Unpopular Opinions You Hold About Anime

[gunswordfist]

You have watched at least one episode. I do like Get Backers but it's been awhile.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The first half of Barefoot Gen was published in Shonen Jump. Compared to that, the "Remembrance" arc is hardly the most surprising thing they've published. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

I have only seen the anime of Kenshin but I liked it a lot, especially the Trust & Betrayal OVAs.

You should get around to the manga someday. Remembrance and Revenge are fantastic arcs that add a ton to the story.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not saying that it's the only iconic thing with a darker and more tragic story-line that they've published, or even nearly the most surprising. I'm simply pointing out how atypical of an arc it is based on what you'd expect from a Jump manga. Surely there are other examples from other series, but they are in the minority when compared to what usually represents the publication.

[Foggle]

I surely will read the manga someday! It's on my list.

[gunswordfist]

Iiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttt's great!

[LumRanmaYasha]

So, I saw the third live-action Rurouni Kenshin film on Monday, as I did with the previous two movies during their screenings these last two months. I have to say...I'm embarrassed at how misinformed I was about these movies. I had only seen scattered clips and comments from others and dismissed them as another set of poor adaptations without having watched them myself. Having done so, I not only think they are excellent films, but I honestly think the film series' version of the Kyoto arc is the best adaptation of that story I've seen, and made some changes that I actually liked better than how they were presented in the original manga.

Sure, there are lots of characters that don't get quite as well developed because they couldn't fit everything the manga did with them in just 4 hours, but Keishi Otomo clearly understood the driving themes of the arc and Kenshin's character really well and executed the story in a starkly different fashion from the manga yet just as thematically powerful, and the performances of all the actors, particularly Takeru Satoh as Kenshin and Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shishio, were excellent and demonstrated a range of emotions that captured the depth of their characters perfectly. The story is re-written to better suit the pacing of film and adds extra layers of thematic intrigue in expanding the role the government officials play in the story and the moral grey area of their dealings and characters. There's added stakes in the fact that Shishio's battleship poses a looming and omnipresent danger and is not destroyed until the very end of the third movie, which was something I liked since I was always disappointed in how they pretty much stopped Shishio's plan by mid-way into the arc and the rest of the arc ended up just being a string of battles. Finally, the fight scenes in the movies are excellent and exciting, with the final battle with Shishio probably being one of the best I've seen in a while. Overall, these films do well in taking the source material and staying true to it while also taking risks and making changes to better suit their medium, and set the bar high as to what live-action adaptations of anime and manga series should aspire to. I know there are people here who have seen the films and didn't care for them, but I really enjoyed them and think they are fantastic adaptations, and sincerely regret not giving them a chance earlier and dismissing them without having watched them. I'd definitely recommend them to any Kenshin fans, or heck, even fans of samurai movies in general.

Between these Kenshin films and the Bakuman live-action movie, I've become more optimistic and am quite looking forward to the slate of live-action movie adaptations on the horizon, particularly JoJo's and Gintama. These adaptations can work and be really good in the hands of smart filmmakers who are passionate and truly understand the source material like Otomo clearly did.