Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends

The last film in the Rurouni Kenshin trilogy. Kenshin is found at sea and rescued by his old master Hiko Seijuro. The master agrees to teach him the technique left unfinished years ago; the price of learning it is risking death. Meanwhile Shishio is threatening Tokyo with an ironclad warship. The government is helpless and had declared Kenshin an outlaw; now it needs him. The last section is one long battle: Kenshin and his companions board the ship and fight Shishio's men one after another. What the series is most praised for is its fight staging. The sword sequences are fast, unbroken and largely done with real choreography; the performers trained at length and computer effects were kept limited. The question at the centre is this: how does a man sworn never to kill stop someone without killing? Takeru Satoh plays Kenshin. Keishi Otomo directed. It was released the same year as the second part, a short interval apart. Among the best examples of its genre for anyone who likes action cinema and manga adaptations. For a viewer who does not know the series, the film continues directly from the middle of the previous part.