Brief Story Line
Story was set in 1864 Kyoto, where there was revolutionary movement to end the Tokugawa Shogunate reign. Hitokiri Battosai aka Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh - Ajin: Demi-Human etc) was an assassin who worked for Choshu clan with their leader Katsura Kogoro (Issey Takahashi - The Lies She Loved etc) and usually got the assignments to kill people who supported the Shogunate. Himura who felt disturbed after his recent killing, saved a young woman named Yukishiro Tomoe (Kasumi Arimura - Erased etc) from being harassed. As gratitude, Tomoe worked at the inn where the clan hid and she started to grew close to Himura.
Meanwhile, the special police force in Kyoto called Shinsegumi was trying to stop Choshu clan's secret plot and tried to kill all of them. Himura who wanted to save Katsura had to fight against Shinsegumi's captain Okita Soji (Nijiro Murakami - Alice in Borderland TV series etc) and he also met Saito Hajime (Yosuke Eguchi - Bleach etc) for the first time.
So what would happen to Himura and how did he become the wanderer? You could find out in this prequel movie that started all.
End of Brief Story Line
When I watched the 4th movie earlier, I was not sure what to expect in this 5th film. To be honest, I did not read the synopsis and the title which has the word "The Beginning" and should have been clear, sadly fail to open my eyes. I thought it would still continue where we left of and it will tell story of Kenshin in a new status (maybe as the husband of Ms. Kaoru). So the early scenes were confusing to me and I thought it was only flash back. Not until I reached to a certain scene that I finally realized this is a Prequel and thus would tell the story of Kenshin's early days.
As I continued watching, I had a feeling that this is different from all the previous 4 movies which focused on Kenshin fighting every now and then with the major climax fight in the end. Meanwhile in here, it focused more on the story of the revolution, how Kenshin face the dilemma of killing people to achieve peace and his relationship with Tomoe. It really showed the side of him we never see before.
This film somehow made me feel a bit indecisive on whether or not I fully enjoyed it. On the one hand, I like the story development, but on the other hand, I missed the various sword fights that I loved so much (there were not that many here, but the ones shown were still amazing). And since I have watched the 4th installment where there was a flashback scene, I could not help feeling less excited as there was no more surprises cause I already knew the ending. However, as the story progressed and focused on the lovely romance between Kenshin and Tomoe plus the detail scenes towards the end, made me appreciate the film more. In addition, as a bonus, we finally got to know the story behind the scar on Kenshin's face.
Since the story was set before Kenshin became the wanderer, there were no appearance of the characters in the previous movies, except for Saito Hajime. However, the new characters did their job wonderfully. And that final scene before the closing credit was perfect as it made the whole 5 movies came to a full circle. Btw, no mid or post end credit scenes but there was a nice song accompanying us during the closing credit sung by One OK Rock titled "Broken Heart of Gold".
Overall despite being a prequel, I personally felt it is the satisfying finale of the whole Rurouni Kenshin experience. The director Keishi Otomo has done a magnificent job of bringing life to this hugely popular manga character. Oh, one thing to take note, this fifth movie would not feel complete if you have not seen the other films. So make sure you have done that before watching it.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Note:
From what I read on the internet, the story arc here followed closely the plot in the manga series which was later adapted into an Original Video Animation titled Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal back in 1999 and became one of the most highly acclaimed anime.
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