Live-action adaptations of beloved anime or manga are always subject to intense scrutiny. Fans pay obsessive attention to even the smallest details—rightfully so, since these stories have long earned a place in their hearts. When Rurouni Kenshin (also known as Samurai X) was announced for a live-action adaptation, expectations were sky-high. Surprisingly—or perhaps impressively—the trilogy…
Review of the Most Recent Zatoichi Film Adaptation I must confess this is my first real encounter with this peculiar and iconic character. Despite being a legendary fictional figure in Japanese pop culture, with decades of TV shows and movies, I had never seen anything about Zatoichi until now. The film I watched is the…
If there’s one movie that didn’t give me what I expected, it’s The Twilight Samurai. Not because it disappointed me—in fact, quite the opposite—but because with a title like that, you’d expect dozens of epic sword fights, flawless stances, flying katanas, and heads rolling. The film isn’t about that at all; it is much deeper and…
