Im Your Meme

The Japanese hit movie Rurouni Kenshin’s lead actors, Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei and Munetaka Aoki and its director Keishi Otomo were overwhelmed while walking on the red carpet by the warm welcome of Filipino before the film screening of the movie last Wednesday, July 6, 2014 at the SM Megamall. A press conference was also held Thursday, August 7, 2014 in Glorietta, Makati City on which the actors and the director graciously answered the questions from the media. To show their support for the Japanese actors, fans brought with them posters, miniatures and Manga series books during the press conference. Even some fans luckily got the chance to meet them onstage and hug the actors.


Takeru Satoh thanked the Filipino fans for the warm welcome. “I am glad I came. I am now in love with the Philippines and the reception you have shown us and the movie is really shocking” Sato said in an interview. He also hopes that the film will pave the way in the Philippines for more Japanese movies.

While he said that it was difficult to think of what movie he should make next, he still had hopes to “create some great movies” again with the director of the Kenshin trilogy, Keishi Otomo.

The movie is based on the Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki in 1994 and was later adapted into an anime by 1996. It is widely known in the Philippines as “Samurai x” is about a legendary assassin named Kenshin Himura, once feared swordsman during the turbulent fall of Japan’s shogunate turning into a conflicted hero, adopting a peaceful life after the arrival of Japan’s “new age”. Satoh perceived action movies such as Rurouni Kenshin as films having one language. This is why, according to him, everyone can appreciate it and it might be the reason why the movie has appealed to Filipinos and other Asian fans. The movie also shows the intricacies of the Japanese culture to which Satoh hopes that people who watch it will appreciate and understand them.

Filming the movie was no joke either. It was reported that Satoh, who practiced three months prior to shooting his intense sword-fighting scenes, still got injuries many times during the filming. Even Aoki lost a tooth but said that he did not mind it.

For those who missed the screening, the fast-action film by Warner Bros., the first of a two-part finale of the franchise, Rurouni Kenshin; Japan will begin its regular run in Philippines by August 20, 2014.