“Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” – Love and Karma

I was holding back from writing this one, mainly because of how violent this first one is. It is true that the ways of the samurai were like this, and so with that in mind, I want you to know that I’m writing this review from a different standpoint. All of the extreme violent acts that Kenshin puts forth in “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” are from an incorrect standpoint, and if you have watched the sequels, then you know exactly what I’m referring to. If you haven’t already, then you should know that all of the sequels are worth watching . They are 9/10 as far as techniques go and a solid 7.5/10 as far as their plots go.

So without spoiling anything for you, which so far I haven’t, I have to let you know that this movie serves two outstanding lessons for its viewers: Passionate Love & Poetic Justice. The third excellent selling point this movie has are the fighting techniques. Besides its lessons and fighting techniques, one additionally huge plus this movie has are the acting, cinematography, visual effects, and wardrobe.

If this is all you’re going to read for this review, then do yourself a favor and go watch “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning”, you won’t waste your time.

The overall rating I assign “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” is a 10/10. With admirable fighting techniques equal to absolute excellence and life lessons which will make you a better person, there’s no question that “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” is one for the books, one to remember, and one to live by.

I cannot delve into why I have assigned the movie a 10/10 without spoiling it for you, however, in this brief review, I will talk a bit about the three major selling points which will inform you about why this movie is a must.

If you feel like watching a movie about a passionate love story, there is no doubt whatsoever that this one is it. “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” depicts what a passionate love story is, with all its mystery, slow entanglements, ups and downs, perceptual view points, lessons, harmony, understanding and peace. After you are done watching “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning”, you will want to start thinking twice about your actions… Hopefully.

Poetic justice is defined by Merriam Webster as “an outcome in which vice is punished and virtue rewarded usually in a manner peculiarly or ironically appropriate”. “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning” gives a magnificent example of Poetic Justice. Again, this is a lesson which the movie tries to convey, and if you are perceptive enough you will get the point. The movie gets to the audience’s core by letting them see what a person’s actions can lead them to. Every decision we make has an outcome.

The fighting techniques used in this movie are far from ordinary. I will get into some of them after this quick review, and for now you should note that they are superb, fantastic, magnificent, and accompanied by every possible connotation you can associate to them. There are scenes which leave you perceiving the main character’s moment and thinking…. “Hmmm how real is this?” From an untrained perspective, and a beginner’s perspective, this may all seem fantasy… then you sit back and wait a couple of years of training everyday, years of putting hours and hours of effort into Martial Arts and you start understanding how these scenes are not at all fictional or unproducible… You start realizing… “Hell, this is actually possible.”… and you start understanding… that maybe… just maybe… somebody actually had to live through something similar.

Lastly, for the review, I want to add the huge plus of the beautiful acting, cinematography, visual effects, and wardrobe. Let’s begin with the acting, right off the bat you will get a scene which foretells the rest of acting throughout the movie. If you have already watched the movie, then you know what I’m referring to… the man’s acting closely resembles somebody who’s frightened, in tremor, in pain, and with the insurmountable need to get somewhere. Next, right there in that very same scene, you will get a taste of the wardrobe, cinematography, and visual effects that you will see consistently throughout the rest of the movie. You will see how well the video is shot, from three different angles in just 10 seconds, a Kyoto castle pinpointing the time of the occurrence, and the appropriate clothing and hairdo of the time for a samurai.

To give you a bit of context, the story, from what I’ve understood, is set during the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era was a time in which Japan was in continuous war through its central power (The Emperor’s and Shogun’s power), with the central power being torn apart by opposing daimyos who did not want Japan open to the rest of the world. Japan was still a great state which could not abase itself. Daimyos, during the beginning of the Meiji Era and earlier periods of Japan, were leaders of factions of samurai clans who controlled certain parts of the land. Each daimyo always wanted more. These opposing factions were uncontrollable by Japan’s central power during the Sengoku period.

The daimyos’ uncentralized powers played a role in defining the beginning of the Meiji Era as well. The daimyos during this time fought for the decision of closing or opening Japan for trade with the rest of the world, a decision which would undoubtedly affect their class status and uncentralized powers. Under the influence of Bushido, these men fought until the death every time. Fighting was part of their life, rather than a recourse to protect what is precious… life.

