Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends Released Tomorrow in UK Cinemas

As an itinerant anime and Asian film writer I have been reporting about the theatrical release of various movies for quite a while on this blog and another site in particular. One long-running project has been the  Rurouni Kenshin movies which I have been tracking since back in 2011 (on this very blog) and 2012 (like here) and keeping track of the BBFC website I was able to spot that the first would be playing at select theatres in the UK. I was pleased when the first Rurouni Kenshin film appeared in my local cinema back in 2013 and I was soon helping spread the word about  Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno when it was released last year. This year it’s all coming to a close with Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends. The day of that film’s release has nearly arrived! It’s so close! It’s released tomorrow on April 17^th! I have booked the day off work to savour the experience and possibly re-watch Kyoto Inferno which I now have on DVD!

Here are the UK theatrical release details for the third and final Rurouni Kenshin film…

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno るろうに剣心京都大火編 (2014)

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno    

Japanese Title: るろうに剣心京都大火編

Romaji: Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika Hen

Release Date: August 01^st, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 139 mins.

Director: Keishi Ohtomo

Writer: Watsuki Nobuhiro (Original Manga), Kiyomi Fujii, Keishi Ohtomo (Screenplay)

Starring: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki, Yu Aoi, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yosuke Eguchi, Kaito Oyagi, Yosuke Eguchi, Yusuke Iseya, Tao Tsuchiya, Maryjun Takahashi,

History is never as clean or as clear cut as the books make it out to be and for the survivors’ of the Boshin War and the pivotal Battle of Toba-Fushimi the scars run deep and the old hatreds have simmered. It is to be expected that the consequences of this battle are messier and farther reaching than many would like considering the conflict between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the eventually victorious Imperial forces decided the fate of Japan and set in motion the end of samurai era and ushered in the modernisation and westernisation of Japan. Many who fought on both sides found themselves cast adrift in a new world that does not require their deadly skills but these people who fought to change the future of their nation will find history can never be escaped.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends UK Release Information

Well the hype train has now set off from its station because I got news about the UK release of the third and final part of the Rurouni Kenshin film trilogy. Last week Monday I reported on Anime UK News about the release of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends which will hit UK cinemas on April 17^th (it was originallt pencilled in for March 06th but it was pushed back and a new trailer was produced) thanks to Warner Bros. UK. Today I got a bit more information including a poster (which looks like a good way of selling it to a UK audience who may not be familiar with the cast) and so I’m posting some news about it here with trailer and synopsis and everything. Poster first:

 

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno UK Release Info

I am really excited because Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno is going to be released in my local cinema! This is the follow-up to 2012’s Rurouni Kenshin film which I really liked. Kyoto Inferno is actually the second part in a trilogy and was released in Japan back in August. It is now making its way to the UK courtesy of Warner Bros and will be in the following cinemas from next Friday:

Cineworld Enfield, Crawley, Sheffield, West India Quay, Glasgow RS, Cardiff, Stevenage, Bolton and Vue Piccadilly

I have booked the day off work and my family are coming along for this one because they liked the first film as well!

Here’s some info and the UK trailer and poster:

Rurouni Kenshin るろうに剣心 (2012)

Rurouni Kenshin                                              

Romaji: Rurouni Kenshin

Japanese Title: るろうに剣心

Release Date: August, 25^th 2012 (Japan)

UK Release Date: August 2013 (UK)

Running Time: 134 mins.

Director: Keishi Ohtomo

Writer: Watsuki Nobuhrio (Original Manga), Kiyomi Fujii, Keishi Ohtomo (Screenplay)

Starring: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Yu Aoi, Teruyuki Kagawa, Taketo Tanaka, Munetaka Aoki, Yosuke Eguchi, Koji Kikkawa,

The live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s classic chanbara manga Rurouni Kenshin is the latest release from Warner Bros. Japan. The company is building a large portfolio of live-action adaptations of anime and manga for the big screen. Previous projects from the Warner Bros. include releases like Wild 7, Ninja Kids!!!, the Death Note films and the Berserk anime. These are titles which are popular in and outside of Japan, safe properties which come with an in-built fan-base. A safe bet if you will and it seems to have payed off because Rurouni Kenshin was one of the highest grossing film in Japan in 2012 and not without reason because it is one of the best adaptations of an anime or manga that I have seen in a while. This post is full of Gifs so apologies for slow loading times.

