Li Shen: I haven't read the original comic book. But "Rurouni Kenshin" is a classic work of juvenile comics in the 1990s. At least I know that Kenshin is a good super killer and the setting of "Reverse Edge Sword". The movie version was released more than ten years after the end of the comics. I wonder what kind of audience it attracts? How many "teenagers" will be interested in "Rurouni Kenshin" today? Or fans of Takeshi Sato and Saki Takei (who play the male and female leads, respectively) will be there; secondly, those who have grown up reading manga and are now adults who go to theaters for nostalgia. In fact, in August this year, the "Rurouni Kenshin" comic also started a new serialization, which was launched at the same time as the movie version. From the perspective of marketing strategy, it is actually very "right way".
The background of the story of "Rurouni Kenshin" is set in the early days of the Meiji Restoration. People like Kenshin who used to be samurai before may not be able to find a social position to settle down in the social system that has begun to modernize. Warriors without masters became ronin, some became police officers, and some became bandits. Since the original is a work from more than ten years ago, the plot is nothing new: a super master who is determined not to kill again, is destined to meet an old opponent who is constantly provoking, and is bound to protect innocent people and loved ones. Forced to shoot, very happy. In this regard, the film version is well-organized and the action scenes are very enjoyable. Perhaps because the action director is Kenji Tanagaki who has been in Hong Kong for many years, the action design feels more familiar.
Since it is a juvenile comic adaptation, the audience can't have much expectations for the depth of its history and culture. Although the movie adapts the original story of the comic version, it inserts the memory fragments of Kenshin, which were explained later, to explain why he decided not to kill people and changed his mind to using the reverse-edged sword. However, since there is a background in the early days of the Restoration, the influence of other characters in the changing situation, if the ink is more profound, it will also make the drama more intense. For example, how did the big villain, Udo Blade Guard, reinvent himself as a master? What does it have to do with him taking the old sword full of murderous sins from Jianxin? In the play, half of it is said without explaining clearly, no soup or water. In fact, this point is also related to the change of Kenshin's mentality. It would be better if the script could be more solid.
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