Later, I heard people recommend this ova repeatedly, and finally found time to read it. It contains so many themes and deep intentions that it really makes people unable to calm down after watching it for a long time. And I know that some of these passages will be revisited over and over again for the foreseeable future.
The Remembrance Chapter can be said to be a prequel to the TV animation. It is divided into four acts, and the total is about an hour and a half, which is the length of an ordinary movie. The story is complete and the characters are three-dimensional, so I think most people read it in one sitting. Even the soundtrack of this work can be analyzed for most of the day according to the characters and plot to illustrate how excellent it is, so perfect that it has been perfected several times.
The story takes place during the Meiji Restoration period. The reformists and the supporters of the shogunate were killing each other and fighting openly and secretly. Almost everyone was used to bloodshed and death. It is difficult to say who can have more sympathy for human life itself. with mercy.
Like-minded people form their own secret organizations and try to implement their ideals by killing. As a leader, send out the person who executes the character today and don't come back? Good to know, next time I will pick out a more superb swordsman; as an executioner, every time the sword rises and falls, I look at the bloody piece in front of me, and I don't have too many waves in my heart.
The protagonist's name is Hiicun Kenshin. In the process of trying to escape, all his relatives were killed. His sister sacrificed herself to protect herself, and was rescued by others and barely survived.
The benefactor who saved Kenshin was Higu Kiyojuro, who later became Kenshin's swordsman master and successfully taught him to be a strong swordsman.
"You can only live now. You still have other people's lives on your body. Live, become strong, and protect what you hold dear."
However, the film does not tell how a miserable teenager in a troubled world seeks revenge , to practice hard, and eventually become a generation of knights.
The truth is, almost from the beginning of the story, Kenshin was already a well-known executioner.
This film explores how people who already have all the abilities to realize their ideals face an increasingly ugly reality.
The story after that is that Jianxin insisted on going down the mountain and ended his cultivation, determined to use his sword to protect the defenseless people, and use his swordsmanship to open up a new era.
He just left a sentence,
"No matter how gorgeous words are used to cover it up, swordsmanship is the act of killing, and the so-called swordsman is just the executioner, that's all."
The daily task of Jianxin who joined the reformist faction is to kill, and he keeps on killing. To kill, do everything possible to weaken the power of the shogunate. He convinces himself that the killing now is worthwhile, and the inevitable sacrifice is always required for a better tomorrow.
During one mission, the highly skilled Kenshin was slashed on the cheek by a lower-level samurai, and the long scar continued to seep blood, dyeing the cotton cloth a scary crimson.
His colleague said,
"I heard that the wounds with resentment are very difficult to heal."
Later, the top reformists asked about his injuries and wondered who could beat him in swordsmanship.
Jianxin replied that it was not swordsmanship, but obsession.
He probably didn't know that his wife was looking at him coldly from a distance on the spot where he slaughtered the lower-level warrior.
Later, after a battle with the assassins sent by the shogunate, Kenshin saw a woman in white walking slowly out of the rain, and her body was stained with red and purple blood that had been splashed out when her blade had cut the flesh and blood of others.
The woman in white suddenly fell into the torrential rain.
It stands to reason that all people who see it should be killed, so as to ensure the confidentiality of the organization to the greatest extent. But Jianxin couldn't do it, and couldn't find a proper reason, so he reluctantly carried her back to the hotel where he was staying.
Later, in the repeated contacts, they were at peace with each other. In the era of samurai, men and women were common people with lofty ideals, and there was a clear distinction between them. The woman said that she was called Shedaiba and her home was not in Kyoto.
It's just the superficial harmony, sometimes it's cold, and it's cut open by the cold air of a short knife of Ba.
The evenness between the two sides continued until the outbreak of the Ikedaya Incident. The Shinsengumi, loyal to Kyoto, raided Ikedaya and killed many important figures of the reformist faction. The forces of the reformist faction received a great blow, and its leader, Kogoro Katsura (Takayuki Kido), had to temporarily hide himself. However, the process of Restoration will not end here, and Kenshin needs to find a reason to hide and come back when the time is right.