Let’s now delve into how each character comes into play throughout the movie. This will help you understand a bit about each character and their roles in each of our lessons presented by “Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning”.

The first character we will meet is Rurouni Kenshin. Kenshin, while on a mission in a battle with his fellow samurai to bring a central government back to Japan, was captured. Kenshin is now tied up in a room with around 10 adversaries. Here, you will get to see one of the most brilliant fight scenes known to humanity (in my opinion), one that I think highly of up till this day… at one time… I would have called this scene my favorite… things have changed since then. I would have tried my hardest not to kill anyone now… just like Kenshin would as well after learning what he learns through this plot… a non-lethal wound, missing limb, blunt force to the head, would be more than enough to disable your adversaries and make your escape.

Anyhow, in this scene where we meet Kenshin, a couple of things happen… things which made this scene my favorite for a long time. To begin with, as a spectator with no Martial Arts or beginner experience, heck even intermediate, you’d never figure this guy would make it out of this room. Even after you see it happen right before your very own eyes, you’d still believe it to be fantasy. It took me a couple of sits to understand how extremely possible this fight scene is and how getting out of a situation like that, with the right training is completely possible.

And so… for the sake of the greatness which this scene beholds.. I will now advance to break it down in reasoning for the readers. First, you have Kenshin who is sitting down in the middle of the room tied up and ready to die. Keyword: “ready to die”… this is a significant state of mind. His level of awareness is heightened, and his senses are aware of absolutely everything. The samurai called this a state of mind one would enter before death. Kenshin, is surrounded by a group of samurai, who Kenshin has intel on, and has the absolute confidence that he can desist of had his hands not been tied. And so… since Kenshin is an intelligent samurai, he knows that he might die if he makes a move and he also knows that he will die if he does not make a move.

Speaking softly to draw someone really close to him. Kenshin knows his opponents, he knows they’d easily fall for a trap because he has been studying them before making any of his attacks on any of the daimyos. Sometimes plans don’t work and this time he was captured.. or maybe getting captured was part of his plan to get close enough to assassinate the daimyo. Speaking in a low tone of voice, surely gets him what he wanted, he draws in one of his adversaries and proceeds to bite off his ear. Now.. to understand this part… you must be aware of Kenshin’s person… what he imposes on his opponents… the greatness of his figure… the intimidation people feel around the legendary… “Battosai the Killer”. This leads me to Kenshin’s second move.

As I explained, to understand exactly why Kenshin’s escape tactic worked (escaping from a room of 10 people with his hands tied behind his back), you’d need to understand what Kenshin’s presence did to his opponents.

His figure is one which people fear. His opponents refer to him as a “demon”. You’d ask yourself, as I did, why in the hell did someone not stab his freaking back while he’s biting off this guy’s ear? That’s because of what I just explained… When people see something this gruesome coming from a largely feared figure such as “Battosai the Killer”… they enter a state of confusion… and become disoriented as to what the next step might be.

Two additional factors as to why this worked were that biting someone’s ear off is not lethal and that the opposition might have not received clear orders beforehand as to what to do if something like this happened. Non-lethal attacks coming from a prisoner are dealt with differently because you might need intel from the prisoner. Absolutely brilliant on Kenshin’s part. If you’re asking yourself why no one stabbed him in the back while he was biting the guy’s ear off, now you have a better idea why.

Right after Kenshin starts biting off the opponent’s ear, he still hasn’t made his intentions clear yet, which like I mentioned, adds to the fact that his opposition didn’t immediately draw their weapons… afterall both his hands are tied and they are all in confusion. When they all draw in to get him off the man whose ear he was biting off, Kenshin disperses them by swaying his upper body and pushing everyone off in different directions around the room. Still, no weapons are drawn… panic… shock… confusion… lack of direction are all the daimyos crew is experiencing.

To free his hands, Kenshin needs a blade. He kicks around a couple of opponents… evades a couple of strikes… breaks somebody’s neck, and sees his opportunity. With his hands still tied, he draws the wakizashi from the opponent with the broken neck with his mouth. I have heard of this before… samurai being trained to fight without limbs. During this section of the scene… the viewer can further understand the psychological effects this person has on his opponents. Just by performing a couple of evasive moves, kicking a couple of guys, and snapping somebody’s neck with his knee while his hands are tied around his back… he’s able to turn his back on his opponents… who have drawn katanas, and use his teeth to draw the wakizashi with which he will free his hands. Such are the effects of psychological warfare.

