Having watched the TV Series and OVA's I was mentally prepared for this live action. Overall I think it stands alone as one of the best live action adaptations of anime I've seen, compared to the likes of Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Despite knowing the plot, emotionally the scenes were just as powerful- some things I think could've been improved are the fight scenes and most of all the music. If they had someone to transform the old Rurouni Kenshin soundtrack to a movie-worthy cinematic soundtrack it would've been amazing. I think maybe the ending at the climax would've been the most powerful- I was literally playing the mournful tragic music in my head, the mournful woodwinds and somber brass lines were so powerful it's LEGIT ingrained in my soul. Watch the original anime, in US licensing, "Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal" When I say the fights could've been improved, I think they were industry-leading in their creativity and choreography but you could tell that some liberties were taken- I think some scenes were sloppy and should've been reshot, and for others the use of slow motion even seemed a bit sloppy. Besides that it was just the lack of weight/force in the swings etc..but I'm not sure how you could convey that properly with weapons in a safe manor. Overall though the movie hit all the right notes and really did the original source justice- I just think a little bit more and it could've been freaking amazing as the original anime.

Honestly I'm also a bit sad they didn't include when Kenshin was a kid and was first picked up by his teacher- but I understand they were short on time despite the movie being over 2 hours long. Hopefully they include those scenes when he goes to see his teacher in a later movie.