Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo

The films Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends have gathered attention from around the world.

What has changed in this new series from the previous film? What did they do with the techniques? Why does the story in the films differ from the original version? With these questions in mind, we spoke with Keishi Otomo, director of the live-action Rurouni Kenshin films.

[Keishi Otomo Profile]
Japanese producer and film director. Born in 1966. Joined NHK in 1990 and studied in LA for two years beginning in 1997 through the Akita broadcasting station. Studied screenwriting and film production in Hollywood. Upon returning to Japan, mesmerized fans with vivid images and stories that carefully captured the human mind with dramas The Vulture and Jirō Shirasu, the film version of The Vulture and Taiga drama Ryōmaden. Received awards for works and screenwriting both in Japan and elsewhere.

Went independent in April 2011 and established Ohtomo Keishi Co., Ltd. In the same year, became the first person from Japan to sign a multi-film directing contract with Warner Bros. Released Rurouni Kenshin in 2012. It played in 64 countries and 2 regions around the world. It became a big hit, grossing over 3 billion yen at the box office.

A Larger Scale than the Previous Film

──What changes were made from the previous Rurouni Kenshin film?

Keishi Otomo: The biggest change was that it’s a larger scale. In the previous film, it was a story about Kamiya Dojo and protecting both it and Kaoru, whereas in this series, it’s a story about the fight to protect the new Meiji era, which Kenshin has played a part in creating. In response to that, we needed to increase the overall scale of the films.

──What stands out about these films?

KO: What stands out... There is way too much... [laughs] First of all, I thought it was important that, as a premise, the image of the cast and the characters from the original matched. While shooting, I made sure the cast of each film played the characters without losing any of their appeal from the original version.

It’s Okay to Let Takeru Satoh Be?!

──What advice did you give to Takeru Satoh, who plays the lead, during filming?

KO: Basically, Takeru himself is a big Kenshin fan, so he had set the bar high for the live-action adaptation along with all of the fans. Even when we first offered him the role in the previous film, he said, “It’s impossible [to do Kenshin as live-action].” But I went over things one-by-one with him, like, “There’s a chance if we do the action this way,” and persuaded him little by little.

Takeru’s performance as Kenshin drew support from people around the world in the first film. He even received praise saying that it was the role of a lifetime for actor Takeru Satoh. In that sense, Takeru Satoh wasn’t worried about playing Kenshin this time. His motivation was high and he gave it his all in stagefighting 1 practice. He never complained even during difficult shots, and he always concentrated on being Kenshin.

In that sense it was fine to let him be. [laughs] Even without saying this or that from the side, he created an image of Kenshin, including his behavior, swordplay, and speech, through the necessary preparation and hard work. So I didn’t worry at all.

I Love Manga

──Did you read through the original?

KO: I did. I read through it many times while drawing lines in the script. [laughs] I’ve always been someone who likes anime and manga. Up until about junior high, there were things like Triton of the Sea 2, Space Battleship Yamato and Ashita no Joe, as well as Gatchaman. It was right around the time that Animage 3 was first published, and I would buy every issue. I also liked to draw myself.

──Did you draw manga?

KO: Yes. In elementary school, I once made something that resembles what people call doujinshi now with my friends who like manga. There was that and I also made a manga calendar on my own every year. [laughs] I would draw scenes from my favorite anime and manga, like Star of the Giants or Battle Nisei.

I’m busy lately and I’m not really able to take the time to watch anime on TV. But I still read manga a lot when I’m traveling.

The Films Took Their Current Form Out of a Respect for the Original Material

──Let’s go back to the film. In the original, Aoshi Shinomori appears in the Kanryū Takeda arc. However, in the film, he appears first in the Kyoto arc. Was there some meaning behind this?

KO: To be honest, it’s that the first film was at it’s limit. It would have been difficult last time to put Aoshi on top of the many other characters in it. In general, Japanese films at a length of just under 2 hours are composed of a main cast of about 5-6 people. Looking at it that way, if we had put in the Oniwabanshū and had them get tangled with Kanryū Takeda and from there introduce Aoshi, it would have been difficult from a story perspective and the film would have been 3 hours long.

You definitely can’t just cast anyone in the role of Aoshi, and you can’t fully depict his sadness in just a few scenes.

So it wasn’t that I was just taking liberties with the original. It was out of respect for the series that I didn’t put Aoshi in the first film. Since the main battle is with Shishio, you could even make the argument that Aoshi isn’t really necessary in these films either. That’s because Aoshi of the Oniwabanshū is in some ways a sidestory. But Kyoto Inferno without Aoshi would be impossible. It would be inexcusable to both the original series and the fans. A Kyoto arc without Okina would be unthinkable as well.

──The films could fail.

KO: Right. Thinking of it as a film adaptation of the completed original Rurouni Kenshin, “fail” isn’t too strong a word to use. So, I took considerable care. With the film adaptation of a series with this much global popularity rooted in it, it’s not just the creator, but also the fans around the world that you can’t let down. As the one making it, I felt that I wanted to put something into the world that would satisfy them. So it’s not that I’m using my position as director to do what I want based on my own personal likes and tastes. [laughs] It’s a wonderful manga that’s praised globally, so I wanted to do it justice, and as a result, it became a big project that took a lot of time and funding.

As for the Techniques...?

──Do well-known techniques from the original series, such as “Futae no Kiwami” and “Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki,” appear or do they not?

KO: For those as well, I feel that if I’m going to do them, I want to do them right. However, with Futae no Kiwami, Anji and Sanosuke’s story couldn’t be told well enough in the film in the time allotted. It would have to be done as an extra. Because of that, in the 2-hour constraints for both films, their relationship had to be changed.

In film, if you don’t keep it focused on the lead, the viewers won’t know who to empathize with and their attention will get scattered and they’ll lose interest. To tell a necessary story to an acceptable degree in a set amount of time, you end up cutting [techniques like Futae no Kiwami]. That’s unavoidable when you’re thinking about the nature of timed art like films. Though I did want Sanosuke to do something like Sanjū no Kiwami. But, in Kyoto Inferno and of course The Legend Ends, Sanosuke does keep doing an action that resembles Futae no Kiwami. You could say that was my own modest way of taking that on. Everyone, please check it out while watching the film closely.

On top of that, in The Legend Ends, we included several things that will make all of you viewers gasp, so look forward to that. My goal was to create something incredibly cool that brought out everything great about the original series, with action that surpassed normal human limits and a dramatic storyline.

──Finally, could you provide some words to all of the fans eagerly awaiting the release of the films around the world?

KO: The cast and staff came together and put all their energy into making this new film series with the intent of building on the previous film and showing the world of the original series even just a little better. I would like for many people to see it, even if they go alone.

^1^ Scenes depicting battles on stage.

^2^ A manga and anime by Osamu Tezuka. It tells the adventures of Kazuya Yasaki and the baby “Triton” of the Triton family of merpeople that Kazuya takes in. The manga began serialization in September 1969.

^3^ Japan’s oldest monthly anime magazine. It began running in May 1978. It’s one of Japan’s top three anime magazines. It’s released on the 10th of every month.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends Film Official Site

Keishi Otomo Official Site

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends Trailer
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends Trailer
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends Trailer
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends Trailer
Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 3
Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 4
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Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 7
Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 8
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Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 10
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Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 16
Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 17
Interview: Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Director Keishi Otomo 18

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