Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal

Not just an anime classic, a genuine classic as a film as well. Reminding me of Akira Kurosawa's works, this film is gritty, dark, romantic, and profound at almost every turn. Kenshin Himura and Tomoe are tragic characters and are also part of one of the absolute best romances I've seen in any media. Beautiful stuff.

Beautiful, tragic and mesmerizing, this is a powerful and well paced film. It's one of the few anime that transcends the genre and stands up as a truly great film. Beautiful stirring music, excellent acting and great writing make this must see even for people who don't usually like animation and/or anime.

One of my all-time favorite animes. You could even hate anime and enjoy this.

Great anime OVA, and (like me) you don't need to have read or seen any of the related material, it works well as its own film. Exciting and well made action scenes and good dramatic bits as well.

The story seems like would a good base for an engaging samurai movie, with intrigue and internal conflict and a web of related themes. But the presentation is pretty bad, starting with the horrific dialogue that has all the characters overexplaining themselves and musing in ways that don't match the characterizations. The plotting is mediocre too, and I'm not much a fan of the art style, so there's not much here for me.

Beautiful animation.

In many ways it's better than the TV series. However I wasn't really fond of the complete lack of any humor, though I guess it can't be helped considering how deadly serious Kenshin's character was supposed to be back then. Wasn't as tragic as I expected it to be either, anyone who's already familiar with the series could predict the ending before they even start the OVA. Still a great watch, recommended for any fans of the series and fans of anime in general.

Revisited (2)

I didn't come into this film expecting much, but it turned out to be truly exceptional. The pacing was a bit slow at times, but the character development was great, the plot was captivating, and the visuals were amazing. I had this in my library for a while, and I was never too much into the Kenshin series, so I was shocked to discover 2/3 through that the dark and violent protagonist was the same bubbly character from the anime! I really love how well he was reinvented here.

Quite frankly, one of the greatest animes of all time. Really helps if you've read the manga series first, as parts of the movie take on a new light.