Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't know much about history. . .

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2011

It may seem incredible to believe, but the West had little to no contact with Japan, a notoriously closed society, prior to Admiral Matthew C. Perry’s expedition there circa 1852 to 1854. While there had been occasional forays into the island nation, mostly under the Dutch flag, the West was largely ignorant of Japan and Japanese culture, and the Japanese, while aware of the West, wasn’t exactly inviting Westerners in with open arms. Once Perry managed to at least crack open Japan to Western trading, the relationship between the two cultures was not exactly smooth sailing. The West, as has so often been its penchant, attempted to impose its ideals, culture, and modes of living on a longstanding culture which not only predated many of the West’s most hallowed forebears, but which didn’t take kindly to being told it was somehow “inferior.” The dialectic between the West and Japan is at least part of the subtext of Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie (subtitled Requiem for the Ishin Patriots), a continuation of sorts of the long running television anime that depicted the exploits of a professional assassin named Himura Kenshin, who forsakes his “hired sword” ways to wander backwoods Japan protecting everyday people from a variety of nefarious villains. Adapted from a manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Rurouni Kenshin in its television iteration was a fairly popular affair and attracted a large audience on both sides of the Pacific when it began airing in the late 1990s. The series ended after some 90-odd episodes, but was then followed up with two OVAs, Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (also known as Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen) and Samurai X: Reflection (alternately called Rurouni Kenshin: Seisōhen). (It should be noted that there is no actual difference between Samurai X and Rurouni Kenshin, they’re simply alternate titles adopted by different licensors for the same product). The first OVA was a prequel, giving Kenshin’s background, while the second OVA has been disavowed by Watsuki, who felt it took too many liberties with the source material as it sought to depict a revenge scenario that took place somewhat after a substantial plot arc which closed a major section of the manga. The OVAs were notable for being decidedly more violent than the television series, as they concentrated on Kenshin’s assassin’s “career,” while the series concentrated more on his redemptive “do-gooder” phase. This feature film is much more in line with the conception of the television series, including in pace and animation style, and therefore may appeal more to fans of the series than the somewhat different approach the OVAs took.

However, lovers of the OVAs may well like the opening sequence, a flashback which is returned to several times throughout the film (perhaps a few too many times for some less tolerant types), which sets up the iconic battle between Kenshin and Takatsuki Gentatsu, a battle which helped to convince Kenshin to abandon his blade killing ways and work to protect Mankind rather than slicing and dicing individual people. The film then fast forwards about a decade and a half to find Kenshin arriving in Yokohama to witness some British sailors attempting to manhandle a young Japanese maiden. Kenshin also runs into Takimi Shigure, another swordsman who long ago was not able to come to Gentatsu’s defense, but who is unaware that it was actually Kenshin who killed Gentatsu. Adding to this convoluted tale of interrelationships is the fact that the young endangered maiden, Toki, turns out to be Gentatsu’s sister, whom Shigure is attempting to protect. Against considerable karmic odds, Shigure and Kenjin form an alliance and Shigure extracts a vow from Kenshin that he will look after Toki if anything should ever happen to Shigure.

There are two issues which stand in the way of a full understanding and enjoyment of Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie. First, and most importantly, one must come to this franchise with at the very least a modicum of background (and some would argue a good deal more than that) with regard to some salient events in mid to late 19th century Japanese history, notably the demise of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the period known as the Bakumatsu, which ultimately gave rise to what was known as the Meiji Restoration. In a nutshell, basically what happened was the the centuries’ long feudal rule of warlord types (Shoguns) was replaced by Imperial power centered in the Emperor, who during the Shogunate period was more or less a figurehead. This radical sociopolitical change fits hand in glove with Western expansion (some would argue “intrusion”) and are part and parcel of Rurouni Kenshin generally, but perhaps more than usual in this movie adaptation. The second, related, issue is knowing something about the Rurouni Kenshin franchise itself, for without some sort of grounding in the characters and their historical background, a lot of this film is going to seem virtually incomprehensible.

It’s rather rare for an anime to be this historically specific and that may either be a calling card or a turn off for various audience members, depending on their own particular proclivities. But within the Rurouni Kenshin universe, this is a very interesting and often quite compelling outing that helps to unite the Kenshin of the television series with the Kenshin of the OVAs rather remarkably well, while also giving some added emotional weight to the character who found himself either ensconced in kind of silly humor in the series or more violent drama in the OVAs. The real dramatic character arc of Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie, however, belongs largely to Toki, a young woman who has her eyes opened to the political realities of a changing world as she sees the relationship between Shigure and Kenshin falter and become contentious. It’s Toki’s journey, one both literal and figurative in this movie, which gives Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie its emotional heft, despite the focus on the political intrigue and subterfuge which makes up the bulk of the film’s overt plot.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Aniplex in a Japanese import encoded via AVC in 1080p and 1.78:1. While the transfer of this feature is just fine in most respects, anime lovers may be distraught by the sometimes haphazard look of the film, which veers fairly precipitously from really nicely drawn and well detailed elements to those that are relatively uninspired and slapdash. Some of this effort seems soft within its very source elements, namely several painterly backgrounds or close-ups of flowers. At other times, the presentation pops with well above average sharpness and clarity, specifically with some of the battle scenes and the bright daytime scenes in Yokohama and Tokyo (Edo). Line detail is strong throughout the presentation and colors are quite robust, including Kenshin's trademark orange- red hair.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Anyone used to the Rurouni Kenshin series or OVAs would be well advised to steer clear of the English dub on this Blu-ray, presented via a standard DTS 2.0 track, as not only is it very loud and kind of obnoxious, several of the voice actors are different thant the accustomed ones. Both renderings of the original Japanese track, an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo track and a great lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, offer fantastic voice work, good to very good music, and some blistering sound effects that regularly fill the surrounds with some bombastic action. The soundtrack also has very prevalent use of low end effects, with lots of rumbly vibrations emanating from the subwoofer. The battles scenes are unusually immersive, with fantastic discrete channelization presenting various effects with excellent directionality and forceful fidelity.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Trailer (SD; 1:32). In Japanese with no available English subtitles.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a live action Rurouni Kenshin in our near future, so any signs of this franchise's fading are nowhere to be seen. This feature film is a sort of amalgamation of elements of both the series and the OVAs, and it's going to be best appreciated by those not only with a solid grounding in the Rurouni Kenshin universe, but an equally solid understanding of this era of Japanese history. This is a fairly unusual project which gets into some of the nuts and bolts of various ideologies in Japan at the time, specifically with regard to those who advocated a return to the Shogunate versus those in favor of the newer (actually older) Imperial mode of governance. Right now this title is only available as a spendy import via private sellers, so my advice for Rurouni Kenshin fans is to wait until it's more readily available at a reasonable price. When that happens, for Kenshin fans if not for others, the release is Recommended.