Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014)

Shishio has set sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos, carrying Kaoru with him. In order to stop him in time, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.

Director:

Keishi Ohtomo

Writers:

Nobuhiro Watsuki (manga), Kiyomi Fujii (screenplay)

Stars:

Takeru Satoh, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Emi Takei

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takeru Satoh	...	Kenshin Himura (as Satô Takeru)
Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Makoto Shishio
Emi Takei	...	Kaoru Kamiya
Munetaka Aoki	...	Sanosuke Sagara
Yû Aoi	...	Megumi Takani
Kaito Ohyagi	...	Yahiko Myojin
Yûsuke Iseya	...	Aoshi Shinomori
Yôsuke Eguchi	...	Hajime Saitô
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Sôjirô Seta
Maryjun Takahashi	...	Yumi Komagata
Tao Tsuchiya	...	Misao Makimachi
Min Tanaka	...	Okina / Nenji Kashiwazaki
Masaharu Fukuyama	...	Seijuro Hiko
Ayumi Beppu	...	Omime
Nayuta Fukuzaki	...	Shinta

Storyline

Kenshin wakes up to find himself at his master(Hiko Seijuro)'s house after getting washed by the waves to land while he was unconscious at sea for 3 days. Kenshin asks Seijuro to teach him the ultimate and pinnacle technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi school, the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. Seijuro accepts Kenshin's request after they spar with each other. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito attends a meeting with Makoto Shishio who forces him to declare Kenshin a wanted outlaw and have him publicly executed or else Shishio will destroy both Tokyo and the government.

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Plot Keywords:

live action remake of anime | historical | 19th century | katana sword | japan | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Seijuro Hiko: Cherry blossoms in Spring. Stars cover the sky in Summer. Full moon shines in Autumn and in Winter, the snow covers the ground... All these things make sake taste good. If it tastes bad, it's because there is something wrong with you

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Connections

Remake of Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc Part II - The Chirps of Light (2012)

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Soundtracks

Heartache
Written by Taka
Performed by One Ok Rock
Courtesy of A-Sketch

User Reviews

The problem with big villains...

.... is that you need an even bigger movie to kill them.

A story so big it steals from the characterization and the development of the themes that made the Kenshin tale so interesting in the first place.

I have already questioned why anyone in their right mind would want to spend the better part of 6 hours building up to the "final fight" behind Kenshin and the super-baddie (who is so overdrawn he could just as easily have appeared in a Bond film) ....?

And I see in the IMDb, at least so far, one or two fans have been brave enough to make the very same points I am making.

To be honest, I enjoyed the children's TV series more than this opus. Whether that makes me a poor critic or a child at heart is another matter entirely.

I repeat my view that the point of film is to entertain. If a film fails to entertain, it fails, period.

In this film, the only one who seems to be having fun is Masaharu Fukuyama, playing Kenshin's original Master, conveniently appearing to assist a very tricky plot arc.

The first time he finds Kenshin on the beach, almost dead, he remarks how astonished he was to see his "stupid student" again after almost 15 years.

But he says it with a smile, and we know he is happy to see Kenshin.

At that single juncture, I thought, for one brief shining moment, that this saga was finally going to be fun.

And it was. For the 15 minutes or so that Masaharu Fukuyama appears on camera, we get a peek at what this film might have been.

But just a peek.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

13 September 2014 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Amuse, Shueisha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1