Now that he has found the object with which he will free his hands, Kenshin needs to put it to use. I have never trained this myself, but I know for a fact that holding a wakizashi with your jaw tightly enough to slice through somebody’s thigh is not easy. This is how the second victim in the room goes, Kenshin evades his attack by ducking beneath the slash and cuts through his thigh with the wakizashi he’s holding in his mouth. Kenshin then makes a turn to his right, to face an enemy that is rushing toward him, with whom he deals with a sidekick to the face.

Kenshin then turns 90 degrees to his left and sidekicks another oncoming enemy… only this time… instead of leaving that enemy alone, he rushes toward him as the enemy is bouncing against a wall with barrels along the side and uses a jump to land with his knee on the opponent’s head which he consequently puts through the top of a barrel. Kenshin then uses the fact that the opponent’s head gets stuck in the barrel to put the wakizashi through the barrel’s side and consequently the side of his opponent’s neck.

Kenshin then ducks an incoming attack and counters with the wakizashi still in his mouth, slashing his opponent in the torso. Kenshin then rolls to evade an incoming katana attack, and uses his hands to grab one of his opponent’s which he forcefully drags across the room tumbling and shoving everyone in their way (with the wakizashi still held firmly in his jaw). Kenshing lands on an opponent and pushes him against the wall, subduing him by inflicting fatal wounds. The opponent couldn’t use his katana in time since Kenshin was pushing up against his torso and shoulder.

Now Kenshin sidekicks another oncoming samurai who was in the middle of throwing an overhead downward swing at him and deflects another slash by pushing up against the opponent’s forearm with enough force to guide the katana into the abdomen of the other opponent he just sidekicked. Kenshin takes this opportunity to use the blade stuck in his opponent’s abdomen to cut the rope binding his hands.

The rest is history.

How we meet Lady Tomoe is fitting to this tragic love story. Kenshin, playing the hero he is, meets his love at an inn. During a winter evening, we meet Lady Tomoe who is having dinner by herself. The Inn has a good amount of people in it, and there were also a couple of “fake patriots” as Kenshin called them, who were quite intoxicated. These guys were greatly insubordinate, acting a fool. In the middle of their foolishness, they decide to stir up things at the Inn. Kenshin during this scene was sitting behind Lady Tomoe, who was enjoying a quiet dinner until these guys came along.

The drunken samurai then started chieffing around the people at the bar after making a move to try and seduce Lady Tomoe. Although, more than seducing her, one can really say how obviously lame they were. Kenshin gets fed up with these guys, being that they are bothering everyone at the inn, along with using the Emperor’s cause to showboat, Kenshin decides to say something.

“It sure was. I was about to draw on you.”

Says Kenshin, after one of the drunks exclaims “That was close.”, referring to the fact that his drunk-self was annoyed with one of the bystander’s comments and was about to draw his katana on them.

“Take my advice. Things are going to get worse. Kyoto’s no place for fake patriots. If you value your lives, go back to your village.”

The drunks get upset and turn on Kenshin, one of them attempting to draw his katana on Kenshin… Kenshin intercepts the draw of the Katana even before a quarter of it is unsheathed and pushes the guy to the ground…

The drunk samurai leave the Inn and decide to wait for Kenshin outside.

This is when Lady Tomoe and Kenshin first meet, though they didn’t really share any words.

Kenshin then pays for his bill and leaves the Inn.

As Kenshin is leaving we see the two drunk samurai hiding waiting for Kenshin to ambush him as he passes by.

This next scene is where Lady Tomoe directs her first words to Kenshin. This is also where Lady Tomoe learns of Kenshin’s true nature.

An assassin (one different from the drunks) ambushes Kenshin outside the inn, meanwhile, Lady Tomoe was watching. Lady Tomoe had followed Kenshin outside the inn to thank him for standing up to those drunks.

Kenshin disposes of his to-be-assassin in his traditional fashion, ending his life in a gruesome manner by slitting his throat and splattering his blood all over their surroundings. Unfortunately for Lady Tomoe, she was standing directly in the way of the splatter. Neither Kenshin nor the audience sees her yet. Right when the blood splatters, we get to see Lady Tomoe is present in the scene watching from aback. She is soaked in blood.

