heckyeahruroken:

Watsuki-sensei said that when he saw the scene where Kenshin appears in his red kimono for the first time his heart missed a beat. “I thought that’s Kenshin, alright!” It was amazing moment for Watsuki-sensei.

Sensei took part in the developing of the script. Though first two volumes of the manga were picked to be base for the movie one serious opponent for Kenshin - Jine - was not enough. That’s why Kanryu’s storyline was added. As much as everyone involved wished for Aoshi and Oniwanbanshu to make it to the movie time restrictions could not allow that. That’s why Gein and Inui were chosen as fitting opponents for Kenshin and his friends.

Light-hearted moments between Kenshin and his friends were added as well making these friendships into one of the main themes of the movie.

After script was ready Watsuki-sensei left production team.

Also Sensei told that differencies in the story or even characters mean nothing if the spirit of the original is portrayed properly. That’s why Sensei thinks that there will be a few people who won’t enjoy the movie. “Fans should be pleased” he said.

Watsuki-sensei himself was impressed by the movie in general and by the action scenes and casting in particular.

He said that one would be able to improve the movie only if the original manga itself was improved.

Sensei really liked Kamiya dojo set and wished that he could have used it as inspiration back in the days where he was only starting to draw Rurouni Kenshin.

In those days Watsuki-sensei wasn’t even dreaming about possibility of live action. He was really shocked to know that there will be a movie.

Though he now works on the self-remake of Rurouni Kenshin manga called Rurouni Kenshin: Cinema Edition he doesn’t consider it to be a replacement for the original. He said that it should be thought of as parallel Universe to the one he described in the previous manga. Watsuki-sensei confessed that Cinema Edition could never top original because some moments in the original were so strong he can’t find decent alternative that would make the same impact.