Episodes:
1-2
Length: 60 Minutes
Features: English
and Japanese Language, Subtitles, Scene Access
Extras: ADV Samurai
X Trailer, Character Profiles, Historical Background
Rated: 17+
The stunning, dramatic Rurouni Kenshin OAVs were released
by ADV Films. There were a few complaints before theses
DVDs began selling. Samurai X was the rumored title
to be given to Rurouni Kenshin, and there was quite
a disturbance amongst the anime community about it.
However, people were slightly calmed down when learning
that Samurai X would only refer to the Rurouni Kenshin
OAVs and Movie.
For those complainers
who despise the name Samurai X, the OAV Case has a
reversible cover. I prefer the Rurouni Kenshin side,
but the Samurai X side is nice as well. Inside the
case, you can find a printed colored picture with
the Samurai X cover. Unfortunately, there is no reversible
side for this.
The video for the first
two OAVs are great, but the only complaint about it
is the size of ADV's subtitles. It's a bit too large
and could have been a more decent text. The audio
is superb as well. You can hear all of the music composed
by Taku Iwasaki clearly.
The voice actors for
the OAVs can't be considered great, just like the
TV Series' dubbed cast. There just isn't enough emotion
for some reason given by the cast. Out of the cast,
I like Hiko's voice the best. The worst has to go
to Saitou. *sigh* You just can't beat some of the
original voice actors.
Unlike the TV Series,
however, the menus are animated. The opening menu
has a nice picture of Kenshin on the right-hand side
(the same one used on the Samurai X cover) with the
Samurai X logo on the opposing side. Behind the DVD
options is a light fire waving around. Pretty much,
almost all of the menus are straightforward and feature
a picture on the right-hand side of the screen with
the giant 'X' from the Samurai X logo and "One
of These Nights" playing in the background. When
changing menus, a sword comes slicing down, sound
included, of course.
Extras on this disc
feature the original Rurouni Kenshin OAV trailer,
character profiles (Shinta, Kenshin, Tomoe, Hiko,
Takasugi, Katsura, Saitou, Ikumatsu, Kondou, and Landlady),
and historical background notes. I really don't care
for trailers myself. The character profiles contains
brief information on the specified characters. Included
is a clip from the episodes to show who the character
is, in case you don't know what he/she looks like,
and the names of both their original and dubbed voice
actor. As for the historical background notes, they're
a good read, but, unfortunately, not in the type of
format I like. The notes are used in a scrolling screen
format. It comes up from the bottom and rises to the
top, just like how some movie credits are. It's really
annoying, because half the time, you have to pause
the screen in order to read.
+ Video
+ Reversable Cover
- Subtitles
- Historical Background Notes
Grade:
B
Images:
Menu, Scene
Access, Set-Up, Extras,
Profiles, Liner
Notes
