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My Top Rurouni Kenshin Live Action Movies

 

Rurouni Kenshin live action movies are a prime example on how to adapt the manga to live action. Since the live action movies have concluded, I thought it would be great to rank them.


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5 - Rurouni Kenshin: The Final

My Rurouni Kenshin: The Final Review

Rurouni Kenshin: The Final is a satisfying conclusion for our group of characters, even though technically it ain't the final film in the franchise. It has an amazing final fight and the rest of the fight scenes are good too. The problem is that the rest of the fights are just "good" but not insanely memorable. It also has a pacing problem and constant flashback problem including an flashback that spoils the prequel that comes out after completely to the point of ruining it.

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4 - Rurouni Kenshin Part 1: Origins

My Rurouni Kenshin Part 1: Origins Review

This is how you start a franchise! The movie manage to successfully cover all the important aspect that happened in the source material and cram into 2 hours. It introduces our group of protagonist well and had amazing wirework action scenes. It does have the origin story problem which is that the villains are very underwhelming and there are some slight pacing issues. Other than that it was a great first entry

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3 - Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning

My Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning Review

The 5th and technically final entry in the franchise is a prequel. The fact that the director/studio decided to end the Rurouni Kenshin franchise on a prequel still baffles me even after watching. Especially considering how integrated the story of this is in Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. It also has a pacing issues and a lack of action as well. Still, it might be the most story driven one in the franchise and the relationship between Kenshin and Tomoe is so good. Plus I love the more gory and grounded action style used in here. Even though it's a prequel and you know what is going to happen, it's still very emotion

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2 - Rurouni Kenshin part 3: The Legend Ends

My Rurouni Kenshin part 3: The Legend Ends Review

This 3rd entry has one of the best 3rd acts in a movie I've seen and in this franchise. Shishio is an amazing villain and this is thanks to Tatsuya's performance. It also has the best action scenes in the entire franchise as well in my opinion. Unfortunately, the first act of this movie is incredibly slow and a lot of supporting characters just get nothing to do anymore.

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1 - Rurouni Kenshin part 2: Kyoto Inferno

My Rurouni Kenshin part 2: Kyoto Inferno Review

The second entry is my favourite in the franchise. It does everything that was great in the first one but better. There is a lot of fights in more different locations and the plot is very engaging. Additionally, it doesn't have a pacing problem as it is constantly a thrill ride and that means there was never a real dull moment in it. Phenomenal!



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