Rurouni Kenshin Reboot has been Pretty Solid So Far

Key takeaways from Rurouni Kenshin Reboot thoughts:
The reboot impressively updates the visuals and animations, making the action sequences, especially Kenshin’s fights, stand out.
The series benefits from pacing changes, smoother story arcs, and more nuanced character portrayals, enhancing the overall coherence of the storyline.
While initially challenging to accept, the new voice cast ultimately fits the roles well, contributing to the reboot’s success. Overall, I give it a solid 8/10 rating.

First of all, I’d like to apologize because the last time I talked about this anime, I called it a “mid-season review”. I assumed that Rurouni Kenshin Reboot was opening with just 12 episodes. But I was wrong and this season is actually running for 24 episodes, which is a rarity these days. So that last article wasn’t a “mid-season review” at all, it was more like a quarter-season review lol.

That said though, I have been liking the reboot so far. Even the visual upgrades aside, it has made a lot of “optimizations” to the series. While making sure that everything important stays in. So welcome back to… well a proper mid-season review. And today let’s talk about Rurouni Kenshin 2023 Reboot.

What do I think of the Rurouni Kenshin Reboot?

First things first, the visual uplift is obviously noticeable, the original anime is like what? 25 years old at this point? But the art style is pretty good and the animations have been pretty consistent so far. Both of the fights in episode 11 for example were pretty intense. Kenshin’s fight in particular featured some crisp movements as always. They do a good job of showing just how absurdly fast Kenshin is.

Aside from the visual uplift, I really appreciate all the pacing changes made to the anime. The arcs flow much better into each other now, the episodes are better divided and the pacing is not excruciatingly slow like the original. Of course, it remains to be seen how they handle the later “boring” arcs of the series. But so far, the new content added combined with the improved pacing and expanded characters really go a long way to make the series feel more coherent.

Kenshin’s character for example is way more nuanced in the reboot right now compared to the original. Sano got his moment in episode 11 as well. Now most of the voice cast for the series has been replaced, which is understandable. It took a while for me to accept since the original voices were so established in my head. But after 11 episodes, I can definitely say they found fitting VAs for the roles

Wrapping up

So yeah, Rurouni Kenshin Reboot definitely has been a step above the original anime so far. But since it is pretty faithful to the original as well, it still has the original anime’s flaws. But I can’t be too harsh on a reboot for that, cause they’re trying their best to improve wherever they can. So I think it is fair to give this anime an 8/10 for now. Let me know what you guys think in the comments though. I will take my leave here. See ya!!

Also, check out this week’s manga recommendation here!