Re: Rurouni Kenshin Movie 2012 Hd Download
Chara Fiebig
(NB: Perhaps because of the release of the last two films, the first two were going cheap on Apple TV, so I bought them. But I had to rent The Legend Ends as that was $19 to buy. I am hoping that one day, Apple might sell all five as a bundle.)
At the time, the shogun was ill and those in power could not come to a consensus on how to deal with the foreign threat. Furthermore, the treaties that Japan entered into with America were seen as bad and humiliating. The country fractured, with some urging for modernisation and others wanting to return to the old ways. The Boshin War was fought between those who supported the shogun and those who wanted to restore power to the emperor.
Kenshin still does his duty and murders the guard, but the act does not sit easy with him, and that shows when he goes to meet up with his handler, Kogoro Katsura, who relates to his mistress the story of how Kenshin was recruited in the first place.
Kenshin goes to drink alone at a local tavern. A young woman named Yukishiro Tomoe enters and sits at the table next to his, intending to drink alone too. But because some other patrons start bothering her, Kenshin intervenes, then leaves.
Saito Hajime now works for the police, investigating a series of murders of undercover officers by someone styling himself as the Battōsai. While some believe the Kenshin is back, Hajime is not so sure and suspects that someone is impersonating Kenshin.
I also liked the ending and seeing how Kenshin struggles with how to resolve his old life as the Battōsai with his new life as a rurouni, who has vowed never to kill, in the face of those who would do harm.
Once again, Kenshin is drawn into the conflict. Although he initially refuses, when a top official and friend is assassinated, Kenshin feels as though he has no choice but to go to Kyoto where Shishio is amassing followers and holding court.
Meanwhile, Shishio in his battleship drops anchor just off the coast of Tokyo and demands that officials from the government meet with him to discuss the situation, otherwise he will expose their crimes during the Boshin War and completely undermine their authority.
I also liked the realisation Kenshin comes to about himself and how it changes him: it makes his second encounter with Seta Soujiro all the more dynamic and almost joyful. Furthermore, the action he takes to stop Shishio in putting himself in the hands of the fickle Meiji government are very much in keeping with his role as a hero, and while the government does not come off very well, I like that Kenshin very much sticks to his principles in spite of them.
Fridge Logic
- If Shishio's so vulnerable to overheating, why did he fight on a battlefield surrounded by fire?
- He was that confident in his strength.
- IIRC, they were fighting in a small arena inside a mountain in late 19th century Japan. The giant torches might have just been for light, and I'm fairly certain that Kenshin said that they were flaring up so much as a reaction to Shishio's ki, like how Kenshin's ki causes leaves to split as they pass by. Of course, since they were doing this in said arena inside a mountain, I guess it might also create the leaves in the first place...
- On a related note, how is he able to have sex with Yumi without overheating? (Or cauterizing her vagina shut?)
- For the first question, he probably has a time limit on that too. For the second... overheating is not the same as turning your penis into a blow torch.
- Meta example. Hannya's original back story would've had him naturally deformed, which turned him into an outcast. This was changed because (according to the author at least), he had a talk about it with the editor and they concluded that it's too dark and needs to be changed. If that was too dark, what about Soujirou's back story?
- It wasn't that it was too dark; it was that he didn't like the message that a person's fate can be decided from birth.
- Not to mention the ableist Unfortunate Implications.
- One of the WMG asks what kind of training Kenshin still needed given the fact that he only needed to learn Kuzu Ryu Sen and the secret to acquire the complete set of Hiten moves. It hit me that although Kenshin was a Kenjutsu virtuoso, he was not a great tactician and was still naive and immature. Samurai in training not only learn Kenjutsu but Bushido (the philosophy of the sword) and most likely tactics to successfully fight and win on the battlefield. Kenshin's fighting style relies on using his innate reaction ability along with Hiten moves to defeat his opponents, something his master exploits with his training. Although Kenshin is a powerful fighter, he is not a cunning one and relies too much on his innate abilities to win which is why Hiko calls him his "stupid apprentice."
