Rurouni Kenshin: Samurai X - The Movie DVD

Set after the Kyoto arc, Kenshin and the group take a sightseeing trip to Yokohama — Japan's most Westernized city, full of foreign architecture and steam trains. There they encounter Takimi Shigure, a former Ishin warrior whose comrades and family were cut down during the Bakumatsu and who has never forgiven the government that benefited from their deaths. Shigure has assembled a band of desperate Meiji-era holdouts planning one final act of rebellion. Also drawn in is his companion Toki, who carries her own grief over a brother killed during the revolution — a brother whose killer was, it will emerge, Himura Kenshin. As Shigure's plot threatens Tokyo and Kenshin's past and present collide, the film builds toward a confrontation between two men whose lives were shaped by the same war, and who chose completely different ways to live with it.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture is the 1997 theatrical film directed by Tsuji Hatsuki, set within the timeline of the TV series and using the TV series animation style rather than the darker OVA aesthetic of Trust & Betrayal. It functions as a standalone story accessible to newcomers while rewarding TV series fans with familiar character dynamics. The English dub was produced at ADV's Monster Island studio in Austin, Texas and uses an entirely different cast from Bang Zoom!'s TV series dub, a point of note for collectors.

Released in North America on DVD by ADV Films on March 27, 2001 under the title Samurai X: The Motion Picture. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Tsuji Hatsuki
Screenplay: Yukiyoshi Ohashi
Original Manga: Nobuhiro Watsuki
Studio: Studio Gallop / Studio Deen
Music: Noriyuki Asakura

Japanese Cast:
- Mayo Suzukaze as Kenshin Himura
- Miki Fujitani as Kaoru Kamiya
- Yuji Ueda as Sanosuke Sagara
- Minami Takayama as Yahiko Myōjin
- Akira Ishida as Saitō Hajime (Gokudo, Slayers, Now and Then Here and There)

English Dub Cast (ADV Films / Monster Island — different cast from TV series dub):
- J. Shannon Weaver as Kenshin Himura (Trust & Betrayal)
- Judson Jones as Sanosuke Sagara
- Kelly M. McDaniel as Kaoru Kamiya

DVD Features

- ADV Films Previews
- Note: DVD replaced original Japanese title card with "Samurai X: The Motion Picture"

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- 維新志士への鎮魂歌 (Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi e no Chinkonka)
Runtime: ~90 Minutes
Director: Tsuji Hatsuki
DVD Release Year: 2001 (U.S. Release, March 27 — ADV Films)
Original Release Date (Japan): December 20, 1997
Publisher: ADV Films (released as Samurai X: The Motion Picture)
Rating: 17+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Action, Historical Drama, Martial Arts
Themes: Meiji Era Rebellion, Yokohama Setting, Bakumatsu Ghosts, Kenshin's Pacifist Vow Tested, Standalone Film

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.