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Episode 10: You And I Fit Together
Air date: December 6th
Channel: TV Tokyo
Length: 23 minutes
Summary
Kazuki and Tokiko must fight the Hayasaka twins: Kazuki insists on taking on Shuusui by himself, even though he is troubled by having to fight a friend. Meanwhile, Tokiko is challenging Ouka.
Shuusui proves to be a fearsome opponent, and his busou renkin in the form of a katana, called Sword Samurai X, has the ability to absorb the energy emitted by Kazuki's lance.
How will Kazuki handle Shuusui's Gyakudou, the attack that Ouka predicted would cut him in half if performed with a real sword, and which Kazuki has never managed to evade during their past training sessions?
New main characters introduced:
Wasabi Mizuta as Angel Gozen
Guest starring:
none
Compared to the manga...
This episode covers the chapters 29 to 31 of the manga.
Nothing crucial is left out, but particularly one little gag is missing: in the manga, Kazuki and Shuusui end up outside the school building because they are doing the typical shounen battle move of suddenly appearing behind one's opponent in a blur a bit too often.
In the anime, they fight their way out, which is also nice to watch, so I don't think the loss is that great.
When Mahiro turns on the TV, the screen shows John Doe, the main character from Embalming - Dead Body and Bride, one of Watsuki's latest oneshots. Of course, this is not what was shown in the manga, since Embalming did not even exist when the chapter was published.
Opinion
The duel between Kazuki and Shuusui is clearly the highlight of all the fighting scenes so far. It is quite well-animated. I love it.
As usual, the anime stays very true to the manga, so in terms of adaptations, there is really nothing to complain about. There appears to be less blood, but the injuries themselves are still nasty, and one in particular just looks way more shocking in the anime than in the manga.
I very much appreciated John's cameo, too. Since it was not in the manga, it took me completely by surprise. I couldn't have been more stunned had I met him in the street! Well, now that's a creepy thought. It is definitely great that we get to see inside jokes like this, and not just about Rurouni Kenshin but also about Watsuki's other works.
(Written by Kaeli on December 7th)