Here's Where You Can Watch Every Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Movie
When a manga series really blows up in popularity, there are a few things that almost always follow: anime adaptations, extensive toy and merch lines, video game tie-ins, and, in some cases, even live-action films. That is the path that "Rurouni Kenshin" has walked down. In fact, the ultra-popular series has spawned no less than five live-action film adaptations to date.
Set in 19th century Japan, the series follows a former assassin turned do-gooder named Himura Kenshin, a character who was inspired by a real historical figure. Kenshin has put his old life as a murderer for hire for political elites behind him and now travels Japan looking for ordinary people to help in order to right the wrongs of his past. Throughout the course of the series, he struggles to fulfill his duties as a protector and a peacemaker without shedding new blood.
If you're a fan of the manga or just someone looking for a new film series to tackle, you might be wondering how, exactly, you can catch all of the live-action "Rurouni Kenshin" movies. Well, you're in luck. While you might have worried that these Japanese films would be hard to come by for US audiences, most of the movies in the series are actually quite easy to access. Here's how you can watch them all.
Most of the Rurouni Kenshin movies are easy to find on VOD or Netflix
So long as you don't mind shelling out a few bucks to rent or buy a movie, you'll have no problem watching most of the films in the live-action "Rurouni Kenshin" series. The first three films — "Rurouni Kenshin," "Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno," and "Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends" — are all available on VOD services such as Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, and iTunes. Rentals run between $2.99 and $4.99 and you can purchase the films for anywhere from $9.99 to $14.99, depending on the platform and whether you choose SD or HD.
One film you won't find on VOD at the moment is the fourth in the series. Titled "Rurouni Kenshin: The Final" and released in 2021, this installment is appropriately climactic and sees Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh) hunted down by members of the Shanghai mafia. This installment was distributed outside of Japan by Netflix and was added to the streamer on June 18.
That brings us to the latest movie in the series. "Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning" is a prequel that was released in Japan on June 4, 2021, and hasn't yet made it onto any streaming or VOD platforms for US audiences. However, "The Beginning" is also set to get a worldwide release on Netflix (via Yahoo! News), although there wasn't an exact release date available at the time of writing. Thankfully you'll have four other movies to catch up on while you wait.