Third Window Films Release For Loves Sake on DVD & Blu-Ray

Long time readers of the blog will remember that I attended last years BFI London Film Festival and saw For Love’s Sake. My review was positively overflowing with love, praise and fervour for the film and it landed at number 2 in my Top 10 Films of 2012. I can still remember whole swathes of the film and how I felt during the screening. When I found out that Third Window Films was releasing it I was rather pleased and I highly, highly (very, very highly) recommend it. Enough from me, here’s the details:

 

FOR LOVE’S SAKE

Director: Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, One Missed Call, Audition, Ninja Kids!!!)

 Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki (Villain, Tokyo Family, Tokyo!, Dororo)

Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin)
Sakura Ando (Love Exposure, Our Homeland, Penance)

Japan / 2012 / 134 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Out on Double-disc DVD & Blu-ray 

June 10th, 2013

DVD and Blu-ray Special Features
Anamorphic Widescreen transfer with 5.1 Surround Sound
Making Of, Skip to a Song Selection, Theatrical Trailer

 

Takashi Miike, the director of ’13 Assassins’, ‘Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai’ and ‘Audition’ brings us as Bollywood-style musical action/comedy/love story!
 
Not exactly a director that plays along with genre rules, the prolific Takashi Miike now takes his talent in genre bending to the pure romance world with For Love’s Sake (a.k.a. Ai to Makoto), based on Kajiwara Ikki’s 1973 manga series. An epic story of a rich high school girl who falls in love with a tough young gangster, Miike’s take on the story breaks all the rules with musical numbers (with music by popular music producer Kobayashi Takeshi), tongue-in-cheek humour, and in-your-face violence. Starring Satoshi Tsumabuki (Villain) and Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin) as the star-crossed lovers, For Love’s Sake is a unique and incredibly wild ride that will change your definition of what a pure romance can be.

Love for Beginners, Chasing Santa Clause, MIS: Human Secret Weapon Trailer and the Japanese Movie Box Office Chart

Last week I was so busy trying to get a post out so I could attend an anime festival I posted the wrong trailer (Love for Beginners) and missed out the one I had originally intended to post (Inazuma Eleven). I apologise. すみません！This week I was back in work and so I skipped posting anything on Monday so I could concentrate on re-establishing a writing routine because I have a lot of reviews coming up as part of my Genki Christmas season which kicks off on Monday. The week did see some reviews. On Sunday I posted my thoughts on Skyfall (which I found to be awesome) before sitting down for some Chinese food and watching Insidious at home.

What does the Japanese film chart look like this week?

1. Skyfall
2. Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
3. Inazuma Eleven The Movie 2012
4. Lesson of the Evil
5. The Floating Castle
6. Ninkyo Helper: Beautiful World.
7. A Chorus of Angels
8. Tug of War
9. Trouble with the Curve
10. Crow’s Thumb
11. Smile Precure!
12. Lockout
13. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
14. The Woman in Black

Skyfall is at the top spot after its release last week. The latest new Japanese film in the top ten movie box office chart is Inazuma Eleven at two. The Woman in Black was also released and it is at fourteen. The latest Evangelion movie drops down to two and Takashi Miike’s latest film is at four. That’s a strong top ten.

 

What are the most interesting Japanese films released this week?

