[JAPAN MOVIE 2012-2014] るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- / RUROUNI KENSHIN

[Guest buguz]

The final fight was a test to Kenshin, not for his affection of Kaoru though, but for his chosen motto.  Here, Kenshin actually turned back into a Hitokiri Battousai because he desperately wanted to save Kaoru.   
I still like the innocence of Kaoru throughout the whole movie, esp. here, even though she did turn to a wimpy sometimes.  Only Kaoru with her deep-rooted life motto of a Healing Sword would be able to truly believe in a Rourouni's path, so much that she understood that once Kenshin slayed one more life, he would never be able to retrieve his soul ever. 

However, had it not been for Kaoru's safety that he turned into a Hitokiri, what would have taken to retrieve the Rurouni in him? This is one of a few huge tweaks the movie has compared to the manga. I'm really looking forward to see the sequel!

[Guest farstrep]

Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. Swoon. :x :x :x :x :x :x :x :x



This is the better scene between Kaoru and Kenshin, the other being the scene where she hands him an umbrella in the rain.



I love how the ending scene comprises of individual shots of all the characters staying at the dojo - Sanosuke stretching himself after a nap, Yahiko smiling and looking at the couple, Megumi fanning herself, Kaoru looking at Kenshin and Kenshin holding up the groceries he's gotten. It totally looks like a portrait of a happy family. If only the director has a shot with all five in a frame, it would be even more perfect.

The simple dialogue at the end of the scene is usually shared among family members and emphasizes the emotional bond that has developed and is still growing between the leads. The tears of happiness shining in Kaoru's eyes and the heartwarming smile as she welcomes Kenshin home fill his heart with a warmth that he's probably lost touch with for a long time. He, who has led a wandering life for so many years, has found not just a fixed abode to live in but also a home and family to look forward to.




"Just give me a reason
To keep my heart beating..."


The end

[Guest farstrep]

Many returns of the day!! Good luck and God bless!!



@Everyone - @sia3, @Yuuni, @myphim and many many more, thank you for the great movie experience!!   I hope you have enjoyed yourself. Do join us for the next movie night when we organize one.



Thank you so much, @myphim for the gifs and screen caps and @Anomalous for your assistance!! You guys are the best!!!! :x :x

[Guest buguz]

Well done @farstrep & @myphim!! I'm clicking to save all the gifs like a maniac over here =))

[mademoisellesia]

@farstrep
It feeds off the fear of people and gives the ken ki the power for him to use it against the others.
That's why he told Kenshin at the end that either he kills him to destroy his ken ki or Kaoru has to break it herself.

[Guest farstrep]

@sia3: I suspect that's why Jin'e kills himself in the end. It's not just that he's lost the ability to wield his sword but also the fact that a mere girl like Kaoru can overcome her fear and break his spell.

[mademoisellesia]

@farstrep
How to say this. Samurai has this teaching whereby losing is not an option so killing himself is probably the only way he can "accept" his defeat. Sorry about the screencap, I had it in Chinese and Japanese only....
Thank you for introducing me to this movie! I heard about it long ago but forgotten all about it until now.

@myphim @Anomalous
Thank you for the gifs and screencaps. They are HD and they are so beautifully shot that the screencaps are beautiful.

@fastrep
I can tell how much you love this movie from your recaps.
Well written and in-depth, you paid so much attention to the surroundings the actors are in too. It's beautifully written.
I'd definitely think of recruiting you to do recaps in the future if you are interested

Edit: I hope you would take a look at Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru. I would love to know what you think of the whole movie and how the background etc. goes with the actors....

Once again, THANK YOU!!!

@Hanjae @buguz
I'll hand it over to you two who knows about Rurouni Kenshin wayyyy better than me! Oh is @dr25 here? She seems to know a lot too....

[Guest myphim]

@buguz   Since you know about the manga and the story behind the movie, please tell me more about Megumi. I like her and love to hear more.

