Finally, the last movie of our beloved Battousai - Himura Kenshin is out in cinemas!
For the record, I loved, loved, loved Rurouni Kenshin manga, and the
first movie in 2012 - Rurouni Kenshin - I totally loved it! Although I did (and still do) wish that the actress that plays Megumi would have been prettier - but I also admit that despite her not as pretty as I would expect of Megumi, she can 'act' Megumi. And the other complain was how soft Kaoru in the movie. But, despite all those, Rurouni Kenshin was an awesome movie!
When I
first heard about the making of Kyoto Arc to a live action movie, I was
extremely excited. Then when the news broke out about they've cast an
actor for Aoshi Shinomori, it got me thinking how were they going to
give backstory for Aoshi since they totally left him out in the
first movie. Then there were more casting news coming - and all I can think of was, oh wow, they really go all out for these last two movies.
Then come September, I went to watch Kyoto Inferno with high expectation and I left with a slight disappointment which made me vow to myself to watch the finale movie with
somewhat guarded expectation. Kyoto Inferno, although the core plot
still followed the manga version, it has many 'adjustments' that left a
bitter taste. I was tempted to write about it last month right after I
watched it but decided on waiting for the final movie before finalizing
what I feel about these movies.
So here we go... *please be cautious that there may be some spoilers. So read with cautions.
The Plot
I'm fully aware that it is impossible to make a movie (or two movies in this case) that is exactly like the manga since Kyoto Arc is a loooooong arc, so some plot sacrifices must be done. But what they did with Kyoto Arc was totally unexpected for me.
Instead of making it about Kyoto (as the name suggested), they made Makoto Shishio want to conquer the whole Japan, and there were more politics in the movies too.
What really pissed me off and literally made me think "what the heck!?" was the part where Soujiro kidnapped Kaoru. It was not in the mange and I don't understand why they made Kaoru such a damsel in distress. They did it in the first movie which was necessary to the plot but not in Kyoto Arc! It doesn't help that I think Emi Takei's Kaoru and Takeru Satoh's Kenshin has no romantic chemistry and more on brother-sister chemistry.
Reading the manga (or even in the anime) where Kenshin said goodbye to Kaoru before his leaving for Kyoto gives a sense that Kenshin indeed thinks of Kaoru as someone important and marks a turning point of their relationship. She is totally devastated when Kenshin leaves anyway (until Megumi gives some tough love lesson and she finally gets her senses back). But in the movie, Kaoru didn't seem care much not having Kenshin around, she is still up and about swinging her wooden sword in her dojo.
Aoshi is one of the coolest characters in manga and yet the movie does not show him as a devoted captain to his loyal followers whom was killed by Kenshin (not directly by his hands though) and then he holds some grudge to kill Kenshin. The movie shows him as a swordsman blinded by his desire to be the mightiest swordsman who thinks that to achieve that, he must kill Kenshin - WTF!?!?
Lastly, why does Sanosuke show up in the screen always for some comic relief and portrayed like he is kinda dumb or slow?
The Characters
All characters were portrayed almost perfectly. Some of the actors/actresses that although I think, don't have the physical appearance as the manga portrays, they manage to embodied the manner and attitude of their characters nicely - especially Megumi, and Soujiro.
I do wish that they would have had more part for Saitou and Juppon Gatana. We only get glimpses of Juppon Gatana and they were supposedly important part of Kyoto Arc.
Costumes and Make Up
The movies are able to come up with costumes very similar to manga, and I really appreciate that. Especially Kenshin's red yukata and Sano's evil/bad character at his back.
Special mention goes to Shishio's bandage costumes and make up. Salute to make up/costume team!
Actions
The action in the movies deserves praises left and right. The sword combats are awesome and very beautifully choreographed. The team successfully translated anime's style of combats to live action wonderfully that leaves people watching in awe.
Overall
Kyoto Arc movies are still good movies and for those who love action movie, they are a must-watch!
The story is written in such a way that people who don't read the
manga will not be confused and be able to follow the story smoothly while enjoying great actions.
Fans of its manga will be happy and satisfied with the live action movies, and maybe only some (including me) wish that it could have stayed true to the manga more.
All in all, I can still say that I like the final two movies of Rurouni Kenshin and I enjoyed watching them, although of course I got some disappointments here and there. But then again, the movies are made for enjoyment purpose, I should not take them too seriously, right?
