THE GOOD
- I love that it is equal parts dark and funny. A good balance between the anime and classic OVA Trust and Betrayal. If you've never seen Kenshin, just watch that OVA.
- The actor playing Kenshin does an awesome job.
- The dad from Hatsukoi did a great job playing Sagara Sonosuke.
- Some of the fighting scenes are kick-ass, especially the knife fight. I like how they use wires to make Kenshin move really fast.
- Probably the best action anime to live action conversion ever.
THE BAD
- Why isn't Aoi Yu Kaoru and an older actress Megumi?
- I wanted Saito vs Kenshin but alas there's only so much time. His little moment in the sun was lame but what can you do?
THE UGLY
- The Takei Emi speech that never stops. I keep imagining how her agent must be pressuring the writer to give her some stupid long ass climactic speech at the end. A simple, "Kenshin, you must not kill" by a good actress is enough to get the reasons across instead of this forced speech.
VERDICT
I went in ready to be disappointed after so many failed anime adaptations; *cough* 20th Century Boys, Yamato *cough*. This is one that is very faithful to the original and knows why Kenshin is so popular. I've got nitpicks but generally they did an excellent job. Pretty good movie and I want to give it a must watch but that Takei Emi speech killed the ending for me.
8 comments:
I agree and disagree. I agree that that the Emi speech killed it. I disagree about it being just one line. Maybe she can say 'you must not kill, and also say the 'do it for the sake of those you have already killed' part, which would help her to be more believable.
At least entrusting Aoi Yu to be Megumi is wiser than leaving it to someone like Ueto who would have turned the whole movie's credibility upside down!! Aoi can act, so at least the audience can empathise with her, but most importantly, take her seriously!Im glad it was entrusted to her, instead of some of the other lacking-in-screen-presence j actresses out there...
I was thrilled and completely satisfied with the opening fight (in the snow) scene where he was so fast and lethal! The other scenes weren't as skillfully done (maybe lack of time and manpower), because a lot of the time, you couldn't see him fighting, just an overlay of chaos and rubble which distracts the real fighting.
I was happy to see hatsukoi dad providing some comic relief.
It was a bit cringy to have kenshin portray the emotion of 'angry' over the kidnapping of Emi. I enjoyed watching him trying to save Aoi more bc her character was more pitiful and interesting. Kenshin would have just been 'worried sick' when he was notified that she had been kidnapped, rather than 'angry'??? Thank God she was kicked in the back and rolled down the slope a little to solicit the 'anger' in kenshin lol
All in all though, I quite enjoyed the movie because the music went well with the scenes and helped set the tone for the movie. The dialogue (minus Emi lines) was not so fluffed up, and the characters were generally likeable.
The subs were really annoying though cos it affected the nuance of some of the lines, seriously they need multiple subbers!! but i guess that's just something that never really changes...bad subs for movies I mean.
Anyway I want to say thanks for blogging!if i didnt follow your blog, I wouldnt have gone or even know about the JFF. Enjoyed Kenshin and the Kirishima Thing. Will watch Thermae so its been a pretty good run!
Arigatou gozaimashita!
Yeah, I was pretty excited to see this movie because of all the hype and I ended up let down. It was good but I think I was expecting more? I got bored about half way through. also the guy playing kenshin really did an amazing job, but Takei emi annoyed me. I agree- why not give the part to aoi yu and have someone else play megumi (someone else that can also act!) Takei emi seems sweet and she tries so hard but she really...isn't a very good actress. And because I couldn't connect with Takei Emi's character I couldn't connect with her and kenshin's relationship which probably was why some parts of the movie didn't work with me. Still, it wasn't a bad way to kill some time whilst flying.
You didnt see this in the cinemas??it was amazing on the big screen. I actually think sato takeru n emi werent contrasting enough...energy-wise, and so i didnt reali feel/appreciate their r/ship either. Sato n aoi had more of a connection. Anyway, so maybe aoi should have been casted as emis character, n konishi minami as megumi??shes about one of the few actresses that i respect n love watching! Anyway hope the following installments will be better!
I'm convinced that Takei Emi resembles one of Mike's ex-girlfriends who tormented him with sharp metal objects.
@anonymous:
agree, Yu Aoi as Megumi is obviously a miscast, she should play Takei's role instead. Konishi seems to be nice pick (if it did), she can play bitchy roles quite well (at least better than Aoi's Megumi)
Agreed! @ all anonymous' konishi can play evil/bitchy roles well but still able to convey dark/sadness/pitifulness at the same time.sorta like joaquin phoenix's character fr gladiator.
Feel sorry for poor takei getting criticised left, right and centre. She cldnt act in W or other serious dramas but was natural in that mechanic school one...hmmm i'll leave it there...
Konishi Manami is a good suggestion. She can definitely pull the sad eyes off.
Poor Takei Emi? She's like the 'it' girl with Kenshin and Ai to Makoto though she doesn't have 'it' in the acting department which makes me think she must be good at something else....
Arggh, I agree with your Yu Aoi comment. I think Yu Aoi would have made a very spunky, likable Kaoru. Takei Emi's performance as Kaoru left me cold and disappointed as Kaoru is one of my favorite female characters. To me she didn't deliver on the life, the spunk, the brightness of Kaoru. Granted the writing with regard to character development is also not that great (i.e. I think they would seem like stock characters to those who are not as invested in the anime/manga) BUT I think the other actors were able to work with what they had. Can Yu Aoi please be Kaoru in the next installment? No, it won't be weird, will it? No it won't!
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