[Guest Hanjae]

Aww, the end! Thanks once again to @farstrep, @myphim and @Anomalous for hosting, making gifs, screencaps and generally being wonderful! :x

The ending scene was truly well done - once again it hits home how effective such a scene can be when done well. Funnily enough, like so many other aspects of Kenshin's character, his past and discovery of peace with Kaoru, this final scene is strikingly similar to the ending of Faith. Although the latter is clearly designed to be more romantic while the fact that Kenshin has found a family is more important than his finding a love interest, both capture the multitude of emotions playing across the characters' faces when they reunite with the one they care most deeply about. It reminds me of an article I read on mydramalist last night where the writer cited the ending of Faith as one of the "worst drama endings" because she could not understand the appeal of two lovers reuniting after 4 years only to "stare" at each other. Sometimes, the most heartfelt emotion is not expressed by an excess of physicality, but by understated mutual understanding.

@farstrep - On some levels I also felt that Jin'e knew that it would disturb Kenshin and wanted to deliberately thwart his vow of not killing someone, to show that it was futile and despicable by not allowing Kenshin's act of mercy to succeed.

[Guest farstrep]

@sia3: Actually, I've watched "Tada" before. I love Aoi Miyazaki's works. :x :x :x I'll share my thoughts with you once I watch it again. It's been some time since I last watched it. I can only recall bits and pieces of it now.

@buguz: Yes, do tell us more about Megumi and the masked man in the movie.

[Guest buguz]

@farstrep
I love your analysis on the reminiscent of Kenshin's Battousai day :x :x
In the manga actually, he never went back to visit the body of Tomoe's fiance. The addition of this scene highlighted an important point: Kenshin started to acknowledge the lives of others that he indirectly killed with his sword.  He started to see the breakdown of an unfamiliar person, so vulnerable by the death of her love. He started to see that not only that he killed the man, he killed this young lady's simplest dream of being happy in an era of war and destruction.  He started to see that besides his motto, besides his pursuit to a new era, other people still tried just simply to live. 
As @farstrep pointed out, Kenshin started to doubt his way to bring peace to people. I really appreciate the director's thoughtfulness in carrying out such an important part of Kenshin's past! He must have loved the manga a lot to be able to draw out such a delicacy and made it better! :x :x

[Guest myphim]

farstrep said: @sia3: Actually, I've watched "Tada" before. I love Aoi Miyazaki's works. :x :x :x I'll share my thoughts with you once I watch it again. It's been some time since I last watched it. I can only recall bits and pieces of it now.

@buguz: Yes, do tell us more about Megumi and the masked man in the movie.

[mademoisellesia]

Omo @myphim
Are you falling in love with the Phantom? )

@farstrep
Oh you have seen it! I watched it ages ago too and without seeing any previews so it really really touched me at the end! *tissue out*

[Guest myphim]

sia3 said: Omo @myphim
Are you falling in love with the Phantom? )

@farstrep
Oh you have seen it! I watched it ages ago too and without seeing any previews so it really really touched me at the end! *tissue out*

[Guest farstrep]

@myphim: Are you still here? Did this shot really appear in the movie? I don't remember seeing the sword glow. Or my video is too LQ to capture it?

[Guest guadi]

