Actor Takeru Satoh appeared on stage to greet the audience before the screening of "Rurouni Kenshin" (directed by Keishi Otomo), the grand finale of the "Warner Bros. Movie Fan Festival" on December 23rd. A large crowd gathered to see the first film in the "Rurouni Kenshin" series, which became Sato's signature work, and he spoke with real emotion, saying, "I really felt that the work has been loved for so long."
The film is based on a popular manga by Himura Kenshin, a feared swordsman known as Battousai during the late Nobuhiro Watsuki Restoration as a wanderer who has sworn not to kill. The manga was serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) from 1994 to 1999 and was also adapted into a TV anime.
Five live-action films have been produced to date: "Rurouni Kenshin" (2012), "Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno" and "Rurouni Kenshin : The Legend Ends" (both 2014), and "Rurouni Kenshin: The Final" and "The Final Chapter: The Beginning" (both 2021). They have been distributed in over 100 countries and regions around the world and shown at over 50 international film festivals. With cumulative domestic box office revenues exceeding 19.4 billion yen, they have become a symbol of Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Warner Bros. Movie Fan Festival was held from December 15th to 23rd by Warner Bros. Japan LLC, which will end its 100-year theatrical distribution business in Japan at the end of this year, as a way of expressing gratitude to fans of films distributed by the company.
As this was the first "Rurouni Kenshin" event in a long time, and the screening was of the first film released 13 years ago, Sato said "everyone hasn't changed," but added shyly, "please be lenient." As the staff and cast had gathered together for the first time in a long time, he expressed deep emotion, saying, "Let's do something again," showing his enthusiasm for a new work with the same cast. In closing, he said, "This film is something I am proud of, proud of, and a treasure to me. I would be happy if you continue to love it. Thank you, Warner. Let's work together again in a different way to invigorate the film industry."
In addition to Sato, who played the main character Kenshin, the stage greeting was also attended by Emi Takei , Aoki Munetaka, who played Sagara Sanosuke, Tao Tsuchiya Makimachi Misao , who played Makimachi Misao, director Otomo Keishi, who has directed all of the films in the series, and Tanigaki Kenji, who was in charge of the action scenes.
