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

[pechumori]

Beautiful collage @hiranade

I guess we like seeing him in the Kenshin hair and costume and the great cast as well. ^^

The Tsuytaya DVD & video store in Japan has released their 2015 annual ranking for DVD sales and rentals. For the overall ranking of Blu-ray / DVD sales, "Rurouni Kenshin - The Legend Ends" landed on the 4th spot, while for the overall ranking of Blu-Ray / DVD rentals, "Rurouni Kenshin - The Legend Ends" is at 2nd place and "Rurouni Kenshin - Kyoto Inferno" is at the 5th place.

credit: http://natalie.mu/eiga/news/170941
photo credit: blu-ray.com

[pechumori]

The Blu=Ray cover of The "Rurouni Kenshin" trilogy Australia. Can you see Kenshin's cross-shaped scar glowing? ^^
credit: jbhifi.com.au via weibo taketaketakeru

[Guest hiranade]

 

Agreed with you @pechumori ^^, I think not only us whom like everything about Kenshin. My friend who never know Japan actor and movie like my post about RK  sometimes it's surprise me 

[pechumori]

love the new collage @hiranade...RK in action!

Video Pass, a subscription streaming service launched by Japan’s KDDI, which operates cell-phone service Au, and subsid Okinawa Cellular, which offers unlimited access to movies and dramas, has started to stream Takeru Sato's movie, "Rurouni Kenshin" starting last Jan. 1, 2016.

The service is available on smartphones, PCs, tablets and via cable.
source: http://variety.com/2012/film/news/japan-s-kddi-launches-video-pass-1118054110/

news and photo credit: http://auone.videopass.jp/navi/news_article/11025

[Guest hiranade]

Thanks @pechumori it's collages for celebrate one year of RK Kyoto inferno and the Legend Ends^^ just to remind us this masterpiece action.

Wow..people can streaming Rk with this service

 

[Guest hiranade]

Fan art for Kenshin character in RK

Credit pic to ekachan (ekakakoo868 IG)

[Guest hiranade]

Fanart for Kenshin

Credit to ekakakoo868 IG 

[pechumori]

Thank you for the fan arts @hiranade

Rurouni Kenshin Fight Sequence Analysis: Choreography

                                           Elements of Cinema

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The most popular elements that passionate fans and dissenters of the RurouKen film trilogy all seem to agree on is that the action scenes are awesome. Dissenters usually say, “just watch it for the action.” This always struck me as a strange thing to say. I think it’s because it was always intended to be a slide against the film, as though to say, “The only thing the films did well was the action,” similar to how some might say, “Watch Transformers for the special effects.” 

This actually got me thinking, though. What makes a fight scene? If we broke down a fight scene to its cinematic elements, if we peek behind the curtains, what composes the fight scenes that everyone, including dissenters, would argue is this film trilogy’s strongest element? And to it’s fans, what makes it better than its competition? What did Team Otomo just get right?

The truth is, those questions are gateways to more questions; film is different from any medium because film is alive. It’s evolving, moving towards new directions, restructuring old words and phrases to create beauty and meaning in new ways. RuroKen is no different, but if we’re going to understand how these elements congeal together to create the magnificent and electrifying action sequences fans of this series are going to enjoy, we need to understand those elements in their own isolated contexts. There’s a lot to keep track of, and a lot of these posts will overlap with one another since film is collaborative, so always make sure to come back to previous posts to freshen up and see how things come together. 

Also, if we’re going to understand what Rurouni Kenshin does well, we sometimes need to look at how other fight scenes are crafted, sometimes to terrible results, which means we will occasionally be drawing on other fights from other films and TV shows.

DISCLAIMER: THIS SERIES IS NOT A REVIEW. I WILL SPECIFY IF I LOVE SOMETHING, BUT OTHERWISE I WON’T COMMENT TOO MUCH AND THE FLAWS I POINT OUT MAY OR MAY NOT IMPACT MY ENJOYMENT OF A NON-RK SERIES I’M NITPICKING. THIS IS A FORUM FOR RUROUNI KENSHIN PRIMARILY, SO PLEASE RELEGATE DISCUSSION TO THAT TOPIC, THANK YOU. I DON’T WANT UNWARRANTED GoT SPOILERS OR PEOPLE SAYING I HATE THEIR FAVORITE SHOW. 

 

The Dancers of Cinema: Choreography and Action Direction

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This post MAY contain spoilers for the following: (you’ve been warned guys):

• Game of Thrones Season 4
• Rurouni Kensin trilogy
• Star Wars The Phantom Menace

The most obvious and exciting element of any action sequence is choreography. This doesn’t always apply to just fighting; stunt coordination, chase sequences, and so forth, require very precise positioning between the actors and the camera to capture the intended effect of that sequence. To a choreographer, also known as an Action Director, designing a fight sequence can be more than just exciting violent titilaton; it can be a valuable lens of which to view our characters. 

The Action Director in our case is Kenji Tanigaki. Bringing his flair and experience from working in Hong Kong and Hollywood action films and working with some of the biggest names in action cinema such as Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen, Tanigaki-san works closely with Otomo to make sure that everything goes well and ensures the actors are perfectly safe. He is also responsible for making every action in the film cinematic and crisp visually. This can get very elaborate and set up varies between directors, but the end result, if done right, is usually incredible. Even his peers respect Tanigaki’s skill; look at this tweet from Gareth Evans, director of The Raid and The Raid 2. (Warning: Language)

First thing they need to make sure they have right is the casting and action team. The actors typically are the ones that need to do these moves to feel authentic. This isn’t universal and can vary depending on director or production team. This mostly commonly in American or Western productions as these actors are often high profile and the right actor isn’t always the best fighter even with training and 6 months isn’t enough time to make them look good. What’s worse, not training seriously can result in injury, which might interfere with scheduling for other shoots that actor may be doing.