 

Love for Beginners                                                 

Japanese Title:　今日￥、　恋　を　はじめます

Romaji: Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu

Release Date:  08^th December 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Takeshi Furusawa

Writer:  Kanan Minami (Original Manga)

Starring: Emi Takei, Tori Matsuzaka, Rin Takanashi, Fumino Kimura, Sho Aoyagi, Kento Yamazaki, Yua Shinkawa, Erina Dawkins, Reiko Fujiwara, Saki Takaoka, Ayane Sakai, Hiroaki Murakami, Yumi Asou, Hatsunori Hasegawa,

In an example of my ability to be lackdaisical I posted this a trailer a week early. Apologies. Love for Beginners is released today and it stars Emi Takei, who was one of the brilliant stand-out stars of For Love’s Sake, joins forces with an awesome cast of bright young things including Rin Takanashi (Goth: Love of Death, Isn’t Anyone Alive?), Reiko Fujiwara (About the Pink Sky), Kento Yamazaki (Control Tower, Another),  Tori Matsuzaka (The Wings of the Kirin) in an adaptation of Kanan Minami’s popular manga. The film is directed by Takeshi Furusawa who sounds familiar… assistant director to Kiyoshi Kurosawa on Pulse… That’s right! He directed Ghost Train and the recent live-action adaptation of Another! What the heck is he doing here and not on a J-horror? Earning a living, I suppose. Anyway, this is one of those silly films where an extremely beautiful girl dons glasses and everybody considers her plain. Unless everybody else at the school is fantastically beautiful. I have never read the manga. I’m also very unlikely to see the film. The soundtrack has hits by Perfume and Scandal.

Tsubaki Hibino (Takei) is a talented hair stylist with low self-esteem and a taste for old-fashioned clothes. Her fashion sense is the trigger for popular playboy male student Kyota Tsubaki (Matsuzaka) to tease her but then… they fall in love with each other. They will have to overcome his commitment issues first.

MIS: Human Secret Weapon                         

Japanese Title:　二つ　の　祖国

Romaji: Futatsu no Sokoku

Release Date:  08^th December 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 93 mins.

Director: Junichi Suzuki

Writer:  N/A

Starring: N/A

Junichi Suzuki has made a career out of charting the fortunes of Japanese-Americans who signed up for the US armed forces after Pearl Harbour. His previous film, 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignits followed the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team who fought in Europe. MIS: Human Secret Weapon documents the experiences of nearly 80 Japanese-Americans who speak about their wartime experiences including a soldier who found himself fighting against former class-mates and another soldier who witnessed the surrender of Japan and the aftermath of Hiroshima. This film is getting a limited screening at the Ginza Cine Pathos alongside Suzuki’s other wartime documentaries. Here’s the trailer which looks fascinating.

Chasing Santa Clause                                                      

Japanese Title:　サンタ　クロース　つかまえて

Romaji: Santa Kuro-su wo Tsukamaete

Release Date:  08^th December 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Hiroki Iwabuchi

Writer:  N/A

Starring: N/A

This documentary charting the recovery of Sendai from the March 11^th Earthquake and Tsunami is a personal work from documentarian Hiroki Iwabuchi since he hails from the city. It features footage shot just after the disaster and survivor accounts including Iwabuchi’s own mother! Why chasing Santa Clause for a title Well the title refers to an annual parade full of Santa’s and lights and Christmas magic and how Sendai managed to hold that parade even after being hit by the disaster.

For Love’s Sake 愛と誠 (2012)

For Love’s Sake                                              

Japanese Title: 愛と誠

Romaji: Ai to Makoto

Japanese Release Date: June 16th, 2012

Running Time: 134 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Takayuki Takuma (script), Ikki Kajiwara (manga)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Emi Takei, Takumi Saito, Sakura Ando, Ito Ono, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Kimiko Yo, Ken Maeda, Yo Hitoto, Masachika Ichimura

For Love’s Sake was the final film I saw during the 56^th BFI London Film Festival. Despite my dislike for musicals I expected this film to be highly entertaining because it was directed by Takashi Miike.

Can he change how I view a genre? Definitely.

I love Takashi Miike’s sensibilities. Miike is the type of director who can take any genre and transform it into something uniquely his own. When he made The Happiness of the Katakuris I found a musical I could love what with its inventive designs, amusing song and dance numbers, cracked performances and black humour. For Love’s Sake is another musical I can embrace thanks to its ultra-stylish and gleefully over the top and energetic execution. 

