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.....

Mazerunner: Lord of the Flies meet Lost

I did not plan to watch Mazerunner in the first place. Lyn read the trilogy and was disappointed with how the story end. Then again, with my free TGV ticket expiring soon, I have not many choices left for free list. So, once again, I headed for the young adult dystopian story. Boy, it was a nice surprise.

Mazerunner runs exactly like Lord of the Flies. Thomas wakes up one day in a elevator and was transported to a small village, The Glade, which is trapped in the middle of a large maze with a village of young boys. Apparently, in a fixed interval, the elevator will send ample supply for survival, with a young man, sedated, and wiped memory. The only way out seems to be through the maze. However, it is not as simple as it is. The entrance is open every morning and close before nightfall. Those who did not make it back to the village will be prey to certain creatures, Grievers, which looks like cyborg spiders. To complicated matters, the maze change its path every night. With the arrival of Thomas, things seems to change, and subsequently the elevator sends a girl instead.There are those who do not like Thomas pro-active approach, and oppose the changes while Thomas was anxious to look for an exit through the maze. There is where it mirrors the Lord of the Flies, with the boys divided into clans and reach the inevitable separation. With more questions than answer, and each turn of the maze presented more questions; it actually felt like watching Lost, the series. Each answer will lead to more questions and seems to weaved into a bigger sinister story.

Forget about the acting, it is not the star of the show. True enough, the young actors manage to hold their fort, but it was the script, and story that drive the show. The action is bit of let down though, the director opted for the handheld haphazard style of action sequence which blurs the whole frame. The few clearly exciting scenes were when the boys were running in the maze while the maze was changing.. akin to Prince of Persia (the game, not the pathetic movie). The built up was good, though at times, were bit slow in the beginning. However, the pseudo explanation given at the end of the movie made me felt short-changed. Somehow, it was bit disappoiting as well. And the ending scenes gave the whole direction of the story away... it is going to be another dystopian story.

ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: with so may adaptation of young adult novels, this seems to be on the top, along with The Hunger Games. I just hope it would not tank later.