Among all the Rurouni Kenshin live action movies, The Beginning is hands down my favorite. Unlike its predecessors that are pretty much just live action depictions of the anime and manga, this one is dark, bloody, brutal, mature, and a lot closer to the samurai movies of old than its anime/manga counterpart.

The movie opens in a bloodbath, with an almost unrecognizable Himura Kenshin slashing through his victims like a rabid animal and leaving pools of blood in his wake, much like Ryunosuke leaving piles of corpses behind in The Sword of Doom. Anime-watchers only may be shocked to see this side of their beloved wanderer, but the events that transpire in this film would help them understand the man behind the monicker Hitokiri Battousai and his motivations. This movie is basically a deeper look into the character that is Himura Kenshin, his violent past, his first love, and the ideals that shaped the man that he would become at the start of the Rurouni Kenshin series. But this is also Tomoe's story, the woman who changed the life of a young and impressionable samurai, and turned him from a killer into a protector.

Yukishiro Tomoe is probably one of the most complex characters in Watsuki's manga series but she has been misunderstood, criticized, and even vilified by Kenshin-Kaoru shippers. The manga doesn't delve deep into her psyche and the OVA Trust and Betrayal only managed to scratch the surface, so I'm glad that this live action version somehow shows her true intentions and feelings. I had my doubts with Arimura Kasumi's casting as I used to think that she has the emotional range of a cardboard. But she actually surprised me by her on-point portrayal of Tomoe, from the subtle facial expressions to her deadpan delivery of her dialogues. Tomoe is an introvert who has trouble expressing her emotions. She can be painfully blunt without sounding antagonistic or argumentative. Kasumi got those down to a tee. In fact, it's not her that I have a problem with surprisingly, but I'll get to that later.

The dialogues are so well-written and it's no wonder because some of them were taken straight from the manga. As for the fight scenes, they do not disappoint albeit they aren't as flashy as the ones from the previous films. The fight choreography in this movie is much more grounded and realistic, reminiscent of old samurai movies, which is more to my liking, really. My favorite is definitely the battle between Kenshin and Okita, I actually watched it twice because I thought it was so darn cool. The real-life Okita Soji was said to have been one of the finest swordsmen of the Shinsengumi, and in the manga, he would've been a great match for Battousai if only he had not been dying from tuberculosis. Nonetheless, their fight shows how big of a threat he is to Kenshin despite his debilitating disease, and I gotta give it to the fight choreographers and the actors for that well-crafted sequence. I just wish Murakami Nijiro had more screen time as I really liked him as cocky Okita.

Kitamura Kazuki as the head of the Shadow Warriors doesn't have much screen time either but he certainly makes the most out of what he was given. He manages to be menacing, despicable, but also sympathetic in the little time he was on screen. He's a great actor so I don't wonder how he does it. Takahashi Issey as Katsura exudes gravitas that you can't help but believe in his cause despite the brutality of his measures. The rest of the cast are great in their respective roles, I don't really have much to say except that I wish some of them had gotten more screen time. But then again, I also understand the need for the movie to focus on Kenshin and Tomoe as underneath all the politics, the fights, and the socially relevant themes, this is a love story. I'm glad that the filmmakers didn't hesitate to show the romance between the two characters like they did with Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship. And the fact that the chemistry between Kasumi and Takeru is palpable definitely adds to the believability of the romance.

But I'm a little disappointed with Takeru's acting in that pivotal scene. I was expecting to cry ugly tears like I did when I first read the manga, but I just ended up being stunned that he didn't openly weep and scream like Kenshin did in the manga. Oh, Takeru, you may be great at doing the stunts and action sequences, but your acting still needs a whole lot of work. I know I sound like I'm nit-picking but that's supposed to be an emotional scene, I expected to see shock, devastation, grief, and guilt! Kasumi shows more acting range than he does and that's saying something! This movie would've been perfect if not for that bit. I'm willing to forgive it because the film, as a whole, is just so beautifully made so I can't really hold one actor's lack of acting skills against the whole production. This is still the best Rurouni Kenshin movie ever made, in my opinion, though.