Rurouni Kenshin | るろうに剣心 [ Coming Soon - 29th Nov 2012 ]

 Rurouni Kenshin るろうに剣心

The Pitch

Rurouni Kenshin or perhaps better known as Samurai X originated as a manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The tale of the wandering protector with a dark past went on to get it's anime series treatment. Both the manga and anime were so popular that even someone like me who is not really into manga or anime had a rough idea about this series about.

But for some reasons, it was difficult for me to follow this series properly. It was either catching a few episodes of Samurai X anime on television or sampling some of Rurouni Kenshin manga at the library. So when the news of Rurouni Kenshin getting a live action treatment by the Japanese, I was pretty excited about watching this movie. Finally there's a chance for me to get started on the Rurouni Kenshin's series.

Given the popularity of this series, the cast and director of this live action film have a lot of expectation to live up to. Will they be able to capture the essence of Rurouni Kenshin without boring the fans with repetition of materials from the manga and anime? Will they be able to hook newbies like me to this series? Will it be good?

On 29th Nov 2012, Rurouni Kenshin will be shown exclusively at Film Garde cinemas in Singapore.  It's just a couple of months after It's general release in Japan. A good incentive to catch this on the big screen.

The Plot
 
Nearly 140 years ago, in the last days of the Shoguns, there was a man known as “Battosai the Killer,” feared as the most powerful assassin.

He was faster than a god, stronger than a demon, and had a leading spirit of the Meiji Restoration.

In a flash he downs any number of opponents. Once he pulled out his sword, nobody survived against him.

As the war ended and the new Meiji era came, Battosai vanished from the world.

The only thing that remained was his legend.

10 years later, a man appeared in a world still in disarray.

His name is Kenshin Himura, a wanderer who saves people with a back-blade sword that cannot kill.

This is Battosai the Killer, who has taken a pledge never to kill again.

In order to bring peace to the world so that his loved ones can live safely,

Now Kenshin’s battle begins!

(Plot from Filmgarde's page)

Trailer (from Encore Films)

Gantz 2: Perfect Answer

The Plot

The Battle Continues in Gantz 2 Perfect Answer !

Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama)'s death changes Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) 's view of life completely. He decides to keep fighting until he earns 100 points so that he can bring back Kato.

GANTZ calls back Ayukawa (Ayumi Ito) and other GANTZ alumni who'd left once after scoring 100 points. In the meantime Kurono works on getting 100 points. But before Kurono succeeds in resurrecting Kato, Kato unexpectedly turns up.

Another strange man (Takayuki Yamada) appears and he appears to be investigating GANTZ and the fighters while the fighters take on the most terrible enemy (Go Ayano). To complicate the situation, GANTZ starts acting up. GANTZ chooses the next target... this time it's not an alien but a human girl, Tae, who is in love with Kurono.

Some GANTZ members go after Tae to score points while Kurono tries to protect her. In turn, Tae tries to protect Kurono who fights for her. A love story between their characters blossoms and Kurono must stop his teammates from getting to Tae.

Each teammate has a different motive for fighting, whether to protect a loved one or to do what they think is right. Whatever their cause, they end up sacrificing something important... 

Go Ayano - Kurofuku Ichi

(Plot Outline taken from Gantz - Singapore & Malaysia Facebook Page) 

Coming Soon (18 Aug 2011)

Gantz | ガンツ [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Pitch

Gantz has been in publication as a Manga series since 2000 and is currently going on strong. This gory manga depicts a group of people who were plucked right before their death and given a mission to kill aliens with futuristic weaponry. Folks who had not read the manga and wondered about it's popularity could finally get a taste of Gantz with the two part movies adaption.

To sweeten the deal, this film stars Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama as the two protagonists of Gantz. Kazunari Ninomiya career in Japan ranges from being a singer, songwriter, actor and radio host. For movie fans and the rest of the world, he probably more well known for his performance as Private Saigo in Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima.

Kenichi Matsuyama on the other hand, has been making regular appearance in recent Japanese movies that were shown in Singapore. Movies such as the Death Note franchise (as the iconic L), Detroit Metal City (switching from Johannes Krauser II and Souichi Negishi), Kamui Gaiden (as the reluctant ninja Kamui), Kaiji the Ultimate Gambler (doing a supporting role) and the recent Norwegian Wood which was shown just a couple of weeks ago. With these two popular Japanese actors / idols fronting the adaption of a popular manga series, it's intriguing to see what Gantz the movie has to offer.

The Plot

Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) tried to help a man who had fallen onto a subway tracks and after saving the man, they were hit by the oncoming train. Instead of dying a gruesome death, they were surprise to find themselves intact and teleported into a Tokyo apartment with a strange looking black sphere at one end of the room. They soon realized that they were not alone. The others were equally bewildered and no one could give a concrete explanation on  how they got there and what's going on.

After sometime, the black sphere known as "Gantz" was activated and presented a weird mission to the people in the apartment. Gantz then opened up and to their surprise, there a bald naked man with a breathing apparatus  They also found suits and a range of weapons inside three racks that protruding from Gantz. Before they could figure out what's going on, they were teleported back out to a Tokyo suburb to commence their alien hunting mission.

The Perspective

As a newbie to the Gantz story, this movie was an entertaining introduction to the world of Gantz. The premise for Gantz was pure escapism and high octane adventure that does not shy away from gore. The concept of hunting aliens in a wide variety of forms with a range of futuristic weaponry would appeal to fans of gaming, manga and fantasy.

Perfect Distraction

Not forgetting the babelicious eye candy Kei Kishimoto (Natsuna Watanabe) who provides a nice distraction from all the alien hunting going on in Gantz.

What the movie didn't do that well was the characterization of the Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato. Both came across as whinny as they struggle with their respective issues. The whole issue with Kei Kurono's childhood dreams of being a hero and Masaru Kato's being overly worried about his brother just slow down the pace of the movie. Instead of being excited about their new powers and thinking of how to  survive the next mission, they spend their time mopping about with their past problems. Personally it just felt like the wrong genre to explore such personal issues.

But overall, Gantz was fun and a great introduction to the manga series. It might inspire one to pick up the manga to see what's missing from the movie adaptation. It also wet one's anticipation for the sequel Gantz Perfect Answer. Let's hope that Gantz does well in Singapore so that the distributor would bring in Gantz Perfect Answer.

Kei Kishimoto (Natsuna Watanabe) So Sexy and Kawaii that I am going to post her picture again!