Ruróni Kenšin: Meidži kenkaku romantan

It has been a relatively long time since I watched Rurouni Kenshin, so hopefully, I will remember my impressions correctly. The problem with Rurouni Kenshin was that I only saw it after the brilliant Gintama, which I thought set new standards for action-packed anime entertainment, which were quite high. I first watched it with virtually minimal knowledge of any other anime series. From what I recall, I quite liked the characters. My favorite was, of course, Kenshin and then his partner Sagara Sanosuke; I enjoyed watching them very much. The main female protagonist (Kamiya Kaoru) did not score very highly with me, and I preferred Takani Megumi, who I found much more mature and feminine. The bad guys were mostly very good, and I had a very good feeling about them, too; they kept me entertained and interested. As far as the narrative is concerned, the beginning was very good. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and enjoying their fights and interactions with each other, even though it started to lose its momentum as time went on. By the end, I was just watching this anime series because I already knew that the final denouement would come in the movies. As far as the humor is concerned, I must admit that I had fun, especially with Kenshin and his saying "oro" and the expression with which he usually accompanied it. I remember that. Certainly, some of the jokes were not very brilliant, and sometimes it was almost childish. However, it was still fun, although, unlike Gintama mentioned earlier, I did not have endless fits of laughter, and therefore I will only describe the humor as laudable. I enjoyed the fight scenes, which I think the anime's creators did very well and had the right atmosphere and level of suspense. The soundtrack was also great. Otherwise, the second reason I could not award this five stars was that compared to the Rurouni Kenshin movies, I found the movies much more suspenseful, emotional, serious, and interesting than the anime series. The anime series was quite entertaining, even though it rarely provoked any deep thought or even a strong emotional stirring in me. I did not experience anything where I would be like "wow." However, I do remember the pleasant smile I got when Kenshin announced to Kaoru (I think it was after returning from Kyoto) "Tadaima." I am not going to say that there were no interesting moments, I really enjoyed some of the arcs, like the New Kyoto Arc, even though the intensity of the experience could not match those of Rurouni Kenshin movies or even some of the story arcs from Gintama as mentioned earlier, in my opinion. Summing up, my overall impression of Rurouni Kenshin was enjoyable; I was entertained, and I will definitely watch it again one day. However, the anime series was missing something to really count it as a very strong experience and therefore to include it among the things I loved most, in so I ended up with a very pleasant 8.3/10. (30.07.2015)