Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno

The first films of the two are all the same, and this is no exception – they just promise and promise that the next installment will be totally awesome. We do get a few fights, but they all just set things up for some proper battles, which of course you don't get; but that doesn't mean the fights we see in this one are sloppy, far from it. There are also maybe too many new characters introduced, so if perhaps one of them dies, you don't care because you've had no room to bond with the character at all. The central characters have known each other for a while, so often all it takes is a good look from one of them to know what the other is thinking, and it also feels like they're exchanging telepathic notes. But with Kenshin and Kaoru, it's cute, so we'll let it slide. The film shows us beautiful scenery, opens the doors of time nicely, and takes us back to the early years of the Meiji era. Along with it we hear familiar music and the "yelling voices" – we know all of this from the previous film, so it feels very familiar and a fan of the first film can only be satisfied. The only time the choice of music deviated from my tastes was when they were fighting in Kyoto and Kenshin was showing off on the bridge, and the rock music started playing to go with it. It just threw me completely out of the "mood". Anyway, can't wait for the next installment, it was a nice commercial. (12/12/2014)