Samurai X

Praise all that's good and holy, I finally have Samurai X again. My previous copy was lost in an incident with a girl from a few years ago, and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it. However, thanks to the love of the Internet and finding cheap anime therein, I own it once again. I am very happy. Some of you know, some of you don't, so I'll explain.

There is an anime called Ruroni Kenshin, which I own, that is something like 135 episodes long and follows the adventures of a samurai with an X on one cheek who has a reverse blade sword and refuses to kill. It's fairly funny, largely entertaining, has some good philosophy stuff, and is very long. But good till the 100th episode or so. Whatever, the important details are samurai, X on face, correcting for a past life.

Samurai X Trust & Betrayal is the story of how Kenshin became who he is. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen. Not one of the best animes, one of the best movies. Much like Princess Mononoke, it doesn't remotely matter that this movie is animated, it's beautiful, poignant, and quite obscenely (and wonderfully) violent at times. Everything you need for a true Japanese tragedy. And boy howdy is it tragic. But as you watch it to the end, sniffing away, you'll see why it's worth it.

Samruai X Reflections, while also amazing, won't make any goddamn sense unless you've seen the entire Kenshin series, so you're safe skipping it if you don't want to spend, oh, months watching the series. Don't get me wrong, the movie is great, but if you're new to anime, not worth it.

So yes, I'm happy. And there's more anime on the way. So after I've watched that, I'll yammer on about it here I'm sure. Why not? Oh yeah, Final Fantasy Unlimited... Crap. One of the most disappointing things I've ever seen. For the love of all that's good and holy, don't watch it. That is all.