Up with Kenshin!
Mar. 10th, 2006 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI've continued in my leisurely watch of Rurouni Kenshin. The more I watch, the more I love. I think what really sells me is not the idea of redemption and salvation (though that is really well-done, and I love that), or the fights (which, while not as fluidly beautiful like those in Peacemaker, are still great), or the plots or what not. What really makes me want to just revel in RK, and makes me grin, and makes me look forward to a next ep is the characters. I love them all. I have a feeling I could just happily watch them do nothing throughout the whole episode but eat rice and bicker.
Latest favorite? The episode in which Kaoru treats everyone to train tickets from Tokyo to Yokohama (train is a big novelty in those days) and our four heroes prepare to travel and sight-see, but their trip almost gets derailed (aaaah, puns. I slay me) when some bad guys try to rob the train because it's transporting gold.
There is something utterly irresistable about this ep. Maybe it's the scene that so reinforces my OTP: Kenshin/Kaoru, where the four of them are on the train, and Kaoru is hyper and waxing extatic about how going on the train is such a great idea, and has all these plans for what to do in Yokohama, such as try a foreign dessert called 'chocolate' (and I just want to throw my arms around her), or look at Western dresses. She is kinda giddy and happy and unselfconscious about her excitement, and Kenshin is just sitting by her quietly, utterly relaxed, and generally amused, touched, and happy in her happiness. It's really nice. And Kenshin is certainly dedicated to Kaoru getting her fun: when he is fighting one of the robbers on top of the train later, he tells him he doesn't like the heist because that would ruin their plans to sight-see. (Also, quite characteristically, Yahiko is ignoring Kaoru with all his might and staring out of the window. If Kenshin is Yahiko's father figure, Kaoru is that pesky elder sister).
Or maybe it's Sano freaking out about being on the train because how can steam move anything? It must be demons (he is freaking out during Kaoru's excitement, he is unhappy as soon as he gets on the train). And Kaoru trying to explain to him how trains operate, but of course she has no idea, and they end up having an uber-loud argument both enjoy thoroughly. And Sano freaking later about photographs, because they steal your soul, and Kaoru saying it's nonsense (when Kenshin is asked his opinion, he diplomatically says that every time someone takes a picture, a little bit of your soul gets stolen, heeee). Or Kaoru throwing her arms around Kenshin and telling him he is amazing (after he stops the robbery), and Kenshin appearing more flustered by this than by the long and baroque battle.
But basically, it's probably because it's a Western. If Sholay is a curry Western, then this ep of RK is a sushi Western. It has train robberies, people fighting on top of train cars, Kenshin on a horse and (because I think every story needs one) pirates. This episode makes me happy.
I remember![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kate98 saying earlier that she likes the K/K relationship because "Kenshin/Kaoru have this sort of yin/yang thing going on, where they shift roles and when one is fire, the other becomes water, then they shift back again" and the more I watch, the more I see what she means. I think the scene that most brought it home to me (so far) is during the arc where some crazy samurai wants to establish his own kingdom (yes, I am sure it'd be shorter to refer to it by the villain's name, but I don't remember it). Kenshin has been gone all night (I guess fighting a bunch of people and rescuing a brat from a watery grave keeps you busy) and we see Kaoru sitting on a stoop and she looks like she hasn't slept all night, and she is quiet and worried and freaking out like mad about what could have happened to Kenshin. And then wet Kenshin shows up carrying the brat, and (because the situation is serious), he is not at all the amiable bumbler he normally comes across as, and she is so relieved he is back and so happy and she looks utterly overcome with emotion and acts half-shy, and somehow their 'regular' matrix of interaction is all different for the moment but it all fits. (Oh and yeah, if I didn't know she liked him before, I'd know now...)
Also, the more I watch RK, the more I like Kenshin. Of course, I like his character throughout, but I realized that I find him hot only when he is pissed off or in battle. He is all different then: his voice is lower and faster, and he looks all intense and focused. And he is all commanding and sure. Or I like him when he is angsty and still in control (as when he sees the samurai and the cops killing each other and yells for it to stop, and he is horrified at the slaughter). Yeah, clearly something is wrong with me. In a way 'laid back Kenshin' is a mask, one he tries hard to grow into, and sometimes it slips off.
