Rurouni Kenshin - Fire Requiem

Description

In every war there will come a single battle like no other. It is a battle with no rules, where unlikely allies fight side by side until none have the strength to stand. The stage has been lit with fire and hate as the final players gather. Kenshin Himura, Sanosuke Sagara, Hajime Saito, Aoshi Shinomori, and Makoto Shishio remain. Between these five men, the future of the Meiji Era will be decided. Kenshin has come a long way since beginning the walk to Kyoto. However, if closure is not found to the tragic tale of the Battousai, he will never return home to Tokyo. The final battle has begun!

Customer Reviews:

Best One of the Series.......2004-11-28

This is absolutely the best DVD of the series. Not only does it provide the ending to the Kyoto arc, it leaves you with a great feeling. There really isn't a cliff-hanger, which is nice, and out of all the DVDs, Fire Requiem has the BEST outtake reel. It is simply hilarious.

If you're looking for a feel-good ending to a story line, this is the best way to go.

Another Work of Art.......2004-09-17

Oh my gosh. This is one of the best anime I have seen in my life. It has EVERYTHING, or three bricks short. This DVD will feature the last few episodes of the battle between Makoto Shishio. I won't spoil anything, but here's the review.

Animation-This is some of the best artwork an anime can produce. The water shimmers as it does in real life, and is the most realistic thing I have ever seen in an anime. Fires look pretty good, battle sequences are full of action and full of movement and flexibility. 5/5

Music-I never cared much for "It's Gonna Rain!" or "One Half", but I came to like them, mainly because of the animated sequence with it. I personally thought "One Half" was much to quick, but that is how Japanese is said, quickly. I originally heard the MIDI version of "It's Gonna Rain!", and though it sounded like crappy Mario music from the original SNES game, Super Mario Bros., but the MP3 is so much better and fuller. 3.5/5

Voice Acting-Not all that bad. Kenshin's voice was well selected, Shishio's was as well, suprisingly, Yumi's was pretty good. It wasn't too young, nor not too old, just right. Misao's and Kaoru's sounded too young, and so did Yahiko's. Sanosuke's voice was pretty good, I believe Lex Lang did his, whom was featured in .hack//SIGN as well. 3.5/5

Dub-The most dreaded part in anime. The dub. I can't remember which company did this one, but it was great! There might have been, what, three parts that were off? All of it at least most of it was relating to the dub, if not exact. Dub wins 4/5.

Overall Rating-5 out of 5, woo hoo! Dub was great, musis was pretty good, voice acting was great for the most part, animation was beautiful, heck, this is one of the best. Probably one of the top ten anime existing in America, as far as dub and whatnot.
All combined with romance, comedy, and action, this is a must-see. Rated 13^ for somewhat graphic violence, a little bit of language, and death. Nothing too serious, just Makoto Shishio stabs his sword through Yumi and into Kenshin, plus it shows Shishio being burned alive from fighting too long, him, Yumi, and Houji in Hell, only it is a big place with blue rocks. No adult material, definitely recommended for ages 13^.

The Legend of Kyoto epic comes to a fiery conclusion.......2004-01-06

Season Two and the epic "Legend of Kyoto" story arc comes to an end on "Rurouni Kenshin: Fire Requiem," the fourteenth collection of episodes of the Japanese anime, as Kenshin Himura fights for the future of the Meiji era against Sishio:

Episode 58, "The Age Chooses Shishio?: Kenshin's Greatest Crisis," finds Kenshin down and out, with Saitoh and Sano in not much better shape to face Makoto Shisio. But they go up against him nonetheless to stop Shisio's quest to rule Japan. Episode 59, "Not Out of Luck!: The Revival of a Fighting Spirit" finds that only Aoshi Shinomori, already weakened by his fight with Kenshin, is left to stand against Shisio. Meanwhile, Kenshin's thoughts on the edge of death turn to Ms. Kuro. Episode 60, "The Man Who is Chosen for Victory: Shishio Verus Kenshin, Finale" tells you from the start that all the death matches between Kenshin and Shishio are finally going to come to an end. Despite all of his evil deeds, Shishio saves the worst for last before meeting a most fitting fate. At this point in the series Beethoven's 13th Piano Sonata ("Midnight Blue") is introduced as a recurring music theme that is used to good effect throughout the rest of the season. Once again the villain has an Achilles heel that saves the day for our hero, but at least this time there was a physiological twist that had to do with how Shisio was so badly burned.

Episode 61, "The Juppongatana who Remain: A Choice for Life" begins the two-part epilogue to the Kyoto storyline as Kenshin and the others are finally reunited and take time to heal before considering where their paths must go next. Episode 62, "Kyoto, the Engraved Memory: Begin with a Wish" finds Kenshin and his friends finally returning home to Kuro's dojo, but not before Kenshin makes a visit to a very special place. The characters might be back together again, but given everything that has happened they are changed, and we should see some interesting developments off of this in the third season of "Rurouni Kenshin" (to wit, Kenshin and Kuro might finally talk to each other about their feelings).

Extras on this DVD include the usual Liner Notes and a good sent of ad-libbed Outtakes, but this time there is also an Attack List that translates each of the attacks of Kenshin, Anji, Sanosuke, Saito, Misao, Aoshi, Shishio, Chou, Henya, Hannya, Raijuta, Jinei, Kamatari, Okina, Usui, and Yahiko. So now you can appreciate the difference between the Ryu-tsui-sen (Dragon Hammer Flash) and the Ryu-shou-sen (Dragon Fight Flash), and, of course, the Sou-ryu-sen (Twin Dragon Flash). There are also messages from the various characters that make for a nice touch at the end of Season Two.

A Rurouni's Finest Hour.......2003-11-30

The Kyoto Arc is my personal favorite of all the Rurouni Kenshin storylines, be they manga or anime. It really goes deeper into Kenshin's past, his character, and the people who care for him than any other season in the series.

Fire Requiem is where it all goes down. Not only does Kenshin have to face his replacement and nemesis, Makoto Shishio, but he must defeat him without reverting to the Hitokiri Battousai, the killer mentality that nearly stole his humanity during the Bakumatsu period. He is aided by allies and enemies alike, all drawm together against a common foe, and the final blows are certainly something to remember.

Many consider this the end of the Ruouni Kenshin saga in any way shape or form. They are wrong, but this is a great end to a wonderful storyline, and the translation from manga to anime form couldn't have been better.

The DVD package is made all the sweeter by a few gems in the extras (the cast REALLY had fun with the outtakes) and, of course, the spectacular Heart of Sword as the ending episode theme. No Kenshin collection should be without it.

The Best DVD of the Kyoto Saga.......2003-10-23

This is A "must have item" for all Rurouni Kenshin Fans. It has geat action scenes, suprising twists, and a killer ending.

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