Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by Jillian ★★★★★

  They did it...

  "Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning" is the final and greatest masterpiece in the franchise. By telling the tale story of how it began, it ties the series with a perfect bow and solidifies it as one of the best cinematic sagas ever made. It feels completely different to every other entry. It thrives on the fact that, aside from the first movie, this is the only one that can be seen completely by itself, and at the same time it rewards whoever watched all the other 4 movies first. It's clear why they wanted to make this the last one; it's the complete deconstruction of Kenshin's character and reconstruction into who he is in the other movies. It's…

• Review by nick atkinson ★★★½

  I think this is probably the slowest Kenshin film, with lots of melodrama and short and sweet fight scenes. The initial pace suits the tragic love story well, but in the final hour the plot slows to a halt, which is especially irritating as we’ve already had the ending told to us.

  That’s my biggest issue: I can’t help but feel as if this would have been more powerful if we hadn’t seen a lot of the key scenes already through flashbacks. They could have at least made the flashbacks give away fewer plot details.

  On the bright side the cinematography is at its best in this one and the first half is very fun. The Shinsengumi were cool.

• Review by Ricardo Ferreira ★★★★½ 7

  A rain of blood is a cliche in tragic plays.
  But your really... make it rain blood.
  

  Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is the crucial story of the character's arc that helps us understand his moral code, his reverse-blade sword, and the meaning behind his scars. It's also the part I remember from the anime series, the Trust and Betrayal OVAs that latched into my brain for many years.

  The film, just like its anime counterpart, is a somber telling of the origin story that wastes no time making sure the audience know how ruthless and merciless his past self was, showing us a lot of blood and brutal kills that go against everything we know and love about the character.…

• Review by Aleheez ★★★★½ 5

  Good lord this prequel was amazing! The Beginning seems to be the most unique film in this series and the tone set that straight right away. A very somber, tragic romance. The rest of these are filled with moments of levity and super energetic action scenes. This film is different on almost every front, the sword play is very grounded, with little flash and more noticeably bloody and brutal. It is a pretty slow paced film so you might really feel it toward the middle. But I truly loved this. I'd say if you wanna check out at least one of these films before deciding to binge them, this could be a nice entry point. It stands on its own…

• Review by dylangriffn ★★★★★ 2

  Over the last decade, the Rurouni Kenshin series has been praised for its heightened realism and exaggerated fantastical approach. These elements set them apart from the modern repertoire of Chambara and Jidaigeki costume drama. This, in tandem with action director Kenji Tanigaki, a protégé of Donnie Yen’s since the 90s, creates an innovative marriage of Wuxia, Japanese style swordsmanship and Hong Kong style action. The Beginning, however, is a tonally different film from the rest of the franchise. It keeps the fast, gritty pace of Hong Kong action cinema while balancing Shakespearean drama, feverish action and political intrigue. It prioritizes accessibility without contrivance or need for knowledge in Japanese politics or culture. You also don’t need to know anything about…

• Review by Thornhill ★★★½ 3

  Dann also auch noch die Ursprungsgeschichte von Kenshin Himura, dem wortkargen Einzelgänger mit den ganz besonderen Schwertkampffähigkeiten.

  Fokussiert sich etwas mehr auf seine Figuren und spannt einen schönen Bogen über die insgesamt fünf Filme der Reihe. Er ist düsterer, allenthalben blutiger und insgesamt auch runder als seine Vorgänger. Fast schon klassisches Chambara. Ein schöner Abschluss!

• Review by Simon 14A ★★★★ 3

  This fifth film in the live action series takes us back to when Kenshin was known as Himura Battosai, a feared assassin fighting the Shogunate with the Shinsengumi hot on his tail, when a beautiful woman with an aura of sadness enters his life.

  If you've seen RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE FINAL you know who she is and why she is sad, and how this film is going to end because you've already seen it. I don't know why they chose to release The Final before The Beginning but it doesn't seem like a good choice. The Beginning is a self contained story so having some of its pivotal moments already revealed in flashback doesn't seem to be in anybody's interests.…

• Review by Hana花 ★★★★★ 6

  "For times to change, someone must use a sword."
  ...
  Despite all the positives and negatives, there is only one scene that stands out in my mind as soon as The Beginning ends. Kenshin burns his love, dreams, past and ideals together with the wooden house. In the backstage, the house burns among the snow, providing an incredible contrast against the white of the snow. With this contrast, we hear that unique, melodious and pathetic final battle soundtrack... Ah, I still get goosebumps, it's a truly magnificent scene! A wonderful scene that shows that this movie is worth making, even if it is late... Actually, in my opinion, this sequel is not made too late. I liked watching it in…

• Review by NinthShinigami ★★★★½ 3

  Now, in order of release, this is technically the last Rurouni Kenshin movie. I’m not doing that tho. Imma go by how the manga did it and thus, how it was intended to be viewed. For me, there is no other way of watching the Rurouni Kenshin live actions if it’s not the first three prior, then this one then The Final.

  I’m yapping too much.

  Anyways, if you couldn’t tell from my obsession and admiration for what will probably be the crème de la crème of live action anime adaptations for a long ass time, and the previous logs of the other entries, I absolutely adore this film. In fact, I think this is the best one besides the…

• Review by schneeland ★½ 10

  I did enjoy the music, and the vegetables from the garden look delicious.

• Review by Lulaaaa ★★★★½ 3

  "I would never kill you.
  no matter what.
  i would never kill you.
  never.
  not you."

  DEMMMMM THE PAIIIINNNNN?! T_T
  the last movie of Rurouni Kenshin and the best yet! there is a tragic love story, kenshin using real sword and makei it rain blood as Tomoe said, no forced comedy whatsoever, and more resemblance to real event and real character of Japanese history! oh yes, and of course great choreo with the fight scene..
  they both did made a great 'talking with poem' couple tho :") and after watching this, i do not ship Kenshin with Kaoru more wkwkkwk
  and oh,
  if he can do sword fighting using his mouth, i wonder what else he can do with it :>

  my diary is trash i know :">

• Review by Ivica_Pusticki ★★★★

  So...RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE BEGINNING...the last and also the first movie of this whole franchise...

  This is basically a prequel to all the other movies, yet, they (filmmakers/producers/studio...whoever) decided to release it last. And honestly, that doesn't make much sense...

  OK, the original trilogy was done couple of years before THE FINALE and THE BEGINNING, so this couldn’t even be released before those movies. But why they released THE FINALE before THE BEGINNING...especially since the story of THE FINALE relies heavily on the story from THE BEGINNING trough flashbacks...it beats me!
  But OK, now I know that in the future I will watch this movie first, and then all the others...

  And as for the movie itself...well, its good, but IMO…