Gui lets Jianxin and Ba pretend to be husband and wife to live in the countryside of Dajin, until he asks someone to call them back.
During this time in Otsu, perhaps Ba Riri had to endure the inner tear. She approached this man named Jianxin with hatred, trying to find an opportunity to insert a knife into his vitals, otherwise how could her husband rest in peace? It's just the day-to-day pastoral life, although monotonous and dull, it can taste a trace of happiness.
"When you don't draw your sword, you are too gentle."
This warmth made her feel at a loss, and slapped her face a few times as if she was humiliating her.
And the wound on Jian Xin's face finally stopped bleeding. When they finally hugged together, the warmth in his eyes finally broke the coldness, and the corners of his mouth would sometimes rise, revealing a bit of a smile.
However, this short-lived happiness is impossible to maintain, and Ba finally chose to leave by himself.
"Goodbye, my second beloved man."
Jian Xin, who found that the beautiful woman was no longer there, hurriedly went out to look for it, but was rumored by the villain that Ba was a spy sent by the shogunate to the reformist faction, and the base was not far away on the mountain. Jianxin insisted on going up the mountain, but he really met someone from the shogunate.
The audience and Ba learned at the same time that Ba's father used his child to lure him to Kenshin, and had already laid an ambush to kill him.
The long pastoral life, coupled with the fact that he has been beaten by reality, has long been not so firm and cold in his heart, making Kenshin seriously injured and exhausted. Ba's father sneered at the reformers like Kenshin:
"Live and work in peace and contentment in the new era? Don't be kidding, the people have been able to live a peaceful life for hundreds of years because of the stability of the Tokugawa shogunate. For everyone's happiness, as long as Anything that is delusional about political innovation will be uprooted.”
Know that no one will know what the outcome will be until history actually goes to the fork. Everyone is just rushing up with blood, fighting bloody battles for their own ideas, and can't see the darkness caused by the so-called different factions in the process of history. At this time, Master Bigu Qingjurou's words echoed in his ears like a bell:
"Don't go down the mountain. If you join the troubled times, you must join one of the factions. In the end, it's just being used by power."
Two people who also hoped for the happiness of the people finally Rush to each other, trying to crush each other to implement their own beliefs.
Jianxin fell with a knife, and when he came back to his senses, he found that in addition to the opponent, there was also Ba in the pool of blood.
She still chose to guard her beloved with her life.
In the end, Ba fell into Jianxin's arms and used the short knife to inflict a new wound on the scar. With tragic happiness, the long-standing resentment was eliminated. It also allows Kenshin to regain the ability to perceive happiness.
At the cost of losing happiness itself.
This work is downright tragic. The real tragedy is not just the regrettable interplay between the characters' lives, but more of a hopeless feeling of powerlessness.
Whether in the style of painting, the rendering of the background or the mirroring of the picture, the film has achieved a seamless integration, showing the turbulent era together. I can even say that even if you don't listen to a single dialogue, just by feeling the pictures and music, you can see the beautiful cherry blossoms falling and smell the calm waves.
In Japanese film and television, there are a lot of works themed on the last shogunate, and the reason why this 1999 animation work can have such a huge impact that there are still new audiences watching it now is not only because of its ingenuity, but also its far-reaching ideas. . The more superficial works always like to have the characters stand in line, everyone is labeled as good or bad, and they focus on fast-moving action scenes without knowing what to say. The tragedy of Kenshin and Ba is not accidental but inevitable. They are not because of a momentary impulse or wrong intention, but this kind of love is destined to not survive in that era.
When the new era arrives, no one can stand alone in the gap between the old and the new trends. I sometimes wonder whether those arrogant words came from his self-confidence, or because of confusion about the future, and on the contrary, the strong man broke his wrist. Everyone knows that this trip will never return. In fact, there is no such a peach blossom garden that can live a small life without politics and peace of mind.
Therefore, in the context of this intricate age, seeing the ending of this poignant love, the feeling is not the grief that could not stop the tears due to misunderstanding, but the feeling of suffocation without words.
Because you and I both know that this is the ending that no one can change.
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