The Empowered Women Of Rurouni Kenshin

A young, fencing mistress devoted to a reformed assassin. A beautiful healer making amends for her past. A young Oniwabanshu operative that leads a double life as an innkeeper. And a former courtesan madly in love with a psychopath. Meet Kaoru, Megumi, Misao and Yumi, the strong women characters who make their mark in Warner Bros.' “Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends,” the final chapter to director Keishi Otomo's blockbuster “Rurouni Kenshin” trilogy.

Popular Japanese actress Emi Takei plays Kaoru Kamiya. As the young fencing mistress of the Kamiya Dojo, which she inherited from her father, she teaches the sword as ‘a way of life, rather than of death’. She is strong-willed but also capable of great consideration for others. She refuses to ask about hero Kenshin Himura’s past; ‘Everyone has things they don’t want to talk about,’ she says, but she is terrified that Kenshin will return to his old ways, and wants him to keep his vow.

“Director Keishi Otomo asked me this time to play a Kaoru who has matured a little,” explains Takei. “And this time, Kaoru fights, too! Not with a wooden sword, but with a halberd. They let me do some real stunts, so it was a lot of fun. People love the character of Kaoru, so I’ve tried to play her as someone who deserves that. On these shoots, you have to be living in the world of the film, and the director gives hints, but he never tells me exactly what the answer to any questions that arise might be. You have to find it in yourself and express that. I’m really honored to be in a film like that.”

Multi-awarded actress Ya Aoi portrays Megumi Takani. A brave, determined, and also beautiful physician, the descendant of a long line of doctors whose family was wiped out in the wars accompanying the end of the Shogunate. She began making opium to keep herself alive, but reformed after Kenshin Himura saved her life, and now dedicates herself to the service of those in need. She is enraged when the new government puts pressure on Kenshin to help them by threatening to reopen her past in the opium trade. Her habitual sarcasm masks a warm heart, and she encourages Kaoru to follow Kenshin to Kyoto by suggesting that she will regret not going. When Sanosuke is setting out as well, she gives him a healing salve, the secret of which is known only to her family.

Filipino-Japanese star Maryjun Takahashi appears as Yumi Komagata. A bewitchingly beautiful woman, deeply in love with Shishio, and always by his side. Originally a courtesan in Edo’s Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, she took great pride in her work there, but when the new government, under Western influence, declared the sale of women to be barbaric, she was forced to leave. Declaring the new government to be comprised of sub-human animals, she joined Shishio in his hatred of it. As one of his inner circle she benefits greatly from his care, but in her heart she regrets that she cannot be of more use to him in his battle.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan

Tao Tsuchiya is no stranger to Japanese pop culture. She was in Jin-Roh, Ouran High School Host Club and Ultraman Retsuden. She plays Misao Makimachi, a young girl who was raised as part of the Oniwabanshu, an elite guardsmen during the Togukawa era that specializes in information gathering and covert operations similar to ninjas. She harbors a hidden love for Aoshi Shinomori, one of the last surviving Oniwabanshu member that guarded Edo Castle.

Based on the Kyoto arc of the popular manga series written & illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the “Rurouni Kenshin” sequels follow the story of Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh), a legendary swordsman in the wars accompanying the turbulent fall of Japan's Shogunate in the 19th century. Once feared as 'Battosai the Killer', he has adopted a peaceful life since the arrival of the 'new age'.

But Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the 'Shadow Killer' and successor to Kenshin's position as the deadly assassin, has since then been scheming in the Kyoto underworld, raising an army of disaffected former samurais with the aim of overthrowing the new regime.

“Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends” stars Takeru Sato (Kenshin Himura), Emi Takei (Kaoru Kamiya), Munetaka Aoki (Sanosuke Sagara), Kaito Oyagi (Yahiko Myojin), Yu Aoi (Megumi Takani), Yosuke Eguchi (Hajime Saito), Min Tanaka (Nenji Kashiwazaki), Tao Tsuchiya (Misao Makimachi), Ryunosuke Kamiki (Soujiro Seta), Maryjun Takahashi (Yumi Komagata) and Tatsuya Fujiwara (Shishio).

“Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Bloggers note: Most of this material are from the publicist of Warner Bros. Philippines. I just included my own material about Tao Tsuchiya who played Misao. Follow my blogs and like my Facebook page, L.E.N.S. blogs. 

“RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE LEGEND ENDS” TEASER POSTER

Movie release material

MANILA, August 22, 2014 – Kenshin Himura is washed ashore and found by a mysterious man holding a sword in the teaser poster of Warner Bros. Pictures' “Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends,” the final chapter to director Keishi Otomo's blockbuster trilogy, “Rurouni Kenshin.”

The second installment, “Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno” is now playing to capacity crowds in Philippine theaters, and is trending to open at No.1 for the weekend box office.

Asked if “The Legend Ends” will be the same as “Kyoto Inferno,” director Keishi Otomo replies, “The theme of Kenshin’s atonement for the many people he’s killed does not change. A man who lives in atonement, and a man who does not, must inevitably do battle. But I want Kenshin to be falling apart. Kenshin doesn’t face Shishio as a straight-down-the-line champion of justice. He gets confused; his certainties are shaken.”

Based on the Kyoto arc of the popular manga series written & illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the “Rurouni Kenshin” sequels follow the story of Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh), a legendary swordsman in the wars accompanying the turbulent fall of Japan's Shogunate in the 19th century. Once feared as 'Battosai the Killer', he has adopted a peaceful life since the arrival of the 'new age'.

But Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the 'Shadow Killer' and successor to Kenshin's position as the deadly assassin, has since then been scheming in the Kyoto underworld, raising an army of disaffected former samurais with the aim of overthrowing the new regime.

“Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends” also stars Emi Takei (Kaoru Kamiya), Munetaka Aoki (Sanosuke Sagara), Kaito Oyagi (Yahiko Myojin), Yu Aoi (Megumi Takani), Yosuke Eguchi (Hajime Saito), Min Tanaka (Nenji Kashiwazaki), Tao Tsuchiya (Misao Makimachi), Ryunosuke Kamiki (Soujiro Seta) and Maryjun Takahashi (Yumi Komagata).

SHISHIO UNLEASHED IN RUROUNI KENSHIN: KYOTO INFERNO

A powerhouse cast of famous Japanese actors is assembled by director Keishi Otomo for the epic action thriller “Rurouni Kenshin: KyotoInferno,” the first of two sequels to the 2013 blockbuster “Rurouni Kenshin.”

 

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan

Appearing for the first time opposite the hero Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh) as the crazed Makoto Shishio is the popular character actor Tatsuya Fujiwara. Performing in hot, heavy, stifling bandages that even make it hard for him to hear, he becomes the personification of pure evil. And Fijiwara gives justice to the role with a powerfu, terrifying performance.

Originally a Choshu clan samurai known as ‘the shadow assassin’, Shishio fought alongside Kenshin against the Shogun’s Shinsengumi police.  He and Kenshin never met.

Fighting, as was Kenshin, at the battle of Toba-Fushimi that sealed the overthrow of the Shogunate, Shishio was then betrayed by his own side and his body set on fire, the new government wishing to conceal certain assassinations he had committed. Miraculously, however, he survived, and has assembled a private army of mercenaries from within the Kyoto underworld with a view to overthrowing the new government and ruling the land himself. The burns he suffered destroyed his ability to perspire, and his body radiates a tremendous heat. He lives by the law of the jungle, and in his vast ambition he will stop at nothing to achieve his ends.

“This was the first time I’d worked with Director Otomo, and Shishio was a special kind of character so I had some worries, but both the director and Satoh were very welcoming,” Tatsuya Fujiwara says. “Shishio is a character the filmmakers built up with visuals and everything else over a long time. The action team also worked hard with me, so I felt really under pressure to respond to that. The director and Satoh and I talked about how to embellish the last battle between Shishio and Kenshin in great detail until we all agreed on how it would happen. And even though a lot of that was hard to put into words, it came together when we filmed it, and I think everyone was happy with the results. It’s a big thing for me that I’ve been involved with a truly world-class level movie, one that only comes along every decade or so.”

