Rurouni Kenshin - The Final: Enemies

05 - Apr - 2021

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The "Rokunin no Dōshi"  also known as Six Comrades are the villains of the Jinchuu Arc and seek revenge against Kenshin for his past sins.

Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the manga since volume 18. Know a little about the main villains and their respective interpreters of the upcoming film:

Mackenyu Arata as Enishi Yukishiro
The main villain. When he was younger, Enishi was mostly indifferent to all except his older sister, Tomoe, whom he deeply loves and respects. He usually wears a façade of polite happiness while talking to the Six Comrades or others he wishes to gain the trust of, though in actuality he cares little for those around him. He acted the same toward Kenshin at first in an attempt to spite him. However, his true feelings are soon revealed, as Enishi shows himself to utterly despise Kenshin with his entire being, wanting nothing less than to make Kenshin go through the same living hell that he himself went through.

Shinnosuke Abe as Hyogo Kujiranami
In the Battle of Toba Fushimi during the Bakumatsu, Kujiranami battled Kenshin, but his right arm was cut off. He asked the Battosai to finish him, since the patriots victory in the battle was inevitable and from now on, the war would fought with firearms, no swords. Kujiranami said he didn’t want to live to see such times and it would be an honor to die at Kenshin’s hand. However the Battosai responded that he would not kill any more than he needed to, but Kujiranami said the patriots already robbed him of his pride and world. He asked if Kenshin would also rob him of a warrior’s death, but the Battosai still refused to finish Kujiranami off. As a result, he swore revenge on Kenshin and joined Yukishiro Enishi to enact vengeance on him.

Shuntaro Yanagi as Hyoko Otowa
Otowa was friends with the ninja, Nakajō, whom he would go on nightly killing sprees with and even gave him a version of his Chusen. However Nakajō was killed by Himura Kenshin and Otowa used this as an excuse to join Yukishiro Enishi's Jinchu campaign against Kenshin. In reality, Otowa just joined the venture for the pleasure of fighting.

Joey as Tenmon Inui (Alternative Banjin)
One of the evident differences between the adaptation and the source material. This is an original character who appears to be closer to the manga than Banjin Inui himself who appeared in the first film, who was a simple dumb henchman without personality. Why did the director use a character from the (until then) last arc in the opening arc? Because. His name was chosen by Watsuki himself (author of the manga). In the manga, Inui's master (Tatsumi) was killed by Battōsai, Inui claims to join Enishi's Jinchū campaign for that reason, but he is actually using his master's death as an excuse to fight and prove how powerful he is. In reality, he cares nothing for his master whom he thinks of as a mere loser.

Eiki Narita as Mumyoi Yatsume
Yatsume fought Kenshin in his Battousai, but even though he managed to seriously injure Kenshin, he ended up being defeated and exposed, and it is a law of his clan that his members always fight from the shadows and never be seen. He said his body was a secret passed down through the Yatsume clan and it was law that anyone who saw it had to die. Yatsume leapt away, saying he’d end their fight for now, but he’d kill Kenshin someday, be it in this era or the next. At some point, Yatsume also joined Yukishiro Enishi’s campaign of revenge against Kenshin.

 

And with that we have 5 of the 6 enemies. It was previously stated that we would have 2 new characters, one of them being Tenmon to replace Banjin and the other to replace Gein. Gein was also used in the 1st film. What a waste to see a little more of Oniwabanshuu and have a better connection between Kenshin and Aoshi in the 2nd film. Anyway, I suppose we will have to check this out on screen.

"Rurouni Kenshin: The Final" opens on April 23 this year in Japan. Regarding global launch plans, we will have to wait for what Warner has up its sleeves. Perhaps an alternative is to make the film available in streaming due to the pandemic situation, but without declarations so far.