Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal

Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal
Cover of the Blu-ray release, featuring Yukishiro Tomoe (left), Himura Kenshin (right) and Yukishiro Enishi's eyes (center)
るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 追憶編
(Rurōni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Rōman Tan- Tsuioku-hen)
Genre
Created byNobuhiro Watsuki
Original video animation
Directed byKazuhiro Furuhashi
Produced by
  • Katsunori Narumo
  • Kazunori Noguchi
Written byMasashi Sogo
Music byTaku Iwasaki
StudioStudio Deen
Licensed by
Released February 20, 1999 September 22, 1999
Runtime29 minutes
Episodes4

Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, known in Japan as Rurōni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Rōman Tan- Tsuioku-hen (Japanese: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 追憶編; "Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story – Recollection (or Reminiscence) Chapter"), is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series, based on the Rurouni Kenshin manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki, and a prequel to its 1996–1998 anime adaptation. Trust & Betrayal chronicles the story of Himura Kenshin as the Hitokiri Battōsai during the final years of the Bakumatsu era while also revealing the origins of his cross-shaped scar and exploring his relationship with a woman named Yukishiro Tomoe.

The OVA series was first licensed by ADV Films for VHS and DVD releases in North America and the United Kingdom, and by Madman Entertainment for releases in Australasia, under the title Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal. Trust & Betrayal was later collected into a two-hour feature-length motion picture with new animated sequences and released theatrically in Japan. In 2003, this movie edition was eventually released in North America on DVD as a director's cut edition by ADV Films. After ADV Films' closure in 2009, Aniplex of America licensed the OVA series for a Blu-ray release in North America under its original title: Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal. The OVA was praised for its story, animation, art, music and Japanese voice acting.