I once again made my way out to FilmBar in Phoenix, Arizona to see the conclusion to the Rorouni Kenshin live action trilogy. How does Part 3 stack up to the first two? Not very well. It was still a very good adaptation mind you, but the bar set by Parts 1 and 2 left me wanting more. Some spoilers ahead.
Part 3 starts with Kenshin remembering the end of the Part 2 before waking up in a panic to go find Karou, only to find out that he’s at his old masters place. Those that follow the anime or manga know this is where he once again undergoes the training of his master in order to learn the ultimate technique. Unfortunately, unlike in the source material where Kenshin uses this move more than once, giving Shishio the tell of when he’s using it, and how to defend against it. What makes it the ultimate technique though is that it is actually impossible to defend against, because if you block it, the follow up will get you.
Another gripe was that Kenshin’s destruction of Seta’s mind. It seemed a bit rushed and wasn’t very satisfying. There also wasn’t much fleshing out of characters in Part 3. While there weren’t too many new characters, I felt like Kenshin’s master Hiko could have been fleshed out a lot more.
That said, the fight scenes were fantastic and casting was on point, as it has been in the rest of the films. Part 3 just seemed to be slower than the previous two. The hype that got built up for Part 3 by excellent showings in Part 1 and 2 proved too much this one. If I hadn’t seen Part 1 and 2, then this would have been a fantastic moving. I will be spending my money on the Blu-Ray releases of all 3 and watching them back to back to back to experience the story in its entirety.