In these sorts of productions, especially those with a tight shooting schedule, they will cast stunt doubles to do the more complex movements that the character might demand but the actors are unable or unwilling to do (Unless you’re Leo DiCaprio and your director is Alejandro Gonzalez Iñnarítu). Here’s an example. This is from Episode 8 of Game of Thrones, “The Mountain & The Viper” (Slight spoilers).

Originally posted by freakyharmony

Here is a set piece clothed with a flurry quick cuts of multiple angles (coverage) of a single piece of choreography done in several takes. We’ll discuss this particular editing style in the Editing section of my series, but the point is, it looks really cool. Pedro Pascal (The actor for Oberyn Martell, this particular character) begins and ends the shot, and it looks as though it were him the entire time until we zoom in. 

Now this isn’t necessarily bad or even terribly distracting if done right. It’s an insurance policy for the actors since fight choreography is extremely exhausting work and training for months on end might not be enough or even an option, especially for the tight shooting schedule found in the production of Game of Thrones. 

This small excerpt took a lot of designing, practice, and rehearsals, not just by the stunt team and the actor/double, but for the crew behind the camera. They probably had to do multiple takes, some with Pedro and some with his double, and edit it rapidly together. They also set up coverage from multiple angles for the editor to have as much footage as possible to assemble an acceptable cut. It’s pretty tiring work just for one seemingly tiny little throwaway and inconsequential piece of choreography.

That being said though, the small bit can show us a lot about the character of Oberyn Martell himself, so it definitely has a place here. Oberyn is pleasing the crowd, showing off his prowess to his audience and THE audience. He’s a bit of a cocky guy so it fits right in with his character in my opinion.

I bring this up to create a negative because this is something Otomo and Tanigaki ACTIVELY avoid. Let me explain.

In Otomo’s action scenes, the emphasis is more on the actors rather than the the movement of the character. His blocking (the arrangement/placement of elements such as characters and objects within the frame) for fight sequences mirror the standard coverage of a conversation with two or three cameras depending on the set piece. Once again, I’ll explain in detail later, but what this is meant to bring up is that his emphasis, as is the emphasis with dialogue scenes between characters, is character.

What I mean is that the camera is usually emphasizing the face of his actors along with their individual movements to show the audience their state of mind and also to show the audience that it’s the actors doing the movements.

 This helps increase immersion, as well as simplifies shooting because the cinematographer (Director of Photography or DP) has a bit more freedom to shoot naturally rather than manufacture angles where we can introduce a stunt double and return to the actor in editing. I refer back to my GOT example. The editing cuts between wide angle and long dolly shots to make sure we can’t see the stunt double’s face as we return to a medium shot before and after the little stunt is done is something Otomo isn’t keen on and neither is Tanigaki.

                     The Men and Women Behind the Moves

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A fight sequence is a programmed dance, coordinated moves and visual cues that must be hit for maximum effect but to actually be effective, it needs to seem completely organic and representative of the person fighting. The fighting moves need to come from characters themselves and when done right can illustrate a lot about a character. 

When the choreography comes before the character and feels too rehearsed or unnatural, you can actually distract from the drama of the scene as well as offer no insight visually about the characters fighting. Consider the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. 

This may look cool because its fast, the moves are flashy and elegant, but from this small bit of choreography and the entire fight itself, we can’t really tell anything about these characters. We know one’s evil because of the color of his light saber (we’ll discuss this in another post), but beyond that, we don’t actually know Darth Maul or how brutal he is, other than he’s ready to kill Obi-Wan’s master and does so. Aside from the cool costumes, there is nothing that visually separates these characters from one another in terms of skill or style. 

Compare this with  the first fight sequence of the first live action movie. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about.

Originally posted by suzuyajuzoo

This fight sequence delivered a lot of critical information we needed to know about Kenshin without him having to say a single word. In the opening text of the film, we’re told of the Battousai’s legendary cruelty, but to see it was a different story. His fighting style tells us three crucial things:

1. He’s fully equipped to fight and overcome multiple opponents at once, emphasizing his use as an asset in the war effort. He’s fast and kills efficiently, stopping neither to torture or gloat. He neutralizes the threat as quickly as possible.
2. He has high manuverability to get in and out of his opponents space, suggesting master level swordsmanship skills, especially since he is the only character in the entire scene that we’ve seen with this proficiency. 
3. He economizes his movements, so there is no motion goes to waste signifying he is ruthless and very efficient in killing. Notice how in the gif above he cuts one opponent and it smoothly leads into him facing the next. He is every bit deserving of the legend we’re told in the opening text.  

Originally posted by suzuyajuzoo

The interaction he has with Saito in this scene shows us that they’ve had multiple inconclusive encounters on the field and Saito managed to survive them, subtly signifying to us that Saito is at the very least his equal, which becomes important given what motivates the forthcoming action scene 10 years later where he completely dominates Kenshin and cuts his shoulder with the Sakabatou. 

 This is an example of how fight choreography can go beyond being cool action and can actually be a tool to help tell the story (the second half of this series will be focusing on just that). 

Originally posted by sexe-fitness-problemes

Later in the film, after these two same characters reunite 10 years later and have a duel, Saito brutally overpowers him. In contrast to Kenshin’s manuverability and speed, Takagi-san designed Saito’s moves to utilize his weight as he’s physically taller and stronger than Kenshin. He’s not as fast but his strikes hold an insane degree of power as we see when Kenshin attempts to parry and Saito manages digs the blade into his shoulder. Saito gives Kenshin a significant amount of trouble and this piece of choreography shows us that Kenshin’s skills have greatly diminished from the opening action sequence. He’s rusty, and if he fought Saito for real, he’d likely die. This once again factors in the story as it sets up Jin-e’s plot at the end of the film to draw out Kenshin’s fighting ability through sheer anger by emphasizing the difference between Kenshin’s current skill and that of his former self.