Born May 15, 1982 in Saitama Prefecture, Tatsuya Fujiwara made his stage debut in London, England in director Yukio Ninagawa’s 1997 production of “Shintoku-Maru,” and much of his career has been spent on the stage. With Battle Royale he shared a Best Newcomer Award of the Japanese Academy and won a Best New Actor Blue Ribbon Award, and was widely praised for his portrayal of Soji Okita in the 2004 NHK Sunday night historical drama series “Shinsengumi!” A powerful performance in director Takashi Miike’s 2013 Cannes International Film Festival Entry “Shield of Straw” established him in the top ranks of Japan’s younger character actors. In October of 2014 he will appear in a stage production of “Julius Caesar.”

Other film roles include the two “Death Note” films (06), the “Kaiji: Ultimate Gambler” series (09, 11), “Parade,” “The Incite Mill” (both 10), “I’m Flash!” (12), “The Chart of Love,” “One Third,” and “Monsterz” (all 2014).

Based on the Kyoto arc of the popular manga series written & illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the “Rurouni Kenshin” sequels follow the story of Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh), a legendary swordsman in the wars accompanying the turbulent fall of Japan's Shogunate in the 19th century. Once feared as 'Battosai the Killer', he has adopted a peaceful life since the arrival of the 'new age'. 

But Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the 'Shadow Killer' has since then been scheming in the Kyoto underworld, raising an army of disaffected former samurais with the aim of overthrowing the new regime. 

 

Agreeing to a request by the new government to defeat Shishio, Kenshin leaves his beloved ones in Tokyo and sets out for Kyoto. He and Shishio are a match in skill and in wits, but their aims are opposite. Can Kenshin preserve the nation without breaking his vow that he will kill no more...?

The films also star Emi Takei (Kaoru Kamiya), Munetaka Aoki (Sanosuke Sagara), Kaito Oyagi (Yahiko Myojin), Yu Aoi (Megumi Takani), Yosuke Eguchi (Hajime Saito), Min Tanaka (Nenji Kashiwazaki), Tao Tsuchiya (Misao Makimachi), Ryunosuke Kamiki (Soujiro Seta), Maryjun Takahashi (Yumi Komagata) and Tatsuya Fujiwara (Makoto Shishio).

The first sequel, “Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno” will open across the Philippines on Aug. 20, 2014, to be followed by “Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends” on Sept. 24, 2014. Both films are distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

  

Rurouni Kenshin cast in SM Megamall

I arrived early for the Philippine premiere of Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno to avoid the rush hour when I found out that there was a public appearance of the cast just after arriving at the airport. As early as 3PM, the crowd of fans await the cast to walk the red carpet straight to the activity area of SM Megamall's lower ground level.

I was also eagerly awaiting to get a good view while waiting for the movie. But since I never have access to the press area that time, I am settled in the regular pass but I only get a good view at the screen as Takeru Satoh, Aoki Munetaka and Emi Takei along with director Keishi Otomo.

What makes SM Megamall the ideal place to set this welcome is that history of the first AXN anime convention in the Philippines was held in Megatrade Hall of Megamall and it was SM Cinema exclusively showed the previous movie in the Philippines.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno opens August 20 and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends on September 24 in SM Cinemas. More coverage of the public presscon on my geek blog. Follow it or like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook.

Rurouni Kenshin Live Action is Now Official

Sato Takeru(L) and Kenshin Himura(R)

According to a source shared by a fellow otaku or fan, the live-action version of Rurouni Kenshin(literally meant Kenshin the wanderer in Japanese) is official with Warner Bros. producing. Actor Sato Takeru is chosen for the title role. Rurouni Kenshin creator Watsuki Nobuhiro had Sato in mind for the role of Himura Kenshin. I wouldn't be surprise. He can dye his hair red, the cross-scar would be easy.

Rurouni Kenshin, known in some countries as Samurai X, is an original manga written by Watsuki, originally ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1994-1999 and is translated and released in 23 countries and has over 50 million copies in print and has successful anime adaptation with 95 episodes and 2 mini-series or OVAs(original video anime). 

Rurouni Kenshin is a story of a wandering samurai during the Meiji era and wishes to redeem his bloody past as a hitokiri (assassin) during the last days of the Togukawa era by helping people in need with his trademark sword, sakabatou or the reversed-edge sword without killing anyone.

Preparation of the project started 3 years ago and will start filming in July so it will be released in 2012 and will be directed by Otomo Keishi. My only concern about the production is the western influence but I am hoping that it was only for the post-production so it will be more Japanese involved during its initial filming and pre-production.