Rurouni Kenshin - Shadow Elite, Vol. 3

Description

Aoshi and Kanryu plan to take up arms against Kenshin and Sanosuke, and the prizes are the life of the young doctor Megumi and the title of "Strongest Man." To achieve victory, Kenshin must break down the barriers surrounding the Oniwaban, while Sanosuke must break down the barriers surrounding Megumi's heart.

Customer Reviews:

Passionate Lady, Ah Gimme Your Love!.......2005-05-02

Ruroni Kenshin: Vol. 3: Shadow Elite contains three terrific episodes in the (looooong) anime series about Kenshin, a wandering swordsman with a mysterious and violent past, and Kaoru, a young lady who runs a doujo. Other friends have joined the gang, the handsome fighter-for-hire Sanosuke and the scrappy orphan Yahiko.

Episode 9: Strongest Group of Men - We learn about Megumi Takane's past, the terrible secret she is keeping, and whom she is fleeing from. The Oniwaban group of ninjas are out to kidnap Megumi and bring her back to her "employer," Kanryuu. Kanryuu has hired the Oniwabans for this purpose. The leader of the Oniwabans is Aoshi. He is the only member of the group who is not grotesque-looking; in fact he is quite handsome.

Sanosuke fights Shikijou to try and save Megumi.

Episode 10: Aoshi - Inside the mansion where Megumi is being held and considering hari-kiri (suicide), Kenshin fights the impressive Hannya. With his demon mask and red and black striped muscular arms, Hannya looks like an ancient demon out of Japanese folklore.

Episode 11: Farewell, Strongest Men - Aoshi and Kenshin battle. Aoshi is extremely agile and inflicts damage on Kenshin. Aoshi tells the story of the history of the Oniwaban group, and how they now have no place in society because of their freakish appearance and lack of any skills besides fighting. You feel a lot of sympathy towards them.

The vile Kanryuu interrupts with a monstrous invention - the Gatling Gun.

Episode 12: Birth of a Boy Swordsman - This is all about Yahiko, and his first real battle. He is smitten with a young girl newly employed at the neighborhood restaurant Kenshin and his friends frequent. But the girl has been placed in the restaurant for a sinister reason.

This episode is lighter than the deadly serious ones mentioned above. The end of the episode is hilarious. I watched it over and over!

Extras are a smashing art gallery, liner notes consisting of the cultural and historical background of some names and terms featured in the episodes.

Note: If you are a girl, prepare to sigh/drool when you go to "Setup" on the menu. There is the best picture of Kenshin, and some haunting romantic music. I just stared and stared!

Honor and Dishonor.......2005-01-04

As another reviewer has mentioned, the producers of the English language version of this series missed an opportunity when they left the episodes in their original order. Episode 12, The Birth of a Boy Swordsman, is excellent on its own. It is about Yahiko's first steps to maturity as a member of the Kenshin extended family when he meets a young woman whose past thrusts Yahiko into a conflict with a gang of ruffians who might very well be the end of him. Unfortunately, because the first three episodes are part of a story that started on the previous DVD, episode 12 feels out of place with its radically different mood from its fellows.

The first three episodes, and the last episode from the previous DVD, make up a story arc that begins when one of Sanosuke's friends dies as the result of using a 'new' kind of opium. In the conflict with the Oniwaban ninja that follows, Yahiko is poisoned, only to be rescued by Megumi, a doctor who turns out to have been responsible for the opium as part of her servitude to one of Tokyo's crime rings.

This puts Sanosuke in a conflict between gratitude and a desire for revenge, but Kenshin senses Megumi's inner quality. In no time at all, Kenshin and Sanosuke are at war with the Oniwaban, who want to prove they are the best fighters in Japan - over Kenshin's body. What starts out as a war with evil turns into a battle for honor in which we quickly learn that sometimes the apparent villains aren't the real bad guys. In the final clash the real enemy turns out to be greed and the creeping influence of the West over Japans future.

As is usually the case, the writer's make excellent use if the ussues that really were meaningful during the Meiji restoration of the middle 19th Century. The influence of the West, and the dissolution of the Tokugawa Shogunate created many opportunities for both ill and good. Opium and modern weapons both came with a high social price, and Kenshin, although a loyalist, was one of those who felt that new times do not have to mean an end to social responsibility. What is special about this series is that it makes this backdrop meaningful in a personal context as it works its way through the group living at the Kamiya sword school. For Western audiences this is both a delightful series and an excellent introduction to some of the key forces in Japanese history.

It is cool but nothing like Legend of Kyoto.......2004-11-25

Okay let me start off saying that this DVD contains Violence, minor profanity, and a LOT of blood. When I say a lot I am not joking. If your about 8 or under watch the kitty versions on cartoon Network (You will still get the point and they are not that corny). But if your parents say yes then feel free to buy it. it may say 13 and up but people don't always follow the ratings. I am 11 and I still think it is a little babyish about how Kenshin never wants to kill again. I first heard about this series on Carton network but i could not exactly get to see a lot and it was close to when they started to end putting it on. So later on I heard about it from one of my dads freinds who let's me borrow some of his DVD's. Then when he let me borrow some i was amazed at the animation. Like this DVD, the second one was pretty good too, I saw it with my freinds and they liked it. This one is really focused on the fate of Megumi Takani. A guy named Kanryu Takeda who is in a way working with the Oniwaban group led by Aoshi Shinamori is trying to catch her to make opium. It was the first time I heard that word but anyways the battle scenes are pretty good but there is another episode in this DVD about a girl who Yahiko has a crush on. She is being used by this gang of theives who want to use her to get money. But when Yahiko gets her out of that mess she is F R E E. One funny thing to do in this episde is when Karou kamiya (Yahiko's teacher) comes to congragulate him you change the voice speaking thing to Japanese. And it sounds really funny. One thing that puzzles me is why do girls like Aoshi. I know he is a sort of nice guy but can't you see the way he is cruel the rest of the world? He doesn't give a darn about innocent pedestrians. Please. I need to know that way i can... well thats no ones buisness. This DVD was like so good but you need to see the rest of the series to like this even more. I havn't seen all of Legend of Kyoto or Meji Era, but if they are both better then Wandering Samurai then they would both have to be extremly good to top this series

Aoushi Shinomori.......2004-11-20

Aoushi Shinomori is my with out doubt favorite character in the Ruroni Kenshin series. He is a mysterious man with great skill with his Kodachi. He gives Kenshin a real tough fight. While this fight goes on the others are not sure Kenshin can win with Aoushi saying he is the best. Kenshin is not sure why this man is even here with these people. I am sure you already know that Kenshin wins of course all the main characters in all movies or anime win, Unless u are like 6 you should know this well 6 year olds shouldnt be watching this any ways. Well i recommend buying this dvd. I would buy it just to see Aoushi fight Kenshin even though there fight is not that long if my memory is right i think its interupted by a special person well thats something you gotta find out when watching this dvd bye bye...

Old Habits Die Hard.......2004-09-06

In ushering in the meiji era there was a man known as Hitokiri Battousai translated it means man slayer. He was greatly feared by all and anyone who met up with him perished to his blade but then suddenly he dissapeared and for years at a time noone knew what became of him. The meiji era is now in effect and swords are illegal except those carried by officers. Kenshin Himura the wandering samurai was once that legendary man slayer and as atonement for his sins he has sworn to never kill again so he carries around a reverse blade which is a sword that uses the dull side with the sharp side facing in. However bad habits die hard and evil seldom fades so now kenshin must protect his new found friends from that evil. Loosely based off of real life events Rurouni Kenshin is bound to be an anime you will love.

DVD:

DVD

DVD