Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)

Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)

 

7/10

Starring

Takeru Satoh

Kasumi Arimura

Issey Takahashi

Nijirō Murakami

 

Directed by Keishi Ōtomo

 

(If you have not seen Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, this review contains spoilers)

I enjoyed this movie more than I did Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. Here, we get to have fun watching the beginning of everything. Another plus for those who love blood and gore in their movies is that this time we get to see Battosai slash people, and they actually die. Some of the killings are brutal. This is not like the previous movies, where they just roll on the ground in pain. There is blood spillage in this flick. What thrills me most is the fight choreography; viewers are in for a treat and will love his movements and the movements of those he goes up against.

I, for one, did not like the long pauses in the movie. Sometimes Himura was just too quiet in the scenes he was in—it felt weird. But I guess that’s his character. It’s more enjoyable when he’s playing the quiet samurai against the wonderful team from the previous three Kenshin films. Another thing I didn’t like was that they made him a softy, someone who was opposed to killing, which he seemed to be a pro at doing. His opposition to it wasn’t the problem; it was the way the movie made the character sit morosely that I didn’t fancy.

The plot sheds more light on the previous movie, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. Kenshin is working as an assassin for the Choshu clan, who want to end the Tokugawa shogunate. During an assassin mission, he comes up against a man who gives him his first cut on the cheek, as the man’s will to live surpasses Kenshin’s understanding. From there, he meets a lady, Tomoe, whom he befriends and develops feelings for. Their clan is betrayed by someone from the inside, and the shogunate almost kills everyone in their clan. The group disbands, with Kenshin on the run with Tomoe. They hide in one of the Choshu safehouses. Soon, we discover there’s more to Tomoe than Kenshin knows. Plus, the battle to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate coincides with another battle to assassinate Kenshin.

This movie, Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, is the last movie of the set (I think) and the fifth movie to star Takeru Satoh as Himura Kenshin. Since this movie focuses more on what made Himura Battosai and what led to him becoming a wanderer, you can think of it as a prequel to everything we’ve seen in the four previous movies. The only character from the other movies we get to see is Yosuke Eguchi, who plays Saito.

This movie was produced alongside Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, and if you recall clips from the previous movie showing us the death of Tomoe, you can see the full story here.

The movie is available for streaming on Netflix and is a nice addition to the Rurouni Kenshin five-movie thriller.