This upcoming scene is by far one of my top-most favorite scenes in cinematic history. Absolutely Epic.

Lady Tomoe (covered in blood): “I thought I’d come out and say thank you.”

(Rain starts falling as she speaks.)

“A rain of blood is a cliche in tragic plays.”

“But you really…. Make it rain blood.”

(Lady Tomoe faints.)

Of course, this scene carries more weight… a whole lot more weight…. If you as the spectator knew what Lady Tomoe already knows…. Kenshin also murdered her fiancé.

This scene opens up the movie for a passionate love story and a crucial lesson to be learned by Kenshin. As far as the scene goes, it’s magnificent and like I said, one of the best scenes in the history of movies for me.

The cinematography here is brilliant. The dialogue, Kenshin’s look on his face as he sees innocence and purity be ruined in front of his very eyes, his emotions being held back as he ruins the very thing he was trying to protect, his disguise fading away in front of purity, the symbolism of the rain starting to fall just as Lady Tomoe starts speaking, the symbolism of the blood being splattered on Lady Tomoe, a sign of what was to come…  Lady Tomoe faints in shock, a reminder of what innocence truly is.

This character plays a vital role in the story. Lady Tomoe had made a pact with him in order to get her revenge on Kenshin before she fell in love with him. She had made this pact in order to avenge her fiance. Beside the fact that he knows how to fight rather well and that he’s the character Lady Tomoe made a pact with he’s not interesting at all. Just a deviation of humanity if you may call it that. This character knew that Kenshin was the one who murdered Lady Tomoe’s fiance because there was a “Justification for Execution” ordered for Lady Tomoe’s fiance.

The audience will get a taste of what passion is by watching this film. The foreshadowing of passion starts with how Lady Tomoe and Kenshin meet. You will see how love takes on its own form in this film. Later on in the movie, we learn that Kenshin murdered Lady Tomoe’s fiancé, the man who gave Kenshin his scar. This is why you cannot really put a name on this story. Lady Tomoe’s original plan was murdering Kenshin and avenging her fiance, but instead falls in love with Kenshin.

Throughout the story, Lady Tomoe and Kenshin share moments that you would want to share with the love of your life, and moments you wouldn’t, they grow really close to each other. Lady Tomoe ends up telling him the partial truth about who she is, and writes the rest of it in her diary. Which she leaves for Kenshin to read after she departs to sacrifice herself to save Kenshin.

I say the lesson here is that you don’t really know what kind of love story life has in store for you. While life may seem one way, it might end up being another way in the end. It is our actions that lead us there. Had Kenshin not been who he was,  he’d never have met and learned what he did with Lady Tomoe.

I do not really know what else to say about this. It’s a great love story despite its ending… although I know that’s what love really is at times.

This takes me to the next lesson learned after watching this film… which is Poetic Justice.

Actions have reactions, and if you do what is wrong for long enough, life will come back to get you. In this case, Kenshin murdered numerous people for a shallow reason. You might say that uniting a country is a fair enough reason, however that is incorrect. The value set on life has no equal, and over all, all life should be protected and cherished. Taking away or losing life is the darkest of miseries. Coming back from the dead is impossible. Learning to live with yourself after murdering somebody could be nearly impossible.

It’s never the right decision. It will never be the right decision. Unless of course it happens out of self defense and you really tried your hardest not to. In that case, when it’s either you or them, then you should protect your life with all your might and determination.

Kenshin led a different life though. He was a very capable fighter, and as we’ll learn in the sequels, he could have acted differently. Not to say that he was not fighting for a just cause, because he was. After all, the constant violence Japan was living under was detrimental and caused deaths at an outstanding rate. However, it will never be wise to taint your hands with blood. What one man does to another, others will do to him. This is a universal law that we all live under and none of us can escape.

Kenshin met his karma as quickly as his katana cut through his enemies’ flesh. He did not expect his lover to die like she did. Right then and there he realizes the price to pay for carrying his code of pride. Him dying would not have been enough for him to learn his lesson. That would have left him rather satisfied really. You see, for a person of that moral code to learn the value set on life, something which they love as dearly as they secretly love and value their own life has to be sacrificed. Whatever is sacrificed also has the potential of turning this kind of person into a life of vengeance though, so one is to proceed delicately as to not turn the person into an even darker path. Luckily for the audience in this movie, Kenshin was a sensitive person who deeply understood right from wrong.

