They did it...

"Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning" is the final and greatest masterpiece in the franchise. By telling the tale story of how it began, it ties the series with a perfect bow and solidifies it as one of the best cinematic sagas ever made. It feels completely different to every other entry. It thrives on the fact that, aside from the first movie, this is the only one that can be seen completely by itself, and at the same time it rewards whoever watched all the other 4 movies first. It's clear why they wanted to make this the last one; it's the complete deconstruction of Kenshin's character and reconstruction into who he is in the other movies. It's darker, more grounded, and the action is the most brutal. Otomo and Tanigaki build the action completely differently in this one, and that statement is made right in the opening sequence. It's fast and bloody, but it's also more conditional, and more in service of how it scars the protagonist emotionally. You don't get typical action cues from the score whenever those sequences play out; instead they're slower, deeper, building towards something more than the action itself. The very way it's shot is different. The cinematography sets an entirely different mood with a grainy look and less vibrant color grading. It's brilliant use of language to achieve a stark contrast with the rest of the series.

At the center of such brutality, the love story between Kenshin and Tomoe... Which proves to be the heart and soul to not only this movie, but the entire franchise. It makes a few very slight changes that improve on the source material; Tomoe's character is the film's main driving force and Kasumi Arimura steals the show with her performance. It's a heart-aching gut punch to watch it unfold even if you know how it ultimately ends. Takeru Sato also delivers his deepest performance as Kenshin, as you see the roots and foundations of his character that you'll now be able to recognize watching the previous movies. And by the end of the snowfall, there's no doubt left as to why Kenshin will never kill again.

Here it ends. Here it begins. History was made.