Samurai X 1: O Filme

Lets get this out of the way: Im no kenshin fanboy. I've read the manga and have watched the anime. That's it. So when I heard about a live action movie I thought 'Oh my god'. Uwe Boll-like crap induced horror scenarios crossed my mind. But what a pleasant surprise. They haven't cocked it up. In fact, they did a pretty damn good job of making the manga come to life.

STORY

The story is basically the first 2 arcs of the manga mixed up and slightly changed to fit into a 2 hour movie. It's pretty good. nothing too fancy but it works and doesn't bore.

EFFECTS & CHOREOGRAPHY

No. Bleeding. CG. Like, none. everything you see is done by real humans. thank god there are still directors who know their stuff. a rope helps here and there but nothing as stupid as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. there was but 1 instant in the entire movie where a move looked slightly 'unnatural'. You'll know what I mean when ya see it.

the fights are simply awesome. real swordfights and at speeds that make your eyes go 0_o. slick moves, smooth as silk with a great pace. and the occasional brawling, courtesy of Sanosuke. the action is top notch. some of the best, if not -the- best sword fight scenes I've ever seen.

ACTING

The characters are all portrayed as they should be. there is no crappy acting. Kanryu is slightly over-acting but I guess it kinda fits his character anyway. solid acting all over. some dayplayers in the background seem to have been given little instructions of what to do at times though, it seems. they sometimes look rather lost or keep repeating the same motions. but no matter. you wont notice unless you re nitpicking.

OVERALL

The entire movie has a slightly 'cartoonish' feel over it. the way people talk, the way they move. but it still all seems very natural and appealing. The music is very nice as well. no tunes from the anime, but some nice original scores that fit the bill.

all in all this movie is what so many game/anime-turned-movies should have been. It's well made, with good actors, good music and it doesn't bore you for a second. Word has it there will be a sequel. if it can rival the quality of this movie, Ill be back for part 2.

I have heard of "Samurai X" but I have not really read the manga or seen any of anime about this character named Himura Kenshin. This live action movie had come with very high recommendations or else I may have just given this a pass. I am glad I made time for this movie.

Himura Kenshin is an assassin of the highest skill during that transition between the Imperial/Samurai Age and the New Age adapting Western practices. After a particular assignment plants in him a massive guilt-trip, he decided to "disappear" and become a wanderer, using his fighting skills to defend the helpless WITHOUT KILLING.

In this story, Kenshin meets and helps a young lady named Kaoru, whose fencing school was vandalized. They then get entangled in the affairs of a notorious ruthless drug dealer Kanryu Tanaka, when his drug chemist Megumi escapes and seeks shelter in Kaoru's school. On top of all this, there is a mad killer on the loose with mad sword skills calling himself the Battosai, a title bestowed on Kenshin in his murderous past which he would rather disown.

With all of these stories and more that the movie tries to tell, the running time is about two hours. However you will not feel the time at all as you get enthralled by the fantastic look of the movie and its spectacular fighting scenes. Either with sword, bare hands or firearms, the fights were choreographed with excitement. The cinematography, color palette and visual effects were impeccably executed.

I did not know how the anime drawings of each character before I watched, so I could not comment on that. It is sort of odd looking that with lead actor Takeru Sato, a highly skilled sword fighter looks so androgynous. Afterwards we see that he really does look like that in the anime series. So did the cute Emi Takei (as the feisty Kaoru), Munetaka Aoki (as the rash and brash street fighter Sanosuke)or even Yosuke Eguchi, the samurai turned police chief Hajime Saito.

As someone who had no prior knowledge about Samurai X, I was completely taken by this very good-looking film, enough that I may even seek out the animated TV series. This is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and Japanese culture. Catch it only in SM Cinemas, as this is being locally shown exclusively there.

Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy is the best anime based live action movie ever! All three of it are the best. I didn't really appreciated the anime series when I was a kid but then I grew up and I saw the first movie. I was like, "Wow, even live action movies based on an anime is possible!" Because of this movie, I'm now interested to watch the anime series.

The story was great, the characters were also great, even the setting. This is the movie that made samurai battles more realistic. As anime fan, I also like this movie from start to finish. The sequels were also great and I might review those in the future.

In conclusion, Rurouni Kenshin is a must watch especially to Samurai X fans and other anime fans out there.

I have never even seen a manga so approached this movie with no preconceptions or prior knowledge of the characters. A bit like seeing a Batman movie without ever having read a comic, I imagine. The result was a very pleasant surprise. The principle characters were largely convincing, the photography was very attractive and the story line reasonable given the limits of the genre. The fact that it kept me interested for the entire 2+ hours speaks for itself. I found the sub-titles very effective in keeping me involved which is normally not the case. I am not sure if they are integral to the movie or a third party add-on, but were much better than a dubbed English version which would have taken away much of the authenticity of the movie. I am looking forward to the next episode.

In 1868, after the end of the Bakumatsu war, the former assassin Kenshin Himura (Takeru Sato) promises to defend those who needs without killing and wanders through Japan with a sword with inverted blade during the transition of the samurai age to the New Age.

When Kenshin helps the idealistic Kaoru Kamiya (Emi Takei) from the gangsters of the powerful opium drug lord Kanryuu Takeda (Teruyuki Kagawa) that wants her school for his production of opium, Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay in the school. But the drug chemist Megumi Takani (Yû Aoi) escapes from Kanryuu and seeks shelter in the school. Meanwhile the killer Battosai is murdering police officers and leaving messages attached to their bodies. When the cruel Kanryuu poisons the population to get the school, and Kenshin and the street fighter Sanosuke Sagara (Munetaka Aoki) join forces to attack their common enemy.

"Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman tan" is an excellent samurai movie with spectacular choreography of the fights and a good story. I have just learned that it is based on a manga and I really liked a lot. I saw this movie in the airplane and unfortunately my flight arrived and I did not see the conclusion of the story. The worst thing is that I will have to wait since this movie has not been released in my country yet. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: Fortunately Internet does exist and today (30 December 2012) I have just finished watching this awesome movie again, this time until the very end.

On 13 August 2016, I saw this film again on DVD.