Samurai X Reflection: Director's Cut - Animated Bliss
- Animated Bliss
- DoubleSpeak
- 08/01/05
- click here
Story - Rating: 9 (out of 10)
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Reflections - Director's Cut isn't something you should watch without Kleenex on hand - preferably the three-ply quilted kind. From its maudlin opening theme to its dark swirling visuals, the movie goes for our heartstrings with the precision of a vascular surgeon. It's been fifteen years since Kaoru Kamiya first opened her dojo and her heart to a red-haired wanderer named Kenshin Himura. The couple are married now, but domestic bliss has proven fleeting. Kenji, their teenaged son, has left home, and at the behest of the Meiji government, an ailing Kenshin has departed for the continent to put out yet another political fire. When Kenshin is late returning home from his trip, a grieving Kaoru begins to reflect on the early days of their courtship.
Overlayed with flashbacks,
Reflections - Director's Cut spends more time in the past than it does in the present. Kaoru remembers the moment she first laid eyes on Kenshin, as well as the time the two spent together doing chores and in intimate tete-a-tetes. Of course, the trip down memory lane isn't all furtive glances and shy blushes, there's paralyzing fear and blinding tears too. Reanimated with delightful vivacity are highlights of familiar scenes: Kenshin's moonlight battle with Jin'e; his grim duel with boy assassin Sojiro and his final confrontation with Shishio Makoto.
Reflections - Director's Cut is by no means a glorified recap special though, it takes old and new, and weaves both into a narrative tapestry that stands on its own.
Arguably one of the high points of the film is the adaptation of the Junichuu arc - the final arc in the original manga series which never found its way onto the TV show. While the new version doesn't add anything more to what can be seen in the regular version (both are highly abridged from the manga), the scene still resonates. Ever since he killed his wife, Kenshin has been searching for a way to atone for the actions of his bloody-minded alter ego from the Edo Period, Hitoriki Battosai. When he finally faces Enishi Yukishiro, his wife's brother, we see a new-found resolve in the crimson-clad swordsman. Kenshin would gladly die to make reparations for his sanguinary sins, he tells his vengeful brother-in-law, but has realized that his life is not his own - that the only way to truly make amends to his victims is to defend those who live on, with his sword.
Sandwiched between the conjoined OVAs is the much touted all-new footage - about 8 minutes worth by my count. The new scenes fill in some important gaps. No Kenshin finale would be complete without a cameo by nemesis Saito Hajime, and fittingly, the former Shinsengumi third squad captain puts in an appearance. Other new material includes details left out of the manga, such as Kaoru popping the question to Kenshin, the couple's wedding ceremony and the birth of their son - scenes riddled with prattle about guilt and atonement. All this talk starts to grow a bit wearisome, but not to worry, you can pass the time trying to diagnose Kenshin's mysterious illness (learned opinion would have it as syphilis). But mawkish reminiscences must inevitably give way to present-day realities, and the second half of the film chronicles Kenji's journey of self-discovery, and a rapidly deteriorating Kenshin's, journey home.
Some will view
Reflections as the true ending of the Kenshin saga; others will no doubt dismiss it as a final attempt at capitalizing on the popular franchise. Whatever the case, it's significant to note that manga creator Nobuhiro Watsuki has said he believes that a series aimed at young boys like Rurouni Kenshin, should have a happy ending.
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Animation - Rating: 9 (out of 10)
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Reflections - Director's Cut has a color palette awash in red: the fuchsia of Kenshin's kimono; the vermilion of the setting sun; the crimson of spilled blood. Many parts seem almost red-tinged, as if viewed through a thin haze of blood. Or maybe the film just has me waxing lyrical. There's certainly no doubt that the widescreen presentation is well-animated, with a solid and crisp video transfer.
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Audio - Rating: 9 (out of 10)
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Both the English and Japanese tracks on this disc are very solid; you really can't go wrong with either. Of course, the English dub features a different voice cast from the original TV series (score this in the plus column) and the dialogue used is at times stiffly formal, but on the upside, Kenshin doesn't sound like a post-op transsexual (my apologies to Mayo Suzukaze). On the music side of things
Reflections ? Director's Cut doesn't disappoint much either. The opening theme, which is used liberally throughout, is portentous, setting the tone of the film. The rest of the music -- mostly strings and flutes, underscored by light piano - fits in nicely as well. Unfortunately, the director's cut removes some of the movie's most exhilarating, if admittedly repetitive, pieces of music from a handful of fight scenes, weakening their impact.
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Extras - Rating: 9 (out of 10)
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Reflections - Director's Cut boasts a number of goodies other than the clean opening and closing animations and previews that come standard on most anime DVDs. Also included on the disc are a dozen interviews with the Japanese cast, an ADV commentary track and a production sketch gallery. Sadly for purists though, there's no reversible Japanese cover.
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Overall - 90%
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With its headlong flight into the tragic, it's easy to why some might have trouble reconciling the OVA's ending with that of the manga's. But for all its benignities, the
Shonen Jump series also showed flashes of melancholia.
Reflections depicts the natural progression of events beyond the happily-ever-after. While
Reflections' ending may not be as Watsuki originally envisioned it, it's nonetheless moving and feels real.
Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 (Archive on Thursday, September 01, 2005)