Rurouni Kenshin: A Review

I am a certified couch potato. I can stay home all day just watching TV and listening to great music. I grew up watching hundreds of animation features, mostly Japanese. One of the best I've seen is Samurai X. Though the viewers  are still young, including myself, the story was well received and appreciated. That's why I was too excited when I learned that a full-length film version was to be released. I wasn't surprised it was turned to a movie because anime and comic characters have been entertaining us in the last decade or so via their real life 'reincarnations'.

The movie is entitled Rurouni Kenshin. It opened with the conclusion of Bakumatsu war, marking the dawn of a new era in Japan, Meiji era. Hitokiri Battousai, the legendary swordsman and man slayer, surrendered his deadly katana and vowed to never kill again. 10 years later, he ended up in a village where he was mistaken or rather sensed as the legendary Battousai. It was that fateful meeting with Kamiya Kaoru that led him to several adventures with the villagers, authorities, and mere onlookers, who are trying to find Battousai. Day after day, people are assassinated and the slayer identified himself as Battousai hence; everyone is looking for Battousai. It was in fact an attempt to let the real Battousai come out. The real Battousai hid his true self and named himself Himura Kenshin. His true self was exposed when he met the authority, Hajime Saito who tried to provoke him while in jail. Kenshin didn't give in. When the opium lord, Kanryu Takeda, learned about him, the former wanted to avail of his services as a bodyguard. Even then, Kenshin didn't give in. It was the time when he met a new friend, Sanosuke Sagara. Udo Jinei who belonged to the same faction as Battousai, wanted him to kill again. When both Jinei and Kanryu could not bring out the slayer in Kenshin, they attacked his emotions and good heart. The villagers were poisoned, and Kenshin's friends Megumi and Kaoru were held hostages. Kenshin almost killed Jinei who held Kaoru hostage but Kaoru stopped him. Kenshin merely made Jinei and a throng of opium workers incapable of physically fighting.

So how did I find the movie - GREAT!!! Firstly, the casting was excellent. The actors personify their anime characters. Sanosuke was comedic even from his face, which matches the anime character. Kanryu was vicious. Kaoru was fragile yet strong and beautiful. And Kenshin? He is just superb. Takeru Sato was a perfect choice to play Battousai - his height, looks, and commanding presence. The wardrobe and physical features of each characters were so close if not exactly the same as the anime characters. Secondly, the setting is also worth applauding. Historic Japanese setup is simply fantastic. Thirdly, the action sequences were made exquisitely. The bloods and sword fighting were made so realistic that even an old school mob/action movie fanatic like I am needed to close my eyes for a moment on some action sequences. Yet, I didn't find find it gross at all. It was artful.

Actually, there's really not much to say but "more" and "when is the next installment?" Rurouni Kenshin is one great movie. I hope that this would usher the golden age of Asian entertainment and that Filipino filmmakers could be inspired to develop similar caliber materials. If you haven't watched it, go see it. You won't be sorry...