Another example where choreography transcends its role of entertainment and spectacle and becomes a form of visual storytelling is when fighting Gein. Notice how Kenshin seems to be having trouble here, but after Gein begins to aggravate Kenshin, we get this:

We even get subtle foreshadowing as Kenshin cuts his nose. This foreshadows what he’ll do to Jin-e when he gives him a similar wound after Kenshin is slowly beginning to revert back to the mindset of his assassin days. Even if you don’t have subtitles and have never seen RK before, you can grasp what’s happening just from the visuals.

My absolute favorite example of how choreography can be a powerful indicator of characters and their state of mind is the final fight between Kenshin and Shishio. (The video is below, please check it out before reading on).

Let’s talk about this brutal bastard for a moment. This single fight right here lasts about 2 minutes in the film and to the amazement of everyone, it is one of the most brutal fights I’ve ever seen on film (and I watch A LOT of martial arts films). 

We see glimpses of his utter brutality earlier in the second film when we watch the flashback of Shishio at Toba Fushimi. 

This scene actually sets up about as much crucial information about Shishio as it did Kenshin:

1.  He is ruthless and unrestrained; his moves emphasize the maximum amount of pain and brutality, ensuring suffering in his opponents before they die.
2. He fights dirty, not being above using human shields and considers life expendable.
3. He takes sadistic pleasure in humiliating his opponents, as seen when he stomps on an opponents head and presses their faces into the dirt as he brutally impales them.

When Kenshin-gumi finally arrive to challenge Shishio, we see Shishio’s choreography speak volumes about him.

In the small clip I’ve posted below, we can see that Shishio is psychotically brutal. He isn’t graceful or formal, he lacks all the elegance of Kenshin’s fighting style, and he is sadistically toying with his prey like a cat taunting a mouse. He is less interested in slicing Kenshin as in a formal duel and more interested in repeatedly bashing his flaming sword into Kenshin’s face or pummeling him into a pile of red-headed pulp. He makes no effort to dodge Kenshin’s moves. He reacts to the pain they cause, but instead of deterring him, they excite him. He isn’t above pulling dirty moves like slamming Kenshin repeatedly against a wall while chuckling, or biting a chunk out of Kenshin’s neck. He’s designed to be the exact opposite of Kenshin. 

Tanigaki, when planning a scene of this magnitude, needed  to take into account several elements that can impact what the audience needs to know about these characters. How long has Kenshin been fighting? Is he injured? Shishio, is he ready to fight? Is he reluctant, eager? How would Shishio fight? Does he fight with a flowery style like Kenshin? Is he evasive or does he just take hits and overwhelm his opponents? 

These kinds of questions are some that he needs to ask and work out with the director and actors on set to figure out the fight scene and choreography.  It’s not an easy job. After his stunt team performs it and does camera tests to show Otomo as well as be prepared to revise if Otomo and his DP want to place the camera in certain places, the set of moves are then taught to the actors who interpret them in the context of their character, and then perform them in excruciating detail. Just imagine he nightmare he went through filming the four vs one fight scene at the film’s climax. I think that fight scene deserves its own post some day. 

 

                                     Reality vs Cinematic Realism

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As impressive as they may be, the final obstacle a choreographer must deal with is the camera. Some moves may be practical, but they don’t look good on screen. The moves need to test well for the camera, which is why there are cameras present during rehearsals. 

This helps the director and the cinematographer know in advance what the shot is going to look and give feed back to the Action Director to adjust certain moves if they don’t test well or are illegible on screen. That being said, sometimes this means certain moves need to be exaggerated, heavily expanded on, or redone entirely, which may not be in accordance to the real life basis of those techniques. The biggest example of this is actually a fan favorite technique… The Battoujutsu that Kenshin earned his name sake for.

This looks good. In real life though, this stance is incredibly impractical, and to help me illustrate that fact, I present you real life superhuman Iaido master, Isao Machii.

This is the real life Battojutsu stance. Notice how different it looks from Kenshin’s.

Originally posted by silenthill

This is the technique performed:

Originally posted by marshallastr

Why did Otomo and Tanigaki change it? I mean, it doesn’t look to bad right? This all ties in to how Kenji Tanigaki choreographs and speaks to the main element that TeamOtomo emphasizes throughout all of these action sequences: Drama. Drama comes first and in good cinema, drama doesn’t just stem from the writing; it’s also visual. Kenshin’s stance is very exaggerated compared to Machii-san’s because Hiten Mitsurugi was designed for the camera. This may be obvious to some, but remember that the next time we see a film with unrealistic choreography, it might be because it looks better. 

Don’t misunderstand though, Machii-san is extremely impressive, but on film, it doesn’t have the same gravitas or dramatic flair it does in RK. This is because Machii’s battojutsu is designed to actually kill; it’s a practical move with no room for flair.

 Tanigaki probably adjusted the stance because, arguably, it’s not as visually interesting and doesn’t work as well with the camera  because its much too practical and restrained. Otomo envisioned the Battojutsu strikes to carry a lot of narrative weight, and Tanigaki has to interpret that with considerations to the camera. You might think, “well, I thought Machii’s looked cooler.” Sure, you may be right, but it wouldn’t work on camera the same way Tanigaki’s “Sou Ryu Sen” does. How do I know? Because we actually do see Kenshin perform Battojutsu accurately.

Originally posted by pedroam-bang

This is what it would probably look like this in real life, which works for this particular instance. Our reaction is probably like Eiji and Misao’s in the background. But when Battojutsu becomes the point of the whole fight, the finale or the ultimate technique, it can’t look like this. It needs to be dramatic, it needs to be cinematic. Compare with this: 

It’s slow, the stance is heavily exaggerated but the tension rises. The slow moves emphasize this epic moment; because we know there’s going to essentially be an explosion of motion, the slow build up tenses us with anticipation. We know these two are going to go at it, and the exaggerated stance tells the audience visually, even if you have no clue what battojutsu is or looks like in real life, that this is serious and this moment is climactic. 