1972, Tokyo, Ai Satome (Takei) is an angelic high school student who comes from a respectable family. She leads a charmed life until Makoto Taiga (Tsumabuki), the boy who stole Ai’s heart as a child and an ultra-delinquent, arrives in Tokyo to settle a score from his past. He soon gets arrested after a rumble with some local toughs and is sent to reform school. Ai is still in love with Makoto and manages to get him released. She brings him to Aobodai Prep School where she studies. Ai’s love for Makoto inspires jealousy in Iwashimizu (Saito), the President of the Student Council, who loves Ai. Soon Makoto is sent to Hanazono Trade School where girl gang leader Ango Gumko (Ando) and Yuki, a “sad chick”, soon develop feelings for him. With Makoto in the centre of this tangled web of love things get extremely complicated and melodramatic.

Ai to Makoto will be familiar for a Japanese audience as it originates from a massively popular manga written in 1973 by Ikki Kajiwara which has been adapted for film in 1974, 75, and 76, Takashi Miike’s live-action film adaptation being the fourth so far and with Miike’s unique vision this is a case of adapting the classic story of bad boy meets good girl who tries to redeem him and adding a megaton of spectacle.

This missy is downright crazy

For Love’s Sake is an entertaining romp through the popular school melodrama genre. While I haven’t read the original manga this feels like a parody of said genre thanks to the excessiveness of style and the combination of the musical genre. With the knowing lines, sudden bursts of dancing and the presence of plenty of pop music from the 1970’s laced with hilarious lyrics, it is too funny, melodramatic, ironic, and openly genre savvy to be anything else.

The mise-en-scene is perfect and points to the high degree of skill in putting the whole film together. The film starts off with animation, a ski sequence gone awry which is where Makoto and Ai first meet. Then, after the titles hit us, things get a bit normal (apart from one inventive sequence set on stage with props) and we are transported into 1970’s Tokyo, a place of loud shirts, flares and bad clothing in general (except for the classic school uniforms). The look is, to my eye, as convincing as the one seen in Norwegian Wood.

The locations vary from the ostentatious and gaudily decorated home of the Satome family to the post-apocalyptic Hanazono trade school. Each location is wonderful with plenty of details to bask in. One highlight, only used for a few minutes, is a maid café which is straight from a lurid fantasy like Strange Circus. It is full of creeps and creepy solid gold dancers, a place where the cute waitresses wear pink frilly outfits and red shoes.

All of it fits the melodramatic tone of the film and the musical sequences add to the atmosphere as they perfectly illustrate the emotions of the characters in the scenes.

Rurouni Kenshin, Dear, Ai Ore! Love Me! Ushijima the Loan Shark, After School Midnighters, Anata E Trailers and the Japanese Movie Box Office Chart

I replied to Andina’s Liebster blog award, reviewed the awesome Korean thriller Desire to Kill, dug into the Japanese films and TV (Kiyoshi Kurosawa is there with his latest TV show!) at the Venice International Film Festival and posted a trailer for the 2013 film entry in the A Certain Magical Index franchise. Scotland Loves Anime announced their line-up and I will post about that tomorrow. Alua has a nice round-up. Just as I wrote that Strange Circus and Eureka were delivered by the postal service \o/.

What do the Japanese movie box office charts look like?

1. The Avengers
2. Umizaru 4: Brave Hearts
3. The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki
4. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
5. Pokemon: Best Wishes 2012
6. Total Recall (2012)
7. Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Everyone, Space is Here!
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Fairy Tail: The Phoenix Priestess
10. Eight Ranger
11. Helter Skelter

 

Last week saw the release of Marvel’s The Avengers so there was only one Japanese film released last week. The dust has settled and The Avengers movie is at the top of the charts while Fairy Tail lies at nine. Umizaru and Wolf Children drop one place each to two and three respectively. Helter Skelter, Another and The Kirishima Thing – Erika Sawajiri and Ai Hashimoto!!! – remain in the top fifteen.

This week sees a flood of Japanese films released and all but one of them are based on manga.

