Keishi Otomo

Kenshin is enjoying a period of peace with his friends, but trouble is coming his way. An old enemy has worked himself up in the Chinese mafia and is finally strong enough to avenge the death of his sister. Together with an army of dangerous foes, he seeks out Kenshin and challenges him for a battle.

There's still a bit too much inconsequential drama for my liking, which also bloats the runtime, other than that this is a near-perfect blockbuster. The film looks lush, the action sequences are thrilling and the pacing is perfect. Ohtomo handles these types of films really well, looking forward to the second part already.

Battosai is a ruthless killer who is deployed to fight against the shogunate. He's an enigmatic character that shows little emotion, until he meets the quiet Tomoe. She has no one and starts following Battosai around. She's not just drawn to Battosai's enigmatic aura though, as Tomoe has ulterior motives to stick with him.

The production values of this film are first class, the actors feel comfortable in their roles and the film offers a very solid mix of action and drama. It's a strong remake of the Trust and Betrayal OAV, at the same time it means the film is rehashing familiar territory for me, which did make it slightly less special than it could've been. But this was no doubt a worthy finale to Ohtomo's series of Kenshin films.

When Konno moves towns for his new job, he finds himself all alone. At work, he connects with Hiasa, a guy who's about the same age as Konno. They spend some time together, but then Hiasa suddenly quits his job and their relationship grinds to a halt. Some time later they meet up once more, but then Hiasa goes missing.

With guys like Ayano, Kunimura and Matsuda around, you know the cast is going to do its thing. The pacing is deliberate, the way the story unfolds smart, the cinematography stylish. There's no extra sparkle to make this a real stand-out feature, but Beneath the Shadow has no obvious weak points. Prime filler in other words.

Even though I couldn't remember much from the first film, the intro quickly refreshed my memory. The film is basically one big trek, with Kenshin setting out to find Shishio, the big adversary of the series. There are some stops along the way and some time spent with people helping him out on his journey, but it's really just getting from A to B with a bunch of fights in the middle.

Ohtomo feels well at ease with the material. The fight scenes are impressive, the sets are lush and expensive and Shishio is a pretty bad-ass villain. It's no real surprise that the film doesn't stray too much from conventions, that's what you get with insanely popular IP like Kenshin, but all in all this was a very capable live action adaptation. On to part three.

Shishio turns up in an impressive war ship and threatens to bring the Meiji government to its knees, hoping to take over Japan. The Meji officials are powerless against Shishio, but Kenshin still has a score to settle with Shishio and takes up his sword once more, hoping to get rid of him once and for all.

The sets look lush, actors are really settled into their characters, and the action scenes are impressive. I'm not sure how faithful this adaptation is to the manga/anime, but I honestly don't care too much about all of that. For non-Kenshin adepts, this is a fun and entertaining series, with The Legend Ends being a perfect finale.

Kiriyama Rei is a young shogi prodigy, but his life takes a turn for the worse when his parents die. He has a difficult time adjusting to his foster family, it isn't until a finds a new home that he can finally put all his focus on becoming a better shogi player. From that moment on, Rei is unstoppable.

The performances are a little shaky, the overt manga influences don't work too well and the shogi games are slow and tactical, meaning there's a lot of heavy frowning and looking troubled at a shogi board. Otomo finds ways to make the drama a bit more interesting and some matches do get tense, but it's far from his best work.

The Japanese government has a DNA-mapping program that helps them solve crimes. Everybody is convinced this system will lead to a better society, until the inventor of the system is suddenly being accused of murder. Something is not right and detective Reiji is put on the cast to find out who is gaming the system.

Apart from the slightly futuristic elements, this is really just a police/crime flick with its share of twists and turns to keep things interesting. The cinematography is decent but basic, the plot is okay, and the performances are sufficient, but there's nothing here that really stands out.

An arranged marriage to bring two neighboring countries closer together ends up an unsurmountable challenge for the unfortunate couple, who really can't stand each other. When their country is under attack, Oda despairs as his military power doesn't seem able to withstand the enemy. But then his wife comes to his aid and together they draw up a plan to defend their borders.

The back and forth between the couple isn't too interesting, the battles are very oldskool (they reminded me of Kurosawa's work, which in my book isn't positive) and the runtime is excessive. There are still some interesting scenes and the performances are solid, but Otomo can do a lot better.