Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends Review

Theatrical Poster

[Spoiler Alert]

The third (and hopefully not the final) installment of Keishi Otomo's Rurouni Kenshin film series based on Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga of the same name premiered on Philippine cinemas last Wednesday. The Legend Ends covers the final episodes of the Legend of Kyoto arc focusing on the events leading up to the epic showdown between Shishio Makoto and Kenshin Himura.

The action sequences in this film takes another leap in intensity compared to Kyoto Inferno, and it left me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the film waiting in anticipation of the next time Kenshin draws his sword. But just as the action went up a notch it does so at the expense of the narrative.

High Points

Shishio Makoto

Despite being the main antagonist of the Kyoto arc Shishio was more of a side character during last month's Kyoto Inferno. However, it wasn't much of a bother then since his appearance and words alone were enough for the audience to know that this guy was formidable even without drawing his blade. In the Legend Ends, we still didn't get to see Shishio in action until the hair-raising climax but his role as an antagonist was still well-played.

It's rare to see such amazing bad guys that are as intimidating when they talks as when they fight. Even during his only serious fight in the film -which must have lasted beyond fifteen minutes to preserve the plot device, that is, the condition of Shishio's body- against Kenshin, Sanosuke, Saito and Aoshi, the spotlight was on Shishio till he drew his last breath just to laugh.

It almost feels like he's the Joker to Kenshin's Batman, and that alone is enough to tell that Shishio was not only a great antagonist but also an excellent character well developed in the film.

Hiko Seijuro

The film started off with sentiment involving Kenshin and his master. While Seijuro only played a small role in the film it was important for the development of Kenshin. The way he was portrayed in the film was too far off from the character established in the manga, though, since Seijuro was serious the majority of the time he was training Kenshin. During his small screen time, Kenshin's past was also told in a much deeper context than the previous films further strengthening his resolve. In the end, Seijuro's character did more to Kenshin then the rest of the interactions he had for the rest of the film.

Cast

It's like the characters were directly taken out of the manga and forced to replay their roles for the film. The actors and actresses chosen to play the roles of the characters featured in the film were all a perfect fit, it's like they were born to play these roles. It's just a little disappointing that not all were given enough screen time, still lots of respect for the actors and actresses for their excellence in playing their roles.

Final Battle

While there were too many plot holes left leading up to the final battle between Shishio and Kenshin with Sanosuke, Saito and Aoshi, it's easy to dismiss them the moment Shishio drew his sword. Unlike in the anime and the manga where they fought in a spacious arena-like place, the space was too restricting in the film. Besides that, the film remained faithful to the manga by highlighting almost everything else that happened during the battle including the bite that Kenshin took from Shishio tearing off his flesh and the cheap shot he made by stabbing Yumi to get a hit on Kenshin.

The theater was ready to erupt due to the buildup of intensity (the people seating on the row in front of us were already clapping and jumping on their seats) when the four ganged up on Shishio but the latter still manage to overpower them. And when Shishio's death became apparent, his farewell speech -also a sort of victory speech- and his laughter as he burned left the theater completely silent. We were all amazed.

Choreography and Cinematography

While I'm not well-versed in these aspects in film production to be giving any credible comments, I think I'm telling the truth if I said that The Legend Ends excel in this parts mainly because there were no cheap scenes where the action is obscured or bombarded with camera tricks. As I said before, this film takes a great leap from action sequences making it fast paced and spine-chillingly intense without too much special effects. The end results are raw clash of blades that have fantastic visuals in almost every possible angle giving detail to both the characters' expressions and the movement of their swords.

Music

One OK Rock is back for the third time to provide the film's theme song. This time, in contrast to The Beginning on the first film, and Mighty Long Fall on the second, the third is full of sentiment and let's just say Heartache. In a way, this new theme song that One OK Rock provided implies that the Legend truly has ended.