The choreographer doesn’t just have to adapt the movement of characters to look good on camera, they need to make every move cinematic to fit the tone of the scene. They need to design a move after carefully considering whether or not it looks good on camera. Multiple camera tests are needed in order to ensure they get the look just right and months of planning go in, just to film a tiny little scene like this battojutsu duel. Impressive, huh? 

                  

                                               Final Thoughts

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All in all, Rurouni Kenshin’s choreography and stunt team all work day and night to build an aspect of the visual language of this film. Their choreography spellbinds us, shows us insight to their characters, as well as sets up different tone, and whether we laugh:

Originally posted by takeruandcaterpillars

or cheer:

Originally posted by lynxyz

They are masters of controlling what we see and how we feel about it and if done right can create truly memorable drama without being tied down by dialogue. I have no doubt in my mind Kenji Tanigaki and his team are a large part of why this worked as they took what we loved from the manga and brought it to life with a wonderful stunt team and actors and we should applaud their efforts. 

These are some of the most exciting action sequences to make it to the screen, up there with Bruce Lee films, Ip Man, and the Raid movies. Great action, great drama, and great story telling; that’s what this is all about folks. And this is where I leave you to go work on the next installment; See ya guys!

 

                                             SPECIAL THANKS 

• To everyone for reading
• HYRK for giving me an avenue to write about this wonderful series. 
• To the people who let me borrow their gifs. I know many of you worked so hard on them and they’re really helpful. 

DISCLAIMER ABOUT GIFS: A lot of the graphics I used are crowd-sourced. I got them from Tumblr’s auto-find system they implemented or on google. If you see a gif without proper credit and its yours and you’d like some credit, please contact me and I’ll designate everyone to your blog as well as give you a credit in this section of the post. 

credit: http://aworldwithroses.tumblr.com/post/138961408668/rurouni-kenshin-fight-sequence-analysis

[Guest hiranade]

Good analysis @pechumori I really like this one. Thanks^^ as manga and anime fans I really grateful to choreography and action direction. He made the fighting scenes in this movie is so realistic and beautiful at same times. Even it is not perfect like the anime  but the fighting in live action is memorable part in viewers thought. 

[Guest hiranade]

 

At this valentine days, let's remember the Kenshin-Kaoru scenes ^^ both taking cares each others and love each other

[pechumori]

@hiranade, thank you for posting their photo on Valentine's day!

Comparing the "Rurouni Kenshin" scenes from the manga to the live action counterparts.
credit: weibo @从佐藤先森家出发的猫

 

[Guest hiranade]

My pleasure @pechumori ^^ kenkao love story fits well with theme of valentine. Thanks to you too cause your posts and other fellows in this thread I can create some fanmade 

 

[Guest hiranade]

Kenshin fanart made by runnie.z. 

Thanks for this awesome drawing

[pechumori]

Thank you @hiranade for updating the thread. The drawing is so realistic. ^^

Rurouni Kenshin Fight Sequence Analysis Series: Costume Designs

 

A sad reality about the film industry is that there are many departments that don’t get the recognition they deserve. After the big five categories are announced during the Oscars, (Best Writing, Picture, Actor, Actress, Director), many of us turn it off as the other elements aren’t as important to us. The truth is, there are many elements of filmmaking that aren’t necessarily conducive to praise or recognition because they are only noticed when done wrong. They are unsung heroes of the craft, since without them, some of our favorite movies wouldn’t be the same, and members of this group of unsung heroes are Costume Designers.

Costumes designers aren’t really noticed unless the costumes are terrible; their primary function is really to just set the world and sell it as a part of production design. Obviously, a person in 15th century Japan isn’t going to wear jeans and a hoody, otherwise it’d shatter immersion. That being said, however, there is a silent language to costumes, a hidden world of elements that we may not notice consciously, but our brains certainly do. 

To recognize and study this language, we need to set out to ask and answer certain questions: How do costumes fit in with a film like Rurouni Kenshin? Is there a purpose beyond mere world building? Can they be a cinematic tool to tell a story? Can they be used to express character and if so, to what degree? 

Today, we’re going to begin the search for answers to see how TeamOtomo used costumes to not only set and sell the world of RK, but to also see how it can be used as a grammatical element in the ever rich visual language of the film’s action sequences. 

SPOILER SCOPE: 

1. Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter Directed by David Zeller, Costume Designs by Kiersten Ronning and Tony Crosbie
2. Game of Thrones Season 5: “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” directed by Jeremy Podeswa; Costume Designs by Michele Clapton
3. Star Wars Episode III Revenge of The Sith Directed by George Lucas; Costume Designs by Trisha Biggar

                                     The Unsung Craftsman

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Often times, especially in any industry where collaboration is required, part of doing your job right means no one will notice you at all. The production team gets almost as much flack as VFX designers in this industry; no one notices you and if they do, it’s not considered a good thing. Nevertheless, these people are craftsmen; they are artists that conceptualize and bring to life these imagined worlds that feel so beautiful and so lived in that for two hours or so, you forget that it’s not real. I know this kinda sounds like a crappy Oscar speech, but hey, its true!

The craftsman we will be looking at today is Kazuhiro Sawataishi, the costume designer of the RK trilogy.

His short but high profile filmography includes work on the famous Takashi Miike film, 13 Assassins, before heralding the now famous and successful Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy.

The responsibilites of a costume designer are particularly deceptive. On the surface, production design’s primary function is to build a world and make it believable and costumes have a major role to play in that. Some costume designs are so iconic that you don’t even need to have actually seen the films to recognize them. Consider the “Alien” (Xenomorph) by the brilliant H.R. Giger or John Mollo for his work on both the original Alien as well as the Original Star Wars Trilogy. That’s right, Darth Vader is his. We can look at the magical land of Oz and its wonderful costumes by Adrian Adolf Greenberg and many more. These costume designs are as iconic as films themselves and are testimony to the immense power and beauty behind the art of crafting the perfect costume and how essential to the film they can be.