My two cents  

Overall, I really enjoyed it. The best part of this movie for me is the musical score. Truly outstanding and memorable. I don't know much about music and even less about traditional Japanese music, so I can't comment on its sounds, compositions and technicalities. All I can say is that the music blends well with the mood and tone of the story, without being overly intruding. For an action sequence, the score helps to elevate the emotion of that particular scene, to make us feel the tension of the moment. I'm particularly impressed with how the score volumes are adjusted, within a fighting sequence, there are a few sparing dialogues and the score would gradually fades or interjects seamlessly, without making me noticing the minute and subtle transitions at all. I like that I can feel and be absorbed by a scene without noticing an onscreen musical commentary to tell me how I should react to said scene. The ebbs and flows of these sounds are fantastically composed and edited. 
Of course, the cinematography is breathtaking. Even viewing in low quality, I was in awe with the visual pallets. The crisp blue for more violent scenes, a representation of his murderous and darker past. The bright sepia schemes for the present as he embarks on a journey of self-awakening. Overall, these colors give us a reflective and understated ambiance to highlight the slowness and quietness of the story. It may sound odd, but I find the story really slow in a good way. There aren't that many dialogues for us to dissect in rapid successions. With words uttered on screen, they usually relate to the main theme; the sword and swordsmanship and all the symbolism and meanings @farstrep has extensively covered. The pictures tell us more of the story. Not many closeup frames of the characters. We see a few panorama scenes, some distanced frames. Overall observation, there seems to be a small distance between its characters and the frame. I really like that a lot because viewers can see all the details in the foreground and the background. The camera angles and directions in a lot of those scenes accentuate certain patterns and meanings relating to the story line or the characters. I like that Kenshin wears deep infused red clothing while the rest of the cast wear white or that color variations, which blend well with the background. It creates a duality of harshness and softness - a visual commentary on the story in a way - he's the protagonist who is going through the process of self-metamorphosis against a blurry and unchanged atmosphere. 
Okay, this is really long. So I'll end with how much I enjoy the subverted historical commentary in the movie. I'm not sure if I interpret this correctly since I know next to nothing of Japanese history of that period. I like how opium story is used in this film. A reference to history so to speak. I notice that the villains are all dressed in Western attires, befitting of the era in which they existed, but also of the international conflict of the time, between trying to modernize against western encroachment, as the Europeans flexed their control over the East, first through illegal sales of opium exported from India. Then opium addictions in China and the East led to wars and surrender. The result was a series of unequal of treaties which pretty much relinquished local sovereignty to the Europeans. Ok, that is a long history lesson detour, what I want to say is I like how the villains who want to overthrow the new government are dressed in European clothes, live in western mansion adorned with occidental paintings and sculptures, and make a living through illegal sales of opium. I appreciate the historical reference. And of course, regular folks dress and live in tradition.
I'll end with these lines spoken by Admiral Aritomo Yamagata as the dawn of new Meiji era sets in -*The soldiers dressed in all white give the admiral a proper western salutation* It has been ten years since the restorationThis country is now a model for Western European countriesTo new trade agreements*scene transitions to Kenshin floating along the river as women in their traditional clothes perform their daily monotonous chores, and children and people walk along the river banks"*voice over of the admiral* We shall make this new government last and thrive!There will be happiness and stability all over!The era of fear and violence is now over*End of speech with the soldiers salute the admiral*
These opening lines painted the complicated world for these characters.
One last comment (sorry it's so long), Kenshin's refusal to kill in a tumultuous time reminds me a lot of the act of civil disobedience and the historical figures who lived by this code -- Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Edit: @myphim - There, your two brain cells returned ETA 2: Thank you for hosting @farstrep, @myphim, @anamolous, and everyone. 

[Guest buguz]

farstrep

said: @sia3: I suspect that's why Jin'e kills himself in the end. It's not just that he's lost the ability to wield his sword but also the fact that a mere girl like Kaoru can overcome her fear and break his spell.

[Guest myphim]

farstrep said: @myphim: Are you still here? Did this shot really appear in the movie? I don't remember seeing the sword glow. Or my video is too LQ to capture it?

[mademoisellesia]

I found this in the Faith forum...
daejang or Kenshin?? )

source: DC

[Guest farstrep]

@myphim: Aah!! That's why I hate LQ videos!!!

@sia3: It's a very sweet and touching movie. Aoi Miyazaki's beauty (the photograph where she looks back) at the end of the film adds to the poignancy of the film.


EDIT:

@sia3: It's probably Daejung. Why would the Faith forum have a picture of Kenshin without any rhyme or reason?

Don't you have New Year celebrations to attend to?



REEDIT:

@Hanjae: Megumi and Sanosuke?????? Noooooo!!!!!