- You must also remember that Kenshin was never a samurai and thus never trained in Bushido. It's probably safe to assume that most Hiten successors were not samurai, since Hiko implies in the OVA and in the manga (iirc) that the Hiten sword was typically a sword for hire.
- Actually Kenshin did run off before he could learn why Hiten Mitsurugi users don't generally take sides in war and other mental aspects of training. Had he stuck around, he'd have avoided most of the issues that plague him as well as the general messes his interference casused (Meiji Corruption, Shishio, etc)
Fridge Horror
- Has anyone ever thought much about the Kaoru doll and that it was made in her EXACT LIKELINESS, right down to the intimate details? Looks like Gein's been up to something...
- How familiar would anyone who examined the body have been with Kaoru's intimate details?
- Considering the one who examined Kaoru's "body" was Megumi, a doctor, she would have been familiar with anatomy. It's also safe to assume an autopsy was not performed considering the big reveal had to be instigated by Aoshi.
- Seeing as the creator of the doll was able to essentially build power armor, that could pass as either a human or a beast in the 19th century, it's entirely possible, that being his greatest work of art, even an autopsy would appear normal.
- A small hint but made clearer in the live-action movie. With Japan's strict Last-Name Basis, and Kanryuu calling Megumi just "Megumi". Her family was killed, and her being the only survivor. Also his yes-men call her only Megumi. Could this perhaps mean that they... gang raped her?
- Uhm, rape is NOT the only way to traumatize a woman. It's far most likely that they're doing it less as a sign of sexual abuse, and much more as a not-so subtle way to de-humanize her without needing to resort to other ways to mistreat her.
- I could be that the "Takani" clan were all wiped-out except for the female Megumi, this could be a subtle dig against Megumi to remind her that her famous doctor-family-lineage is now gone and that she belongs to them, without an identity of her own.
- When Eiji Mishima shows off a map of the region that shows that Shingetsu was wiped off the map, the location of the village is merely given an X over it. To modern day viewers, this would seem kind of silly, but to think about it would give every reason why to not go to somewhere with an X on it. Not only would such a place not have treasure, throughout the developing world at this time, and even for developed places like the United States of America, things like electricity and telecommunications were not in place yet for civil infrastructure, and even out in the country, plenty of areas were still stuck in post Dark Ages levels of rustic development. Not only would this mean that there would be no such things like cellphones, but neither ways to communicate to the police, and mankind in these days prior would generally have a warrior caste to deal with such things like overzealous killers and highwaymen if anyone wanted to travel, which in the Meiji Era, was pretty much disbanded immediately. Having an abandoned village out in the country would mean that it would be filled with animals like bears and wolves, or as a good hiding place for criminals and bandits. The fact that Senkaku and his men essentially rule over Shingetsu and will be all to willing to enforce a death penalty on outsiders would definitely have the village fall into the latter.
- The reason Kenshin became the pacifist rurouni he is now is because of his tragic past as a manslayer for Ishin Shishi. But what would've happened if Kenshin did not join Ishin Shishi and remained with Hiko until he fully mastered Hiten Mitsurugi skills? Obviously Kenshin would've done more than just surpassing Hiko, Kenshin would've inevitably killed Hiko with his newfound Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, as it is said that the pupils of Hiten Mitsurugi school are destined to slay their respective teachers to master the ultimate attack. Take note that the only reason Hiko (and practically every Kenshin's opponents) survived Kenshin's ultimate attack in canon is because of Kenshin's sakabatou, which Kenshin would've never had if he did not join Ishin Shishi. Without the bitter experience of a manslayer and the wisdom of a war veteran, Kenshin will definitely break after killing his teacher.
- On a similar note, what would've happened if Kenshin accepted Yamagata Aritomo's offer to join the military? When Kenshin realized that the revolution he worked so hard for (by slaying people and sacrificing his innocence, no less) turned out not the way he imagined it, that his compatriot ended up approving war atrocities happening accross Asia continent, that the oppressed ended up becoming the oppressors, will Kenshin break down, without Kaoru and Sanosuke snapped him out of it?