Rurouni Kenshin is absolutely no exception. A costume designer’s most obvious and supperficial responsibility is obviously designing the costumes themselves. They are artists in charge of the designs, deciding the color palette, fabric and texture, and fit for the actor’s build, choosing what to accentuate and what to deemphasis in accordance to the director’s vision. Their costumes, when actualized by their team, have to look good on camera and ensure that they portray the correct color when the Director of Photography lights it and so on. They also need to decide what to simulate, such as Shishio’s bandages which is closer to plaster than fabric according to an interview with Sawataishi. It can be pretty creatively taxing for everyone involved. 

In some ways, Sawataishi’s work is made simultaneously easier and more difficult by the fact that the film is based on a manga. Otomo probably emphasized getting the costumes as accurate as possible to the original manga’s design, leaving only room for change if it was impractical for the actor or if it doesn’t test well on camera. It can be easier because he has to work off the designs of someone else, or it can be more difficult because those designs weren’t designed with a film in mind and he somehow needs to make it work for one. So essentially, Sawataishi needs to find a sweet spot between being true to the manga’s simplistic designs, making it at least easy for the actors to move, and make it consistent with the world Otomo and the Production Designers were. 

But looking good isn’t the Costume Designers only concern, just the primary superficial one. Their main focus is actually character and story. 

                                       The Fabric of Emotions

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As readers of the visual poetry of cinema, we’re tasked with analyzing and considering the significance of certain stanzas of the poem itself. Traditionally (but by no means necessarily), a film needs to answer questions that it wants us to ask ourselves. “What kind of people are these characters? Can we identify them with costumes? How do the costumes add texture, context, and meaning to the visual landscape of the film we’re watching?” And perhaps the biggest question never asked: “Can we tell a story through costume design?”

 Before we move on to RK, I want to invoke an example of character and visual storytelling in cinema through costumes. This is Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, directed by David Zellner and costume designs by Kiersten Ronning and Tony Crosby. 

Without spoiling too much of the plot, the character of Kumiko is an introverted one. She doesn’t fit in very well in contemporary Japanese society and the film even implies that she might have a form of Aspergers. To demonstrate visually the isolation she often feels, the costume designers Ronning and Crosby gave her a red jacket. Seems simple enough, except in the visual rules set by the film itself, Kumiko is assigned the color red. To enforce this, the director/DP are very careful about how much red we see thats not her. Having everyone else wear neutral and darker tones, the bright red contrasts with the otherwise neutral visual landscape, making her stick out like a sore thumb. The disproportional visual weight given to her by her color choice and the contrast it affords, we can pick her out and isolate her from a crowd because she doesn’t quite fit in the visual landscape, not unlike how her character doesn’t quite fit in the world she occupies. 

Later in the first act of the film, she runs in to an old acquaintance who wants to catch up and talk. Here, she’s wearing a red scarf which immediately tips the audience off to a connection with Kumiko, due to us knowing by now that red is Kumiko’s color. This is a great example of how costume can enrich the visual grammar of a film. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, you can probably fill in the blanks without subtitles. 

Sawataishi-san applies these same grammatical principles by giving Kenshin the color red. (Fun Fact: In Japanese media, red is considered the color of a hero, which is why many shonen protagonists in anime wear red.) No major characters in the trilogy wears red as a primary color except Seijuro Hiko in the third film, a major overhaul of the original Hiko design and a great visual cue that Seijuro Hiko will be the one to restore Kenshin’s faith in his own vows.

This is also why the color palette of Cho was switched to beige rather than his classic red. The red that manga fans grew up on is treated with reverence and significance as we see Kaoru give it to him with expository dialogue informing us that it belonged to her father. The writers of the trilogy reestablishes its significance when Megumi gives Kenshin the kimono later in the third film when Kenshin returns to Tokyo. 

Beyond establishing the world and time these characters live in, it becomes a symbol of who he is as a human being and the ideals he carries. Its a symbol of the Rurouni, the wanderer who helps people, the man who protects the weak. The production team knew this; that’s what makes this shot from Kyoto Inferno so emotionally signficant after Kenshin leaves for Kyoto.

It shows us that Kenshin left behind all the ideals that the color red represents in the story and is now wearing black. The directing and camera placement puts us inside Karou’s head as she sees it first, and then we see “through her eyes”, putting us in her state of mind as well as setting up the moral conflict of the film, which will come to a head against Cho and then Shishio on the Rengoku. The red gi becomes as symbolic of Kenshin as a person as his sakabatou.

In these examples, we can see costumes telling us about the people who wear them and in Rurouni Kenshin’s case, what a character fights for and believes in. In Kyoto Inferno, we actually get something deeper: we get a subtle emotional response through the costume design. By treating the kimono and hakama with such reverence, the audience understands the significance and danger of Kenshin walking away from it. 

To take this matter even further, consider the fact that Kenshin is now wearing black. The only time we saw Kenshin wear black before heading to Kyoto is in flashbacks when he is Hitokiri Battousai. This is further exemplified when we flashback once per movie to the most significant moment the character has in that costume, which is the moment when he is confronted with the consequences of his assassinations as he watches Tomoe breaks down near Kyosato’s body. This reflects to us the challenges Kenshin will face as he heads down the road of death, where he will face the ever increasing odds of killing his opponents and being forced to choose between his vow and the necessity of his mission.

The visual idea of Kumiko’s acquaintance and her scarf is also used in RK, that idea being visual association. This is why Shishio’s men all wear blacks and greys except the Juppongatana. It’s why Kanryu’s samurai all look similar. Saito’s police uniform looks different from the rest of his men to show his rank without stating it, but the color palette is still similar, albeit brighter or bolder. It’s also why the Oniwaban wear deep blues and why Aoshi and Okina wear cloaks (or a coat in Aoshi’s case) with a similar color palette over their ninja outfits, establishing them as authority figures over their respective teams/groups. (Think back to Aoshi when he watched his group die.) We can tell who these groups are when we cut to fight scenes between them, especially in the set pieces involving multiple people. It is easier for us to keep track of who is fighting whom. 

