るろうに剣心 伝説の最期編, 'Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends' Movie Review

Rurouni Kenshin : The Legend Ends Movie Review

Following up on last months release of the 2nd movie, Kyoto Inferno, the final movie in the Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy,るろうに剣心 伝説の最期編 or 'Rurouni Kenshin, The Legend Ends' concludes all of the events in the Shishio Arc. This is one of first honestly decent live action animation adaptations to date and holds its own as a movie trilogy. The movie follows on the final the final events of the 2nd movie, with Kenshin being picked up by his previous master 'Seijuro Hiko' and becoming separated from Kaoru. Meanwhile Shishio threatens the government who then pursues Kenshin.

I am writing this review with the assumption that readers know the events of either the manga or anime series, therefore some minor spoilers may be included!

Masaharu Fukuyama was a surprising reveal for many as the face of Seijuro. He does a great job of playing Kenshin's mentor and a large part of the beginning revolves around his training and duals with Kenshin. Often besting him with a simple wooden weapon. He eventually impresses upon Kenshin the value of his own life and that she should care about his own existence as well as others. Fukuyama gives Seijuro a more dirty and experienced image compared to the young looking master in the original series. I feel this is for the best since you truly feel his confidence and that he has been brought out of his hermit existence to school his pupil one more time.

While the action scenes between them are entertaining, the pacing throughout the entire Seijuro is a little poor, the movie already tops out at over two hours and I feel that numerous cuts could have been made here to increase the pace. Also while he does teach Kenshin new values, Seijuro's impact on the rest of the events of the movie is very little and therefore more priority could have been given to fleshing out other characters motivations.

If you remember in my review of the previous film I had some issues with the retelling of Aoshi's backstory and motivations for Kenshin. While this does get somewhat resolved in the final movie, it all feels a little convenient and that his mindset changes too fast. Aoshi has a very entertaining fight in a wooded area around a tunnel which provides some excellent wall running and environmental swordplay. He also plays a part in the final battle against Shishio although it is never really explained WHY he is taking part other than "The person who will defeat Kenshin is me!" Which seems a bit weak overall and doesn't do the character justice. I do give the actor credit though as despite the plot changes he makes a great Aoshi.

One interesting difference between the 2nd and 3rd movies is that while the 2nd movie was more about large scale battles, one vs. many, the 3rd movie has a lot more smaller, dual based battles. I feel this really changes the dynamic of a movie in a good way as it feels like there is a lot more to lose for all involved. This even takes place during the large scale battle at the end near the Black Ship. The camera, briefly lingering on characters of note as they blitz around the battlefield, whether it is the likes of Saito defeating some key warriors or Sanosuke being a white blur as he punches his way through the ranks.

One key difference between the anime and movie that I liked was the difference in setting. I didn't like the whole 'fighting game arcade tier' aspect of the battles in the anime. It was like fighting your way through each character stage until you reach the main boss, the Shao Khan of Kenshin, Shishio. The movie doesn't set the final battle upon Shishio's mountain base but instead takes part on the beach and the great black fortress ship. The ship felt a little unnecessary in the manga but in the movie it plays a large role throughout in threatening the government and ties in nicely. Due to this setting, the end battles transition a lot more fluidly without that cheesy 'next stage' feeling. In fact the final 50 minutes or so is just one giant battle sequence and it is GLORIOUS. For all of the pacing issues at the start, this more than makes up for any short comings. 

As I said in my previous review, the series does a good job at grounding the battles within a 'realistic' setting. The CG is used sparingly, there are no wire air battle theatrics and the flamework on Shishio's sword is used to accentuate his strikes. It is done in a way that makes you simply think 'wow this guy is strong'. The CG effects are mainly reserved for the large scale environment changes and artillery fire. Kenshin is a good example of not going over the top in anime adaptaions.

The Shishio fight at the end is phenomenal, I was on the edge constantly going 'goddamn' as Shishio battles against not just Kenshin but also Aoshi. Saito and Sanosuke at the same time. The choreography and actors did a fantastic job in making each strike fast but impactful. Shishio especially appears incredibly strong, each strike and slash has a ton of impact and a few scenes where Sanosuke gets his ass kicked really did have me wince and think "he totally isn't getting up from that". 

It could be said that Sanosuke is one of the unsung heroes of Kenshin, I must admit I'm not a fan of him normally. He is brash and stupid and punches before he thinks but throughout this movie he is always behind Kenshin. In the final battles, while the others are slashing their way through the enemies, you can always see Sanosuke in the background doing his part. Even in the final battle, he is aware that he is punching WAY above his power level, getting his ass kicked bad. But he keeps on trying and I couldn't help but feel some respect for the poor guy! Especially at the end when it is Sanosuke supporting Kenshin and not the other way around, yet everyone rushes to Kenshin, Completely ignoring Sanosuke. Poor dude.

As Kenshin's allies fight their way through the ship we see them fight off against the numerous members of Shishio's group, this is where I feel some more time could have been used to develop the enemies. Sojiro Seta in particular has no expansion upon his backstory in the movie, which was one of my favorites in the manga.Ryûnosuke Kamiki does a fantastic job of making Sojiro an extremely fast swordsman who hides a painful past behind a happy smile and demeanor. I especially liked his "Are?" as he gets hit and cannot comprehend the fact that he is losing. He does eventually break down after being defeated and Kamiki does well to express his trauma but the overall impact is lost since we don't know the backstory.

