This was a great movie to watch! As fan of the anime, I must say it was a delight to see our beloved characters come in to life. However one must remark how amazing the fight scenes were. I found myself rewinding several of them in detail.Kudos to the director and the choreography team - for they provided us realistic sword fights! It must have been quite the task to deliver the fictional "Hiten Mitsurugi" style to an actual life-action movie.So... Why isn't this samurai movie more popular among action fans? One doesn't need to read the manga beforehand in order to appreciate and enjoy this gem! Really, it stands on its own:)

The movie opens with terrific visions of the Battle of Toba Fushimi. The ground is strewn with the dead of both Bakufu and Ishin warriors, showing that war plays no favorites. Two men are carving a path through the humanity; one wearing the Shinsengumi mountain pattern haori and smoking a cigarette, the other, a short effeminate looking your man with long red hair, moving like a whirlwind, taking down two or three men in one swing. They meet and glare at each other. However, we are left wondering how the battle would turn out because at that moment, the Emperor's flag appears and the war is over, the Ishin taking the day.The Shinsengumi captain taunts the young man with the red hair, telling him that since they are swordsmen, they must live and die by the sword. The young warrior responds by thrusting his sword into the snowy ground and walking away, shoulders slumped head down.So begins the adventure.Fans of the Rurouni Kenshin manga and anime will greatly appreciate Sato Takeru's faithful and detailed portrayal of Kenshin, both as Rurouni and as Battousai. Everything is there: the goofy smile, the large round eyes, the clueless "oro" sound he utters when confused or startled and even his archaic speech patterns.When Takeru's Kenshin turns into Battousai, his face goes from innocent and round to that of a true, deadly warrior, eyes narrowed and hard, jaw jutting out with wrath. His voice is deep and booming as he shouts out invectives as the target of his wrath.Takeru's foot and sword work are fantastic. One could believe he's truly a kenjutsu master and that he didn't just start sword training months before the movie was shot. He also incorporates one of his hobbies: break dancing! It makes for some fantastic Hiten Mitsurugi footwork.Although she has been criticized by many RK fans, I think Takei Emi was fine as Kaoru. Some said that she was too pretty for the role. I didn't think she was. She was cute, but now jaw droppingly gorgeous, which is how Kaoru was presented in the manga. Could she have been a bit brasher? Yes. However, given her limited screen time, she did her best with what she had. We do get to see her attack Kenshin and even try to fight Jinei, which is something Kaoru would have done in canon.Teruyuki Kagawa as Takeda Kanryuu is delightfully wicked, playing eeny, meeny, miny, moe in order to decide which doctor to kill off and which to let live. He keeps an office full of beautiful machines and furniture, even a Symphonion! Also, even though he is a total sociopath, he has a white bunny rabbit, a goldfish and even some beautiful Russian wolfhounds. His personality is over the top and rather reminds me of the Joker in the Tim Burton Batman film.Eguchi Yusuke plays the role of Saitou Hajime very well. Although we don't get his famous Aku Soku Zan speech, he shows his philosophy by disdaining Kenshin's non-killing vow and calling the sakabatou a "joke of a sword," the proceeding to fight Kenshin until Kenshin was forced to draw his blade, thus forcing Kenshin to remember what a duel to the death is like.Some people expressed initial doubt at Yuu Aoi portraying Megumi because they said she was too baby faced to suit the role of a mature woman. However, she put all doubts to rest with her performance in the film, especially the scene where she and Kenshin discuss their respective pasts.My only real complaints were with Sanosuke and Yahiko. Not their portrayals; Munetaka Aoki and Taketa Takeo were very well cast in their respective roles. However, their back stories were completely excised and they didn't get a lot of screen time, leaving them feeling a bit one dimensional in comparison with their deeply fleshed out portrayal in canon. However, they were still fun to watch.A questionable departure is them having Hitokiri Battousai express doubt about his assassinations in front of his superiors after his killing of Kiyosato Akira, the man who scarred him on the left cheek. Battousai didn't begin to feel doubt about what he was doing until he was confronted by Yukishiro Tomoe in canon and certainly never expressed it to his superiors.The tone of the movie is overall serious, but is never overbearing or depressing. There are certainly moments of levity, such as Yahiko's commentary on Kaoru's cooking skills (or lack thereof). Another humorous moment is Sanosuke's kitchen fight with one of Kanryuu's lackeys.Overall, I'd say the movie is 80% faithful to the manga. Some events are left out and moved around, but the spirit of the original story remains intact and that's what counts at the end of the day.