It makes it easier to understand who is fighting and in some cases, dying. It can also be used to denote rank, relationships, similarity, and even a character’s philosophy. We see it in other mediums like video games too when characters keep mementos that the audience associates with people the character lost. 

We can tell a lot about a character just by what they’re wearing. Film however, has a more important demand in fight sequences for costumes, and this is one that is absolutely vital and can be understated unless its done improperly: Spatial Orientation. 

               Keeping Track: Spatial Orientation in Combat

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For this last chapter, and the one that finally answers how costume is used for fight sequences, I’ll need to invoke a negative example. I’m going to preface this first by warning this may upset many of you, and I grievously apologize beforehand if I do since this is an unbelievably popular TV show….but as some may have guessed, I’m going to have to pick on Game of Thrones.

To get my personal feelings out of the way, in my opinion, season 5 had some of the crappiest action direction I’ve seen in a major production, which makes it ripe for the picking in demonstrating what RK does right. To illustrate my point as a negative reference, I’m going to call upon specific scene: Bronn and Jaime’s incursion with the Sand Snake sisters in Dorne midway through the season. I have taken the liberty of including a video of the fight in the bottom of this link; if you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to watch it before continuing to read. (For the record, this really hurt because Michele Clapton is actually pretty amazing).

Most people think the editing and handheld camera is the problem with action scenes in movies today, and for the most part they’re right but that’s not the only or maybe even the most severe problem. Many shots in RK’s fight scenes are shot in handheld. The problem here is that aside from their weapons and a few different details, these characters are dressed nearly identically to each other. The differences are useless because when everything is shot and edited extremely quickly, those details can fly by and we not have established who these weapons and details are associated with in any concrete capacity yet. This is association done poorly.

Originally posted by ithelpstodream

Its true that earlier I said RK used costumes for association but just as important as looking similar when representing a group, especially during scenes with specific individual characters, they need to have a bit of contrast. Contrast is there so when the action starts, we can keep track of the major players of the scene and remain invested.  

Jaime and Bronn are wearing more or less the same garb and are using the same type of weapon, while the Sand Snakes are wearing more or less the same armor, which instead of telling us anything specific about their characters, just lets the audience know that Jaime and Bronn are in a foreign land, and these girls are related to Oberyn Martell since they wear armor similar to the armor he wore in his fight with The Mountain in the previous season. (For non - Game of Thrones fans, please recall my previous entry in this series where I used Oberyn as an example for choreography and the placement of stunt doubles.)

 Looking too similar when inappropriate, espcially when improperly accentuated with bad editing and cinematography, can create a disastrous problem and violate a very important principle in filmmaking: the audience’s sense of space and orientation. In other words, the action is happening so quickly and is cut together in such a haphazard way that it’s extremely easy to lose track of who is who. It’s good to have similar costuming to show characters are on the same side in large battles or set pieces with multiple players, but when downscaled, it can distract the audience and pull you right out of what’s happening, and instead of manufacturing a tone or progressing the story, the audience can become really irritated or worse…bored. I’ll take a poorly executed film over a boring one any day. 

What makes this example even worse is that later in the series, we’re treated to these costumes which look fanatastic and are actually individualized enough to tell them apart, but similar enough in style that you can still grasp the character’s cultural and perhaps even familial association. They are also heavily individualized in the books these charactes are based on.

With no visual grasp of anything concrete due to the editing and immesion consistently being shattered by the audience’s fruitless attempt to regain some sense of orientation, its difficult to be invested and this problem is only aggravated further when the characters look the same.

In the RK trilogy, every major fight Kenshin has that involve one to four other players not including himself, are not only stylistically different in direction, composition, design, choreography, and tone, but all of his opponents have differing costumes, often times contrasting with Kenshin. Kenshin also has the bonus of having red hair and a unique hair style, so if he’s fighting multiple opponents in similar colors, such as the opening of the first film, the Kyosato flashback, and Shingetsu village battle in Kyoto Inferno, his red hair is enough to diversify him from his opponents, so we never lose track of him or where he is, who he’s surrounded by, or where he’s going.

Soujiro and Kenshin, while they are both wearing cool colors, remain visually distinct from each other so when they entangle and their confrontation explodes into a flurry of swishes and slashes, we never lose track of them. The camera work and editing also helps as the action is clearly visible and the editor cuts on motion so we never lose grasp of what we’re seeing and what is happening. 

And to rub salt in the wound, The Legend Ends also has a scene where 5 players in a fight are involved: the infamous 4 vs 1 finale against Shishio. Each character’s color palette, and costume designs are so diverse that losing track of them is actually rather difficult. 

The biggest challenge they might face is that Aoshi and Saito would blend since they both wear blue, but this is easily rectified by having Aoshi wear his coat.

In the second movie, Sawataishi demonstrates his skill as a costume designer once more as he does what Game of Thrones aimed to do but actually executed it correctly. During Aoshi’s big fight, he removes his coat against Okina to emphasize that they’re on the same side visually; he keeps it or another layer of something similar in color and fabric on in every other action sequence. The reason he got away with this is both because of the differences in their age and hair color. Having them dress the same grants poignancy to the fight as we are given a reminder that they were once on the same side, multiplied even further by the fact that Misao wears the exact same colors when she walks in on their duel.

 Anyway, because of this we can always tell who and where they are in relation to each other, keeping us routinely invested in the action. Instead of distracting, it becomes immersive and interesting. By getting out of the way and not drawing attention to itself, the costumes immerse us deeper into the action and more importantly, the story.  
 

                   Final Thoughts: The World They Live In

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Before we wrap up, we’ll discuss something that sets apart Sawataishi’s costuming from most of his competition and is probably why Otomo hired him. He does one thing that is sort of his trademark and honestly makes his costumes look fantastic: He lets actors get dirty.

