As I have mentioned before, The Rurouni Kenshin Series is one of my favorites of all time. The TV Series follows the adventures of Kenshin after the Meiji Revolution. What makes it a bit difficult to follow is that there is an OVA series, called Samurai X, in English, that follows Kenshin during the Meiji Revolution, back when he was known as the ‘Manslayer’. After the Meiji Incident, Kenshin foreswore killing and wandered Japan fighting injustice. And though the TV series and the OVA are about the same character they aren’t drawn the same way. The OVA has a more vivid, movie quality to it. And ‘Reflections’ is done by another studio entirely.

Reflections is a retrospective of Kenshin’s life recollecting bits from the TV series and the OVA. Most of the retrospective scenes were redrawn for this OVA since they are from a different studio.

Kenshin didn’t have an easy life and those that loved him didn’t have it easy either. He wasn’t ever able to make peace with his past and always mistrusted what ever opportunities for happiness he found.

I see from AnimeNfo that the OVA is ranked #1 and the series is only #22. ‘Reflections’ is ranked #67. And I can understand that. The production values are a bit weak. There are scenes where they went with a drawing and just zoomed in on it rather than putting in an animated sequence that was called for. I suspect there were a variety of shortcuts taken that more trained eyes would recognize as well. But, I think that as a disk, ‘Reflections’ works very well at encapsulating Kenshin’s life and Karou’s torment. (Karou is Kenshin’s wife, and a major figure in the TV series. They tied the knot after the TV series ended) So, on sentimental purposes alone, I am giving this a 9 out of 10. I don’t recommend that it be viewed without seeing the OVA and the TV series first. And the Director’s Cut version is the preferred version to watch.