Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin:
Big Size Sequels Set photos In Action, Characters, Full English Info
The press visited the sets for this year’s two live-action Rurouni Kenshin sequel films in late November, and previewed the scene when Aoshi Shinomori (played by Yusuke Iseya) fights Okina or Nenji Kashiwazaki (min Tanaka).
The production built Aoi-ya, Okina’s two-story restaurant and inn from Nobuhiro Watsuki’s original manga, in two weeks at Toei’s Uzumasa lot in Kyoto. The crew recreated Aoi-ya in exacting detail down to the trees in the garden. In this set, Iseya and Tanaka realize the Aoshi vs. Okina battle, with a little help from wires.
Iseya, who played the rival Rikiishi Tōru in the boxing manga film Ashita no Joe and the title character in the live-action Casshern film, did not train his body much for this new role, which he described as “unrelenting.” Tanaka has performed as a dancer, and he compared the two disciplines: “In dancing, unlike in fighting, the only enemy is yourself.
To take in and react to an opponent’s moves with your own moves, that was very novel for me.” Despite their fierce in-character fighting, the two expressed respect and admiration for each other, and Iseya added that it was an honor to perform with Tanaka. Director Keishi Ōtomo said he looked forward to filming this battle between the “history’s strongest 68-year-old, Min-san, and Iseya-san who is 40 years old — give or take a few years,” early on.
The two new films will cover the Kyoto arc from Nobuhiro Watsuki’s original historical action manga. Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: The Great Kyoto Fire) will open in Japan on August 1, and Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: The End of a Legend) will open on September 13. Principal photography on the two films ended on December 27 after six months of filming.
The sequels will feature the return of the following cast members:
Takeru Satoh as Kenshin Himura
Emi Takei as Kaoru Kamiya
Munetaka Aoki as Sanosuke Sagara
Yuu Aoi as Megumi Takani
Yosuke Eguchi as Hajime Saitō
Additional cast members here below 😉
Tao Tsuchiya as Misao Makimachi
Ryunosuke Kamiki as Sōjirō Seta
Yusuke Iseya as Aoshi Shinomori
Tanaka as Nenji Kashiwazaki/Okina
Kazufumi Miyazawa as Toshimichi Ōkubo
Yukiyoshi Ozawa as Hirobumi Itō
Kaito Ōyagi as Yahiko Myōjin
Maryjun Takahashi as Yumi Komagata
The cast of the Juppongatana (Ten Swords), a group of elite swordsmen led by Shishio (played by Tatsuya Fujiwara)
The first live-action Rurouni Kenshin film opened in Japan in 2012. The film had its North American premiere in Los Angeles in December 2012.
[via Animenewsnetwork, natalie.mu]