So here we have a movie studio attempting a live action version of a manga/anime that is not only popular but well written. The last time I saw one it was the unwatchable Dragonball movie. This time I was actually surprised. Not only was the casting very well done but they managed to condense the first two arcs into one very good movie story line. The overall plot was very good and the movie is highly watchable. Many of the action scenes could have come directly from the manga/anime and in fact much of the dialogue is true to the source material. I checked the spoiler box only for the following parts. First I was highly pleased with Jin-e's look (to include hat and hair) and his eyes. The wasy they did the Shin no Ippo is great. It was nice to see Saito (woulda liked to see his trademark hair but that woulda been hard to say the least) and it was really nice to see a Gatotsu. I admit when I saw that I had a nerdgasm. Kenshin's Hitten Mitsurigi style is spot on. I love the effects that make him look like he has god like speed. The last duel ends just as it should. Few things I was miffed that didn't make it in. The Sekiehoutei was never mentioned for Sano's background. Yahiko's samurai background was tossed out. The epic manga/anime fight between Kenshin and Saito never really happened. They fought but ultimately I found the fight lacking. The Oni Waban group is NO WHERE to be found. No Hikijo, no Hanya, no anyone. No Aoshi Shinomri. I understand Aoshi will be in the sequels but I was disappointed not to have him in with Kanryu. When you first meet Sano he calls himself Sanoske rather than Zanza. Most of these are minor issues that I realize had to take a backseat to story and movie. Overall this movie was well done. Yahiko is brash as Yahiko. Karou is the same. It all works. Kenshin especially. I mean they really got into the dual identites of that character in the Jin-e fight. Well done. Its not easy to take a fantastic manga/anime and turn it into a live action movie but for anyone else who tries THIS is your bar. Its been set high so don't mess it up. Can't wait for the sequels and would LOVE a western release PLEASE!

Big fan of the mango and anime, never thought that they could make Rurouni Kenshin into a live action adaption, everything has flaws but the anime was actually pretty beautiful, to the story to the characters just didn't think a live action could be possible. To me this movie breaks boundaries and sends such a strong message that if done the right and correct way with the right approach then anything is possible with anime to movie live action adaptions. Dragonball evolution took the wrong steps, the only closest thing I can agree upon is Death Note, which was also well done. But Rurouni Kenshin is full of sword combat, just never thought a live action can produce the same spirit. I can tell that the actors were really dedicated, without there hard work this would not be possible, the fact they all took it seriously and wanted to do the show and mango justice has got much respect from me.If people don't like this movie and the protroyal of Kenshin well I got news for you, this is the closet Kenshin as we are going to get. Love Sagarra,Saito and even Yaihiko. Even how Karou says kenshin greatly reminds me of the anime which is a good thing. What really shocked me was how well they were able to stick to the story even how Kenshin got his scar, I am heavily impressed. In the anime, the show can be light-hearted and very dark and serious from time to time, the movie did seem mostly dark with the story it has it kinda has to be, but when the few lighthearted moments came it was refreshing. For the first time it made me think of how Kenshin scrificed so much for a peaceful era him doing that made lots of samaurai who only way of life became shattered and because of that they turned to the only thing they knew. How could Kenshin foresaw that. Anyway a 10 out of 10 movie kinda hard to have complaints of what should of been in the movie and what shouldn't of considering how great the movie is..Very curious if they could continue to push the boundaries, by its lively real-life tone I know some villains like Isurugi will not make the cut with the one ability cutting arches of trees with wind, would not mind at all if they just went ahead straight to shisho personally. But I am curious to know what they have plans for my favorite character Shinomori Aoshi, since he should of been in this one so if he isn't I am assuming he has a much bigger role. But personally in my own opinion the one person I do want to see in one of the movies is no other then Yukishiro Enishi, He has a bigger involvement that will forever tie him to Kenshin.