Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman tan (2012)

A former assassin who has resolved to never kill again has his vow sorely tested.

Director:

Keishi Ohtomo

Writers:

Nobuhiro Watsuki (manga), Kiyomi Fujii (screenplay)

Stars:

J. Michael Tatum, Takeru Satoh, Eric Vale

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
J. Michael Tatum	...	Kanryu Takeda (voice)
Takeru Satoh	...	Kenshin Himura (as Takeru Satô)
Eric Vale	...	Sanosuke Sagara (voice)
Josh Grelle	...	Gein (voice)
John Swasey	...	Jin'e Udo (voice)
Kent Williams	...	Aritomo Yamagata (voice)
Micah Solusod	...	Kenshin Himura (voice)
Nathan Sharp
Yû Aoi	...	Megumi Takani
Alexis Tipton	...	Kaoru Kamiya (voice)
Emi Takei	...	Kaoru Kamiya
Gô Ayano	...	Gein (Kanryu's henchman)
Robert McCollum	...	Hajime Saito (voice)
Trina Nishimura	...	Megumi Takani (voice)
Masataka Kubota	...	Akira Kiyosato

Storyline

In 1868, after the end of the Bakumatsu war, the former assassin Kenshin Himura promises to defend those in need without killing. Kenshin wanders through Japan with a reverse-edged sword during the transition of the samurai age to the New Age. When Kenshin helps the idealistic Kaoru Kamiya from the gangsters of the powerful opium drug lord Kanryuu Takeda that wants her school for his production of opium, Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay in the school. But the drug chemist Megumi Takani escapes from Kanryuu and seeks shelter in the school. Meanwhile the killer Battosai is murdering police officers and leaving messages attached to their bodies. When Kanryuu poisons the population to get the school, Kenshin and the street fighter Sanosuke Sagara join forces to attack their common enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

bangs | brunette woman | unconscious woman | japanese woman | japanese girl | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 August 2012 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Rurouni Kenshin

Filming Locations:

Saga, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,093,453 (Japan), 25 August 2012, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

C&I Entertainment, IMJ Entertainment, RoC Works Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though Gein, the masked henchman of Kanryu, is based off the character of the same name from the manga, he has much more in common with Han'nya from the manga. Gein is heavily scarred and works as Kanryu's messenger, like Han'nya, while his outfit, personality, and wire-work is more inline with Gein from the manga. His mask is a combination of both Gein and Han'nya's masks. Neither of them use guns or a wakizashi in the manga, however.

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Quotes

[Kaoru thinks Kenshin has left, then he appears with groceries]
Kaoru Kamiya: Welcome home, Kenshin.
Kenshin Himura: ...I'm home. That I am.

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Connections

Followed by Rurôni Kenshin: Kyôto taika-hen (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Beginning
Written by Takahiro Morita (as Taka)
Performed by One Ok Rock
Courtesy of A-Sketch

User Reviews

Perfect Even for Those Who Do Not Know the "Samurai X" Manga or Anime

I have heard of "Samurai X" but I have not really read the manga or seen any of anime about this character named Himura Kenshin. This live action movie had come with very high recommendations or else I may have just given this a pass. I am glad I made time for this movie.

Himura Kenshin is an assassin of the highest skill during that transition between the Imperial/Samurai Age and the New Age adapting Western practices. After a particular assignment plants in him a massive guilt-trip, he decided to "disappear" and become a wanderer, using his fighting skills to defend the helpless WITHOUT KILLING.

In this story, Kenshin meets and helps a young lady named Kaoru, whose fencing school was vandalized. They then get entangled in the affairs of a notorious ruthless drug dealer Kanryu Tanaka, when his drug chemist Megumi escapes and seeks shelter in Kaoru's school. On top of all this, there is a mad killer on the loose with mad sword skills calling himself the Battosai, a title bestowed on Kenshin in his murderous past which he would rather disown.

With all of these stories and more that the movie tries to tell, the running time is about two hours. However you will not feel the time at all as you get enthralled by the fantastic look of the movie and its spectacular fighting scenes. Either with sword, bare hands or firearms, the fights were choreographed with excitement. The cinematography, color palette and visual effects were impeccably executed.

I did not know how the anime drawings of each character before I watched, so I could not comment on that. It is sort of odd looking that with lead actor Takeru Sato, a highly skilled sword fighter looks so androgynous. Afterwards we see that he really does look like that in the anime series. So did the cute Emi Takei (as the feisty Kaoru), Munetaka Aoki (as the rash and brash street fighter Sanosuke)or even Yosuke Eguchi, the samurai turned police chief Hajime Saito.

As someone who had no prior knowledge about Samurai X, I was completely taken by this very good-looking film, enough that I may even seek out the animated TV series. This is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and Japanese culture. Catch it only in SM Cinemas, as this is being locally shown exclusively there.