond its comic-book origins, testing the limits of not only its franchise, but the medium of original video animation as a storytelling device. Furthermore, while it surpasses the original television series in many ways, it remains complementary and insightful to why Kenshin becomes the way he is. After all, nothing builds character quite so well as a stirring tragedy. It doesn't get much more tragic or stirring than this." He summarised the series as "dramatic, tragic, beautiful" and "a sterling example of Japanese animation at its finest".[2]

Trust & Betrayal has received significant praise from Anime News Network reviewers. Mike Crandol noted it as one of the greatest OVA series of all time, celebrating the new characters designs as well as the fights scenes which were also noted to be "terribly bloody" and beautiful at the same time.[8] In his review, Carl Kimlinger described the series as "stirring, devastating, smart, redemptive and pure perfection" and gave the series an 'A+' rating for the subbed version and an 'A' rating for the dub.[26] Bamboo Dong claimed that watching this series would benefit the viewer with a "stunning overall experience" before finishing off that "Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuioku Hen is a masterpiece, with dramatic visuals and beautiful animation".[25]

Animerica reviewer Rio Yañez praised Trust's "introspective take on violence" as well as its being "chock-full of insane samurai sword fights and free-flying appendages" while avoiding stereotypical freeze frame animation. While considering the violence "over the top", he felt it was well handled, avoiding being excessive or gratuitous, and that the action scenes were "well balanced by the lavish background paintings and designs". He did criticize ADV Film's English dub as "kung fu style dubbing", noting that the voice actors frequently mispronounced the Japanese names and left the voice track mildly confusing despite the English script's serious take of the material.[7]

DVD Talk reviewer Don Houston found the OVA's story and music solid. The director's cut version received positive comments by how the four OVAs were arranged with Houston commenting it "seems more like a movie that stands alone, rather than just the precursor to a long lasting series."[27]

Daryl Surat of Otaku USA said that, despite what Dave Riley said, viewers should watch the television series before watching Trust & Betrayal. Surat explained that the OVA has "great moments" that a viewer unfamiliar with the television series would not "bat an eye toward."[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Samurai X – Ova Collection". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Ross, Carlos. "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal". THEM Anime Reviews. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  3. ^ "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (2000) – Japanese Cast". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (2000) – English Cast". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Special Interview with Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Director)". Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal — 15th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray (Booklet). Aniplex. 2011.
  6. ^ a b Surat, Daryl (June 8, 2010). "Heart of Steel". Otaku USA. Vol. 3, no. 7. p. 36.
  7. ^ a b Yañez, Rio (November 2000). "Best of the West Reviews: Samurai X: Vol. 1 Trust". Animerica. 8 (10). San Francisco, California: Viz Media: 69. ISSN 1067-0831. OCLC 27130932.
  8. ^ a b c d Crandol, Mike (May 18, 2003). "Samurai X Director's Cut – Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 5, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  9. ^ OVAるろうに剣心「追憶編」 第一幕「斬る男」 (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 21, 2004. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  10. ^ OVAるろうに剣心「追憶編」 第四幕「十字傷」 (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 21, 2004. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  11. ^ OVAるろうに剣心「追憶編」 特別版. sonymusic.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 21, 2004. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  12. ^ a b るろうに剣心 追憶編. kenshin-tv.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  13. ^ 「るろ剣」OVA「追憶編」ニコ生で3カ国同時無料生放送. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 15, 2011. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  14. ^ Samurai X 1: Trust (VHS). ADV Films. ASIN 630587218X.
  15. ^ Samurai X – Betrayal (VHS). ADV Films. ASIN B00004YA1W.
  16. ^ Beveridge, Chris (February 15, 2002). "Rurouni Kenshin OVA Vol. #1 (of 2)". AnimeOnDVD. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  17. ^ Beveridge, Chris (November 7, 2000). "Rurouni Kenshin OVA Vol. #2 (of 2)". AnimeOnDVD. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  18. ^ Beveridge, Chris (May 10, 2003). "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal Director's Cut (of 1)". AnimeOnDVD. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Manry, Gia (August 25, 2011). "North American Anime, Manga Releases: August 21–27". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  20. ^ "Samurai X – Vol 1: Trust". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 17, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  21. ^ "Samurai X – Vol 2: Betrayal". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 17, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  22. ^ "Samurai X Volume 1: Trust". ADV Films UK. Archived from the original on March 14, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  23. ^ "Samurai X Volume 2: Betrayal". ADV Films UK. Archived from the original on March 14, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  24. ^ OVA「るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-」追憶編 オリジナルサウンドトラック（音楽：岩崎琢） (in Japanese). Sony Music Shop. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Dong, Bamboo. "Rurouni Kenshin OAV – Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  26. ^ a b Kimlinger, Carl. "Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal Blu-Ray – Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  27. ^ Houston, Don (May 20, 2003). "Samurai X – Trust & Betrayal (Director's Cut)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
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