He lets actors sweat into their costumes. They get cut and sewed up, torn, they get leaves in their wigs and so on. Otomo will also have the actors roll around in the dirt before doing a take to create a layer of authenticity. This layer of dirt can be seen in 13 Assassins too, another prolific film in Sawataishi’s filmography.  

This authenticity sells the world to us and grounds it in believability. Contrasting with movies like The Last Samurai or the like, it removes any gloss or romanticization that often permeates in the chanbara or samurai genre since the fascination with Japanese culturei in the west grew. 

Kurosawa was also paritcularly fond of his characters getting dirty too. It shows the audience that these combatants aren’t superhumans, even when they do superhuman things. They get tired, hot, beat up, and grimy. They probably smell bad too. They look like they can get worn out and actually get hurt. This creates tension, especially in the finales of Seven Samurai and The Legend Ends, such as when Kenshin and Shishio, battered and bloody, try to one-up each other despite being almost unable to stand or earlier in the film when Kenshin and his master roll around in the dirt.

His costumes, while we may not notice or pay mind to them, are a very important part of the RK verse that TeamOtomo created. Its a world not unlike our own but one where extraordinary people live in. It has a layer of grit and dirt to it that makes it feel so lived in and real. Its a minor detail, sure, but it makes every hit feel real, and makes use the actors’ probably real exhaustion to create tone and characterization.

This can be directly compare this with Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith’s Mustafar duel. Anakin’s limbs were freshly amputated and Obi-Wan just finished fighting over lava and molten rocks and yet he barely has a glisten. Obi-Wan looks more put together than I do taking a brisk walk in a Floridian afternoon. 

Sure, Obi-Wan seems to have broken a sweat, but he could’ve looked like that fighting in any location. Despite the sweat though, he doesn’t look very dirty for fighting a planet literally blackened by ash. His clothes look fine too, which is odd considering the intensity of their duel. I may be picking on this movie, but this really cheapens it for me, and removes a layer of depth Sawataishi afforded his films by letting actors get dirty to create authenticity and as a result, fails to sell the fact that they’re fighting on a molten planet, likely because the actors were actually fighting in a blue screen studio set.

 The suspension of belief is potentially shattered because the fight doesn’t feel real and doesn’t seem like any of the characters are in any serious danger until the screenwriter decides they are, which is a shame given the emotional intensity of the scene. Heck, the aforementioned fight between Okina and Aoshi and that had far more narrative depth to me despite being thematically identical as both scenes were about betrayal. How much more emotionally impactful would the tragedy have been if Anakin or Obi-Wan looked like Shishio and Kenshin at the end of the duel?

These costumes are so important to cinema. They’re emblems of a world that costume designers, despite maybe not getting the respect they deserve in the grand scheme of film like actors do, work really hard to not only realize RK into a film trilogy, but to bring the RK world to life and make it a world we can believe, and one that we can come to love enough to revisit. 

So next time you watch a movie, watch out for the costume designer and their team. What do their costumes say about their characters? How do they use it in an action scene? These are good questions I think, and ones worth asking. Keep watching guys, and thank you for reading!

                                               Special Thanks 

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-To you guys for reading and making these cool graphics and screenshots. You’re also seriously bad richard simmons and I wish I could credit everyone.

-To White-Plum for being a good friend and creating HYRK, the greatest avenue for me to write about this amazing series and a place where we can all gather in our love for RK.

and most importantly, to TeamOtomo, for bringing to life a manga that had been over for nearly 15 years, with no financial incentive other than to bring a comic we all love to life, with his wonderfully talented team. 

DISCLAIMER: None of the images or gifs used are mine. These graphics have been crowd sourced through tumblr and google, making their original creators difficult to identify. If you see that I’ve used an image that belongs to you and you’d like proper credit, please contact me via private message with proof that it is yours, and I will update this post with a special thanks to you as well as credit and a link to your blog. 

credit: aworldwithroses

[pechumori]

The four handsome actors of "Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno" and "Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends" namely, Takeru Sato, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Tatsuya Fujiwara and Yusuke Iseya were featured in a magazine in line with the movie's promotion in 2014.
photo credit: weibo taketaketakeru

[pechumori]

Get to know more about Takeru Sato and his preparation for the film "Rurouni Kenshin" from this 2012 interview.

Tenasia, the Korean news agency, interviewed Takeru Sato in South Korea during his visit to promote "Rurouni Kenshin" at the 2012 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF)
This is my treat for all of you on the occasion of Takeru's 27th Birthday. 

*In the Q & A, 10 represents Tenasia and the interviewer.

BIFF 2012: Sato Takeru, "Fascinated with the strongest man, Kenshin"
translated by Pechumori
article released in 2012.10.08

There are times when the charisma of the character dominates the entire work. The manga series that started in Japan in 1994 by Watsuki Nobuhiro, which also gained enormous popularity in South Korea, "Rurouni Kenshin", is such a case. The gentleness of the wanderer Himura Kenshin, who lived after the Meiji Restoration, protecting people with his reverse blade sword is contradictory to his old character as a cruel assassin.

After the movie was released in Japan last August, Director Keishi Otomo  introduced the charisma of Kenshin in the movie "Rurouni Kenshin" to Korea during the Open Cinema event of the 17th Busan International Film Festival. In the center, there is the actor, Takeru Sato who played the role of Kenshin. From playing charming and cute roles in Fuji TV's "Mei-chan's Butler", Asahi TV's "Kamen Rider Den-O", NTV's "Q10" and the movie "Beck", he showed a masculine appearance in NHK's "Ryomaden". At 24 years old, Takeru Sato's eyes and emotions gave life to Kenshin.

I met Takeru Sato in Busan. A handsome actor with a mysterious charm who shifts from seriousness to laughter.

10: "Rurouni Kenshin". This was based on the hero Himura Kenshin that was famous in Japan as well as in South Korea. I wonder, how did you feel about playing the role?

