It all started with a tweet from the official Twitter account of the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie, where a picture of a room very much familiar with Kenshin fans was accompanied by this caption: “04. 12 06:00 Coming soon…”. As if this wasn’t enough to send fans into a frenzy, it was retweeted by the official Twitter page of Warner Bros. Japan, thus promising that major news will be revealed on the time and date indicated.
The wait was not in vain, as Warner Bros. Japan officially announced that the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie will be getting not just one, but two live-action films! The wait won’t be long too, as both are set for a 2020 premiere. The two films, dubbed as the “Final Chapter”, will adapt the manga’s Jinchu arc, some of which were already shown in the 1999 OVA Tsuioku-hen/Trust & Betrayal. The first of the two films will cover Juji Kizu no Nazo (Mystery of the Cross-Shaped Scar), while the second film will cover the Saikyo no Teki – Enishi. The last two films will show the story of Kenshin as the once-infamous Hitokiri Battousai and will show the origin of his iconic cross-shaped scar.
Further fueling excitement for the upcoming films is the photo posted by Warner Bros. Japan, which shows titular character Kenshin sporting just one cut of his cross-shaped scar.
Takeru Satoh is, of course, reprising his role as Himura Kenshin. The director of the first three films, Keishi Otomo, is also set direct the last two films.
Shooting for the much-awaited film has already begun last November 2018 and is set to last until May 2019 across different locations in Japan such as Kyoto, Nara, Shiga, Mie, Hyogo, Kumamoto, Hiroshima, Tochigi, Saitama, and Shizouka.
The live-action films are based on Nobuhiro Watsuki’s best-selling manga of the same name. The series has been adapted into a highly-successful 95-episode series, anime feature films, and three live-action films.
Source: Anime News Network, Warner Bros. Japan official Twitter account