Also, I think my practicality does make me think of the oddest things. During the big climactic fight with the above-mentioned villain, one of the bad guy's strokes slashes Kenshin's shirt half off. Which is great news if you like ogling animated muscular flesh, but my thoughts? "Argh, he doesn't have enough money for a new one!" I guess he'll just have to sew it back up by himself. Or Kaoru will kill him.
Latest favorite? The episode in which Kaoru treats everyone to train tickets from Tokyo to Yokohama (train is a big novelty in those days) and our four heroes prepare to travel and sight-see, but their trip almost gets derailed (aaaah, puns. I slay me) when some bad guys try to rob the train because it's transporting gold.
There is something utterly irresistable about this ep. Maybe it's the scene that so reinforces my OTP: Kenshin/Kaoru, where the four of them are on the train, and Kaoru is hyper and waxing extatic about how going on the train is such a great idea, and has all these plans for what to do in Yokohama, such as try a foreign dessert called 'chocolate' (and I just want to throw my arms around her), or look at Western dresses. She is kinda giddy and happy and unselfconscious about her excitement, and Kenshin is just sitting by her quietly, utterly relaxed, and generally amused, touched, and happy in her happiness. It's really nice. And Kenshin is certainly dedicated to Kaoru getting her fun: when he is fighting one of the robbers on top of the train later, he tells him he doesn't like the heist because that would ruin their plans to sight-see. (Also, quite characteristically, Yahiko is ignoring Kaoru with all his might and staring out of the window. If Kenshin is Yahiko's father figure, Kaoru is that pesky elder sister).
Or maybe it's Sano freaking out about being on the train because how can steam move anything? It must be demons (he is freaking out during Kaoru's excitement, he is unhappy as soon as he gets on the train). And Kaoru trying to explain to him how trains operate, but of course she has no idea, and they end up having an uber-loud argument both enjoy thoroughly. And Sano freaking later about photographs, because they steal your soul, and Kaoru saying it's nonsense (when Kenshin is asked his opinion, he diplomatically says that every time someone takes a picture, a little bit of your soul gets stolen, heeee). Or Kaoru throwing her arms around Kenshin and telling him he is amazing (after he stops the robbery), and Kenshin appearing more flustered by this than by the long and baroque battle.
But basically, it's probably because it's a Western. If Sholay is a curry Western, then this ep of RK is a sushi Western. It has train robberies, people fighting on top of train cars, Kenshin on a horse and (because I think every story needs one) pirates. This episode makes me happy.
I remember
kate98 saying earlier that she likes the K/K relationship because "Kenshin/Kaoru have this sort of yin/yang thing going on, where they shift roles and when one is fire, the other becomes water, then they shift back again" and the more I watch, the more I see what she means. I think the scene that most brought it home to me (so far) is during the arc where some crazy samurai wants to establish his own kingdom (yes, I am sure it'd be shorter to refer to it by the villain's name, but I don't remember it). Kenshin has been gone all night (I guess fighting a bunch of people and rescuing a brat from a watery grave keeps you busy) and we see Kaoru sitting on a stoop and she looks like she hasn't slept all night, and she is quiet and worried and freaking out like mad about what could have happened to Kenshin. And then wet Kenshin shows up carrying the brat, and (because the situation is serious), he is not at all the amiable bumbler he normally comes across as, and she is so relieved he is back and so happy and she looks utterly overcome with emotion and acts half-shy, and somehow their 'regular' matrix of interaction is all different for the moment but it all fits. (Oh and yeah, if I didn't know she liked him before, I'd know now...)Also, the more I watch RK, the more I like Kenshin. Of course, I like his character throughout, but I realized that I find him hot only when he is pissed off or in battle. He is all different then: his voice is lower and faster, and he looks all intense and focused. And he is all commanding and sure. Or I like him when he is angsty and still in control (as when he sees the samurai and the cops killing each other and yells for it to stop, and he is horrified at the slaughter). Yeah, clearly something is wrong with me. In a way 'laid back Kenshin' is a mask, one he tries hard to grow into, and sometimes it slips off.
Also, I think my practicality does make me think of the oddest things. During the big climactic fight with the above-mentioned villain, one of the bad guy's strokes slashes Kenshin's shirt half off. Which is great news if you like ogling animated muscular flesh, but my thoughts? "Argh, he doesn't have enough money for a new one!" I guess he'll just have to sew it back up by himself. Or Kaoru will kill him.