Overall, The Legend Ends is a fantastic end to one of the best live action adaptions I have ever seen. It can easily compete with other original big budget productions despite remaining quite faithful to the source material yet making the necessary tweaks for the big screen. Sadly at the end of the credits there were no hints for a future movie, as I was hoping for a story revolving around Enishi but who knows, this trilogy has been a fantastic success and I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to do that arc too. I fully intend to watch this again once it comes out on DVD, I had to resist heading back to the cinema a second time, because it is that damn good! Go watch it! 

Rurouni Kenshin : Kyoto Inferno Review

Rurouni Kenshin : Kyoto Inferno Review

I have been a huge Kenshin fan since my teenage years after stumbling across the anime on a random anime sharing site. I came to love the series even more after reading the manga. The first movie, released 2 years ago was, in my opinion, the best live action adaptation of an anime series to date. I have heard that Death Note, which Tatsuya Fujiwara also stars in is good but I haven't seen it personally.
The first movie stayed truthful to the original series whilst mostly avoiding the cheesy scenes, out of place setting and awkward dialogue that most live adaptations suffer from. It still blows my mind that many Kenshin fans are UNAWARE that the film was released and were doubly shocked to find out that a sequel is now hitting the big screen in Japan.
The second movie 'Rurouni Kenshin : Kyoto Inferno', otherwise known as るろうに剣心 京都大火編 blows away all other competition and builds upon what made the first movie so great.

Costume Design

Each lead character is instantly recognisable and keeps all of their unique physical characteristics while still staying appropriate to the era setting. I was sceptical of how Shishio would look in a live action movie but the make-up staff did a fantastic job of transforming Tatsuya into the scarred warrior seen above, he is barely recognisable! Even the hairstyles are on form, Saito's bangs and Sawagejo's dynamic punk rock style hair feature prominently yet don't look ridiculous. This is where other live action movies often fail, they try too hard to mimic the original drawings that it just looks ridiculous, they got the balance just right here.

Clear Cut Action

One aspect I loved from the first movie was the clarity of the action sequences. I would go "Wow! That's THAT move!"
They do a fantastic job of making the combat sequences fast paced and incredibly full of impact, yet you never lose track of where the lead characters are and can see every blow connect. There is minimal shaky cam and flashy transitions, the strikes flow from start to finish all in sequence. As soon as I saw the initial bandit fight my adrenaline was pumping and ready to see the next scene.
The characters unique fighting styles are all clearly evident with the appropriate weapons and stances.

Minimal wire work is used, so hopefully there will be no out of place moments in the sequel. In the first movie there was an awkward moment where Saito 'launched' at a chandelier...thankfully they have learnt not repeat it!
Again, the great costume design helps to set the main characters apart from the fodder.

Kyoto Arc Coverage

Kyoto Inferno manages to detail the events of roughly half of the Shishio story, jumping from one plot point to another without losing coherency. At some times they may feel a little unrelated, but each moment is covered in enough detail to ensure that are the key plot points link together and that the iconic scenes are all shown. Some content has necessarily been cut but that is inevitable for a live action movie covering such a wide range of source material. The movie was 2 and a half hours but it flew by ridiculously fast, I never felt that the plot was dragging at any point, rather it was driving forward to progress the story.

Focal Battles

Every key character has their moment to shine, and each battle has their own unique flavour. The battle with Sojiro is very deliberately paced, with lightning speed clashes, followed by brief pauses. Whereas Sewagejo Cho's (aka. the sword hunter) fight is brutal and rough, just like his persona.  This means that each fight does not feel repetitive despite the focus on swordplay. 

In fact I had completely forgotten about Sewagejo's character until I saw his punk rock hair do swagger onto the screen, he received little spotlight during the advertising but I really enjoyed his scenes. He has a generic yanki attitude but he was portrayed very well. Even keeping his one eye closed squint quirk that opens during the excitement of battle. Small touches like this are what made the movie complete.

Aoshi's Abridgement

This is pretty much my only complaint about this movie, yet I can understand why it needed to occur. If you are familiar with the Kenshin story, you would have noticed that Aoshi's character was completely omitted. His entire motivation for fighting Kenshin, the loss of his friends, was completely non existent. However since he has a vital role in the later events of the series the film makers made the wise decision to reintroduce him into this movie. 

Aoshi is one of my favourite characters from the manga, he is loyal, strong and you can empathise with his ideals. His character design in the movie is fantastic, instantly recognisable. Yet it is hard to sympathise with this version of Aoshi, he is a brutal, merciless warrior who seeks to overcome Kenshin simply due to his stature as the strongest warrior of times past. There is no link between Aoshi's loss of his comrades and the battle against Kenshin as there was in the original story. Instead he is somewhat one dimensional, solely caring about finding Kenshin and nothing else, no matter who stands in his way. 

His battles are some of my favourites, I will not give the details in order to avoid spoilers but they are ruthless and highlight his ability to fight using numerous styles. I am keen to see how his battles and quest to fight Kenshin unfold in the upcoming sequel. I just hope that they develop his character more so that we can care about him rather than just see him as a worthy challenger.

Final Thoughts

Kyoto Inferno build upon what made the original movie great. A faithful representation of the events and characters of the series while keeping it rooted within a realistic setting. There are areas that obviously cannot occur in real life but they are not as jarringly obvious as they are in other anime adaptations, there are no energy blasts, or hyper speed backgrounds, just unusual flourishes of swordplay and inhumane balance. While the movie has altered some key characters they have managed to adapt to the differences established in the first movie well and it was a necessary move in order to make the rest of the story arc flow coherently.
The second movie ends on a cliffhanger so I am anxiously waiting for the 3rd part to be released in September!

Enjoy the trailer...!