Rurouni Kenshin Kyoto Inferno: one of the best manga adaptation

I am a Kensin fan. Some may know him or his series as Samurai X, as translated in US. I read the manga long long time ago in Chinese translation in Comic Weekly. I manage to watch the anime adaptation in which the Shishio story arc is one of the best shonen story ever written. And I watched the first Runouni Kenshin live movie. Having said that, it was many years ago and I had forgotten much of the details of the story. So much so that I could not recall enough to make direct comparison with this current movie.




Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno is the first of the 2 movies that try to depict the best story arc in Runouni Kenshin manga, featuring the ultimate villain, Shishio. It picks up where the first Kenshin movie ended. Kenshin, being a ronin in the new Meiji era, settles down in Kaoru's dojo. Things seems to be peaceful with no violence and no need to break his vow of not killing anymore. (for those who are not familiar, Kenshin is a reformed assassin from the shogunate era). The rest of the gang seems to be enjoying themselves too, Sanosuke, Yahiko and Megumi. But, another villain, Shishio, plots to overthrow Japan's Meiji, threatening the peace that was established from previous wars. The Meiji government appeared to be powerless to stop Shishio, even with Saito in the police force. Kenshin was enlisted to work with the government and travel to Kyoto to face off with Shishio. The story ended in a cliffhanger, paving way for the second movie which will be screened next week. (unlike western movies which we have to wait a whole year before the sequel arrives)

comparison of the main character and their human counterparts

The story is not easy to adapt. It is a HUGE story arc. As far as I could recall, the essentials moments are there. That include Sawagejo Cho's battle for Kenshin's sword, introduction to the Watchers clan. Obviously there will be some omission, some alterations but even to some purist, the movie stay as close as possible to the original material. The script is fairly good. Though there were too many reminders of Kenshin's vow never to kill again. There were also too many reference to the struggles of the former samurai in Meiji era. The pace, at some point, seems to be taking their own sweet time, which may not be a bad thing; we could not be having 2 hours of pure sword fighting, right?! The sword fight may be the star of the show. The choreograph is done really well, depicting the fighting style as close as possible to the manga. It is sooooo awesome to see Kenshin's hitten mitsuragi style on screen, and Saito's famous stance while pointing his katana. Even Soujiro's skipping while fighting is depicted as well. The only comments I have is the omitted Cho's bending blade in his battle and I was so looking forward for it.


The actor and actress done their part well. It may be awkward at first to see the characters in real person, but eventually they will sink into their character. They may not look like it, for goodness sake, how would someone maintain Sanosuke's spiky hair in real life; but they play each character to the minor details. Cho's smirk and inequal eyes. Sojiro's childishness. Kenshin's killing aura and absent mindless in other time,  Sanosuke's impulsiveness, Saito's coldness.

In the end, I did not felt the 2 hours plus goes by. For a fan boy like me, this is a treat. For a non fan, this may be a good action movie. Now, I am looking forward for next week's ending to Shishio's arc


ratings: 4 poink~!
comments: the high rating comes purely from a fan. A lot would not agree with me, but still, many would enjoy the movie. I am worried though, there is TOO much to pack into the second movie, Aoshi's story and all the battles of Shishio's 10 swordsmen (minus Cho, we still have 9 superb battles). They should make it a trilogy instead.....