realistic Rurouni Kenshin. a sad story

being already aware of the fact that most files end up being deleted, and most links - expired, I hurried up to download Rurouni Kenshin Shin Kyouto Hen while it's still available

however I had no intention to watch it as soon as I get it. I wanted to wait until the second part comes out. well, I mean, and want it now as well, but after downloading the first part I had to check the files whether they have good quality and require subtitles. and....

the first part being short - a half of the full length film, 46 minutes to be precise - and my VLC being rather slow recently, I ended up watching several crucial moments

mixed feeling. I cannot make any conclusion, of course, until I watch it properly. but this is NOT the TV series I loved so much, nor 'tis the tragic OVAs which were almost complete opposite of the series

the biggest disappointment? the seiyuus. I mean, 'tis not their fault, they are the same. but they were required to pronounce different text. well, times have changed, 'tis only natural... but the original charm is almost lost. there is no more tension and high speed so peculiar to the 90s. instead, the lines are pronounced slowly, as if the graphics cannot follow the high tempo of normal speech

it does seem so to me. characters are poorly drawn, and the most beautiful scenes are those with nature and town views (well, I hope I can call the old Kyoto a town?) - backgrounds, in general. no, better to say - characters are quite good, proportional... but the recent graphics of ALL the studios seem to be a result of great economy in details. they look as if there were a limited number of colours in the palette of studios and, there was limited time - well, it had always been, but while earlier the economy was achieved by unproportional and lazy drawing of the outlines, this time the method is different, the sacrifice is colouring. no, better to say - outlines are not of high quality, too, but I am no longer waiting for them to be good

and the plot. no more ORO. no more original atmosphere. a realistic story. realistic to the extent that the process of Shihio making love to Yumi-san is shown. of course, we are not children, and we knew there was such a thing in the original, there could not be no. but 'twas assumed, not shown. I am almost sure, the same goes for the other subtleties which were so precious. those subtleties made 'RK' a romantic (not romantic in the meaning of shoujo-love-stories) work. no subtleties - no romance. realism. this is what we will see this time

at first I was glad that the director is the same as in the TV series. now I am not. it would be easier for me to blame the very fact that the director was changed for the epic fail. now that he is the same - who or what am I to blame? and how could the same person create these two things?

p. s. and the ending theme. at least they could respect the memory of Kawai Eri-sama and put HER original version of the song