Rurouni Kenshin: Part I - Origins [Blu-ray]

Strap in, this is a long one, for better or worse.I had many great loves with regards to anime and manga when I was in college, but the love that's endured has been *Rurouni Kenshin.* So I was worried about a live-action retelling, to the point that I held out a crazy long time before giving in and finally watching it, and praying I wouldn't hate it.I waited needlessly, as it turned out.As a fan, I tend to be pretty forgiving of creative license, but only if the license taken somehow improves or elevates the source material. So the fact that this movie doesn't exactly follow the manga isn't a deal-breaker; I have the anime if I want a more "faithful" retelling. Now that's out of the way, some thoughts:Things That Were Awesome: funnily enough, most of the liberties taken with the source material. Much of the first four volumes of the manga were integrated very nicely into a storyline that absolutely makes sense. The "fat" that was cut, like the Hiruma brothers plot, don't impact your enjoyment of this movie at all (unless you were fond of those storylines, anyway). The casting is spot-on, too; everyone's got their character's mannerisms down pretty well, from Saitō's perpetual scowl to Sano's swagger. Gangster Takeda Kanryū, in particular, is very well done, and for a character I never had much use for in the original run, he was one of the best parts of this adaptation. Bat-sh*t insane Jin-e, too, was splendidly done, and excellently utilized. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the music complements the story. The fight scenes are fantastic, ridiculous in the best way (the one misstep is Saitō's Gatotsu, which starts out perfectly but then just seems silly when executed), and wonderfully choreographed. And there is humor here, too, which was missing in the *Samurai X* OVAs; Kanryū and Sano provide much of that, but so do Kenshin, Megumi, Kaoru, and Yahiko, by turns. One of the absolute funniest and most thoroughly Sano moments (that wasn't in the manga or anime but should have been) of the film happens during his completely bonkers one-on-one melee, when he and Kenshin are "storming the castle," so to speak. *Rurouni Kenshin* always had a sense of humor about itself, and it was wonderful to see that this movie remembered that and made room for it, between all the dramatic, gritty, bloody bits.Things That Weren't Awesome: there's zero mention of Aoshi Shinomori or the Oniwabanshū (*Gein* and *Inui Banjin*--who's like a priest or something now, for reasons???--from the forever ignored Jinchū arc of the manga are used instead, which was such a weird choice considering zero percent of either character's utility was exploited, aside from the trick wardrobe and the brawling skills; for that, why not use Han'nya and Shikijō?), and Saitō is introduced waaaaaaay too early, in a much less impactful way, and then basically squandered as a plot device (I say this as someone whose favorite side character in the original manga and anime is Saitō, and who thoroughly enjoyed Kanryū in this movie: you don't introduce the Wolf of Mibu for anything less than the end of Japan, and Kanryū ain't it). Neither Sano nor Yahiko get quite proper introductions, though of the two, Sano's the one who suffers most from that omission; he mostly comes off as a hotheaded, not terribly bright thug, and while Sano *was* that, he was also deeper than that description would lead one to believe. There was a reason he wore the "Aku" character on his back, it wasn't just for aesthetics, and that went a long way toward both humanizing him and explaining why he was so loyal to Kenshin. And whoever was in charge of the transliteration was weirdly literal with words like "hitokiri" as "killsword" instead of "manslayer" or "assassin," to the point it got a little distracting.Despite that, these are pretty minor complaints, on the balance. This is a really well done adaptation of the legendary swordsman's tale. If you're a fan of the original series, this movie is as faithful a retelling as you could hope for, given the constraints of the 2 hour-and-change run time. If you're not a fan, you're in for a treat; Watsuki-sensei's story and characters shine in this movie.

Great movie. It condenses most of the first season of Rurouni Kenshin and most of the changes are surprisingly good. The character of Kenshin is brought to life amazingly well. Sadly, the director did not know that a sequel would be greenlighted, so Aoshi suffers greatly in this adaptation, and Saitou is introduced early, replacing the original chief of police. Yahiko and Sanosuke also suffer, because while they are brought to life perfectly, we do not get to see their backstories. Fans will recognize background characters like Tae and Tsubame although they are not formally introduced to the audience.The action is amazing. Kenshin's style is brought to life using restrained wire work and choreography reminiscent of Hong Kong Wuxia. Attacks are not called out (except at one crucial point), but the moves are easily recognizable to a fan. There is a slight hiccup in the portrayal of the gatotsu zeroshiki.Now as for the disc, this includes all the special features from the original Japanese release subtitled.I am not a fan of dubs, but the voices are bearable and the acting is not bad. I had some disappointment that not a single voice was brought back from the anime dub. It would have been incredibly nostalgic to hear even one of the main cast in the role again.Because live action manga movies are almost never this good, this gets five stars.

I got to say, this live action of Kenshin is way BETTER than the anime. It's hard to find a live action film that is better than the anime, but if you are looking for one this is it!

Yeah so I liked anime as a teen. We all did stupid stuff as teens; stop judging.I thought this would be terrible as live action adaptations of comic books, video games, and generally anything I find disappointing but I was bored so I gave it a try.I was really impressed by this film. The acting was superb and the characters really were captured faithfully. I think that was what was most fun for me--seeing the anime/manga translated for live action but...working. This was worth it for the art perspective alone.If you hate anime or have never seen Kenshin, this might not be the rental for you, but it does have a decent plot and the acting is great and the action scenes are pretty darn beautiful.I'll be renting the others for sure. I watched the subtitled version, so if there is a dubbed version I can't comment on that. I hate dubs.Peace!

This is the start of a 3-film series about a Samurai who, during the Meiji Restoration, acted in secret as an assassin. And then quit when the Meiji defeated the Shogun. I saw the "Original Japanese" version, which is in Japanese with burned-in (not selectable/deselectable) English subtitles.About 10 years later, he reappears as a "rorouni", who (apparently) travels about helping common folk solve problems with his "reverse sword" (it has the sharp edge on the opposite side to what is normal, so, when he fights normally, he stuns but does not cut his opponents).The story begins with his becoming known to the government, which is facing a problem with serious criminality, including an enhanced form of narcotic. Yes, this is essentially a drug war film.It is quite well done, with lots of twists and turns, and even more fighting, mostly with swords. The villain was certainly memorable; he may be some sort of Japanese type, I wouldn't know.Recommended to those who like this genre.

La verdad ha sido de las mejores adaptaciones en live action, me ha encantado y la vería muchas veces

Eh seguido esta trilogia de blurays desde años y nunca bajan de los $400 pesos. Finalmente lo hizo esta pelicula y no dudé en comprarla.Viene en el combo tradicional bluray+dvd+digital sin embargo, al ser de más de 5 años el código dital expiró, ya me lo esperaba.Lo que no me esperaba era que todavía viene slipcover, asi que se gana mis 5 estrellas.

Si eres seguidor de las artes marciales es una película infaltable, basada en el manga homónimo es una buena adaptación Super recomendable

Loved the anime love the movies😁

Its fast paced to cover the content, but dosent feel particularly rushed. Good fun.