Rurouni Kenshin Trailer
The long-awaited live-action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin has a full-length trailer now.
Based on the manga, which spawned the successful anime series, Rurouni Kenshin is set fictitiously in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), following an assassin named Himura Kenshin who becomes a wanderer offering aid to those in need as atonement for his past.
Kenshin will be played by actor Takeru Sato, while the cast is rounded out by fairly newcomer Emi Takei, and renowned actors Koji Kikkawa, Yu Aoi, Munetaka Aoki, Gou Ayano, Yosuke Eguchi, and Teruyuki Kagawa.
Mixed martial artist Genki Sudo of World Order [1] fame is also part of the cast.
Rurouni Kenshin will open in Japan on August 25th.
— EDIT —
There’s a version of the trailer with English subtitles, subtítulos en Español, sous-titres Français, 中文字幕.
OH MY GOD THE FIRST TIME I SAW THIS I ALMOST WEPT!!!! FINALLY a live-action adaptation I think I can be PROUD of. After the MONSTROSITY that was Blood the Last Vampire, THIS looks like the most amazing film EVA!!!!
Whew… SOOOOO excited. And Batousai is looking GOOD! I think he’s easy to imagine as Kenshin Himoura. I can’t even wait. I hope I can see it at some point. *SQUEE*
@Camiele, well- to be FAIR. Blood the Last Vampire was… a non-Japanese adaptation of it. And Gianna Jun and Koyuki were sorta alright, despite the awkwardness.
To Rurouni Kenshin’s favor, the trailers cut have been very “international” oriented, meaning they have generally stayed away from Japanese trailers elements. If you’ve seen a lot of Japanese movie trailers, they aren’t cut like Hollywood movies. Even for great movies like Battle Royale, trailers are but a bit awkward. xD
This type of Japanese movies (franchise-based) have been opening in selected cities in the States… mostly LA (or San Francisco) and New York, I think. They even did US premieres when one of the Gantz movies was released.
@amy, *sigh* Seems I won’t actually be able to see this one until it’s released online/on DVD. Here’s hoping that it’s amazing. Kenshin’s definitely one of my favourite shows of all time (anime or otherwise). I’d hate to have my heart broken… HaHa.
@Camiele, I find it funny though… when the adaptation was announced, no one was excited over it. Kenshin fans were skeptical coz it’s a live action adaption… and fans of some of the actors were “meh”. I haven’t heard much from fans of the actors, but the Kenshin fans are exploding with anticipation now. xD
@amy, Well, when I heard whispers about an adaptation, of course I was skeptical. If you’ve seen any adaptation of anything coming from Japan, especially video games or anime, you’re used to those adaptations being rather disappointing, also keep in mind that most Japanese adaptations star rather ANGLO-SAXON actors portraying parts that should go to Japanese actors, but, of course, there’s too much noise about subtitles or no subtitles. But seeing this trailer actually gave me hope that it would remain as true to the show as it possibly could. But time will only tell.
@Camiele, but you’re talking about Hollywood adaptations of Japan material. xD I mean, DUDE! Dragon Ball. LOL That was an uproar.
Rurouni Kenshin’s adaptation is a Japanese production, so there won’t be Caucasians playing leads in here. Japanese productions suffer from casting foreigners in small roles – some of them speak horrible English (or any other language) because they’re generally Japanese-born American or French or [insert nationality] that don’t necessarily speak the language. As if… Hollywood would cast me for a poorly-spoken Mandarin role when, in fact, I speak Spanish. LOL
Japan has its fair share of badly-adapted anime/manga… I mean, outside small Japanese films, that’s the only thing on their cinemas right now. Sadly. With the marketing for Kenshin, it feels a little like fresh air.
@amy, I’ll definitely give you that one. And, unfortunately, I really can’t comment on how the Japanese adapt their own films. I can say that I’ve seen that in most Asian films/shows, instances where they’ve had to have people who speak English and the English was real stiff and not great or the characters real stereotypically bad (for instance, the Europeans in Ip Man 2… just… no). But, I don’t know much outside of what’s fed to us in America, which is sad. I’m afraid I just don’t have a decent point of view because I’m not exposed to it enough :(
But, I know that I’m really excited for this adaptation. In terms of either side of the spectrum, it really seems like a well done picture. But, we won’t know until it comes out, I suppose.
@Camiele, well… we got a decently tagged manga database. xD As you know, some of those are adaptations of manga…
@amy, Yeah. I’ll see if anything strikes me. I just don’t like being disappointed :(