English Dub Review: Rurouni Kenshin – Kyoto Disturbance “Encounter in the Forest”

I figured it out, I just have to hit it really hard. 
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

On his way to Kyoto, Sanosuke meets a fallen monk named Anji who teaches him a powerful new technique. However, once Sanosuke leaves, Sojiro appears and calls Anji to Kyoto, revealing he is one of the Ten Swords.

OUR TAKE

After last week concluded what was essentially the first act of this arc, it makes sense that we would have a bit of an interlude as we begin ramping up to the next one. In this case, that’s checking in with this show’s designated rival/foil character Sagara Sanosuke as he makes his own misguided journey to Kyoto. And as we established at the end of last season, he is absolutely nowhere near Kenshin or Saito or anyone’s level in terms of fighting, so he’s going to need some sort of edge if he wants to actually keep up and not be a nuisance. And seeing as this is a more grounded and realistic sort of story without any special powers or transformations, what we have in store for him IS…being able to crush rocks a lot better than most people. I mean don’t get me wrong, that does sound pretty useful in a fight, but it definitely feels a bit more understated in terms of a fighting technique than most other cases I can think of where a rival character has to get a major power up for character development. But hey, whatever gets the job done and gets him into more fights I guess.

With the introduction of this new move also brings the intro of Anji, a lapsed monk who seemed to just be coincidentally hanging around near Kyoto when Sanosuke first showed up! Again, lacking a bit of memory from the first time I watched this as a child, but even without that, something about this guy felt a bit off from the start. Namely the fact that Sanosuke just finding a random dude in the forest to get a new fighting move seems kinda not very satisfying, but also because Anji was just too distinctly designed to only be a one off character who just disappears by the end. And while I didn’t totally guess it at first, the fact that he brought up the Meiji Government and asked Sanosuke if he had any issue with them was definitely a tipping of the hand. Luckily Sanosuke answered correctly, but it’s also just pretty neat to see two characters who are destined to clash end up being able to discuss things they have in common, even if it is how the current government failed them personally. Kinda something I feel like I can expect a lot more in real life too, now that I think about it. Anyway, we’ll see next time if we get back to the main plot And if not, well then I could also go for following other characters for a bit too if need be. But again, something for us to see and confirm one way or another next week.