Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno

Rurouni Kenshin (aired in the Philippines as Samurai X) is an anime that our generation grew up with, along with Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon and Ghost Fighter.

When the first film aired, I was stoked to see it. It dragged a bit but it was a hell of a fun ride, and one of the better anime adaptations since Cromartie High School and the 20th Century Boys trilogy.

With news of two additional films to make the live action franchise a trilogy, I was even more hyped. These two movies would cover the most interesting part of the original manga and anime, the Kyoto Arc. Having seen the first of two films, was it worth it? I can say, at least for this one, yes, it's totally worth the wait.

This movie covers volume 7-11ish of the original manga, or episodes 28-46ish of the anime. The gist of it is: Kenshin is faced with having to confront a demon from his past: the assassin who replaced him, Makoto Shishio, who is now hell bent on overthrowing the government. He sets out to Kyoto to defeat this formidable swordfighter, but he encounters a lot of problems along the way.

Of course, as with any adaptation from book to movie, there's a lot that the movie leaves out or changes for the sake of streamlining the movie and maintaining continuity with the previous installment. The most prominent changes involve the characters of Saito (who appeared earlier in the live action trilogy as compared to the manga/anime) and Aoshi (who should have appeared in the first film, but didn't.) Overall the way these characters are treated in Kyoto Inferno are believable enough, although I wish Aoshi was a bit less obsessed for little reason.

While the main quest with Kenshin going to Tokyo pans out, the movie's subplots need some more time to flesh themselves out, especially the whole thing with Misao, which feels a bit too rushed for my taste. But again, these scenes are adequate enough to service the story, and there's still another movie coming up shortly that can help us bridge these gaps.

There also seems to be a conscious decision in not calling out attack names and such; the first film had only one instance of that happening, near the end. This may be a source of disappointment for fans wanting to see some Gatotsu or Futae no Kiwami action, but it keeps the action fluid. There is one instance in the last half of the Kyoto Arc where a specific attack is very significant to the plot; we'll have to see how director Keishi Otomo handles it.

Lets now go to the things this movie does right. First is pacing. For a 2 hour and 20 minute movie, this film is just a breeze to watch, thanks in part to the streamlining changes to the plot and pacing that feels just right. Second, the action scenes are mostly to the point, but are dazzling in terms of choreography and speed. Third, I felt the soundtrack of this film is a vast improvement from the first (which had this chanting that was grating after a few iterations). Lastly, the acting is spot on with everyone giving a fresh interpretation of all the characters. Hats off to Tatsuya Fujiwara for giving this great raspy voiced hate-filled turn as Shishio.

Kyoto Inferno is a great film, that I think is best watched in tandem with the last part of the film trilogy. Luckily we don't have to wait long for that to happen. This movie has only made me more excited. September can't come fast enough.