Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Release for the UK
Warner Bros. are preparing to release the live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s chanbara manga Rurouni Kenshin in the UK.
The BBFC website has revealed that the film will get a theatrical release on 04/10/2013 and that is has a 15 certificate and has been passed uncut. So far, according to the website, it seems that the only format it will be released on is a cinema one. The release date is before the BFI London Film Festival which starts on the 09th but is it still possible that it will be screened there? Only time (and a festival programme) will tell!
Synopsis
The story takes place in the early Meiji period, a time of transition for Japan where industrialisation allowed Japan modernise itself and consign samurai to the history books. One such samurai is Kenshin Himura who was once an elite swordsman known as “Battosai” before taking an oath not to kill. He now finds himself as a wandering samurai offering aid to those in need as atonement for his past actions. During his travels he meets Kaoru Kamiya, an instructor at her father’s Kendo school. She offers Kenshin a place to stay at her dojo and their relationship begins to blossom but Kenshin’s past will soon catch up with him as he discovers that somebody has been using the name “Battosai” while committing murders.
Rurouni Kenshin is played by Takeru Sato who has appeared in the live-action version of BECK and Kamen Rider Den-O. Kaoru Kamiya is portrayed by Emi Takei, star of Takashi Miike’s recent adaptation Ai to Makoto. Other actors in the film include Teruyuki Kagawa (From Up On Poppy Hill, 20th Century Boys), Yu Aoi (Honey and Clover) and Munetaka Aoki (live-action The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). The film was originally produced and released in Japan by Warner Bros. Japan on August 25th last year.
