Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerEven though this is a series, it can be viewed as a feature film. I personally liked it better viewing it as a film because it is very dynamic and the story flows much better. The first two episodes/first hour are not very good because of the dull voice acting and the confusing storyline. The last two episodes are amazing. The voice acting gets better and the story has some very powerful and emotional moments. The plot twist is strong and the ending is stunning.The voice acting gets better after episode two. The pacing is usually fast and the fight scenes are gruesome and bloody. Pros: Interesting and dynamic story, good voice acting after episode two, fast pacing, an amazing ending, some powerful and emotional scenes, and great fight sequences Cons: Dull voice acting before episode three, the story is a little confusing, and some slow pacingOverall Rating: 8.8P.S. This anime is very good. Like Deathnote and Fullmetal Alchemist, you have to willingly get engaged and be apart of the story. I would highly recommend watching this series.

One of the masterpiece of animation which will touch your hart. I saw all the episode of the Rurouni Kenshin. Who ever watched the series knows the Battousai the man slayer. But how he became legendary man slayer is not shown in the Series. To know it you should watch this movie. The complex emotion of Love and Haterate is shown in this movie and executed superbly. How Rurouni Kenshin got the x mark on his face is showed in this movie. I liked this movie. It is very touching and make you feel the power of love. The best part of the movie it will not make you bore.I saw so may animated movies and I love animated movies. But this one I added in my best animation list. The only reason I have given rating 9 because the emotions in this movies is shown beautifully. it is very difficult to mix emotion with the violence or fights. but In this move it is beautifully executed

Just to get this out of the way before I start my rant: I *love* 'Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman tan: Tsuioku Hen'! I fell in love with the film the first time I saw it and I can watch it over and over again without losing any of my initial enthusiasm for it. In fact, I seem to like it more with each viewing.'Tsuioku Hen' is the combination of a coming-of-age story and a love story, wrapped in a tight package of vicious battles and political ploys. The animation is flawless. The sword fights are short, brutal and very convincingly portrayed. The characters are drawn more realistically than in the television series and especially Kenshin looks better than ever. The more I see of him, the more I believe he's one of the most interesting and complex fictional characters ever created. And Tomoe is a beautiful, mysterious character, and even though she comes across as quite stoical, it's impossible not to see her appeal.In the manga volumes that cover the storyline of 'Tsuioku Hen', Kenshin was pushed forward as the sole protagonist with Tomoe performing as one of the more (most?) important milestones in his life. She was as a catalyst that shaped Kenshin into the person he was destined to become. However, I must admit, at the time I didn't regard her as much beyond that. Not that I didn't like Tomoe in the manga, but it was only after watching the film that I genuinely started to feel for her. The film gave her character more breathing space than the manga had to offer and allowed her to bloom into something more. She effortlessly managed to steal some of Kenshin's limelight and took up her rightful place as a second protagonist.Another thing I admire about the film is that it isn't afraid to be slow. During the second half of the story, when the couple exchange the dangerous streets of revolutionary Kyoto for the 'boring' country life, the film takes up a much more leisurely pace. There is such a big contrast to their previous life, that as a viewer you find yourself adapting alongside the characters to this sudden change of pacing.Also, I simply can't review 'Tsuioku Hen' without mentioning the music, which is positively one of the most outstanding features of the film. It gave me chills. Especially mind the music during the breathtaking epilogue. You think the music can't get any better, but then it suddenly does and lifts everything to a wholly new, superior level.Something I really got a kick out of is that most of the characters in the film are based upon people that have actually existed during that time. And I love that they sporadically put Saitõ Hajime in the film (another historical personage). His short appearances throughout the storyline, leading up to his fight with Kenshin at the end of the film, weren't necessary to the story and could easily have been omitted. I'm glad they decided not to. Saitõ's fight with Kenshin during the Ikeda-ya affair, which had previously been animated in the television series in a slightly alternate version, presented mixed feelings of both deja-vu and foreboding. In an odd way it provided me with a satisfying sense of completion, like everything had come to full circle. Personally, I've always had a thing for Saitõ Hajime. He's a smug, cold-hearted, sadistic bastard, but I just adore him.Now, to be fair, I will also discuss the few weaknesses of the film.If you haven't read the manga or have watched at least a few episodes of the anime, the political aspects of the storyline will most likely pass you by. I also believe the secondary characters might not get enough screen time to satisfy the people who haven't 'met' them before. These characters might seem to be whizzing by, leaving viewers to wonder who they were, what they were doing and what they might mean to the story. The dialog gets a bit dreary at times, but I believe that's mostly because of the limits of subtitling. If you get twenty people to translate the same text, you get twenty different interpretations and the original meaning behind the author's words gets lost in the translation. It's sad, but it's true and can't be helped much.But in the end, the positive aspects more than outweigh the negative. 'Tsuioku Hen' isn't just good as an anime, book-to-film adaptation, prequel, OVA, or whatever box you want to put it in. It's just *good*! I believe this is the kind of film that is so excellent it transcends its genre. Throughout the entire film the sheer beauty of it radiates of the screen, at times to a point it's almost blinding. There's only one word to describe this film, it's 'art'. 'Tsuioku Hen' highlights the fact that, beyond doubt, Nobuhiro Watsuki is one of the greatest storytellers of our time.Now, I truly could ramble on for several more paragraphs on why I'd recommend this film, but I suppose I've taken up far too much space as it is. So, I'll shut up now and leave you all with one final piece of advice: Watch this film!

Never mind that it is animé, this is great art! Everything takes place in the last breaths of the shogunate in Japan with different clans struggling to get ahead in the new era.We follow the life of young Kenshin who commits his sword to a worthy cause. Kenshin is merely a boy ordered to do a mans job, and although he never takes pleasure in his job he gets caught up in all the violence while surrounded by death learns how to love.This is the gem in the Rurouni Kenshin franchise and is worthy of a perfect score. I haven't been moved and awestruck by a movie for a very long time. Were the movie is a good but not fantastic animé movie this is an epic of war, love, sword fighting and drama. Just the look of the movie is unparalleld by animated movie and no computer animation seems visible. If they have used it they have stayed true to the manga.This is not just great animé this is great cinema. All fits to the concept from the animations, the surroundings, the vocal-acting to the soundtrack. I strongly recommend the subtitled version because you will want to get the original voices and all the drama you can sense with the tone and delivering of their lines. I have no clue on who the voice actors really are but I would like to believe that they are the Japanese versions of highly regarded Shakespearian actors. Even if I don't get the language the deliver the acting so honest, sincere and focused that I don't see myself watching an animated movie.