The Wanderer Whose Sword Won't Kill

At the end of the Boshin War, a preternaturally gifted samurai on the winning side vows never to kill again. He becomes instead a superhero and the star of 2012's Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心). Adapted from a '90s manga series that had already been adapted to a successful anime series in 1996, this live action film was the beginning of a series directed by Keishi Otomo. And it's a really good movie with good action sequences and well constructed drama.

The fearsome Battosai has become the wanderer Kenshin (Takeru Satoh), a pleasant tempered young man who wields a peculiar "back sword", a sword with the cutting edge on the back and the shoulder on the front. He calls it a "sword that won't kill" though most viewers will of course realise he can still slice with the back as well as stab pretty much as normal.

He saves the life of an idealistic owner of a Kendo school named Kaoru (Emi Takei) and then takes up residence at her dojo. Along with a motley crew of friends, they engage in a continuing struggle against a flamboyant rogues gallery serving a wealthy businessman engaged in the opium trade.

A lot of the drama hinges around Kenshin's desire not to kill. Of course, it's an easier vow for him than for the average person in feudal Japan. Few people at the time could have successfully immobilised an attacker without killing. But even though Kenshin is capable of knocking out a dozen guys intent on his demise, there are some unintended consequences, as when one of the guys he might have killed later ends up murdering someone else. It's a dilemma most people will be familiar with from most superhero stories but it's nicely delivered here. Otomo, the director, is quite justly lauded for his compositions and editing and I found myself engaged throughout.

Rurouni Kenshin is available on Netflix in Japan.

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