Particularly if one watches the last two films consecutively, while a number of That the use of the same musical motif becomes a bit tiring after a time, Music “coats” the scenes excellently, adding to the epicness of the To the point of ritualistic (somewhat reminded me of Dead Can Dance sounds) Of the various settings the story takes place. DOP Takuro Ishizaka's camera follows theĪction artfully, while he does not fail to highlight the beauties and the ugliness Tsuyoshi Imai's editing also implements this speed with many and well placedĬuts, while the slower pace he implements in the non-action scenes also works The most by the exceptional action and stunts choreographies by Kenji TanigakiĪnd Takahito Ouchi, who focused on the speed of the scenes with great results. The abilities of theĪforementioned actors (and the stuntmen of course) benefit and are benefited The result in that department, is even more impressive. With this kind of title, the action is probably the most important aspect and The trademark moves of Kenshin, Aoshi and Soujiro are among the highlights of this approach. The overall result is a number of characters that look really cool and not ridiculous in any way, something that works wonders for the films and the overall accuracy in the portrayal of the original. In that fashion, and although there was not enough time to analyze all the villains thoroughly, Ohtomo still managed to present number of captivating portraits, with Yusuke Iseya as Aoshi, Ryonosuke Kamiki as Soujiro, along Masaharu Fukuyama as Kenshin's teacher, Seijuro, benefitting the most from the time allocated to their roles. In the first movie, it seemed to me that not much attention was given to the villains, maybe with the exception of Koji Kikkawa who is great as Udo Jine, but even this aspect was “corrected” in the two later parts, with the focus being in the accuracy of the depiction of the characters. Munetaka Aoki as Sanosuke is somewhere between, while the true accomplishment is that even Tatsuya Fujiwara's performance as Shishio is not as excessive as usual. The sole exception to this rule is Teruyki Kagawa who plays Kanryu hyperbolically, as a paranoid clown and Kenichi Takito, who follows in the same footsteps, although in a somewhat toned down fashion. The fact that Ohtomo has stripped the movie from the slapstick/comedic moments of the anime worked quite well for the narrative, as it allowed the actors to focus on the dramatic and the action aspects of their part. Emi Takei as the loveable Kaoru and Yu Aoi as the “benevolent witch” also follow in the same path, along with Yosuke Eguchi who makes for a great Saito. Takeru Satoh (who has a black belt in Shorinji Kempo) is a great embodiment of Kenshin, since the combination of his physique, his abilities in Kempo and his acting resulted in a great lead that even received praise from Watsuki for his rendition of his hero. The casting of the trilogy is exceptional. Furthermore, a band of ninjas eventually comes to help him, although their former leader, Aoshi Shinomori, is actually seeking to kill Kenshin, for his own reasons. In order to face them, Kenshin has to find his teacher again and forge a new sword, after a battle with one of Shishio's subordinates, Soujiro Seta, proves that the obstacles he faces this time are much more than he can handle. The second and third movie focus on the Kyoto arc, when another enemy, more terrible than anyone Kenshin has ever faced before, has risen, along with his band of killers and another businessman, Hoji Sadojima, and is threatening to plunge Tokyo into chaos, in order to exact revenge for the treatment of the former samurais by the current government. Three hardcore murderers, however, Udo Kine, Banjin Inui and Gein are helping Kanryu and the clash between the two factions is inevitable. Eventually she manages to escape and along with a street fighter named Sanosuke Sagara, joins Kenshin's “gang”. His research soon leads him towards Takeda Kanryu, a wealthy businessman, who is revealed to be responsible for the drugs sold in the area, which are manufactured by Megumi Takani, a woman forced to do so. At the same time, Saito Hajime, a policeman who knew Kenshin from his past, is currently investigating the assassination of an undercover policeman. His path leads him to a poor dojo, run by Kamiya Kaoru and the two soon become friends, along with a homeless boy, Yahiko, who eventually takes shelter there. As the first film begins, ten years have passed and Kenshin now wanders around carrying a katana with a reverse blade, essentially deeming it useless as a murder weapon, since he has vowed not to kill again. In case you do not know the story (shame on you btw), the trilogy revolves around the adventures of Himura Kenshin, a ronin who has abolished his past as an assassin (under the name of Hitokiri Battosai) of the shogunate, after the Imperialist forces won the battle of Toba-Fushimi.
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