Rurouni Kenshin is one of the most popular manga and anime series, not only in Japan but also worldwide. The story itself focuses on the figure of Himura Kenshin, a rurounin or wanderer who is known for his sword skills. He had taken many lives before, before he decided to use the rest of his life to do good.
The popularity of the series made Warner Bros. then decided to adapt the story on the big screen. Starting from the initial trilogy, namely Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins which was released in 2012, then Kyoto Inferno in 2014, and The Legend Ends. The fourth film, Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I, was released on June 18 yesterday on the Netflix platform. Meanwhile, in Japanese theaters, it was already released on April 23 yesterday. Here is the final discussion of the film.
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Einishi Yukishiro’s Appearance
In 1879, the Tokyo police tracked down a mysterious person who was thought to be from the Shanghai mafia. The criminal figure is named Enishi Yukishiro. It turns out that Enishi knows Himura’s figure. He conveyed his greetings to Hajime Saito, who seemed surprised that he recognized Himura Kenshin’s figure. After having fought back, Enishi was finally captured.
Enishi’s adventures then begin, when he performs a trick to “free” him from captivity. And Enishi’s terror began. Starting with destroying buildings, until attacking the police carried out by Enishi to take revenge against Himura. He even destroyed part of the city by deploying his men.
Kenshin’s Past Figure
Everyone around Kenshin is curious about what happened, starting from Kaoru, Sano, and so on. Himura himself didn’t really want everyone to feel burdened by what happened, but the situation forced him to finally speak up. It turns out that Einishi Yukishiro is a figure from Himura Kenshin’s past. He is the younger brother of Tomoe Yukishiro.
The goal is to reappear and look for Kenshin’s figure is to take revenge for the death of his brother. According to Kenshin’s story, he had killed the person he loved – even if it was by accident. At that time, Kenshin was shown fighting with Tatsumi. However, suddenly Tomoe appears and protects Tatsumi so that his back is hit by Kenshin’s attack. He and Tatsumi himself were later killed.
Actually, there is still debate about what really happened among fans. However, in essence, fans agree that Tomoe’s goal is to protect Kenshin. Tomoe deliberately gave Kenshin the moment to attack. Tomoe himself believes that Kenshin will change for the better, and to begin with he is willing to sacrifice his life.
Einishi Finally Knows the Truth
Every day, Tomoe recorded what happened and how she felt in a diary. From what is shown in the scene, Tomoe seems to really hate Kenshin’s figure. He wrote that Kenshin was the one who snatched his happiness away. He also stated that Kenshin was the one who had made him suffer.
This notebook was in Kaoru’s hands, before she gave it to Einishi. Einishi himself actually never knew about the real facts of what happened, including the events of his brother’s death. All he knows is Kenshin killed his brother. However, then things changed when Einishi read his brother’s notebook.
Apparently, his grudge against Kenshin had been a mistake. For his brother, Kenshin is a very valuable figure. In his notebook it is written, that Kenshin is indeed a person who has snatched his happiness. However, he then gives new happiness every day. He also hates what Kenshin does to kill people.
However, Tomoe believes that Kenshin can change. He was able to save people far more numerous than the number of people he had killed. And as mentioned above, to make this happen, Tomoe stated that he was willing to sacrifice himself if it could change Kenshin.
Where is the sequel?
So far, it’s still unknown whether there will be a sequel to The Final – given the title says this is the first part. However, from the news, The Final is the end of Kenshin’s adventure story. Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, which is his fifth film, has started to be released in Japan. However, it is a prequel film set before Origins.
Although the story about Kenshin Himura may have been completed, the production house could use other characters to be the focus of the story in the next film. For example the figure of Einishi Yukishiro. At the end of the film, Himura says that he hopes Einishi will spend the rest of his life doing good, for the sake of his brother in another world.
That is, in the latest film, maybe we will see how Einishi’s adventure is to make amends for the mistakes he has made. Or maybe the film can adapt the arc or other stories in the comics, which are no less interesting. We’ll just have to wait, geeks, whether the Warner Bros. will present more stories in the future.