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Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal (Tsuioku-hen)

Also known as Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku-hen

るろうに剣心―明治剣客浪漫譚―追憶編

In the days before the Japanese Revolution, Hiko Seiijuro, a wandering master swordsman and hermit, encounters a bandit raid on a slave wagon. Hiko kills the raiding bandits in hopes of saving as many lives as possible, but only manages to spare one life from the massacre. Hiko leaves the child, advising him to go to the nearby village and have them take care of him.

A few days later, as Hiko comes back to check upon the child he saved, he is shocked to see the child had created graves, both for the slaves he befriended and the bandits who killed them. Seeing potential in the young one, Hiko takes the child under his wing, names him Kenshin, meaning "heart of sword," and teaches him about the art of swordsmanship under the Hiten Mitsuruugi Ryu.

Struggling in a constant challenge with his ideal beliefs reflecting against the harshness of reality, Tsuiokuhen tells the melancholic and dark story of Himura Kenshin as one of the most feared assassins of the Japanese Revolution: the Hitokiri Battousai.

OVA anime, 4 episodes, Winter 1999, Studio DEEN. Episode guide with the official trailer and links to licensed services. Studio Studio DEEN. Genres: Action, Drama, Romance. Season: Winter 1999.

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Characters and voice cast

Staff

Production: Studio DEEN (animation), Aniplex of America.

Rankings on AniList: #2 highest rated all time, #62 most popular all time, #1 highest rated 1999, #1 most popular 1999.

AniList members score Rurouni Kenshin OVA: Trust & Betrayal (Tsuioku-hen) 85/100. On their lists: 1,040 watching, 26,881 completed, 18,705 planning to watch, 336 dropped; 2,098 favourites.

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Episodes

  1. Episode 1: The Man of the Slashing Sword
  2. Episode 2: The Lost Cat
  3. Episode 3: The Previous Night at the Mountain Home
  4. Episode 4: The Cross-Shaped Wound