Kenshin walked around like his life didn’t really have a value. He would pick every fight. At times, he might have even been proud of being known as “Battosai the Killer”. However, appearances can be deceitful, and being proud is exactly what Kenshin tried desperately to give off, what he made himself feel. Beneath this tough shell of pride, was a sensitive person, one whose actions did really have a toll on and was sacrificing to help unite his country.

We learn about the toll his actions have on him initially when he murders a group of opposing clan members and gets his famous scar across his cheekbone. Symbolism of the horrors he was about to encounter. One of the clan members refuses to die because “there was somebody he loved” and “had to keep living for”. After slashing him clean cut with his katana around four different times, the person finally dies. On the last slash, the person manages to scar Kenshin on his cheekbone. A permanent reminder. Kenshin is shaken after this fight, he begins shaking uncontrollably, and one can see the effects that these occurrences would have on him. One could see Kenshin’s sensitive nature.

Kenshin was, nonetheless, a product of his society. Kenshin had to be proud, or at least act like he was. When he joins the cause, the first question he is asked by the daimyo is if he’s ever murdered anybody. He hadn’t. Neither talent, kindness, nor justness can shelter one from a society where barbarism is just a part of life. This barbarism is also pointed to not just in the movie, but by historically accurate events of the Sengoku period and of earlier and later times of that society.

Kenshin’s sensitivity also made things worse. Kenshin’s sensitivity escalated his anger to the point where he became as talented as he was, renowned as “Battosai, the Killer”. He became what he became because of his deep hatred toward what was tearing his society apart. He really did believe in a unified country, and although his cause was just, he was fighting the very thing he was becoming.

“One should beware when fighting monsters, for when you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares back into you.”

For the most part, these kinds of lessons are taught to people who deserve to learn them. These kinds of recipients, although they have a fatal flaw in them, also have a silver lining in them, one which would turn them into a masterpiece if they get rid of their fatal flaw. For Kenshin, his flaw was his pride. He murdered and believed it was the correct thing to do. His silver lining was his sensitivity. It was only when he got to the point of concretely witnessing the consequences of his actions that he felt remorse, that’s when his sensitivity kicked in, that’s when his pride diminished, that’s when he was vulnerable. Three examples of this are:

1. His uncontrollable shaking after he murders Lady Tomoe’s fiance.
2. His facial expression after he covers Lady Tomoe in blood.
3. His deep care for Lady Tomoe, also noted by how devastated he is after she is murdered.

In the end, Kenshin learns to listen more to his sensitivity rather than his pride. He learns to live a life of justness, but instead of letting his pride deal with a situation he uses his sensitivity. He goes on using his talents to help people and he doesn’t murder anymore.

Katanas are straight to the point, and Rurouni Kenshin demonstrates this outstandingly. Except in scenes where opponents are equally matched, you won’t see much back and forth going on between opponents. You will see fighters going straight for vital points as soon as fights start.

Scenes where opponents are equally matched though are magical, and the back and forth that occurs takes into account stances, countering, parrying, blocking, and grappling. It’s one of these films with which I have rejoiced in the fight scenes time after time, mostly due to the aggression the techniques carry. You can tell the techniques used here are meant to seriously harm the opponents. I appreciate that they have used techniques which reflect the intentions of their wielders. For example, you won’t see a cross or a jab being thrown, nor a round house, per se. The least lethal technique I saw being used in the movie was a sidekick Kenshin used when he had his hands tied behind his back as a means of fending off incoming attacks.

The fight scenes contain a superb amount of realism, besides the techniques being employed to completely disable and kill opponents, you won’t be disappointed by the rest. You will be exhilarated by the manners in which actors react to techniques and excited by the cinematography added to each of these scenes. Sounds, visuals, wardrobe, and scenery are all over the top. By the way, if you watch this first movie, and you like the fight scenes, the sequels will leave you even further satisfied!

I hope that you all have enjoyed reading through this review and analysis. More importantly I hope you can watch this movie and hold it as a constant reminder through life, even if it’s just a small one, that every action has a reaction. Everything you do in life comes back to you and all behaviors have an effect in our present and future. I hope that it will also play a part in reminding you to cherish who is dear to you and let you find your own flaws through self evaluation, deep thinking, and meditation.

Thank you for reading.