Sato Takeru: I was familiar with the original manga since childhood. At that time, in my young mind, the "strongest man" seems to be Kenshin (laughs) because he can overpower so many people and also looks cool. I never imagined that they would make it into a movie. Of course, it would be great if I can portray the role of Kenshin, however, I never expected that I would take over the role. Aside from the character, the work itself is very special. The determination and passion to prepare for it is exceptional. It was a good experience for me as an actor to appear in this great work. I cannot sleep because of the excitement of being able to work at a site everyday, together with many actors and even award winning actors.

10: The appearance of Kenshin in the movie is almost similar to the original, such as the hairstyle and the costumes. Was this intentional?

Sato Takeru: I tried to be the same as can be. However, I did worry so much because I don't want to simply imitate but to look realistic. These days, a lot of people imitate the anime characters by wearing similar clothes, right? But in order for the appearance to catch the exquisite balance between comics and reality, we had to arrange the clothes several times. I think this is a necessary part of the process because the actor who directly requests it, should be satisfied himself. There was an exchange of opinions held in front of the mirror to catch Kenshin's attitudes. While repeatedly doing it after a week or so, you really feel like you've become Kenshin.  It is hard to express the words, but it is the dialogue. Next thing I have to worry about is the performance.  

10: I think the part that has been presented well in the movie was Kenshin's tremendous speed in swordsmanship. I wonder, how did you prepare to shoot the action scenes and where did you focus on when performing them?

Sato Takeru: Obviously, the preparation time in this work is longer than in others. Two months prior to the shooting, rather than the speed, I first started to practice avoiding cuts and fixing my position then I enhanced my speed. Performing action scenes was a lot of fun and I learned it quickly. Also, I focused more on performing the defensive moves rather than the offensive (attack moves). In the movie, there were many scenes where Kenshin did not want to draw out his sword and he had to avoid the attack of the opponents, I wanted to look good in those scenes.

10: I heard that your specialty was break dancing. Did it help when you had to perform action scenes?

Sato Takeru: It has definitely helped. In Japanese swordsmanship, you cannot do the correct position if you don't have good flexibility. If your small joints are not flexible, you would not be able to do the proper position when you spread your legs wide open. Break dance training helped me a lot to be flexible.

10: From being an assassin to becoming a wanderer who defends people, Kenshin did not have much dialogue. Was it difficult to express your feelings as Kenshin?

Sato Takeru: Actually, before the shooting started, the director and I had a lot of discussion about this. In this work, when emotions are expressed using action instead of dialogue, it was an effort to convey his feelings when he fights to stay alive.

10: Even if it's action, Kenshin's emotions were being expressed well through his eyes.

Sato Takeru: I know that emotions can be seen through the eyes. About 80% of this work is natural and 20% intentionally done. There is a big difference in Kenshin's eyes when he is cold blooded and when he is gentle. I wish to properly show this original charm of Kenshin in the movie. So, when I was gentle, I deliberately blinked my eyes a lot. But I think that it is good to act with gentle eyes since it was reflected in many parts.

10: I have thought of your performances so far, Kenshin is such an extreme image, Shibata Kento (from "Mei-chan no Shitsuji") and Koyuki (from "Beck") are cute and playful, but you changed into a masculine image with Okada (in "Ryomaden") What is your real personality?

Sato Takeru: Actually, before I became an actor, I was an inconspicuous,  ordinary child. I was shy towards people. My mother would make me greet her close friends "Greet immediately", I would hear such advice. Even now, my manager pointed out that I have been unable to greet well. (laughs)
 
10: I heard that you got cast in the streets during high school. Was being an actor your original dream?

Sato Takeru: During High School, I only had a vague idea of how good an actor's job is. But I do not know how to become an actor. I was living ordinarily, suddenly, one day, the casting company asked if I was interested in acting and I started to act. Five or six years since then, because of the enthusiasm, it has been personally satisfying, so far. By acting, you meet many people, but acting in itself is interesting. it is different from the work of an average employee. It is fun and exciting to enter another world and learn from it.

10: Looking at your filmography, you have been playing a variety of roles and consistently appeared in works of many genres. It seems that your style is accumulating experience slowly, rather than hurrying up.

Sato Takeru: I try to do my best in each work. So, even when you get out of a previous character, then you have to start with another character, the impression from the previous work must be discharged first. There should be a little rest before you enter the next work and put what is called "the soul" in the Japanese expression, into the new work. I want to show different aspects of my performance. If I appeared masculine in this movie, next time, I want to do a comedy.

10: What image would you like to have as an actor?

Sato Takeru: It seems that there is no such thing. Rather than thinking too deeply, it is more reasonable to play it naturally, without excessive stress. In planning for the distant future, I do not know what may happen ten years from now, for me to concentrate on my image. I have not given it any serious thoughts.

10: "Rurouni Kenshin" will be released in South Korea in November, but before that, you did not seem to have a lot of opportunity to see the country. I wonder if you ever enjoyed any Korean program or knew of an actor.

Sato Takeru: I've seen the KBS drama "Iris". I think the actress Kim Tae Hee is pretty. I hope we will have a chance to work together.

10: Seems really serious. (laughs)

Sato Takeru: Hahaha. You caught me?

credit: http://media.daum.net/entertain/star/newsview?newsid=20121008140124995

note: In case you're curious, Kim Tae Hee is considered as one of the most beautiful actresses in Korea. Her last known work was in the 2015 drama entitled "Yong Pal". She has been in a relationship with Korean actor and singer, Rain for several years now.

[Guest hiranade]

thanks so much for translated that interview @pechumori so much effort which Takeru did for RK role

this is RK shooting location

 

[Guest hiranade]

^^ I like this fanart

 

[Guest hiranade]

this is my fav scene from the Legend Ends, when Himura Kenshin said to Kaoru Kamiya : "will you watch over the new era with me, Kaoru dono" .... And then he smile so sweet

 

runnie.z draw those part beautifully . Thanks ^^

 

[Guest hiranade]

even Takeru Satoh and all casts of RK are at safe place from earthquake, but let's pray for Japan, pray for Kumamoto