 

Rurouni Kenshin                                              

Romaji: Rurouni Kenshin

Japanese Title: るろうに剣心

Release Date: 25^th August 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Keishi Ohtomo

Writer: Watsuki Nobuhrio

Starring: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Taketo Tanaka, Munetaka Aoki, Yu Aoi, Yosuke Eguchi, Koji Kikkawa, Teruyuki Kagawa

The live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s classic chanbara manga Rurouni Kenshin is released today. The film stars Takeru Sato (BECK, Kamen Rider Den-O) as the titular samurai with Emi Takei (Ai to Makoto) playing Kaoru, Yu Aoi (Memories of Matsuko, Honey and Clover), and Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo Sonata, Sukiyaki Western Django). The film is directed by Keishi Ōtomo who directed a popular NHK historical television series named Ryomaden which featured Takeru Sato.

The early Meiji period in Japan is a time of rapid industrialisation and modernisation and a time when samurai like Kenshin Himura are being consigned to the history books. He was once an elite swordsman known as “Battosai” before taking an oath not to kill. He now finds himself as a wandering samurai offering aid to those in need as atonement for his past actions. During his travels he meets Kaoru Kamiya, an instructor at her father’s Kendo school. She offers Kenshin a place to stay at her dojo and their relationship begins to blossom but Kenshin’s past will soon catch up with him as he discovers that somebody has been using the name “Battosai” while committing murders in Tokyo.

 

Dear                                                                

Romaji: Anata e

Japanese Title: あなた　へ

Release Date: 25^th August 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Yasuo Furuhata

Writer: Seichi Ichiko, Takeshi Aoshima, Yasuo Furuhata

Starring: Ken Takakura, Yuko Tanaka, Koichi Sato, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kimiko Yo, Haruka Ayase, Takahiro Miura, Tadanobu Asano, Takeshi Kitano, Mieko Harada

I can feel the emotion from this trailer. I’m getting a Okuribito feel from this film. It stars Yuko Tanaka (the voice of Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke), Koichi Sato (Starfish Hotel, Sukiyaki Western Django, Infection), Kimiko Yo (Villain, Ace Attorney), Haruka Ayase (Ichi, Cyborg She), Tadanobu Asano (Kids Return, Survive Style 5+, Bright Future, Vital, Last Life in the Universe), and Takeshi Kitano (Kikujiro, Boiling Point, Fireworks).

Eiji Shimakura (Takakura) is a 53-year-old prison guard in Hokuriku. When he loses his wife Yoko (Tanaka) he receives a letter from her and follows her last wishes, which is to have her ashes spread in the sea next to her home town of Nagasaki. He is curious as to the reason why she wants her ashes taken there and decides to go Nagasaki n his homemade camper van.

 

Rurouni Kenshin Trailer

Rurouni Kenshin                                             

Romaji: Rurouni Kenshin

Japanese Title: るろうに剣心

Release Date: 25^th August 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Keishi Ohtomo

Writer: Watsuki Nobuhrio

Starring: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Taketo Tanaka, Munetaka Aoki, Yu Aoi, Yosuke Eguchi, Koji Kikkawa, Teruyuki Kagawa

Warner Bros Japan strike again with another live-action adaptation of a classic manga! A trailer for the forthcoming live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s classic chanbara manga Rurouni Kenshin has been released on Yahoo! Japan and it gives us a glimpse of what is on offer as well as letting us listen to the theme song “The Beginning” by the J-rock outfit ONE OK ROCK. The film stars Takeru Sato (BECK, Kamen Rider Den-O) as the titular samurai with Emi Takei (Ai to Makoto) portraying Kaoru. Support is provided by Yu Aoi (Memories of Matsuko, Honey and Clover), and Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo Sonata, Sukiyaki Western Django). The film is directed by Keishi Ōtomo who directed a popular NHK historical television series named Ryomaden which featured Sato.

 

 

It is the early Meiji period in Japan, a time of rapid industrialisation and modernisation which will consign samurai to the history books. One such samurai is Kenshin Himura. He was once an elite swordsman known as “Battosai” before taking an oath not to kill. He now finds himself as a wandering samurai offering aid to those in need as atonement for his past actions. During his travels he meets Kaoru Kamiya, an instructor at her father’s Kendo school. She offers Kenshin a place to stay at her dojo and their relationship begins to blossom but Kenshin’s past will soon catch up with him as he discovers that somebody has been using the name “Battosai” while committing murders in Tokyo.