Low Points

Juppongatana

Despite the eerie presence of Shishio's subordinates - the Juppongatana, they were incredibly underused in the film. Counting Cho from the second film, only five members of the Juppongatana were seen in action over the course of the film series' Kyoto arc and even in action they were degraded to mere pawns unlike their manga counterparts. Since the film's focus is on Shishio and Kenshin it's easy to dismiss the involvement of the Juppongatana but it really felt like they had some kind of pivotal roles in the film when they were introduced in Kyoto Inferno.

from left to right: Hoji, Iwanbo, Usui, Henya, Fuji, Shishio, Kamatari, Saizuchi, Anji, Cho, and Soujirou

Out of the Juppongatana only Soujirou, Anji, Hoji, Usui and Cho were seen fighting. There were no problem with Soujirou since the film utilized his character well as a foil to Kenshin. It's also nice to see the Shishio-obsessed Hoji in the similar annoying fashion he was presented as in the manga and anime, sadly he had a very unceremonious exit. Anji, the Buddhist Monk responsible for teaching Sanosuke the Futae no Kiwami was left out in the film and was instead degraded to a repeat enemy that Sanosuke faced in a similar battle during the first film. Usui the Blind Swordsman was easily killed in what could have been an epic showdown against Saito. Cho was never seen again after he gave a flirtatious wink at Kenshin when he was imprisoned.

There were other members of the Juppongatana present but had no speaking roles or any notable participation aside from being extras behind Shishio. Kamatari, the sole trap (I think) in the series was featured a lot in the background both in this film and in Kyoto Inferno. That actually made me anticipate that Misao and Kaouru together with the rest of the Oniwabanshu would be shown dealing with him. After all, Misao and Kaoru shined during the Kyoto invasion in the previous film, so why would they stop now? Sadly, it never happened.

Kaoru Kamiya

Kaoru's role in the first half of the Legend Ends didn't make sense to me at all. She was never inside Purgatory in the first place so when Hoji pushed her off to the raging seas below in Kyoto Inferno, it puzzled me as to what it could possibly mean for Kaoru. In the Legend Ends, it actually means that she's back to being a damsel in distress. The direction her character took in the film would most probably be because the development of her relationship with Kenshin was more important than her being a badass but I would like to note that Kenshin and Kaoru didn't even spend more than ten minutes of screen time together. Kaoru Kamiya was incredibly underused for a main character in this part.

Oniwabanshu

The Oniwabanshu already played their role in Kyoto Inferno but that doesn't really mean that they should be taken out of the story entirely. The fight between Okina and Aoshi in the second film went to great lengths and the aftereffects are felt in The Legend Ends, however the film didn't use their situation well. Aoshi's subplot of chasing after Kenshin against all odds felt out of place in the films main story and it was most likely used to give the Oniwabanshu a proper exit, save for Misao and Aoshi. But just like Kaoru, Misao became a damsel in distress for most of her screen time but her conversations with Aoshi were remarkable, though short.

Sanosuke

I'm still wondering why Sanosuke's gigantic sword is present in the movie. Where does he keep it anyway, and why is it even relevant to his character when in the manga it was long broken by this point.

Anyway, I didn't expect Sanosuke to play a larger role in the battle against Shishio than in his own battle against Anji. His battle against Anji was too similar to the one he had during the first film with some variations, but it looks like they intended it to be that way. It's kind of sad that there were no Futae or Sanjuu no Kiwami to give a breath of fresh air in Sanosuke's brawls other than simple punch and kicks.

Verdict

Rurouni Kenshin puts too much effort into making their already magnificent fight scenes extra special but it was at the expense of the narrative. Story-wise, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends is a mess but it still manages to deliver the idea that it started with.

If we were to look at Rurouni Kenshin as an adaptation, then it didn't exactly live up to the greatness of the source material. However, Rurouni Kenshin as a samurai film about the story of a man named Kenshin who vowed to never kill is a work of art - a masterpiece, even - in its own right.