RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE FINAL

No. 1 Reason to Head Back to Cinemas This Week

Venue(s): Shinjuku Piccadilly
From June 4, 2021 - July 10　Check theater site for【英語字幕付】— Subbed screenings are in the morning.
Language: In Japanese with English
Official website: wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/rurouni-kenshin2020/
Theater website: www.smt-cinema.com/site/shinjuku/index.html
Tariff: Visit theater site for details.
Advance tickets: Visit theater site for details.

Title: るろうに剣心　最終章 The Final (Rurouni Kenshin Saishusho The Final)
Director: Keishi Otomo (大友啓史)
Duration: 137 min

The good news is that from June 1 Tokyo theaters were allowed to reopen, with Covid restrictions in place. The even better news today: virtuoso director Keishi Otomo’s magnificent actioner Rurouni Kenshin: The Final will begin running with English subtitles at Shinjuku Piccadilly from June 4. If you’ve been waiting for the right film to draw you back to the cinema, wait no longer. The more of us who turn out, the better the chance that the final, final episode in the series, Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, will also begin running with subs.

The most globally successful samurai-swashbuckler franchise of our time, the Rurouni Kenshin series rivals anything produced by the Hollywood studios (in fact, Warner Bros. Japan is behind the slick, big-budget, live-action manga adaptations). Otomo’s blockbusters have set records for Japanese film sales overseas, scored theatrical releases in more than 100 nations, and attracted a fanbase of tens of millions since its debut in 2012.

Celebrated for their mix of spectacular swordfights, slapstick humor and romanticism, the fourth entry in the franchise sets the bar even higher. Rurouni Kenshin: The Final begins 12 years after the Meiji Restoration, as a “new age” settles over Japan. Legendary bakumatsu-assassin-turned-pacifist-wanderer Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh) is leading a peaceful life in Tokyo with his cohorts. He’s still filled with remorse about his past, when as the fearful Battosai he was responsible for “more deaths than can be counted,” and he has since sworn to protect the innocent. But one night, the peace is shattered and it becomes clear that judgment day has arrived along with Enishi (Mackenyu Arata in a star-making turn). Over the course of Enishi’s relentless campaign for vengeance against his old enemy, countless innocents will be slaughtered, and Kenshin will have to face a reckoning before he can find redemption.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Final/The Beginning were shot back-to-back over a period of seven months in 2019, with the same main cast and crew as previous entries, deploying 6,000 extras in 43 locations across Japan. Part historical drama, part action thriller, part romantic comedy and world-class entertainment in every respect, the films are exceptionally rewarding experiences, whether or not you’re a fan of the manga, or even of swordplay. We guarantee you’ll thank us.

Shinjuku Piccadilly

Venue: Shinjuku Piccadilly
Date: From June 4, 2021 - Check theater site for【英語字幕付】— Subbed screenings are in the morning.
Official website: wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/rurouni-kenshin2020/
Theater website: www.smt-cinema.com/site/shinjuku/index.html

Photos: ©Nobuhiro Watsuki/SHUEISHA ©2020 “Rurouni Kenshin: The Final” Film Partners